Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post descriptions of your brilliant successes or how you had your Titan shot out from under you.

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aquietfrog
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by aquietfrog »

I must've been facing unusually ruthless opponents, then. It might be the version I'm playing, though.
Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

More likely that your disabled flag has yet to be triggered. I've had HtH ATs go down losing a leg and had them beaten until both arms come off, but the moment the LoT goes, the enemy moves on. It doesn't seem too unrealistic, but the AI does sometimes put a few too many extra rounds into an AT that is really no longer a threat.
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aquietfrog
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by aquietfrog »

nope, it's not that. I've had AT's being beat up until the only part left is the Head. it went something like losing the arms first, then the side torsos, then the legs, the LoT, the CBT, and finally the CT, which was housing the engine, and didn't explode. the head was in red, too.
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by LarkinVB »

AI will only do that if there is nothing left to fight.
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aquietfrog
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by aquietfrog »

Will it also do that if there's no enemy in its LoS?
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Sleeping_Dragon
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Sleeping_Dragon »

ORIGINAL: LarkinVB

AI will only do that if there is nothing left to fight.


My want to double check this... just had a similiar experience. Other titans close by and in LOS and the AI kept pelting a disabled titan with only a head, CT, and an arm left. At one point the AI moved one of the attacking titans out of the hex with the target then moved back in to beat on it some more. They finally left it alone when it was destroyed, not disabled.
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Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

See players aren't the only ones trying to pad their kill scores [;)]
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Battles 28 – 29:
Core (26 x 26)
Lost my notes on these, but there where pretty much run of the mill. Battle 28 was a defeat, the Knights withdraw from the battlefield after their positions where overrun by more skilled close combat ready ATs. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Arthur ordered a full retreat resulting in only a single disabled friendly. Battle 29 ran the same way, but this time the Knights were ready and the managed a clean victory with no disabled friendlies.

Battle 30 All Good Things…
Terran (26 x 26)

Arthur in a Shadow (Recon)
Galahad in a Pack Hunter (Recon)
Tristam in a Fang (Recon)
Launcelot in a Stingray (Recon)

Vs.

Tempest in a Banzai (Recon)
Brutus in a Will-o’-Wisp (Recon)
Olympian in a Pest (Recon)
Basher in a Locust (Recon)

In order protect the Knights’ honor, the records of this battle were sealed. Only now have the Knights revealed the details of this infamous battle. The Knights began the conflict in the SW quadrant of the map near a forested plateau bounded by a river. Taking their typical defensive posture, the Knights arrayed themselves across the plateau while trying to get a glimpse of the enemy. Unfortunately, that glimpse came too late, as the enemy recon ATs began swarming out of a pass to the east and began to ford the river. The Knights were prepared, and immediately began laying into the Banzai as it cleared the ridge. Galahad successfully charged and tore in the Banzai with his vibraclaws, only to get that most feared of messages, “Engine Destroyed, Titan Explodes!” The blast damaged several ATs on both teams and lit most of the surrounding forest ablaze. Despite this setback, the Knights continued to maintain the upper hand in the conflict. Shortly, the Locust lost a leg and went down on its head in the burning jungle killing the pilot. At this point, the Knights made their fatal error. With the pilot of the Locust killed, the Knights ignored the AT, allowing it to gain more and more heat until it too detonated. The blast tore Arthur’s engine from its housing detonating it and killing him instantly, and left Tristam unconscious in a rapidly heating AT (HRs near destroyed, engine damaged, and hex on fire). Try as they might, the remaining Knights could not pin down the last two opponents and only the blast from Tristam’s AT ended the battle at the cost of his own life.

The Knights salute Arthur and Tristam, their leadership and experience will be sorely missed and any member of the team would have gladly given their own life to save them.

Results: Victory, if you can call it that, with 2 bounties as compensation for 2 dead pilots and destroyed ATs.

Battle 31: Half the Calories, None of the Taste
Core (26 x 26)

Galahad in a Pack Hunter (Recon)
Launcelot in a Stingray (Recon)

Vs.

Gorman in a Quantum (Recon)
Heracles in a Stinger (Recon)

With brief time to grieve, the Knights were once again called to the front. Galahad and Launcelot alone rose to the challenge once again in the core. The battle was short and brutal with both sides charging full speed to the center of the map and engaging in close range exchanges of fire. While the Knights dedicated this battle to Arthur and Tristam’s memory, they forgot to turn on their combat recorders. Fortunately, they did bring a Quantum home with them, so all is forgiven.

I’ll post recap of the team’s situation (available ATs and jocks) when I get a chance.
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Sleeping_Dragon »

Sweet! Good to see some more AAR reports, It was getting quiet in here. Been thinking of starting mine back up (it's been on hiatus for a couple games of EUII)
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Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Okay, here is the situation report.

