Campaign Rules: Against the Bot Thread #4

[Downslide]

Yes, combat really is a hurtful, deadly thing. 

Especially for infantry when they're fighting against big, stompy robots.

[BLOODWOLF]

If I was an infantryman I sure as hell wouldn't want to be put up against mechs, "Screw this, this is battletech what are you doing commander?"

[Southernskies]

Feeling a bit dense as I can't get the game to cooperate.

How do you give Field Guns to an infantry unit?  Tried buying, tried modifying in Mechlab, tried modifying on game launch but just can't seem to find it.

I even created a new game and loaded multiple types of infantry to check.

[scJazz]

So MML can't build a field gun unit.

They have to be created by hand or by some other obsolete Unit Editor.

They do exist and can be used in MM. However, their tech level is set to Advanced and the Year to 3050.

Please find attached the field gun units with the Year set to 2750.

Have a nice day :)

[Hammer]

So MML can't build a field gun unit.

They have to be created by hand or by some other obsolete Unit Editor.

They do exist and can be used in MM. However, their tech level is set to Advanced and the Year to 3050.

Please find attached the field gun units with the Year set to 2750.

Have a nice day :)

hmmm...I hadn't noticed that I'll get those dates in MM changed.  I know they made a canon unit available in 2500

[pheonixstorm]

Make sure the field guns don't have tech with a late intro. There are LAC5 field guns don't forget.

[Hammer]

Make sure the field guns don't have tech with a late intro. There are LAC5 field guns don't forget.

Not my first rodeo.

[Southernskies]

Thanks.

Had to change the allowed units for the campaign to get them to come up.

[scJazz]

Thanks.

Had to change the allowed units for the campaign to get them to come up.

Yeah regardless of the year thing they are still Advanced Tech.

[scJazz]

OK so... it is time for Formal Introductions.

My name is scJazz, I have been given the honor to continue to add to the AtB Rules. Makinus has handed over the reigns and Neoancient is on board. I did not want to just "jump in". However, it has been generally known for a few months now over the half dozen other Forums, Chats, and Channels.

One of the top items in my to do, is balancing IS vs Clan combat. To do it though, I need IS Forces (CPNX and Customs) that I can use to test IS vs Clan balance.

If you have a Campaign fighting IS vs Clan, please send me the CPNX, along with any customs I might need to load it.

Thank you!

[Mukaikubo]

Yay, it's public! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the rules, and like I said in the PM a while back if you ever want to chat with someone else who has kicked these rules around a lot I will cheerfully jabber.

Don't have any active forces, but what I do have is some of the old math I did when I was trying to figure out just how unbalanced things were. I actually calculated out roughly what BV a player light, medium, heavy, and assault lance could expect to face on average against a clan force rolled per the ATB rules, all 3/4 pilots, and drawn from Xotl's 3050 Clan Wolf RAT. It came out in the order of:

Light lance: ~15-16k BV
Medium lance: ~20-21k BV
Heavy lance: ~27-28k BV
Assault lance: ~35-36k BV

Made a lot of assumptions to get there back in the day- most of which I remember- but having that as an initial point may save you some time.

[Hammer]

Yay, it's public! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the rules, and like I said in the PM a while back if you ever want to chat with someone else who has kicked these rules around a lot I will cheerfully jabber.

Hi,

If you join the MegaMek Slack we have dedicated channel for AtB for that purpose.

[scJazz]

Hi,

If you join the MegaMek Slack we have dedicated channel for AtB for that purpose.

And I would like you to join!

[scJazz]

Yay, it's public! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the rules, and like I said in the PM a while back if you ever want to chat with someone else who has kicked these rules around a lot I will cheerfully jabber.

Don't have any active forces, but what I do have is some of the old math I did when I was trying to figure out just how unbalanced things were. I actually calculated out roughly what BV a player light, medium, heavy, and assault lance could expect to face on average against a clan force rolled per the ATB rules, all 3/4 pilots, and drawn from Xotl's 3050 Clan Wolf RAT. It came out in the order of:

Light lance: ~15-16k BV
Medium lance: ~20-21k BV
Heavy lance: ~27-28k BV
Assault lance: ~35-36k BV

Made a lot of assumptions to get there back in the day- most of which I remember- but having that as an initial point may save you some time.

Get on the Slack so we can talk about Large Force Rules!

[scJazz]

OK so... it is time for Formal Introductions.

My name is scJazz, I have been given the honor to continue to add to the AtB Rules. Makinus has handed over the reigns and Neoancient is on board. I did not want to just "jump in". However, it has been generally known for a few months now over the half dozen other Forums, Chats, and Channels.

One of the top items in my to do, is balancing IS vs Clan combat. To do it though, I need IS Forces (CPNX and Customs) that I can use to test IS vs Clan balance.

If you have a Campaign fighting IS vs Clan, please send me the CPNX, along with any customs I might need to load it.

Thank you!

This is the second request.

The number one issue is IS vs Clan balance. I want to fix it!

I can not do it without examples of IS forces (CPNX) vs Clans as played in AtB. What are your  problems with IS vs Clan scenarios? Please send info!

