BattleTech RogueTech Lance-A-Lot: Episode 122 // FML Part Something //

[@fal1026]

Turrets on this map definitely pulled their weight "do you like ballistics from every conceivable angle?"😆

[@EndlessInfinity1]

21:09 Get wub-wubed. I agree that it's been a meat grinder so far

[@fal1026]

The catapult was definitely the most dangerous thing on the board, but everyone was gunning for the LK's crown.

[@fal1026]

That Catapult is the best in the game, definitely was going to blow something up regardless of what it was looking at, a fine prize.

[@fal1026]

The usual endgame build with this puppy is E/NLRM builds, you can even drop the core size a tad to squeeze more inside, upgrade to Endo/Composite for some structure reinforcement, & pack as much ammo inside as feasibly possible with associated attachments, IDK if there is BC's? But skim the last few episodes of 2023 season that pagan did, he had this mech, & the King Crab version, which would be the next catch to find(Capellan territory).

[@soulstrumlp9517]

Oh I do love me punching Capellans lol

[@MysteyMan-z5o]

Catapults' nice, I think you shouldn't get rid of your other Archer, in fact if you rebuild it with Artemis and lrms I think that you'll hit a nice range bracket with your missile units overall. It hits that mid-to-long range high alpha strike crack open and destroy open Mechs niche

[@nanomage]

Outfitting that Catapult just reinforced my irritation that there isn't a button to save a theoretical build for later.

[@tasoth]

Man the hits just keep coming. I think the cat is worth it just for a simple test run. Those MRM40s are a beast, though you might not have the ammo to run it with an additional 2 MRM20s if possible. 8 missile hardpoints are hard to pass up even at the lower tonnage. As it's made that may be a nice duel mech, 80-120 missiles should over whelm most AMS.

[@keebbles]

Rifleman. 2 UAC 10s and double bin each. 4 clan ER mdm pulses. 1 each arm and torso. 4 extra DHS. Or 2 in engine and 2 in torsos. Add some jump jets for evasion and mobility or better steslth/ecm. The er mdm pulses match well with uac10s. BTW vs Fliers. Go AA mode then target and fire. Took me ages to figure this out with my AA platforms. Made my cloudbusters and Rifleman much better vs vtols and LAMs in early game. But need to switch back to ground combat mode or there's a negative. (From 1.12 patch I think, dunno if changed since, info page not updated when I last checked. )😊

[@soulstrumlp9517]

AA mode in RogueTech ends your turn - it's designed to drive off air strikes when your units are caught in the zone and gives you a fighting chance. There's a formula on the wiki page that explains how the math works out, but in the end it takes the total number of your mechs on the field and divides it, generating your percentage chance for AA to keep the aeorfighters at bay for that turn.

[@eyesoket2364]

On the Catapult build, you will need a heat bank of some sort in your empty specialist slot, your Chameleon LPS adds 15 heat I believe when active and weapons are hotter as well. I dont believe it is in the calculations already but I have been wrong before. LOL

[@juliancate7089]

The mech bay does NOT include the additional heat generation from stealth systems. You need to add whatever the flat heat gain is and then calculate how much your weapons generate and multiply by the additional %, and then add that as well to find out what your actual heat threshold is.

[@soulstrumlp9517]

Aye we ran into that problem with the JAG B where it wouldn't calculate the overall heat from the stealth where we had to field it to get a better understanding of what exactly the heat generated was. We'll run it as is, and then tweak it after the mission to balance out the heat.

[@seere3rd]

"there can be only two!" -Roguetech proverb about your uac 5's *Oof just saw the lk go down :(

[@arkenfrost2914]

The riflemen is my favorite mech, especially with 4 ultras. But the AI always targets it if they get a chance lol

[@coyotehavoc5118]

The Catapult variant you have is a rare machine. The base model has twin LRM 15, and this one should be able to field twin LRM 20. Their is also a variation of the catapult that fielded twin PPC's. Clan gear being lighter and better, you could field a variety of weapons, missiles and energy, possibly AC but it is a rear line mech. That being said, it's a wonderful "you, over there hiding, EFF YOU!" mech with the right load out. The twin MRM cost 24 tons (not including ammo) so, theoretically, you could replace the Jes with it. (EMBRACE THE HATE FOR THE JES, LET IT FLOW THROUGH YOU!) I don't know how many Clan LRM 20 you have in stock, but you could vary out the missiles between what you have. Point being, you didn't have indirect available this round, but now you do. Field it with the Stalker and you have all the indirect. Pop in an Arrow IV and it does 50 damage less than the long tom but far more mobile. Take it with two cents, a grain of salt, or dealers choice.

