BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

[Cylus Maxii]

With LRM tanks and turrets on the map - you absolutely need to take out any mechs that have LOS. Alternately, move and break LOS as soon as possible and let them come to you. Also, as noted above, you need to do a lot of sprinting and jumping to keep up the evasion pips (the chevrons mentioned). When you get sensor locked it takes off two of them. Each attack on you also takes off one. There is a balance between scouting ahead and getting isolated and pounded. Evasion is your friend, especially on light mechs.

[hepcat]

First impressions of a kickstarter backer:

Hour 1: load for 4 minutes, 2 minutes of cut scenes, load for 4 minutes, short cut scene, load for 4 minutes, play first tutorial, load for 4 minutes, cut scene, load for 4 minutes, crash.

I'm out.

[jztemple2]

I just finished my first one skull mission, the previous ones being half skulls of difficulty. If this is what one out of five looks like, I'm going to have to up my game!

It was my first Assassination mission and from the briefing I figured I needed speed. So I picked two light mechs, a Locust and a Spider, and two mediums, a Blackjack and a Shadow Hawk. I left my Vindicator home. By the way, do all players start off with the same loadout of mechs, or is it different depending on your character profile?

Anyway, I jumped in and found that my target was some distance away past a couple of ridges. I sent out my two light mechs fast and chased with my mediums. Some enemy mechs showed up off to my right on the other side of the ridges so I decided to keep going fast. One enemy mech managed to intercept my lights but my mediums chewed it up. However, that slowed them down, which was critical.

My lights found the target. I was expecting some lightly armed and lightly armored mech, but I was half wrong. This thing was a damn Hunchback with lots and lots of armor and structure. I fired and fired with the lights but it was a slow process. Finally my mediums showed up and I had surrounded the target and was shooting it constantly.

Then the enemy mechs arrived and started shooting my mechs. I made the mistake of continuing to focus on the target as the enemy mechs chew up my mechs. Finally the target was destroyed and my escape zone was revealed... and its location meant that I would have to run past the enemy mechs to reach it. As I started to move off I realized that the light mechs could make it, but the mediums would probably be under fire for at least two or three turns and I might lose one or even two. So I turned and stayed and fought the three enemy mechs. I finally beat them, being helped by my two lights which kept running in to take cheap shots at the enemy rear facings.

The final result got me a 25% bonus for defeating the enemy escort mechs, but two of my mechs were so chewed up I'm going to have to refit them with new parts. Three of the mechwarriors were injured, two for 12 days and one for 59(!).

I guess I should have read the fine print. There was no actually stated time limit for getting the target. I could have defeated the escort in detail as they came over the ridge and then went for the target. And if there was some way for the target to escape, at least I would have avoided so much damage and so many injuries. Something I'll keep in mind next time.

[IceBear]

First impressions of a kickstarter backer:

Hour 1: load for 4 minutes, 2 minutes of cut scenes, load for 4 minutes, short cut scene, load for 4 minutes, play first tutorial, load for 4 minutes, cut scene, load for 4 minutes, crash.

I'm out.

Escape key let's you skip cut scenes. I crashed once in the second part of the tutorial missions but that's been it for me

[IceBear]

I just finished my first one skull mission, the previous ones being half skulls of difficulty. If this is what one out of five looks like, I'm going to have to up my game!

It was my first Assassination mission and from the briefing I figured I needed speed. So I picked two light mechs, a Locust and a Spider, and two mediums, a Blackjack and a Shadow Hawk. I left my Vindicator home. By the way, do all players start off with the same loadout of mechs, or is it different depending on your character profile?

Anyway, I jumped in and found that my target was some distance away past a couple of ridges. I sent out my two light mechs fast and chased with my mediums. Some enemy mechs showed up off to my right on the other side of the ridges so I decided to keep going fast. One enemy mech managed to intercept my lights but my mediums chewed it up. However, that slowed them down, which was critical.

My lights found the target. I was expecting some lightly armed and lightly armored mech, but I was half wrong. This thing was a damn Hunchback with lots and lots of armor and structure. I fired and fired with the lights but it was a slow process. Finally my mediums showed up and I had surrounded the target and was shooting it constantly.

Then the enemy mechs arrived and started shooting my mechs. I made the mistake of continuing to focus on the target as the enemy mechs chew up my mechs. Finally the target was destroyed and my escape zone was revealed... and its location meant that I would have to run past the enemy mechs to reach it. As I started to move off I realized that the light mechs could make it, but the mediums would probably be under fire for at least two or three turns and I might lose one or even two. So I turned and stayed and fought the three enemy mechs. I finally beat them, being helped by my two lights which kept running in to take cheap shots at the enemy rear facings.

