BattleTech! MechWarrior!

[Terra_Inc]

To be honest though, I have zero experience with Clan Gaming... sounds fun... Can I come and play in your sandbox maybe...?

Of course! When everything is set up, we'll be glad if we can fill two lances...

[CABAL]

Want to grab the MW(b) rank badge and add it to your sig, Dino? There's stuff I don't do very well, but if we exploit our strengths and cover for each other's weaknesses then we should be great. Actually, your medium and light style would probably support my mechs pretty well. I could use somebody to keep fast little guys away from my feet.

[CABAL]

I don't know why this wasn't around before, but the Tiger Nakama now has a social group. Sign up today!

[thunderfoot]

Dino, I am not dispensing "wisdom". I am merely parroting the training I received as a tanker during my formative adult years as a warrior trainee. When I became a Sergeant, it was after a lot of long hard work to prove I had the right stuff and could teach others as well. The US Army is unique in how it selects personnel to be non-commissioned officers as far as I know. The prospect is required to appear in full uniform before a board of long service regular non commissioned officers from his own unit after he meets the time in grade and professional development conditions to do so. These senior NCO's question him/her at length about the Army, his/her military specialty and various things concerning leadership and training. The Promotion Board is covered in traditions and regulations and various orders but it all really comes down to one thing:

"Okay, Boyo. Prove to us that you're good enough to be one of us."

It is one of the proudest achievements of my life that I was able to do so. Still is. All the observations and analysis I provided are a direct result of all of my service. Not all that difficult to do, really. Just a matter of paying attention to details and thinking about what one sees without having a particular bias in any direction. A scout is the eyes and ears of the Commander. A scout's job is to go and find out and report back with the facts. Any analysis performed over and above this is gravy and will save the Commander additional time in getting inside the Enemy's information-planning-decision-execution loop. If Tiger Nakama can think/react/fight faster than the Enemy, then it is all to the good.

And on this note, here is the next part of "Fighting for S****s."

Extract from Battlerom BL 201007250339.01.

"Hiya, Stryker! Come to see us off in style, I see."
"Stryker Lance is going places, Hammer. Unlike that pack of miscreants you think is a lance."
"Erik, as soon as you get done babysitting these crawlers, how 'bout we hook up with Badger in the Mess for a hand or two?"
"No thanks, Allan. I'll be renting my socks from Badger if I play him again."
"Really? I didn't know you were that bad at cards, Stryker. On to business. Convoy Lead is on Channel Four. Nothing to report but Mandrill says the whole sector's been too quiet today."
"Roger, Hammer. Stryker is on station and accepts the duty. Hammer Lance stands relieved. Break. X-ray, Stryker. Reporting relief of Hammer Lance vicinity grid One One Zero Two. Time, Zero Three Four Seven, local. Crawler count is no change. Weapons status is Hold. Stryker is Redcon One, over."
"Stryker, X-ray. Acknowledged. X-ray reports no contact with any threat currently. Projection is no change in threat status, no change in convoy status. Convoy Lead is standing by on Channel Four, out."
"Convoy lead, Stryker actual. Stryker is on station and Redcon One. Request data dump to all Stryker elements for any changes or updates."
"Roger, Stryker. Data dump transmitted. Request Stryker elements squawk IFF for sync with convoy."
"Stryker elements, Lead. Squawk IFF in three, two, one. Squawk."
"Good sync, Stryker. All elements are now blue and visible. Convoy Lead returning to listening silence, out."

Extract from Black Legion AAR report.

Leftenant Masters:...We were moving for Navpoint Alpha in a loose wedge and overtaking the convoy elements. I wanted clear fields of fire for Stryker in case anything went wrong. I also wanted to get and keep about a two hundred metre separation from the carriers because those raw crystals are slightly flammable. I took point since I had the best sensors. Two covered the left flank and Three covered the right one.

About a minute past Alpha, my boards lit up with a cold start by a Threat 'Mech. Warbook said it was a Cougar with standard loadouts. He was sitting on the reverse slope of Hill 319 and jumped as soon as the crawlers were in range. He never came off the hill and Two laid surpressive fires on the crest to keep his head down. The sensors then identified another Cougar and a lance of tanks which were masked by terrain at first.

