First Thoughts & Action Report

[GeneSteeler]

Hello Everybody!

Quick Background: I live in Australia and just purchased TOS (ordered from US - because it is neigh impossible ot find in Australia). I used to play the shareware/crippleware Mechwarrior game in the late 90's and it was one of the only two shareware games I registered for in my life. Needless to say, when I heard about TOS (through a google search for Mechwarrior) I downloaded the 1.4 version and was excited to hear about the retail release. I played the shareware version just a bit (got my troopers to green) but I was holding out for the retail before I got stuck into it. Well, it just arrived and I installed it and updated it to 1.10...

The Battles:
Being somewhat seasoned, I quickly created a squad (now, I'm a roleplayer at heart, so my jocks have personality and weapon preferences, so my attributes and starting titans are not the optimal 'mix' but rely heavily on the jock's personalities). I decided to wet my feet with 4 recons in the arena with a 10% weight advantage. Piece of cake, nothing special to report, except that my repair bill was almost as much as my winnings. Then I decided to try out the campaign....

Savannah:

Mission one: 4 Recons - (sorry, I don't know which is which quite yet, but they included 2xAC7, 2xChainsaw, AC20, and Chainsaw with Flamethrower) Well, utter disaster - I 'accidently' destroyed an enemy by swarming it, it blew up, and the majority of my team was killed. I ejected the survivors and tried again (I previously read in this forum that team data is only saved in the campaign on a victory - with defeat being 'simulation' - Thank Goodness! (Refer below).


Mission one Redo: Same titans, but I used the lake as defense and managed a sweet victory. I was a bit more careful this time, making sure one, perhaps two at the most of my titans would be affected by enemy engine explosion.

Mission two-four: Same mechs, but by mission 4 I was able to add two more titans and include my other two personality-full jocks, 2xPower Axe and LRMs . Completed with relative ease. Not a single enemy titan exploded. I managed to obtain 2 kills. First kill was a AC7 to the head after a Chainsaw weakened it up [;)] the second was a lucky shot with the AC20 to a previously undamaged titan's head. Sweet [:D] .

Aftermath: Mission 3 (I believe, where you need to capture the 'documents') was terrible. I followed the (bad) advice and raced to get the documents. Sure enough, I completed the mission in record time, but because I didn't disable any titans on the way (took off one leg) my salaries and $9000 in repairs were more than I earned!!!! So my budget went backwards!

Mission Five: Also known as "$^#$%&!" - which is what I was saying. Synopsis: My 6 recon titans (don't have enough cash to upgrade to light yet after that damnable mission 3), with 4 greens and 2 novices enter the fray. On the other side of the field are 2 teams, each with 2xLight and a Medium. I'm outweighted more than 2 to 1. Well, not being daunted by the odds, I decide to rush one team. Before even reaching the first target my 2xPower Axe is taken out of the fight by two well places tulsa bolts. (or whatever weapon does 25 damage per shot - That damnable MorningStar is king versus recon titans!). It was at this time that I said to myself - "I don't have a chance in hell, Well I'm going to make that Morningstar pay!" and I decided, mission be damned, I'm going to see if I can at least take out that 140tonner! So my brave troops went in, being hit by AC4s and guided missiles the whole time, gave it their best shot, but went down in a heap of scrap metal. Finally, 2am in the morning, the last jock ejected and I went to bed, fuming mad at the atrocity! I need to add that Master Whatshisname showed up some time into the battle, in his large Catapult, stood on a hill, fired his flares and took the occasional pot shot at the enemy, while my squad was being butchered with Chainsaws and Tulsas...

Now: After work, when the wife and kids are in bed, I'll be rebooting my PC to play some more (you can say I've been hooked on this game for the past 6 years!). I can't wait to get enough money to tweak my titans and contribute to strategies and the like in the forums. (Although, I will never tweak my team. They have personality and I cannot change the fact that Marshall just loves his missles, or Billy is a Hand-to-Hand Affeciando - (how do I spell that word?) - consequently, my whole starting squad was human male, although, I don't mind creating some new personalities of different races/genders...) I don't even mind my 'personalities' dying, I just rethaw another clone [8|]

Campaign Questions:

If you don't mind helping out a "new" player:

1. Are the enemy titans/weights pre-programmed or are the dependant on your squad? If the latter, I'm willing to retry the mission with only one or two fast recons, otherwise, I'll need to do some arena play, or play the first missions in the DeepCore campaign to make some additional cash to upgrade my titans.

