Author Topic: "And we shall fight in the shade!" (Megamek battle)  (Read 2591 times)

Simon Landmine

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"And we shall fight in the shade!" (Megamek battle)
« on: 01 September 2017, 07:53:16 »
Inspired by Lyran Archer's heavy barrage fire support lances, I decided to create a Steiner fire support lance, but without using multiples of the same 'mech. Against them, I sent a mercenary lance, with some additional support to balance the BV.

Lyran Fire Lance
ARC-5S Archer
CRD-5S Crusader
APL-1M Apollo
LGB-12C Longbow

Given the lack of any serious secondary armament on the Longbow and Apollo, the Crusader and Archer were intended to serve secondary bodyguard roles against anything that came too close.

Mercenary Lance (reinforced)

MAD-5M Marauder
ARC-5R Archer
HCT-3F Hatchetman
LCT-1E2 Locust (mounts both MLs in CT, rather than arms)

Hawk Moth Gunship (Armour variant) x 2
IS Standard Battle Armour (LRR variant) squad

I set up a quick battlemap using three of my 30x15 'valley' series maps, resulting in the 'table' below ...



To the north was a fairly open area, with a town in the middle, and a quarry to the south. The mercenaries started at the north, with the Lyrans to the south.

I fought the battle against Princess twice (using the various 'Princess Personalities' for each 'mech as appropriate), first playing as the mercs, and the second time as the Lyrans.

(I was going to do a .gif map, outlining unit movements, but ran out of time among other things I had to do.)

Battle 1
The first couple of rounds were featured a slow advance by the Lyrans up the south-east corner of the map, while the mercs rushed from the north for the cover of the city, although the Hawk Moths made contact in round 2, scoring a minor hit on the Longbow.
By round 4, most of the mercenaries were in the town, while the Locust was already through and attempting to act as bait for the Lyrans, who instead fired 130 LRMs at the Hawk Moths, to no avail.
By round 7, the mercenary Archer was tucked behind a building at the bottom of the main road through the town, and the battle armour was spotting from a building. 170 LRMs were launched that turn, with only six hitting a target.
Round 8, and the mercenary Locust took hits from the Crusader and Apollo, but fortunately in different locations.
Come round 10, and the mercenary Archer managed to lob 24 LRMs into the Crusader, while both Hawk Moths also hit, causing an engine critical, and resulting in the Crusader stumbling and falling.
Round 11, and the Crusader got to its feet again in time to take more hits from the mercenary Archer and Hawk Moths, this time taking a hip critical that put it on the ground again. The Longbow put the Locust in the shade with a salvo of 70 LRMs that all missed, but the Apollo removed both the right arm and the left torso (justifying both those MLs in the centre torso).
The Crusader failed to find its feet at the start of round 12, while the Longbow, Archer, and Apollo all unleashed an LRM firework display in the direction of the BA, who may have suddenly realised that a rooftop wasn't the best location to watch the show from.
In round 13, the Crusader pilot failed to stand, again, and knocked themselves out in the process. The Lyran Archer advanced towards the city, tempting the mercenary Marauder from the shadows - and then giving it a glancing MPL hit to the head as a reward. The return strike from the Marauder stripped the Archer's right arm, and critted the foot and hip. Closing on a MAD-5M isn't necessarily the best idea. In retaliation, the Longbow killed three-quarters of the BA squad. The Hatchetman moved to the small wooded building to the south-east of the city to open fire on the Archer, but missed with every weapon.  Not so what was left of the Locust, though, and the Archer toppled to the ground, destroying the right arm in the fall.
Round 14, the one-armed Archer failed to stand, and the Hatchetman closed to melee range, scoring hits with autocannon, laser, and hatchet. The Marauder was this round's recipient of the Longbow's attention, taking 21 missiles and a leg critical, while the Longbow took hits from the mercenary Archer. Both the Marauder and Longbow staggered, but kept their feet.
Having regained consciousness at the end of round 14, in round 15 the Crusader pilot tried to stand again, fell again, and knocked herself out again. The fallen Archer also failed to stand, this time damaging the left arm and the MPL mounted there.  After a gratuitous exchange of fire by everyone else, the Longbow, Apollo, and Marauder all stumbled, but remained standing, while the Hatchetman, only hit by 21 LRMs, fell.
The Lyran Archer pilot decided discretion was the better part of valour when your 'mech is pretty mangled and you're next to a Hatchetman, and ejected in round 16, presumably narrowly missing the LRM salvo from the Longbow that knocked out the Hatchetman's pilot. Meanwhile, the zombie Locust finally stripped the last of the armour from the Longbow's centre torso rear.
And round 17 was the dramatic finalé. The Crusader pilot woke up again, tried to stand again, and fell - this time on her head. Game over for her. The Longbow hit the prone Hatchetman with sixty LRMs, scouring most of the armour from the frame and critting the AC, a laser, the engine, and the gyro. In return, the Longbow took an alpha strike from the Marauder ... which served only to thin the armour slightly. What was left of the Locust managed to headshot the Longbow in return, knocking out the pilot, but then took 24 LRMs from the Apollo, which destroyed one leg - and the centre torso, causing a cascading engine failure, which slightly damaged one Hawk Moth. The other, though, placed a shot into the rear of the Longbow, igniting four salvoes of LRM20 ammo, which gutted the right torso and destroyed the engine. The Apollo conceded the field, as the Hatchetman pilot awoke in what was left of his 'mech.

