From jdbradle@eos.ncsu.edu Mon Apr 19 00:41:55 1993 Return-Path: Received: from eos03a.eos.ncsu.edu by sparc02.cc.ncsu.edu (4.1/SYSTEMS 12-28-92 15:15:00) id AA07452; Mon, 19 Apr 93 00:41:55 EDT Received-Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 00:41:55 EDT Received: from c00013-118dan.eos.ncsu.edu by eos03a.eos.ncsu.edu (5.65b/eos-server.920426) id AA19533; Mon, 19 Apr 93 00:41:34 -0400 Posted-Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 00:41:31 EDT Received: by c00013-118dan.eos.ncsu.edu (5.57/eos-client.920428) id AA05178; Mon, 19 Apr 93 00:41:33 -0400 From: jdbradle@eos.ncsu.edu Message-Id: <9304190441.AA05178@c00013-118dan.eos.ncsu.edu> To: ligon@unity.ncsu.edu Subject: joshshit Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 00:41:31 EDT Status: RO Path: jdbradle Newsgroups: rec.games.mecha Distribution: world Followup-To: From: jdbradle@eos.ncsu.edu (JOSHUA DAMON BRADLEY) Reply-To: jdbradle@eos.ncsu.edu (JOSHUA DAMON BRADLEY) Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos Subject:BTech Strategy(3025) Keywords: strategy, design, retreat This is my first post on this group. I've read since #1 with a few exceptions. I've introduced many new players to BTech, and I've noticed some commonly over- looked strategies. This is more for new players than veterans. I don't mean to insult anyones intelligence, but if it makes for better game play, it's worth it. 1. ALWAYS apply damage in decreasing amounts. Roll for AC-20's, then Gauss, then PPC's, then LLasers, then MLasers, then LRM's, and finally SRM's and MG's (same concept for non-3025 tech levels). This allows the high damg. weapons to slag armor and the low damage weapons to follow up with more chances for criticals. If you hit with a Lg. Laser in a location with 5 pts of armor and then hit with one SRM missle, you get 2 chances for crits. Hit with the missle first and the Laser next and you get 1 chance. This strategy will give players a REAL advantage over those who don't use it. 2. When designing a mech (using 3025 Tech), never inslall an LRM-10 or AC-2. There are no differeces mathematically in the LRM-5, 15, and 20, so mix and match. If you use SRM's, the SRM-6 is the most efficient. Obviously the medium laser is the most efficient of the close-in weapons. Don't put Small Lasers onto a design, use machine guns instead. If you include the heat sinks required to drive them, the small laser does only about half as much damage per ton of space allocated. Large Lasers and PPC's work fine. The AC-20 and the AC-10 are both slightly less efficient than energy weapons, but they aren't a total wastage like the AC-2. The AC-5 is an inefficient design, but I have found that it is a great psycological weapon in 3025 Tech, enemies want to close with someone with an AC-5 and if backed up with close things, the design inefficiency is outweighed by the psyc- advantage. I have math table to prove all these statements, but they are on legal pads and I'm too lazy to post them now. Suffice to say that if you calculate the chance to hit at each range (with an arbitrary penalty of three to model terrain and movement) and multiply that percentage by the average damage a weapon causes and then divide by the effective weight of the weapon (tonnage + ht. sinks + 20 rds. of ammo) then you get a very usful table of numbers (expected damage/effective ton are the units). 3. Always try to crest the movement penalties. If you can move 5 hexes instead of 4 by walking, get that extra +1 penalty to hit you. The player that consistently needs one less to hit than his opponent will have a terrifyingly higher kill ratio than the lax player. 4. MAGIC SEVENS are devestating. Mechs with LRM's should live, breathe, and die to be at range seven from an opponent. Six is not bad, but NO weapon has range efficiency like an LRM at Magic Sevens. 5. Always remember that once you and an opponent are engaged in combat, it is unusual to disengage before a mech is down. You can't walk backward as fast as an opponent can run forward. If you turn your back, you're meat. And if you are in a Locust, you can't change elevations going backwards. Jump-jets and a faster movement are practically required for an effective retreat. That generally means, think offensively and abstaine from the retreat. 6. Always know whether you want a long-ranged fire-fight or a close-in pissing contest. To determine this, look at the firepower of you and your opponent. Heat Sinks should influence this decision. The Grasshopper is a DEVESTATING close range fighter that will trash a Warhammer up close. Ahhh! Insulting the Warhammer got your attention. 22 Ht sinks, more armor, real legs will beat two PPC's and an entire can of whoop-ass up close with only 18 ht sinks. If the fight is long ranged though, the Grasshopper is slagged (veteren players-take a closer look at the maligned GH). KNOW WHO WINS UP CLOSE AND WHO WINS FAR AWAY (there are only 2 potential answers-yourself, or the enemy)! 