Campaign Rules: Against the Bot Thread #4

[yukamichi]

Yes, the bot seems a bit... focused in rushing to combat at times.

You can also edit the bots settings for things like aggressiveness, self-preservation, etc... I think these need to be changed in MekHQ before you start the battle, or otherwise in the MegaMek deployment screen when adding a bot manually. Could be worth experimenting with.

How do you end MM when objectives are reached? I am not sure where's the manual end game. As a result, its been 'kill them all' in all of my battles.

The simplest way is to type "/victory" into the message prompt at the bottom of the screen (and then type it again to confirm). This will automatically end the battle at the end of the current round. This provides a sort of "fade to black" feel that might or might not be to your liking. If you dig the whole SW-era symbolic combat, limit destruction sort of ethos, it works pretty well from a narrative standpoint.

I've heard other people will kick the bot, take over control and manually retreat with all the units. This gives you the player some extra chance at salvage and kills. I know that the bot also has an automatic "forced withdrawal" option, but I've only see it kick in on individual units, not an entire force. I'm not sure if there is a way to do that in MM as things stand now, but if not it might be an interesting feature request.

Are units only damaged from cascading engine failures or is there a setting whereby ammo explosions would cause damage to nearby units?

Game Options -> Advanced Combat -> TacOps Ammunition

I have currently set kill XP to 1 per kill. Is that too much? Or would 2 or 3 per kill a more balance setting. I like to see my company grow in a gradual manner and not have a team of vets after only after a few years.

In my experience, if you regularly fight hordes of tanks you will be leveling up at a fairly decent rate at one per kill, even if you have vehicle crews abandoning vehicles and it not counting as a kill for whoever crippled it. Getting Regular pilots up to Veteran doesn't take long, but your mileage may vary. A couple of years can actually fly by pretty fast in the game, depending on the kind of contracts you end up on.

What is the purpose of transport and command admin?

Increases the likelihood of getting better contract terms.

I am currently playing with the stand 1:2:3 ratio. Is this a fair representation or should it be set to something more mech heavy?

I think this is mostly personal preference; for what it's worth I like it, the large number of tanks to stomp makes Mechs and Mechwarriors feel "special," which scratches the fictional itch for me just right.

But I'm a firm believer that you should never feel bad about changing things to get the kind of experience that you want to create out of a wargame, though, so if it doesn't feel right to you, change it until it does.

[JenniferinaMAD]

You will always end up capturing more vehicle crew than mechwarriors. Vehicles tend to be more numerous and have more than one crew each, so the odds are simply higher that any given prisoner won't be a mechwarrior.

AtB rolls randomly for each enemy to see if they're captured, and with vehicle crews often outnumbering mechwarriors 6-10 against 1, that's simply a stacked deck.

[Rince Wind]

To make the bot flee you could type "/kick 1" (and "/kick 2" if there are reinforcements) and then replace the bot with the game menu. There you'll be asked for the bot behaviour, and can set it to fleeing, just make sure they are going to the correct map edge by setting that as home.

If you train the negotioation skill with your admins you also get to reroll certain contract clauses (depending on which admins with negotioation you have, salvage can never be negotiated).

[Orangsemut]

Thanks everyone for your explanations and advice.  O0

[MoleMan]

Logistics admin is responsible for ordering parts, I always make sure they're the most experienced, as an inexperienced logistics person will be unable to order some parts til a contract ends sometimes.

[Orangsemut]

Yeah, I found that out the hard way. I started with a green logistic person. Luckily, half way through my first contract, an elite logistics person appeared in the market.

[Orangsemut]

I have now completed three contracts, paid off my debts and decided to spend some time refitting my company and repairing some captured mechs. I decided to try and customise a captured Wolverine (mostly just to play around with customisation). 

I selected the mech in Hangar and sent it to customize in MekLab.  I made all the changes, I have the spare parts in hand, then I hit the begin refit button (which was previously greyed out). Advance the day and nothing happens.  I tried again with just a minor change (I moved one point of armour) and hit the begin refit button again.  Once again nothing is happening.

The mech is a spare mech (fully repaired) and not assigned to anyone. I tried assigning it before trying to customise and still its a no go.

Please advise which step I am missing out on. Thanks lots.

[Rince Wind]

In 42.1 customizing in the MechLab doesn't work.
You could probably load the save in 42, customize, and reload in 42.1. I just went back to 42, so I know for a fact that the save is backwards compatible, at least if you haven't done a lot. I was at a similar point as you are now.

