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[GraalOtonami]

Think we could use a new name though. Reserve lance isn't punchy enough!

Personally I use "Sword Lance", "Shield Lance" and "Dagger Lance" for attack, defense and scouting orientated lances.

[Fishbreath]

In Reserve Lance, Wizard is the most talented pilot but Teddy Bear is the senior Bastard; he gets a promotion to Corporal and leadership of the lance.

Ooo I almost missed Teddy Bear's promotion - Will try not to get everyone killed, despite riding in perhaps one of the lightest mechs in the company
Think we could use a new name though. Reserve lance isn't punchy enough!

While the name discussion is ongoing, I will present the option of refitting down the line. I believe the VL-5T is readily attainable, replacing the AC/2 with medium lasers and two tons of armor.

[Rince Wind]

As (Teddy) Bear is our lance commander and BT loves alliteration: Bears Bruisers

[Knave]

Definitely am a big fan of alliteration for sure!

And if the VL-5T is on the table I think it would be a good choice. I think Ac/2s tend to be one of my least favourite weapons in the game. It's hard to say no the M. Lasers and extra armour, yanno?

[Fishbreath]

Another battle kicks off.

The Action of April 26, 3051

Drake, ever the tactical genius in addition to his other fine qualities as a leader, manages to draw the Draconis Combine forces out of the city in which they had established defensive positions as the tornado passes by. We're now engaging the enemy in a valley at dawn, with moderate snowfall covering the battlefield.



The terrain slopes downhill from west to east, and is dotted by patches of forest. That may be handy for lighter units in the later phases of the battle; woods can screen a small, fast mech from enemy fire with a bit of luck.

Round 1

We deploy on the north edge of the map, along with our FedCom liaison, today a pilot in a Phoenix Hawk. The enemy deploys in the center.

Woad and the Phoenix Hawk deploy to the northwest corner of the map, where they can navigate the rough terrain with jump jets to perhaps flank the enemy. Drake, Rook, and Carcer start in the middle of the north edge, ready to open fire as soon as the enemy shows itself.

The enemy is two mixed lances, two mechs and six vehicles, with an expected mixed lance of reinforcements arriving later. The two mechs on the field right now are Dragons, a fast, low-profile heavy mech. The enemy seems confident in their skill, moving them forward, along with two of the four Vedettes they brought to the field.

Predictably, the enemy targets Drake. Once again, the AI has proven itself to be much better than me at using cover and sightlines; most of our weaponry is impossible to bring to bear.

None of the Bastards besides Drake hit anything; Drake nails a Vedette with two PPCs to the right side and nearly destroys it. He takes a hit from an AC/2 and an AC/5 in return.

Round 2



Drake manages to get himself in such a position that he can only shoot at the Vedette he damaged on the previous turn. This isn't bad, per se, and might even net him a kill. On the other hand, Rook is shooting at it too.

The rest of Heavy Lance has lined up pretty neatly on the enemy Dragons, and will be prosecuting that advantage for all it's worth.

Rook takes five hits from the AC/2 carrier in the distance, which is hardly anything to worry about, especially since all the shells impact her mech's arms and legs. Nothing really important in there anyway. She and Drake both hit the Vedette, but don't manage to eliminate it.

Woad and Carcer take aim at the two Dragons, but can't combine for more than a low-percentage medium laser hit from Woad's Grasshopper.

Round 3



Heavy Lance has a pretty solid line going, occupying the forest here and benefiting from its defensive bonuses.

Drake has nothing to shoot at, again, but the Vedette he's been whittling away at. Rook has the Vedette right in front of her to take a crack at; she's joined by Carcer. Woad and the Phoenix Hawk fire on the nearer Dragon.

Drake gets his kill, while Rook does not, though she damages her Vedette's track.

Woad gets a pair of medium lasers onto the nearer Grasshopper, taking an AC/5 shot in response.

