The New Free Worlds League: Thread Title Deadlocked in Committee

[Scotty]

Old thread hit 50 pages, new thread is necessary.  I'm accepting alternate ideas for thread titles, but let's get this one started. :D

[Sharpnel]

United, We Fall. Divided, We Stand.

[The Eagle]

"Like a Phoenix, but purple."

[jklantern]

United, We Fall. Divided, We Stand.

Seconded.  I think this is gonna be hard to top.

[chaosxtreme]

"Like a Phoenix, but purple."

I can get behind this.

[Scotty]

"Like a Phoenix, but purple."

I also like this one.

Good news: if something better comes up in the next 50 pages, I'll change it again.

[Colt Ward]

So, all this talk about mechs with AS . . . what about the League's armor heavy armor?  Ontos flavors, Merkava Mk IX, and the awesome Moltke?

[ANS Kamas P81]

Signing in!

So does anyone have a good general summary of events in Shattered Sphere that we can use to properly kick this thread off?  I've been reading bits and pieces but I'm (ironically, with this thread title) prepping for a move OUT of Phoenix so I haven't had much time to really sit down and read.

[Geont]

Signing in!

So does anyone have a good general summary of events in Shattered Sphere that we can use to properly kick this thread off?  I've been reading bits and pieces but I'm (ironically, with this thread title) prepping for a move OUT of Phoenix so I haven't had much time to really sit down and read.

We are back (Regulus is again part of League) but as always little fractures appear (beating of Marians against parliament wish).

[Sharpnel]

I also like this one.

Good news: if something better comes up in the next 50 pages, I'll change it again.

Better already happened in the first reply. [/digruntlement]

[jklantern]

Better already happened in the first reply. [/digruntlement]

Clearly we need to secede and start our OWN FWL thread, with its OWN Captain-General!


...wait...

[Sharpnel]

Secession is an answer, but is it the only one? Wait. Who am I kidding? Of course it is.

[Scotty]

We are back (Regulus is again part of League) but as always little fractures appear (beating of Marians against parliament wish).

Have I mentioned how happy I am that the "dysfunction" in the modern FWL is when one of its member-states goes on an unauthorized ass-kicking spree against a foreign hostile power?

Better already happened in the first reply. [/digruntlement]

If we were still stuck in the Jihad, absolutely.  As is I don't really think it applies*.

*pending IlClan.

[GespenstM]

I notice Alpha Strike is much kinder to vehicles, too. They're still very vulnerable, but I no longer realistically expect them to get immobilized from the tiniest damage. It CAN still happen, but it's not as common as it was in Total Warfare.

So, here's a sadistic choice: You're able to have only a Mad Cat Mk. II Standard or a Mad Cat Mk. IV B in your force. Which one gets the nod, and why?

[Geont]

Have I mentioned how happy I am that the "dysfunction" in the modern FWL is when one of its member-states goes on an unauthorized ass-kicking spree against a foreign hostile power?

Marians had it coming. They decided that they are that good that they can wage a two-front war. Fontaine isn't an idiot and exploited it. For that, he is currently my favourite member-state leader. Nikol as captain-general is doing a miserable job.

[Sartris]

Marians had it coming. They decided that they are that good that they can wage a two-front war. Fontaine isn't an idiot and exploited it. For that, he is currently my favourite member-state leader. Nikol as captain-general is doing a miserable job.

incompetence? From MY Captain-General? It’s more likely than you think.

[Scotty]

I notice Alpha Strike is much kinder to vehicles, too. They're still very vulnerable, but I no longer realistically expect them to get immobilized from the tiniest damage. It CAN still happen, but it's not as common as it was in Total Warfare.

So, here's a sadistic choice: You're able to have only a Mad Cat Mk. II Standard or a Mad Cat Mk. IV B in your force. Which one gets the nod, and why?

I like how the Mk II looks a lot better,  so that gets my vote.  I'm particularly fond of the 4, though,  for Alpha Strike.

[MadCapellan]

I notice Alpha Strike is much kinder to vehicles, too. They're still very vulnerable, but I no longer realistically expect them to get immobilized from the tiniest damage. It CAN still happen, but it's not as common as it was in Total Warfare.

Always use the TacOps Improved Vehicle Effectiveness rules. Wheeled & hover vehicles are simply awful without them.

