favorite/ suggested bot OpFor?

[danumphrey]

As I understand is the case with many, I mainly play against the bot.  Now, under the best of circumstances, the bot is famously weak and ineffective, but it's made worse by the fact that I typically just give it a RAT force for some random group and go at it.  It would be nice to hand the bot an optimized force, and ideally one that the bot is relatively effective with (I don't know for sure, but I assume there are mechs and weapons that the bot is more effective with than others).

So, with that, what's everyone's favorite Lance/ Reinforced Lance/ Demi-Company/ Level II/ Star/ Sept (does CEWS work for the bot?)/ whatever to hand the bot?  Does it work better with one bot than the other (I can't even remember which is newer)?

My goal would be to get a dozen or more of these OpFor groups, complete with pilots and all, saved to .muls I can just load whenever I'd like.  It would be cool if they were era- and faction-specific and flavorful, but I'm not fussy about having all eras represented (I'd think nothing of taking two 3SW-era lances against a WOB LII, for example, or a Trey against some SLDF royals, but I'd like each side to "make sense").  I can't be the only one thinking like this, so my hope is that people have these ready and don't need to create them for me.  Thanks in advance!

[Simon Landmine]

Well, Princess is the bot to go for, and pFarland's different Princess presets for each role work pretty well at tailoring the behaviours (you can look up the roles on the MUL) so that the OpFor acts reasonably appropriately (i.e. Brawlers close, Snipers don't).

As for weapons, Princess can't use indirect fire (yet ?), so doesn't get as much value out of LRMs as a human player would (and no idea about TAG). And isn't great with infantry. Oh, and Princess can't use hidden units (if configured and handed over, they never come out of hiding).

(Yep, I mostly play against Princess, too - often against forces I've previously generated and saved as a MUL, usually between lance and company sizes - so rather interested in this thread!)

Has anyone found a workable player:bot BV ratio that gives the bot a fairer chance and helps outweigh Princess's flaws, without being completely overwhelming?

[Kentares]

I mostly play 3025/3050 era so your millage may vary but I think giving the bot (Princess) around 125% to 150% of BV will balance things (assuming same skills levels). Of course a lucky shot or map positioning can unbalance things (Princess is a bit clumsy on city maps - even more with jumping mechs - sometimes I kill them by getting fall damage after I rubble the building where they stood).

At the end... try a couple of variations to see the one you like most.

[danumphrey]

At the end... try a couple of variations to see the one you like most.

Could you share some of the ones you've liked?  I'm right now fighting basic 3025 versions of an Awesome, Thug, Orion, and Quickdraw.  It's rough.

[Simon Landmine]

I think giving the bot (Princess) around 125% to 150% of BV will balance things (assuming same skills levels).

Ta! Always good to learn from others' experience!

Princess is a bit clumsy on city maps - even more with jumping mechs

Good point - I've had battles where Princess has lost 'mechs due to either a) jumping them into a lake where they fell over and breached (I spent several turns wondering where that Phoenix Hawk went, worried that it would pop up behind me!) or b) running them over buildings that wouldn't take their weight (which caused a badly damaged Locust to fall backwards into a basement, triggering a engine explosion) - though that does vary with the Princess settings - those were both running pretty incautious role templates. Then again, I've also dropped 'mechs into basements through not paying enough attention when moving, so ...

[scJazz]

In many ways Princess's "skill" is far less about the Mechs than it is about Maps.

The Some Trees map type is IMHO the most Princess friendly. Try fighting some battles on that and see what kind of results you get.

[Simon Landmine]

The Some Trees map type is IMHO the most Princess friendly. Try fighting some battles on that and see what kind of results you get.

Is that ones like the ScatteredWoods.board map?

(Changes plans for evening and stacks up some CDs ...)

[Kentares]

Could you share some of the ones you've liked?  I'm right now fighting basic 3025 versions of an Awesome, Thug, Orion, and Quickdraw.  It's rough.

Cant give you a precise "formula" (because like I wrote before your millage can vary) but some random guidelines are (and Im going to mention mechs only):

- Dont give flimsy mechs to Princess (like Locust) although some mobile (mediums/heavies) is fine (you will get into trouble if you give some though non heat problematic mechs.

- Jumping mechs have many problems in urban maps but can be a pain (for you) in wooded maps

- You can always change Princess pilots skill levels - try equal BV for both sides but increase Princess skill levels (i.e. if all your pilots are regular give veterans to Princess or (pseudo-)randomize the pilots - give either piloting or gunnery a better value than your pilots.

- Mix and match the above. If you have a medium/heavy regular lance give Princess an assault veteran one.

- You can do a challange to yourself. Pick one heavy mech and give 3 heavy mechs to Princess (same skil levels for all in one wooded map). Try to kill all 3. If you can increase the difficulty giving a 4th mech or improving skill levels to Princess. Repeat until you say to yourself "no way I could win this!". Why I say to use heavy mechs? Because I think its the more balanced class for those kind of... experiments. Not too thin to end fast and not too though to take a whole evening (RNG gods forbid some strange lucky shot).

[scJazz]

Is that ones like the ScatteredWoods.board map?

(Changes plans for evening and stacks up some CDs ...)

yes more or less
and if you want you can fuss with it more
but after 3 years of this I can safely say... Princess and Some Trees are match made in heaven.

[Simon Landmine]

but after 3 years of this I can safely say... Princess and Some Trees are match made in heaven.

[grin] Cheers!