Fill out this Lance!

[Daryk]

I eagerly await those results!  :thumbsup:

[Hammerhead]

First few games of the Campaign are done, and resulted with what I call Chapter 1: The Fall of the Belle of the Ball.

The Wolverine - 6M was a stellar performer, as expected I suppose. This meant, unfortunately, that it drew all the fire. Being pretty tough, it survived until the 3rd game, battered and bloody, until a Schrek took issue with it and cored it out at long range. It did manage to close (with cover fire from the Rifleman and Quickdraw) and lay in some motive crits on the bugger to park it, but down it went still. The Quickdraw avenged its sacrifice with a combination of constant short range fire and a final stomp to flatten it in a most satisfactory fashion.

On the plus side; we’re onto our first round of potential modifications on units, so now I can play around a bit. We’re allowed 2 Class A or B refits/unit in the Lance (per the Revised Refitting rules on the errata page) to distribute as we see fit and with 3 surviving members that means I get 6 total. I’m rolling with converting the Clint into a “Wolfhound Lite”; pulling the Jump Jets for Armor. The Quickdraw will be getting the same treatment, plus another Heatsink. I’m hoping to get the rear firing lasers rotated forward next. I hope this lets them mix it up a little better. The Rifleman will be left as-is; it put out an absolutely obscene number of 5 and 8 point hits.

Also; Salvage! We were successful enough to get a couple of Mechs in salvage and I get first pick to fill out my Lance.  So, here we go; Fill out this Lance! Part 2!

Option 1: VND-1R Vindicator. Scrappy as hell, and a reasonably(?) close substitute for the Wolverine who fell in battle. 🫡

Option 2: VL-5T Vulcan. The fact that we haven’t run into any infantry yet worries me….

Both have Jump Jets, which is a plus given the above mentioned modifications to the Clint and Quickdraw.

What say the hivemind? Aaaaaaaaand GO!  ;D

[Elmoth]

Yep, that happens with good frontline mechs. It certainly contributed to your overlal plan, but it costs to be him.

For the new one, the Vindicator. Otherwise all attention will focus on the Quickdraw, and it does not have what it takes to tank damage.

[Syzyx]

Gotta back the Vindy as well. The Vulcan is a great 'mech for anti-infantry work, but it's too specialized for such a small unit.

[Daryk]

If you're really worried about infantry, then take the Vulcan.  As much as I love AC/2s, the 5T is a solid 'mech.  Otherwise, the Vindicator is your best bet.  Those things had a reputation for indestructibility when I was in college.

[Failure16]

I'm going to go for the VND here. The WVR did its job, so far as it could, and you need to get another "line-'Mech" in there to function as your anvil to the RFL's hammer.

If you run into infantry, you might have to play the long game in the first scenario until you can get some intel regarding how they will be used and the gear they will field. Snipe away at them and don't play their game. Once you get an angle on how the OpFor will be equipping and playing the infantry, you can look into getting some AP-upgrades to picking something up like the VL when it becomes available.

[Daryk]

Is it just me, or are you not being offered the option to pick up infantry to counter the OPFOR's? ???

[Hammerhead]

Is it just me, or are you not being offered the option to pick up infantry to counter the OPFOR's? ???

Correct. The scenarios thus far are presented as a small (1 Company, with one player controlling each Lance) Merc unit on an independent periphery world (Herotitus to be exact) defending against pirates (at least so far). The pirates are running mostly vehicles so far (though some are suspiciously heavy, like the Schrek that killed my Wolvie), with a few Mechs here and there. I can’t imagine pirates not using infantry, but there it is. The Mercs are strictly a Mech unit at this point, and being on a minor periphery world probably means a limited hiring pool for our own infantry troops.

[Charistoph]

SRMs with Infernos can solve a lot of Infantry problems, just saying.

And if they hole up in Buildings, AI weapons are meaningless against them anyway.

[Natasha Kerensky]

Vindicator, definitely.  You have the Clint.  You don’t need another mobile sniper with even worse armor and firepower.  And you’ve lost your brawler.  The Vindicator is more trooper, but it can sorta substitute for the Wolverine in the brawler role.

The best way to deal with infantry is to avoid them.  They’re usually slow and can be moved around while you go after the real targets.

If infantry cannot be avoided, the second best way to deal with infantry is at a distance.  Rain AC/5 shells, large laser shots, LRMs munitions and PPC bolts from beyond the range of infantry weapons.  You won’t kill many infantry per shot, but they add up and a platoon can be reduced to ineffectiveness in short order.

If you don’t have space or time and must engage infantry within the range of their weapons, alternate munitions — usually SRMs but also ACs and LRMs — are the best way to reduce infantry rapidly.  Even if you’re in range of their weapons, you don’t have to be right on top of them and the infernos, frag, flechette, etc. munitions make quick work of platoons.

And if you absolutely must engage infantry while on top of them, your Vindicator has a Small Laser.

The best upgrade to the Clint is to trade the AC/5 and ammo for a Large Laser and four tons of armor.  That should be a Class B refit because it’s replacing one weapon type with another weapon type with fewer critical spaces.  This maxes out the Clint’s armor, eliminates the ammo vulnerability, and increases damage for a negligible decrease in range. Now the Clint is a jumpy Wolfhound that can actually punch holes in armor and take some licks.  If you like to ride the heat scale and aren’t afraid of less-than-optimal armor, go with a PPC and two tons of armor instead of the Large Laser and four.