2. Are the campaigns a)once only b)once only per squad c)as many times as you like with each squad

3. Are their any more campaign around? I beleive that I only saw 4 listed in the menu

4. Spoiler: Approximately how many missions are in each campaign?

5. Does it say somewhere which campaigns/missions are "Save only if you win" vs. "This is HARDCORE, you dead shmuck!"

And a General Quesiton:

6. I read about an "updated" "unofficial" titan database - is this available, and will it affect the titans that I already own?


Thanks in advance for your time reading this and your replies. I will be refreshing my browser all day long (I have such a nice job...)

Gene Steeler

[Sleeping_Dragon]

Welcome to TOS:WS! I'll answer what I can

ORIGINAL: GeneSteeler
1. Are the enemy titans/weights pre-programmed or are the dependant on your squad? If the latter, I'm willing to retry the mission with only one or two fast recons, otherwise, I'll need to do some arena play, or play the first missions in the DeepCore campaign to make some additional cash to upgrade my titans.

2. Are the campaigns a)once only b)once only per squad c)as many times as you like with each squad

3. Are their any more campaign around? I beleive that I only saw 4 listed in the menu

4. Spoiler: Approximately how many missions are in each campaign?

5. Does it say somewhere which campaigns/missions are "Save only if you win" vs. "This is HARDCORE, you dead shmuck!"

And a General Quesiton:

6. I read about an "updated" "unofficial" titan database - is this available, and will it affect the titans that I already own?

1) uhhh... YES.. both. Each mission is different, many are actualy a combination of preset titans/tonnage and 'extra titans' that are added to the mix if you bring in enough tonnage to 'balance things out'.; but some are a set tonnage while others are solely dependent on your squad. Best thing to do is read the briefing carefully and make sure your squad fits any wieght/class/jock 'suggestions' that are given. If your running too low on cash running a few arena missions will hopefully build up your $$$.

2) b, once only per squad.

3) Yes. Rosary has a couple out.. they used to be here in the forums until the forums got hacked... now we can't add zip files anymore[:@] I think they can be found at Wargamer online which can be accessed from the install screen for TOS... although I'm not sure they're all there. Rosary will be along shortly to give you details. [:D] There are also others in the 'pipeline' that will be available after the release of the next patch.

4) I'm pretty sure the campaigns that come with the game have 7 missons each although that don't hold for some of Rosary's or some of the ones in the 'pipeline'.

5) Don't think so... and it's NOT ALWAYS THE CASE, just almost always. Someone should make a list of which ones aren't. There aren't very many of them.

6) Agian the hacker attack ate it and we can't repost it as a .zip. Iceman has the most recent file. Drop him a line and he should help you out. He'll probably be by shortly also [:D]. It will NOT effect titans that your squad owns, but if you have custon titan designs in the database you'll need to export them, swap out the database, there re-import any custom designs that you don't want to have to redo.

Hope that helps a little[:)]

[GeneSteeler]

Thanks for that, helps a lot. I guess it's to the Arena tonight!

Hopefully I'll earn a few bob to upgrade to a couple of lights... I haven't customised any titans yet, but I'll probably start very soon... I'd modify the recons I have, but I'll (hopefully) be in a financial position to sell them right away anyhow! [;)]

Gene Steeler

[rosary]

You can find my campaigns at:

http://www.wargamer.com/gamesdepot/

*note: Don't bother downloading them all. Just get the latest versions. Check their date.

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: GeneSteeler
Mission one:
Well, utter disaster - I 'accidently' destroyed an enemy by swarming it, it blew up, and the majority of my team was killed. I ejected the survivors and tried again (I previously read in this forum that team data is only saved in the campaign on a victory - with defeat being 'simulation' - Thank Goodness! (Refer below).

Try not to blow engines up by instead denying movement/firing by severing legs or LOT, or reducing/negating offensive capability by disabling arms/side torsos. If you have a scan and notice that armor in the engine location is red, let your MR/LR titans finish it off and pull off the CC ones.

Mission two-four: Same mechs, but by mission 4 I was able to add two more titans and include my other two personality-full jocks,

Don't go gung-ho on recruting new jocks in such an early stage on a squad. It'll strain your budget, with upkeep and repairs. Always have some "backup" money to compensate titan losses in a battle gone wrong. Let your squad grow slowly and steadily.

Aftermath: Mission 3 (I believe, where you need to capture the 'documents') was terrible. I followed the (bad) advice and raced to get the documents. Sure enough, I completed the mission in record time, but because I didn't disable any titans on the way (took off one leg) my salaries and $9000 in repairs were more than I earned!!!! So my budget went backwards!

