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[BattleTech/MegaMek] Fight for Gan Singh
kaliyama
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Hi,
Giant Robots!
Giant Noses!
Giant Fun!
[make your own fun]
I'm interested in running a player vs. player campaign. At the start I'd like to confine it to two teams of four players each, each controlling a company. The setting will be the 3057 fight over Gan Singh, which pitted the First Federated Commonwealth RCT against an allied force of Capellan house troops and mercenaries paid for by the Free Worlds League. The source material is vague as to who actually fought, but for purposes of this campaign, the lineup is as follows. This won't mean much to non-mechheads, but the game thread will have more fluff:
Attackers:
1. 4th Tau Ceti Rangers:
Description:
4th Tau Ceti Rangers (Mercenary, Heavy, Veteran, Mech) Major Der Waffel Maus
2. Warrior House LuSann:
Description:
TO&E:
Warrior House Lu Sann 1st Company (Liao, Light, Regular, Mech) Company Leader Da Moon Rulz
Warrior House Lu Sann 2d Company (Liao, Medium, Green, Mech) Company Leader Wiet
3. Gan Singh People's Liberation Committee:
(The Gan Singh Planetary Flag)
Description:
1st Irregulars (Zangzhueng de Gueng & Free Worlds League Mercenaries, Light/Assault, Green/Elite, Vehicle & Infantry/Mech) Chairman Elldren
Defenders:
1. First Federated Commonwealth Regimental Combat Team:
Description:
1st FedCom Armor Brigade (Davion, Medium, Elite, Vehicle) Major PhantZon
1st FedCom Ad Hoc Combat Team Baker (Davion, Medium, Veteran, Vehicle/Battle Armor/Mech) Leftenant TiamatZ
1st FedCom 3d Company (Davion, Heavy, Veteran, Mech) Captain RiemannLives
2. Count's Own Guards:
(The Kana Family Crest)
Description:
1st Gan Singh Chevaliers (Steiner, Medium, Green, Mech) Count Kana
The Inner Sphere in 3057:
I'll randomly generate each force and then take a smoothing pass to make sure everybody has roughly equivalent battle value.
I am assuming I can get 8 players interested. Here's my proposal for how the campaign works - I haven't been able to devise something entirely to my satisfaction so am open to feedback and suggestions before we finalize everything.
The biggest issue I have is this: the more freedom I give players at the strategic level - freedom to move around a planetary map, to unevenly allocate forces to outnumber somebody at the expense of being outnumbered elsewhere - the less balanced and perhaps satisfying the actual megamek games will be. The games in some would largely be won or lost at the strategic layer, though the RNG has a way of upsetting people's expectations. That has a certain appeal to it in the abstract, because it might make some neat narrative experiences, but it seems more suited to a one on one planetary assault campaign where the players get to play the fights which are lopsided both for and against them, rather than have one player on each side be the one who is haplessly ambushed/ganged up on by 3 other players and then spends the rest of the campaign watching from the sidelines.
So I am thinking instead of the following system:
1) Pre-generated scenarios. I set four campaign tracks that are 1v1 matches in a series of fights. I might update a planetary map for reference, but it's an abstract one and no gameplay happens on it. I might use the rulebooks' quick and dirty campaign rules as well as put in a few custom missions. I will post general descriptions and let people pick where they go. Probably 3-4 fights to a track, and then the campaign tracks are mixed up. Thinking losers in a bracket fight each other.
2) Supplies. No repairs or replacements for mechs during the track. Battle armor/infantry will have a limited replacement pool because they tend to eat it quick. There is a program, mekhq, that plugs into megamek and can track repairs and repair success rolls between fights, but it would require either that a) people do their own repairs on the honor system and share rosters (in megamek they are called .MUL files or MULs) back to me, which is logistically complex and tempts cheating via save scumming, or b) i manage MULs, which is also a logistical mess. Maybe in a later campaign, but for now, because both sides have plenty of goodies, sufficient to just keep the persistent MULs that track damage during a campaign track.