The Knights of the Round are currently operating with a treasury of ~$980k, four pilots and five Titans.

Pilots:
Galahad:
Melee/Energy Weapons Expert and currently both Team Leader and Mechanic. With the unfortunate demise of Arthur, Galahad has pledged to do his best not to screw up too badly in the position. Originally trained as an Energy Weapons specialist, his original AT was blown out from under him and he was forced to adapted to piloting a Pack Hunter, a Melee/Guided Missile AT. Despite his continued ignorance of guided missiles, Galahad has excelled at the art of Hand to Hand combat. Often the Knights has achieved victory only because of Galahads ability to pin an oppenents AT in a fixed location. He is also the most battle hardened Knight with 24 battles with 20 victories to 4 loses giving him the highest win ratio on the Knights. He currently holds the rank of Novice.

Launcelot:
Energy Weapons Expert and Team Manager. Despite being one of the founding members of the Knights, Launcelot has only recently found his place in combat. Piloting a Stingray, Launcelot is the keystone of the team's Long Range battery disabling more enemies in his lastest combats than any other Knight. Currently, he has fought 9 battles, with 7 wins and 2 loses giving him the second best win ratio on the Knights, and holds the rank of Green.

Lamorak:
Cannon Specialist. Lamorak is the underdog of the Knights. Sure, his 3 to 7 Win/Lose ratio is the worst on the team, but one of those three was in 1 on 1 combat with a Porcupine with a Will-'o-wisp, quite an accomplishment for a near raw recruit. Lamorak is currently in training pending the capture of a Cannons-oreinted AT and holds the rank of Green.

Aristant:
Unguided Weapons Specialist. Aristant is the most recent addition to the Knights, and the least battle seasoned. He currently sportly a 1 and 1 Win/Loss record for the two matches before he had his Porcupine shot out from under him. Like Lamorak, Aristant is currently in training pending the capture of a UGM-oriented AT and holds the rank of Rookie.

In the Garage:

Currently, the Knights Armoury holds:

1 x Pack Hunter
2 x Stingray
2 x Quantam

Future plans

Galahad is regrouping the Knights and trying to bring everyone up to speed while establishing himself as a wise and effective leader. Within a few battle, the Knights hope to be able to hire a 5th pilot, who specializes in Energy weapons, as the jock of one of the EW-oriented ATs that is currently being used for training. Until then, or the capture of additional resources, only Galahad and Launcelot will be riding into battle.

Battle 32: Vacation's Over!!!
Savannah (26 x 26)
Launcelot (green) in a Stingray (recon)
Galahad (novice) in a Pack Hunter (recon)

Vs.

Parsifal (novice) in a Guillotine (light)

After calling to a close the extended grieving period for Arthur and Tristam, the Knights of the Round proudly begin accepting new contracts. However, pilot and AT constraints have limited them to fielding a force on only a pair of ATs. Fortunately, Galahad and Launcelot have been worked and trained together since the founding of the Knights and are a force to be reckoned with.

The Knights land on the East edge of a verdant savannah arena in the bottom of a valley surrounded by broken terrain. The Knights quickly head west and begin taking turns climbing hills trying to spot the enemy, and gain a better understanding of the terrain. Two minutes into the encounter, both members of the knights spot a Guillotine cresting a hill to the west. Following the Standard Operation Manual, Galahad heads towards the Guillotine low and fast trying to keep out of his Line of Sight while Launcelot chooses a mountain top roughly a klick from Galahad's intercept point and begins laying down covering fire with his Plasma Gun.

As according to plan, the Guillotine blunders forward, its LRMs doing little more than tearing up scenery as Galahad closes in and succeeds in charging the Guillotine. In another stroke of luck, the Guillotine is toppled and Galahad manages to keep his feet (OT: Why the heck do I always have to make 2 piloting checks after succeeding in charging?!) but as he has often found, Galahad is unable to capitalize on the Guillotine's misfortune as the Marquis of Larkinsbury’s Rules of Fighting Etiquette adopted by the Knights forbids the use of over-hand chops against downed opponents. After righting itself, the Guillotine continues to struggle with both Galahad's hand-to-hand attacks and Launcelot's Plasma Gun salvos. Deciding to make a second pass, Galahad breaks contact and circles around for another charge, the Guillotine beats him to it, but misses, tripping and costing him an arm. Unfortunately, Galahad wasn't paying enough attention to his AT's condition and tears his AT's own leg off kicking the Guillotine and falls. Galahad ejects shortly after the Guillotine rights itself confident that he had weakened it enough the Launcelot will have an easy time finishing it off.