[Easy]

cleanup

[ANS Kamas P81]

If Big Al takes Terra, he's going to have to fight through the WHOLE Republic.  And they're not gonna sit down and take it, so there'll be counterattacks coming as the other republic worlds gather their forces to retake the homeworld.  Not to mention that the Falcons will turn the place into a planetary bonfire of a Refusal under Malvina, which means Alaric's gonna need the entire Wolf army there and they're going to get ground down fierce.

And it's only been a few years since the establishment of the Empire; it shouldn't be hard to reabsorb those worlds back into the FWL where they belong.  So with a very thin military at most (logically) in those worlds, and a very likely case that the Wolves won't be massing to take them back anytime soon.

Then again, the FWL's also dealing with reabsorbing Regulus, the Marian incursion, and Blake alone knows what else.  Maybe the Foxes can be encouraged to help out, with direct force or heavy discounts on cool machines.  On that note, Mad Cat Mk IV B in Ferrari red with black pinstriping, please.

[The Eagle]

The Wolves are going to be bogged down fight the RAF (hopefully) and the Falcons - because Malvina is so crazy she won't fold into a Wolf ilClan without a struggle) - so the League should be able to retake at least a few key worlds like Keystone.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

I know it's not a common idea: but it Alaric is busy fighting god knows what around/on Terra and Im the new FWL I spend as much time as possible re-arming, re-building, fortifying, and then launching as many spoiler attacks as possible to bog down future attacks: Im talking economic raids and the like.

If your two biggest enemies (besides the CapCon) are fighting each other then that gives me time to build a lot.

Just my two cents....

[Easy]

cleanup

[ANS Kamas P81]

Absolutely Tongatapu, even if the Awesomes there are a little on the bizarro side.  Why Mundrabilla?

[GespenstM]

I like how the Mk II looks a lot better,  so that gets my vote.  I'm particularly fond of the 4, though,  for Alpha Strike.

As in the Mk. II 4, or the Mk. IV?

Regardless of your answer, can you provide more detail? (You don't have to limit yourself to the Mk. IV B if there's another config you feel is even more noteworthy)

[Scotty]

The Mk II 4.  It retains the jump jets, has a damage profile of 4/4/4, an OV of 3, and OVL so it can use it at long range.  It's an excellent 'Mech for punishing your opponent overextending or engaging buildings at long (safe) range.  Determining when and where to overheat (especially on a 'Mech with JJs) is a major part of what I consider the fun decision-making process for Alpha Strike, and boy howdy does that 'Mech deliver.  It is very consistent, and by having 4/4/4 OV3 it gets a significant relative PV reduction versus what it'd be if the damage profile was 7/7/7 OV0.

Four points of damage is also low enough that your opponent is liable to ignore it in favor of heavier hitters, and you can use that to exploit the OV to prove them very, very wrong.

[GespenstM]

That's an interesting line of thought. Though, wouldn't that necessitate making the Mk. II 4 fight only every other turn on paper? That is... overheat to 2, jump away to cool off, come back to overheat 2 again, jump away to cool, etc.?

Granted, I suppose in reality it's more like 'Do 4 damage consistently, spike to 6 when it's a good idea, then jump away to cool off, return to do 4 more for a while, spike to 6, jump away to cool, etc.'?

Edit: Meant to say 6, not 7, damage.

[Scotty]

Effectively, yes.  Being able to pump up by two damage on a tough unit that has the capability to keep its movement mod high(ish) while dealing with the heat is a good thing to have.  Alpha Strike, much more than Total Warfare, is an exercise in stacking together amounts of damage to efficiently remove enemy units from the board.  Four points of damage is a good baseline to start at, you're not paying extra for any short range damage you might not (playstyle permitting, of course) be using, you have the ability to respond to a target at any range, and you have the ability to dish out extra damage as the situation calls for it.

Getting up to 6 damage is a pretty big threshold, since most Medium 'Mechs only have five armor (I think there are a couple 55 tonners that manage six points) and most Lights have six or so points of armor and structure combined.

[ANS Kamas P81]

What about in regular BT, which do you prefer then?

Also were these available to the FWL by 3145?

[Scotty]

I really just have a soft spot for the Mk II 4 in general. :D  It's on the IS General List by 3100 at the latest, let alone the Dark Age.

4x ER Larges and 2x LRM-15s isn't exactly an efficient loadout, especially as far as the heat curve goes, but it's never not going to be able to shoot someone and when it opens up it's entirely capable of putting out the hurt on someone, packing ~40% more alpha-strike firepower than a Hellstar 2.