3) Units and scoring. I want to incentivize people being cautious with their units, but am also trying to avoid the snowball effect where the first side to get a substantial victory outnumbers their opponent in each successive match. So killing units will get you victory points for the overall battle, but what I will do is "top up" people's forces with reinforcements between campaign tracks. Players will get rewarded for (a) winning, and (b) keeping their units alive, in some combination of upgrades and experience gains.
Thoughts? Interest? Am I forgetting something relevant?
Thanks,
KY
Giant Robots!
Giant Noses!
Giant Fun!
[make your own fun]
I'm interested in running a player vs. player campaign. At the start I'd like to confine it to two teams of four players each, each controlling a company. The setting will be the 3057 fight over Gan Singh, which pitted the First Federated Commonwealth RCT against an allied force of Capellan house troops and mercenaries paid for by the Free Worlds League. The source material is vague as to who actually fought, but for purposes of this campaign, the lineup is as follows. This won't mean much to non-mechheads, but the game thread will have more fluff:
Attackers:
1. 4th Tau Ceti Rangers:
Description:
In 2764 the Rangers were originally a frontline SLDF military Division known as the 81st Mechanized Infantry Division. Already nicknamed the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers, the 81st served as part of the Star League's LVIII Corps within the SLDF Seventh Army. LVIII Corps was assigned to District 3 of the Capellan Confederation Military Region until it was transferred to an undisclosed district within the Periphery by 2765 in response to the Periphery Uprising. The 81st fought with other SLDF forces to put down the Periphery Uprising; the Rangers suffered heavy losses during the campaign, and the SLDF chose to disband the 81st in 2766. While it is unknown as to what happened to the survivors of the Rangers in the interim, by 2784 they had opted enter service with the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces as mercenaries. The survivors of the 81st had chosen to become mercenaries to keep the Division's traditions alive instead of being absorbed or dissolving. Chancellor Barbara Liao would purchase their services along with another formation of former SLDF troops turned mercenaries, the 15th Dracon. They have mostly been in service to the Capellan Confederation, especially on the Marik-Liao border. They're aware of the irony of the League paying their current contract, but such is mercenary life.
4th Tau Ceti Rangers (Mercenary, Heavy, Veteran, Mech) Major Der Waffel Maus
2. Warrior House LuSann:
Description:
Troi Lu Sann founded the fourth Warrior House on strict adherence to the principles of the Lorix Order, with little else clouding his warriors' minds. Lu Sann believed in apllying
the Lorix Order's tenets throughout Capellean society; citizens must demonstrate devotion to a high moral code in oder to deserve protection, and the Chancellor must similarly be held
accountable for his actions and orders. This view of the Lorix Order has made House Lu Sann prone to citicize Chancellors in the past, so its warriors rarely receive a fanatical loyalty rating.
This distinction rarely caused difficulty for the House until Lu Sann was shattered in the Fourth Succession War. The death of senior officers and Sifu allowed surviving House
members greater leeway in interpreting their order's centuries-old principles. With Maximilian Liao's descent into madness followed by Romano Liao's ruthlessness, the mostly
green House Leadership drifted even further afield. The master of the Warrior Houses, Ion Rush, has picked them for this mission to test their loyalty and thin the ranks of warriors who came of age in the dark decades of Romano's reign in the 3030s and 3040s.
the Lorix Order's tenets throughout Capellean society; citizens must demonstrate devotion to a high moral code in oder to deserve protection, and the Chancellor must similarly be held
accountable for his actions and orders. This view of the Lorix Order has made House Lu Sann prone to citicize Chancellors in the past, so its warriors rarely receive a fanatical loyalty rating.
This distinction rarely caused difficulty for the House until Lu Sann was shattered in the Fourth Succession War. The death of senior officers and Sifu allowed surviving House
members greater leeway in interpreting their order's centuries-old principles. With Maximilian Liao's descent into madness followed by Romano Liao's ruthlessness, the mostly
green House Leadership drifted even further afield. The master of the Warrior Houses, Ion Rush, has picked them for this mission to test their loyalty and thin the ranks of warriors who came of age in the dark decades of Romano's reign in the 3030s and 3040s.
