Two More Rules Questions: P/G Numbers and Hex Targeting

[Tyler Jorgensson]

As the title says...

First) so when your calculating range on the board to determine distance for firing does the hex your unit in count? Had a situation where the Enforcer firing its Small Laser and my opponent made the comment where it's short range is one. Now the way I read it (but could be wrong) the hex your in counts as one and then the hexes to your target are the rest. What's the truth?

Two) So because basically I'm running a bunch of one shot/pickup games I've been trying to keep the Piloting and Gunnery numbers the same for everyone across the board. Now I started out as 4/4's with the basic intro rules and have slowly been working down words as I increase the rules to full rule book play (Intro Box not yet full campaign TW etc) My opponents seemed to have more fun with 3/3 but play went a lot smoother with 2/2 pilots.

However my inner voice screams that play wise were all green and running around with veteran pilots doesn't work. Part of me knows my inner voice is wrong: but what do most people play with? Do people stay with the 4/4 standard or do they modify them in order to make easier games? 

[worktroll]

First, you don't count the hex you're in. So for your Enforcer, the unit in the next hex is at range 1. There are only a few special cases where anything can fire at range 0, which IIRC usually revolve around infantry/BA doing the shooting.  So if you're E, and the target is T, and a _ is an intervening hex, then

ET is range 1
E_T is range 2
E_ _ _T is range 4
and so on.

Second, I've usually played with the 'classic' gunnery 4, piloting 5, which is considered Inner Sphere regular pilot. Piloting rarely has as much impact on a game as gunnery, and makes for more hilarious pratfalls when you fail a Piloting role Again, classically 3G/4P would be seen as IS veteran/Clan Regular, 5/6 as IS green (4/5 is Clan green), and so on.

Playing with 4/4 won't make much difference from playing 4/5, but 3/3 will make hits that bit more frequent - which is probably why your friends enjoy it. BT is a somewhat clunkey game, with lots of rolling required to kill an opponent's 'Mech; anything which improves the chance of hitting will speed play up. And if you're playing pickup games, and just wanting to have fun, then roll with whatever feels good.  Herb's rule #1 applies: "If it works on your table, with your players, it's good."

Cheers,

W.

[mbear]

However my inner voice screams that play wise were all green and running around with veteran pilots doesn't work.

It can actually be more fun to start with great pilots and get the experience you need to play the game, then move to Inner Sphere regular pilots who have higher skill levels. After you land all those shots and things get a little slow, you add the challenge of worse pilots. Landing hits with those J. Q. Average pilots is more impressive than Super Awesome McGee pilots, and you'll appreciate it more.

One thing not to do is have a force with all J.Q. Average on one side and Super Awesome McGee's on the other, because J.Q. Average is going to get slaughtered and that's no fun for someone.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Thanks WT and am MBear

Yeah I have to work hard not to let anyone use the Timber Wolf the box came with until I get more Clan machines which is killing me . At least with the Battlemaster I have an InteoTech variant. As far as pilots go I forgot they like using the pilot skill at one higher than gunnery. Definitely take that advice  though.

[Simon Landmine]

Second, I've usually played with the 'classic' gunnery 4, piloting 5, which is considered Inner Sphere regular pilot. Piloting rarely has as much impact on a game as gunnery, and makes for more hilarious pratfalls when you fail a Piloting role

Amen to that. Watching my Atlas stumble around like a duck on ice after the first slip was frustrating, but eventually amusing ... and it did manage to draw the opposition fire quite thoroughly, allowing me to win in the end.

[Col Toda]

PILOT skill levels greatly impact battle value numbers and in many games is used to determine force balance . As you so far gave both sides equal skill numbers it is moot . It gets interesting when they are different. A veteran skill group tends to face a regular group with 35 percent more hardware and numbers  an elite unit faces more than 2 to one for a fair balaced fight . The skill level I strive for is Veteran 3 Gunnery and 4 Piloting . Regular pilots miss too often and sustain too much damage even if they win the fight that a mercenary company cannot have that kind of sustained loss. I like using C3 and TAG so having Elite pilots does not get me many more hits than the veteran pilots so it is wasteful in a different way .

[skiltao]

I have to work hard not to let anyone use the Timber Wolf the box came with until I get more Clan machines which is killing me . At least with the Battlemaster I have an InteoTech variant.

Stalker stats should be pretty close to an IntroTech Timber Wolf.

[Kovax]

The gunnery skills have a VERY skewed effect on the different weigh classes of 'Mech.  Better gunnery will hit more often, which doesn't make THAT much of a difference in an Assault battle, because most of the shots would have connected anyway.  With light 'Mechs and high movement modifiers, the "snowball's chance in hell" of hitting them suddenly becomes a fairly decent shot, and speed is no longer sufficient to save the fast, light units from destruction.  If you mix lights and heavies, the lighter units may serve as little more than cannon fodder against veteran and elite units.

Note, as stated, that most units cannot shoot at Range = 0.  Battlemechs may perform certain physical attacks against units in the same hex, and a stomp attack against a vehicle, or a kick at a Battlemech or vehicle in an adjacent hex (Range = 1), can be a game-changer.  Those much maligned piloting skills come into play here, and a 4/4 pilot can frequently kick the legs off a 4/5 challenger and win the battle.

One may laugh at the badly armed Charger 1A1, but put a 4/4 pilot into the silly thing and it's a dire threat to anything within the 8 hex range that it can reach during movement.  A 16 point kick is sufficient to take a leg off of most light 'Mechs and some mediums, and will breach the armor on some heavies.  Two turns with a favorable initiative roll and even a heavy opponent is generally flailing around on the ground (since you can get into the appropriate side arc to kick the damaged leg again).