On the Quickdraw mods, I’d trade the LRM-10 and its ammo for a second SRM-4 and four more tons of armor instead of the jump jets.  That nearly maxes out the armor, reduces ammo vulnerabilities, and focuses the Quickdraw on being a short-range brawler, which works well with its superior speed and jump jets.  It basically turns the Quickdraw into the Wolverine-like brawler that paired so successfully with the Rifleman in your earlier games.  If you still have two refits left, you can bring the rear-firing lasers forward.

You are probably best applying your refits to the Clint and Quickdraw.  But if you want to play with the Rifleman, let us know.

[Hellraiser]

I love me a Wolvie-6M, but, I feel like it, combined w/ the other 2 Jumpers are just too fast for the Rifleman.
I'm still thinking a 4/6 Zombie like the Hunchback-4P is a better protector.

[Daryk]

I think the Schrek would have put paid to a Hunchback faster than it did the Wolverine...

[Hellraiser]

Depends on Terrain & Schrek position.

Wolvie can avoid fire better for sure, but, even 1 ton of SRM ammo is a bomb waiting to happen.
The 4P is just pure Zombie & WAY more usable firepower once its in range.

As I said above, in "most" scenarios, I love the Wolvie way more.
I just think the Rifleman needs a same speed zombie buddy to draw fire.

[Daryk]

My point was the 4P would draw MORE fire than the WVR-6M, and is less able to return it at range.  I agree it totally depends on terrain, but really: every battle depends on that...

[Hammerhead]

Whoops! Totally slipped on reporting back…

Anyway, the campaign is concluded and of my original 3 random Mechs two survived; the Quickdraw and the Rifleman.  The Clint was great as a “Wolfhound-esque” little beastie; pulling the JJ for Armor really helped. With us introducing Quirks over the course of the Campaign, it hit with that AC/5….a LOT. Enough that the OpFor detailed a Warhammer to kill it.

I chose the Vindicator to replace the Wolverine, and it held up really well. Lost to a lucky cockpit crit from a Griffin’s PPC in the final battle. I will definitely dig into the Capellan army list at least once.

Things I’ve learned:

- A Quickdraw, with the JJ pulled for Armor and the rear facing lasers set forward, is a totally decent heavy Mech (if lacking a bit of concentrated punch). I’m sure everyone here knows that anyway, though…

- The Rifleman needs a lot of tactical terrain choices (partial cover, lvl 1 water, etc.), but can lay down some hurt if used right. I hope to be able to try one with SPA’s in play at some point; Range-Master / Long seems tailor made for it.

-Campaign play is fun; I really enjoyed digging into the game a bit more. Tracking Mechwarrior skill development, using Quirks, and customizing over time was an absolute blast!

Thanks for all the advice everyone! And thanks for humouring this old grognard! 

[Daryk]

Thanks for the follow up! :)

I see the Vindicator lived up to its reputation.  Those things are annoyingly hard to kill! :D

[Vonshroom]

Sounds like a fun campaign to play! Glad you got to experience it.

A few observations about the thread so far:

Considering your initial mechs I think that rolling with a Hunchback variant (4P,4SP,4N,4H or 4J) would have been a good pick. A Centurion AL wouldn't have been bad either. Armor is king considering your other forces, ironically the Wolverine performed as expected. Ultimately you needed something to keep the focus off your other forces and save their (limited) armor.

A Rifleman can be a monster in the right hands due to the obscene damage output. Park it at the edge of trees or even a hex or two deep and let it go to work. The longer ranged weapons combined with the tree cover will often let you hit with a -4 when compared to your opponents THN. Also you don't have to keep it moving and this helps with heat also. Fearsome alpha potential and can wreck lighter mechs if you are smart about the heat. I actually have a Rifleman on one of my campaign lances. The lance is a Crusader 3D, Griffin 1N, Rifleman and an Enforcer. Most of the time I can keep my enemy engaged with the other mechs and worried about something other than my Rifleman which will sit there and blast away turn after turn. Love Riflemans for pickup games too.

Vindicators always go down hard. They are not an easy mech to kill and I love to play them, I have never been underwhelmed playing a Vindicator against any other mech in the Medium weight bracket when it has lance mate support. By themselves the 4/6/4 movement isn't as conducive to defending against faster Brawler mediums (like the 6M Wolverine) which can win initiative and get behind one. But properly supported Vindicators are excellent mechs and a true favorite of 3025 designs for me.

The Quickdraw has always been a "decent" mech in my eyes. My playgroup has a house rule that lets you designate any rear firing weapons "forward" at the start of a game. This makes units like the QKD deadly knife fighters.

I know what you rolled up on the RAT dictates your mech choices, all your mechs are really good "Team Players" but rely on another lance mate to absorb most of the damage to let them put in their work properly. As a result ideally your initial choice would have been a solid "line heavy" that could soak up enemy fire and establish an anchor point for your forces to engage off. An Orion, Thunderbolt, Cataphract, Guillotine or something with solid armoring and high damage output would be perfect.

The Vulcan 5T has always been a favorite of mine and hits really hard. The stock 2T Vulcan is very eclectic but the 5T has real hitting power,  I like to team them up with Phoenix Hawks for heavy scouting and that combo has the ability to really rock the recon role, you can scout, jump, kill lights like nothing and mow down infantry like there's no tomorrow. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Clint but the Vulcan 5T stands up as one of the best lighter weight medium designs of 3025.