TO&E:
Warrior House Lu Sann 1st Company (Liao, Light, Regular, Mech) Company Leader Da Moon Rulz
Warrior House Lu Sann 2d Company (Liao, Medium, Green, Mech) Company Leader Wiet
3. Gan Singh People's Liberation Committee:
(The Gan Singh Planetary Flag)
Description:
Some Capellan citizens never stopped resisting their occupiers. The Zhangzhang de Gueng ("shining path") are Capellan state sponsored terrorists guerrillas working to undermine the FedCom-sponsored government. Chairman Elldren's family, high in the Capellan order, was dispossessed by the Davion invasion of 3028 that killed billions across the inner Sphere. Educated at Davion's New Avalon Institute of Science as part of Davion-Steiner's attempts to integrate the former Capellan worlds into their regime, he uses what he learned there against his foe. The ZdG are used to irregular operations, and are untested on a regular field of battle. The Mariks have paid for an elite assault lance, Bonifacio's Batterers, to operate in conjunction with the ZdG troops on the ground. The Batterers have cutting-edge technology, paid for by the Mariks who have grown rich selling upgrade kits to the Federated Commonwealth. Given their small size and low manueverability, it is up to the ZdG to make sure they are properly supported on the field of battle.
1st Irregulars (Zangzhueng de Gueng & Free Worlds League Mercenaries, Light/Assault, Green/Elite, Vehicle & Infantry/Mech) Chairman Elldren
Defenders:
1. First Federated Commonwealth Regimental Combat Team:
Description:
Formed in 3028 by Prince Hanse Davion, ruler of the Federated Suns, from a regiment of mechs gifted by Melissa Steiner, heir to the Lyran Commonwealth, the First FedCom was the first recognizable sign of the future Federated Commonwealth. Prince Davion took the opportunity to assign recent graduates from the CMS, Albion, and the Nagelring and posted the unit in the Draconis March under the command of Marshall James Sandoval. After a few years the Regiment went from a unit of green cadets to a united, skilled unit. They now garrison Gan Singh, a world taken from the Capellan Confederation's Tikonov Commonality and made into the new Federated Commonwealth Sarna March. The unit features troops from Steiner, Davion, and occupied Capellan worlds working in cooperation, a microcosm of the modern FedCom. The 1st FedCom features advanced technology the smaller and poorer Capellan Confederation has seen little of, especially advanced battle armor suits based on Clan Elementals. They will prove an unpleasant surprise for Capellan infantry.
1st FedCom Armor Brigade (Davion, Medium, Elite, Vehicle) Major PhantZon
1st FedCom Ad Hoc Combat Team Baker (Davion, Medium, Veteran, Vehicle/Battle Armor/Mech) Leftenant TiamatZ
1st FedCom 3d Company (Davion, Heavy, Veteran, Mech) Captain RiemannLives
2. Count's Own Guards:
(The Kana Family Crest)
Description:
A collection of troops from the local nobility mustered in the world's defense, they are motivated but inexperienced. Count Kana has recently inherited command, and a Zeus, from his deceased father, murdered by Capellan terrorists during a parade review of the company. Every mech in the company is the hereditary property of a noble family on Gan Singh. They have received scattered recovered technology upgrades, depending on family resources and logistical constrains - Gan Singh is far from the Clan front and not too important.
.1st Gan Singh Chevaliers (Steiner, Medium, Green, Mech) Count Kana
The Inner Sphere in 3057:
I am assuming I can get 8 players interested. Here's my proposal for how the campaign works - I haven't been able to devise something entirely to my satisfaction so am open to feedback and suggestions before we finalize everything.