7. DON'T overheat a mech when you have relatively high numbers needed to hit. I you need "10's" to hit, don't jack your heat up to 6 and hope to cool down. Your opponent will close the next round and you will overheat 6 more and be up at 12 heat before the slugfest begins. Overheat when you need "6's" or so to hit. That is when the chips are down. 8. NEVER overlook PHYSICAL combat. Remeber that the kick is more likely to hit than the punch and that your opponent must then make a piloting check. But use the punch is you can destroy a head or penetrate torso locations to get critical chances. CRITICALS WIN BATTLES, NOT DESTROYING ARMOR! Don't let anyone kick you from one level higher, something vital will be lost. Always keep an eye on fast mechs a long way from you for the potential charge (especially if they are running hot). Don't worry about the Death from Above, it is a desperate move that there is no defense for. Pushing should not be overlooked if near a significant drop, but usually the opponent has weapons that will frag your mech much quicker, so don't be paranoid. If in doubt about physical combat, kick. Piloting checks are nasty and few mechs can take two kicks in one leg from an equal sized mech without hating life. After one successful leg kick an opponent should be leary of further physical combat. This allows you to press the attack or to fall back and start sniping. 9. Manueavering for physical attack.(Note: There are two schools of thought on the ability of a mech to punch into the hex directly behind them. I do not allow this on the grounds that a torso twist affects weapons fire and not facing. A former roommate of mine is a shotacon (spell?) blackbelt and he tried to show me that with the feet planted firmly straight ahead, no effective physical attack to the rear could be accomplished, especially one 30 yards away in a less-than-flexible mech.) Generally try to get behind a mech for the rear attack, but the two side hexes protect you from the terrifying kick from your opponent. He can still punch though (I allow 2 punches to the right or left side and none to the rear). Punch- ing is generally a better idea from behind where you can probably penetrate the thin rear armor. But be prepared for destrtuction if you square off at range 1 in a mechs from arc. This is not a bad idea if you are in a bruiser mech while your opponent is not a prepared up close. 10. CAMP OUT. If you are in a slow mech (4/6/0) and can find heavy woods with a good feild of fire, hunker down and use those +2 penalties to hit all day. The BattleForce mapsheets (the best two sheets availible) provide a lot of opportunity to use this tactic. 11. When chosing or designing mechs, know the terrain. If one consistently plays on the cluttered terrain produced by FASA, long range firepower is dampened and the grasshopper beats the warhammer. On homemade vinal maps where you draw your own terrain (or any light terrain map), the ranged weapons rules the feild (I mix it up to be fair to both mech-design philosophies). Get jump-jets and med. lasers for jungles and PPC's and LRM's for deserts. 12. PARTIAL COVER: THE DOUBLE EDGED SWORD. The general rule for partial cover to try to determine what your opponent will need to hit you with and with- out partial cover. Generally , if he needs a "7" or more to hit BEFORE partial cover, head for cover. Otherwise, you're asking for it. Head shots run rampant on mechs in level 1 water, behind hills, etc. Partial cover makes it much harder to hit, but a 1/6 chance to hit a head is much worse than a 1/36 chance. (I use a variant rule similar to the Solaris partial cover rule to make partial cover always a good idea, but most players accept the FASA rule, so this is my strategy there. What this does is make partial cover very dangerous against gunnery bases of 1,2, or 3. Especially with LosTech on the feild with 15 point Gauss Rifles, head shots are ugly. Illustration of actual battle: Three warhammers w/ Gunnery Skills of 2 are waiting on ridge overlooking lake. Three mechs(G.Hopper, B.Master, and Victor) retreated into lake and submerged breaking line of sight. When they resurfaced in level 1 water WH's all unloaded PPC's at Med range. Playing MechWarrior II rules, so WH's all spent edge to reroll any misses (these are not aimed shots, but rather, luck). Two mechs were hit in the head for at least 13 points of damage (see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya). The other took a cockpit crit. The executive officer calculated salvage values shortly thereafter. MORAL: Don't get partial cover from good gunners. 13. A memeber of the BREBANE Clan (bkdavis)--you know, the guy who took out a Union in a modified Panther should run more thourough background checks before hiring mechwarriors. Never hire an XO who is a Comstar fundamentalist (can we say shoot Star Leauge memory core in act of religious zealotry?). Oh well, that's my editorial advice. Jerome (that's all Comstar want you to know. Be content.)