Author Topic: HBS Expansion Thread- its time for II (spoilers) (Read 165982 times)

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire · « **Reply #60 on:** 16 December 2018, 22:59:41 »

Heh. I only just today found my first Trebuchet. After I already got a Thunderbolt and a Jagermech running.

Feenix74 · « **Reply #61 on:** 17 December 2018, 01:03:31 »

Faced my first Hatchetman last night, my Vindicator and two Panthers made short work of it.

I am really enjoying the career mode. It is a grind but I think it captures the spirit of a small merc company working the periphery to try to scrape together a living.

NeonKnight · « **Reply #62 on:** 17 December 2018, 09:22:02 »

Yep, last night, acquired my FIRST heavy mech, a QUICKDRAW. And I had to actually buy two of the components from the local STORE.

Thankfully, I like the fact I can run multiple missions in the same system in a single 'day'. Really, helps to get the cash up to keep the company flush.

MarauderD · « **Reply #63 on:** 17 December 2018, 13:05:16 »

Running my first career, and had an EPIC mission last night.

Went into the "He Does His Own Stunts" mission with two Vindicators, a Shadow Hawk, and a Jenner-F.

Fought his escorts (two fully armored Manticores and two Strikers) in hilly terrain and took them all out with minimal damage to by stock Vindicator.

Turns out Brock Armstrong was piloting a Warhammer-K, and a few lucky SRM hits to the head later, I had three more pieces! Who knows if I'll see it again, but two more pieces of it (I'm set to pieces o' 5 right now) and it would be my first heavy!

Going to be tough getting playtime this week going into the Holidays, but I really want to have a heavy in my lance to replace one of those Vindis.

Euphonium · « **Reply #64 on:** 17 December 2018, 14:08:15 »

Quote from: Daryk on 16 December 2018, 20:54:38

Even if I had a tonnage advantage, I couldn't stop the OPFOR from ignoring me and trashing the buildings. It was worse at the lighter end of course, because one of those Large Laser variant Commandos could trash a building much faster than I could take it down (which is to say, with one shot).

I'm defending buildings with ~100-150HP, so they take a couple of alpha-strikes from most medium 'mechs.
The problem I was having was partly that even with focusing fire I couldn't get kills fast enough, and partly that the attacking 'mech would prioritize shooting buildings over self-defence.

NickAragua · « **Reply #65 on:** 17 December 2018, 14:29:42 »

Quote from: MarauderD on 17 December 2018, 13:05:16

Turns out Brock Armstrong was piloting a Warhammer-K, and a few lucky SRM hits to the head later, I had three more pieces! Who knows if I'll see it again, but two more pieces of it (I'm set to pieces o' 5 right now) and it would be my first heavy!

The Warhammer is surprisingly fast for a heavy. I had one in my main lance briefly, but it got cored out by a Shreck and a Manticore. I generally like to keep the two PPC / two ML / SRM/6 loadout, but prefer to strip out the small lasers for extra armor or a heat sink.

RE: Base defense (and convoy escort missions too)
I saw it posted on the paradox boards. Basically, each enemy unit on an escort/defend type mission will normally target the objective as a priority. However, if you shoot it (even if you miss), it will instead target your mechs for two turns. This makes that multi-shot ability quite useful, as you can ping up to three guys per turn so they don't shoot the objective.

Sometimes you still run into a situation where the opfor brought some light mechs while you brought assaults, at which point they'll focus down the buildings or whatever.

Daryk · « **Reply #66 on:** 17 December 2018, 17:08:25 »

Hmm... I never saw that behavior. I'd shoot the light 'mechs (and even hit), and they'd still ignore me in favor of the buildings.

Feenix74 · « **Reply #67 on:** 17 December 2018, 18:30:10 »

Quote from: MarauderD on 17 December 2018, 13:05:16

Running my first career, and had an EPIC mission last night.

Went into the "He Does His Own Stunts" mission with two Vindicators, a Shadow Hawk, and a Jenner-F.

Fought his escorts (two fully armored Manticores and two Strikers) in hilly terrain and took them all out with minimal damage to by stock Vindicator.

Turns out Brock Armstrong was piloting a Warhammer-K, and a few lucky SRM hits to the head later, I had three more pieces! Who knows if I'll see it again, but two more pieces of it (I'm set to pieces o' 5 right now) and it would be my first heavy!

Going to be tough getting playtime this week going into the Holidays, but I really want to have a heavy in my lance to replace one of those Vindis.

What?

Did they sneak the nuseen Warhammer into the game without announcing it? Does this mean the nuseen Marauder has been snuck into the game as well?

MarauderD · « **Reply #68 on:** 17 December 2018, 18:50:06 »

Quote from: Feenix74 on 17 December 2018, 18:30:10

What?

Did they sneak the nuseen Warhammer into the game without announcing it? Does this mean the nuseen Marauder has been snuck into the game as well?

Mod: Hangar of the Dispossessed takes the Marauder, Warhammer, and Phoenix Hawk from MWO and puts them in the game. Indispensable mod.

Learn it, know it; live it!