Dashing to the base is an option, and can be used if things are going south. Using it as the primary victory condition will of course result in what you described. Maybe I'll add a small monetary reward when entering the base, just enough to balance the earnings in this situation.

Mission Five: Also known as "$^#$%&!" - which is what I was saying. Synopsis: My 6 recon titans (don't have enough cash to upgrade to light yet after that damnable mission 3), with 4 greens and 2 novices enter the fray.

See above. Also notice that by having such a big team (relative to being the 3rd mission), your opposition will also increase in tonnage.

That damnable MorningStar is king versus recon titans!). It was at this time that I said to myself - "I don't have a chance in hell, Well I'm going to make that Morningstar pay!" and I decided, mission be damned, I'm going to see if I can at least take out that 140tonner!

100 tonner [;)]

6. I read about an "updated" "unofficial" titan database - is this available, and will it affect the titans that I already own?

Already on your PM folder.

[GeneSteeler]

Thanks for the input/advice - specific comments below...

ORIGINAL: Thorgrim

Try not to blow engines up by instead denying movement/firing by severing legs or LOT, or reducing/negating offensive capability by disabling arms/side torsos. If you have a scan and notice that armor in the engine location is red, let your MR/LR titans finish it off and pull off the CC ones.

Thanks I figured out this one last night. 2xChainsaw runs/flies in, DfA or Charge attack and a couple of attacks reminicent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is usually enough to take out a few limbs. Runs Away and 2xAC7 or LRM-man plays "the cleaner". Also, I have one close-combat jock that has a high enough skill to do a called shot, so he's pretty good at taking out a limb on a downed foe.

Don't go gung-ho on recruting new jocks in such an early stage on a squad. It'll strain your budget, with upkeep and repairs. Always have some "backup" money to compensate titan losses in a battle gone wrong. Let your squad grow slowly and steadily.

Yeah. This is/would be a great idea. But I'm stuck with my 6 for now. I've noticed that even if they don't go on the mission, you still pay for them. I guess that when the first jock dies, I won't be thawing out a clone anytime soon!

Aftermath: Mission 3 (I believe, where you need to capture the 'documents') was terrible. I followed the (bad) advice and raced to get the documents. Sure enough, I completed the mission in record time, but because I didn't disable any titans on the way (took off one leg) my salaries and $9000 in repairs were more than I earned!!!! So my budget went backwards!

Dashing to the base is an option, and can be used if things are going south. Using it as the primary victory condition will of course result in what you described. Maybe I'll add a small monetary reward when entering the base, just enough to balance the earnings in this situation.

I think if I just would've taken an extra 20 seconds to disable Mr. One-Leg, I would've got some salvage right? That would've been enough to make me break even I think.

That damnable MorningStar is king versus recon titans!). It was at this time that I said to myself - "I don't have a chance in hell, Well I'm going to make that Morningstar pay!" and I decided, mission be damned, I'm going to see if I can at least take out that 140tonner!

100 tonner [;)]

Corrected [&o] All I know for sure is that I'm going to get myself one as soon as I can afford it! (As you can see, I love the big guns! I'd rather take out a limb in one shot than pepper the armour with SRMs, although I do understand the theory of mixed arms and therefore practice it quite a bit. When I have the cash, I'll design my titan and post it in the appropriate forum [;)]

Already on your PM folder.

THANKS!

Well, I'm back at work and have to wait another 8 hours to play again.... Last night was another 2am-er (It's my own private cerfew, lets me get 6 hours sleep) - for some reason, I didn't realise that the DEEP CORE campaign was easier than SAVANNAH. So I've gone back to play that with my first three pilots (leader/manager/mechanic) to try to boost their skills for cheaper repairs etc.... Got another head shot with AC20 (gotta LOVE those) [:D] and destroyed another engine with a chainsaw, but luckily this one didn't blow (I presume there is a %chance? or is it because it was m1c1?). I did blow an engine at point blank range in one of the missions, but my titan was only disabled, and the jock received tons of OXP lying on his back, presumably for all the life support roles he made for the remainder of the mission

Gene Steeler

[LarkinVB]

Sounds like you get some fun out of the game. Thats great ! Feel free to ask for tips/advice. There are some pretty good veterans around. v1.2 with two new player contributed campaigns is already in the pipeline.