[@soulstrumlp9517]

Fun fact - in all my years of playing RogueTech I've never actually fielded a Catapult. Usually because by the time I would finally find enough parts for one or be bothered to get the parts for one, it was kinda outdated. This one tho... this one...

[@coyotehavoc5118]

@soulstrumlp9517 I don't remember when I started playing Battletech, mid 80's I suppose, but it was my Uncle Martin who introduced me to it. In his collection of figures he had catapults and even though we were playing succession wars loadouts, I loved the twin LRM 15's and laser configuration. I have two of them myself, part of my artillery compliment and equipped with Arrow IV. Over the years it became more difficult to find people who knew what Battletech even was and most who did played Mechwarrior. I wish I had known that the game existed years ago, but at that time I was trying to escape California, working stupid hours and barely making ends meet, and dealing with the c-vid lockdowns. I'm in a much better position now, owning my own house in Wyoming, controlling debt issues, and on the cusp of starting Red Desert Foods. When I get the game I'm going to let that 80's kid come back out and enjoy the game all over again.

[@keebbles]

Catapult with CEI LRMs or IS LRMs. You want all the utility ammo you can carry. And AMS galore! 15s are sweet spot. Fewer criticals, more shots per ton ammo. 4 x 15s fascam*, swarm, incindiary, emp, acid*, tandem* and regular. 3 tons reg. 1 ton of each of the others. (* top choices) Pws gives you mobility, cause this version is SLAF to max chameleon usage. And some lasers for low ammo or df fire under minimum. (Though half ton of DF would be nice too.) This special Catapult runs short on crits. So going for Max Lrm 20s might be contraindicated. At first, I thought those mrm40s were mms 40s cause it looked like fire and forget mode. Imagine x mms 30s in FnF mode with tandems or infernos. Tanks and elementals would evaporate. Most mechs would cook off or shutdown with 120 heat plus added. Had a commando at start, a pirate special. Internals alone worth more than all the vehicles and mechs I had at start. But I had a jazz w/ 2 mms 10 and 2 20s. Changed that to mmls cause weight and heat fit. Dropped melee stuff from Commando. Put in mms's added composite from another mech. Total only mms 40 ( 2 10s 1 20) and 1 ton tandem, 1 ton inferno 1 ton acid. Plus 2 er smalls. It was still geared to melee, just no weapon or punch bonuses. Legs reinforced too. Tsm, . so nasty once hot. Kick. And blast in fnf mode. If I could have had a mobile Catapult early on, I'd have transferred all the gear over. Minus pirate engine. It ran hot (for TSM probably. )

[@coyotehavoc5118]

@keebbles 15's are great, I just assumed Soul would prefer LRM 20's. Personally I prefer Arrow IV, Catapults are wonderful as Artillery.

[@keebbles]

@coyotehavoc5118 I don't like the nerfs to artillery from the last patch. But if mech or vehicles are fast and mobile enough for Direct Fire. They're awesome. Especially for destabilizing targets. I triple thumpered a blackout cluster when it landed. All lost evasion. My mechs legged 3 and killed 2 outright that first round. They followed script, trying to kill turrets. Which let me kick their legs. Unfortunately, my mission issuer decided they hated me enough to send a kill team. Lost half my mechs and vehicles to one shots almost across board. I had 5/23 on loot. 2 of 5 losses not recovered at end. BOHICA indeed.

[@coyotehavoc5118]

You did everything you could. It was a meat grinder from the beginning. It might be time to upgrade to a heavier AC carrier.

[@soulstrumlp9517]

I mean a Rifelman III would be sick lol

[@coyotehavoc5118]

@@soulstrumlp9517 Rifleman III would be your best bet for a replacement if you have one on hand. You could bandaid with the Banshee as an AC/Gauss platform? I'm in the middle of your latest video, still up against the first set of enemies if there are two, and nothing really speaks to me that you're fighting except, maybe, the Vulture and the PPC Catapult. A Devastator would be nice, but it'll be a royal B to get your hands on. A Wakazashi on the other hand...

[@sethmorris9242]

There is a 80 ton and a 90 ton legend killer If you can find one, only locals and pirates though.

[@Vulture-1066]

Some nasty turns there, hope your pilots are not in a union

[@soulstrumlp9517]

The only thing they have to worry about getting 30-50k a month is space taxes lol

[@keebbles]

Rifleman. Add turret to side torso? Worth it to shave off .87 tons armor. Accuracy bonus definitely worth it.

[@soulstrumlp9517]

We'll keep an eye out for one

[@EndlessInfinity1]

The missile question boils down to: 2xmrm40 = incendiary ammo and 72 heat 4xlrm20(c)+artemis = indirect fire, evasion ignore and 80 heat. The Lps adds weapon heat so +mrm. You have only 3/5 move so you only have ewar and range for defence which lends to the lrms. I dunno boss - maybe try'em both. Run dual nlrm20 and deadfire if you ever find them?

