Tactic Tip #110

"Halt and identify yourselves!" the Wasp challenged, as Sep and Jarlik continued moving forward. The guard then lifted its right arm in an accusatory gesture that spat fire from its medium laser.

"Hostiles on Palace grounds. Engaging!" they heard him report frantically over the crackle of the general frequency. The two heavy 'Mechs dodged, and the shot missed.

"Concentrate fire!" Sep yelled into the com. "Right leg! Give him everything you've got." The combined fire from their lasers, autocannon, and SRMs was deafening, almost blinding. Then they saw the Wasp fall to the ground, its right leg totally disintegrated. The huge machine was now effectively out of commision.

"One down," said Sep, "but he's put out the warning now, and it won't be long before the rest of them show up. We better get done with this now!"


"The Sword and the Dagger"

Ardath Mayhar

Mechs Listed in "The Sword and the Dagger "

I have finished reading and thought it might be cool to list all the mechs used or discussed in the game or mentioned at all.
Only 2 mechs mentioned in the book exist in the game so far. I posted pictures of them. PGI is hoping to release every mech known to man so all of these will be coming at some point :D


Mentioned in the book but no detail
Wasp
Rifleman Stinger
Enforcer Catapult

Ostroc
Archer
Trebuche


Listed in the glossary and used in the book.
Victor:
This 80-ton assault 'Mech moves at a maximum speed of about 64.8 kph, and is the only one of its class with jump capability (120 meters maximum). The Victor mounts an autocannon in its right arm, two medium lasers in the left arm, and an SRM 4 in its center torso. In battle, the Victor is often able to throw its opponents off guard, as they do not expect to find a heavy 'Mech with jump capability.
 
Zeus:
The 80-ton Zeus is the pride of House Steiner. whose designers created it as a heavy 'Mech capable of performing hit-and-run tactics. It mounts an LRM in the right arm, a large laser and medium laser in the left torso, a medium laser in the center torso, and an autocannon in the left arm. The Mech's top speed is 64.8 kph. Its excellent armor, especially around the chest and legs, allow it to withstand all but the heaviest fire. Its strong, heavily armored legs make the Zeus a feared kicker, and a bludgeon feature on its left arm gives it a mighty punch.
Battlemaster:
A formidable assault ‘Mech, the BattleMaster weighs 85 tons and has a maximum speed of 64.8 kph. The firepower that the BattleMaster can generate in one volley is staggering and more than deadly at close range. Its main fire weapon is its right-arm PPC, and its three right-torso and three left-torso medium lasers provide close support fire. Of the six lasers, two are mounted on the 'Mech's right and left rear, making it one of the few models equipped with rear firing weapons. An SRM 6 and two machine guns complete the BattleMaster's weaponry. 

  Dragon:
The Dragon is a well-armed 'Mech whose top speed of 86.4 kph makes it one of the fastest of the heavies. Armed with 24 rounds for its LRM and a whopping 40 rounds for its autocannon, the Dragon can carry on sustained battles without reloading. Even if ammo does run low, the 'Mech's left-arm and left-torso medium lasers ensure that it has other weapons to fire.



 
Warhammer:
Because of its size and weaponry, the 70-ton heavy 'Mech War-hammer is one of the most dangerous and powerful on the battlefield. It mounts PPCs on both right and left arms, an SRM on the right torso, and a medium and small laser and a machine gun on each side of its torso. These give it the sheer firepower needed by a first-line fighter. The special searchlight mounted on the 'Mech's left torso ties in with its tracking system. Able to function either as a light or as part of the targeting system, this feature makes the WarHammer a formidable night-fighter. The Mech's top speed is 64.8 kph.
JagerMech: This 65-ton 'Mech mounts two light and two medium autocannon and two medium lasers. Its top speed is 64.8 kph. Crusader: A heavy BattleMech, weighing 65 tons, with a top speed of 64.8 kph. It is heavily armed even for a 'Mech, mounting a laser, heavy machine gun, and massed LRM batteries in each arm, and SRMs on each leg. The Crusader is capable of delivering a full spread of 42 missiles at optimum 160-180 meter range, with the potential of crippling or destroying even the mighty BattleMaster
Thunderbolt:
The Thunderbolt is a 65-ton heavy 'Mech, and is one of the best-armed 'Mechs in existence. Its arm-mounted large laser packs a powerful punch. Combined with its three left-torso-mounted medium lasers and the SRM 2 mounted on its right torso, the 'Mech has ample firepower at long and medium ranges. For close combat, it mounts a torso-mounted SRM 2 and two left-arm machine guns.  Vindicator:
The Vindicator is a 45-ton medium 'Mech that is not particularly fast (top speed 64.8 kph) for its size. One of the most common 'Mechs among the House Liao forces, the 'Mech mounts an LRM in the left torso, a PPC in its right arm, a small laser in its left arm, and a medium laser that bulges from the left side of the 'Mech's head. 
Valkyrie:
A 'Mech design seen only among the forces of House Davion, the Valkyrie is a highly regarded light 'Mech. Its six tons of armor, top speed of 86.4 kph, and 150-meter jump capacity allow it to outmaneuver heavier units in battle and to absorb a fair amount of damage. Its left-torso LRM is unusual in a light ‘Mech, making it a potentially tough opponent at long range. At close range, its right-arm medium laser and super jump capacity can be a potent mix. Though no match for a medium or heavy ‘Mech in one-to-one combat, the Valkyrie is effective when part of a lance.