[Sleeping_Dragon]

ORIGINAL: GeneSteeler
Yeah. This is/would be a great idea. But I'm stuck with my 6 for now. I've noticed that even if they don't go on the mission, you still pay for them. I guess that when the first jock dies, I won't be thawing out a clone anytime soon!

If money is getting to be a big squeeze and you just can't make any headway, you can alway fire a jock, Pretty drastic, but it's better then being poor and having to run around in a beaten-down 'ol rust bucket. Fire a jock, sell his titan, and upgrade someone to a light is a possibility.... Of coarse the mission after you do this one of your other jocks will get killed... Kismet[:D]

[GeneSteeler]

ORIGINAL: LarkinVB

Sounds like you get some fun out of the game. Thats great ! Feel free to ask for tips/advice. There are some pretty good veterans around. v1.2 with two new player contributed campaigns is already in the pipeline.

Yes, I do get a lot of fun out of the game. When I heard it was available I went crazy: First with excitement, followed quickly with exasperation trying to find it in any store in the country!

tip/advice? I'll gladly start asking when building/tweaking my titans. I guess, at this time, while my jocks are still young and inexperienced, I was wondering what type of skills/stats are most favorable? ie, do you leave Constitution at 10 and pump Dex to 19? Is Scouting worth spending even a single point on? I know some skills, such as cannons vs. Energy is jock's preference, but it seems that something like scanning is important for EVERY jock. Also, by reading through the rulebook, I've realised that maybe I've underestimated ECM? No one but my mechanic has DCS, but perhaps this is vital for larger titans... I'm also not sure how valuable Survival and Medical are...

V1.2 with extra campaigns, sounds delicious!

As for firing a jock, I can't do it [:-] Would it work starting a new team, who can pay to transfer one of my jocks OUT of my squad (bringing me down to 5) I could then sell his titan use the money to upgrade, and then, when I get "In the Money" I could always pay to transfer him back? I know sacking him is the more 'tactical' option, but these are human beings we're talking about!

Again, thanks for the input thus far!

[LarkinVB]

You did download Icemans TOS guide from the sticky thread, right ?

[aquietfrog]

Attribute-wise, I think it would be prudent to keep them a bit balanced. I would recommend setting priorities as to which stats get boosted first. Like for the leader, charisma is obviously the priority. However, if you keep boosting that alone, you'd have little room for the other attributes, which means you'll have low skill limits. Having low skill limits means you can only have low skill points. Having low skill points mean you fail skill checks a lot more often. Meaning, you'd be prone to defeat.

squad-size wise, i kept my squad as small as possible through out the savannah campaign. I skipped the deep core campaign. Then I pushed my leader's recruit bonus to at least 90% and recruited the rest of my squad... I think it's essential that you have a full 8 jock squad by the time you hit the Metaborator Campaign. That campaign is simply brutal.

Scouting. Yes, definitely. It's good for picking up speed while running through cover, also makes you harder to hit when you're standing still or crouching in cover. Very useful indeed, especially since it would carry over through all titan weight classes. The Movement/Pilot skill category has only 5 skills in it so don't hesitate to splurge DPs on them... If you're like me, I tend to have excessive DPs in that category that can't be used because of skill limits.

Combat skills are for your preference. Usually, I prefer to specialize in the skill that has the highest points and the highest skill limit during jock creation. It would also be wise to consider the stat priority if you're choosing weapon categories for your Leader, Manager or Mechanic. A mechanic would usually do well with Unguided Missiles because they tend to have pumped up Dex. Leaders and Managers can benefit from Guided Missiles because of Intelligence attribute, which matches the attribute needed for their other skills.

Scanning is important if you want to get nice results from your active scans.

Electronic Warfare is important if you want to get quick lock-on. I think it has something to do with ECM, too, but i'm not sure... that might fall under defensive...

Defensive Skill is important for quick toggling of defense systems like shield and flares...

Damage control is severely important for jocks that use ammo-based weaponry. Especially napalm. You don't want ammo explosions. it's also important for other things, when your titan carries a dcs, like repairing damaged internals and preventing critical hits... engine explosions.

Survival determines how badly you eject. Ever wonder why your skill checks for eject is always so low? BTW, if you have at least 60 in both DCS and Survival, you can rig your titan to self-destruct when ejecting. It rarely works and makes ejecting a lot more difficult. I haven't pulled this off correctly yet, usually, my titan blows up too late or doesn't at all.

Medical determines how often you get to use the healing function of your life support.

