AStott's Raiders (Titans of Steel: WS dynasty)
 

I will be starting up a new dynasty using Titans of Steel: Warring Suns. This is a mech-type game, similar to BattleTech. For those of you who might be interested, their prior (free) version is available here.

This will be something of an interactive campaign after the style of Godzilla Blitz's X-COM dynasty. In special recognition of the hours of entertainment his dynasty has provided me, I am giving him an initial honorary command of the team. Everybody else who is interested will need to sign up by just expressing their interest. I'll work you in just as soon as another recruit is needed. Initially I'll need two volunteers to fill out the team. We'll go from there.

Just as soon as I get two people, I'll get started on posting the events as they occur.

Cool. I just heard about this game from Calis' post over in the General Discussion forum. Very interested to read about how the game plays.

And an hororary command. Wow! I'm honored. Charge! Forward! Onward!

How do you drive these things? Where's reverse? Is this thing here an ashtray? Hey, is this a non-smoking mech? I distinctly ordered a non-smoking mech.

Good luck! I'll be reading!

I love this game! I would love to lead a troop. Doubt I'll live long, but you never know. :)

Get me in ASAP if you can :)

There's no problem that a heavy armed and armored Mech filled with blow em up guns can't solve

Sign me up.

Im in!

Count me in.

I'm in:D

Wow, I leave for an evening and look... Wasn't expecting that quick a response from you guys. Very well, we'll see if I can put the team together and put the first battle up when I get home from work tonight.

sachmo71 and SirFozzie, you are both in. Everyone else will have to wait until I can afford to expand or until... uh... someone dies. (Yeah right, what are the odds of that. I'm good at this game, right? Right?) *ahem*

Yay, I'm first on the replace-the-corpse list!!!

Hmm... it occurs to me that gender actually matters for pilots in this game. If you care, let me know your gender. Otherwise I'll just assume male. You can also specify a race if you'd like (other than Godzilla Blitz, sachmo71, and SirFozzie. You guys are already locked in. Sorry.

Race options are:
Human: +1 Charisma, +1 Instinct
Replicant D: +2 Dexterity, radiation susceptible
Replicant I: +2 Intelligence, radiation susceptible
Cyborg: +1 Constitution, -1 Charisma, less vulnerable
Android: +1 Reaction, +1 Neural Sense, self-healing, radiation resistant

Human male is fine for me since they don't have god as a race choice.

I wanna be on the list

Let me first give you all a few background details. I will be showing a pretty complete set of stats and attributes for every one of our jocks (ToS term for the pilots). Some of these might require a little explanation.

Experience: This shows how far the jock has progressed towards the next rank. Experience is gained after each battle, based off the skill checks that the jock made. These experience points are then spent to improve the attributes and skills.
Upkeep: This is the upkeep price per month. I think it is assumed that there is a month between each battle.
Battles: This shows total number of battles in which the jock has participated, and their win/loss ratio.
Awards: This isn't actually part of the game, I threw it in myself. You'll see.
Attributes: Each attribute has a number of effects on the game, but in particular, each Skill has a maximum level that is dependant on two of the attributes. If a skill is maxed, you have to raise the attributes in order to improve.
Skills: Only skills that have been improved, or have a natural value over 20 will be shown in my reports. The piloting skills determine how well the jock handles difficult maneuvers in titans of the specified weight classes. Of particular note are the Leadership, Business, and Damage Control skills. The jock with the highest skill level in each of these three categories becomes the team's Leader, Manager, and Mechanic (respectively). They use these skills to provide bonuses for recruiting new jocks, reduce the cost of buying new titans, and reduce the cost of repairing titans (respectively).

Information on the titans piloted by our jocks will only be displayed when a new type of titan is purchased. I first give an overview of the titan, hitting most of the unusual features about the titan. What follows that is a ratings summary. This rates a number of categories on a scale of 0 to 18. These are relative ratings, and indicate how good the titan is within its class. Most of these should be pretty self-explanatory.

Well, I think that's it. Feel free to ask if you have any questions, and I'll try to get you an answer.

***

AStott, having a bit of free cash, and an interest in titan dueling decides to sponsor a new team, which he creatively calls AStott's Raiders. He contacts Master Suthira, a well known trainer, who recommends Godzilla Blitz as a promising warrior and leader. AStott approves, and handles the necessary paperwork to start up the team. He gives Godzilla Blitz a $500,000 budget to work with, an amount which should be sufficient to start him and the team on their way to fame and glory.

Within a fairly short period of time, Godzilla Blitz has recruited a business manager and a mechanic for the team, and a set of three recon class titans are purchases. AStott takes a look at the summary of the new team, interested to see how things play out.

