BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

[NickAragua]

Ok.... I honestly tried to do some of these flashpoints with an appropriate amount of deployment weight. Tried to keep it within a star, deploying some mediums and heavies. But the assholes insist on deploying twice or three times my lance weight of LRM and PPC boats and other bullshit. Took down a whole lance of Warhammers and Cataphracts, but then in comes a second lance.

Rage-quit with alt-f4 and try again. This time, let's see how these bastards like 365 tons of assault mechs with Star League tech.

[Hyena]

Ok.... I honestly tried to do some of these flashpoints with an appropriate amount of deployment weight. Tried to keep it within a star, deploying some mediums and heavies. But the assholes insist on deploying twice or three times my lance weight of LRM and PPC boats and other bullshit. Took down a whole lance of Warhammers and Cataphracts, but then in comes a second lance.

Rage-quit with alt-f4 and try again. This time, let's see how these bastards like 365 tons of assault mechs with Star League tech.

Yeah, I don't play fair. I'm a mercenary, after all. If they tell me I need heavy, I send heavy. If they tell me I need medium, I send heavy. Light is recommended? I send my Star League Highlander, Regular Highlander, Stalker with 4 LRM 15's, and melee Banshee that hits for over 300 per punch.

Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[AWS260]

I bought the DLC, reinstalled, and started up a Career game. I had forgotten how fragile light mechs can be!

While I can now field a medium lance, I continue to re-learn old lessons. I had forgotten how hard SRM carriers can hit!

[NickAragua]

Yeah, those things are death incarnate. Whenever I see a "carrier" type vehicle, it becomes priority #1. Precision Shot, melee if I can, DFA even.

Pro tip:
I think it's stated in the description, but precision shot isn't just a called shot with a to-hit bonus. It actually knocks the targeted unit back an initiative round. So you can punt troublesome enemy units backwards a little and let your units get extra shots in.

[Archinerd]

Pro tip:
I think it's stated in the description, but precision shot isn't just a called shot with a to-hit bonus. It actually knocks the targeted unit back an initiative round. So you can punt troublesome enemy units backwards a little and let your units get extra shots in.

Yeah, sometimes the initiative manipulation is better than the targeted shot.
A few times I've had to ping an enemy with a targeted LRM 5 to give me a chance to move a damaged mech to cover before the enemy activates and destroys it.

[Paingod]

This is very good info that I hope I don't forget when I get back into the game.

After spending so long on building Mechs and plodding down the campaign line, only to hear I was basically shooting myself in the foot when I got to Flashpoint, I was a little disheartened and took a break before starting over with a regular career.

[NickAragua]

The Archer mod has arrived!

https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/336

[NickAragua]

Well, I think it's time for Faceplant and his Blue Menace to take a well-deserved vacation. We've completed the main campaign, and all the flashpoints we're going to complete (I did the "alliance" flashpoint for the Federated Suns and have absolutely zero interest in "grinding rep" for the other factions). Fielding a full eighteen mechs, plus another twenty boxed up in the Argo's cargo bay, we can claim to be a pretty impressive fighting force.

The end-game mech lineup:

Atlas II
Highlander (the spoilermech variant)
Awesome 8Q
Stalker
Battlemaster

Surprisingly, mostly stock, other than minor tweaks and the installation of head-mounted equipment / improved gyros.

For heavies, we had a Marauder, a Warhammer, and an Orion. I also keep a "fast" lance of Quickdraws and Phoenix Hawks for those asset retrieval and target designation missions. Plus a bunch of other mediums that almost never get used. I really wanted a Grasshopper and a Victor, but every time I saw one, they were in the middle of a large angry pack of other heavies and assaults, so targeting for salvage wasn't much of an option - center torso called shots every time for quick removal from the battlefield.

The flashpoints provide a much-needed injection of variety and storyline into the world of one-shot contracts. Unfortunately, as I've mentioned before, their skull ratings are misleading. Since the skull rating is a "soft" indicator of difficulty, a three-skull contract may see you fighting a lance of heavies at full health. Which is fine, but then you might have to do that two missions in a row. And if you're trying to do it with just the one lance of mediums, forget it. You may get through one mission, but then you'll need an entire set of spare mediums for the second immediate one (I don't care how good you are, punch a weight class above will mean damage to your mechs).