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: GeneSteeler
When I have the cash, I'll design my titan and post it in the appropriate forum [;)]

Notice that you can modify/redesign/retrofit your squad's titans. you won't need too much money for this, and it actually might net you some money. Depends on what you remove and what you add back.
You can also design new titans in the factory, from scratch, without having to pay anything. It's independent of any squads you might have. It's another game within the game.

Got another head shot with AC20 (gotta LOVE those) [:D] and destroyed another engine with a chainsaw, but luckily this one didn't blow (I presume there is a %chance? or is it because it was m1c1?).

There is a chance, modified by the jock's (the one whose engine was destroyed) damage control skill. This chance is always 50~98%.

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: aquietfrog
A mechanic would usually do well with Unguided Missiles because they tend to have pumped up Dex.

They have pumped up Damage Control skill, not Dex.

Electronic Warfare is important if you want to get quick lock-on. I think it has something to do with ECM, too, but i'm not sure... that might fall under defensive...

Toggle ECM, defeat active scans, threat level calculation.

Defensive Skill is important for quick toggling of defense systems like shield and flares...

Better than that, it increases your shield's protection value, and at the start of each battle each jock rolls against this to see if he fine-tunes his heat regulator, for a heat diddipation bonus. That's its best feature IMO.

Damage control is severely important for jocks that use ammo-based weaponry. Especially napalm. You don't want ammo explosions. it's also important for other things, when your titan carries a dcs, like repairing damaged internals and preventing critical hits... engine explosions.

Napalm and FT ammo. All heat-causing ammo.
And this helps in getting better salvage after battle too, it's modified by the jock with the best DC skill that took part in the battle.

Survival determines how badly you eject. Ever wonder why your skill checks for eject is always so low? BTW, if you have at least 60 in both DCS and Survival, you can rig your titan to self-destruct when ejecting. It rarely works and makes ejecting a lot more difficult. I haven't pulled this off correctly yet, usually, my titan blows up too late or doesn't at all.

Also modified shock damage.

Medical determines how often you get to use the healing function of your life support.

It modifies the chance for a successful "pain-killer shot", not how often they happen. The frequency of these "shots" is fixed at 1 each 18 game secs.
It also helps stop bleedings, which are a pain. They drain your jock's HPs, which affects his skill checks. Normal bleedings remove 1 HP every 2 game secs, fast bleedings 1 HP per game sec.

[Sleeping_Dragon]

ORIGINAL: GeneSteeler

As for firing a jock, I can't do it [:-] Would it work starting a new team, who can pay to transfer one of my jocks OUT of my squad (bringing me down to 5) I could then sell his titan use the money to upgrade, and then, when I get "In the Money" I could always pay to transfer him back? I know sacking him is the more 'tactical' option, but these are human beings we're talking about!

Can't help you out with the transfer thing.. haven't ever used it, but I think it's pretty expensive to do... for both teams if I'm not mistaken.

'tactical option' my butt [:'(] Times are hard, the squad's going broke, they can't compete... what could be more 'realistic' then being downsized[:D] Even when roleplaying sometimes 'people' need to be sacrificed. <--tounge-in-cheek

[Sleeping_Dragon]

As far as skills go... what aquitfrog and Iceman said.

Scouting is also very good for raking in Movement xps. A couple of heavy forest maps will give you plenty of Movement DPs from all the successful scouting checks made while running through the woods.

Defensive is one of my favorite skills.. I've actually gotten in a 'bad'(?) habit of pumping it up early in a jock's career at the expense of scanning, ECM, and even medical occasionally. The heat reduction benefit (when you make the skill check) is really noticable once you've gotten defensive pumped up fairly high. (The amount of the reduction also depends on how high your Defensive skill is). A cool titan is a good titan[:)]

Medical I usually try to pump up to a moderate level fairly early. A hurt jock needs to heal quickly to get rid of the negitive modifiers for the different stages of being wounded.

I do tend to lag behing in the Constitution ability and Survial skills... and it has cost me on several occasssions. They're never important until you need them[:D] Overall all the skills are useful.

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: Sleeping_Dragon
Can't help you out with the transfer thing.. haven't ever used it, but I think it's pretty expensive to do... for both teams if I'm not mistaken.

The squad the jock is transfered to pays the bill. The squad the jock is transfered from gets part of that money.
BTW, only green+ jocks can be transfered.

[GeneSteeler]

Thanks again for all the replies, too many to quote individually. Thoughts after reading the above:

1. I better start pumping defense. I've virtually ignored it for all my jocks. Same with DCS, the only jock with DCS is my mechanic. Although from the above, I think my Cannon Specialists better build this skill too.