The final result got me a 25% bonus for defeating the enemy escort mechs, but two of my mechs were so chewed up I'm going to have to refit them with new parts. Three of the mechwarriors were injured, two for 12 days and one for 59(!).

I guess I should have read the fine print. There was no actually stated time limit for getting the target. I could have defeated the escort in detail as they came over the ridge and then went for the target. And if there was some way for the target to escape, at least I would have avoided so much damage and so many injuries. Something I'll keep in mind next time.

Yeah I try to move around the edge of the map for assassination missions to try to limit the enemy contacts to one group at a time.

There is a time limit with assassination missions though. Generally after taking some damage they will try to flee to an evac zone so you can lose if they get there before you stop them

[tgb]

Yeah, once I've seen all that I need to for the moment I keep my scout out of LOS and moving as much as possible until it's time to advance.

[Rip]

Ok, a little help here.

I'm really struggling to keep my Spider alive. Dekker is a great pilot for me, but damn if I can't keep him from getting bombed from halfway across the map. I fail to see the effectiveness of a scout that, once he scouts ahead, proceeds to get the shit kicked out of him. What can I do to make him last longer? I was considering dropping the two ML's off him and just piling up with armor and using him as a sensor bot, but at least he'd have a chance to survive...

Keep evasion up, stay in cover, and if at all possible stay out of sight. Run behind a hill or something where they can't see you and sensor lock for the others. You don't need to be able to see someone to sensor lock them. If no one can see you no one can shoot you. Don't forget to account for where they may move to since you will often be moving before them. I didn't really use my lights for shooting at all except during mopup time until I got a Jenner. Spiders, locust and such need to stay out of sight when at all possible. The only lights that aren't total death traps is the Jenner and Panther.

[hepcat]

First impressions of a kickstarter backer:

Hour 1: load for 4 minutes, 2 minutes of cut scenes, load for 4 minutes, short cut scene, load for 4 minutes, play first tutorial, load for 4 minutes, cut scene, load for 4 minutes, crash.

I'm out.

Escape key let's you skip cut scenes. I crashed once in the second part of the tutorial missions but that's been it for me

Thanks Ice. I did a full reinstall and that seems to have fixed it. I was able to continue on. Glad I did too as I'm having a blast.

[jztemple2]

This game is giving me gameplay paralysis. I got back from a mission with a badly damaged mech. As I'm about to repair it I think, hey, I could move this around to that side and beef this up and drop that part... and then I think no, what if that is going to make it worse, then I'll be stuck with this configuration on a mission. And I go back and forth. And then it's the money! Do I move the money slider on a contract down to get a better relation with the faction? Do I try to get more picks of the salvage? How much money do I feel comfortable leaving in the bank? Shouldn't I be buying that mech I've had my eye on? Is a new coffee bar too much for the crew?

Decisions, decisions...

[DD*]

The huge repair and medical times are ruining the game for me, along with the dreaded RNG. Taking apart an enemy lance and they get lucky and injure 2 pilots and kill a third, with crap equipment. Now my pilots are out for 100+ days and my mechs are down for weeks on end, and the money runs out.

This was the first game I backed via Kickstarter (I *always* want to get impressions before spending money) and I'm very much starting to regret it.

UPDATE: Yep, I'm done. Way too much amazing "luck" on the part of the enemy, way way too much 85% chance to hit for my mech, oh wow they missed every fucking thing in sight. There may be a good game in here, but IMHO it has serious playability and balance issues. Maybe they'll get it right after a few patches.

[NickAragua]

Well, my tech guys finished loading the Centurion with the AC/20 and LRM/10. Of our last four kills, he got three, and that's only because Dekker got a lucky headshot on a Wolverine after someone stripped all the armor off there.

[jztemple2]

Very strange, but not in a bad way, mix of missions I just had. The assassination one turned out to be tougher than I thought, with one guy out for two months and a couple of others down for a fortnight. One of my mechs started a seven week repair and refit project after two others, damaged on the mission, were repaired. Still, I made a boatload (Leopard load?) of cash.