[Orangsemut]

Thanks, I will try that. No, I have not used 42 before this,  I only just discovered MekHQ and ATB.

[Snimm]

I'm using the development version 43, MML works correctly in there.

[Snimm]

Short note on Base Attack battles:  The AtB rules aren't entirely clear on what deployment edge you should use for gun emplacements.  I would presume we should establish that these should be deployed in a CTR deployment.  However, in a dense urban environment, you could theoretically see emplacements just about anywhere in the city.  Should we force gun emplacements in a CTR deployment zone, or allow ANY placement?

Keep in mind that the attacker would have to kill said far-flung turrets in a base attack battle, which is a challenge for a player and probably a complete fiasco for an attacking bot.  The fact this could present a unique strategic/tactical challenge for attacking players (stay tight or go after the dispersed turrets?) might make for interesting scenarios, which is why I pose this question to all the AtB players.  Maybe even make a poll out of it or something?

[BLOODWOLF]

Igniting building hexes that turrets are on works pretty well for blocking their LOS and then a crit roll every turn.  Eventually something is going to get hit and the fire will kill the turret.  But Princess still does not rotate the turret so you almost need to play against a human if the opfor is going to have turrets.

[Snimm]

I don't know, the bot seemed to deploy them intelligently enough in this base battle I had and had them all faced correctly.  Particularly nefarious was the fact 2 were  medium lasers and 2 were SRM 6s, all within about 6 hexes of each other or so.  Made for quite a kill zone, except the allied army, with 3 3/5 JVN-10Ns, was amazingly efficient in mowing those suckers down and only sacrificing two Stingers in the process.

[Twin_81]

I'm loving MekHQ so far, but I've never really used vees and infantry. So, I've got a question about the 'support' role of 'Search and Rescue' I've bought a motorized platoon specifically for that. But how exactly do I appoint them in MekHQ? Do I have to deploy them or just consider that they are doing the job and roll the rescue dice manually?

[Snimm]

I believe that still must be handled manually.  I'm sure it's on the to-do list somewhere, but likely not a high priority.

[Twin_81]

Thanks for the clarification. Anyway, another question. I've bought some battle armor and want to try it out for the first time. Is there a way to deploy it with my mechs? Do I use them as a reinforcement sub-force or how exactly is it done? Does it affect the lance weight and unit limit if deployed as a part of the mech lance?

[JenniferinaMAD]

By default, AtB as implemented treats any unit in a lance as a full unit and uses its real weight for lance weight.

A default lance can have up to 6 units and 390 tons, that's enough for 4 mechs and 2 BA squads.*
You can also remove the weight and/or number limits in the campaign options, AtB tab, if you want 4 mechs and 4 squads.

Anything else, you'll need to manually deploy reinforcements and adjust their arrival times as needed.

*Keep in mind that contract lance requirements are based on total number of combat units on your TO&E chart. If you switch to 6 unit lances, it will ask for more deployed lances and leave you with very little to no reserves.
 

[Eliijahh]

I've just started a new game with MekHQ, creating a merc company with a lance worth of meks. I'm in the process of accepting the first contract, but I'm not sure how to read the contract difficulty. How do I convert the enemy rating (eg. Green/F) in terms that I can understand?

Thanks!

[Shin Ji]

Are you letting MekHQ do the work for you?  If so, don't sweat it.  F just means the lowest tech level, and Green is the lowest skill level.

[dragonkid11]

So, currently playing a Merc campaign during the Jihad.

I have absolutely no idea what to do with the RAT to give a good experience, I could either go for RAT generator, or the traditional RAT.

But RAT during Jihad is kinda limited with years apart but the RAT generator also gives some weirdness like the sheer amount of IS mech being deployed by Clan Diamond Shark.

So I just...have no idea.

Also, how do you guys deal with all the Base defense? There's so many units and I have to wait a long time just to get them all deployed...

[neoancient]

But RAT during Jihad is kinda limited with years apart but the RAT generator also gives some weirdness like the sheer amount of IS mech being deployed by Clan Diamond Shark.

For most Clans it is not at all unusual to find a large number of Star League 'Mechs in the second line forces, with Solahma and garrison often more than half IS tech. But Clan Diamond Shark is not most Clans, and is particularly well-equipped. I reviewed the data and found that the approach I used for relative tech proportions doesn't work for some of the less typical Clans, and I've just revised all the Clan tech proportions for Solahma and garrison ratings (corresponding to IS D/F).