Feenix74 · « **Reply #69 on:** 17 December 2018, 18:59:39 »

Ahh :thumbsup:

Aware of mods, prefer my game to remain vanilla at this stage. Will patiently await official combat drop of the nuseen.

Euphonium · « **Reply #70 on:** 17 December 2018, 19:25:05 »

Quote from: NickAragua on 17 December 2018, 14:29:42

RE: Base defense (and convoy escort missions too)
I saw it posted on the paradox boards. Basically, each enemy unit on an escort/defend type mission will normally target the objective as a priority. However, if you shoot it (even if you miss), it will instead target your mechs for two turns. This makes that multi-shot ability quite useful, as you can ping up to three guys per turn so they don't shoot the objective.

I might reload and look at that more closely, but I'm pretty sure the OpFor continued to target the base after I hit them

Daryk · « **Reply #71 on:** 17 December 2018, 19:27:47 »

Glad to know I'm not the only one who saw that. I remember reading the "shoot them and they'll shoot back" thing, but never saw it in game.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #72 on:** 17 December 2018, 23:41:36 »

I actually like that, since its at least some programming of the AI to be complicated. I LOVED MC2's set up, but the AI was dumb as a box of rocks (Follow the first thing you see and attack it!) and if you increased the difficulty level all it did was increase the % chance of headshots.

Feenix74 · « **Reply #73 on:** 17 December 2018, 23:51:48 »

I have definitely seen the "shoot them and they'll shoot back" behavior from the AI during a Defend the Base mission and I believe I have also seen the AI focus sole on the objective as well (but I cannot confirm for certain).

Fat Guy · « **Reply #74 on:** 18 December 2018, 07:24:05 »

Quote from: Euphonium on 16 December 2018, 19:50:51

Just played my first Flashpoint mission and I think I went in too soon. I had 6 mediums & 2 lights available. I took the first mission with 4 mediums and completed it fairly well, only one 'mech ended up in the shop. The second mission was a quick failure though. It was a base defence mission and the bad guys ignored me completely until they'd killed two buildings. Then a second lance dropped in and I had no chance of dropping 8 medium 'mechs before they could take out the rest of the buildings.
If that's typical of flashpoints I'm not going to attempt another until I've got a lance of heavies available.

My lance for the 2nd mission was:
Wolverine (refitted with 2xLRM10 instead of AC5 & JJ)
Shadow Hawk (LRM10 & SRM6 in place of AC5 & JJ)
Enforcer (PPC & AC5)
Hatchetman (provided by my employer)

Using the Hatchetman was fun though. I got the "We'll call it a draw" achievement for lopping all four limbs off a Crab!

You made the wrong choice. You picked to fight the defenders you know about. If you would have picked to drop outside their patrol schedule, both missions would have been easier.

Many of the decisions you're forced to make will dramatically effect the difficulty, so chose carefully.

Or just do what I did and manually save before starting each flashpoint. That way you can restart chose the other option if need be.

Euphonium · « **Reply #75 on:** 18 December 2018, 12:40:51 »

Quote from: Fat Guy on 18 December 2018, 07:24:05

You made the wrong choice. You picked to fight the defenders you know about. If you would have picked to drop outside their patrol schedule, both missions would have been easier.

Many of the decisions you're forced to make will dramatically effect the difficulty, so chose carefully.

Or just do what I did and manually save before starting each flashpoint. That way you can restart chose the other option if need be.

Hindsight is great like that. I'm not that bothered about the initial choice because you make it blind and I'm not up for repeatedly replaying to find the easiest path. I'd rather complete this career and then try the other option in a new career. (that's not meant to be a dig at you btw, just saying it's not my style for this game)

I'm more interested in replaying to take a close look at how the AI handles itself - could I have stopped them shooting at the buildings by engaging theOpFor differently.

And if dropping outside the known schedule made the first mission easier it must have been an absolute cakewalk, since I didn't really have any problems with it in the choice I made.

Elmoth · « **Reply #76 on:** 18 December 2018, 16:08:31 »

Idea (might work or not): Move mechs close to the enemy. Might have them switching targets. make sure the mech that goes mad and charges the enemy has enough points to go defender after running though, or you are looking to a turn of pain!

Fat Guy · « **Reply #77 on:** 19 December 2018, 10:40:18 »

I tried 3 times without success to win that one before reloading my save and starting over. The best I did was within 2 turns.

This one and The Steel Beast are the only two that have an unwinnable option.

Euphonium · « **Reply #78 on:** 22 December 2018, 09:01:00 »

It's only there as scenery, but I just found a mobile Long Tom.
I'd love to see it as a functioning unit in one of the updates.

Daryk · « **Reply #79 on:** 22 December 2018, 09:13:37 »

Well, you get to be on the receiving end of at least one Long Tom several times in the campaign scenarios...

DarkSpade · « **Reply #80 on:** 22 December 2018, 10:18:02 »

Thanks to the find of a kintaro, my trebuchet and some filler mechs were able to take on my first flash point! Didn't expect the little cut scenes, that was neat. Some actual dialog choices would have been nice though. Lots of flash points are showing up now. Sure be nice if I could get one set at less than 4 skulls though.

