Time to buy a mech

[Arkansas Warrior]

if you go that route just use a long tom cannon or just go blazer

???


Long Tom Cannons and Blazers both have very different roles from an actual artillery piece.

[Daryk]

I think he's just looking at the available tonnage.

[Dave Talley]

And thoughts of how to use an assault mech chassis
inexpensively in a Merc unit
Blazer, a couple mediums, a bunch of sinks and then just run him into the thick of it and start punching

[Daryk]

And kicking... 19 point kicks are nothing to sneeze at...

[Kovax]

The point is that a Banshee serves a very different role from an Orion, which again is different from that of a Cronus.  The Banshee's mass serves it well in melee, and it would be a beast if armed with weapons that compliment that role, but it would be a waste of tonnage and maintenance cost to use it as a fire-support unit where the Orion would serve, and an Archer would excel.  The Cronus would fit in with a lance designed for hit-and-run tactics, plugging holes in a battle line, or exploiting a weakness in an opposing line, but it's not geared for a stand-up fight against a line of heavies.

It all depends on what the rest of the lance is designed for, and how to compliment or support that role.  I can't tell you what you should get, because I don't know what you want or need.

[Colt Ward]

The point is that a Banshee serves a very different role from an Orion, which again is different from that of a Cronus.  The Banshee's mass serves it well in melee, and it would be a beast if armed with weapons that compliment that role, but it would be a waste of tonnage and maintenance cost to use it as a fire-support unit where the Orion would serve, and an Archer would excel.  The Cronus would fit in with a lance designed for hit-and-run tactics, plugging holes in a battle line, or exploiting a weakness in an opposing line, but it's not geared for a stand-up fight against a line of heavies.

It all depends on what the rest of the lance is designed for, and how to compliment or support that role.  I can't tell you what you should get, because I don't know what you want or need.

Well, its a matter of these are the mechs available to buy in their price range- you go to war with what you have not with what you want- and no changes in the foreseeable future since mechs are still hard to come by for lowbie mercs.  Assignments in lances can be shuffled to make either of the 4 mechs fit in, mercs have to make do with what they can get.

[Daryk]

Hmmm... a Blazer Cannon and a Thumper Artillery Cannon would fit, and nicely soak up your DHS.  Head capping goodness combined with AOE for fast movers and infantry sounds like a decent combination to me...

[Dave Talley]

Or depending on need it's got space and tonnage for
bunch of LRMs or SRMs

[Daryk]

Missile ammo is expensive, though...

[Colt Ward]

And it should fall under expenditures in the contract, never bought into the 'merc flashbulb' paradigm- besides it gives you a more versatile and useful force which is what gets you more contracts.

[Daryk]

That makes me wonder why Campaign Operations has a line item for non-combat ammo expenditure...

[Colt Ward]

Because it includes the outrageous . . . quarter ton?  half ton?  I forget expenditure a month to maintain proficiency.  Since your employer supports & maintains your force, you could include training ammo expenses I would guess.

But its a unrealistic ammo use rate that will also place a huge amount of wear & tear on the firing equipment.  I think we had a big discussion where vets were talking about it- replacing gun barrels, cleaning off the fouling of missile exhaust & AC residue, replacing gauss capacitors that no longer cycle properly, etc.  I know I showed a picture of a MLRS launcher that was ground to clear the fouling of a annual live fire.

[Daryk]

I remember that discussion too... I think the consensus was that "advanced technology, blah blah blah" won the day...

[Colt Ward]

Was it?  Honestly, I have and am ignoring that UNLESS its a cadre/training contract because a command is going to run simulators when possible and when using equipment live in the field, simulated munitions.  I mean, if I am on the gunnery range with mech-scale weapons I am going to fire training rounds-which should be a fraction of the cost of war rounds- and simulate weapons fire for most of the time.  We get a great description of that in Initiation to War when the Shu troops are learning to be mechwarriors.