Tactic Tip #108

Map: River City
Mode: Assault
Time: Day
The last game of the night for our group. The team request the run straight at the enemy base; straight up the river. We are running stealth since the Atlas DDC is leading the charge (slowly) with EMC.
We expected to either meet them in the water or for them to base defend.
However, we walked straight into the enemy base and killed the hunchback guarding it in a focused fire attack.
By now, the rest of the opposing team had turned back to their base ...the result of doing this is heavy loss if you "conga-line" into the base.

You must have one mech in the base to stop the capture the problem is getting into the base to staying alive long enough to take out the mechs capping you.

Do not be distracted by the number of mechs in your base  ....you must stay in the base to stop a capture. I like to win by combat but in this case the strategy (communication, capping, stealth, focus fire) beats almost anything hands down.

What could you do different?

You can send out scouts to find the enemy leave 3 mechs behind to watch the base. Send 4 mechs to capture the enemy with the knowledge that a enemy capture means stop whatever you are doing and return to base. The 3 at base will need to stay on base or keep the enemy completely disorganized while the rest of the team returns.

That was a great end to the matches last night.

 

 

Tactic Tip #107

So the other day our team is in a huge heated battle in Caustic Valley. Caustic Valley is a horrible place and really not worth fighting for but that is for the policians to decide ...we fight.
We also are losing ...the enemy is down to 2 mechs both torn up really bad we are down to ONE.

We had all thought he was either disconnected or AFK because he wasn't moving. He was sittign as if he had just landed from the dropship. We announce over com ...he is afk or disconnected ...leg him and cap us.

When they shoot him suddenly he springs into action. Now thsi is just sick ...he destroys both of them and our team which had for all intents lost ...was victorious.

Was it a trick? Was he really afk? Did I inadvertently give false information?

I do not know if this guy was just waiting or was in another window however it reinforces 2 things:

1. Communications are vital.
2. Dis-information is valueable if not unreliable.

Quotable Wednesday version 8.0

Bryan: "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."  TAKEN 2008

Classy line ....overquoted some may say. I feel many times running into a match feels this way. You join a match for a battle ...they sneak to cap the base. You have 2 choices really. Run back and defend or race to cap them first.

The strategy is deciding at what point you have overcommitted to running to the enemy base. I got "yelled" at by someone (not sure if it was a pug on my team or a enemy mech). Telling me what kind of person I was for running to base instead of fighting it out with the enemy.

Tactic Tip #106

Stay in the bubble of the ECM (Electronic Counter Measure)

 

This simple device limited to certain mech's has become a hugely popular and integrated tactic. I believe it will be nerfed  fixed but we will see.

 

What has happened is more people are using The D-DC Atlas (which is devastating) 4 of them are extremely difficult to manage or using 2 Ravens with ECM and staying in range of them so effectively you cannot hit them with missiles or jamming you so you cannot see any of them on your map until it is too late.

 

By staying with your team under the bubble of ECM you are effectively able to keep going as long as you stay with your teammates.

 

Here is how I see ECM

Your team EMC Jamming the enemy.

Your team has EMC Counteracting the Jam from the enemy.

 

It has become a game of who has more EMC or mechs with only ballistics and lasers.

 

Here is a new good fact I have found ...run only 4 man groups ...Yup you heard me run a 4 man group and you will launch more often and win more frequently.

Tactic Tip 103

Flanking

 

 

Last night after patching I load in and Teamspeak is down ...I launch the forums to see what happened ...well they do not know but they are aware it is down. I see post that indicate people have found back up teamspeak servers so I hop onto NGNG's teamspeak ...ahhh friendly faces (names really) and I am welcomed into a group.

 

 

I have never played with some of these guys before; and so it goes you never know how or if you can work with them.

 

When we launch 2 guys crash out. Dammit, now we are down 6 to 8. I am in LRM mode so I am useless without a scout (we lost the only one in the crash). So we try a flanking maneuver (this time it fails because we shoot too early but it was a close game).

