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Vampire
Free Worlds League
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 915
Location: Spain
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 Posted: 05-Feb-2006 19:10 Post subject: Forlorn Hope company |
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This is a start to get my campaign company online. I will write bios, combat reports and post the pictures of the pilots in the future. Or make a website, donno.
4th Marik Militia , 2nd Battallion, 2nd company, "Forlorn Hope" Staff Sergeant Irene Emilova
Callsign Madame
Mech WVR-6M Wolverine
Gunnery 4
Piloting 5
*Lt SG Harry Flashman
Callsign Bloody Spear
Mech WVR-6M Wolverine
Gunnery 4
Piloting 5
*Lt JG Archibald Beaumont
Callsign Gambler
Mech CGR-1A1 Charger
Gunnery 3
Piloting 3
Mw Lex Reynolds
Callsign Prophet
MechT TBT-5N Trebuchet
Gunnery 3
Piloting 5
Staff Sgt Shardabani Boyle
Callsign Accountant
Mech VL-2T Vulcan
Gunnery 4
Piloting 5
*Lt JG John Taggart
Callsign Barbecue
Mech FS9-H Firestarter
Gunnery 3
Piloting 4
Cpl Patrice Mokolo
Callsign Rastafari (or Bullet Catcher)
Mech OSR - 2C Ostroc
Gunnery 4
Piloting 4
Mw David Sikorski
Callsign Pusher (or Ambush Bait)
Mech STG-3R Stinger
Gunnery 4
Piloting 5
Mw Sean O’Riordan
Callsign Volunteer
Mech TBT-5J Trebuchet
Gunnery 4
Piloting 4
Mw Nahee Jen Li
Callsign Death
Mech ASN-21 Assasin
Gunnery 3
Piloting 5
Cpl Zakariah Lezak
Callsign Lizard
Mech DRG-1N Dragon
Gunnery 4
Piloting 5
***Force Commander Alexei Cherenkov
Callsign Pyscho
Mech TBT-5N Trebuchet
Gunnery 4
Piloting 4
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Memento audare semper
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AWAD
Draconis Combine
Chu-sa
Joined: 06-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 766
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| Posted: 08-Feb-2006 01:54 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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So Vamp,
Which defenses do they have to breech? What casualties do you expect? Who gets the automatic promotion if they succeed?
AWAD- I want out of that Comapny.... BTW I just had a player with a character named O'Rirhdon, dead, in a harsh way
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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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| Posted: 08-Feb-2006 10:58 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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Why did you throw a Charger in there?
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"The enemy's gate is down."
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Vampire
Free Worlds League
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 915
Location: Spain
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| Posted: 09-Feb-2006 04:17 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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AWAD,
My intention was to write our campaign history in the same way as the old scenario packs, and I had to think of a cool name.
A quick glance through the sourcebooks will tell you that the 4th Marik Militia is one of those "dumpster" units, where misfits, rogues , troublemakers and expendable personnel are sent to. Is not as bad as House Kurita's Legion of Vega, is a line regiment after all, not chain gang scum or a pirate band, but in some ways comes pretty close.
Captain Cherenkov is the son of General Cherenkov, the regimental commander and known as "most odious man in the galaxy, non-Kurita division" , his hobby is dissecting fallen enemy 'Mechwarriors, go figure. The son ain't much better, his callsign should give you a hint.
The IV Militia is a light unit equipped largely with captured Capellan 'Mechs, but the company has grouped the heaviest 'Mechs in the regiment (outside the fire support lances) and consequently gets the toughest assignments and sees quite heavy action.
The chosen name reflects the risky nature and assignments on the unit, and with a grim sense of humor, reflects on the prospects of the company members.
Summing it up, it's a motley band of losers shaped into a shock unit by a gung-ho commander.
_________________
Memento audare semper
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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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| Posted: 09-Feb-2006 17:29 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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Just one question...aren't Force Commanders usually battalion commanders in the FWLM?
I like the paired Trebuchets, and the Wolverines even more.
_________________
"The enemy's gate is down."
