This is the general thread to talk about whatever you want. The general chatbox.
Yay! By the benevolence of bayonetbrant we've been given our dedicated corner on the forums to manage and play the campaign! Pretty awesome!
Bear with me guys, as it will be the first time ever I am undertaking such a (admittedly big) task. I'll make plenty of errors, but the bright side is that I won't slap you guys either in the event something gets screwed up.
Regarding rules vs fun; Fun always trumps rules as far as I am concerned. We'll do our best to play by the rules as much as we can, but if we discover certain rules have been used wrongly, been omitted, don't work in MegaMek or whatever other situation we just move on.
No drama, no big deal.
Give me a few more days to get the forum sorted and filled with the required info.
In the mean time you guys should roll your Lances and try to create an interesting CO for your Company.
OpFor can still hang back. :D
I for one welcome our new Mechmaster overlord.
Quote from: Yskonyn on April 06, 2018, 12:23:16 PM
OpFor can still hang back. :D
I am making preliminary plans on how to adjust kit for the first battle (flashy but not necessarily very efficient), and then onward as the MCs level up.
Being OpFor, I can playtest variants without worrying about failure. (And without advancement either, of course; that's the fair tradeoff.)
...did I just miss heat management in the rule overviews? My brain has a hard time trying to wrap around not having to worry about heat management in Battletech (or loadout weights?)? :o ???
Not that I'm complaining. I can shoot BIGDAKKA LAZERS as much as I want to, along with flamethrowers! Waaaaghhhh! >:D
I think Heat is considered 'Advanced Rules' and so not in the Quickstart Rules. But indeed, Heat is a MAJOR factor in BT play.
Aparently you'll need Total Warfare to read up on the rules of heat, but do not fret; I'll post the gist of it in the Rules thread. Might not be as complete as what you will find in the book, but it beats having to shell out 50 bucks (for now at least)!
What about system weights? I've slept since I looked through the three levels of quick rules but I don't recall seeing such things on the sheets. (Like, a Hunchback has a dry weight of x, and an AC20 adds Y tons, plus Z tons for each AC20 armor pack. Come to think of it, I seem to recall ammo systems simply being incorporated into the weapons as the number of shots available standardized in the weapons...)
Naturally I'm much more used to thinking about loadouts from the perspective of the Mechwarrior computer games.
Weights are a thing for sure.
The easiest would be to download MegaMekLab (also included in the MekHQ package, but also available as a seperate download from the site) and configure your units in there.
It will handle weights, cost and availability per era.
For deeper info I would have to point you towards rulebook Tech Manual.
I've added the Heat rules summary and I've also linked a very nice Tactics primer in the Downloads thread.
Ah, yeah, heat and weight. Now we're talking Mechy. :coolsmiley:
Soon my raptors shall prepare to feast.
Soon. But not yet.
House rules thread updated with a new entry regarding rolling your Mechwarriors and starting Mechs. Please note that this is an optional step intended to add more flavour to your Company.
Excellent...I will get cracking on this later today with a fine Scotch.
I am now uploading the custom MekHQ version that will serve as a baseline for the campaign. (It will take some time, when its available I'll make a link in the applicable thread)
The archive included a complete install package of MekHQ (like you would download from the official site), but with everything I added like camo's, fluff images, etc.
The Command Company has been created in it as well. It can serve as inspiration and guidance.
You will find that I have 12 Mechwarriors, 10 techs and 1 Admin in my Company. You should all have the same amount of personnel for your Company.
Feel free to dream up a name for your Company and choose a custom Camo.
I am still figuring out how I would be able to merge your units into my MekHQ, so standby for that. I know its possible, just don't know how to do it. Suggestions are welcome.
Congrats on rolling a Griffin, Ysk, by the way! -- or a good choice for a commander if you picked it manually. A relatively heavy, fast, jump-jetter, with long-range fire support punch. :bd: You can keep away, find cover, take a few hits, and punch back with crippling side effects!