I'm also trying to figure out if the black market is worth it. I've paid the insane price once to get in and once to stay in, but I haven't bought anything from it. My mechs are too fragile right now to be worth buying the rare equipment and thanks to my rep, I can't afford any of the mechs. The pirates hate me so much they don't want to give me any missions to help me get my rep higher.

Rep in general seems to be a pain in career mode. They must really want to choose a side because so far trying to keep it balanced just has everyone disliking me.

Fat Guy · « **Reply #81 on:** 22 December 2018, 10:34:31 »

I thought the deal was that once you allied with a faction you got a piece of tech unique to that faction?

Doesn't happen.

Also be careful who you join up with. The Taurians, Magistracy and pirates don't have faction stores (and if you ally with the pirates, everyone becomes your enemy).

Marik, Liao and Davion each have 2 faction stores. Kurita has one in Marik space, while Steiner has one in Davion space.

And once you can afford it, the black market is definately worth it.

Euphonium · « **Reply #82 on:** 22 December 2018, 11:21:25 »

Quote from: Daryk on 22 December 2018, 09:13:37

Well, you get to be on the receiving end of at least one Long Tom several times in the campaign scenarios...

But I want to see them on the map and in action in a mission. There's at least three obvious scenarios that could use them:

Escort a convoy of them
Defend a battery in action
Deep strike to destroy a battery

NickAragua · « **Reply #83 on:** 22 December 2018, 20:43:26 »

Time to mount up, the Archer has arrived! (it's a mod)

https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/336

DarkSpade · « **Reply #84 on:** 22 December 2018, 22:54:00 »

Quote from: NickAragua on 22 December 2018, 20:43:26

Time to mount up, the Archer has arrived! (it's a mod)

https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/336

Hands?

NickAragua · « **Reply #85 on:** 23 December 2018, 00:48:43 »

Quote from: DarkSpade on 22 December 2018, 22:54:00

Hands?

It sure does have them! (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Archer)

Icerose20 · « **Reply #86 on:** 23 December 2018, 04:46:38 »

Another single mindedness of the AI that allowed me to get rear shots and kill a mech.

Tundra climate, one where you are at the head of a valley, and have on the left side the path over looking the valley.

I had a Lance consisting of a T-bolt 5S, Centurion, Shadowhawk, and a PPC Blackjack.

I was facing a Shadowhawk 2D, an Orion, and a T-bolt. The T-bolt was on the path to the left, whiel the Shadowhawk came up the valley, and the Orion coming over the rightside of the valley.

I sent the T-bolt down the valley, towards the trees, whiel the Shadowhawk was going on his Right. I sent the Centurion down the leftpath knowing soemthing was going to come down that path. the PPC Jack was in between the T-bolt and the Centurion.

First Round of combat had my lance hit and destroy the Shadowhawk, while my T-bolt got hit by the two heavies. Thankfully I had bulwark and cover, so I was okay.

Second Round. I waited for the two enemies to move first. Orion moved for the T-bolt, while the T-bolt came to the ledge and did the same. Since it was my left side, it got thru the left arm. Now my turn, Centurion manuever behind the T-bolt and gets some back shots. Ac/10 hits a leg, but the Med Lazers and the 2 LRM5s hit the torsos. My Shadowhawk manuvers to get behind the Orion, but gets side torso. PPC Jack and the T-bolt stay becuase they are in cover so no real reason to move out.

Third Round. I made a mistake when i pushed reserve. T-bolt went first and did not turn around on the Centurion, but hit my T-bolt, and took of my left Arm, which had nothing. (habit for TT, if it is not a Piranha, MG are worthless and asking for an ammo explosion). My Centurion targeted the T-bolt backside, CT, and this time it found the mark and took out the T-bolt in one shot. Orion tried hit my T-bolt, but missed with the ac10. My Shadowhawk now melee his back side, and took out that Right Torso. Needless to say, 4 to 1, I finished the mission.

It just seems to me that allowing anything on your backside, when you knwo about it should be a priority not to allow to happen. My Centurion should never had won that fight.

Luciora · « **Reply #87 on:** 23 December 2018, 10:47:11 »

The AI seems to prioritize damaged targets over self preservation. Some players in TT are like that too, more would probably think twice about a rear AC/10 shot though.

00Dawg · « **Reply #88 on:** 23 December 2018, 20:14:52 »

I’m already tired of taking flash points with promises of LosTech and getting no such thing. If I’m going to bite the bullet and do the Chancellor’s dirty work, I should at least get the reward I was promised...

MarauderD · « **Reply #89 on:** 24 December 2018, 16:03:56 »

Quote from: 00Dawg on 23 December 2018, 20:14:52

I’m already tired of taking flash points with promises of LosTech and getting no such thing. If I’m going to bite the bullet and do the Chancellor’s dirty work, I should at least get the reward I was promised...

There is a known bug regarding the rewArds for flash points. A few of them are mislabeled as to the rewards. I was frustrated by that as well.