My next mission is a search and destroy of an enemy lance. With one of my three mediums in the shop and one pilot recovering, I take the Hobson's choice of bring two light mechs plus the two remaining mediums to what I'm assuming is going to be a straight up four mechs versus four mechs fight. Instead I end up facing four tanks though still equipped with nice weapons. After several fights I've now learned a lot about slicing the pie, dealing with only one enemy at a time. I use my Locust, whose pilot has Sensor Lock, to make the target visible and easier to hit. I then put the Spider just within max laser range and tickle the enemy some more. Then I use the LM launchers on my mediums to knock them out without getting into LOS of the tanks at all. Easy peasy, four dead tanks. Sadly I opted for less money but more salvage, but there are no mech parts to pick up. Still it's nice to come back to the ship with everyone healthy and nothing to repair.

Maybe I'll spring for that coffee bar after all..

[jztemple2]

Well, I'm deciding that these 0.5 skull difficulty missions tend to see a lot of tanks and not too many enemy mechs, so if it's a planetary government that's hiring me I'm asking for max cash. Salvage is OK, but money makes the galaxy go round.

[gbasden]

UPDATE: Yep, I'm done. Way too much amazing "luck" on the part of the enemy, way way too much 85% chance to hit for my mech, oh wow they missed every fucking thing in sight. There may be a good game in here, but IMHO it has serious playability and balance issues. Maybe they'll get it right after a few patches.

Man, I have had none of those issues. The problems I get into are my own damned fault when I overextend myself. I'm unable to play tonight and am running over in my head possible configuration changes and strategies for success.

[jztemple2]

So I've just had a couple of missions, one to destroy an enemy lance, another to destroy a supply base. On the first I made the mistake of going for minimal money and max salvage; there were no enemy mechs so no salvaged mech parts . On the second I went for max bucks and again the defending lance were all tanks. Just to assure max bonus money I made sure I destroyed the garrison and all the turrets before knocking down the required number of buildings.

I'm seeing budget problems because of the contract layout. After I complete a contract the next two non-story contracts offered are 22 days away. Great for repairing and healing, but it means I'm only getting in one mission a month unless I get lucky with two. This has happened the last four or five missions. With my monthly expenses running around €250,000 but my missions bringing in a bit less, I'm slowly running out of money. I can sell parts but there isn't that much money in them. And I can't sell mech parts, only a completed mech chassis, and I don't have any of those. I'd go on the story mission but it shows it is only worth less than €100,000 and is 17 days away. But I guess I'll have to go for it since the non-story contracts are putting my budget into a death spiral.

[Rip]

So I've just had a couple of missions, one to destroy an enemy lance, another to destroy a supply base. On the first I made the mistake of going for minimal money and max salvage; there were no enemy mechs so no salvaged mech parts . On the second I went for max bucks and again the defending lance were all tanks. Just to assure max bonus money I made sure I destroyed the garrison and all the turrets before knocking down the required number of buildings.

I'm seeing budget problems because of the contract layout. After I complete a contract the next two non-story contracts offered are 22 days away. Great for repairing and healing, but it means I'm only getting in one mission a month unless I get lucky with two. This has happened the last four or five missions. With my monthly expenses running around €250,000 but my missions bringing in a bit less, I'm slowly running out of money. I can sell parts but there isn't that much money in them. And I can't sell mech parts, only a completed mech chassis, and I don't have any of those. I'd go on the story mission but it shows it is only worth less than €100,000 and is 17 days away. But I guess I'll have to go for it since the non-story contracts are putting my budget into a death spiral.

The only storyline mission I know that pays that low is an early one that is just a meeting and not a mission at all. Storyline missions have all paid over $1M c-bills all the way through Panzyr.

[Max Peck]

After I complete a contract the next two non-story contracts offered are 22 days away.

That's just the luck of the draw. Sometimes there are multiple contracts in the same system, so it is possible to do them back to back, and sometimes there aren't.

[IceBear]

You can always just travel to a nearby system and see if there is work there. It will cost (I think a one jump travel is 30000 Cbills). I didn't like the missions where I was so I jumped to a blackmarket world and got some easy contracts there). Note that some systems say uninhabited so I'm not sure if there are contracts there
...I suspect not but don't know that for sure.

As for DD's issues I also haven't been seeing that. I'm sorry that he's not enjoying it but I haven't found the RNG any worse than XCOM (so far I've had a lot less annoying misses or hits than in XCOM). I have also only had one mission where the repair bill was worse than the payout...most of the time it's just armor or minor internal damage. I still have the starting 5 pilots and I haven't found the injuries too bad. Usually 2 or 3 weeks or I just rotate in Medusa

[tgb]

I just don't get complaints about the RNG generator, either here or XCOM. An 85% chance to hit is still a 15% chance to miss. Like Vegas, sometimes you just can't beat the house.