The fix will be in the next release, but you can get it now by unzipping this file into the data/forcegenerator folder: generator.zip

[dragonkid11]

The other thing I wondered if why does my enemies still used obsolete battlemech with single heatsink?

A way to simulate logistic failure and not enough upgrade?

[JenniferinaMAD]

The other thing I wondered if why does my enemies still used obsolete battlemech with single heatsink?

A way to simulate logistic failure and not enough upgrade?

Or privately owned mechs that were never able to afford an upgrade, or reserve/training units pushed into active service due to pressing needs, or a mech not considered worth upgrading due to accumulated mechanical issues, or a unit deliberately kept low tech for maintenance ease, or someone piloting and older piece of junk while their real ride gets a sweeeet upgrade, or its a remote garrison that never made it onto the upgrade to do list due to perceived lack of need.

[neoancient]

The other thing I wondered if why does my enemies still used obsolete battlemech with single heatsink?

A way to simulate logistic failure and not enough upgrade?

If you're playing in the Jihad, you're going to see a blend of very high tech and very low tech. While the Succession Wars saw a loss of technology, the Jihad saw destruction on such a massive scale that production could not keep up with demand, and it was more important to get something on the field than to field the best tech. So you even saw a return of primitive tech because you could convert a warehouse into a factory to churn out Age of War-era units.

[dragonkid11]

Thanks for the answer.

I'm also wondering if it's possible to use ASF for some fire support in the current game even if the AI can't use ASF of their own at all.

[JenniferinaMAD]

That is absolutely possible, though the AtB rules don't really go into detail about it yet.

The AI will shoot your ASF, so it's thankfully not like shooting fish in a barrel, but as you're essentially guaranteed air superiority, ASFs will punch very much above their BV most of the time.

You'll want to set the MegaMek option that allows ASFs that fly off the map to return later, though. Otherwise most AtB maps are too small to maneuvre.

[yukamichi]

For what it's worth, I set up Air Support like a dedicated reinforcement lance that doesn't roll for weekly battles (player reinforcements used to work like this in an older version of the AtB rules). A roll of 5 or 6 means they can deploy as reinforcments in any particular battle. 2 fighters per wing, and I personally have a thing for lighter craft so it doesn't end up being overpowering. I consider the cost for pilots, techs, maintenance, bombs/ammunition, transport, and their effect on AtB rules regarding force size (minimum deployed lances, retirement rolls) to be a fair offset for the slight boost in firepower they occasionally give, but if I were using Eisensturms (or even Stingrays) instead of Sparrowhawks it might feel more cheap than it does.

I think of their "availability" (the reinforcement chance roll) as a way of abstractly representing whether they are able to gain air superiority in the first place enough to add fire support to a battle. Maybe it would be more fair (and/or more realistic) to incorporate random damage every time you want to deploy ASF, to represent them scrapping with enemy fighters off the map.

Something like [2D6 - (Safe Thrust)] (possibly modified by enemy skill rating and the pilot's Piloting skill) 5-point clusters to each craft whenever they don't make their reinforcement roll, and 1XP for each pilot? I'm not sure how the math on that pans out, I just pulled it out of nowhere. That would probably screw over conventional fighters to the point of making them unusable, though...maybe give them a bonus for better maneuverability than regular ASF.

[NickAragua]

So, here's a quandry. I've got a mechwarrior "missing in action", and, frankly, I'd like to rescue him (seeing as how he's a badass elite mechwarrior and all). But, there's not really any mechanism in AtB to handle that. How have people been dealing with that kind of situation (aside from just setting the guy's status back to normal in MekHQ, which feels mildly cheap)?

[Rince Wind]

I usually go for some kind of prisoner exchange.

[jedidino]

So, here's a quandry. I've got a mechwarrior "missing in action", and, frankly, I'd like to rescue him (seeing as how he's a badass elite mechwarrior and all). But, there's not really any mechanism in AtB to handle that. How have people been dealing with that kind of situation (aside from just setting the guy's status back to normal in MekHQ, which feels mildly cheap)?

Here is how I have been handling it.

VTOL Rescue

Green Pilot -- Roll 8+

Regular Pilot -- Roll 7+

Veteran Pilot -- Roll 6+

Elite Pilot -- Roll 5+

VTOL Shot Down/Lost -- Roll of 2

Roll once per VTOL owned per missing person.  If you lose all VTOL's before you find all missing persons then you lose anyone not found along with the VTOL. I have also been granting 1xp for every 3 persons recovered.  Still playing around with the target numbers but it has been working so far.