Zwischy
05/26/02 03:29 PM
63.49.182.24
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I'm curious...what kinds of tactics do you guys like to use when you're playing the board game (or miniatures, if you prefer)? I'm interested in hearing what 'Mechs you guys like to use/have used in lances and companies during campaign games, or if you just have a favorite setup you like for one-off scenarios.
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Cray
05/26/02 08:38 PM
65.33.103.24
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Well, my IDEAL lance and company set-ups involve a single type of mech, either a generalist or an LRM missile boat. You don't need many mech models to cover all your bases.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Zwischy
05/27/02 01:52 AM
63.49.225.64
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You're right, no plan survives contact with the enemy. 
I do have something specific to which I can point. In an old 3025 campaign, on some backwater Steiner world (is the name THAT important? It's backwater!), I had a small merc company on garrison duty. The GM was somewhat lenient in what 'Mechs I could choose - one custom design and some modifications. Here was the layout:
Recon Lance
Locust (the 2 mediums, 2 smalls version)
2 Commandos
Phoenix Hawk-2D (Davion, no MGs, extra heat sinks)
Fire Lance
2 Trenchbuckets
Thunderbolt
Archer
Command Lance
Zeus (no large laser, no AC, 2 PPCs. Somewhat hot but allowed me to save LRM ammo)
Grand Dragon
Griffin
Hammerfist (custom 55-tons, 5/8/4, AC/20, 10 ammo)
Nothing too spectacular. I did develop some standard tactics over the course of this campaign, though.
The Commandos and Locust made a great backstabbing squad - they were fast enough to not get hit too much, and even if one did get tagged the other two were often free and getting back shots.
The Fire Lance was solid. The Thunderbolt was excellent at keeping 'Mechs away from close range attacks (which were usually half-chewed by then from LRMs, anyway), and the Archer and Trenchbuckets really DID complement each other very well.
The Command Lance usually got in close to support the recon, and sometimes I got stung for it - the Zeus ran hot and the Dragon proved to be underpowered. I managed to make it effective physically, though. The Hammerfist usually saved my charges from failure with timely AC hits.
My favorite parts raid team when I had to 'go guerilla' during an attempted planetary assault: the Trenchbuckets and Griffin, along with the Hammerfist and Recon lance. Destroyed a lance of heavies in about 5 turns once. Ammo was a constant problem, though. I had wayyyy too many LRMs to be a guerilla unit for long. The GM was kind, though, reinforcements weren't THAT far off.
zwischy
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Diablo
05/27/02 04:12 PM
209.239.13.202
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sinceI play as my own merc unit that uses all of it's own designs. my lances are either 100 ton, 20 ton or my standard issue 55 tonnner. but a basic combat company looks like this...
PS: a task lance fdoes the running around and stuff not suited for assult or recon mechs.
Recon Lance
Spider II (really fast, ER medium lasers)
SX Loki (20 ton rediculusly fast mech with 1 small laser)
2 Pandora (30 ton LRM boats with decent speed)
Task Lance
2 SX Trooper standard (basicly a centurion upgraded to clan equivalent tech)
Sniper (a 50 ton gauss rifler)
SX Ninja ( 50 ton stealth mech with a sword and high speed)
Command/Assult Lance
Jagermech XL (100 ton light gauss + ERPPC jagermech)
FreeFire XL (LRM20 X 4)
ACM Cyclops ( 2 C3 comps, sat uplink, Command couch, EI in main cockpit + weapons)
Devastator IV (4 gauss rilfes, nuff said)
And tactics are important as well. sniper and ninja climb to high ground. recon lance runs really fast confusing everything. and my assult lance does major Gauss/ERPPC damage. and thats basicly it unless someones asking for more specific details.
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Nightward
05/27/02 05:31 PM
132.234.251.211
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Feel the backhand of Justice! House Kurita enters the fray.
3rd Company, 4th Battalion, 2nd Sword of Light (Circa 3025).