[Smoove_B]

It's no different with board gaming. There are people that hate any element that has a random chance of success or failure. Any time there's a situation where 100% of the variables aren't fully in their control (even if the RNG is only 10% of the game), it drives them insane - to the point where they won't even play it.

[Paingod]

The huge repair and medical times are ruining the game for me, along with the dreaded RNG. Taking apart an enemy lance and they get lucky and injure 2 pilots and kill a third, with crap equipment. Now my pilots are out for 100+ days and my mechs are down for weeks on end, and the money runs out.

I hate to see someone that could enjoy it walk away because the mechanics are too punishing. I'm hoping there's a difficulty slider or mod eventually that can adjust the problems you're having so you can enjoy the game.

I've been struggling with long repairs and medical times as well, but not to the point where I'm frustrated. My worst event to date is having my Blackjack get HULK-SMASHED because I put it up in front instead of keeping it in the rear and acting as support. I lost a few weapons off it, which prompted me to rebuild it as an 2xAC5, 2xML Mech. A little less mobile, about the same armor, way more heat-efficient, and almost as much damage potential - plus more destabilization. I still don't have it back. It's going to take 35 days to perform all the repairs and refits. It's in line behind another mech that I massacred but didn't need to rebuild. All told, after one mission and a couple overhauls, my repair queue was 85 days long. I bit off more than I meant to, but I'm surviving.

This lead to me going into a 1.0 difficulty-rated mission with just three Mechs. I actually came out pretty well-off, considering.

My combat tactics, which I'm sure need revision, are pretty much:

Spoiler:

• Try and keep LRM's on as many Mechs as I can; my Centurion has an LRM5 and 2 LRM10's.
• Everyone has at least 4 Jump Jets.
• My Scout is always equipped with Sensor Lock and a Light/Fast Mech.
• Move the Scout up first and leave the bigger guys in good cover locations. Don't rush up the whole group.
• Trip the enemy group with the Scout and start Sensor Locking enemies.
• Be okay with delaying my Scout's turn so I'm always Locking a target that's just moved and isn't going to move (breaking the lock).
• Use LRM's to soften up hostiles before they get to my Mechs.
• Fall back the Scout to rejoin the group, but keep Sensor Locking targets. It can be hard to see the faint blue line that indicates max sensor range, but I try and live on the edge of it.
• When we engage in Medium range, I ensure:
  • As much as possible, I move Mechs into Cover (green dots in the move grid) and avoid Rough Terrain (orange dots).
  • Rotate my Mech's orientation so hostile fire is spread over my left and right sides as much as possible. I accomplish this by keeping my primary target just on the edge of my firing arc. This does leave me open to flanking, but that's why we have Lancemates to guard our backs.
  • Try and limit the number of hostiles that have direct LoS on my units with hard cover. Make them come to me as much as I can.
  • Before I move, I check LoS, weapon arc, weapon ranges, and chances to hit.
  • Always move as much as possible or Jump a good distance to build 2 or more Evade each turn. The exception is my pilot with Bulwark (auto-defend if you don't move), and she's good at sitting in cover and taking a beating - but she still moves around.
  • Focus fire as much as I can, though I do use Split Targetting to maximize my ToHit chances. No point in firing off LRM's at 30% when I could sent them at someone with 60%.
  • The Light Scout is about a Sprint behind the fight, and he moves fully each turn to build 4 Evasion. I only move him up to engage the last couple hostiles at close range if my Medium Mechs are battered. I try and keep him limited to being visible as a target to just one enemy. I've also taken to using long range weapons for him, like a LL or PPC. He's really not there to get kills, but to start the fight favorably and keep some pinpoint pressure on.
• Sadly, I limit my Death From Above attacks to extreme circumstances since I seem to damage my leg internals half the time. Probably need more leg armor to do it safely...

Last night I took on an Assassination mission. My Light & three Mediums vs. an Orion, 3 Lights, and 2 Mediums. The Orion had most of it's armor peeled off and had suffered an ammo explosion before it got into visual range. LRM hell rained down on it every turn. It managed to fire weapons twice before I KO'd it - and at that, only grazed some armor. Thankfully, the Mediums showed up as Reinforcements after the Orion and 2 lights had been dealt with.