Unfortunately, Launcelot falls asleep (Could have sworn I pushed 'Z' [:(] ) and the Guillotine begins hammering him. On top of that, Launcelot happens to be sitting at the Guillotine's optimal range. Fortunately, that range also happens to be Launcelot's preferred range, so the Knight's last chance digs himself in and begins trading shots. After taking some light damage to his Plasma Gun, Launcelot takes off the Guillotine's right leg disabling it and ending the match. Victory!
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Thorgrim »

The 2nd check is an instability related check, probably forced by damage to (most probably) the legs or LoT. It doesn't happen always, only if there is instability after the charge.
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Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Ah, that makes a little more sense ... the first check is usually only ~50% so I haven't gotten to the second enough time to be sure its always there. Any reason that was never just combined into one check with a penalty? Just the pen and paper side of me wondering why two dice rolls are used when one would do [;)]
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by LarkinVB »

Coding laziness. First check is charge. Than damage us usual. Damage can cause instabilitiy, as usual. If not lazy I wait for damage and add mod to charge -> more lines to code [;)]
Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Battle 33: Fiery Duet
Core (26 x 26)
Launcelot (green) in a Stingray (recon)
Galahad (novice) in a Pack Hunter (recon)

Vs.

Tribaal (regular) in a Cherokee (light)

Still desperate to recover an AT suited for Lamorak or Aristant, they accept another contract in the Core. They are deployed in the NE quadrant on flat terrain with moderate to heavy cover. The Knights can make out groups of mountains in the distance to the west and south and what appear to be two large hills divided by a pass in the center of the map. Spotting some decent cover on one of the central mountains, the Knights set course to prepare an ambush. After reaching the mountains without incident, Launcelot picks his roost and Galahad beings hunting for the opposition to the SW.

Just as Galahad is about to call it a day and concede that the opposition must have retreated, a Cherokee steps out from cover on the mountaintop NE of Launcelot! Seems that the enemy had circled to the north, using the mountain to hide himself, and attacked the Knights from behind. This left Launcelot crouching the wrong way, and Galahad several hexes away gaining heat as he runs. Thinking quickly, Launcelot abandons his position at full speed, and Galahad sucks the heat to force himself into Melee range with the Cherokee. Galahad manages a successful charge, with a knockdown, but can't capitalize (~64% vs. standing target). Launcelot fairs slightly better, and puts several plasma gun rounds into the torso the Cherokee. Unfortunately, the Cherokee's power ax and AC12 combined with the heat prove too much for Galahad's Pack Hunter and he is driven to the ground with a leg torn off. The Cherokee continues to hammer Galahad until his center back torso is destroyed, destroying the engine and disabling the AT.

With Galahad out of the picture, the Cherokee once again turns his attention to Launcelot, making him seriously consider beating a hasty withdrawal. However, as Launcelot rushes towards the map edge, he notices that the AC12 barrage from the Cherokee has ended leaving only a steady stream of EM pulses. In another quick decision, Launcelot decides to try for the W, and circles back around heading for a 4 hex pool of lava to the south. With his speed advantage, Launcelot easily can keep several hexes ahead of the Cherokee as they begin a tense series of moves and counter moves about the lake (Read: Launcelot in a circle like his tail was on fire as the Cherokee chased him). Over the course on the 20-minute running battle, Launcelot scores an odd hits every minute or two until finally he scores a second hit to the Cherokee's head, convincing the jock to eject. Victory, and they Knights salvage the Cherokee. It isn't the most useful AT, but it is almost suitable for Galahad, so it will stay in the garage for a while.

Current War Chest ~$950k

Battle 34: Killer Recruit
Terran (26 x 26)
Launcelot (green) in a Stingray (recon)
Galahad (novice) in a Pack Hunter (recon)
Gareth (rookie) in a Quantum (recon)

Vs.

Tempest (green) in a Badger (recon)
Long Tom (novice) in a Dagger (recon)
Nero (green) in a Stinger (recon)

First off, with 4 ATs relegated to training duty or collecting dust, the Knights decided to add another member to pilot one of the Quantums. To that end, Galahad has hired a new jock, Pedro Damon (no relation [;)]), with the callsign Gareth. Understandably this makes the Knights a little heavy on the Energy Weapons and a unlucky battle with a shielded AT could be a problem, both the Knights have two jocks just waiting for appropriate ATs.

