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3030s - 4th Succesion Wars, basic technology only, Star League 'Mechs are rare, Clans aren't a thing yet

1 (12.5%)

3040s - Renaissance era, basic technology, but advanced designs begin appearing. The dawn of the Clans

4 (50%)

3050s - Clan Invasion, Clan tech is rare but possible, while advanced IS design and tech starts appearing

3 (37.5%)

3060s - FedCom Civil War, widespread advanced tech in the Inner Sphere, Clan tech is slightly less rare

0 (0%)

3070s - Jihad era, Clan tech is uncommon, while everyone in the IS is running advanced technology.

0 (0%)

3140 - Dark Ages. Tech is... weird. You might have militarized agro-Mechs charging cutting edge Clan designs sold to IS troops.

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 8

[Knave]

Just, uh... wipe the seat and the neurohelmet down.

  Gonna need A LOT of air fresheners in that cockpit!

Though I imagine mechwarriors are pretty used to 'inheriting' freshly empty rides during the dark days. Maybe they keep a spare stash of fine leather cockpit chairs in their field camp.

[Hanzoku]

Well, the pilot punched out, so we needed to replace the cockpit seat anyway, and since Linda punched out, she just used her old neurohelmet with the new ride. That said, any newly repaired 'Mech gets a full cockpit cleaning.

[Hanzoku]

Operation Bronze Eyes – Week 10

The Iron Brotherhood scrambled to defend a downed Marik Excalibur DropShip, which had the misfortune to land near a militia firebase. The firebase would need to be cleared, but a Militia ‘Mech company was operating in the area, supported by a lance of vehicles. Kaine’s Kings were first on site, with Linda’s Lancers and Kobayashi’s Crows in support.

Spoiler: Hold the Line (Attacker) (click to show/hide)

Kaine’s Kings are hot dropped near the DropShip, just south of the firebase. The defenders scramble to respond, falling back and clustering together. Perhaps they aren’t aware that the Excalibur isn’t that heavily armed, or they aren’t taking any chances.



Baira kills the crew of the nearby AC/5 turret, and the DropShip’s LRMs batter an Ostscout, which scrambles into cover. So far, the militia isn’t too keen to advance, and the Brotherhood is keeping its distance while waiting for reinforcements.



The DropShip gunners hit on an ingenious tactic. Unable to target the light ‘Mechs hiding on top of the buildings, they instead pounded the building with fire, causing the suddenly unstable structure to collapse under the ‘Mech’s weight, burying it in rubble. While the Stinger in question managed to claw its way free, it made the militia abandon the buildings and move to engage.



They repeat their tactic on a Javelin, while Baira puts two PPC blasts through the damaged side of the Stinger, destroying it entirely.



The Lancers and Crows arrive, the Crows making level bombing runs against the Militia positions, while the Lancers move up to support the Kings.



The bombing runs pound two militia mechs and wipe out a platoon of infantry, the League Hunchback downs the Wolfhound, and the Excalibur continues its campaign of leveling the firebase, damaging the gyro of a Wasp by dropping it to the ground.



The reinforcing lance of Militia forces move up from the north, but overall the Brotherhood is pushing them back, dealing out far more damage to the militia then they’re taking.



The Ostscout goes down to Wind’s Guillotine, and Knave is busy beating another Griffin to death while making obscene weapon pod gestures.



Tengu returns for his next pass, focusing on air superiority. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood is getting the drop on the militia, setting up several attacks from behind.



The militia forces are broken, the Brotherhood has air superiority and the majority of the militia’s ‘Mechs are down or badly damaged.

AAR:
With the Militia driven off, the Excalibur was repaired, and the Brotherhood hitched a ride back to friendly lines with it.

The Guillotine was badly damaged with some penetrating damage, and the Warhammer was moderately damaged – while nothing penetrated, there wasn’t an undamaged location on the ‘Mech.

Baira was moderately hurt after his cockpit was bathed with flamers twice, but the rest of the unit was uninjured.

13 militia were KIA, and 10 captured.

Commander Ichiro Kobayashi claimed the Guardian Fighter.
Lieutenant SG Billy Kaine claimed the Javelin and Griffin.
Lieutenant JG Linda Vo claimed a Firestarter.
Sergeant Matt Fischer claimed a Firestarter and the Ostscout.
Petty Officer Melissa Lyle claimed the motorized heavy infantry.
Corporal Jami Sonnborn claimed a Stinger
Corporal Baira claimed the AC/5 turret and another Stinger.