Still, other than that, I had a lot of fun replaying it. Especially since people have put out a crap-ton of mods, including new mechs/tanks, performance improvements, and even one mod ("Mission Control"), which spawns extra allied/enemy lances randomly in contracts to mix it up a little. So you may wind up with a really easy mission with some buddies to take the heat off you or a mission with two extra lances of hostiles (I toned it down to a max of 1).

[AWS260]

I just suffered the first mechwarrior fatality in my Career game.

At the end of a long, bruising battle, we had just one more enemy mech to take out, a Kintaro. It was on its last legs, with about half of its weapons destroyed. Victory was assured. And on its last turn, that Kintaro walked up to Truck, a veteran of nearly 30 missions, and punched her mech's head clean off.

R.I.P. Truck.

[AWS260]

Man, I love the unpredictability of missions in this game.

We took on a four-skull mission with an all-heavy lance, and found ourselves up against a lance of 2 heavies + 2 assault tanks, plus a lance of 3 assault mechs + 1 heavy. It was brutal -- the kind of fight where you send a semi-beat-up mech out into the open to attract hits, hoping that the opfor will ignore the completely-beat-up mech that's on the verge of blowing up.

My Grasshopper was knocked to the ground and got its head stomped on. That mechwarrior somehow survived and is now in the medbay for 3 months. My other mechs -- two armored-up Orions and a Jagermech -- had most of their armor stripped away, but made it through. By the end, my missile-boat Jagermech had churned through all of its (extensive) ammunition and was up on the front line, enticing the enemy to shoot at its paper-thin armor instead of my other mechs' non-existent armor.

Because I wasn't expecting such strong opposition, I didn't negotiate for much salvage. So I only ended up with two assault mech parts and some random weapons.

But it was such a good fight.

[NickAragua]

It's funny, a lot of people on the paradox forums whine and complain about how "three skull" doesn't actually mean "three skull". I actually prefer it that way - if I knew exactly what I was up against every time, I don't think it'd be as much fun.

For even greater variety, I can't say enough good things about the Mission Control mod - it mixes up the spawn spots on random contracts and optionally spawns an extra allied and/or up to two hostile lances. Really makes you work for that money, although, combined with some of the other crazy mods I've got running, it gets to be a little much sometimes, to the point where we'll drop in, I'll see four lances of assault tanks about to rip my lance to shreds and just mash the "withdraw" button.

One of my favorite missions that I remember was an assassination. The target was in a Phoenix Hawk (mod), but all his buddies were tanks. No way I could have taken all the armor on, but I baited the target out to a ridge and pulverized him, then had to run my mechs across the map to the extraction point all the while getting shot at by a swarm of angry tanks. We made it, though.

[Fretmute]

It's funny, a lot of people on the paradox forums whine and complain about how "three skull" doesn't actually mean "three skull". I actually prefer it that way - if I knew exactly what I was up against every time, I don't think it'd be as much fun.

You do know what you're up against every time, though. If they're offering more than a pittance, it's a lance plus reinforcements, without fail.

I mean . . . you're literally in orbit. Modern day satellites could spot something the size of a Battlemech in your expected area of operation. The intelligence is comically bad and it detracts from the game. I'm all for a random oh shit moment in every Nth mission, as long as N is not 1.2, like it is now.

That said, I've been playing Roguetech, and that just takes everything and ratchets it to 11, so I'm extra bitter that they left that terrible design decision intact.

[NickAragua]

Lore-wise you could argue that powered-down battlemechs are hard to spot and that the tech decline due to the succession wars means there aren't that many working satellites in orbit at a given time. That, and Darius is an incompetent moron and the only reason we keep him around is because the rest of the crew likes him.

All that stuff is kind of hand-wavy though.

I agree that the odds of seeing just the one opposing lance are, let's say, extremely low, and it's annoying that the possibility isn't reflected in most of the mission briefings.

[Archinerd]

For even greater variety, I can't say enough good things about the Mission Control mod - it mixes up the spawn spots on random contracts and optionally spawns an extra allied and/or up to two hostile lances. Really makes you work for that money, although, combined with some of the other crazy mods I've got running, it gets to be a little much sometimes, to the point where we'll drop in, I'll see four lances of assault tanks about to rip my lance to shreds and just mash the "withdraw" button.

Any issue with spawning on top of mountain tops inaccessible without jump jets?
This was a reported issue with this one at one point.

[NickAragua]

I've definitely seen that happen, so it's not for the faint of heart. I think the guy who wrote it is working on improving that for the next release.