[Daryk]

Campaign Ops does tell you to use the cheapest ammo as "training rounds", as I recall...

[Arkansas Warrior]

The point is that a Banshee serves a very different role from an Orion, which again is different from that of a Cronus.  The Banshee's mass serves it well in melee, and it would be a beast if armed with weapons that compliment that role, but it would be a waste of tonnage and maintenance cost to use it as a fire-support unit where the Orion would serve, and an Archer would excel.  The Cronus would fit in with a lance designed for hit-and-run tactics, plugging holes in a battle line, or exploiting a weakness in an opposing line, but it's not geared for a stand-up fight against a line of heavies.

It all depends on what the rest of the lance is designed for, and how to compliment or support that role.  I can't tell you what you should get, because I don't know what you want or need.

It's not as if the Banshee is only for melee.  Slotting in an ERPPC and an LBX10 makes it a good ranged hole-puncher that can also fight at short range, and is more durable than the Orion, having (slightly) better armor, better IS, and less ammo.  Given the DHS, it also has less heat woes.  It's not quite the bombardment platform that the modified Orion is, but it's a better generalist.

[RifleMech]

Because it includes the outrageous . . . quarter ton?  half ton?  I forget expenditure a month to maintain proficiency.  Since your employer supports & maintains your force, you could include training ammo expenses I would guess.

But its a unrealistic ammo use rate that will also place a huge amount of wear & tear on the firing equipment.  I think we had a big discussion where vets were talking about it- replacing gun barrels, cleaning off the fouling of missile exhaust & AC residue, replacing gauss capacitors that no longer cycle properly, etc.  I know I showed a picture of a MLRS launcher that was ground to clear the fouling of a annual live fire.

I use the AToW Companion rules for the price of training ammo. The ammo and maintenance costs for training should be included in the contract. It'd be to the employer's advantage to keep them well trained and alert instead of getting rusty and complacent.

[Thatguybil]

I use the AToW Companion rules for the price of training ammo. The ammo and maintenance costs for training should be included in the contract. It'd be to the employer's advantage to keep them well trained and alert instead of getting rusty and complacent.

This is why I don’t track it because the net is zero.
You buy the rounds for training.
Employer pays you for the rounds.
You replace the rounds.

Why track it?

[Colt Ward]

Because the old belief that 'flashbulbs are the best merc mechs, you do not have to pay out for ammo!' meme.  But you are right, I would not really track it- since you could be drawing on employer stocks even.  The only negative effect IMO was if you were in a siege situation and then . . . well, you usually do not have to worry about the skills getting rusty.

[Daryk]

Supply chains aren't always reliable, either.

[Kit deSummersville]

I tend to run out of armor faster than I run out of ammo.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The trick is to make sure you run out of targets.

[Hellraiser]

Banshee.

Then insert Standard PPCs & Standard ML's till you use up every bit of tonnage.

Nuff said.

[grimlock1]

As much as I have this bizarre fixation on Banshees, I'm leaning away in this case. Even a -3MC with double heatsinks and upgraded with LB-10 and ER PPCs and some medium lasers doesn't wow me. Also, the Banshee is carrying a whopping 9 points of armor over the Orion.    I kinda see where the Orion is going, but I'm not sure I'm liking it.  I just don't like AC/5s, although there is plenty of ammo to take chancy shots. I love light PPCs with the same range and damage, though.  If you go with the Orion, I would drop the AC/5 ASAP for a PPC and heat sinks.

Don't know much about the Cronus but depending on the heavy you are replacing both it and the Centurion might be too small. Centurion is like a scaled down Orion.  It's rarely the hero of the story but it's a great partner for just about anything.

My weird attraction to the sunglasses wearing monstrosity that is the Banshee is starting to win out.  Use those double heat sinks for all their worth and turn it into a flashbulb.  Paired PPCs in the arms, 6 medium lasers across the torso and an extra ton of armor. Going with 4 mlas would also let you brick the thing out.