The second Cougar was more aggressive than his lancemate. He moved down into the convoy while the tanks supported with long range fires. The tanks were Vedettes. As soon as Three had the second Cougar fully engaged, I engaged and destroyed the tanks. Both Cougars were shooting at us, but the Vedettes were shooting at the crawlers and starting to lay effective fires onto the convoy. The second Cougar turned to engage Three and turned away from me while I was finishing off the tanks. I made the kill shot on him at seven hundred metres. The rounds penetrated his rear armour and destroyed his engine.

As soon as I killed the second Cougar, Three turned to assist Two with the first one. I was outside effective range to engage but I observed Three hit him on the left leg with both large lasers. The Cougar was destabilized and fell onto his left side, apparently snapping off his left weapons pod in the process. He then jumped and Two scored a hit with his large laser which also hit the left leg. The Cougar then fell behind the crest of the hill and we did not see him again during this engagement.

The next Threat unit which we engaged was a Shadow Cat which was jump sniping at extreme range. He was directly in front of us and using a large crater for cover and concealment. If he had a Gauss Rifle he did not use it. The threat 'mech appeared to be damaged from a previous engagement. While we were engaging him and before any of our fire hit, several large pieces of armor and possible components were observed to separate from the Shadow Cat during one of his jumps.

I placed Stryker Three and myself in between this 'mech and the convoy. Two moved to the head of the convoy where he reported contact with an aircraft coming up from our rear. The enemy aircraft made no attempt to attack, just moved overhead at high speed and continued on to the horizon. Meanwhile, The Shadow Cat and Three began a winding match which lasted for approximately three minutes. I was close enough to engage, but held off due to the constant fouling of my sight line to the target by Three. Three scored numerous hits and at one point fused the knee joint of the target's left leg. Izzy'z next shot took the leg off at the knee and the pirate ejected.

The convoy continued without further incident to the processing center, Navpoint Epsilon. Due to the enemy aerospace vehicle being spotted, Corvatti released another mercenary unit which was equipped with aerospace assets to cover the processing center. These arrived approximately ten minutes after we did. Enroute to Epsilon, the pilots spotted and reported an entire medium lance, composed of two Hellspawns, one Chimera, and one Wolfhound, closing on the processing center from the west at high speed. Simultaneously, Turret Control reported two lances of tanks moving in from the southeast. I sent Two and Three off to support the west turret controls while I moved to engage the tanks.

The fighters were strafing the enemy 'mechs, trying to break up their formation more than trying to damage them. The Chimera blew Turret Main to s**** and then turned to engage Turret Jump which was displacing to the rear as rapidly as possible. Izzy and Ben fired simultaneously on the Chimera from approximately four hundred fifty metres. Hits to the flank armour penetrated the missile storage bins and caused a catastrophic detonation. The mechwarrior did not eject. The Wolfhound continued to close while the two Hellspawns moved to support him.

I was coming back across the compund and none of the enemy 'mechs either saw me or reacted. I thought it was odd at the time but since I was going to get one free shot, I left the concern for later. My three mediums caught the Wolfhound by surprise and he turned away from me, confused about which direction he was taking fire from. I fired two gauss rounds from about four hundred metres and both caught him high in the torso. His right arm drooped immediately, indicating support or myomer damage and he then turned back to engage me.

The Wolfhound's three pulsers opened up and one went wide while the other two impacted on my right arm and torso. They did not penetrate the torso or spotweld the arm. I lost about a quarter ton of armour and had to sidestep to maintain balance. As soon as the target lock tone buzzed in my ears I fired the gauss. This round impacted center of mass and breached the engine shielding. The Wolfhound pilot then initiated an engine shutdown and the 'mech fell to the ground.

Ben and Izzy had been busy playing hide and seek with the two Hellspawns. The pirates moved into the compound and in between the buildings. This was a problem. Corvatti had not evacuated the buildings, so miners and support personnel were still inside them. Stryker Lance would have to be very sure about what was behind the target before taking any shot. The pirates had no such compunctions. While Two and Three were in pursuit, I moved as quickly as possible to the opposite end of the compound hoping to catch the pirates in a crossfire.

About one minute later, the fighters reported their weapon racks were empty and they were bingo fuel. They began to draw off to the east of us. Apparently one of the Hellspawns was listening in on enemy comms because the second the fighters pulled off, both Hellspawns sprinted west. Stryker Lance moved to follow although we had little chance of intercepting them. I ordered Two and Three to keep them in range as long as possible. A quick look at the map showed an idea which had suddenly formed might work. At the very least, we still had chased the pirates off with minimal damage and casualties.