The biggest issue I have is this: the more freedom I give players at the strategic level - freedom to move around a planetary map, to unevenly allocate forces to outnumber somebody at the expense of being outnumbered elsewhere - the less balanced and perhaps satisfying the actual megamek games will be. The games in some would largely be won or lost at the strategic layer, though the RNG has a way of upsetting people's expectations. That has a certain appeal to it in the abstract, because it might make some neat narrative experiences, but it seems more suited to a one on one planetary assault campaign where the players get to play the fights which are lopsided both for and against them, rather than have one player on each side be the one who is haplessly ambushed/ganged up on by 3 other players and then spends the rest of the campaign watching from the sidelines.
So I am thinking instead of the following system:
1) Pre-generated scenarios. I set four campaign tracks that are 1v1 matches in a series of fights. I might update a planetary map for reference, but it's an abstract one and no gameplay happens on it. I might use the rulebooks' quick and dirty campaign rules as well as put in a few custom missions. I will post general descriptions and let people pick where they go. Probably 3-4 fights to a track, and then the campaign tracks are mixed up. Thinking losers in a bracket fight each other.
2) Supplies. No repairs or replacements for mechs during the track. Battle armor/infantry will have a limited replacement pool because they tend to eat it quick. There is a program, mekhq, that plugs into megamek and can track repairs and repair success rolls between fights, but it would require either that a) people do their own repairs on the honor system and share rosters (in megamek they are called .MUL files or MULs) back to me, which is logistically complex and tempts cheating via save scumming, or b) i manage MULs, which is also a logistical mess. Maybe in a later campaign, but for now, because both sides have plenty of goodies, sufficient to just keep the persistent MULs that track damage during a campaign track.
3) Units and scoring. I want to incentivize people being cautious with their units, but am also trying to avoid the snowball effect where the first side to get a substantial victory outnumbers their opponent in each successive match. So killing units will get you victory points for the overall battle, but what I will do is "top up" people's forces with reinforcements between campaign tracks. Players will get rewarded for (a) winning, and (b) keeping their units alive, in some combination of upgrades and experience gains.
Thoughts? Interest? Am I forgetting something relevant?
Thanks,
KY
kaliyama on
0
Posts
A word of warning for your supplies and scoring system though, is that players always have a tendency to bet it all to win their engagement. It's hard to incenstivise your players to be cautious with their stuff since retreating usually means missing out on salvage/mechs they lost, so it tends to escalate in a winner taking it all brawl. No repairs during the battle track ties into this, since you want your mech to give it its all while it's fully operational, rather than when it's got an open torso waiting to get ammo critted. Maybe it's an idea to have persistent critical and internal damage while armour gets light repairs between battles?
Nope, you'll want to play around with megamek and familiarize yourself with the BT rules first, but it's not rocket science.
For lance scale matches (which don't take too long) I'm available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday after 8 PM PST. And most Sundays / Saturday evenings can be scheduled with a little advance notice.
Checking out megamek now
Which of the companies did you want?
How about gimme Baker company?
I wouldn't mind being the Tau Ceti rangers.
Just an FYI, Kana, if you're new, you might want to stick with a mech company instead of having to worry about vehicle and battle armor rules.
Warrior House Lu Sann 1st Company?
Honestly I'll take whatever, just balance me out with someone who doesn't know what they're doing on the other side
I do love me some Battletech and giant robots!
As for time zones, I'm available every weekday night (barring Fridays) after 7 PM CAT, and on Saturdays/ Sundays whenever (long as i get a day or week's notice to check my schedule).
And though my experience with the BT universe has been the PC games (mostly Mechcommander Gold and 2), I'm in the same boat as Da Moon Rulz, but I'm checking out Megamek as I'm posting this (I'll be looking for some BT rulebooks online sometime tonight when I'm off work) and I'm looking forward to experiencing BT in its tabletop form.
Edit: Or if its possible, It would probably be best to limit a newbie such as myself to just a single unit type (like say...vehicles), Major TiamatZ would also suffice. Up to kaliyama though.
Also if we're matching up experience levels, I'm okay with being switched to a Feddie unit if it helps balance things out.
I'll be available most evenings weekdays/some weekends, sans tuesday CST.
I have a good deal of Battletech experience, but am pretty rusty, not having played in several years really.