[morlac]

For even greater variety, I can't say enough good things about the Mission Control mod - it mixes up the spawn spots on random contracts and optionally spawns an extra allied and/or up to two hostile lances. Really makes you work for that money, although, combined with some of the other crazy mods I've got running, it gets to be a little much sometimes, to the point where we'll drop in, I'll see four lances of assault tanks about to rip my lance to shreds and just mash the "withdraw" button.

Any issue with spawning on top of mountain tops inaccessible without jump jets?
This was a reported issue with this one at one point.

You deploy mechs without jumpjets?

[Archinerd]

You deploy mechs without jumpjets?

Yep. I'm a stock mech purist.
It's been discussed to death further up the thread.

[morlac]

I hear ya. I have a medium mech I am rolling with extra armour in lieu of jumpjets just...because. I don't plan on outfitting every mech with jump Jets to create a whack a mole campaign. (early on in the campaign noticed I was just jump jetting every other turn with all the mechs to build up evasion and it looked like those pop up whack mole games at the arcade It was kinda silly and absurd and I have vowed not to abuse it. I don't necessarily know which ones historically did not have them so i just use my best judgement based on build and potential use.

[Archinerd]

I don't necessarily know which ones historically did not have them so i just use my best judgement based on build and potential use.

If you decide to use the JK variants mod - there is an optional add on that limits which mechs can have JJs based on their canon designs.

[NickAragua]

The general rule of thumb is that if you look at the "stock" build for the variant and it doesn't have jump jets, then you "can't" mount jump jets on it. So, for example, a Thunderbolt TDR-5S cannot, while a TDR-5SE can.

[killbot737]

Gaming the game is half the fun! In the original Mechwarrior (on DOS) I'd load up a Battlemaster with nothing but MGs, run up to anything, hold down the space bar and watch all that armor peel off the enemy in about 3 seconds! Mount a PPC on a Locust with no armor in MW2? Sure thing! (not sure you could do that, I think LL was the max you could fit on a Locust).

I remember in MW3 they added the dedicated slots/types mechanic, which I am certain is because of people like me abusing the previously (nearly) unlimited options.

[morlac]

I don't necessarily know which ones historically did not have them so i just use my best judgement based on build and potential use.

If you decide to use the JK variants mod - there is an optional add on that limits which mechs can have JJs based on their canon designs.

I am running that mod but turned off that feature. Hmm. May need to reconsider that.

Also, I assume that mission control mod plays nicely with Varients? What other mods you running?

[Archinerd]

I don't necessarily know which ones historically did not have them so i just use my best judgement based on build and potential use.

If you decide to use the JK variants mod - there is an optional add on that limits which mechs can have JJs based on their canon designs.

I am running that mod but turned off that feature. Hmm. May need to reconsider that.

Also, I assume that mission control mod plays nicely with Varients? What other mods you running?

I'm not actually running any (or even playing the game) right now.
Waiting for JK Variants to get the Store fix updated before I jump back in.
Once I do, I plan to run-

JK Variants
Vehicle Improvement Project (with some manually deleted that are not in the 3025-29 era)
Fewer Head Injuries
Basic Panic System
BTML ColorCodedLOS
cFixes
CBT Heat
CBT Movement
Monthly Morale Reset

And these Additional Mechs;
Annihilator (considering, as it is actually exclusive to Wolf's Dragoons in this time. I will probably add it anyway)
Assassin
Flea
Rifleman
Warhammer
Marauder
Phoenix Hawk
Raven
Archer

[NickAragua]

Since you put that list together, we also now have the Vulcan and the Javelin. I hear someone's also working on the Champion.

I'd also recommend "cFixes", which covers two areas: spelling/grammar correction and minor adjustments to stock mechs/tanks to have them match their tabletop loadouts.

[Archinerd]

I'm actually playing now too with this list including the Vulcan. Javelin is downloading as I type.

There is a shop fix now too that adds 1/2 ton mg ammo to shops and a few of the other components. None of the jk variant mechs yet though, I think.
.zip file 2nd post down on paradox's forum

Also note - The Vulcan at least has some non-canon variants in it. I've currently got the Hero Mech from MWO that has a bunch of SRM4s on it.
I probably would have deleted them if I had known, but since I don't feel like starting over they will stay for now.

[Kasey Chang]

I am having some problems getting MODTEK installed. It may be due to I am on latest V1.4.

According to Steam, I am running 1.4.0. I downloaded MODTEK 0.7 and installed as per instructed. I am NOT getting any acknowledgment on the title screen (I believe it should say "w/ MODTEK" or something like that)?