I stayed up way too late and went to bed at 12:36. I'm not suffering for it today, but will if I do it again.

You can always just travel to a nearby system and see if there is work there. It will cost (I think a one jump travel is 30000 Cbills). I didn't like the missions where I was so I jumped to a blackmarket world and got some easy contracts there).

I jumped to a populated system without a contract to bring me there, and was glad I did. More/new contracts awaited - as well as a freakin' Black Market where I could offload my excess salvaged ML's, SRM's, and JJ's. It also let me chip away at that 85 day task list without feeling like I wasted gobs of time.

My outfit consists of:
55t Shadow Hawk (around 680 armor?) - Mixed range combat (This one's stock still).
50t Centurion (approx 760 armor?) - LRM5, 2xLRM10, 2t ammo, 2xML?, 4JJ's.
50t Blackjack (around 640 armor?) - 2xAC5's, 2t ammo, 2xML's, 4JJ's.
45t Vindicator (??? armor) - Stock build w/ PPC+
35t Panther (??? armor) - 1x PPC, max Jump & Armor.
35t Jenner (??? armor) - 1x LL, max Jump & Armor.


Reserve: Locust, Spider

[AWS260]

I just don't get complaints about the RNG generator, either here or XCOM. An 85% chance to hit is still a 15% chance to miss. Like Vegas, sometimes you just can't beat the house.

XCOM's RNG actually cheats -- in the player's favor. I don't know if Battletech does the same. If not, then its RNG probably feels more punitive than XCOM's.

[IceBear]

I get the feeling that many of you that are having lots of problems with repair and hospitalization haven't been putting money into the Argo upgrades. The more medical and tech points you have the faster things get fixed and people get back into service. Do some of the story missions when you're low on cash and you can afford to do the upgrades.

[Paingod]

I get the feeling that many of you that are having lots of problems with repair and hospitalization haven't been putting money into the Argo upgrades. The more medical and tech points you have the faster things get fixed and people get back into service. Do some of the story missions when you're low on cash and you can afford to do the upgrades.

Many of us don't even know what "Argo Upgrades" are. I'm still tooling around in my starter Leopard and exploring the game without pushing forward into the storyline. I've gone as far as breaking the Argo out and then went about my business elsewhere since the next mission is a 2-star difficulty rated one. It made me think I needed to polish my buttons and bulk up a little before I tackled it.

Since I don't have any more refits in mind, when I get everyone to fighting shape I plan on advancing the story again when I can.

I've got maybe 12 total hours in across three evenings. I've been taking my time and enjoying the sights.

[tgb]

It's no different with board gaming. There are people that hate any element that has a random chance of success or failure. Any time there's a situation where 100% of the variables aren't fully in their control (even if the RNG is only 10% of the game), it drives them insane - to the point where they won't even play it.

Perhaps, but it's not like the randomness baked into BT is a secret. If you don't like games that have an element that's luck or dice dependent, then don't buy them.

[DD*]

So here is a "for example" - I've replayed the salvage Argo mission three times. First time, pretty much everyone gets wiped out (leading to my initial frustration). Second time, I breeze through the first half of the mission, then get to the reinforcement piece. Within 3 rounds, 1 pilot dead and 2 more injured with only one wound left. Pirate forces hit every single round, I'm hitting at 50% if that.

Restart.

This time I determine to focus fire no matter what happens. Pirate Jenner comes up. Over 3 rounds, all 4 of my mechs focus all fire on that target. They hit literally every single point it is possible to hit - once. No significant damage, mech is still operational, and one of my pilots (main character) gets killed.

Oh, and this was fun - Blackjack firing at an opposing mech. 85% chance to hit on all 6 weapons. Misses on every single one. You cannot tell me that is just random chance - if so, I need to go to Vegas or something (or really, to stay the hell away!). Best gunner in the group, called shot on a downed mech. Misses everything. Mech gets up and kills another of my pilots.

Finally finish with 3 mechs essentially destroyed, 1 dead pilot, main character out of action for 110 days, repair costs will eat a significant portion of any money I have, there is no other contract in the system, and I have 2 operational mechs. And that is the best result I've ever gotten on this mission in three tries.

Yay. Fun times.

Apparently I am cursed when it comes this game. I did not have any of these sorts of issues with X-Com, FWIW. The kicker is that the combat is so f'ing slooooooow that you have to invest 20+ minutes into a mission only to have the whole thing go to shit.

Very disappointed - and I go back to the beginning of BT when we'd it the comic store for new miniatures every Saturday and play on the kitchen table.