For the there next contract, Launcelot accept a mission on a Terran planet and the team is deployed in the NW concern of the arena. With forest and water to the east and south, the Knights make their way the one of several small hills to the SE. Unsure of the location of the enemy and unwilling to risk being outflanked, Gareth circles around the hill to the south while Galahad circled to the north. Launcelot sets up to cover operations from the slope of a nearby hill. Galahad reports the first contact with the enemy, a Badger to the NE on the other side of a low ridge. Galahad scrambles back over the hill before the Badger can get off a shot with its black ray gun, but does change course, heading right towards a Knights' ambush. The Badger breaks contact as it approaches the ridge, but Galahad is able to successfully estimate his crossing point, and all three Knights target and open fire on the Badger as it crest the hill. After a charge and several plasma and cold light gun bursts, the Badger loses its black ray gun, and falls. Despite its prone position, it is still able to tear into Galahad, doing moderate damage as Galahad abandons the hex. Gareth shows that he is the right man for the job, delivering the coup de grace with a cold light blast that tears off the Badger's head killing Tempest.

Meanwhile, a Dagger and Stinger emerge from the woods on the other end of the ridge and begin firing on Galahad and Gareth. The Dagger pursues Galahad into the same ambush that killed Tempest, and is likewise triple-teamed until a cold light blast destroys his lower torso and he ejects. As this is happening, the Stinger switches targets to Launcelot and begins chipping away at his armor the Stinger's AC4s. Despite the heavy fire, Launcelot holds his position as Galahad and Gareth circle around to the south to flank the Stinger. Sadly, both miss their charges and tumble several times each trying to stand (both had gyro damage). But, even with heavily yellow and red panels, the Knights prove to powerful for a single Stinger to handle, and he eventually falls as his center back torso is melted away by a plasma shot from Launcelot and ejects. Victory! With the Vile Tempest (son of the ill fated Tempest of battle 30) erased giving the active members of the Knights their 3rd kill.

Salvage: $ 47757
Bounty: $ 14000
Payment: $ 125000
Upkeep: $-61136
Balance: $ 125621
Repairs: $-75884
Profit: $ 49737
Budget: $ 982502
Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Battle 35: Divide and Conquer
Biochem (26 x 26)
Launcelot (green) in a Stingray (recon)
Galahad (regular) in a Pack Hunter (recon)
Gareth (rookie) in a Quantum (recon)

Vs.
Hecate (green) in a Porcupine (recon)
Helios (green) in a Duelist (recon)
Fox (green) in a Mercury (recon)

With last battle, Galahad has moved up in rank to Regular, putting him 2 ranks above the rest of the Knights. For their current contract, the Knights are deployed in the NE of a Biochem arena in the middle of a clearing with some small acid ponds to the south. As the Knights move towards the SW searching, Launcelot set course for a mountain that appears to have a good view over the center of the map. Galahad and Gareth make their way to some cover west of Launcelot's position hoping to either ambush the enemy, or force them to turn their backs to at least one of the Energy Weapon wielding ATs.

As Launcelot crests the peak of the mountain, he spots two recons in a clearing the SW, but is too far away to make an ID. They are shortly joined by a third recon and begin to head north towards Launcelot's position. In an effort to make the opponents play a heavy cost for closing the gap between the teams, Launcelot targets the nearest AT (now IDed as a Mercury) and scores a hit with his plasma gun. As the Mercury steps out of sight, Launcelot switches to another AT (now IDed as a Duelist) and scores another long range hit with his plasma. After a few misses, the Mercury starts to put the heat on Launcelot, helped by the final enemy, a Porcupine. Launcelot's best option is to disengage, Galahad & Gareth burst from the brush to cover his escape to safer territory. Galahad finds himself engaging the Porcupine, leaving Gareth to face down the Duelist. The Mercury continues after Launcelot, but has difficulty keep a lock due to the rather heavy cover Launcelot is charging through. Luckily, it appears that Duelist's jock got too big of a whiff of his fumes and jumps himself out of the encounter, allowing Gareth to join Galahad in taking down the Porcupine. Galahad charges the Porcupine, but begins to suffer the worse of the encounter as the Porcupine's SRMs begin chew location after location on Galahad's AT into the red. As the Duelist flies out of sight, Gareth targets the Porcupine and begins landing hits on Porcupine's back. With this cover fire, Galahad retreats, but circles around for another pass.

Meanwhile, Launcelot continues to take fire from the Mercury, finding out the hard way that the Mercury sports a plasma ax. As he loops north, Launcelot forces the Mercury to choose between being flanked and exposing his back to Galahad and Gareth. With several locations red, the Porcupine's jock ejects, and Galahad and Gareth turn to make the Mercury's choice more difficult. As he is in no condition to go head to head with anyone, Galahad baits the Duelist to keep it occupied while Launcelot and Gareth attack the Mercury from both sides. The Mercury's quickly jock ejects after both his head and CBT go red. Everyone targets the Duelist, who bugs out without making an attack! Victory!