[@soulstrumlp9517]

This is what I love about BattleTech - ultimately at the end of the day, stats on paper is theoretical. The only way to really know how a system works is by fielding it. The thing I hate about BattleTech is trying to find the parts to field test it lol

[@phillipmetcalf9404]

2 1/2 red skull team with two noobs( basically) against a 1/2 magenta skull = meatball with a side salad of bitter sauce.

[@shawnp6653]

That was brutal - if it weren't for bad luck, you'ld have no luck at all. Wish I knew more so I could appreciate the cost & effort. Any suggestions on stuff I could read or additional videos to help get a jump on some of the basuis?

[@soulstrumlp9517]

Actually there's a rather large base you could hit up for additional information if you'd like - I myself follow the Black Pants Legion or TexTalks BattleTech, which is great for additional information and general Capellan hate :p Pagan Horde is also a good channel to hit up as he was quite informative. Unfortunately he did pass a month or so ago so there won't be much updates coming in from there. Baradul and HBF are a few other channels I follow as they're experienced players and do enjoy talking tech. Outside of that, there's the RogueTech wiki which I've linked in the video bio description.

[@shawnp6653]

@@soulstrumlp9517 This is great! I have stumbled across 1 or 2 of those, but didn't know if they would be helpful. Going to start building my book mark(s). I owe you a lunch ;)

[@keebbles]

Pagan's passing caught a lot of folks by surprise.

[@hellzkatt589]

Also I really wish that stealth was equally effective as the AI. Playing end game with kill teams, their stealth is insane. I match their units and it get destroyed. I've pretty much given up on stealth against the current difficulty, just try to build in damage reduction.

[@juliancate7089]

I've had similar experiences. Signature stealth doesn't seem to do anything. I get hit as often with it as I do without it. Mimetic stealth is supposed to be the best, but you have to sacrifice your mobility to keep the negative to-hit bonus. AI stealth is great though. I have to get in their grill to get decent probabilities.

[@fal1026]

You went back to quad UAC/5 on LK which isn't a bad setup, it's precision is amazing, but I still see you have limited space for enough ammo, I wonder if there's caseless bins, that or drop 1 UAC for a lazer? The only point of having lazers was just to address the ammo consumption.

[@fal1026]

Well considering the conclusion of this blackout you can still run 2/2 setup, you have a half bin of UAC/5 that I don't think you saw for a total of 30 rounds, & just add the insulators back to manage the heat for the L pulses.

[@juliancate7089]

I hate to pile on and no one wants an armchair quarterback telling them how they should've done it, but I am going to offer some advice from my own ass whippings. When I have a mech that is heavily damaged and it's a mech I cannot lose, I take it out of the fight. I run, I hide, I get behind or in cover. That has saved me several times. In this case, you didn't need the RFL to win that match. You DID take it out of the fight and got behind cover and then you ran out in the open again. If you can't lose it, don't risk it. The other advice I have is to activate your 55-ton LAM. LAMs are generally more durable than VTOLs and generally more heavily armed. You know I prefer LAMs to VTOLs, but that is by experience. Hover tanks might also be an option for some airpower.

[@soulstrumlp9517]

It's good advice, it really is. I'm playing a little more liberal with the heavily damaged mechs because I've disabled the chance of losing a mech that fell on the field even when you win. It was something that really bugged me - if I win the fight, who's carting off my mech?

[@juliancate7089]

@@soulstrumlp9517 Yep, I'm playing with the same rule. It makes sense. So, when I say "lose", I mean "wrecked". Poor choice of words on my part, but as broke as my company has been at times, wrecked might as well be lost.

[@fal1026]

The AI is starting to play for keeps now, & it's not even like their equipment is superior to yours, I think it's just the BS stats, & affinities now that's punishing you, which means you're going to have to crank up the training.

[@soulstrumlp9517]

Unfortunately we're capped at 10's, we'll need to find some sweet gear and get our own affinities back up with the new rides. That or outfit a JAG with the RAC 20 and resurrect the meme machine

[@fal1026]

@@soulstrumlp9517 make them a matching pair in that regard by giving each a UAC/20 in their current setups, kinda like a Team Rocket "prepare for trouble, make it double!"

[@hellzkatt589]

Sorry but trying to use a Rifleman for more end game type stuff is futile. They are too squishy and too high on the priority list for AI to kill. Having to use armor kits and stacking damage reduction is not worth the mental anguish.

[@soulstrumlp9517]

You're not wrong - the LK is certainly a favorite target for the AI. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on an LK2 or Rifleman III C for replacement but we'll have to see what comes up