Also I'm totally going to be writing up fluff pieces for every single unit under my command
3 hexes = +1
5 hexes = +2
7 hexes = +3
10 hexes = +4
Modifiers based on your movement. If you run, you take a +2 penalty to shooting.
Jumping = +3
Running = +2
Walking = +1
Not moving at all, not even changing facing = +0
Modifiers based on range
Short range = +0
Medium range = +2
Long range = +4
Pilot skill is [Gunnery/Piloting] So a 3/4 is Gunnery 3, Piloting 4, lower is better. When you calculate your to-hit roll, you add your gunnery, your movement modifier, their movement modifier, cover, and range. e.g. My 3/4 pilot ran, shot a target in the open at medium range, and that opponent ran 5 hexes and is in the open. The number I have to roll is: +3 [Gunnery], +2 [I ran], +2 [Medium Range], +0 [Target has no cover], +2 [Target moved 5 hexes]; total: 9+ to-hit using 2d6.
These are the basics. You *need* to memorize this stuff, the more advanced tactics you can use expand on these basic principles and are things you'll figure out naturally as you play.
An important notice:
One of the things you should never do is run your mech 2 hexes for a movement modifier of +0. Let us say you ran for +0, and your opponent ran for +1, and you are both 4 gunnery pilots at short range.
+4 gunnery, +2 running, +0 target mod = 6+ to-hit
vs
+4 gunnery, +2 running, +1 target mod = 7+ to-hit
Which means he has a ~72% chance to hit you and you have a ~58% chance to hit him. The majority of the time if you could have run for a +0 you could also have walked for a +0 or just stood still. Lets compare that:
+4 gunnery, +1 walking, +1 target mod = 6+ to-hit [Now you're shooting on equal terms with your opponent]
+4 gunnery, +0 didn't move, +1 target mod = 5+ to-hit [Now you're shooting better than he is]
Never. Ever. Run for a +0. Ever. (there are exceptions, but for the purposes of this guide, never is a good idea.) There is almost always another move you could have made where you walk for +1 or stand still for +0 instead. Even simply standing still and taking a beating is preferable to running for +0.
Moving on from this, the next thing you want to look at is Initiative.
A string of good initiative rolls can pretty much take you from a guaranteed loss, to a win.
The ultimate position in mech vs mech combat is behind the enemy mech, preferably in a spot that he can't shoot you at all. Every move you make, you should be considering this. "Can I get behind him? If I do, can I kill him in one turn? If I don't kill him this turn, am I in trouble next turn? Will I be stuck in a killzone if I go for that backshot? Can I maneuver into cover after shooting him, or go for another backshot if I win initiative?" etc. etc. Backshots are very important because almost every mech design out there has less rear armor than front armor.
Okay, so you've won initiative, now what?
Well, the first thing you do is move your "useless" units first. This applies even if you lose initiative, but is even more important when you win. If you have a good backstabbing mech near the enemy, don't move the backstabber first. Slow 3/5 mech? Move it first, it's not going anywhere. Legged mech? Move it first, it's not going anywhere. Prone and unconscious? Move it first, it's not going anywhere. Sniper in partial cover at 15 hexes? Move him first, he's not going anywhere. [See the pattern here?]
If you've got a backstabber that moves 15 hexes at a time, move him LAST because he *is* going somewhere. [Namely, towards someone's back.] What you need to be careful of, is that you don't move your backstabbers until you've moved ALL of your "useless" [for the purposes of backstabbing] mechs first. That means if he moves the mech you want to backstab, you *do not* immediately move your backstabber to hit him. Good players will use the rear armor of their mechs as bait so they can rip apart your backstabber at short range with their other units.
When you move last, it means all his other supporting units will have moved, and you can better estimate your chances of success and survival, without worrying about a unit you never even saw, popping up out of nowhere and killing you.
Okay, so you've lost initiative, now what?