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Vampire
Free Worlds League
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 915
Location: Spain
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| Posted: 10-Feb-2006 04:24 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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mud
About the Charger, well, it was kind of a joke. We decided to be realistic and only play with the hand of cards dealt by the sourcebooks and the equipment tables.
Since everybody that plays Battletech always pick the same models that are the most effective, for a change we dediced to play with some of the lemons and ugly ducklings, for a challenge.
The Charger we picked out of curiosity to wonder how many games it would last. THe GM humored us, in the understanding he would hand a real 'Mech as a replacement as soon as that junk was destroyed.
The story is that the pilot is a Dispossessed 'Mechwarrior that won it in a game of cards, being a model so useless is conceivable somebody would wager it, if the stakes were high. Also, there's the rumor is that was the way he became Dispossed, lost his original 'Mech in a bet.
áctually the pilot is a hardened veteran and if he has ended in the 4th Militia is simply because no other unit would take him in.
Of course under our house rules the Charger is not as bad. Assuming is a fixed torso configuration, that frees 2 tons to upgrade 4 of the lasers, leaving it with 4 medium lasers and a small laser in the head.
This makes the 'Mech from totally worthless into "marginally useful". But the basic design is still a failure, is an assault 'Mech with the armor of a heavy, the speed of a medium, and the weapons of a light, and explains why the Capellans still produce it, it's better than nothing.
Tactically, we use the Charger as a battering ram, or as a mobile shield for the other 'Mechs. It's still an assault 'Mech and pretty intimidating so we use it to lead the way and attract fire to protect the others. Though it has been riddled on occasion, the owner feels a mix of chagrin, as it has always been repairable so he can't ask for a replacement, and of relief since it's better to ride a Charger that no 'Mech at all.
Looking at the records, so far it has gone through 5 campaigns and 12 engagements, and
he has a respectable tonnage score
Tanks:Ontos 80t, 2 x Vedette 50 t
'Mechs: Hunchback 50t, Banshee 95t
Total: 425 tons, the Distinguished Service Award is not far off. And believe it or not, a couple of those victories were scored with the lasers !
Of course, the 'Mech most effective use is a as tank stomper. Incidentally, this is the origin of the regiment insignia (a 'Mech stomping on a tank) and it comes from the pacification campaign at Obrenovac, our 4th campaign were the 4th Marik Militia had to deal with a lot of conventional armor.
(No, this is not canon, but is a plausible explanation and ties in very nicely with our campaign)
The Banshee was the 'Mech of a pirate leader, and it was disabled by a lucky shot to the head, and claimed as salvage. Of course the Banshee is another stinking pile of crap, but it's definitely a improvement over the charge, but the cruel GM ruled that it was too slow and heavy for the regiment, and if Beaumont took it, he would have to discharge from the 4th and be posted to the planetary militia of some backwater world. So though neither prospect was appealing, Beaumont stayed with the regiment just in the hope someday he gets lucky enough and can salvage a better 'Mech.
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Memento audare semper
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Rudel Gurken
Allisters Light Thunder
Major
Joined: 15-Jun-2005 00:00
Posts: 1467
Location: Germany
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| Posted: 10-Feb-2006 05:14 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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Quote:
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On 2006-02-10 04:24, Vampire wrote:
... Assuming is a fixed torso configuration, that frees 2 tons to upgrade 4 of the lasers, leaving it with 4 medium lasers and a small laser in the head. ...
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A fixed torso configuration that frees up 2 tons? What´s that? No swiveling?
[ This Message was edited by: Rudel Gurken on 2006-02-10 05:15 ]
_________________
Reality is where the Pizza-man comes from!'Gucken, petzen, verpissen!' (Look at it, squeal it, get the hell away from it!) – Motto of the recon troops'Artillery doesn´t know friend or foe! They only know worthwhile targets!‘ – Kuritan Infantrist
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Vampire
Free Worlds League
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 915
Location: Spain
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| Posted: 11-Feb-2006 05:56 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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Rudel, is a construction rules variant.
If you have noticed, every 'Mech in TRO 3025 has the same construction template, this makes inconsistencies like armless 'Mechs like the Locust having arm locations, same with 'Mechs that have the cockpit in the torso and should have no head.