(When I say that the Hatchetman was sandblasted, when he awoke, there was 1 point of armour on the head, 9 on the left torso, and 4 on each rear torso. And that was it for armour.)

Battle 2
And now for the rematch, this time with Princess bringing in the mercenaries from the north, while I ran the Lyran lance. Given Princess's challenge with infantry, I swapped out the Battle Armour squad for a Sprint Scout Helicopter (Laser).
This time, the battle mostly took place on the west of the map. My lance moved up from the south-west towards the wooded hill above the quarry, intending to use that as a fire position, while the mercenaries charged down from the north-west.
The first casualty, in round 3, was the Sprint Scout Helicopter, which side-slipped while manoeuvring ... into a hill in the north-west. (Seemingly chastened by this, one of the Hawk Moths won the What Are You Actually Here For award, by spending the rest of the battle apparently circling the crash site, and staying a long way from the fight.)
In round 4 the mercenary Locust, demonstrating extreme bravery, charged straight at the fire lance, scoring a glancing blow on the Apollo's leg, but taking a hit to the torso and nearly losing the right arm in return.
In round 5, ninety LRMs are fired, and only twelve hit anything. The Locust has disappeared from sight.
In round 6 the Hatchetman came into view, clearing the west side of the town, and was greeted by a salvo from the Longbow. Seventy LRMs, and only nine hit. The mercenary Archer took a stance on the small hill at the north-west edge of the city. The Locust reappeared at the dry north edge of the quarry, getting a line of sight on the Apollo on the cliff edge, catching it with one medium laser and a small. The engaged Hawk Moth scored a glancing blow on the Apollo as well. In return, the Apollo removed the Locust's right arm. (130 LRMs in the air, 9 hit.)
Round 7, and the Marauder showed up, exiting the town via the second road from the west, and scoring a glancing blow to the Crusader's right arm. In return, it took 56 LRMs from the Archer and Longbow, which didn't cause any serious damage in themselves, but did result in a fall. The mercenary Archer missed a salvo at the Lyran Archer, and took a hit from the Crusader in turn.
Round 8, and the Marauder attempted to stand twice, falling each time, and resulting in an unconscious pilot. The downed Marauder took 9 LRMs from the Apollo. And 64 from the Longbow, destroying the left torso, destroying the engine, and detonating the autocannon ammunition. Do not fall down in front of a Longbow. Everyone else missed, although a secondary attack from the Longbow damaged the Locust's right torso.
Round 9, and the Hatchetman took 28 LRMs from the Longbow, peeling the armour from the right arm. And then a further 9 LRMs from the Crusader, with a chaser of 6 SRMs, stripping the head armour, and causing the pilot to black out. In the fall, the left arm's armour is removed. The Locust, meanwhile, hit the Archer's right leg, but return from the two MPLs destroyed the right torso, peeled the centre torso, and critted one of the medium lasers. To add insult to injury, the Locust lost its left arm armour to the Apollo, and finally gained a NARC pod on the right leg from the Archer. Despite all of that, the Locust stumbled, but remained standing. And then, for good measure, the Archer kicked it, scoring a glancing blow. And ... the Locust remained standing.
Round 10, the Apollo and the Hawk Moth traded shots, and miss each other. The sleeping Hatchetman received 42 LRMs and 5 SRMs from the Longbow and Crusader, destroying the right arm, the right torso, critting the autocannon and the gyro, and peeling the right leg and centre torso.
