Tripod
07/13/09 03:28 AM
192.91.75.30
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I met 2 guys for the first time this week at a local gaming store(Hobby Town USA) and found out they had never played but were interested in Battletech. I offered to meet them the next day with my stuff so I could show them the ropes. Both of them had quite a bit of experiance with Warhammer type games and Nercomunda(sp) so they were not total noobs to gaming. One of the guys had even bought quite a few books, read the rules and mostly understood them, just had trouble linking the sequence of play and heat and all that...
Anyways...
The first battle I set up was very one sided in their favor. I took a 3025 LCT-V1 Locust and let them each pick any 3025 light mech. One took a Spider and the other a Panther, both of them vs me on one standard battletech map. That poor Panther....didn't get a single point of dammage in on me but I could not shake the Spider. I realized at one point that they were noob to average pilots, with "average" 4/4 pilots in their mechs while I, compared to them, was a veteran pilot, also with a 4/4 pilot in the mech. So, I decided to start piloting like an average pilot. It was that or we were going to be there for hours running ducking and hiding from each other. Eventually, victory for the noobies...
For the next battle I picked the mechs, 2 per side and let them decide what pair to take.
Now, before you read on and see what mechs they were decide for yourself what you, at your current skill level and game knowldege level would pick, and what you as a newbie would have decided. Different? or the same?
I made the offer to them, you can take 2 heavy mechs or 1 assault and 1 medium...
(I had the record sheets handy so thats what we used)
I figured they would have taken the assault... I was wrong... They picked the 2 Heavies, 1 Crusader, 1 Archer, I recieved a Dervish and an Atlas. I cant remember the map names but one had sprawling woods and the other had a large hill with a small pool near the top and a river running down the hill and across the map. I started behind the woods and they started behind the large hill. I thought at that point my having the Atlas might be a bit unfair but as slow as it is they could rain down LRM's for a good 5-6 rounds before I could close to point blank range. For some reason they didn't pearch on top of the hill, they ran down it and met me toe to toe. They were trying to get into the open terrain between the hill and woods where they could "keep" me at optimal LRM range... This tactic/strategy failed... They didn't count on the dice gods frowning on newbies. They could not win Init to save their lives, and they needed it to save their lives. I was focusing on the Crusader since it had more short range firepower(same guy that had the panther, I bet he hates me now). At one point the Crusader, after loosing Init, had walked backwords basicly into a corner with the map edge on one side and the river behind and on the other side. I closed the distance to arround 5 hexes and won Init on the following turn. The Crusader pilot could not decide what to do, he was too slow to turn and cross the river and still gain any range or create a movement modifier against me. His buddy in the Archer suggested he "move up next to the Atlas".... Rofl....
I had a great time, but, anyone that get's the rolls I was getting would have had a good time. I felt sorry for the guys and wanted to step in as game master and even the odds but I had said to them the day before that one of the reasons I likes BT so much was the lack of a "hand of god". I really don't like games like d&d because of the of the overwhelming power of a DM to make or break a game depending on their mood. I know, I was playing with the wrong crowd when that happened.
So what do you ladies and gents think, was I wrong? In hindsight I could have made more mistakes with the Atlas's movement and target choices to even things up a bit. As long as they learned from their mistakes all is good I guess.
TBA
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His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey
07/13/09 01:06 PM
24.4.97.143
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If you exchanged contact info ask them what they though of the game.
Why argue if the glass is half full or half empty, when you know someone is going to knock it over and spill it anyways.
I was a Major *pain* before
But I got a promotion.
I am now a General *pain*
Yay for promotions!!!
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Brian_Paxt
07/13/09 08:46 PM
71.13.31.12
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I agree, contact them and see what they thought of the game. Let them know that there are days where the dice gods hate even the GMs. I use the same tactic when I am introducing players to the game. I will let them look through the TROs and through my figures and see what draws their attention, then I get them set up in a 1v1 2v1 3v1 in some cases I have run 5v1. In most cases I take a Classic Wolverine, I have a fond love for that mech as it was the first mech I have ever piloted. I use that mech for 1v1 up to 3v1. In most 5v1 I use a heavy mech like the Thunderbolt. In extreme cases I will use a Battlemaster.
If I end up beating them I let them know that there are days that the dice will love them and days they will hate them. Just like the more you play the more you learn, in some cases the mechs themselves do not like the players. There are many mechs that I have tried to use that did not agree with me and I always ended up on the KIA lists. Just let the know that it takes a bit of time to learn what works for them and that they will learn their own tactics the more they play. That they are just green mechwarriors, that in time they too will get up to veteran and possible elite status.
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Tripod
07/13/09 10:40 PM
192.91.75.30
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Yea, I talked to them today. They understood that it was just fate, and that I was not trying to bully them or anything.