The next day, Susanna Nova was ambushed by three Militia assault ‘Mechs while moving to the aid of a group of civilians fleeing the fighting.

The poor militia never knew what hit them.

Spoiler: Special Mission – Civilian Help (click to show/hide)

Her first shot with a Gauss Rifle took the head off the Zeus.

She then tore the leg off the Victor with sustained fire with laughable ease.

Susanna almost seemed to enjoy hunting down the Stalker as it tried to fall back and kicking it to pieces.

The Iron Brotherhood was well rewarded for their vicious defense of the civilians, receiving access to several parts. One of the civilians turned out to be an AeroSpace pilot who was on leave. He joined the unit out of gratitude for their saving his family, bringing the Crows up to full strength.

Operation Bronze Eyes – Week 11
A quiet week, the mercenaries prepared for another large push to try to get the stalled invasion back on track again.

[Knave]

I love that basically every contract, our opponents seem to think tangling with Nova is a good idea to hilariously brutal results.

but also:

Knave is busy beating another Griffin to death while making obscene weapon pod gestures.

Such a good mental image - I'm glad he's figured out the intricacies of the Marauder 

[Burnt Pies]

3 on 1? Good grief, Susanna's ridiculous.

Did she take much damage in that little ambush?

[Hanzoku]

No, it was really sort of sad. She headcapped the Zeus on Round 1, taken the leg off the Victor on Round 3 and jumped behind the Stalker on Round 6, dumped it to the ground with a rear alpha strike and double kicked it in the rear torso so it exploded.

She only took light armor damage doing so.

It proves that you shouldn’t mess with Elite pilots, the number of shots landed is night and day.

[NickAragua]

So... free Zeus and Victor?

The Victor's one of my favorite mechs, nothing like combining the sheer firepower of an AC/20 with the ability to get into an enemy unit's rear arc.

[Hanzoku]

I ended up selling them for salvage. The Victor was the 9A model that drops 3 tons of critically needed armor for anti-infantry weapons. The Zeus was a stock model, but we already have a Zeus.

I have to say I generally don't have good luck with Victors for some reason. Mine always lose their autocannon quickly, and then they have all the firepower of a 25t light 'Mech in what remains.

[Hanzoku]

Operation Bronze Eyes – Week 12

The Iron Brotherhood takes in a unit of mechanized infantry from another shattered command. They are somewhat surprised when their unit is pulled apart and used to reinforce the Brotherhood’s own infantry platoons.

After the reinforcements, the Field Guns are at full strength, and the Jump Troops are at 29 of 30 men. The Special Forces are only at 9 of 30 and aren’t ready for duty yet.

The week passed uneventfully until Sunday, when the Brotherhood was jolted awake by alarms. The Militia were making a dawn raid into their area of operation. Hovi’s Hailstorm was closest to the raiders and moved to engage, supported by Linda’s Lancers and Kobayashi’s Crows in ground support.

Spoiler: Recon Raid (Defender) (click to show/hide)

The militia forces approached from the North. The Field Guns were dug in in a heavy building on the west flank, supported by the Schreck. The center was held by the jump infantry, the Devastator and the Behemoth. The east flank was held by a League Hermes II and the Manticore.



The field guns wiped out a squad of militia troops dropped off by the Ferret as a flanking attempt, and the Behemoth knocked down an Enforcer, though it was quickly back on its feet. The Militia pressed the attack, and the Brotherhood gave ground to avoid being swarmed over.



The Jump Infantry plant explosives on the leg of a Javelin but fail to cripple it. The Devastator is on its last legs, facing too many enemies and not managing to destroy any. Reinforcements are needed badly, but they aren’t going to be there in time.

The militia’s air support arrives first, and predictably, the two Meteors make a beeline for the field guns. The gunners fire a defiant last volley as the bombs begin to fall.



The Field Guns survive the bombing run and the collapse of the building they were in and start falling back to set up a new position. The militia concentrates on trying to knock out the tough assault tanks that are holding up their advance, taking fire from the Manticore and Schreck as they do.



The Brotherhood’s own air support arrives and swiftly targets three of the militia ‘Mechs. Linda’s Lancers arrives and supports the flanks. In the center, the Behemoth is immobile but has fought off most of its attackers, and the Behemoth is falling back, front armor in tatters.