Round 11, and, despite still being unconscious, the Hatchetman is now "crippled and withdrawing", as is the Locust. A total of 190 LRMs are fired in this round, all of which miss, although the concussion wakes the Hatchetman pilot at the end of the round.
Round 12, and the Locust wins the Architectural Analysis Award as, rather than fleeing down the road, it ran over a light building. Which collapsed, dropping the Locust backwards into the basement. The fall destroyed the centre torso, and triggered a cascading engine failure, while the pilot died during auto-ejection, presumably fired at high speed into a wall just before the reactor exploded. In contrast, the Hatchetman pilot ejected safely. The mercenary Archer and the engaged Hawk Moth are now the only two targets, and an LRM duel begins, the mercenary Archer hitting the Lyran Archer with 9 LRMs and the ERLL, but receiving 29 LRMs in return. The pilot stumbles, but remains standing.
Round 13, and the mercenary Archer ducked back into the town and out of sight. As a result, the Hawk Moth received the full attention of the Archer, Longbow, and Apollo, spamming it with 42 LRMs, blowing the rotor off, and causing it to drop to the ground and explode.
In round 14, the mercenary Archer reappeared, but missed the Apollo. In return, it was hit by 25 LRMs from the Longbow, causing it to fall, and peeling the right torso rear.
Round 15, and it was back on its feet, taking another 24 LRMs from Apollo and Archer, peeling the right arm, but remaining standing.
Round 16, it was out of sight again, moving further north through the town.
Round 17, it popped up in the clump of woods at the north of the town, to the west of the main road, missing the Apollo again, and taking 9 LRMs from the Lyran Archer.
Round 18, it took 33 LRMs from the Longbow and Crusader, stumbling but remaining standing. By this point it is starting to resemble a Kurosawa 'death by pincushion emulation' scene. The left torso and centre torso have now lost all armour.
Round 19, 9 LRMs from the Longbow hit, to limited effect. The Crusader fires a last LRM salvo, but misses.
Round 20, LRM bins dry, the Crusader now went on the offensive, heading up the west-most road, while the Lyran Archer headed for the next one to the east.
Round 21, the mercenary was hit by 30 LRMs, but despite all of the stripped armour, none of them cause a critical.
Round 22, the Apollo missed the Archer while the Crusader closed under cover of the buildings.
Round 23, the Apollo hit the Archer with 9 LRMs, destroying the left arm. The Crusader launched a close-in attack, hitting with both medium lasers, seven SRMs, and the flamer, for good measure, peeling the armour from the right torso, and setting off four salvoes of LRM ammo, destroying the right torso, and causing the pilot to black out. And the mercenary Archer finally fell ... with the pilot dying, not as a result of direct enemy fire, but from the fall.

By the end of the second battle, even the Longbow was down to only six remaining LRM20 salvoes and four for the LRM15s. The Archer had nine LRM reloads (and one hundred for the un-fired Streaks), the Apollo was down to ten, and the Crusader had just the ten SRM reloads. The mercenaries may not have stopped the fire lance, but they weren't going to be as much use when they got to where they were going, unless they had a chance to resupply.

(Outcomes would be different once Princess learns how to use artillery, as that would have prevented camping on the hill, and/or indirect fire, which would have made the mercenary Archer more dangerous in the second battle, and the whole Fire Lance in the first.)
« Last Edit: 01 September 2017, 08:58:24 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."