Salvage: $ 53,486
Bounty: $ 0
Payment: $ 125,000
Upkeep: $-61,850
Balance: $ 116,636
Repairs: $-44,046
Profit: $ 72,590
Budget: $ 1,055,092 <- Back over the 1 mil mark!

Battle 36: Factory Recall
Polar (26 x 26)
Launcelot (green) in a Stingray (recon)
Galahad (regular) in a Pack Hunter (recon)
Gareth (rookie) in a Quantum (recon)

Vs.

Parsifal (Green) in a Rogue
Gomez (Green) in a Club
Mr. D (Novice) in a Badger


The Knights begin the combat on the west edge of the Polar arena with cover to the north and south, and a depression followed by a clearing to the east. Galahad and Gareth head towards some heavy cover on the NW side of the clearing, as Launcelot chooses a bare mountaintop to the SW. As they settle into position, Launcelot, and later Galahad and Gareth, begin making intermittent contact with 2 - 3 recons in the distance. Launcelot reacquires line of sight on the lead recon, a Rogue at around 12 hexes, and manages to succeed in landing quite a few hits, despite the distance. A Badger enters LoS 2-3 hexes behind the Rogue, and a Club follows 2-3 hexes behind the Badger. When the Rogue is only a few hexes from Galahad and Gareth's position, Gareth opens fire with his cold light gun, and Galahad prepares to charge.

Unfortunately, the Knights misjudge the enemy's intents, and Galahad is forced to turn and engage the Badger as the Rogue manages to run out of the hex before his charge is complete. Launcelot abandons his position as the Rogue is well inside his plasma gun's minimum range and attempts to run through the ensuing melee near Galahad. In a testament to perfect timing, Launcelot dashes into the Rogue’s hex just as the Rogue charges into the hex he was leaving. Gareth switches to firing on the Badger, content to let the Rogue turn and try to chase down Launcelot. As the Badger begins taking serious damage, Galahad and Launcelot target the undamaged Club who is steadily damaging the Knights with his pulse laser a hex away. Galahad succeeds in his charge, but both fall.

At this key juncture, Gareth earns his 2nd kill ... by putting a cold light gun blast through the Badger's engine ... Boom. Everyone takes some damage, but only Galahad is in danger (Head in red, a leg gone, and <30 HP!). Launcelot charges the Club to try to take some off the heat off Galahad, while Gareth targets the Rogue, who is the hex next to the melee. True to form, Gareth clips off one of the Rogue's leg, dropping right on it engine ... Boom. But still, no one is dead yet, both Galahad and Launcelot are disabled, and Gareth is bleeding, but the Club isn't so healthy either. But, he is healthy enough to trim Galahad's head off with a pulse laser blast ... the leadership position on the Knights is dangerous! Gareth stabilizes and begins plinking the Club with is small laser as Launcelot does his best to chip away at the Club from the ground. Eventually, the Club offers a draw, and Launcelot (the acting leader) accepts.

As the third jock killed in the line of duty is buried, Launcelot is advanced in rank to novice and assumes leadership of the Knights. Galahad's Pack Hunter is recovered and repaired, but is retired from combat to serve solely as a training AT for the foreseeable future. In addition, the team takes note to have any black ray gun salvaged on the field checked by a certified and competent technician, as both the Badger and the Rogue seemed to have difficulty employing the weapon and both had their engines detonated on a single hit. It doesn't pay to cut corners when dealing with weapons capable of disintegrating matter.

Salvage: $ 0
Bounty: $ 30,000
Payment: $ 125,000
Upkeep: $-45,167
Balance: $ 109,833
Repairs: $-128,979
Profit: $-19,146
Budget: $ 1,035,946
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Sleeping_Dragon
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Sleeping_Dragon »

DOH! Sorry to hear of Galahad's death[:(] as he was the elder member of your squad.
Power does not corrupt; It merely attracts the corruptable.

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Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

He was more of a victim of his vibra claws than anything. His to-hit % with him was the same against a stationery target in the same hex as it was against one in trying to stand... With the VC's -5% to-hit, and his skill of only 68% or so, he was little more than a damage magnet while the rest of the team beat the enemy down.
Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Lost my notes on these next two battles due to a power failure (damned NStar!) so I'm going to try my best on these from memory.

Battle 37: Cold Light's On, But Noone's Home

Biochem (26 x 26)
Launcelot (Novice) in a Stingray (recon)
Bors (rookie) in a Quantum (recon)
Gareth (rookie) in a Quantum (recon)


Vs.

A Quantum, Banzai, and Tantrum(?)

