Author Topic: What should I take?  (Read 1733 times)

Dracounguis

  • Recruit
  • *
  • Posts: 15
What should I take?
« on: 22 October 2017, 18:24:03 »
Ok, I've not been very active with Battletech lately and we have a local convention coming up.  Usually I just pick some 'tried and true' pre-3067 designs and get out matched in the fight.  :'( 
So figured I'd ask for some assistance in force compostion.  The rules are...
    1.) Players will select a faction-specific forces for each round.
    2.) MW skills are set to G/P = 3/4 (aka you don't spend BV on pilots)
    3.) Each player will control a lance of four (4) units comprised of one of the following: a single ’Mech, 5 ProtoMechs, a single vehicle, 1 Point/Squad of Battle Armor, and/or a 1 Platoon of infantry. Only one unit of the 4 may consist of ProtoMechs.

Round 1 - Clan tech: 8000 BV
Round 2 - Inner Sphere 3050+ tech: 6000 BV

Anyone got anything good?

Here's what I did last year: (I did pick some newer stuff last time and did a bit better.)
Clan Coyote (7979 BV)
Pariha B, Savage Coyote B, Fenris D, Dragonfly H

Davion (5950 BV )
Templar -OI, Argus-5D, Centurion -OB, Infiltrator Mk2 (mags)

Dracounguis

  • Recruit
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #1 on: 04 November 2017, 23:08:18 »
Anyone got anything good?

Guess not.

Saint

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 2677
  • Keeper of the Reaper
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #2 on: 05 November 2017, 08:06:00 »
The only change I would suggest is the Templar, it's  going to draw alot of fire and that xl is going to be a big weakness. You could go with a Warlord for similar punch and much greater durability.  The left over points could be used to beef up the Infiltraters to Grenadiers. Although I do love the Infiltrater MKII .
"Our eyes lie on Glory, Honor, Strength. Burned worlds will declare our name as cause."


Firesprocket

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 2963
  • 3601 S Broad St. Phila. PA 19148
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #3 on: 05 November 2017, 16:08:41 »
My comments are going to have a bit of bias because I don't seem to have the same play style as you.  That disclaimer out of the way, broken terrain is going to cause you no issues as you have no jump jets outside of the Infiltrators MKIIs and no pulse lasers to counteract fast moving units in that Davion force.

The previously mentioned Warlord would be a good sub for the Templar. What you lose in firepower, you gain back in a measure of survival with the standard engine.  Alternatively the Falconer 9R is available to you as well.  It is a loss of firepower and armor, but you make that up in speed and some crit seeking as well from the LB.  Jump jets are there to get you around difficult terrain.

I'm not a fan of the new Centurion Omni and as such I'd just recommend taking a standard Centurion if you are married to the design.

The Argus is good, but very expensive on BV.  You could probably shave points by taking a different version.  The Argus 2D is a different style, but all around excellent design.

With points shaved I ditched the Battle armor.  In a small scale game it is unlikely to do anything significant.  Here is what I came up with

Uziel 8S.  Pulse lasers and extreme jump to deal with the speedsters.
Centurion 9-A.  This was my toss in.   2 tons of ammo per main gun means at the very least one if not both should be special munitions.  Precise ammo for the -2 is worth it for the cheap value.
Warlord 2D
Argus 2D- ER PPC and 2 LRM-15s.

You are going to have less head cappers, but far more balance with a few LRM launchers.  Plus if they want to mix it up close the Uziel and Warlord are going to be a pain in knife fighting range.  I'll look at the Clan a little later.  Have to run off for some errands.

Firesprocket

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 2963
  • 3601 S Broad St. Phila. PA 19148
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #4 on: 05 November 2017, 19:03:35 »
Assuming it is in fact a 4 mech lance and not a 5 mech star than most of your choices aren't bad.  That Savage Coyote is relatively cheap with those ranged lasers.  However the flaw to the design can be seen in the fact they are all in the right arm so if you arm gets chopped off then the mechs preference will go downhill by more than half it's potentially and make it laughable at range.   My original suggestion to go with a J variant is sadly unfounded because of the fact that it is a Wolf, not Coyote configuration.

If pulse lasers are what you are after, then a Rifleman IIC would get them for you.  You get mobility out of the jump jets, but you have to remember that you weigh 20 tons less and so won't take the punishment of an 85 ton mech.  You still have to cut points (being 8002 BV, argh!).  If you want to stay in a Dragonfly then really the only worthwhile option is the Prime.  Option number 2, while many, I narrowed down to the Pack Hunter.

The Pack Hunter is cheaper, with only a slightly slower speed.  Packing a punch at range, you don't have to worry about flanking your opponent to be effective with it like you would with the Dragonfly.  The second perk of taking the Pack Hunter over the Dragon Fly is you can look at large BV to take the place of that Savage Coyote and there is a significant amount of machine that you can qualify for.

