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BattleTech Player Boards => Challenges and Gatherings => After Action Reports => Topic started by: Lyran Archer on 23 April 2011, 22:23:17

Title: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 23 April 2011, 22:23:17
This battle is linked to a battle Phell (from these forums) and I had a couple of weeks ago. It is the height of the FedCom Civil war, and in the First Battle of River City, the Lyran Archers of Kampfgruppe Panzerfaust completely annihilated a lance of the 3rd Crucis Lancers loyal to Victor Steiner-Davion. Now the Davion force has sent in an assault lance to River City to find out what happened to their lost lance.

The 3rd Crucis Lancers (and Phell) aren't fooling around this time. They have sent in an Atlas 7D, a BattleMaster 1G, a Thug 11E, and a Cataphract 3D.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/001-3.jpg)

My Lyran lance includes three Archer 5Ws, a Rifleman 6X, and four Sprint TAG-equipped helicopters. To offset my greater numbers, Phell and I have agreed not to use the Force Size Multiplier and instead to pair every helicopter with a 'Mech - a 'Mech must be moved when it is my turn to move and a helicopter must be moved at the same time as well. Also, when the numbers become further reduced to battle losses, we will front-load the initiative.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/002-3.jpg)

The Davions advance from a different sector of the city this time - from the south. My Lyrans begin in the city.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/003-4.jpg)

The Crucis assault lance confidently strides forward looking for their lost lance.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/007-3.jpg)

The Lyrans take up a firing position behind some hills on the outskirts of River City. The helicopters keep the BattleMechs informed of enemy movements.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/008-3.jpg)

The helicopters spot for the Archers who bombard the BattleMaster from quite a distance. The Davion pilot is surprised by the barrage and is blown off his feet by the unexpected bombardment.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/009-2.jpg)

The helicopters speed forward to laser-designate targets with their TAG, the Archers fire from behind the hill, and the Rifleman and Thug race forward to battle one another. A Sprint helicopter is hit by 12 LRMs from the Atlas but survives because most LRMs hit the rotors (which has damage divided by 10 before being applied).

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/010-4.jpg)

The Rifleman suddenly realizes that he is completely outgunned and begins backpeddling. Helicopters laser-designate the Thug which shrugs off incredible firepower (over 70 damage!) poured into it.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/011-4.jpg)

The entire Lyran lance is now in retreat, chased by the Thug which simply weathers the storm of incredible firepower thrown at it. The choppers do their job TAGing the Thug but the Thug simply will not be deterred. The rest of the Davion lance continues moving up. The red dice near the helicopters refer to the level they are flying at - one is at level 3 and one is at level 8.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/013-3.jpg)

Finally, after taking well over 200 damage, the Thug finally falls with a gyro hit and a hip destroyed. The helicopters have done a courageous job. The Lyrans are shaken by how much concentrated firepower was needed to bring down the Thug.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/014-4.jpg)

The Thug pilot gets out of his 'Mech rather than risk trying to stand the 'Mech. The Griffin counter marks where the Thug is abandoned. The other Davion 'Mechs continue their march to the city. The Archers continue to backpeddle into the city and fire directly on the BattleMaster.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/015-3.jpg)

The Archers, using helicopter spotters, bombard the Atlas and knock it off its feet as the BattleMaster and the Rifleman trade fire. The Rifleman 6X is a heavily armoured 'Mech but it cannot match the BattleMaster.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/016-2.jpg)

The Archers fire directly on the jump-capable Cataphract and indirectly on the BattleMaster while the Rifleman also blazes away at the fearsome assault 'Mech closing in on him.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/017-4.jpg)

The Lyrans are feeling the Davion squeeze. Two Archers fire away at the Cataphract while the other Archer and Rifleman pound away at the BattleMaster. The BattleMaster ignores their desperate fire.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/018-2.jpg)

