Overcoming a disadvantage

[Paul]

Thought experiment time.

Generally speaking, you want to play the game with a setup that's balanced. At the start, both sides should have a roughly equal chance at victory. Most people tend to use BV or tonnage for this.
In a campaign setting this gets murkier; either the actual military strength isn't key to the objective (run the McGuffin off the map ASAP), or the campaign is balanced, even if a particular battle is not.

But what about a one-off where the imbalance is real? Presuming two competent operators, how do you overcome the gap?

The objective of this thread isn't to get a procedural answer to that question (it's fundamentally case specific) but as follows:

A Select 2 Mechs, both with the same pilots. (Suggest: 2/3 or better, but maybe your idea works with 6/7s all around)
B These 'Mechs must be unequal: one is clearly superior to the other. Their 'MechWarriors must be equal. (So SPAs should be granted equally, as appropriate)
C Describe the method by which the weaker has a good chance (so, better than 50-50) to win. Not guaranteed victory, just clearly an edge.
D No additional units can provide support even if they exist off the map.
E Superior Mech is operated by someone just as tactically sound as you are.

Fair game?
Any of the rules found in canon BT sources. Any. You like some obscure setup rules in random Track #2 from a Turning Point that few took? Bring the little rascal out to play.

How to "win"? Erm, biggest gap in BV2 between the two. Partial credit if you duplicate the method of a prior poster, but find a bigger BV gap; the real prize is in the method.


Example:
Wasp 1A vs Vulcan 2T.
384 vs 642 (258 BV or 40.2%)

Vulcan has more armor, is effective at bigger range, and has a firepower and physical attack damage advantage at point blank. There's a narrow range band where the Wasp can outgun it if both missiles hit, but likely not enough to matter, given the armor.

Process:
1. Use house rule that Torpedoes are just an ammo type. Fight underwater.
Outcome: fail. House rules are out of bounds.
2. OK. Smoke ammo for the SRM.
Outcome: Your firepower is reduced, and your enemy can use the same hexes. Fail.
3. Set Temperature to 160 degrees Celsius. +11 heat every turn. Ammo explosion will occur.
Outcome: Vulcan can match your heat output, or can stay below it by only using AC/2. Both 'Mechs can dump ammo before heat gets too high. Fail.
4. Set condition to Heavy Fog and Blowing Sands. Net +2 penalty to all Direct Fire weapons; SRM2 becomes more powerful. Provide Tandem-Charge ammo.
Outcome: Wasp likely to win. Success?

Naturally, this will all become very subjective very quickly. That's OK, that's part of it. If your method fails to convince people, it might just not be strong enough of a process.

Looking forward to see if this is interesting to anyone else. I've got a few more thoughts for later.

Paul

[Daryk]

Sounds easy enough... pick a non-jumping assault 'mech and a jumping light 'mech, and fight it out on the woods map.  The light should be able to stay in the non-threatening arm arc (or the rear, in the absence of arm mounted weapons) while shooting, or completely deny line of sight.

[Sharkapult]

Play with two different range bands, AC20 Hunchback vs LRM Hornet. Speeds are similar (4/6 vs 5/8/5) but the Hornet can nibble at LRM ranges and dance around any obstacles.

[Red Pins]

I've almost always played this way.  Mind you, I don't win many  because I normally take the underdog.

[Frogfoot]

Catapult K2 vs Quickdraw 4G. Use design quirks, with the Catapult getting No/Minimal Arms. Both pilots have Melee Specialist SPA.

Map has a lot of sheer drops (2 hexes or more) and deep one hex pools.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

In thinking about this I keep circling back to toying with scenario victory conditions.  The higher BV mech must win by a number of turns or the lower BV mech wins.  Or the lower BV mech is an Urbie, and the higher BV mech loses points for every point of damage it (not the Urbie) deals to buildings during the fight.  Stuff like that...

[Colt Ward]

What you are talking about is something like a battle between a Anubis and a old Orion 1K that might be found on the periphery . . . If the Anubis can survive out in LRM long range while darting around- and has the ammo remaining at the start of the fight- it can several weaken the Orion before it has to get closer.  It might even get a TAC or get lucky to remove all the armor in a location to just open it to crits.

But that would also require enough room to run and keep the distance open, which most BT maps played on does not.

With that said, I have played a MM battle of my 3/5 Arcas vs a 3/4 Avatar Prime & 4/5 Mad Dog Prime.  I lost the roll on the size of the battlefield for MM, so it was a 20x20 or maybe 17x16 without a lot of open places to run . . . I managed to keep moving and hopping with the JJs to take down the Mad Dog, cored, and then as the damage piled up I got in closer to the Avatar.  I was missing a arm at this point, and I think I had engine damage.  The Avatar did as well and IIRC a leg crit so it was not as mobile to begin with . . . I blew the Avatar's head off, but my gyro ate too many LBX pellets that final turn.

I think what it comes down to is you must play as aggressively as possible with your advantages.  For the first example that will mean getting the best position to fire those LRMs and always, even if you lose init, move to be in the best defensive position you can in range.  In the Arcas example, I used the JJ a lot, but to kill the opposing mechs I could not just rely on the cERLL range and so I had to get 10-12 hexes away to use the MPL & SSRM4 as well as riding the heat for when all the Streaks connected.

[Kovax]

The biggest discrepancy would be to have a fast Light 'Mech up against a dedicated heavy LRM-armed 'Mech with limited short-ranged weaponry on a map with lots of obstructions to line of sight.  The big machine will have difficulty targeting the lighter one on most of the occasions where there's any fire at all, thanks to movement modifiers and the minimum range on the LRMs.  The bigger 'Mech is clearly superior in any setting where it can use its armament to its full potential, but the target and terrain conspire against it.

I'm thinking along the lines of a Locust/Wasp/Stinger versus a Bombadier, or against a Catapult variant without the Medium Lasers.

As a reverse, pitting a fast Light 'Mech with a ranged weapon (wasn't there a Commando variant with a Large Laser?) against a standard HBK-4G or other slow unit with only short-ranged armament on a map with a lot less cover would again give the lighter and weaker unit the opportunity to plink the heavier one to death with little or no chance of return fire.  Of course, the pilot of the heavier unit would attempt to corner the lighter one against whatever terrain (or board edge) was available, and attempt to close to where the short ranged weapons would become effective.

[Cryhavok101]

I rarely set the objectives to be "Kill the opposing 'Mechs". Usually the objectives are more along the lines of "take out X target", "prevent X structure from being destroyed", "survive and escape with as much as possible", or even "delay the enemy X amount of time."

Usually this balances out, because even a wasp could accomplish some of those against the typical Steiner scout lance. Losing the fight but winning all your objectives allows a battle to play out naturally without creating any unnatural balance, just for balance's sake. Usually both sides will enjoy the game, even if they get stuck with the handicap, because they know the objectives are possible for them, even if they are gonna lose the fight.

That being said, I play with most of the optional rules, and any of the special ammo types is available if you want to pay for it. Playing dirty is encouraged.