Round 4



One of the Dragons moves around behind Woad, who is happy to about-face and take a crack at him. The Phoenix Hawk is able to get enough of a twist on to join the fun.

Drake, Rook, and Carcer all take aim for some of the nearby Vedettes, angling to reduce the enemy tonnage on the field.

Drake puts three PPC shots onto one Vedette, while Rook dispatches another. Woad, the Phoenix Hawk, and the Dragons trade fire ineffectually, but Woad plants a solid kick on the Dragon.

Round 5



Finally, Heavy Lance is decently positioned. Woad and the Phoenix Hawk each have a solid shot on a Dragon, while the Awesome, the Crab, and the Flashman can begin to deal with the tanks further away.

Drake will take a crack at the AC/2 carrier in the distance, while Rook dispatches the Vedette in front of her. Both score.

Woad scores some decent damage on the Dragon in front of him, and also manages to land a kick. So does the Phoenix Hawk.

Drake takes several hits from the enemy Manticore heavy tank, and at the end of the round, his left torso armor is gone.

Round 6

The AC/2 carrier and the Vedette destroyed, the enemy Manticore heavy tank now looms largest (besides the mechs, of course).

The enemy's reinforcements, a light lance comprising a Locust, an Ostscout, and two hover tanks, arrives.

Drake and Rook both have clear shots at the enemy Manticore, though both are running a bit hot this turn. Rook fires her large lasers; Drake chances another three-PPC volley. Carcer can manage a good shot, too, and does so.

Round 7



Medium Lance takes the field, and with enemies to spare and not far out of range, at that. Some kills for our second line, perhaps?

A confused movement phase sees Rook facing off against the Manticore at short range, firing every weapon she can bring to bear. Drake leaves two of his PPCs unfired so he can sink some heat.

Woad and Carcer have a Dragon caught between them.

Medium Lance has split in two. Severe and her repaired Locust and Milspec and his Phoenix Hawk proceed down the west edge of the map, while Ker-Ker and Double Dog advance up the middle.

Between her weapons and her Flashman's foot, Rook destroys the Manticore. Woad and Carcer both shoot at and kick the Dragon between them; Carcer's kick knocks out its leg.

Round 8

The downed Dragon attempts to stand and fails. Woad keeps his eye on it to finish it off, while Carcer heads south to help Rook with the three mechs now near her. (A Dragon, and the two lights from the enemy reinforcements.)

Milspec gets his weapons into action for the first time, though he misses; Drake scores three hits on the enemy Dragon, and Rook adds a large laser hit.

Woad fails to finish his Dragon, and will attempt to complete the job with a kick.

Rook, in melee range of several enemy mechs, elects to dodge this round instead of hit back. An uncharacteristic lack of aggression.

Round 9



The enemy reinforcements seem to be falling back. Drake and Rook push forward through the center of the map, flanked to the west by elements of both Medium and Heavy lances. Milspec and Severe are in position to eliminate the final Vedette, while Woad continues to wear away at the northern Dragon.

The allied Phoenix Hawk jump jets over a lake and will take a few shots at the southern Dragon.

Round 10

Not much happens on the prior turn; the big guns were out of action. Woad still hasn't killed his Dragon, but this is probably the turn. Severe and Milspec work on the Vedette, while the enemy Ostscout approaches.

Drake, Carcer, Rook, and the allied Phoenix Hawk all shoot at the southern Dragon. Double Dog and Ker-Ker are closing in, nearly in effective range. So far, they've been moving into position too quickly to stop and shoot.

Milspec scores the unlikeliest kill of the day.



While waiting to kick the Vedette that Milspec just killed, Severe might well have scored us another mech to salvage.



Cleanup

The enemy appears to be in full retreat now. We'll mop up what we can. (For all our battlefield success, nobody is going to call the Bastards a fast lance.)