The Cataphract and BattleMaster pound the Rifleman. A cannon shell from the Cataphract punches into the RifleMan's ammo bin, destroying the Rifleman's XL engine shielding and sending its pilot rocketing skyward on his ejection seat. Another Griffin card marks the Rifleman salvage. CASE has protected most of the 'Mech's gutted carcass. With the Atlas flanking them, the Archers realize they are being boxed in.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/019-3.jpg)

The Archers desperately pour SRM fire into the Cataphract and LRMs into the BattleMaster, hoping to bring them down before the Atlas joins the fray. The Atlas is firing its own LRMs at the Archers as it closes.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/022-2.jpg)

The three Lyran Archers, now outflanked and surrounded, frantically pour SRMs and LRMs into the BattleMaster, breaching its SRM ammo bin and, without CASE, completely blowing it to smithereens. Its pilot also rockets skyward, getting the best seat in the house of the carnage below.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/023-2.jpg)

With the destruction of the BattleMaster, the Archers break out of the trap but are now out of LRM ammo! Each only has two SRM 4s to exchange fire with a fully armed and operational Atlas and a somewhat damaged Cataphract. The Cataphract has a jammed ultra autocannon, lots of lost armour, and a destroyed jump jet. Only one Archer has some significant armor damage but they are now hopelessly outgunned.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/024-2.jpg)

The three Lyran Archers do brave a trade of fire with the two remaining Davion 'Mechs, but without LRMs they are outranged and hopelessly outgunned.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/025-2.jpg)

The three Lyran Archers pull back to the downed Rifleman salvage, still firing on the advancing Atlas and Cataphract. The Archers have no damage other than armor loss but without LRM ammo they are just no match for the Atlas. The Lyran Archers drag the Rifleman salvage off the field. Its Lyran pilot has already left. Lastly, the four Sprint helicopters fly off, leaving the city to Victor Steiner-Davion and his 3rd Crucis Lancers.

(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/026-1.jpg)

Blood of Kerensky! I ran out of ammo! I withdrew with all my pilots, three intact Archers, my Rifleman salvage, and all my helicopters, but I lost the city. Phell's only loss was really the BattleMaster because the Thug pilot could just hop back in and restart the Thug's engine. With all the parts and supplies the city would offer, the BattleMaster would be an acceptable loss.

I made some mistakes. The Rifleman just didn't fit my lance. An extra Archer firing indirectly would have worked far better. Also, I forgot to fire my Archers' Narc homing beacon missiles the whole game! This could have turned the tide but then again might not have. It certainly would have allowed more LRMs and SRMs fired directly to hit. Firing SRMs at that advancing Atlas was like tossing popcorn at a charging rhino.

I think, however, that the Thug was the MVP of the game. He took on all four Lyran 'Mechs alone for a couple rounds and took so much ammo to kill that I just ran out of LRMs in the end. That beast can take an incredible amount of damage! The helicopters were remarkably survivable with such high target movement modifiers. The Rifleman will have to go though. My Archer lance relies on massed indirect bombardment and the Rifleman dilutes that and has to expose itself to contribute to the battle. That didn't work very well.

Very fun game. A brilliant win for Phell. The considerable resources of River City are his for the cost of just one 'Mech. The BattleMaster pilot might want a Thug as his next ride.

 

Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 24 April 2011, 09:31:50
If things go my way he'll be rolling out in a mad cat 2. Great game archer.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: yergerjo on 24 April 2011, 10:24:51
What are the buildings you guys are using? Monsterpocalypse?

Also, what stats were you using for the buildings (Height, CF, etc) The curious want to know.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 24 April 2011, 13:00:41
What are the buildings you guys are using? Monsterpocalypse?

Also, what stats were you using for the buildings (Height, CF, etc) The curious want to know.

Yep, mostly Monsterpocolypse. Buildings are light (15 CF), medium (40), hard (90), hardened (150) with levels from 1 to 4 depending on the size. I have the size and CF written on the bottoms.