With the Knights a jock down, Goto Denji, callsign Bors, is hired to pilot the spare Quantum and to join Gareth on the front lines. After some basic training, he looks to be a good choice and the Knights proceed to their next deployment. Once again, the Knights face a crew with stopwatches (i.e. the AI almost always moved on the exact same second, with the exact same course [:@]) that wit spotted at quite a distance but easily closed as only Launcelot was able to inflict any damage. The Banzai overruns Bors and Gareth's position, but they are able to evade long enough to charge and disable the Quantum. They follow this up by targetting the Tantrum(?) but the Banzai demonstrates why it is the Melee King and easily disables Gareth. Bors escapes, and while Launcelot finishes off the Tantrum(?) begins running for his life to away from the Banzai. The Banzai gives chase, carving Bors up like a Thanksgiving Turkey, while Launcelot does his best to chop it down. Eventually, the Banzai catches up (Bors is sportting some gyro and actuator damage) and but a series of rounds into Bors' engine detonating it. The aftermath leaves the Banzai easy pickings for Launcelot's plasma gun, victory, but that's one more jock tallied to the Knight's honor list. Heck, anyone that can face down a Banzai for more than a few seconds deserves a metal, that thing outclasses EVERY other recon in close combat for a while, at least until you hit Veteran level!

Battle 38: Short Retirement
Biochem (26 x 26)
Launcelot (Novice) in a Stingray (recon)
Lamorak (Green) in a Pack Hunter (recon)
Gareth (Rookie) in a Quantum (recon)


Vs.

A Pike, Wombat, and ???

Another jock is hired to pilot ... something, but he fails to be much better than anyone else on the team, so he is left to be the full time mechanic until skills improve. Lamorak breaks the seal on Galahad's ill fated Pack Hunter, determined to prove to the team that he is able to handle combat. All in all, this match was eerily similiar to the prior encounter, with the unnamed enemy AT leading the enemy's pack, and being the first to fall. The Wombat chaged Gareth and Lamorak, but had his AT taken apart in the Melee. Launcelot dueled with the Pike, who called it a day once Lamaorak started making his way over from the fallen Wombat. Victory!

I think Gareth was promoted to Green at this point, though it might have been before the battle...
Burzmali
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RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Battle 39: The Road Less Traveled
Terran (26 x 26)
Launcelot (novice) in a Stingray (recon)
Lamorak (green) in a Pack Hunter (recon)
Gareth (green) in a Quantum (recon)


Vs.
Parsifaal (green) in a Gargoyle
Somebody (green) in a Unicorn

With the experienced gained from his last battle, Lamorak is starting to approach competence in melee battles, too bad hits with vibra claws earn near nothing for DP, even at to-hit rates of ~20% [:(], You'd think it would be higher considering the risks of missing a vibra claw swipe...

The Knights' next mission takes place on a Terran world, where they are deployed in the NW. The terrain is pretty hilling, with a mountainous ridge dominating the center of the map. The Knights set course for the ridge as what they can see of the eastern side is heavily forested, and advantage they can't let the enemy keep. Gareth and Lamorak move to secure the forest while Launcelot moves further south trying to find a gentler slope up the ridge. As Gareth and Lamorak reach the eastern edge of the forest, they spot a Unicorn a few hexes away, and a Gargoyle in the distance. They quick close with the Unicorn to negate its gauss cannon (but with very limited success, the GC hit every time the Unicorn fired it under its minimum distance).

After a minute or two of combat, the Gargoyle has managed to close in and light the hex everyone is brawling in on fire. Gareth and Lamorak change target, and charge the Gargoyle despite their rising temps. Launcelot finally crests the ridge and delivers the knockout shot to the Unicorn (igniting the forest it is lying in in the process). Gareth and Lamorak begin tangling with the relatively undamaged Gargoyle, with Lamorak taking the brunt of the Gargoyle's attacks. Eventually, Lamorak falls, losing a leg, and begins taking damage to his engine. He decides to eject, but is knocked out before the ejection sequence finishes. Meanwhile, a series of good shots by Gareth and Launcelot blow the center torso off the Gargoyle (which luckily did not house the engine) convincing him to eject. Victory! Salvaged the Gargoyle!

Salvage: $ 13,345
Bounty: $ 0
Payment: $ 125,000
Upkeep: $-56,200
Balance: $ 82,145
Repairs: ~$ 120,000 <- had to repair the Gargoyle.
Budget: $ 1,113,458

Battle 40: The Gang's All Here
Biochem (26 x 26)
Launcelot (novice) in a Stingray (recon)
Lamorak (green) in a Pack Hunter (recon)
Gareth (green) in a Quantum (recon)
Aristant (rookie) in a Gargoyle (light)

Vs.