Stop, and think about the situation. Consider how you would want to move when you win initiative - don't let your opponent do those things. You still want to move the slow and useless units first because their movement is meaningless, they aren't going anywhere. That will free you up a little to react with your units. When he moves a light backstabber behind the camping mech that you just stood still, you can decide if you want to move your reactionary units in to deal with it or not.
By losing initiative you are placed on a more conservative footing, and you must be careful how you engage and what you engage, as your opponent will be able to choose the best range brackets and covered positions for his units. Sometimes it can be best simply to disengage and fade into cover or out of LOS. This can work very well in double blind play if you have active probes, as you will see him, but he will not see you, which allows you to judge when and where to strike, even if you've lost init.
What targets should I prioritize?
The weakest ones first, and concentrate on them. Don't spread your damage over everything - a dead enemy mech is better than 3 moderately damaged but fully operational ones, because you reduce the incoming firepower. Priority targets should be mechs with XL Engines, low speed, low armor and lots of ammunition. The worst targets are "zombies" which have standard fusion engines and (usually) energy weapons only.
Mechs are killed when they take 3 engine crits or the pilot dies, but you can make a mech near useless by taking out a leg or the gyro. When this happens, it is usually better to start focusing on another mech than to keep pounding on the crippled one.
Something to keep in mind as well, is firing order. It is important to hit with the big weapons like the AC/20 or ERPPC first which will punch a hole in a section, followed up by scattershot weapons like LRM's, SRM's and LBX Cluster. The reason for this is because you want to hit the internal structure of the enemy, which will give you a crit chance and could result in ammo explosions and disabled weapons in the enemy unit. A weapon like LBX Cluster deals damage in 1 point clusters, which allows you to sandblast a mech with an open torso as each pellet rolls for a location - with an LBX20, it's very likely that you hit almost every location on a mech at least once.
Fight the Powah
Battletech is about 50% player skill, 20% army composition (could be considered player skill), 20% terrain, and 10% luck. Sometimes that 10% luck dicks you over, and sometimes it gives you a win you didn't deserve.
When it comes to a loss, the best thing you can do is blame yourself for it - Not the RNG, not your opponent's cheesy army, not the terrain - Yourself. When you blame everything else, you tacitly imply that you are not making a mistake. This is the wrong stance to take - accept your mistakes, and learn from them. Try to figure out how you could have won that battle. Maybe you had the wrong type of army, maybe you made the wrong move somewhere. Every result that happens in the game happens directly because of what you did, how you moved that unit, what your opponent's response was.
The best thing to do when you get screwed over by the RNG, even though it can be hard, is to just grin and bear it. Keep playing, the RNG often swings both ways during a game, he headshot you, you headshot him later.
Good stuff here
The engagements are more usually going to be lance-sized, but yes, the idea is that people will get between-track reinforcements from their parent unit.
Can I give everyone in the parent unit names and maudlin backstories?
Yes.
http://www.masterunitlist.info/
for example here is a search for Civil War era mechs from the FedSuns, Lyran Commonwealth and Capellans (to match the backstory you posted for my unit)
http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit?Name=&HasBFAbility=&HasBV=false&MinTons=&MaxTons=&MinBV=&MaxBV=&MinIntro=&MaxIntro=&MinCost=&MaxCost=&Technologies=1&Eras=247&BookAuto=&Factions=5&Factions=29&Factions=60
Unless we secretly got time machines, in which case I wouldn't mind.
ah I just set the filter to the FedCom Civil War era
edit: also that database is being worked on by the people who make the actual Battletech tabletop game. And it includes every unit ever mentioned in any BT sourcebook. With modern Battlevalue ratings updated to the current rules.
The Civil War era starts in 3062, so that would be why
(these are all Heavy mechs from the time mentioned that should be available to a mostly Davion unit of the FedCom)
AXM-1N Axman
CPLT-C5 Catapult
PTR-4D Penetrator
FLC-8R Falconer
JM6-D3 JagerMech III
GAL-1GLS Gallowglas
edit: note that on the form the Axman is highlighted and underlined
I'm sure you would love an all-Falconer/Penetrator force; I'll roll once we get all the slots filled.