Well played, Phell. The flanking pincer movement was very Davion compared to my stand and deliver Lyran style.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 24 April 2011, 13:10:16
Having that cataphract heard your archers worked out perfectly. I just wish I had gotten there a little faster.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Alex Keller on 24 April 2011, 19:48:45
A Lyran unit get's upstaged by Davion assault 'mechs!  Say no more!   :D

Fun battle report.  I really like that you use Archers all the time.  I feel like everyone I know plays different units all the time, so they never really get comfortable with a certain design. 
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Grunt213 on 24 April 2011, 20:30:12
Awesome battlereport. I loved the turn by turn pictures. And good job getting all your units out of there.

Yes, that 11E is a brute and IMO the best IS assault from 3050, well atleast for my play style. I <3 PPC's and SRM6's

I'd ditch the Rifleman for either another Archer, or the Arrow IV Catapult. Homing missiles anyone?

Looking forward to more battlereports.

Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Alex Keller on 24 April 2011, 21:11:31
Yeah, I'm curious as to why you didn't stick with your normal 4 x Archers too. 
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 24 April 2011, 21:55:39
Yeah, I'm curious as to why you didn't stick with your normal 4 x Archers too.

Why I used it:
1. I've always liked the Raider X from Macross/Robotech.
2. I have both the Gladiator (BT's Archer) and Raider X (BT's Rifleman) as 7" figures.
3. I had the BT Ral Partha Rifleman figure.
4. I used a heavily armored Rifleman 6X with good speed (5/8) and firepower.
5. I thought it might be handy to take care of 'Mechs that got close to my Archers.

Why I'll not use it again in an Archer lance:
1. It really diluted the usual massed indirect fire I use.
2. Despite being a heavily armored 60-tonner, it is still just a 60-tonner and was no match for the 80 and 85-tonners that it faced.
3. It had to expose itself to contribute to the battle and so really didn't have synergy with my other 'Mechs that didn't have to expose themselves to fire.
4. It couldn't target the same enemies its Archer lancemates were firing at indirectly and so spoiled my usual tactic of concentrated firepower.
5. It doesn't have TAG or Narc or anything that would justify it being in that lance. It just didn't fit.

I experimented. The experiment didn't work. Back to Archers and spotters.   
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 24 April 2011, 21:59:55
I think im going to try feilding cheaper faster units with better firepower and gunnery, the twin PPC uziel variant with a 2/4 pilot comes to mind. a couple of those backed by my thug and a catapult for fire support sounds fun.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 24 April 2011, 22:15:49
I think im going to try feilding cheaper faster units with better firepower and gunnery, the twin PPC uziel variant with a 2/4 pilot comes to mind. a couple of those backed by my thug and a catapult for fire support sounds fun.

Sounds like fun. I'm going to stick with the Sprint helicopters as spotters. I was really amazed at their speed and survivability.   
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Alex Keller on 24 April 2011, 22:57:19
A couple things I've noticed from from the adventures of Phell and Archer....

Archer likes massed indirect fire from teams of Archers.   He's also more cautious and keeps his forces grouped closer together, which helps when he's massing fire on a single target.  Here, it looks like the Rifleman could've stayed back more to protect the rest of the Archers

Phell managed what I thought to be impossible.... a flanking maneuver with an Atlas.  The Thug appears to have been taken down because it separated from his lancemates. 

Phell, if you are going to go with a more mobile approach, I'd suggest at least using a Partisan heavy tank loaded with a couple rounds of anti-aircraft flak ammunition. 
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 25 April 2011, 07:10:48
I was acctually thinking of bringing a pair of hawk moth gunships to counter act those taggers
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 25 April 2011, 21:59:16
I was acctually thinking of bringing a pair of hawk moth gunships to counter act those taggers

Excellent! I love combined arms battles! Infantry running from building to building, choppers flying overhead, tanks rumbling along, and BattleMechs striding across the battlefield. Bren ordered a couple stars of Elementals and I've used infantry before too, so hopefully we'll get some truly epic all-arms battles going on soon.

I think we should continue to pair vehicles/infantry with 'Mechs and frontload initiative. That worked quite well in this past battle. 
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Grunt213 on 26 April 2011, 03:48:30
I think we should continue to pair vehicles/infantry with 'Mechs and frontload initiative. That worked quite well in this past battle.