Tempest (green) in a Porcupine (recon)
Asmodeus (green) in a Swift Death (recon)
Heracles (green) in a Sparrowhawk (light)
Alphonse (novice) in a Banzai (recon)

After the disaster of Battle 30, many doubted that the Knights would every return to their former strength. But today, the Knights fielded their largest force to date, consisting of 4 ATs with a combined weight of 190 tons! In addition, Aristant received the honor of piloting the first light (70 ton) AT ever fielded by the Knights, quite a feat, considering he has only 2 battles under his belt!

Record setting aside, the Knights are deployed on the west side of Biochem nightmare, with an acid stream dividing Launcelot and Lamorak from Gareth and Aristant. Fortunately, both Launcelot and Lamorak are able to ford the acid stream at a low point (acid and rock hex) and join up with the rest of the Knights without difficulty. With a mountain over looking most of the map and only a single (visible) acid and rock point available to cross, the Knights wager that they have the range advantage, and set up defensively behind the acid. Sure enough, as the enemy comes into sight (3 recons and a light) the Knights are glad they choose to remain behind the river. Leading the enemy ATs are a Swift Death and a Banzai, a nasty duo in close combat that the Knights really have nothing to counter. Fortunately, the enemy fails to notice the acid and stone hex, and instead, begin preparing to ford the acid stream at a 3-meter deep acid hex. The Swift Death leads the pack, and easily jumps the acid hex. The Knights do everything in their power, but only seem to miss with all the heavy weapons. The situation looks dire, as the Swift Death is about to descend, when a random small laser blast from Gareth clips its jump ports and knocks it out of the sky. Lamorak is on the fallen Swift Death like a rapid dog on raw meat, and scores a cockpit hit, trims off an arm, and twice knocks down the Swift Death before its jock calls it a day and ejects.

Meanwhile, the Banzai and Porcupine have set up on the opposite bank of the acid river and are shelling Lamorak and Aristant. They only have SRMs and machine guns, but the Knights can't allow the damage to go unanswered. So, everyone targets the Banzai, and Lamorak and Aristant begin backing out of range of his machine guns. The Banzai responds by starting to move into the Acid hex, Wrong Move [;)]. The Banzai trips as he enters the acid, and then loses a leg to concentrated fire, two down. Next, the Knights concentrate on the Porcupine. With the enemy's light AT, a Sparrowhawk, now raining pulse laser salvos at whoever is an easy target, the Knights need the Porcupine out of the picture before it can do too much damage. Like the Banzai before it, the Porcupine is easily baited into crossing the acid river, fails mid-stream, and loses a leg, three down.

Finally, the Sparrowhawk reaches the hex next to the acid and begins hammering anyone foolish enough not to be moving. Unlike his friends, the Sparrowhawk is in no rush to dive into the acid while only Launcelot seems capable of hitting him. But, the Knights aren't quite one-trick ponies! Aristant takes to the air and surges across the acid hoping to smash the enemy’s head in from above. As he reaches the Sparrowhawk, he finds that it is trying to evade him and due to his ... err ... complete lack of training using jump equipment, happily smashes his AT into the ground. Fortunately, the rest of the Knights are there to back him up as they knock the Sparrowhawk down to join Aristant with a well-placed cold light blast. Prone and with all four Knights firing on him, the Sparrowhawk has little hope of victory, and ejects after he loses an arm and a torso. Victory!

Salvage: $ 35,033 <- Poor Porcupine nearly boiled away in the Acid, but the Banzai stopped taking damage once its engine was destroyed...
Bounty: $ 14,000
Payment: $ 125,000
Upkeep: $-58,400
Balance: $ 115,633
Repairs: $ 103,046 <- Over half goes to repair the Gargoyle
Profit: $ 12,587 <- Slim pickings, but still positive
Budget: $ 1,126,027
Burzmali
Posts: 312
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:20 pm
Location: Boston

RE: Knights of the Round - Rookie AAR

Post by Burzmali »

Battle 41: Airborne Surprise
Biochem (26 x 26)

Launcelot (novice) in a Stingray (recon)
Lamorak (green) in a Pack Hunter (recon)
Gareth (green) in a Quantum (recon)
Aristant (rookie) in a Gargoyle (light)

Vs.