***

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 0 of 3200
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $3,450
Battles: 0 (0W/0L)
Hit Ratio: -
Kills: 0
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 10
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 12
Instinct: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 53
Jump: 45
Scouting: 42
Close Combat: 53
Guided Missile: 36 (default)
Cannon: 44
Energy Weapon: 56
Scanner: 47
Leadership: 63
Survival: 22 (default)

Godzilla Blitz is piloting a Dragonfly. It has a base cost of $86,034, and a maintenance cost of $2,607. It has a walking speed of 70 kph. It features a Large Laser in the right arm and a Small Laser in the left arm. It carries an FL Small (class 1) flare launcher, which is useful for avoiding heat guided missiles. It carries a rather nice CyberSys L (class 3) scanner, and a Triton TC (class 4) battle computer. These should give it a nice advantage in acquiring, scanning, and firing at targets. It also features a set of jump jets, which can send it through the air at 80 kph for 93 seconds. The Dragonfly has the following ratings:
Firepower: 11
Close Range: 14
Short Range: 9
Medium Range: 18
Long Range: 0
Speed: 15
Jump: 12
Armor: 18
Defense: 7
Recon: 12
Heat Management: 12
Power Managerment: 12
Overall Rating: 15
Classification: Medium Range Recon Titan

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 0 of 4000
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $2,250
Battles: 0 (0W/0L)
Hit Ratio: -
Kills: 0
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 10
Instinct: 9
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 56
Scouting: 37
Close Combat: 46
Cannon: 25 (default)
Energy Weapon: 53
Electronic Warfare: 6
Scanner: 40
Business: 60
Survival: 43 (default)

sachmo71 is piloting a Quantum b. It has a base cost of $84,776, and a maintenance cost of $2,568. It has a walking speed of 80 kph. It features a Cold Light Gun mounted in the center torso, and a Small Laser in the right arm. Of particular note, it carries a Triton TC (class 4) battle computer. This should be a good help in hitting targets. The Quantum b has the following ratings:
Firepower: 7
Close Range: 17
Short Range: 11
Medium Range: 0
Long Range: 0
Speed: 17
Jump: 0
Armor: 17
Defense: 2
Recon: 5
Heat Management: 18
Power Managerment: 14
Overall Rating: 9
Classification: Short Range Recon Titan

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 0 of 4000
Hit Points: 90
Upkeep: $3,450
Battles: 0 (0W/0L)
Hit Ratio: -
Kills: 0
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 10
Instinct: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 53
Assault Piloting: 22 (default)
Jump: 32 (default)
Scouting: 47
Close Combat: 44
Cannon: 51
Energy Weapon: 30 (default)
Electronic Warfare: 8
Scanner: 41
Damage Control: 61
Survival: 36 (default)

SirFozzie is piloting a Fang. It has a base cost of $70,246, and a maintenance cost of $2,128. It has a walking speed of 80 kph. It features a pair of Class 7 Auto Cannons, one mounted on each side of the torso. Of particular note, it carries a Triton TC (class 4) battle computer. This should be a good help in hitting targets. The Fang has the following ratings:
Firepower: 11
Close Range: 11
Short Range: 10
Medium Range: 18
Long Range: 0
Speed: 17
Jump: 0
Armor: 18
Defense: 2
Recon: 5
Heat Management: 14
Power Managerment: 18
Overall Rating: 9
Classification: Medium Range Recon Titan

***

Team Stats:
Battles: 0 (0W/0L)
Leader: Godzilla Blitz
Manager: sachmo71
Mechanic: SirFozzie
Budget: $159,840
Upkeep: $16,453 / month
Jocks: 3 of 7
Titans: 3 of 10

Hey, guys... Let me know if the color is readable for you guys. It looks just fine on my theme/color settings, but if you guys can't read it, I'll just ditch it.

First battle, coming up...

AStott passes the following transmission on to Godzilla Blitz...

***

AStott's Raiders

You have been recommended for a mission.

I represent the Scarlett Mining Cooperative. Let me outline the current situation.

We have a mine where all of the ore collectors have gone haywire. Their android pilots are not responding to remote control. They have stopped mining and are now completely useless. We would like you to go in and disable them so we can send in a repair crew.

The do have a small cutting laser so they are slightly dangerous if they resist. We'll understand if any are destroyed. We just need that mine to become productive again. Thanks in advance.

Mike Sagmondo
Security
Scarlett Mining Cooperative.

***

Looks like a nice, fairly easy introduction to things. Shouldn't be too difficult. The weather appears to be cool, which should help keep the titans' temperatures down. Godzilla Blitz passes the information on to the others, and preparations begin for the mission.

Here we go!

Just call us the Android Termination Squad :)

How cool is this: we can walk at 70kph!