I saw one of your post from the force multiplyer board. Looks interesting and I can't wait to try it out in my own games, if I ever get a chance to play again...
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 26 April 2011, 23:21:00
I've gotten two kanga hover tanks that will be painted up for our next fray.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 27 April 2011, 01:26:20
I've gotten two kanga hover tanks that will be painted up for our next fray.

Cool. Jump-capable tanks.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 27 April 2011, 09:06:30
Jump capeable tanks with LRM's  ;D
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Paladin1 on 27 April 2011, 11:20:31
I believe, after reading the entire AAR, I'd have to say that the only two problems that I saw Phell make were using the Atlas to flank and letting the Thug get too far forward.  If the Atlas and Battlemaster had traded places and the Thug had kept in close formation with the others, I don't think Lyran would have had a chance.  The Atlas, combined with the Thug, would have provided a nearly unbeatable anvil for those Archers to pound away on while the Cataphract and Battlemaster slammed the trap shut.

In that same vein, considering that Lyran was heavily out massed from the beginning, I believe he did the best that he could have been expected too.  Furthermore, I would suggest that he look into the Royal variant of the Rifleman, as it's an 80 ton beast which should more than meet his requirements as a bodyguard unit.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 27 April 2011, 23:02:38
I like to use the atlas as a closer, as I like to veiw things from the opposing mechwarriors perspective. How would you like to deplete all your ammo on a thug and battlemaster and then find an atlas trugging along behind you.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: worktroll on 28 April 2011, 00:37:09
I think we should continue to pair vehicles/infantry with 'Mechs and frontload initiative. That worked quite well in this past battle.

Glad to hear that worked; however have you ever considered staggering movement by type? Effectively move infantry first, then BA, then non-flying vehicles, then 'Mechs, then VTOLS? (I'd also allow any BA or infantry that didn't move a 'reaction move' to swarm enemy units in range, once all other units have moved).

W.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 28 April 2011, 06:33:05
Glad to hear that worked; however have you ever considered staggering movement by type? Effectively move infantry first, then BA, then non-flying vehicles, then 'Mechs, then VTOLS? (I'd also allow any BA or infantry that didn't move a 'reaction move' to swarm enemy units in range, once all other units have moved).
W.

It all depends what people bring to the battle. If one person has three 'Mechs and a vehicle and another person has four 'Mechs, we just treat the vehicle as a 'Mech for movement.

We usually come to a consensus over what's going to be fair when we see what's on the table. That is an excellent point about swarming, though. If BA were forced to always move first, then they'd never get to swarm 'Mechs. I'll remember never to front-load BA. Thanks. I'm not sure about staggered movement because if one person only has one vehicle and another has four, it's unfair for the person with four to have to move all four of his vehicles while the other person only moves one.

Everyone I play in Winnipeg is very easy going - no rules lawyers or power-gamers, so it's usually easy to decide before we play on what's best for the specific game about to be played.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: FedCom4Ever on 02 May 2011, 01:50:14
Cool. Jump-capable tanks.

Yeah jump capable fodder. They aren't that great. Who picks the opposing forces btw? I always see these Archers pick off a less superior force. Today's battle was one of the rare instances the enemy actually won. Try using some Battlevalues from Solaris Skunk Werks, then you'll have a real challenge.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 02 May 2011, 06:44:33
Yeah jump capable fodder. They aren't that great. Who picks the opposing forces btw? I always see these Archers pick off a less superior force. Today's battle was one of the rare instances the enemy actually won. Try using some Battlevalues from Solaris Skunk Werks, then you'll have a real challenge.

The people I play against (Lord Cameron, Bren, Phell, (from these forums) and my brother) pick their own forces and all the BV is BV2 and is on the record sheets which I do mostly print off from SSW.

The opposing force is NEVER a "less superior force" unless you include the Force Size Multiplier, which over 75% of players do NOT use, according to a FSM survey on these boards.