I guess I may have to roll back to 1.3.2 and see what happens.

-----

Didn't work? Version number on title screen still only says V1.3.2-xxxR

Injector ran just fine. Now I'm stumped. Maybe I should run Modtek 6.1 instead. *sigh*

-----

I know what happened. My security program kicked in and stopped one program from modifying another. Turn it off, and redownloading 1.4. It should work this time.

-----

it worked, but now i have a second problem. I was running that initial mission, and I managed not to lose any mechs going up against the first camp, took out the two light mechs. the drop ship dropped some reinforcements... and right now the game's stuck on "allied turn". It's not frozen, as I can scroll aruond the map, but I can't advance to next turn. WTF?

[IceBear]

That happened to me with the Mission Control mod. I ended up uninstalling it. I like the idea of it but seemed to have many issues

[Kasey Chang]

I re-installed the mods and installed RogueTech and Community Assets, and set it to storyTech, which basically skipped the first TWO missions, and went straight to a merc contract. Was able to do it, a 1.5 skull contract, with no casualties.

[Jaymon]

defend the base. 1.5, no problem right?

3 lances of locusts with LRM, yes thats right 12 of the little buggers. can i smash them? Yes, but its tricky when they all build up so many evasion. Can i draw their fire? yes, but its tricky when each of you peeps has to attract and hold the attention of 3 locusts
Can I stop them from destroying the base? no i cannot. they just hammered the base, rarely shooting at my peeps, while I chased them all aorund. I think I destroyed half of them, but really, it was a short mission.

[Zenn7]

Bought this as part of the xmas sale season, tried it, didn't like it at all at first.

Gave it another shot a few weeks ago, LOVE IT NOW.

Playing vanilla (I rarely play with mods and then usually only after I've played the base game to know I might like different). I'm no BattleTech savant, so it's modified mechs all the way for me! Also usually play on normal (I'm no savant at most any games, even though I do love strategy games as my primary interest).

Just completed the priority mission w/ the ammo crates and leaving vehicles. That was tough.

Modified Dragon - AC/5, 1 ton ammo, 2 LRM5's - 1 ton ammo total, 2 medium lasers, 2 small lasers (let him be a bruiser), 1 heat sink, a little extra armor.
Modified Jagermech - AC/10, AC/5 (1 ton ammo each), 2 ML's. Don't remember if that had jump jets, but it has full jump jets now. Think a heat sink or two. A good 5-7 tons or so of armor.
Modified Shadowhawk 2D - AC/5 (1 ton ammo), 2 LRM5's (1 ton ammo), 2 medium lasers, maybe some heat sinks and a little more armor (not much, my weakest armored mech)
Modified Centurion - LRM 20 (think it has + stability damage), SRM6++ (+4 damage, + stability damage), 1 Medium Laser. Might be a heat sink, definitely has jump jets and most likely some more armor.

The 4 original pilots (Medusa is only used as a spare). But I've got their stats up pretty good - most have gunnery maxed, at least 1 has piloting maxed and almost all skills are at least 1/2 maxed.

Ended the mission with the Dragon shot to hell (cockpit was the only thing I didn't have to replace; pilot survived w/ 4 injuries), internal damage (think lost right arm, maybe torso) on the Shadowhawk, minor internal on the Jagermech (only needed repair, not refit, 1 day was sufficient), no repair required on the Centurion. Dragon pilot was only injured person.

Destroyed both vehicles, all 8 mech, 2 turrets and 0 ammo crates.

Considering how the fight was going, was getting concerned about winning at all, so that end result didn't feel too bad for me.

[NickAragua]

Yeah, that's arguably the toughest mission in the game. The other ones have a couple of gimmicks, but nothing quite as painful as this one.

Although, later on, when you start doing flashpoints, some of them are even tougher.

[Jaymon]

Another base defense, and another batch of 3 full lances for the opfor, so i gave up on those.
then, doing a flashpoint, the second mission in was a base defense. and of course, 3 full lances show up and I fail the mission.

I just don't understand how it is possible to succeed at one of these missions. I do my best to attract the attention of the bad guys, but its just not working. I went up and stood directly in front of bad guy, facing away, exposing a clear and easy shot at my back. He calmly walked around me, and stood directly in front of me, so he could get a shot at the buildings.

ugg. I hate the base defense missions.