My vote, if you aren't looking for Pulse laser spam would be the Kingfisher C.  If you want a dedicated range fighter than look at the Warhammer IIC 2.   The Warhammer IIC is 2 ER PPCs and 2 LRM-15s with enough sinks to use them.   The Kingfisher C on the other hand is sticking it to your opponent because they will have work for their kill since there is no XL engine to help kill it faster and it is an all energy boat.  It starts with 2 ER PPCs for range and 4 ER Medium lasers for when it gets close in.  And when it gets there it is going to alpha strike nearly every turn and run cool doing it.  If you opponent brought plasma weapons, either can just laugh it off.

As for the Pariah and Fenris, no real reason to go over them because they are excellent.  I'd recommend the Coyotle, but it is impractical to get that into the group with the other two and not have to put yourself in something as large as an assault mech with included.

Colt Ward

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 28994
  • Gott Mit Uns
    • Merc Periphery Guide- Bakunin
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #5 on: 06 November 2017, 17:41:53 »
I think we should first consider a couple of things . . .

How large is the area you are playing in?
How many opponents are you expecting?
Are you set on Coyote & FedSuns as the factions?
Do you have any favorite weapons?
Speed, Armor or Firepower- which is the most important to you?
How comfortable are you with combined arms?
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Dracounguis

  • Recruit
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #6 on: 09 November 2017, 16:29:27 »
I think we should first consider a couple of things . . .

How large is the area you are playing in?
How many opponents are you expecting?
Are you set on Coyote & FedSuns as the factions?
Do you have any favorite weapons?
Speed, Armor or Firepower- which is the most important to you?
How comfortable are you with combined arms?
2 maps
1v1
No
Not really, but since gunners are set to 3, anything that subtracts from target roll is good. (I have epicly bad dice rolling luck.)
I generally go for speed.
I like combined, but with the possibility of getting screwed by being placed on a bad map, many vehicles are handicapped.  A point of protomechs (satyrs 2) can be a good movement sink, but don't really do much damage.

And the evil Wobbly Celestials with their iC3 network is a possibility, so some ECM would be good.  It's half the reason I bring the Infiltrators.

S7 Skunkwerks still the best Mech program out there?  I see it's not been updated since 2014.
« Last Edit: 09 November 2017, 17:01:15 by Dracounguis »

Colt Ward

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 28994
  • Gott Mit Uns
    • Merc Periphery Guide- Bakunin
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #7 on: 09 November 2017, 17:02:02 »
BA ECM is only a single hex, so not really worth it . . .

And there are much better Protos than the Satyr for combat.

Hmmm . . .
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Dracounguis

  • Recruit
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #8 on: 09 November 2017, 17:53:48 »
Tweaking the forces w/ the suggestions I'm looking at:
Warlord -2D
Uziel -8S
Argus -2D
Centurion 9-A
BV 5,945

Pariha B
Kingfisher C
Fenris D
Pack Hunter
BV 7,976

Dracounguis

  • Recruit
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #9 on: 11 November 2017, 21:45:42 »
Well, got stomped in both rounds.  :(

Clan opponent went Ghost Bear and took:  Basic Kodiak & Grizzly, Karhu A and a point of Elementals
IS opponent went WoB and took:  Grigori (Infernus), Deva (Achilleus), Archangle (Eminus) & Raptor D
The GBs charged in and rampaged over my smaller force.  The Wobs did the same.
Both forces were heavier and my dice rolling wasn't up to the task of cheezy kills.
Did you know a Pack Hunter can't take a LPL to the head? I do now!  It was the first (and last) damage it took.
I'd not seen a Karhu in action before and it's pretty much just a faster Grizzly, which is a good solid Mech.

Firesprocket

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 2963
  • 3601 S Broad St. Phila. PA 19148
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #10 on: 12 November 2017, 00:55:10 »
Definitely appears the size of the board didn't favor the lighter forces.   I didn't catch the update earlier to modify my suggestions.

truetanker

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 9952
  • Clan Hells Horses 666th Mech. Assualt Cluster
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #11 on: 12 November 2017, 16:54:21 »
When's the next game?

TT
Khan, Clan Iron Dolphin
Azeroth Pocketverse
That is, if true tanker doesn't beat me to it. He makes truly evil units.Col.Hengist on 31 May 2013
TT, we know you are the master of nasty  O0 ~ Fletch on 22 June 2013
If I'm attacking you, conventional wisom says to bring 3x your force.  I want extra insurance, so I'll bring 4 for every 1 of what you have :D ~ Tai Dai Cultist on 21 April 2016
Me: Would you rather fight my Epithymía Thanátou from the Whispers of Blake?
Nav_Alpha: That THING... that is horrid
~ Nav_Alpha on 10 October 2016

Dracounguis

  • Recruit
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #12 on: 14 November 2017, 00:34:51 »
The Con will come again next November.  As far as I know, the local Battletech scene is pretty much dead.

Colt Ward

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 28994
  • Gott Mit Uns
    • Merc Periphery Guide- Bakunin
Re: What should I take?
« Reply #13 on: 14 November 2017, 09:10:57 »
Yeah, that size of maps is really too small for Clan finesse let alone speed play.  When you can get pinned to a side of the map and the opposition can just lean in and hammer you it just does not work.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."