I have had a bit of a winning streak but it's certainly not because of facing a less superior force. I chalk a lot of it up to using indirect bombardment (which allows me to pound an opponent without fear of return fire) and dice rolling (in the last few games my opponents have rolled poorly - even in this game the Atlas missed with the AC 20 each of the few times it fired).

Show me an example of a 6000 BV force you would use against these Archers. This game was a little over 6000 BV on both sides but mostly I play 6000 BV, which gets me four Archer 5Ws (each with two tons of special munitions LRMs and all 4/5 pilots) and four Sprint helicopters (3/5 pilots).
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Paint it Pink on 02 May 2011, 07:28:26
My experience of Archers is that three of them with a Thunderbolt in front for support is a pretty unbeatable combination until you start going full combined arms in BattleTech.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: FedCom4Ever on 02 May 2011, 10:49:32
Hey I'm just going by what I read before on these reports. Last time the gunners were 2/5 I seem to remember. That's a little bit skewed don't you think?

Yes of course the ultimate game changer is the dice rolling. If you can't roll well, then you're just stuck. So I'm in agreement with you there.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Lyran Archer on 02 May 2011, 12:29:53
Hey I'm just going by what I read before on these reports. Last time the gunners were 2/5 I seem to remember. That's a little bit skewed don't you think?

Yes of course the ultimate game changer is the dice rolling. If you can't roll well, then you're just stuck. So I'm in agreement with you there.

Those Archer 5Ws had 2/5 pilots because I paid 1872 BV instead of 1337 BV. I wanted to try out better gunners because in the previous game to that one I had two good hits in my first LRM salvo and after that for the next ten rounds all I could ever hit was a shut-down 'Mech! My rolls were absolutely atrocious but luckily I was paired with my brother against Bren and my brother killed most of Bren's Jade Falcons. However, people said that it was unrealistic fluff-wise to have such good gunners so I switched back to 4/5 pilots.

I have won quite a few of my games but when I first started playing in November again (after a 15-year hiatus), I lost my first few games. I started by using my Archers as long-range direct fire platforms but that didn't go very well - I couldn't always get line of sight and there are better weapons for long-range direct fire, like Gauss or PPCs. It's only after I switched to indirect bombardment that I started winning. Suddenly, I could hit the enemy without too much fear of return fire - my spotters were either too fast or too far away - and I didn't need (or even want) line of sight any more. Using TAG and Narc has also helped considerably.

Anyhoo, I wouldn't disparage the unit selection of others. People at first laughed at me for using all Archers (until I started winning) and I've used Scimitar hover tanks very effectively. Dice rolls and the use of terrain can have as much impact on the game as unit selection.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Phell on 02 May 2011, 18:10:43
Play what you like. Beating the odds is part of the fun.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Devens on 02 May 2011, 20:04:13
I believe, after reading the entire AAR, I'd have to say that the only two problems that I saw Phell make were using the Atlas to flank and letting the Thug get too far forward.  If the Atlas and Battlemaster had traded places and the Thug had kept in close formation with the others, I don't think Lyran would have had a chance.  The Atlas, combined with the Thug, would have provided a nearly unbeatable anvil for those Archers to pound away on while the Cataphract and Battlemaster slammed the trap shut.

In that same vein, considering that Lyran was heavily out massed from the beginning, I believe he did the best that he could have been expected too.  Furthermore, I would suggest that he look into the Royal variant of the Rifleman, as it's an 80 ton beast which should more than meet his requirements as a bodyguard unit.

I would use the LRM Axeman for a bodyguard.  Its basically a catapalt with an Axe.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Paladin1 on 03 May 2011, 08:03:31
I would use the LRM Axeman for a bodyguard.  Its basically a catapalt with an Axe.
I never even considered the Axeman, it's as Lyran as you can get and fits with his unit structure.  Good call.
Title: Re: Lyran Archer's Second Battle for River City
Post by: Devens on 03 May 2011, 20:45:07
And its lage pulse laser should be helpful vs fast light buggers.