Quote from: JasonPratt on April 07, 2018, 11:45:46 AM
Congrats on rolling a Griffin, Ysk, by the way! -- or a good choice for a commander if you picked it manually. A relatively heavy, fast, jump-jetter, with long-range fire support punch. :bd: You can keep away, find cover, take a few hits, and punch back with crippling side effects!
I rolled every machine in my company, so it was a stroke of luck!
It's a good machine for the time period. I rolled a Shadow Hawk, Rifleman and a Crusader. :)
The custom campaign version of MekHQ can now be downloaded from the Download Links thread!
It contains all the goodies you need and also serves as a baseline starting point as backup.
In order to get in the mood, I've been watching Gundam: the 08th MS Team. Still consistently the best and most detailed real-robot land war series. :smitten:
Never seen it. Is it available on one of the popular streaming options?
Maybe Crunchyroll, I haven't checked -- but they have a ton of options there.
I'll look around this afternoon after work. I've got it on DVD so never bothered to check streaming.
It appears to be streaming on Hulu, but I don't have that platform so I haven't checked. https://www.hulu.com/mobile-suit-gundam-the-08th-ms-team Seems complete, all 12 episodes. (Doesn't seem to have Miller's Report, but that's no great loss, it's a terrible compilation movie. Also doesn't seem to have Battle in Three Dimensions, but that can be found legitimately free elsewhere I expect.)
Dailymotion seems to have episodes (but that's like watching on Youtube, i.e. probably illegal.)
You can search for "08th ms team streaming" and see what turns up. Kissanime has it evidently, as well as www.anime-planet.com.
The English dub is legitimately good, and features a number of well-known dubbers; but various streaming services (including Hulu) also offer it in subtitles.
I'll try to ready Jamus' company later today and fire off the campaign. Let's see if we can get this going!
If I don't run into any delaying factors we should have the first couple of contracts listed.
Sorry for the radio silence. It's been busy the last weeks with lots of roster changes.
I'll see if I can get this going again in the next few days.
Small update:
I expect to restart this at the end of august. Vacation is coming, the flightline is busy as heck and all things vie for attention while trying to keep a family life.
Let's first go on holiday and then return here and start proper.
Actuators powering up!
Hydraulic Pressure nominal.
Let's activate this back up!
The developement build of MekHQ (now v0.45) has a superb new feature; it's force generator has been overhauled and can now make canon or non canon forces as big as we would like!
For this reason alone I am going to try to move to this new build. Hopefully we don't run into any severe bugs as the latest stable release still is 0.44.
I'll let you know if the switch has been final. For now, do NOT update your MekHQ install yet, please.
{gasp!} DO I GET TO VILLAINIZE???!?! :dreamer: <:-)
I shall ponder.
Yes thou shall! :notworthy:
Unless you fancy a Grog company against the AI better?
I shall let my answer be Mua ha ha ha ha.
But of course, I shall have disposable uh, quirky mini-bosses and their squads, who will do the actual OpFor fighting. Those who please me shall return. Those who fail... it depends on whether they amuse me, and how much use I can make of my amusement with them in other regards considering my Larger Scope plans elsewhere which, I would naturally assume, won't be part of the Grog story (unless that becomes dramatically interesting).
(Having said that, I reserve the right to have my attention somewhere else and let AI squads here or there fight so that the missions can continue in my player absence. Presumably not every fight would be against my tools pawns minions.)
To get the game going I will roll for finances for Jamus' company.
Jason and Metal will have to roll a Lance.
I'll also go ahead an set some spare parts on the procurement list.
If you guys have any requests in that area please feel free to drop those requests in the 'Requests' thread above.
Don't forget spare ammo and weapons.
Armor is already in transit for 160 tons of it.
Actuators come per tonnage variant so that's dependent on which Mechs you guys roll.
I'll also go ahead and generate some contracts to choose from.
Hey Ysk, am I rolling with a company or a lance?
Also, do you have the updated file to send back to me to update my records? I saw that you rolled me some nice cash.
Thats your call Jamus.