Activating my jump jets, I saw both enemy 'mechs clearly and that they were finally starting to move away from any cover or concealment. Good. The next jump I took was towards the one on the left. I hit him in the right hip at about 600 metres. The joint was badly damaged and began smoking. More importantly, he stopped running and began dragging his right leg across the permacrete, raising sparks as he did so. Izzy throttled back from a sprint and began to move up on his rear. She now had ample speed to catch the gimped 'mech and could circle him like a vulture to avoid any return fire. After Izzy circled him twice, inflicting heavy damage all over the 'mech, the enemy pilot dropped his arms to his sides and shut down his power plant to surrender.

The other Hellspawn hesitated for just a second, and then continued his rapid exit of the mission area. I had moved further off from him than I liked but he was still in range of the gauss. Another jump and I shot. My round impacted high center of his rear torso. I was aiming at the hip again. I then saw the slug, now badly deformed from the impact, punch out through the front of the Hellspawn's torso followed closely by a jet of golden flame. This indicated a containment breach of the fusion bottle and the uncontrolled reaction imploded after eating most of the Mech.

Observation and Analysis.

- The Shadow Cat is an excellent heavy scout and would also make a good raider provided the weapons loadout is adjusted. The present armament, while impressive in both hitting power and range, limits choices once combat is inside medium to short range. He is a one trick pony, suitable for sniping and little else. Swapping out the gauss rifle for an LBX 10, adding an SRM 6 pack and tweaking the speed to add a heatsink would make a far more multi mission capable mech.

- Replacing the PPC's on the Uziel with large lasers and adding a flamer addresses the concerns of this mech, which are the same as for the Shadow Cat. The flamer is very effective against infantry and adds an element of surprise for mechs, most of which already produce too much heat to avoid shutting down when the flamer is used against them.

- The Bushwacker does not have the tactical flexibility I had hoped for. It can hold its own and can pile on to combine fires on one target but cannot kill an enemy mech by itself without a great deal of time and ammo expenditures. The arms are not as well armoured as the body and the cannon and missile racks which make up the bulk of the mechs weapons are exposed.

- Adding a fourth mech to Stryker Lance would greatly enhance unit effectiveness while performing current assigned mission profiles.

- Stryker Two and Three have worked long and hard to improve their overall capabilities and have become highly valued members of Stryker Lance. Their attention to detail, dedication to successfully completing the mission, and perserverance in the face of unforeseen difficulties are the equal of anything I saw while part of the AFFC. Both are hearby recommended for promotion to the next rank. In the case of Izabella Radezetskii, it is recommended she be reassigned to Black Legion Officer Candidate School, for additional training to assume the duties and responsibilities of Lance Leader. It will be difficult to replace her within Stryker Lance, but the Black Legion would benefit greatly by following this recommendation.

[thunderfoot]

I have had some problems getting online today due to networking mismatches. I have been kicked from every game I tried today. I suspect this is due to the problems I had previously. I will probably delete the entire setup and start from scratch once more.

Some more observations and analysis.

- I am amazed at the large number of people who play online whom are completely radar dependent for target location. It seems people cannot see what is right in front of them. Using passive sensors with long range weapons mounted and maintaining a 500 - 600 metre separation between one's self and the target goes a very long way towards the enemy not seeing you. What cannot be seen cannot be shot at.

- The "Circle of Death" tactic is improved when executed using the "Center Legs to Torso" command. I have set up my controls so this command uses <Space> and the "Center Torso to Legs" command uses <Shift Space>. Tapping the Space Bar at random times and for random amounts of time with my torso turned left or right makes my Mech jog just enough off its previous heading to cause enemy mechwarriors to miss with the Alpha Strike they want to give me so very badly.

- Since most people are right handed, they will naturally circle or turn to the left. Practice moving and circling to the right to cause more difficulty for an enemy pilot trying to place fires on your Mech.

- When closing on an enemy Mech, create a high angle deflection target solution for the enemy pilot by heading slightly to the left or right of them. Do not charge right into the muzzles. By moving at such an angle, you can cause an enemy pilot to badly misjudge your speed and miss. Adjusting your speed erratically adds to this effect.

