Battletech - Blood of Kerensky

[Darimaus]

Sadly, pulse lasers have a flaw that make them less effective against fast mechs than you'd like to think. Because they have less range than the ER counterparts, if the light mech has longer ranged weapons you'll have a really hard time getting a chance to shoot. Comparing a medium pulse to an ER medium, the ER flat out wins if the faster mech keeps its target at 13-15 hexes, and is on equal footing with it between 9 and 12 hexes (the minus 2 being cancelled out by the pulse being at long range while the ER is at medium range).

Btw, for our last 3 combatants, feel free to get your initiative, starting location and first turn movement down for trial number 3.

 

[Dire Lemming]

In the IC thread? Can I start in hiding either on the hill with the dip or in a forest, and shut down so that I don't show on sensors? Or does the shutting down thing only work in Mechwarrior?

 

[Jemal]

True. Unless you're going with a close-in fast mech, the ER's are usually preferable.
Pulses win @ close range, but if you're not fast, they don't do so well 1 on 1.
EX: One of the best Cougar designs is 6 Medium Pulse. This is b/c the cougar's a fairly fast mech, and it's designed (IMO) for large-scale battles, not clan-styled one on ones.

And it's not that tactics are underhanded, it's that CERTAIN(most) tactics are considered underhanded. Scouting is information, which allows you to plan a battle accordingly and thus avoid waste, which Clans Abhor.
For anybody who's seen 300, Clanners are pretty much Sci-Fi Spartans.
They use tactics, just THEIR tactics, assuming that anything not their way is inferior.


Fenris2 - Slow = bad in my opinion. I wouldn't suggest dropping speed to add anything, unless you're gonna be using LRM's/ER Large lasers, cuz if you EVER fight a faster mech with more range, you loose.

BTW, just for the record, Clan scouts are usually Elementals (Body armoured soldiers, known as "toads" to the IS)

 

[Darimaus]

In the IC thread? Can I start in hiding either on the hill with the dip or in a forest, and shut down so that I don't show on sensors? Or does the shutting down thing only work in Mechwarrior?

You can start close enough in the upper right corner to move into the forest or behind the hill in your movement phase. And btw, the shutdown trick only works if they don't know your there. This is a trial where they are specifically dueling you. They know you are there. This is why I haven't introduced the "Double-Blind" rules I'll be using yet.

 

[Dire Lemming]

Hm, ok. So should I just post in the IC thread then? Where exactly are we allowed to start? How many movement points do we get?

Jemal. I've never seen 300, but just last night I was thinking about how the Clans are like a Sci Fi version of ancient Greece except that all the warring city states act like Sparta. Makes you wonder how the crap they've managed to continue existing all this time.

 

[Jemal]

Hm, ok. So should I just post in the IC thread then? Where exactly are we allowed to start? How many movement points do we get?

What's the walk/run speed on your mech? That's how far you can move. You can move backwards up to your walk speed. You can move forwards up to your Run speed. If you move more than your walk speed, you're considered 'running' and take a +2 to hit difficulty instead of walking's +1. (Also see the first post in the IC thread for modifiers THEY have for hitting YOU dependant on how far YOU move).
If you wish to change direction, you have to spend 1 'movement point' to turn your hex facing by 1 to the left or right. Movement points spent 'turning' do NOT affect their difficulty to hit you, but DO affect whether you are considered walking or Running for YOUR hit modifier.
EXAMPLE: My Timberwolf can walk 5, Run 8. If I wanted to move forward 4 and turn 2 hexes to the left, that would require 6 movement, meaning I'd be considered running. +2 modifier to my attacks. however, I only actually MOVED 4 squares. +1 modifier to my opponents attack.
My opponent, an identical mech, Turns 1 hex left to face me directly, then moves forward 6 hexs straight at me. He gets a +2 modifier to hit me(he ran), and I get a +2 modifier to hit him (He moved 6 hexes).

When using jump jets, you can land facing whatever direction you want.
After movement, you can 'torso-twist' one hex to the left or the right. the only effect his has is on your firing arc. You are still considered facing the same way you were before the 'twist' for purposes of which direction you can move, and which angle they shoot at you from. (There are forward, rear, left, and right. Rear requires they be pretty much DIRECTLY behind you.)

Jemal. I've never seen 300, but just last night I was thinking about how the Clans are like a Sci Fi version of ancient Greece except that all the warring city states act like Sparta. Makes you wonder how the crap they've managed to continue existing all this time.

A lot of them HAVEN'T survived this long, and others are still struggling to survive, not participating in the invasion b/c they have their hands full just defending their own worlds against other clans.
The reason the rest HAVE survived is B/C they're Spartan, and have defeated the weaker ones to make themselves stronger.

 

[Dire Lemming]

Alright well my mech's walk speed is six, but I think I understand now.

I think the reason they've survived is because they all follow the rules, so only the ones with the most brute strength win. If they ever encounter an opponent who's willing to adapt instead of just dying, they fail. Which I guess happened, didn't it?

It's just too bad they didn't learn anything from history, like what happened to Sparta.

 

[Jemal]

They didn't loose b/c their opponent could adapt, they lost b/c they were stupid, and UNDERESTIMATED the benefits of said adaptation.
Also b/c the I.S. used their own rules against them (and cheated.)

 

[Dire Lemming]

Ah yes, that's it, they cheated.... At war.

 

[Fenris2]

Okay my mech is away in the interweb to Darimaus.. Let me know when to start...