Woad gets his kill after all; he just had to aim for a different Dragon. He scores with a kick which blows up the Dragon's AC/5 ammo supplies. Rook wings a hover tank, but Carcer gets the kill with a hit to its fuel tank. Ker-Ker scores a kill on a Locust; kicking it from one elevation level up, she hits it in the head. The whole weight of the Lancelot behind the blow, the poor Locust has no chance.

Two enemy units retreat: the Ostscout and a J. Edgar hover tank.

Damage, Injuries, Salvage

The Awesome and Severe's Locust are mildly damaged, and Severe herself took a knock when the enemy Locust knocked her over. Otherwise, the company is in good health.

We salvage the Dragon DRG-5N Severe headshotted, as well as a Vedette to bring us up to 60% salvage.

Battle loss compensation comes to about 60,000 C-bills, and we ransom prisoners for 120,000 more.

Kill Board(s)

Severe may not be all that high up the kill board, but she is currently the giant-slayer of the bunch. All of her kills are mechs, and in that category she's second only to Rook. Who, incidentally, has now scored 20 kills. Drake gets two, though, to stay at just above half of Rook's total.

Last Battle



All-Time Leaders

• Lieutenant "Rook" Ishikawa (20, 5 mechs)
• Captain "Drake" Halit (11, 3 mechs)
• Private "Carcer" Ngo (9, 3 mechs)
• Private "Woad" Kohler (7, 3 mechs)
• Lieutenant "Linebuster" Atkinson (5)
• Private "Severe" Payne (4, 4 mechs)
• Lieutenant "Double Dog" Dare (4, 1 mech)
• Private "Ker-Ker" Ec (3, 2 mechs)
• Sergeant "Milspec" Ortega (3)
• Private "Euchre" Kojic (2, 2 mechs)
• Private "Teddy Bear" Jamil (2, 1 mech)
• Private "Wojtek" Frajtov (1, 1 mech)
• Private "Hanzoku" Yuksel (1, 1 mech)

Status

It is now May 15, 3051.

Contract Status

No battles on the calendar right now; the Bastards get a bit of a break.

At the end of April, the FedCom forces gift us a civilian-use Commando (with a primitive cockpit, limited armor, and a large laser). In addition, we picked up a Dragon this month. At present, we have 18 mechs, though not all of them are worth bringing to the battlefield.

Finances

We have 9,426,500 C-bills in the bank.

Unfortunately, there's nothing in the unit market to spend it on, besides maybe a pair of Hunchback HBK-4Gs.

Recruitment

Another mech pilot comes up on the recruiting market: Abdul-Hafiz Popalzi, of the Free Rasalhague Republic. He's a 4+/4+ regular to boot. He joins the company.



Training

Wojtek is the only remaining Green-rank pilot; Hernandez and Euchre are now regulars, too.

Organization

Adding the two misfit heavies to Cadre Lance, with Hernandez and the newcomer Popalzi driving, yields a second heavyweight lance. At present, Medium Lance and Bear's Bruisers (if we're sticking with that) are both medium-weight lances.

Repairs and Refits

Everything's in tip-top shape, although the Dragon and Rifleman designs are still questionable.

Our technical teams are a little under-strength compared to our mech strength now. We'll have to see to that.

Spares

We had to use a few more actuators and a spare torso or two to patch up the Dragon.

Mechwarrior Claims and Assignments

• For the record, the following mechwarriors are claimed.
• Captain Huri "Drake" Halit (Mephansteras)
• Lt. SG George "Linebuster" Atkinson (Hasek10)
• Lt. SG Mariamu "Rook" Ishikawa (Culise)
• Lt. JG Sung-min "Double Dog" Dare (a1s)
• Sgt. Jose "Milspec" Ortega (milspec)
• Cpl. Damayanti "Carcer" Ngo (Dorsidwarf)
• Cpl. Tedros "Teddy Bear" Jamil (Knave)
• Pvt. Ferdinand "Woad" Kohler (A Thing)
• Pvt. Jan "Euchre" Kojic (EuchreJack)
• Pvt. Cathrine "Severe" Payne (Burnt Pies)
• Pvt. E-Shei "Ker-Ker" Ec (Kanil)
• Pvt. Ed "Hanzoku" Yuksel (Hanzoku)
• Pvt. Ik-jun "Wojtek" Frajtov (Blaze)
• Pvt. Xue-Min "Wizard" Que (Rince Wind)



• The following mechwarriors are available.
• Pvt. Abdul-Hafiz Popalzi
• Recruit Gwenael Hernandez

Action Items

• There are mechwarriors for claim.
• Several refit questions open now: both the Dragon and the Rifleman could do with some changes.

