Campaign Rules: Against the Bot Thread #4

[Baktru]

So in a battle my Orion took massive damage.  Now most of it is easily fixable, but the left arm shoulder actuator was ruined and MekHQ tells me I have to scrap the arm to fix this.

When I try to scrap the arm it tells me I have to remove all components first.  And yes there's a good laser on that arm...

How do I remove that so I can continue fixing the mech?

[yukamichi]

Right click on the mech in question, change the Repair Status from "Repair" to "Salvage", select the left arm ("LA") from the drop down list in the repair bay (it should be located next to the target number calculation), then salvage/scrap all the parts installed in the arm.

[Baktru]

Thanks that did it!

Now to find a new left arm..

[dragonkid11]

Well, probably not the thread to ask but does anyone know if it's possible for Megamek to use more RAM?

Game got real slow everytime high speed battlemech (especially those with jumpjets) get selected by the bot.

[NickAragua]

Unfortunately, that's not really a function of memory, but an inherent problem with the current pathfinding algorithm. My suggestion would be to split off those fast mechs off under a separate bot.

[Thom293]

Also, if your game gets rea)y slow you can turn on TestBot. Its not as good as Princess but its far far faster.

On contracts : my rating is only 9 right now, but I have 4 admin 2 vets. I cant seem to roll a contract that makes me more than 1 million credits over a 6 month period. Most are projected lose 3-6M. Is that normal?  Only about 1 out of 10 is projected positive.

[2ndAcr]

 Yeah you will see that a bunch, it is the cost of transport that can kill you. If you have dropships and jumpships with 100% transport you can make a buck. It is the salvage that makes up the most of your profit.

 I rarely fix up mechs/vehicles I plan to sell, I just sell them. I tend to fight huge battles (battalion plus in size each side) so I can easily capture 40-100 mil worth of salvage in one battle at times. Way more than that is I am fighting Clan era. Heck a trinary worth of salvage can bring in 100mil easy.

[Rince Wind]

Contract payment depends on the price of the stuff in your TO&E. (but the more units you put there the more lances you will have to deploy)
So it is worthwhile to put your most expensive units into the TO&E when looking for contracts (can be changed anytime and current offers are updated), even if you don't intend to use them.

[Thom293]

Ahh maybe that is it.  When a contract ends I usually mothball my mechs until I get to the next contract so they are not in the TO&E anymore. Maybe that is what I am doing wrong.

[2ndAcr]

 He could also have "use payroll for contract" selected. I prefer payroll as it somewhat slows down my unit growth. The moment you get Dropships and Jumpships, if using TOE (and I always add my orbital stuff to TOE) it can really become a cash cow.

 Plus using payroll I don't have to keep mothballing and activating my equipment back into my TOE. Okay for small units, but Battalion plus and it becomes a major chore.

[Baktru]

Heh that was fun...

Chase Attacker against Pirates with 12 vehicles.  I had a single lance and two helpers.  The problem was, I had an Urbanmech.  And because I lost my custom Griffin due to an LRM ammo explosion all 3 remaining mechs had to get to the other side.  Including the Urbie!

36 turns...

[Baktru]

Do people use the Instant Mass Repair Salvage??

And if so, with what settings?

[Southernskies]

Depends upon your Campaign settings.  I have 'MoF 5+' destroys equipment, so set the maximum autorepair to 7+.
Tried setting minimum autorepair, but it seems a bit flaky.

[Demon55]

So I can create a mission but I cannot add an OpFor or create a scenario.  What is the step(s) I am missing?

I try to generate a scenario and nothing comes up.

[PurpleDragon]

yeah, I've been having problems with this my own self.  I really would like to know how this is done so I can run a good game and not have to export .mul files all the time. 

[Stormforge]

Make sure AtB is on. Go to the Briefing Room and add a New Contract, under Add Mission. Also works during a normal AtB contract. Select your Employer, Enemy, World, Pilot Skills, Unit Ratings, Mission Type, etc. Once everything is set to your liking, go to the world during the contract time frame, and hit [GM] Generate Scenarios (with GM Mode on of course). May have to hit it a few times as I think it is just doing the weekly battle roll for each button push, as in you may get a no battles result again.

[Demon55]

Make sure AtB is on. Go to the Briefing Room and add a New Contract, under Add Mission. Also works during a normal AtB contract. Select your Employer, Enemy, World, Pilot Skills, Unit Ratings, Mission Type, etc. Once everything is set to your liking, go to the world during the contract time frame, and hit [GM] Generate Scenarios (with GM Mode on of course). May have to hit it a few times as I think it is just doing the weekly battle roll for each button push, as in you may get a no battles result again.

Just what I was looking for, thank you.

[Baktru]

Heh I'm suffering bad attrition in my light mech heavy new AtB campaign (mostly because I'm really not good at this).  And I'm on a salvage exchange contract so I'm not getting replacements for anything...

But I just won a Quasit Militiatech as a bonus... 

http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=52828.30

I think I will actually use it!