We can leave your company as is. Most missions will feature one of the Lances anyway.
But if you just want to focus on one of your Lances thats fine with me.
Jason will roll a Lance as will MetalDog. The plan has been changed slightly as I dont forsee it good for the game to play with a human opfor at this time. Too much coordination needed, so we are switching to an 'Against the bot' setting.
It has the added benefit of everyone being able to play their missions in their own time.
I've had to schedule overtime this week, and action umpiring the Grogpublic game has been steady, so I'm not where I could study and roll my Lance; but I expect to be able to do so this Saturday. (I'm somewhat hopeful I can set aside time at work to study the program's functionality. O:-) )
Ok guys I am uploading a new baseline MekHQ as we speak.
Please download it from this thread: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=22065.0
Overwrite all files.
It will include McMaster's custom Mechs as well as our campaign starting point with all personnel and finances ready to go at Day 1.
If you open Contracts Market you will see two contracts listed. I think a choice between either of these will be a good starting point for the campaign.
I'll post the discussion about which contract we should choose in the In Character thread. Please join the conversation with your commanding officer (just some light roleplay for flavour)!
As I have not received any comms from McMaster for some time now I've relegated his forces to our reserves. Should he not return feel free to look through his Mech and mix and match his hardware with your playable Lance.
Post any requests for that in the appropriate thread please.
New save file up for download.
I've made some tweaks to out personnel roster. It turned out we hadn't enough Admin, so we were unable to procure stuff. That's fixed now.
We have some Armor in posession and some heatsinks are in transit (I advanced 1 day).
Other parts have not yet been found.
I continue to be increasingly impressed with the functionality and detail of the program! O0
OK guys, this has proven to become much too unwieldy at this point.
I've learned lots from trying to get this going, so I have good hopes for the new 'version' ! :coolsmiley:
I am going to restructure the campaign so that every player is in command of ONE lance. As we're all going up against the AI at this point (sorry Jason, but it just doesn't work otherwise) we can make it a much more narrative process.
This also means that perhaps some of you following this project without playing might reconsider jumping in afterall now that the scope is being reduced.
I'll clean up the forum in the next few days and re-start in a smaller scale.
I understand, don't worry. O:-)
I was super-impressed at the level of depth the game engine could reach, in designing and generating one's own campaign on the fly, so I'm looking forward to a restart -- at, I agree, a simpler level! We should be managing no more than a lance each to start with.
On a somewhat different note, did our pbem AoW3 game desynch?? I think I've been playing against passed turns now every 5 days or so... ???
On AoW3; no I have been playing as well, though I must admit that the initial setback I suffered right at the beginning caused much more delay than I had anticipated.
Some most turns have been just waiting on production queues, so lapsing a turn didnt matter at all. I think I have had three stales, the rest I played.
I haven't been able to send out any settlers yet so my economy is stalling bigtime. I am also beginning to see neutral armies creeping up to my capital so if they press on it might be game over for me soon.
What's your status?
On Battletech: Yes, I think we should aim at controlling no more than a regiment as the player group with the core being up to a company.
A Lance each player making that core company with attached Lances and Squadrons extending towards a regiment.
That also enabled me to better create a narrative experience.
So I'll hit delete and clean out the forum.
In the mean time each player interested can roll up a Lance; the guide posted still applies, save for the leadership bonusses and obviously keep it a Lance.
(Note to self, roll up a lance.)
(Note to self: tried doing that earlier and failed for some reason. Too long ago, don't recall details...)
Lance creation guide thread updated to reflect the new procedure!
How to roll a Lance for new players (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=22872.0)
Good! -- I was going to ask. :-[
Baseline download and Strategy Guide link updated.
Downloading now. Plan to work on that this afternoon.
I also greatly appreciate the new edited instructions on rolling a Lance! (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=22872.0)
Found this by following the link from the CGL forums.
Question 1: got any slots open?
Question 2: What kind of time commitment are we looking at?
Slots are indeed open! Welcome to Grogheads!