The bombing runs are devastating, wiping out an Enforcer and a Wasp. The Behemoth’s guns account for another Wasp, and the damaged Blackjack and another damaged Enforcer flee the battlefield.

Four Militia tanks arrive to reinforce the faltering raid, and the fighting continues to rage.



A Javelin’s SRMs destroy the Devastator’s engine, even as its cannons rip the light ‘Mech apart. The crew bails out before their vehicle can be further savaged, taking cover in a nearby building. In the west, the Lancers are harrying a Griffin, supported by the Schreck.



The Griffin continues to flee from the Lancers, and blunders into the Behemoth’s guns – almost literally. Meanwhile on the east flank, the Dervish continues to batter a Valkyrie, even as the militia vehicles attempt to support it.

With the Brotherhood’s fighters sighted on the horizon, the Militia breaks and falls back in defeat.

AAR:
Damage was heavy to Hovi’s Hailstorm, with both assault tanks crippled and heavy losses to both infantry units.

The Brotherhood had 8 KIA, and 32 critically injured.
The Militia had 6 KIA, and 7 captured.

The Brotherhood keeps a crippled Enforcer as a spare for the Lancers.  By the end of the day, the techs had worked miracles, and most of the battle damage was repaired, leaving the Hailstorm ready to continue their defensive duties the coming week.

For the coming week, the Sparrows are on ground support, and the Crows conduct a daring deep strike on militia command facilities.

[NickAragua]

Gotta admit, I never use infantry or tanks in AtB. Maybe I'm not doing it right, but every time I bring tanks into a battle, they get clobbered. The main exception is artillery that I can keep out of sight (or, even better, off board).

So, props to you for sticking with the tanks.

[Knave]

Tanks def seem like glass canons, good for the right purpose, but don't get attached, yanno?

Infantry on the other hand, definitely glad I didn't have Billy try to captain them. Or I think he would be a fine paste several times over by now.

[Hanzoku]

BattleTech makes tanks suck to highlight how awesome 'Mechs are. (Or justify why they exist. One of the two.) Keep in mind that I've turned on just about every unofficial option to make Tanks less crap, and they still take huge amounts of critical damage every battle. It'd be even worse if I was playing with stock settings for Tanks.

The one thing I could do for the AI is turn off the 'abandon the vehicle when disabled' - then you'll have tanks that fight to the bitter end, even when rendered immobile targets.

So no, you're doing nothing wrong with tanks. They exist to be clobbered.

And then you have infantry. Who, like the Imperial Guard, mostly exist to highlight how much better any other unit type is. Once we get battle armor, almost all the infantry is going to get converted to battle armor squads, leaving only the field guns as conventional infantry.

[Hanzoku]

Operation Bronze Eyes – Week 13

The Crow’s strike succeeds, disrupting the militia and killing several senior officers.

Belmiro Larcher graduates from the training command and joins the Lancers, and Mojca MacCurtin graduates as well, joining the Sparrows.

The fallout of the attack ripples through the militia lines, and several units break and fall back in disorder. The Brotherhood is swift to capitalize on this, launching into a pursuit of the militia forces.

On the 29th, Nova’s Knights, Kaine’s Kings and Persuad’s Sparrows brings the militia to battle.

Spoiler: Chase (Defender) (click to show/hide)

Sorry, no screenshots for this one. I find these don’t really make for compelling battles, though they are good for XP gains.

It was hard to call it a battle. The militia forces were disorganized and demoralized. Their panic was evident by the clumsy piloting that led to the destruction of a Savannah Master and two helicopters. It only grew worse as the Iron Brotherhood streamed onto the battlefield, savaging their ranks. The repeated air strikes from the Sparrows, the long ranged fire from the Stalker, Pillager, Zeus and Warhammer... it was too much for them.

In the end, of the 32 units deployed by the militia, 27 were destroyed.

AAR:

The Iron Brotherhood took no real damage from the fight, only armor and ammunition needed repairs or replenishment.

17 militia were KIA, another 10 were captured.