[Mephansteras]

Always nice to add some heavies to the roster. If nothing else we can sell them later for a good chunk of c's and buy mechs we prefer.

[Kanil]

I kicked 'im in the face!

[GraalOtonami]

Gotta say, the Dragon's a workhorse. Might be worth keeping it around for later and sell the Rifleman.
As iconic as the latter is, The Dragon has better armour and weapon variety while maintaining the heatsinks necessary to use them.

[Rince Wind]

I was never able to use Dragons effectivly, though I do like them in theory.
In my last campaign I was really surprised by the Rifleman, that I managed to put to good use. Almost always close to shutdown from firing the lasers, the ACs fire whenever heat lets them (which is whenever the mech has no chance to shutdown or at least no for ammo explosion) to get rid of the ammo and get some extra damage downrange.
It did require a lot of care by the mechtechs after almost every battle though.

The AC/10 Version can be surprisingly effective as well.

But of course there are better mechs out there and in most situations I would take a Griffin 1N over either a Dragon or a Rifleman.

HBK 4G is love. Sure, the 4P does more damage, needs no ammo and consequently has no explodey bits, but it is a bit boring. Though a well made point for the argument that the medium laser is the best intro tech weapon by far.

[Hanzoku]

What's most fun with the Hunchback -4P is to get a veteran pilot with weapon specialization (medium lasers). It just brings a tear to the eye when he starts flaying mechs much bigger then him to death.

[Dorsidwarf]

Yay, go Carcer!

[Fishbreath]

So, there are four mechs for which refits are on the table.

1. Teddy Bear's Vulcan. The VL-5T, with its medium laser-heavy build, is probably the most effective option. We could even go a little further and strip out the machine gun to add a bit more armor and heat capacity, but it would then gain the difficult-to-maintain trait.
2. The Rifleman. The RFL-4D variant swaps out the ballistic weapons for PPCs, but doesn't improve on protection at all and would basically melt itself after two rounds of alpha strikes. There are advanced-tech variants known to us, but we don't have access to the only-recently-found lostech ER PPCs, double heat sinks, and XL engines we would need to make them. Custom loadouts are possible but would again increase the burden on our tech teams. Alternately, we could sell it in its current configuration for 2.4 million C-bills.
3. The Dragon. The DRG-5N we have in our hangar is already the pinnacle of known Dragon variants, using a weapon (an Ultra AC/5) we actually can't replace. We could sell it for 2.5 million C-bills.
4. The Commando. The COM-1A we have at present is a civilian mech. We could easily upgrade it to a COM-1B, which would remove the civilian-parts penalties. In its current configuration, it would sell for about 800,000 C-bills.

What are we going to do?

[GraalOtonami]

I vote for stripping the mechs, keeping the Dragon in reserve for when one of our other mechs get destroyed.

[Kanil]

Leave the Vulcan as a 5T, sell the Rifleman and Commando, can we buy UAC/5 ammo? If so, I suppose keeping the Dragon sounds alright.

[Rince Wind]

Could you put the current mech of the pilots in your kill list as well?


I'd say sell the Commando, it is not worth the effort to upgrade the primitive design. The Vulcan is currently a -2T, correct? If so upgrade or sell for something better, because the AC/2 is just bad and 5t of armor is not enough.
Mothball the Dragon and upgrade the Rifleman to the 3C and mothball it or sell it for something better.