[PurpleDragon]

Make sure AtB is on. Go to the Briefing Room and add a New Contract, under Add Mission. Also works during a normal AtB contract. Select your Employer, Enemy, World, Pilot Skills, Unit Ratings, Mission Type, etc. Once everything is set to your liking, go to the world during the contract time frame, and hit [GM] Generate Scenarios (with GM Mode on of course). May have to hit it a few times as I think it is just doing the weekly battle roll for each button push, as in you may get a no battles result again.

Me too.  thank you for the reply. 

[Dalthius]

Coming back to MM/AtB from a year hiatus (work/grad school) so I'm playing catch up.

I'm not familiar with the new RAT Generator; I always just loaded various RATs. If I wanted to play a Mercedes campaign that started in the 3060s and went through the Jihad (3070+), would the RAT Generator be sufficient? I thought I read somewhere that it stopped with 3067 but can't locate that information.

Edit: Also, is there a list somewhere that indicates what rules/rolls have to be manually completed in AtB? I know Ken of the references/guides indicates rules that are not implemented in MekHQ, but I was looking for something more specific. For example: reinforcements need to be picked/rolled, infantry support (avoiding battles) has to be completed manually, etc.

[neoancient]

The RAT generator uses availability data to generate custom RATS on the fly for any faction or era. The availability data is based on the master unit list with frequency determined from TRO entries and guess work.

[Dalthius]

I figured that was how it worked; it’s quite nice. It seems like it should include damn near everything; have there been many observations regarding balance? I assume then that it goes through all the eras?

Man, I sure miss this board. I was never very active here, but I sure enjoyed lurking.

[2ndAcr]

 Balance can be rough against the Clans...........for some reason I always have a Lance facing a dang Trinary. The few times I fielded a Battalion versus Clan, well they basically got a full Cluster and wiped me out quickly.

 I have learned to pare it down once I hit the lobby..................unless I am looking for that unit defining defeat.

[Dalthius]

I was specifically referring to the RAT, sorry. I meant does it do a fair job regarding rarity/availability, based on location/faction/date, etc

[2ndAcr]

 Yeah it does a pretty good job. I played around with moving XTOL RAT off the top slot a few times when running my SLDF campaign and I seem to have gotten much better equipment hitting the market. Even a few Royal's hit the market every now and then.

 But overall, it does a good job.

[Baktru]

"This part is not currently available to your unit."

D-Rated mercs in 3025 with a regular Logistical Admin.  The part I can't get?  Standard armor...  I'm also still in an 80% Salvage(Exchange) contract which doesn't help...

Any better plans possible here to get armor to fix my mechs other than finding a Vehicle tech, buying cheapish vehicles and stripping those at this point?

[Baktru]

And too late for my poor Wolverine...

Code: [Select]

   SRM 6 at Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath); needs 8, rolls 9 : 4 missile(s) hit.

        Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath) takes 2 damage to LT.
             10 Internal Structure remaining.
            Critical hit on LT. Roll is 10; 2 locations.
            CRITICAL HIT on +SRM 6.
            CRITICAL HIT on SRM 6 Ammo (8).
            *** SRM 6 Ammo EXPLODES!  96 DAMAGE! ***
                >Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath) suffers catastrophic damage, but the autoeject system was engaged.
            
Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath) must make a piloting skill check (landing in clear terrain).
            Needs 3 [4 (ejecting) + 1 (automatic ejection) - 2 (landing in clear terrain)], rolls 8 : succeeds.
                    The pilot ejects safely!
        *** Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath) DESTROYED by ejection! ***
        *** MechWarrior Januari Wanvik (Lyran Commonwealth) was trapped in the wreckage. ***
                Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath) takes 96 damage to LT.
                     SECTION DESTROYED.
        LIMB BLOWN OFF Left Arm blown off.
                86 damage transfers to CT.
                    Critical hit on LT.         Roll is 8;         1 location.
                    CRITICAL HIT on +SRM 6.
                Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath) takes 86 damage to CT.
                     SECTION DESTROYED.
                Wolverine WVR-6R (Shakira's Wrath) has taken 6 engine hits this phase.
                Checking for engine explosion on 10, roll is 11.
                ***The safety systems on the engine fail catastrophically resulting in a cascading engine failure!
[code]

[Southernskies]

"This part is not currently available to your unit."

D-Rated mercs in 3025 with a regular Logistical Admin.  The part I can't get?  Standard armor...  I'm also still in an 80% Salvage(Exchange) contract which doesn't help...

Any better plans possible here to get armor to fix my mechs other than finding a Vehicle tech, buying cheapish vehicles and stripping those at this point?

Check your contract.  Some contracts don't allow purchase of ANY parts (Guerilla warfare and a few others)

[2ndAcr]

 Combat contracts, haul in mucho ammo and supplies with you. Nothing worse than having your heavy hitters sidelined due to damage or no ammo.

[neoancient]

I was specifically referring to the RAT, sorry. I meant does it do a fair job regarding rarity/availability, based on location/faction/date, etc

It doesn't do well in the early Age of War era due to lack of units to work with.