Nero (green) in a Jackal (recon)
Ankh (green) in a Hammer (recon)
Sheila (green) in a Guruni (light)
The Nun (green) in a Duelist (recon)

Well, the Knights are back to a biochemical cesspit yet again, seems like all the good paying contracts nowadays are in such wrecked environments. The Knights are deployed in the SW of the arena with broken terrain to the north, a river of acid in the distance to the east and what appears to be a caldera in the map's center. A noticeable lack of cover in the vicinity convinces the Knights to go on the offensive for a change. Lamorak, Gareth and Aristant swarm over the caldera's lip heading for a Hammer that is likewise entering the caldera. Launcelot sets up shop on the caldera's edge, and begins his practice of raining plasma gun burst on enemy. The Hammer loses a leg almost immediately, and spends the rest of the battle on his back, normally this would be a problem, but he manages to do a surprising amount of damage with his machine gun. The other AT spotted is a Guruni, Tesla bolts ... fun, who holds out remarkably well against the concentrated fire of all four Knights.

In fact, he holds out long enough for those to dreaded words to be issued, Air Drop! A Duelist and a Jackal drop into the fray, both inside of the caldera. The now heavily damaged Guruni, vibra claw to engine and tesla, manages to make his way to the approaching Duelist. Gareth misses a charge and loses a leg, Aristant lands the charge and drops the Guruni, and Lamorak smacks him on the ground. The Jackal begins approaching the combat, launching some missiles at targets of opportunity, but gets knocked on the head by Launcelot's plasma gun, knocking him unconscious and convincing him to eject after he recovers (he landed on his head and started bleeding as well I believe). The Duelist, watching the battle quickly become a 3 on 1 battle, takes to the air and executes a flawless death from above attack on Lamorak ... killing him instantly... He follows this kill up by putting a chainsaw through Gareth's right(?) torso, destroying his engine (no explosion though) and putting another chainsaw through one of Aristant's legs, grounding him and since repairing the light titan back from "destroyed" status is far too expensive, Aristant ejects.

And POW, in a matter of less than 100 seconds the Duelist has evened the battle to a 1 on 1. Fortunately, Launcelot is both faster than the Duelist, and has better range. Duel chainsaw might be imposing, but they're little help when your opponent can put a pond between you and pop a shot off every time you land in his sights. So, in a stunning reprisal of his tango in about the lava pool a half dozen or so battles ago, Launcelot successfully keeps a pool of acid between himself and the Duelist long enough to land the half dozen or so plasma gun shots it takes to drop it. Victory... Lamorak becomes the fifth Knight to join the Honor Roll, second while piloting the Pack Hunter.

Salvage: $ 70,782
Bounty: $ 14,000
Payment: $ 125,000
Upkeep: $-51,666
Balance: $ 158,116
Repairs: $-150,896
Profit: $ 4,220
Budget: $ 1,133,247

Battle 42: Fog of War
Polar (26 x 26)

Launcelot (novice) in a Stingray (recon)
Gareth (green) in a Quantum (recon)
Aristant (green) in a Gargoyle (light)

Vs.

Scarface (novice) in a Fireball (recon)
Panthera (green) in a Wolfpack (recon)
Kobald (green) in a Viper (light)

Finally, the Knights find a contract that doesn't require combat in an actively hostile environment. The Knights start in the NE of the map, with a river to the south, broken terrain to the west and a small hill over fairly flat center of the map. The Knights immediately set course for the hill as who ever holds the hill will have control of the center of the map. As the hill is on the eastern side of the plain, the Knights easily reach it first and spot a Wolfpack, Fireball, and Viper emerging from a forest on the opposite side of the plain.

The Wolfpack leads the other by several hexes and falls with a missing leg several hexes shy of the hill. The Fireball and Viper are more cautious, but the Fireball still gets several hexes ahead of the Viper. Aristant leads the charge and tears into the Fireball, Gareth stays to the north and moves to flank the enemy. Both the Viper and the Fireball begin gnawing through Aristant's armor, so as a heroic gesture, he decides to avenge Lamorak by executing his only Death from Above attack! Unfortunately, his does not go so well, and he ends up flat on his back and taking fire. Launcelot tries to cover Aristant, but a stray shot sets up a steam cold blocking his line of sight. As his head goes red, he tries to eject, only he misses the handle for the door, and pulls the insta-death lever instead... I'm going to have to make sure that's better labeled next time.

Gareth finally manages to put down the Fireball, but takes heavy damage from the Viper and has to retreat. AI offers draw, but after losing two Knights in two battles, the Knights will never settle for a draw! The Viper turns to face Launcelot, but can't withstand the barrage he is throwing up and the jock ejects. Victory... Lamorak becomes the sixth Knight to join the Honor Roll.

Salvage: $ 70,782
Bounty: $ 14,000
Payment: $ 125,000
Upkeep: $-51,666
Balance: $ 158,116
Repairs: $-110,897
Profit: $ 47,219
Budget: $ 1,175,285
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