Let me know!
scJazz

[chichengunga]

Whats the benefit of buying your own jump and dropships? I have my entire unit and cargo contained by my own ships but still am charged almost a million c bills per jump.

[scJazz]

Whats the benefit of buying your own jump and dropships? I have my entire unit and cargo contained by my own ships but still am charged almost a million c bills per jump.

They increase your Unit Rating which in turn increases your contract pay. Depending on the transport clause of your contract you can be reimbursed for using your own transport. 50% equals a one way trip from your current location to your contract location.

[plutonick]

Hi,

If you join the MegaMek Slack we have dedicated channel for AtB for that purpose.

Can I get an invite on slack too?

[pheonixstorm]

Have you registered on slack yet?

As for JS/DS, having a JS lowers how much you have to pay out for travel in addition to the increase in unit rating. Same goes for DS, though renting dropships is far more expensive. Not sure how accurate the DS costs are when rentings but most contracts should reimburse part of all of that amount.

[Hammer]

Can I get an invite on slack too?

You should just be able to send an email request.

[plutonick]

You should just be able to send an email request.

There is no such option. All i get is

"Don't have an account on this team yet?
Contact the team administrator for an invitation"

But I can't do this through slack.

[arlith]

Try this URL for joining the MegaMek-Public slack: http://megamek.org:3000/.

[plutonick]

Managed to join slack using the last link, thanks. I will be lurking there.

Couple of Atb questions after 2 contracts.

1. Do you people go to hiring halls after completing a mission, or just get a contract from the current planet you finished your previous one? It seems a waste of money travelling to Galatea or wherever...
2. Does mek parts quality make any difference (besides getting damaged if their quality falls way down)?

[Stormforge]

1. I tend to set course and begin traveling towards a hiring hall after each contract. You have a better chance of finding a contract at a hiring hall. Though if in rout I see a contract I like, I will divert and head straight for the new contract planet. The contract's begin and end dates should automatically adjust if you do not reach the planet by the begin date due to things like, a jump drive still charging after accepting the new contract causing you to be slightly late in reaching the planet.

2. As far as I know just what you stated, and I believe the overall mech quality rating has to do with the sum of all the parts quality then averaged out. Or something like that.
Edit: If I recall correctly, quality also determines the difficulty in repairing that item if it becomes damaged.

[pfarland]

1.)  Pretty much like Stormforge unless I'm WAY out in the boonies (because of a sweet contract) and then I'll use a mediocre contract with good transport terms to get closer.

2.)  Again agreeing with Stormforge here.  Also there is a price modifier (only when selling as you only ever buy D quality) with higher/lower quality parts/units.

[plutonick]

I have found out that if you dont set your officer's rank correctly you are messing up the shares system, since it's officer rank gives +1 shares.

I used to have Commanding General for my commander, and captain for each other officer. My commander ended having 12 shares (shares due to mech excluded) and officers had 4 shares on average. I don't know how this would affect my campaign.

How do you set your officer ranks? Commander is Rank 2 and the other officers are just Rank 1?

[2ndAcr]

 Took ten minutes to create a force and find a fight with the Clans.................my light lance (2 Panther, 2 Jenner) versus 2 Clan Heavy Stars and a Elemental Star.

 The serious lopsided nature is my main issue with IS vs Clan. Now I could tolerate 1 Clan Star versus mine. But facing basically a Nova or Trinary with a lance is a bit much.

 Now of I could figure out how to post a cnpx file I will post it.

[plutonick]

You need to game your lance weight in order to be just barely below each category.
Light is 0 - 130 tons
Medium is 135 - 200

So, if you are light, try to stay near 125.
If you are medium, try to stay near 195..

[Snimm]

Wow.  I finally ran another fresh unit after about a year of not actually playing AtB...something DOES need to be done about the number of units the bot gets, at least at the lower difficulty levels.  It still makes stupid moves often enough, but it's smart enough that it does NOT need all the units it gets.  "Green" difficulty is waaaayyy too hard for a truly green player.  The units it's generating now should be worth about a "Veteran" difficulty - and that's without doubling vehicles!

I know, some of us are tactical and strategical geniuses who don't have a problem with the opposition generated.  I'm also well aware of the "pay attention to the task objectives" guideline and that we can just remove some forces manually (which makes me feel like a cheater).  But seriously, a 3-unit Light lance faces almost an entire company plus a reinforcement lance in a Probe attack?  That's just beyond the pale.

I'd recommend cutting the bot's forces at least by a quarter, if not half, for Green difficulty as a baseline.

[Padraig Tseng]

I have found out that if you dont set your officer's rank correctly you are messing up the shares system, since it's officer rank gives +1 shares.

I used to have Commanding General for my commander, and captain for each other officer. My commander ended having 12 shares (shares due to mech excluded) and officers had 4 shares on average. I don't know how this would affect my campaign.

How do you set your officer ranks? Commander is Rank 2 and the other officers are just Rank 1?

Depends on the size of the unit....A starting company would have a Captain in command and 3 LT's as XO and Lance Commanders.