Time commitment is pretty low; as it is a co-op campaign against the AI you can play your mission whenever you have time to do so.
At the moment I think 1 mission a week?
We can scale up or down as needed. I am quite flexible as long as people keep communicating. :)
Currently every player controls a Lance, but we can expand that as we go depending on participation and player experience.
Ok. I downloaded the MekHQ package you've got linked. Should I roll up a lance or is there an existing one I can take control of? I see a lot of unattached mechwarriors in the Whackamole Rangers, can I build a lance out of those guys and their mechs?
Quote from: NickAragua on January 31, 2019, 07:01:47 PM
Ok. I downloaded the MekHQ package you've got linked. Should I roll up a lance or is there an existing one I can take control of? I see a lot of unattached mechwarriors in the Whackamole Rangers, can I build a lance out of those guys and their mechs?
No roll a new Lance. The Whackamoles are retired.
We all start fresh.
Be aware that the currently updated Lance-building instructions are a little out of order in some parts!
FYI, the version of MekHQ you've got throws an exception when exporting prsx files.
The exception, if you're interested, occurs regardless of who is selected.
[spoiler]
Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.util.UnknownFormatConversionException: Conversion = '_'
at java.util.Formatter.checkText(Unknown Source)
at java.util.Formatter.parse(Unknown Source)
at java.util.Formatter.format(Unknown Source)
at java.util.Formatter.format(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.String.format(Unknown Source)
at mekhq.gui.FileDialogs.savePersonnel(FileDialogs.java:59)
at mekhq.gui.CampaignGUI.savePersonFile(CampaignGUI.java:2295)
at mekhq.gui.CampaignGUI.miExportPersonActionPerformed(CampaignGUI.java:1785)
[/spoiler]
I was able to export the campaign from the latest dev version (well, technically, I built it directly from the latest commits to source control) and export the prsx file that way. Attached to the post. Noting that prsx files don't seem to support exporting mechs, but I made a note of which mechs who drives, so it can be reconstructed easily.
Got a mixed bag lance. On the one hand, all jump capable (Wolverine, 2x Griffin, Ostscout), which is great for AtB. And two veterans. On the other hand, two ultra-green scrub rookies that should barely be trusted with Locusts. So... training assignment for a while until they get up to regular?
Quote from: JasonPratt on January 31, 2019, 08:32:30 PM
Be aware that the currently updated Lance-building instructions are a little out of order in some parts!
Is it causing trouble with rolling your Lance?
Do you have suggestions for a better flow?
Quote from: NickAragua on January 31, 2019, 08:59:25 PM
FYI, the version of MekHQ you've got throws an exception when exporting prsx files.
The exception, if you're interested, occurs regardless of who is selected.
[spoiler]
Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.util.UnknownFormatConversionException: Conversion = '_'
at java.util.Formatter.checkText(Unknown Source)
at java.util.Formatter.parse(Unknown Source)
at java.util.Formatter.format(Unknown Source)
at java.util.Formatter.format(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.String.format(Unknown Source)
at mekhq.gui.FileDialogs.savePersonnel(FileDialogs.java:59)
at mekhq.gui.CampaignGUI.savePersonFile(CampaignGUI.java:2295)
at mekhq.gui.CampaignGUI.miExportPersonActionPerformed(CampaignGUI.java:1785)
[/spoiler]
That's unfortunate! Its the latest dev build posted which had significant fixes for some other problem I cannot remember now. I guess they were able to fix some and create others. :)
Quote
I was able to export the campaign from the latest dev version (well, technically, I built it directly from the latest commits to source control) and export the prsx file that way. Attached to the post. Noting that prsx files don't seem to support exporting mechs, but I made a note of which mechs who drives, so it can be reconstructed easily.
I have absolutely no idea what this means! :D
Should we run a different version?
I know prsx files don't include Mechs. As far as I know they never did.
You can post your Mechs in the Roll Results thread. I'll add them manually. Trying to import MUL files has caused issues before as well, so the safest way is just to crunch the data manually unfortunately.