[IceBear]

I get the feeling that many of you that are having lots of problems with repair and hospitalization haven't been putting money into the Argo upgrades. The more medical and tech points you have the faster things get fixed and people get back into service. Do some of the story missions when you're low on cash and you can afford to do the upgrades.

Many of us don't even know what "Argo Upgrades" are. I'm still tooling around in my starter Leopard and exploring the game without pushing forward into the storyline. I've gone as far as breaking the Argo out and then went about my business elsewhere since the next mission is a 2-star difficulty rated one. It made me think I needed to polish my buttons and bulk up a little before I tackled it.

Since I don't have any more refits in mind, when I get everyone to fighting shape I plan on advancing the story again when I can.

I've got maybe 12 total hours in across three evenings. I've been taking my time and enjoying the sights.

Right...which is what I thought. Just wanted to point out that there are methods in the game to help offset some of the complaints (you're still going to have downtime but things will be faster). Do some of the story missions and you'll get lots of money and a lot more options.

Btw...that's not directed at you Paingod just a general observation that I've noticed...and it's not far into the game to get that stuff (I had it after 6-10) and since then I've just been coasting about doing non story stuff

[Paingod]

Pirate Jenner comes up. Over 3 rounds, all 4 of my mechs focus all fire on that target. They hit literally every single point it is possible to hit - once. No significant damage, mech is still operational, and one of my pilots (main character) gets killed.

Oh, and this was fun - Blackjack firing at an opposing mech. 85% chance to hit on all 6 weapons. Misses on every single one. You cannot tell me that is just random chance - if so, I need to go to Vegas or something (or really, to stay the hell away!). Best gunner in the group, called shot on a downed mech. Misses everything. Mech gets up and kills another of my pilots.

I have not once had an instance of such terrible luck in 12 hours of play. Damn man. I'd hate it too.

For me, that first Argo mission was brutal but do-able on the second try.

Spoiler:

I went up the extreme right flank (hugging the zone wall) towards Radar Beta and took down the turret generator, ignoring the turrets. Then I fell back behind the hill (near where I started) and dealt with the crawlers as they came around the hill, to stay out of range of the LRM tower. Once the crawlers were done, I advanced up and took out the middle turret, and then the turret generator - then I wiped out both radar towers.

With the radar down, I moved up to the waypoint and took positions behind hard cover (hills) and forced the first wave to come around at me. I had a rough time of it and was pretty beaten up by the time the final wave came on. My Blackjack only popped his head out at long range and with full Evade to avoid being smeared.

It's important to note that LRM's need at least one unit to have LoS on you to fire. Those strikers are nasty unless you get them in the open. If one spots you, all his friends will rain pain on you.

[IceBear]

I don't know what to say DD. That mission was much harder than the previous missions and I did lose my blackjack (luckily piloted by my character who can't die). Everyone else made it out relatively unscathed. I did kind of back off and use the walls as cover while the Kintaro did a lot of damage and take some fire.

I also prioritized the turret generators with LRMs while out of los. I also let the vehicles come to me and stomp on them

[DD*]

I don't know what to say DD. That mission was much harder than the previous missions and I did lose my blackjack (luckily piloted by my character who can't die). Everyone else made it out relatively unscathed. I did kind of back off and use the walls as cover while the Kintaro did a lot of damage and take some fire.

I also prioritized the turret generators with LRMs while out of los. I also let the vehicles come to me and stomp on them

Yeah, I breezed through the first part - the second half when you are battling reinforcements is when everything goes south, every time. Could be I am just cursed, but pilots that were Annie fucking Oakley in part one can't hit a mech right in the sweet spot at 85%. Over and over again. I was ready to pull out what was left of my hair. Past it now (and I don't have the energy to try again to see if I can get a better result) so we will see what's next. Of course, money is tight and every mission in the "contracts" tab is now two skulls or higher, so I don't anticipate this runthrough going much better than my first try at the campaign.

[Paingod]

Of course, money is tight and every mission in the "contracts" tab is now two skulls or higher, so I don't anticipate this runthrough going much better than my first try at the campaign.

Jeebus. Is there a super-secret difficulty slider somewhere? Did you offend the Devs at some point?

I've seen a couple 2-skulls, but mostly 1 and 1.5 everywhere. No shortage of them. If you're staring down lethal contracts, if you can afford to you should move to a different (populated) star to get a fresh batch of contracts to eyeball.