[NickAragua]

The main trick with base defense missions is that you have to shoot at the bad guys. Doesn't matter if you hit. Once you shoot at an enemy, it'll target your mechs (if it can) for two or three turns, then resume shooting at the buildings. Which means you have to spread your fire out - having a guy with multi-shot is great for that.

That being said, I've had base defense missions where the bad guys come in with three lances, and attracting their attention just means that your mechs get blown up first (and then they go ahead and blow up the base anyway). So, it's not entirely unreasonable to just hit the retreat button.

The good thing about flashpoints is that, if you fail it via mission failure, it'll eventually respawn.

[Zenn7]

I'm still doing just the regular campaign (don't even own flashpoint, no mods).

Got to the mission where we unlocked the memory core and found the SLDF castle.

Um... that ones kinda tough when you don't know what to expect...

Spoiler:

Wasn't bad getting in, but getting out was a beast.
Probably shouldn't have sent the Griffon somewhat ahead to hit more forward units until at least after we killed all 4 recon mechs (instead of just 2).
When it was all said and done, lost the Griffon, the Blackknight, out of AC and LRM ammo, nearly out of gauss ammo, Highlander had lost a fair amount of armor but no internals. Arano's Atlas was nearly destroyed. Right Torso/Arm gone, Center torso was the orange hash marks (that mean external armor is gone and just internal left?) Wasn't sure she was going to make it. But I got the Highlander behind the Awesome and blew it up threw the rear armor. Probably the main reason I pulled out a victory.

Would like to think that now that I know what's going to happen, I could fair a little better, but not really sure about that.

[Archinerd]

I'm still doing just the regular campaign (don't even own flashpoint, no mods).

Got to the mission where we unlocked the memory core and found the SLDF castle.

Um... that ones kinda tough when you don't know what to expect...

Spoiler:

Wasn't bad getting in, but getting out was a beast.
Probably shouldn't have sent the Griffon somewhat ahead to hit more forward units until at least after we killed all 4 recon mechs (instead of just 2).
When it was all said and done, lost the Griffon, the Blackknight, out of AC and LRM ammo, nearly out of gauss ammo, Highlander had lost a fair amount of armor but no internals. Arano's Atlas was nearly destroyed. Right Torso/Arm gone, Center torso was the orange hash marks (that mean external armor is gone and just internal left?) Wasn't sure she was going to make it. But I got the Highlander behind the Awesome and blew it up threw the rear armor. Probably the main reason I pulled out a victory.

Would like to think that now that I know what's going to happen, I could fair a little better, but not really sure about that.

I remember that one being tough too. All my mechs survived but only the

Spoiler:

spoiler mech

Spoiler:

Highlander

came out with no missing limbs. My AC/20 Hunchie was just a stick with a small head laser at the end.

[NickAragua]

Funny thing about that mission is that if the spoilermech gets a particular limb blown off or gets blown up, you might wind up with some "extra" salvage in the form of an extra spoilergun. Of course, it's pretty useless if you only have two tons of spoilerammo, but it's good to have a spare.

[Zenn7]

Funny thing about that mission is that if the spoilermech gets a particular limb blown off or gets blown up, you might wind up with some "extra" salvage in the form of an extra spoilergun. Of course, it's pretty useless if you only have two tons of spoilerammo, but it's good to have a spare.

Any chance some ammo would be salvageable too? But yeah, I was looking at that and thinking... "crap... somebody's gonna crit that or blow my arm off, I just know it!"

[Archinerd]

Funny thing about that mission is that if the spoilermech gets a particular limb blown off or gets blown up, you might wind up with some "extra" salvage in the form of an extra spoilergun. Of course, it's pretty useless if you only have two tons of spoilerammo, but it's good to have a spare.

Any chance some ammo would be salvageable too? But yeah, I was looking at that and thinking... "crap... somebody's gonna crit that or blow my arm off, I just know it!"

I quite liked that dynamic. Powerful but you risk losing or weakening it every time you send it out.

[NickAragua]

You will very occasionally find stores that sell spoilerguns and ammo (look for systems with "star league" keywords), and they sometimes come up as rewards for flashpoints.

I used my spoilermech non-stop, and the combination of it being super tough plus having slower, ground-bound mechs to attract fire meant that I was rarely at risk of losing it.

Then I just about rage-quit when I lost the spoilergun during a flashpoint. Thankfully, it came up as a flashpoint reward. In fact, a ++ version.

[Paingod]

Someone out there needs to design a SpoilerMech now. I want one.