A negative consequence of this "coffee for everybody" construction system is that many designs get short changed. People pick always the same designs, because the flawed ones are so poor nobody wants them. I'd put the Urban'Mech and the Charger as the worst exponent of this.
So aside from construction rules found in Maximum Tech like armless 'Mechs and torso mounted cockpits wich, nevertheless needed some fine tuning, I came up with the idea of fixed torso construction.
This is inspired on the WWII example of tanks with fully rotating turrets vs assault guns and tank destroyers with the gun in a fixed casemate structure. This saved weight and cost, simplififed construction, and allowed bigger guns and heavier armor to be installed relative to a tank of the same weight class. This at the expense of some tactical flexibility. Good at firing from a defensive positionand at long ranges, but to traverse the gun beyond a few degrees, the whole vehicle had to move.
Same thing here, you give up the ability of torso twisting, wich puts some of a cramp in your tactical flexibility, but the effect is less marked than in a tank. In exchange you get usually 1 extra ton that can mean the difference between sub par and acceptable.
The formula is Gyro tonnage x 0.5, wich in addition, since the gyro is one of the most expensive parts of the 'Mech takes a big cut out of the final price, even accounting for extra equipment added.
The Charger is one of the prime examples for this design solution. As it is, is worthless. Even if you followed a house rule to improve the small lasers (another worthless weapon) to have double range, is still useless.
On the other hand, assuming a fixed torso construction that would be common sense and matches the boxy look of the drawing and the mini, the Charger makes much more sense. The medium lasers are much better matched with the size of the gun ports in the 'Mech, and the 'Mech becomes much cheaper.
Of course torso twisting is a hindrance, but weapon placement makes up for this, in this way it makes sense 2 of the lasers are placed in the arms, and that tiny "pistol" in the hand looks more reasonable now. The stump of the left arm is actually a club to punch with, another cost saving measure.
About weapon placement, the logical choice would be to put all the lasers in the torso for better protection, but with a fixed torso, all the 'Mech would have to shift facing to fire. With two lasers in the arms, these extend the field of fire, to either side. the small laser in the head is something of "we have half a ton remaining, let's do something with it" but since the head can traverse is in effect a small turret.
At any rate, the speed of 5/8 makes the job of maneuvering the 'Mech to bring the weapons to bear much easier.
But all of this is secondary. The Charger was meant as a heavy recon machine capable of absorbing a lot of punishment and survive to make a report whereas a faster lighter 'Mech could very well be destroyed and disabled before achieving its mission. The weapons are secondary and only for self defense.
At least that is the design theory. Is a flawed one, but has some logic to it. We can't blame the engineers for trying.
Also, in the context of the setting, it makes a lot more sense. If the Charger was so bad as it is on paper, in the standard game, it would have been withdrawn from service long before the Succession Wars, or during them, all of the machines would have been sent to the scrapyard for keeping other more valuable 'Mechs in service. There are many designs much more effective than the Charger that became exctinct due to cannibalism.
So it makes sense that the Capellans still produce them. Is one of the few heavy 'Mechs they can produce and is better than nothing. And they are desperate enough to field them.
In our games we have been found this custom mod to be quite effective if used properly. As long as you realize is basically a low end medium 'Mech on steroids, you will do some good with it. Besides, is fun to play with something different for a change!
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Rudel Gurken
Allisters Light Thunder
Major
Joined: 15-Jun-2005 00:00
Posts: 1467
Location: Germany
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| Posted: 14-Feb-2006 01:37 Post subject: RE: Forlorn Hope company |
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Interesting construction variant!
But halving the gyro tonnage seems a bit much for me.(But thats only my opinion!)
If you want to play missions during the succession wars you have to roll for lance composition anyway because at that time only very few unit commanders were able to field the mechs they want but had to use what they had at hand!
By the way: we had lots of fun playing a RPG with one of us piloting a standard Charger!
The only thing my friend was able to change was to replace 4 small lasers by two mediums!
_________________
Reality is where the Pizza-man comes from!'Gucken, petzen, verpissen!' (Look at it, squeal it, get the hell away from it!) – Motto of the recon troops'Artillery doesn´t know friend or foe! They only know worthwhile targets!‘ – Kuritan Infantrist
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