Its a little more work, but once we're set things get easier.
QuoteGot a mixed bag lance. On the one hand, all jump capable (Wolverine, 2x Griffin, Ostscout), which is great for AtB. And two veterans. On the other hand, two ultra-green scrub rookies that should barely be trusted with Locusts. So... training assignment for a while until they get up to regular?
Ha! The Gods of RNG smiled upon you until they realised equilibrium has to be established to oppose those veteran rolls.
Quote from: Yskonyn on February 01, 2019, 04:55:12 AM
Quote from: JasonPratt on January 31, 2019, 08:32:30 PM
Be aware that the currently updated Lance-building instructions are a little out of order in some parts!
Is it causing trouble with rolling your Lance?
Do you have suggestions for a better flow?
I've been able to figure out things so far, but I may submit a rewritten flow so that topics occur in the correct order of their appearance during the process.
Looking forward to that! Thanks!
Ok, prsx earlier in the thread, mechs posted in rolls thread. Anything else I should do?
Nope, I am adding your Lance to the game right now.
The first contract with the Lyrans has been completed. We have secured some Salvage and captured a prisoner. We need to discuss what we want to do with the prisoner. We can put her up for ransom, we can try to get intel from her, we can enslave her or we can kill her. Let's vote.
We also need to get back to a contract world in order to secure a new gig. Galatea is the obvious choice, but we run the risk there of running into Marian officals.
So on this, we also need to have a discussion. Let's take it into the Officer's Quarters.
Jason, are you close to ready to submit your Lance? We are also expecting another player to join us shortly.
New campaign save uploaded (see downloads thread).
Place the file in your MekHQ\campaigns\Goodwills Grogheads\ folder and load this as a campaign in MekHQ to review the lastest gamestate.
Another player has contacted me on the BattleTech forums. I am waiting to see if he joins before we go ahead.
Should be a few days at most. Then we continue.
I haven't heard back from the other player, so we'll be going forward. Expect a new mission shortly.
Quote from: Yskonyn on February 02, 2019, 06:43:58 AM
Jason, are you close to ready to submit your Lance? We are also expecting another player to join us shortly.
I have been criminally lax on this, which I cannot understand since this game should be like crack to me. ???
I'm actually glad to see that the game is going on without me! -- though I'd like to see an AAR of the fights somehow. (None of the threads seem right for that?)
I'll join up eventually. O:-)
I didn't mean you with 'the other player'. If I did I would just have mentioned 'the lax Pratt'. 😊
Um. Was I supposed to submit an entire company or just a lance?
A lance for now.
We started out with a company but it got too unwieldy fast.
Give me a day or two to get the cpnx into our campaign. Thereafter we return to Galatea to see which way we are pulled next. :)
Some delays sorry.
I hope to get to it later today.
Bah, sorry for the silence guys. I didnt intend to take this long, but a few things sprung up. I hope you're hanging in there. Hope to get this going in a few days more.
No problem, take your time.
Apologies for the extended delay guys.
Some real life stuff was in the way. We'll continue tomorrow or the day after. Standby short!
Pff sorry guys. The laptop gave up the ghost on me which carried all the BT data. :hide:
I am going to try to salvage the disk, but I won't have time for that the coming days.
I apoligise for grinding this to a halt .
Ok guys I'll have to cancel this endeavor.
The laptop crash really took the wind out of my sails and I don't have the time and fortitude to rebuild at the moment.
Thanks for having shown interest! Perhaps I'll try it again some later date.
O0
While I had too many things going onto really jump in, I for one am glad to have been introduced to the software! Thanks for all your efforts otherwise, too!
Quote from: Yskonyn on April 25, 2019, 08:36:41 AM
Ok guys I'll have to cancel this endeavor.
The laptop crash really took the wind out of my sails and I don't have the time and fortitude to rebuild at the moment.
Thanks for having shown interest! Perhaps I'll try it again some later date.
You have my deepest sympathies for the computer crash.