[IceBear]

I don't know what to say DD. That mission was much harder than the previous missions and I did lose my blackjack (luckily piloted by my character who can't die). Everyone else made it out relatively unscathed. I did kind of back off and use the walls as cover while the Kintaro did a lot of damage and take some fire.

I also prioritized the turret generators with LRMs while out of los. I also let the vehicles come to me and stomp on them

Yeah, I breezed through the first part - the second half when you are battling reinforcements is when everything goes south, every time. Could be I am just cursed, but pilots that were Annie fucking Oakley in part one can't hit a mech right in the sweet spot at 85%. Over and over again. I was ready to pull out what was left of my hair. Past it now (and I don't have the energy to try again to see if I can get a better result) so we will see what's next. Of course, money is tight and every mission in the "contracts" tab is now two skulls or higher, so I don't anticipate this runthrough going much better than my first try at the campaign.

I know I often forget the morale skills but using them at the right time can make a big difference

[Bakhtosh]

I'm not having luck killing vehicles with anything less than a PPC/AC10 or a good stomp. Maybe I just need more LRMs, but they just seem to bounce off vehicles.

[Sepiche]

Very disappointed - and I go back to the beginning of BT when we'd it the comic store for new miniatures every Saturday and play on the kitchen table.

Out of curiosity... are you using the morale abilities? It's not obvious for anyone raised on the board game version that didn't have morale, but I find the one that lets you take a called shot is a great equalizer.

If they are already damaged... called shot to the CT, otherwise... called shot to the leg with a good enough mech will usually keep them from doing much for a turn and give your other mechs called shots as well (assuming you blow their leg off).

Really loving the game so far myself. I just retook the second planet in a nail biter of a mission where I basically had 1 turn to spare to blow up a building before I failed. Just barely managed to do it in time, but I got lucky and got 2 pieces of a Dragon in the process in addition to an entire Trebuchet although I didn't have enough salvage picks to get the whole Trebuchet.

My optimal combat lance is now: Griffin with PPC+ and LRM 10++, 2x Shadowhawks, one equipped for longer range duty(2x LRM10++) and one for medium range, and a Centurion with SRM2+++, SRM6+, and a couple MLaser+. I've also got 2 Hunchbacks that have seen a lot of use (only recently swapped them out for the Shadowhawks and Griffin). One HB is a standard with a AC/20+, but the other is the energy version of the Hunchback, which is one of my favorite medium mechs. It's got a huge number of heat sinks, and I have mine equipped with a LLaser++ and about 5 or 6 MLasers. It's a beast at finishing off enemies. I'm really close to finishing off that Dragon too if I can ever find another in the field.

I really love the advanced weapons you can find and I make a big point to buy up as many as I can. The SRMs on my Centurion in particular are great because they both have +damage, and one has +crit.

[Paingod]

I'm not having luck killing vehicles with anything less than a PPC/AC10 or a good stomp. Maybe I just need more LRMs, but they just seem to bounce off vehicles.

The trick to vehicles seems to be punching through armor and getting to internals. When you tickle the internals, they like to 'splode. I've seen vehicles angle damaged armor away from me, though - so it's like you've got to focus-fire on one side quickly before the thing turns and you have to start over.

This punch is part of why I bumped my Blackjack from AC2's to AC5's. 25 damage here and there doesn't seem as potent as 45 damage in one spot. I'll cringe more when my shots whiff, but I think the trade is worth it.

I really love the advanced weapons you can find and I make a big point to buy up as many as I can. The SRMs on my Centurion in particular are great because they both have +damage, and one has +crit.

I agree. This adds a nice and flavor to each Mech so they feel more unique. I'm not a point where I can buy them all up, but I've snagged some - like a Small Laser+ (+5dmg, +25% crit) and PPC+ (+10 Stabilize Damage). Also adds some "pucker factor" to getting your Mech hammered and losing weapon slots.

[Rip]

So here is a "for example" - I've replayed the salvage Argo mission three times. First time, pretty much everyone gets wiped out (leading to my initial frustration). Second time, I breeze through the first half of the mission, then get to the reinforcement piece. Within 3 rounds, 1 pilot dead and 2 more injured with only one wound left. Pirate forces hit every single round, I'm hitting at 50% if that.

Restart.

This time I determine to focus fire no matter what happens. Pirate Jenner comes up. Over 3 rounds, all 4 of my mechs focus all fire on that target. They hit literally every single point it is possible to hit - once. No significant damage, mech is still operational, and one of my pilots (main character) gets killed.