2. I tend to pump up stats quite 'evenly' and thankful of it, when my almost bled to death jock succeeded in his eject (at 32%) with under 20 HPs.... So most of my jocks have Con around 11. But I will start thinking about GM for my Leader. Mechanic already uses Unguided. Although, the mechanic was falling a bit behind in XP cause I left him out of a few missions. Getting increased salvage seems pretty important to me at the moment, so I guess I'll bring him along for tonight's sortee!

3. I've also been pumping scouting, basically because of the extra Pilot Dev points. Now I realise it's actually useful. I'm guessing that when I get the message (paraphrased) "Jock increases his speed" means a successful scouting roll when moving through trees?

4. Hmmm.... Iceman's post (just above this one) makes me think it may not be a bad idea to transfer out one of my jocks if I get paid for it as well. All my jocks are green (my leader just turned novice) so that wont be a problem. If I can get some money for him in the process it may solve a few hiccups I'm having...Sort of like borrowing from a loan shark - immediate cash boost, but a helluva lot of cash to pay back

Last night Battles (for those interested):

Ok, needing a boost to cash, 5 of my Recon titans (all green) squad took up a battle vs. another green squad with a 20% DISADVANTAGE (Yeah, I'm a cocky one). Battle started off well, downing the first 40-tonner. I split my squad in two facing a two-pronged attack. Then problems started... That silly 2xChainsaw Recon can't run and keep his sheilds up, not enough power. So, facing down a heavier titan with a nasty energy weapon (the one with min range, the old PPC I think?) in order to keep shields up, he jumped up and at him (This pilot knows no fear!). Well, the second titan nicked him with a SRM and he failed the pilot roll (all my pilot and primary weapon skills are about 60 at the moment). So crashing down he came. Now, I'm not exaggerating - he failed approximately 10 stand up rolls in a row! (at around 60%) Sure, he made his piloting checks when off-balanced by a hit, but the actually stand up roll he kept failing - I was almost swearing! But my frustration was also due to what was happening on front #2 : My two recons vs. two other recons - As stated above, I score the first leg removal and therefore at a good advantage. By the time I lost my first leg, one enemy was laying down without a leg and arm, and the other enemy was prone, RT destroyed, with my 2xPower Axe standing over him. So, naturally, my LRM man, seeing the problems on front #1 turned in his hex on his perch and locked on and started LRMing the nasties on the other side. Result: My 2xPower axe failed in his next 4 attack phases (2x per phase!) Attacking the prone was 65%+ - Again I exaggerate not! I recall one round, after missing repeatedly, looking at the actually numbers. (By this time the opponant, RT-less stood up) but having 55% success rate, failed by 43 and 44 points. That means he rolled 98 and 99. So, despite having the 'dual' in the bag, eventually he had to eject when all locations were red (except head) and he was down to 2% to stand due to critical hits... I was sure the die roller was rigged! [:-]

... In hindsight, my LRM man should have ran away (Question: if you flee the battle do you keep your titan?) - but the enemy was divided and quite injured, I knew if he could finish off the larger titan (can't recall if it was light or medium, I think the latter) - he still had a chance to win the mission for us. (My 4th titan, the 2xAC7 did quite a number on the enemy before being immobilised). But alas, a few dodgy rolls were all it took to ensure he also was scrap metal. Aftermath: 5 ejected, but alive jocks.

Now, being my first loss in the battle arena (non-campaign) it didn't dawn on me that you lose your titans (silly me), so I'm still wondering that if LRM-man (Marshall, my mechanic) ran away if he would of kept his titan? (Please answer)

Well, I still got some money for the battle, and had enough to buy another recon. So my leader and the other guy started doing some 2 on 2 battles. I've noticed that giving the opponant a weight advantage but decreased skill give less money than keeping both even. Is there a chart somewhere which gives the breakdown of money? Well, the two of them finished off the first 2xrecons that came at them quite easily, so I upped the opponants tonnage (& lowered ability) so I'd face a light and recon. And consequently, I was introduced to yet another new nasty weapon. The Neutron Blaster. Oh man, this was bad.... both of my jocks eject with around 20 HPs and both succeed in their skill rolls (phew - thanks for the advice about upping survival!)