They ended up playing a match of their own. All 3050 mechs, one took a Cesar and a Griffin and the other took a Warhamer and a Shadowhawk. They had a good time and thats all that maters. Unfortunately the former Panther/Cursader pilot took a beating again. His Warhamer had lost an arm and the Shadowhawk had taken 2 engine hits. I was happy to hear that they played as if it was a campaign and he retreated both of his battered mechs before either was a total loss. I dont like to see wrecked mechs still attampting to fight just to see them totally destroyed for the fun of it.
He who runs away lives to fight another day!
TBA
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Brian_Paxt
07/13/09 11:13 PM
71.13.31.12
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That's good that they do understand that well, fate happens.
I have played many games where I see people go until every mech is destroyed, I often fight against them. Once the battle is over, I always ask why they did that, typical answes I get.. "It's all or nothing", "Go big or go hime", or my favorite "It's what I would have done".. It's like what? like you would risk your life on one battle.. No, if you see your people dropping around you you would run screaming...
I have broken a few players of this type of thinking.
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Tripod
07/14/09 06:20 AM
192.91.75.29
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I personally have never seen RL combat, but I gaurantee you most of the people that play that way probly never have...
TBA
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His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey
07/14/09 06:32 AM
24.4.97.143
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Quote:
That's good that they do understand that well, fate happens.
I have played many games where I see people go until every mech is destroyed, I often fight against them. Once the battle is over, I always ask why they did that, typical answes I get.. "It's all or nothing", "Go big or go hime", or my favorite "It's what I would have done".. It's like what? like you would risk your life on one battle.. No, if you see your people dropping around you you would run screaming...
I have broken a few players of this type of thinking.
Well, obviously there snakes. Just step all over them. The Federated Sun does all the time.
Why argue if the glass is half full or half empty, when you know someone is going to knock it over and spill it anyways.
I was a Major *pain* before
But I got a promotion.
I am now a General *pain*
Yay for promotions!!!
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Brian_Paxt
07/14/09 08:08 PM
71.13.31.12
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LOL, in some cases I can see the Draconis Combine doing that with their samurai sense of honor. There are many times how ever when they know to retreat to best serve the dragon another day.
Just like one tactic I have to beat out of everyone one is just straight assault. Very rarely does it work, and my forces usually stop them into the mud when people have tried it. I have been teaching my player the use of tactics for a while now. It has gotten to where they have worked up maneuvers on down time and memorized them to the point that they know which maneuvers they are going to implement during an encounter before it begins.
It has given me more of a challenge now that they have started working on these and it is making my job as GM that much more fun.
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TemplarFury
09/04/09 06:37 PM
70.242.104.110
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I'm one of the guysthat got whooped up on. I played the Crusader. It was a combination of not using our mechs correctly and the fact that we NEVER GOT INITIATIVE!!!
But not all battles are even match ups, just look through history! We both had fun and learned alot.
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Tripod
09/06/09 08:50 AM
8.23.64.196
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He speaks!
Welcome to the boards! Please, drink from this font of informantion and be enlightened!
TBA
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Lafeel
09/06/09 10:46 PM
157.157.185.29
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Quote:
I'm one of the guysthat got whooped up on. I played the Crusader. It was a combination of not using our mechs correctly and the fact that we NEVER GOT INITIATIVE!!!
But not all battles are even match ups, just look through history! We both had fun and learned alot.
That's the spirit. Dont let poor dice get you down, if you had fun the result does not matter, win lose or draw. 
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Tripod
09/06/09 11:48 PM
192.91.75.29
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I hope he brings his own dice this week so has has no excuse! He's been using my spares, they like me...
Don't let him fool you, his skills are progressing nicely. I let him design a mech a few weeks ago and he's been playing it against various foes the last 2 weeks. It's a bit like an Awsome but smaller and with better backup weaponry. I basicly asked him questions and made suggestions but all the final decisions were his. I'll get with him this Wed when we play and urge him to post it's stats here for the rest of us. It's a 3050 tech level design and it's not overly saturated with new tech. Just the kind of stuff most people like here. I think it will fit in well... Fluff might be another story though... since he's quite new.
TBA
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TemplarFury
09/07/09 10:53 PM
69.155.90.85
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Before I post stats I need a bloody name for the thing...
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OPER_DANG
09/17/09 04:09 PM
70.61.114.174
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He-he. Initiative doesn't allways make a difference...
I remember my first Battletech "game". I had a Wolverine and was supposed to recon ahead. I was eager to use the jump jets, so I did...straight up to the top of a level 3 mountain ridge to have a look. So new I didn't really know what happened next, there was a Shadowhawk on the other side, and he spotted for the rest of his lance's LRMs, that included an Archer. I had won the initiative, but that didn't matter. I got lit-up, automatically failled a piloting roll and fell off that L3. Massive damages, no cockpit left...wasn't pretty, can't blame that on dice. lqtm
Then one snow day years later I introduced my little sister to the game, 3058 setting. I gave her a BSW-1X and "handicapped" myself with a lighter Crab. I came out of cover when she was in range for my LLs and took off some armor. She returned fire and I don't remember specifics except she had some excellent to hit rolls and it wasn't long, 2 rounds maybe, till she won when she got crits on my gyro.
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