Captain Susanna ‘ Starburst’ Nova claimed a Scorpion, Packrat, Stinger, Vedette, Wasp, Valkyrie and MSF Defender.
Lieutenant SG Billy ‘Knave’ Kaine claimed a Hunter, with a fair amount of grumbling about kill-stealing Stalkers.
Sergeant Matt ‘Wind’ Fischer claimed two Strikers, a Darter and the Phoenix Hawk.
Petty Officer Mildred Thomas claimed a Galleon and a Medium Strike Fighter Defender
Corporal Svetlana ‘Ragu’ Ragozina claimed the Commando and the Foot Platoon.
Corporal Baira Meenakshisundaram claimed a Wasp and an Ostscout.
Corporal Jack ‘EJ’ Euchre claimed a Striker, two Vedettes, a Scorpion and the last MSF Defender.


In the aftermath of the battle, Matt Fischer finally achieved Elite status, and a promotion to Master Sergeant.

Svetlana Ragozina achieved Veteran status and was promoted to Sergeant.

Operation Bronze Eyes – Week 14 to Finale

The following week marked the last month of the contract. Militia morale was Very Low, meaning the unit could expect to spend the last month in relative peace and quiet.

The rest of the contract passed in peace and quiet. Before the end of the contract, the unit cashed in its bonus parts with the Marik forces. When they were told they could choose anything, the Marik command should have specified a bit clearer.  He had to use a number of favors to find what the Iron Brotherhood wanted, but in the end he succeeded.

The unit walked away with a Command Console cockpit, two LB-10X autocannons, an Ultra AC/5, and two ER Large Lasers.

With the end of the contract, three of the vehicle gunners retired, having had enough of near-death experiences every time the Hailstorm had gone into battle. Four of the infantry were given a medical retirement, having lost limbs in combat.

The Iron Brotherhood took ship back to Outreach to rest, reorganize, and look for a new contract. They returned 50 million C-Bills richer then they left, the rewards of a hard-fought campaign.

[Rince Wind]

What a nice way to end the contract.

Which SPA did we get for ranking up?


On the topic of tanks:
On open ground I like to use hovers. They are fast enough that they take few hits and often the AI will go for easier targets. Even with a motive crit or two they usually have the speed to disengage and flee. And thanks to this speed they can often get into the rear arc of enemies.
Most other tanks try to stay at range. I had two manticores savage a clan heavy that hardly moved and ignored them while they were on the edge of their medium range, but that's not how it usually works. Things like demolishers are mostly dead weight in open terrain but can be usefull in confined spaces. But I don't keep a lance around that is only usefull for the odd city fight (that I mostly try to avoid anyway), and switching the crews around every other fight isn't my idea of fun either.

Turning off the option that crews leave their immobilized tanks also removes your ability to abandon your tanks and save your crews, at least it worked that way a couple versions back. I wish there was some kind of threshold where they would abandon their tanks. Ideally that would take some battlefield awareness in account (A regulator that bounced into trees with no enemies close by? Fire those gauss slugs until they come close! A Manticore in the middle of the battle with hardly any armor left? Raise that white flag.). But that is a bit much to ask from the A.I., I doubt even a AAA Mega Mek A.I. would do that.
I hate that the AI occasionally shoots my fleeing tank crews.

[Hanzoku]

Matt Fischer gained Pain Resistance, which is OK, but not amazing.
Svetlana Ragozina gained All Weather, which is... weird. I play in just about any type of weather, but it only affects piloting rolls, so its useful if she gets knocked over in tornado weather and has to get up again, and that's about it.

Tanks:
I like hovers a lot, but they're really limited in the terrain they can handle. Put them in hilly or forested terrain, and they can't reach 90% of the map and are stuck for the battle. This means the only time I would use a lance of hover tanks is as reinforcements where the map type favors them.

One thing I really like is WiGE vehicles - basically super-heavy VTOLs. Things like the Fensalir, which really wants to get right behind your 'Mech and open up with the Heavy Gauss Rifle. Sadly, as far as I know all of them are Jihad/Dark Ages only, so we'll never see them.

I agree that it would be great if the AI didn't take immobilized as automatic eject, but did some calculation for how bad not being able to move really is. The thing is, I think they make that decision based on the unit's general condition, and if they can still flee off the battlefield if need be. Immobilized = automatic Crippled status, and no ability to flee, so they almost always punch out.

On the tank crews being shot at: Under MegaMek options, Advanced Ground Movement tab, you have - (Unofficial) Ejected Pilots flee. If you turn that on, then pilots and crews are automatically removed from the board. You want to use it in combination with random capture in the AtB settings.