Well, I received enough cash from that and previously missions to put everything on the line and purchase my first Light (piloted by my leader) My choice: Apparition: 2XChainsaw and 4XMGs - Reasoning: At relatively low skill levels, I figure it should be able to quickly close in on most titans and tear them to shreads. So my leader, McManlo, did a couple even duals against other equivalent pilots in equal tonnage: First two dual opponants were (I think I have the names correct, if not, the 'weapons' were similar): Inferno and Needler. Needless to say, McManlo made quick scrap metal of both opponants. Typically netting about $40,000 per fight after repairs. Soon I had enough for another Recon. Choice: Guru? (It's the Recon with the Telsa Bolt - Sorry I sometimes get the names wrong, there's a lot of different designs to remember). Together the pair of them make a wonderful short range team, which isn't too hard to arrange, usually I can use the map to make sure that I first spot the enemy at around 5 hexes, which allows me enough time to lock on and scan the opponant (sometimes twice, if the first scan fails). McManlo plays charge with the Telsa bolt behind him. The Light titan we fought against also had a telsa bolt, and managed 1 or two successful hits vs. McManlo in the course of the engagement, but being in the apparition, I was able to soak up the damage. Meanwhile the 2xChainsaws and my own Telsa Bolt were able to take out a leg. The other enemy (being equal tonnage) was a Recon, was providing a bit of support fire, which I charged at next. He eluded me for a bit, retreating into woods, but soon stood face to face with the Apparition, (with Mr. Telsa Bolt behind him). The bolt took out a leg and after a quick scan, 2XChainsaw to the head made quick work out of the recon. The other enemy ejected soon after. I learned the following:

1. The AI in the game is really quite good (as far as AI is concerned). It uses a variety of tactics, including concentrated fire, retreating, and only ejects if there is really no hope. It was interesting how the downed titan kept attacking with its AC (til I ran out of effective range) but ejected when his buddy was killed and I locked my own titans on to him. So Congratulations to the programmers!

2. Bounty. I think to make extra cash I'll be doing the Chainsaw to the noggin quite frequently (in mopping up). Seems to leave me with a fair bit to salvage, doesn't put my own jock at risk of explosion, and gives me a nice cash bonus as a bounty. I'm presuming bounty is based purely on the dead jocks rank? Again, is there a chart somewhere?

So, I now have enough for a second Recon, although I'm thinking that I should try to keep around $50k in spare cash for when/if things go terribly wrong again. Although, maybe after another battle I'll be able to purchase another Light and try the campaign mission again. At least it's a 'no risk' venture. If I lose badly, I can always wait until I can buy a third Light...

Perhaps I should rename this thread "Gene Steeler's War Journal" - Is there a way to do this in this forum?

One other main point: I'd also like to thank the writers of this game for not only reviving one of my favorite games of all time, but for so many great improvements/enhancements. The new weapons (neutron blasters, black ray, LMG etc) add a whole deeper level of tactical play, alot of which I am totally new to, as well as shields, ECM, scans etc. TOS has to be the most satisfying tactical game around, it makes other turn-based mainstream 'strategy' titles (like HOMM, Disciples, Panzer General) seem like child's play (which I guess they are). So a [&o] is probalby in order.

Again, thanks for all the input and answering questions. Although, I think I need to get to bed earlier tonight and maybe even take a night off of playing. My wife is calling me a "TOS-whore" - cause I spend more time with TOS than with her

Thanks for the database, I downloaded and e-mailed it to myself at home. So I should be able to 'update' the database tonight.

By the way, I won't be able to reply/give any more updates until after the weekend (It's Friday here in Oz, and I tend to only read email/boards from work. Although I'll definitely give a report on Monday, God willing).

Added: I've just discovered the TOSWS Guide. It rocks. Consequently I've been able to answer some of my own questions (like Bounty Value). Haven't read through the whole thing yet, I guess that'll be my job next workday [:)]

[LarkinVB]

ORIGINAL: GeneSteeler


3. I've also been pumping scouting, basically because of the extra Pilot Dev points. Now I realise it's actually useful. I'm guessing that when I get the message (paraphrased) "Jock increases his speed" means a successful scouting roll when moving through trees?


Now, being my first loss in the battle arena (non-campaign) it didn't dawn on me that you lose your titans (silly me), so I'm still wondering that if LRM-man (Marshall, my mechanic) ran away if he would of kept his titan? (Please answer)

Yes to both.

[GeneSteeler]

Well the weekend was quite successful.

My squad competed a few 'random' battles vs equal experience/equal tonnage and collected quite a bit of cash. So with 2 Light and 2xRecons I decided to redo the Savannah mission 5. It was a mixed result...

