Author Topic: Locusts vs Monstrosity  (Read 2293 times)

Simon Landmine

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Locusts vs Monstrosity
« on: 19 June 2017, 13:01:10 »
I've got a custom mech that I built for kicks, inspired by the legendary MAC II. To match the design, it's packing four big torso-mounted guns, and has triple-barrels in the arms. It's 100-tons of Clan-tech, that moves with all of the speed and panache of a glacier. Currently available in three daft flavours ...

MONS-2A - 4 LB 10-X AC with 40rds, 6 ER Medium Laser, 2 ER Small Laser, 1 AMS
MONS-2R - 4 Gauss Rifle with 40rds, 6 ER Small Laser, 1 AMS
MONS-3M - 4 LB 10-X AC with 40rds, 2 ATM6 (launching 2 missiles per tube, for appearance sake) with 40rds, 1 AMS

(Full details available on application to the smoking crater at the end of the road, if desired.)

Having just had a bit of fun on my oasis map (https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/MegaMek-Board-Images/n-dQ3FKw/i-PPPmMDv/0/ca78b0a7/X3/i-PPPmMDv-X3.png), successfully taking on a Kuritan Assault Lance with a MONS-2A and a MONS-2R, I thought I'd have  a go at swarming one. I picked one of my European landscape maps, dropped a MONS-2R under Princess's control in the middle, and surrounded it with seven LCT-1E2 Locusts around the edge of the map (a variant of the LCT-1E, but both Medium Lasers stay in the CT, rather than going into the arms, due to the number of times my Locusts lose their arms).

This was the board ...


Rolling terrain with some hills and some woods, 32x34, so the size of four standard mapsheets.

It was all over a lot faster than I expected.

Round 1
The Locusts run at full speed towards the Monstrosity, currently standing in the small woods just left of centre, facing right, back to the heavy woods.
The six Locusts that have got into range open up on the thing, knowing that their only chance is to down it as soon as possible.
A couple of glancing blows to different locations on the rear torso, and everything else goes straight past.
The return gauss salvo features three misses, and a glancing hit that almost legs one of the Locusts.

Round 2
A lot of running around from the Locusts, as they attempt to move as much as possible while still being able to get a firing position. The longer that this goes on, the more likely that they're going to lose team-mates. The Monstrosity stands there, oblivious.
All seven Locusts are now in range ... though they're as accurate as my pilots ever are. A hit to the Monstrosity's leg, a glancing blow to the centre torso (knocking 2 points off the 45 there) and another to the left torso, a hit to the left torso, a small laser to the CT, ... and a medium laser to the head! But to little effect. Then a glancing hit to the head! But the Clan pilot is still conscious.
The return salvo focuses on a single unlucky Locust. A direct gauss hit to the left arm shredded it, the damage ripping the armour free from the left torso as well, and flash-through to the centre torso causing two engine criticals and a gyro hit. Milliseconds later, a second gauss rifle shell slams into the centre torso again, destroying all the armour (and almost taking out the internal skeleton as well), while adding the indignity of a second gyro hit. And then the ER small laser spam arrives - a leg hit! And then a direct hit to the centre ... which collapses inward, the engine breached (but not Stackpoling), as the Locust folds.
And so it begins ...

Round 3
Or not, as it turned out.
The Monstrosity strode slowly out of cover, advancing and firing on the petty opponents. Which then did the Locust thing, and ran around in circles - two hiding in the woods right of centre, the other four managing to loop around behind the Monstrosity.
The barrage from the Monstrosity caught one Locust in the right torso, completely destroying it and causing the arm to fall free in fine tradition (see comment above about the reason for the LCT-1E2 variant). Everything else, though, missed - three gauss shells and six ER small lasers just went off into the surrounding landscape, presumably to the intense dismay of any wildlife that hadn't fled.
And then the Locust barrage hit ... nine medium laser hits in a combination of glancing, standard, and direct blows. Five hits from the front had little effect, thanks to those vast slabs of armour. But one decent hit to the right torso rear was followed by a direct blow, which finally cut through ... and caused one of the gauss rifles to overload, destroying the entire right torso and removing the right arm. The shock caused the pilot to take another two hits, and they blacked out. And then a glancing blow caught the head, stripping off the last of the armour, and causing a fifth hit to the pilot.
Unsurprisingly, the vast bulk toppled over, the impact causing a final hit, and killing the unconscious pilot.

That was a shorter battle than I'd expected, but a fine demonstration of the military truism that it doesn't matter if you're carrying nineteen tons of armour if you've not got a buddy to prevent encircling manoeuvres.

(I'm going to have another go at the Locust swarm attack - but this time against a pair of Monstrosities - I suspect it will not go so smoothly. Also, the MONS-2A is actually better suited to multiple opponents, while the -2R is more for punching through big ones.)
« Last Edit: 19 June 2017, 13:30:44 by Simon Landmine »
"That's Lieutenant Faceplant to you, Corporal!"

Things that I have learnt through clicking too fast on 'Move Done' on MegaMek: Double-check the CF of the building before jumping onto it, check artillery arrival times before standing in the neighbouring hex, and don't run across your own minefield.

"Hmm, I wonder if I can turn this into a MM map."

Simon Landmine

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Re: Locusts vs Monstrosity
« Reply #1 on: 19 June 2017, 16:56:42 »
As predicted, the 'rematch' was messy. 12 Locust LCT-1E2s against two Monstrosities, a MONS-2A and a MONS-2R. Obviously, working as a pair, the two were able to cover each other's blindspots, although I tried to avoid grouping too much, so that at least some of the bugs could attempt rear shots. Poor initiative meant that I was rarely able to properly back-stab, though, so there was quite a lot of scurrying and hiding. And when the big guns hit, they scored, meaning that, on average, I lost a Locust every round ... including one to an engine explosion, one to a gauss rifle headshot, and one due to losing a leg, taking gyro damage, falling over backwards and writing itself off, which was embarrassing.

Thinking about it, I should probably have kept dancing about at long ranges, teasing Princess into wasting ammunition, and then closed once they were down to lasers - especially the MONS-2R. As it was, after eight rounds of battle, the MONS-2A was down to 12 rounds of LB 10-X, and the MONS-2R had only 8 rounds of gauss ammo - i.e. three full salvoes and two full salvoes respectively. The 2A's ER Medium Lasers would still have been a problem, though.

(Oddly, one of the four surviving Locusts got through completely undamaged.)
« Last Edit: 26 June 2017, 03:51:23 by Simon Landmine »
"That's Lieutenant Faceplant to you, Corporal!"

Things that I have learnt through clicking too fast on 'Move Done' on MegaMek: Double-check the CF of the building before jumping onto it, check artillery arrival times before standing in the neighbouring hex, and don't run across your own minefield.

"Hmm, I wonder if I can turn this into a MM map."

Louie N

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Re: Locusts vs Monstrosity
« Reply #2 on: 26 June 2017, 00:48:19 »
Interesting Fight

Simon Landmine

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  • Posts: 1223
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Re: Locusts vs Monstrosity
« Reply #3 on: 26 June 2017, 03:57:07 »
Cheers!
"That's Lieutenant Faceplant to you, Corporal!"

Things that I have learnt through clicking too fast on 'Move Done' on MegaMek: Double-check the CF of the building before jumping onto it, check artillery arrival times before standing in the neighbouring hex, and don't run across your own minefield.

"Hmm, I wonder if I can turn this into a MM map."

 

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