[Terra_Inc]

Originally Posted by thunderfoot

I have had some problems getting online today due to networking mismatches. I have been kicked from every game I tried today. I suspect this is due to the problems I had previously. I will probably delete the entire setup and start from scratch once more.

Hopefully you'll get it to work again. If you should have problems with getting online, read the "Getting MW4 Online" guide I posted recently. May help.

- I am amazed at the large number of people who play online whom are completely radar dependent for target location. It seems people cannot see what is right in front of them. Using passive sensors with long range weapons mounted and maintaining a 500 - 600 metre separation between one's self and the target goes a very long way towards the enemy not seeing you. What cannot be seen cannot be shot at.

Yeah, true. That is why I prefer the Advanced Radar Mode introduced by mektek. Familiar with it? In this mode, you can still run around with 360° active radar, but then you're killed faster than you'd expect. Instead, you can use Narrow Radar, it just covers the area in your LOS. If you're not directly facing the enemy it's like passive radar, if you're facing him it works like active radar. Makes the game much more tactical. Unfortunately, there was a lot of whining and complaining by some of the 'seasoned gamers', so the Advanced Radar was limited to Veteran and Elite difficulty in SP. Online, the host decides if he wants Advanced or Simple Radar. Most of the servers run Simple Radar, though.
If you want to play online with Advanced Radar, there's Coolant's dedi. I think it's named "Coolant's MW4 Theme Park". It's a cool server, I hang out there from time to time.

[thunderfoot]

I have been tinkering with the Tiger Nakama insignia. It is a little difficult to keep all the wonderful details CABAL placed in it at 32 x 32 px. Attached is the best version I could do. Also attached is a pic of a very promising new ride I am working up.

[dinosaurJR]

Looking good TF - what mech is that? (my target recognition skills are sadly lacking...)

Whatever it is, it certainly looks mean...

Did you get your networking issues sorted yet? So you can play on line?

As for the radar thing... I have started experimenting with playing as a Cougar, armed with 2X srm4 and 2XCERML - then going passive sensors and running around and generally sneaking up on people and causing mischief...

Although it lacks the punch to kill anything bigger than a Ryoken without expending a lot of time and ammo, I tend to find that with passive sensors, people will just plain ignore me. Although I'm not sure if thats because they don't have me on radar, don't care because I lack firepower, or cant see me because I tend to stick to the blind spot (exactly six o'clock of the torso)...

I managed to stick behind a guy in a Madcat MK2 ("Maybe_neveR" i seem to recall his tag being) and expend all my missiles (240 rounds) without him getting a shot off at me... still didnt kill him...just legged him...

Although I can see that if I was working with a partner in something a little heavier, we could have easily killed him...

I love MW!!!

[Terra_Inc]

Originally Posted by dinosaurJR

Looking good TF - what mech is that? (my target recognition skills are sadly lacking...)

Whatever it is, it certainly looks mean...

It's a Grizzly. 70t heavy clan 'mech. Pretty powerful for that tonnage.

As for the radar thing... I have started experimenting with playing as a Cougar, armed with 2X srm4 and 2XCERML - then going passive sensors and running around and generally sneaking up on people and causing mischief...

Although it lacks the punch to kill anything bigger than a Ryoken without expending a lot of time and ammo, I tend to find that with passive sensors, people will just plain ignore me. Although I'm not sure if thats because they don't have me on radar, don't care because I lack firepower, or cant see me because I tend to stick to the blind spot (exactly six o'clock of the torso)...

Lights are fun, they are so **** fast, you get problems aiming at stuff!
Passive/Narrow Radar is great, people only see you on their radar if you're really close to them, like 200 or 300m. Which means that YOU also see them only when they're in that range. Keep your eyes open.

I managed to stick behind a guy in a Madcat MK2 ("Maybe_neveR" i seem to recall his tag being) and expend all my missiles (240 rounds) without him getting a shot off at me... still didnt kill him...just legged him...

Ankle Biting. That rocks.

I love MW!!!

Me too. When you're walking towards the enemy, hear the screeching of PPCs or the rumbling of AC bullets crashing into the enemy's central torso... The tanks exploding under your laser fire... I love that.

[Terra_Inc]

By the way, does any one of you play MegaMek?