This was a unit I used against a friend of mine an a company-on-company game a few years ago. I knew that he would take slow 'Mechs with hideous mid-to-short-range firepower, so I set up my unit for maximum speed and flexibility. In the end, the battle was a vicious and bloody affair, with me eventually claiming victory. A *VERY* Phyrric victory. At the end of the game, all I had left was a Jenner that would die if it took one more hit (No legs, 1 arm, 1 point Centre Torso Internal Structure) but had killed off all of my opponent's 'Mechs. We were playing not by normal 'death' rules, but that a 'Mech had to be totally destroyed (No CT, No Engine, or No Head were the only things that made a 'Mech be counted as 'killed')
Recon Lance:-
4 JR-7 Jenners.
--Possibly of the 'Extra Armour, no SRM' series, because the SRM-4 is not that great anyway. It would depend on if I was expecting to face a lot of tanks or Infantry. If I was, I'd take that variant and pack up on Infernos. If I was expecting heavy 'Mech resistance, the additional armour might tip the balance.--
Battle Lance
SHD-2H Shadow Hawk
WVR-5M Wolverine
TBT- Trebuchet
PHX-2D Phoenix Hawk
--Although the Battle Lance uses a lot of Jump Jets, not popular on Medium 'Mechs back in the 3025s, and features two 'Mech variants common only in the FWLM and AFFS, the Battle Lance has been constructed for maximum sutainability. Although some criticise the Shadow Hawk for its 'pop-gun' AutoCannon, the SHD-2H has long been a favourite of mine, and I an not about to abandon it now. As a Sword of Light regiment, we also have the option of the -2K, but having used it myself I found that the original probably perfomed better. The Trebuchet is also present as a Kurita favourite, and to provide a bit of long-range support for what would otherwise be a brawler lance.--
Support Lance
1 WHR- War Hammer
1 ARC-2R Archer
1 MAD-3R Marauder
1 DRG- Grand Dragon
--With no 'Mechs below 60 tons and supplying excellent long-range fire from PPCs and missile racks, you cant count on the fingers of one head the number of people who would be glad to see this Lance showing up as backstop in the field. The Archer, Marauder, and War Hammer are all old favourites, with the Grand Dragon thrown in as a nod to Kurita custom. The Grand Dragon is OK, but not great; otherwise I would take a Thunderbolt.--
The plan I had for the battle was to send the Jenners behind his lines as quickly as possible, whilst the Battle Lance engaged at mid-range and the Support Lance drew fire. It worked, but not overly well. My opponent showed up with very few 'Mechs under 50 tons, and nearly everything in his forced packed an A/C-20. Hunchbacks, Centurions, and Victors were the mainstay of his unit, with a few Banshees and Archers for variety. Not pleasant.
For a single Lance? A few years ago, I played in a tournament that required you to have a force totalling not more than 120 Tons. After much hemming and hawing, I went in with a Locust that had 2 Medium Lasers and 2 Smalls, a Stinger that had 2 Medium Lasers, a Wasp, and a Grand Dragon. The plan was to have evryone concentrate on the Grand Dragon while the little fellas did all the work. The plan worked well most of the time; I lost 2 games out of 5.
Yea, verily. Let it be known far and wide that Nightward loathes MW: DA. Indeed, it is with the BURNING ANIMUS OF A THOUSAND SUNS that he doth rage against it with.
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Greyslayer
05/28/02 01:17 AM
137.172.211.9
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As far as Mercenary 'Bang for the Buck' company is concerned few commanders could go past the sheer strength of character of the Whitworth. Even though the LRM10 is by far the worst of the LRM launchers it is still common enough in other mechs you would expect to find in a mercenary force to maintain parts exchagability (such mechs as the Centurion and Griffin come to mind as well as the Davion prolific Valkyrie). We label the value of other mechs by the % of Whitworths it would cost you to field (for example an Atlas would cost you 3.3 Whitworths in C-bills to field). Whitworths are found in most factions unlike the sturdy Vindicator and the underrated Panther.
Using Whitworths as the focus point of my company this is an example of what would be used in a medium mech mercenary company.
4 x Whitworth support lance
2 x Griffin
2 x Wolverine Combat Lance
1 x Dervish
2 x Valkyrie
1 x Javelin recon lance
Officially though I have formed a merc company (starting at lance strength) with the following units
1 x Griffin
2 x Shadow Hawk
1 x Wolverine
1 x Griffin
2 x Wolverine
1 x Shadow Hawk
4 x Whitworth
This though cost me far too much of my salvage money as those 5/8/5 55 tonners as expensive at 5 million c-bills each compared to the 3 million for the whitworths.
Greyslayer
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