 

Someone mentions that on the forum right now there is some issue with lag and people firing on disconnected mechs making the lag worse or staying connected after your mech is destroyed will cause lag. the theories are endless ...bottom line hanging out after you die or are disconnected is bad mojo.

 

So we decide to do flanking for the rest of the night you run on a sideways path toward the enemy base and while they are setting up to receive you you sneak in behind and them and kill them in a worse case you are closer to their base than they are to your base.

 

It worked and the matches were over with us claiming victory 8 times out of the 7 matches I played in.

 

 

Tactic Tip 102

Fridays, I have decided will mainly be about a tactic.

Todays Tactic is:

FOCUS FIRE



(this is not what I mean)

FF is a proven tactic to win. A scout will target an enemy mech (we now have narc and tag) and the whole team commences targeting that one mech until it is dead. It works very well on that target rocking it back and forth keeping it lost in a barrage of lasers, missiles it is quite glorious.

NARC - is a no damage missile beacon that is placed on an enemy mech that will call missiles to it. It does not require LoS (line of sight)
TAG - is a laser shot and held on by a scout that directs missiles and assist with faster locks causing MORE missiles to strike a target. TAG requires LoS.

Focus fire requires that you listen and assist in killing one mech even if you are getting hit from elsewhere.


That is it for today.

MWO contest

In game video:
This is extremely cool footage ...when I saw the twitter post I could not believe MWO had allowed it ...it seemed to break the NDA ...come to find out MWO had started a contest to post in game screenshots and video as the surpirse to dropping the NDA.

The only flaw with the footage is the game does not seem to be as high quality (even in 1080p) as it is when I play. The spectator mode is hugely fun though with the NGNG guys providing color commentary (you cannot hear the team communications).

This is a match video created by the "No guts, no galaxy" podcast guys.



Run Hot or Die Clan Playoff - Round 1

Run Hot or Die Clan Playoff - Round 2

Personally, I believe the NDA needed to be dropped; especially at the rate they were allowing people into the beta now. HOWEVER, they should have included the community a little more it kind of stings that they just dropped it randomly and did not make a production out of it.

Quotable Wednesday's Verison 0.1

If you happen to catch yesterdays post I was thinking about adding battletech history and info.

I have decided to make Wednesday a qay where I quote a clip from a book or movie that I think can apply to gaming (especially from a strategy standpoint).

Today's Quote:

"You want to learn the first rule you'd know if you ever spent a day in your life...you never open your mouth till you know what the shot is."

This quote is directed at a manager ...the manager was promoted over other way more expeirence people becuse of someone he knew.
How does this apply to gaming? Don't take for granted the knowledgeable people around you unless you know what the shot is if you are talking you are not listening to the plan. You are worse than the enemy.

Scouts balancing power and effectiveness.

Scouts are not rangers. Although they excel in nature, being a guide, being a teacher.

Scouts not archers. Although they carry the equipment and are precise in striking.

Scouts are not rogues. Although they are masters of speed and camoflage.

Scouts are not cartographers. Although they know the land and have memorized locations and landmarks.












The way I see it you cannot have a complete squad without a scout. It requires speed, spotting forces, cover, communication, diversion. Being a scout is in many ways like being a poker player.

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When I was growing up my parents listened to different music but I had to listen to enough coutry music  that I would like to punch them for ingraining in me now. It did make it onto the pop charts peaked at number 16 (! omg it broke into the top 20) in 1979.
So thanks but that mom and dad ...however it did have one gem that stuck with me.
Kenny Rogers "The Gambler"

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table,
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done"

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See the key here is a scout will have to learn to make the best decision typically at a moments notice. this applies to any game I have ever played and still play. I have been one and I typically enjoy it ...it has a defined purpose and has turned the odds in many games.



 



Athene

Hey you
If you are reading this you owe it to yourself to check this guy out.
His "Athene" persona is OVER the TOP ...completely insane. He really is one of the best gamers in the world. He gets backed by a lot of people and does some really incredible stuff. I can watch him play for hours.

Tactic Tip 101

Rufus: Very basic strategy. If your enemies know where you are, then don't be there.

Rufus is played by Chris Rock in the Kevin Smith movie Dogma.
A recent reviewing of this movie I picked up on this quote and well ...its just too good to not be applied in PVP games.

So move swiftly and do not be where your enemy suspects you are. This will result in a retargetting or new acquision.

In call of duty a grenade thrown can signal your location so throw and move.
In WoW there was a battle in Alterac Valley where a team could raise a Avatar to destroy the enemy but this avatar was noisy ..your enemy would know what you were doing and would try and stop you.
Shooting from a tank or a rocket launcher is a dead give away of your location.

MOVE
MOVE
MOVE
COVER and HIDE
then light them up when assistance arrives :D