Oh, and this was fun - Blackjack firing at an opposing mech. 85% chance to hit on all 6 weapons. Misses on every single one. You cannot tell me that is just random chance - if so, I need to go to Vegas or something (or really, to stay the hell away!). Best gunner in the group, called shot on a downed mech. Misses everything. Mech gets up and kills another of my pilots.

Finally finish with 3 mechs essentially destroyed, 1 dead pilot, main character out of action for 110 days, repair costs will eat a significant portion of any money I have, there is no other contract in the system, and I have 2 operational mechs. And that is the best result I've ever gotten on this mission in three tries.

Yay. Fun times.

Apparently I am cursed when it comes this game. I did not have any of these sorts of issues with X-Com, FWIW. The kicker is that the combat is so f'ing slooooooow that you have to invest 20+ minutes into a mission only to have the whole thing go to shit.

Very disappointed - and I go back to the beginning of BT when we'd it the comic store for new miniatures every Saturday and play on the kitchen table.

Missing that many 85% is an outlier. Don't let a bad RNG mission kill it for you.

That said some of these things can be addressed by honing playstyle. Any chance you could make some videos of some playthroughs? I'd be happy to watch and offer suggestions. One thing you can do as far as spread damage is to not just focus fire on a mech, but focus on a part of it.

For instance the first thing I do when I get the first hit on the target I have decided to focus on (especially bigger ones) is look at where the first few shots hit. Not just if I have stripped the armor but exactly how much is left where if I haven't. With a light mech you can just focus from anywhere, with a medium and above you need to flank. The game seems to really weight hit location based on angle (my opinion not known to be fact) and when you are actually on a flank it definitely makes hits to that arm, torso, and leg more prevalent. I almost always end up taking out a arm/leg/torso before I even scratch the CT. If in doubt flank to the side they keep their amm or most dangerous weapon on.

On that particular mission don't forget melee does double damage to vehicles. You shouldn't take much damage early if you stomp them when you get a chance and rush the turret generators. That first one is a sitting duck for the spider to jump up there and take it out in two shots from the get go. Don't bother with the towers till everything is wiped and only use energy weapons, save ammo.

[Paingod]

The game seems to really weight hit location based on angle (my opinion not known to be fact) and when you are actually on a flank it definitely makes hits to that arm, torso, and leg more prevalent.

I'd agree with this and have been adopting it as part of my combat strategy to maximize taking (free) armor damage and (expensive) internal damage. If my left side is worn thin, I expose my right side to them. It's not 100%, but more like 85%. I've still had an internal hit on the opposite side, but it could have been a fluke of the angle not being perfectly perpendicular.

[Rip]

The game seems to really weight hit location based on angle (my opinion not known to be fact) and when you are actually on a flank it definitely makes hits to that arm, torso, and leg more prevalent.

I'd agree with this and have been adopting it as part of my combat strategy to maximize taking (free) armor damage and (expensive) internal damage. If my left side is worn thin, I expose my right side to them. It's not 100%, but more like 85%. I've still had an internal hit on the opposite side, but it could have been a fluke of the angle not being perfectly perpendicular.

Also very good advice. I will note I don't do that UNTIL I have damage on one side or the other (don't gift them a flank early)

I would also say avoid falling into the pit of trying to precision shot stuff for salvage until you are certain you are in control. Early you should be using vigilance on the mech you think they will focus on. VERY powerful.

One more thing that is way different to me than TT, is knockdowns. The extra pilot damage is powerful I often break a cardinal rule about attacking the mech that is down and shift to another guy and then knock the first guy back down when he gets up. Combined with ammo explosions and lucky head hits I often get decent larger mechs that I spend more time washing the pilots out of than fixing.

[IceBear]

Well, the tabletop game had different tables for shots from different sides so I'm sure that's the case here too...and you'll notice it when you use the called shot ability - if you're on the right side then the right body parts have a higher chance to hit than the left (and if you're too far to the right you won't even get an option to shoot the left). Flanking is your friend (and enemy )

[jztemple2]

You can always just travel to a nearby system and see if there is work there. It will cost (I think a one jump travel is 30000 Cbills). I didn't like the missions where I was so I jumped to a blackmarket world and got some easy contracts there). Note that some systems say uninhabited so I'm not sure if there are contracts there
...I suspect not but don't know that for sure.

Huh, I hadn't even thought of that, I thought the contract list was the end all of what was available. Thanks!