The Players(4):
Leader (Novice) in Apparition (Light)
Green in another Light Titan (sorry, the name alludes me - it's got Black Ray, HMG, small laser)
Green in Recon: Guru
Green in Recon: Fireball

The opponants: Heavy, 3xLights and Recon (iirc)

The Plan: RUN AWAY!

(Sorry, details are a bit sketchy as the battle was fought a few days ago and I fought a number of engagements since)

At the beginning of the Battle, the squad (being relatively close range) turned tail and hid behind the hills to the north. We had such a position that we'd spot the enemy just as it approached the quicksand. While we waited, the Master landed (dropped) in his heavy missle titan and exchanged fire with the enemy (more just a distraction really).

When the first Light titan came into view everyone locked on. Although out of range for the apparition, everyone else began to open up fire on it. Then came the second titan (the Heavy - sorry I forgot what it was) - which was then the target of all our attacks. The black ray dropped him down and we continued to attack it. Meanwhile the third light and recon came into view and two enemies flew over the quicksand, which our McManlo, our leader, in the Apparition, charged. He took a lot of concentrated fire but was pivotal in exchanging blows. The fireball also charged to get withing flamethrower range to keep the heavy at bay. The Master, in heavy, supplied a bit of support fire, but didn't really do much in the fight, besides being an eary target.

One of the enemies went down in the quicksand, never to rise again, another was delegged (is that a word) by a chainsaw, before McManlo, in the apparition, took so much fire that his titan was reduced to pieces. Our Fireball was the next target and was also dismanteld by enemy fire. The enemy's Recon was quickly disabled by our Guru's Tesla Bolt. Their heavy took so much heat that I think the jock was half fried, he wasn't very hard to finish off. The final light, backing away with his missiles was taken down by the black ray and finished off with tesla bolts, lasers, and support fire from the master.

Aftermath: The result: success. Well sort-of. We won the battle and got lots of xp. After wages I only netted about $40,000 - Repair bill was above $120,000 (net loss was over $80,000). I only had enough money to fix the Light titan. Consequently, I sold the remaining pieces of my apparition and had just enough money to fix the Guru.

Further Battles:
My only two repaired titans did a couple battles (equal tonnage, equal ability) and soon made enough money to repair the fireball (who then joined them) and eventually enough money to purchase another recon. I also managed to salvage a recon which I modified to suit my jock). So with 1 Light, 4 Recons I tackled Savannah mission 6 - This mission was a complete success: details below:

Savannah, Mission 6:

Battle Plan: We activated the radar station and made a defensive stand behind our range of hills.

As the enemy showed is ugly head, we'd lock on and concentrate fire. The majority of the enemy titans all appeared relatively simultaneous, with the exception of a Recon, which joined the fray a bit on the late side.

highlights:
1. The fireball, along with the recon with the neutron blaster were able to keep on of the light titans comepletely out fo the combat.

2. Tesla bolt to the head immediately ended the battle for the first enemy Recon [:D].

3. I fired up the hex the second light titan was in, and he was not a problem to finish off.

4. The second recon, which turned up while the battle was raging, was tackled by my close combat recon and was also a non-factor.

Aftermath: All five of my titans were still standing and functional! (which meant I had a relatively low repair bill of $35,000). Although, the 'value' of the mission was quite low and, iirc, I lost about $40,000 in the battle summary. So, I took a hit of $75,000 - which is ok, as I had about $120,000 in my treasury. But this did taint a very sweet victory with a bit of lemon.

So, with all my titans patched up, I'll do another random battle (last one earned me $120,000 before minor repairs) at equal weight/equal ability (which is novice for most of my squad). Assuming that goes well, we'll finish the savannah campaign and move on the next one! Although, it'd be nice to have some more cash to get some beefier titans...

[SUGGESTION TO THE PROGRAMMERS FOLLOWS:]

Very minor issue: hopefully you can add this to the v1.2 patch: I've noticed that when I fire the Neutron Blaster, i have to watch the graphics really closely for 'fire' or 'smoke', as I don't get a pop-up window which shows whether i hit or not. I assume that this was done for reasons of "fog of war" and not wanting to display how many HPs the enemy pilot lost? Although, I thought it would be nice to at least show the 'die roll' and have a box showing if you hit or not. And on a successful hit, perhaps just hear the victim's scream [:D].


Until next report!

[Sleeping_Dragon]

I really like reading your battle reports! It's good to get insight into other people's playstyle and thought processes. (for making missions) and just to see how different people handle situations differently.