That must be fast, huh? In miles per hour, that would be, um...

...that's like, let's see, 1 kilometer is, um, well, I've run a 10k race in about 40 minutes, and I can run about half the speed I can bike at, which is like 20 mph, so half of 20 is 10, but that's for an hour, which means I have to divide by 40. 1 divided by 40 is, huh? You can't divide 1 by 40. Humm. Maybe I have to add them. 40 plus 1 is 41 miles. Sure, that works. Cool, now I know how far it is, but I have to figure out the speed part. Um, well, I want to know how fast it is in one hour, so I imagine we just add 1 to that, but the game must be happening on the east coast, which is one hour ahead of central time, so 1 plus 1 is 2, which I add to the 41 to get, let's see, um, 43 miles per hour.

We can walk at about 43 mph! Whoa! Just wait till we run!

Let's get 'em! Sachmo, SirFozzie, you guys go first. I'll be right behind you!

Do we have blaster launchers, by the way?

By the way, the colors look fine on my screen.

Oh, this is what I get for not checking the Dynasty Section more often!

Been playing this game all night, glad to see someone doing a Dynasty about it! Loving it so far.

Throw me on the list as a Replicant I when ya get a chance! Maybe you can have better luck with me than I'm having with myself. :)

Very anxious to hear more! I think this game lends itself perfectly to a good dynasty.

Is this game available via download, or via CD-Rom only? I don't want to wait to play it :)

I'll be an Android, I think.

Calis, I agree this game is nicely set up for a dynasty. I can't say that I'm that much of an expert at the game, but I have found (because of a prior experiment) that doing a writeup and having pilots that I feel obligated to keep alive really does help me play better. I end up stopping more often and actually thinking about tactics, instead of just playing.

SirFozzie, I purchased my copy at CompUSA. Might be worth checking some computer stores in your area, because it looks like they don't offer a download purchase.

Sorry I didn't get a battle posted last night. I really meant to. Unfortunately, events conspired to prevent me from having much computer time. Better luck tonight.

It's available at gogamer for I think $25.

I'd like to sign up, but I don't want to be on GB's team....I've seen his "leadership abilities" in the X-Com thread and would prefer to at least make it to the mission site. :D

Great idea for a dynasty, Astott! I've been tinkering around with the game since release and have been sketching out some fan-fiction ideas in the manner of some of the old FASA Battletech stories. I'll be following this one closely. :)


Oh, for those of you who haven't had a chance to grab a copy yet, and can't get the Freeware version to work on your computer (was unstable as hell for me once I went to XP. :( ) you might want to do a google search for "Mektek", a similar open source game. Main difference being Mektek is based strictly on the old Battletech rules. I believe theres also an opensource server program available where you can setup a semi-persistent universe/campaign setting with an economy,etc.

Anyways, enough of a threadjack.. If you get to the point of needing another jock, Eilim Cu'Firinne, human mech-pilot formerly of the "Tuatha de Danann" Merc. regiment is at your disposal. :)


-Eilim

I want in! Human Male. I don't want these hounds after me hooch.

Actually, that's MegaMek :) www.megamek.com

Hey, I heard that! I'll have you know that a full 14 of the first 50 agents called up in the X-COM dynasty are still alive. How can you even question such leadership? :)

lol, Too many mech games for me to keep track of. Can't see how I confused it with an old MW4 mod site. :/

*pokes AStott*

I expect a battle report tonight, I want to see how others play the game as I'm still learning my way around the titan/armament specs and feeling too much a newbie to venture into the campaigns. :)

"Testing. Testing..."

"Hi Godzilla Blitz. Mike Sagmodo here. I'm on the P.A. system of the mines so you should be hearing me. I'll be watching through the security cameras and giving you advice during your mission. Your first task will be to take out Ore collector #8. It's in that alcove to the north. Just beyond the cover. You can disable the rest of the ore collectors in the entire mine if you make it to the mechanic factories."

"Mike out."

***

We take a quick look around, but there's not much too see. Just the dark walls of the mine. I guess we head forward and stay sharp. We'll set up a circle of linked scanners to enable more rapid targeting by everyone as we move around corners.

0:22 - The team has just about reached the first corner, when Mike comes back on the P.A. "There's the first ore collector to the north. You might have to move up past this cover to attack it. Go ahead and disable it. They have been known to explode, so keep your distance when their Center Torso is severly damaged. That is where their engine is located. They also have small cutting lasers and may charge, punch or even kick. There's the radio uplink as well. Enter the building to get a scan of the mine for your tactical display. Mike out." Sounds good, although we can't yet spot the collector he's talking about. We'll have to move in a little closer.

0:31 - Ah ha! sachmo71 comes far enough around the corner that he manages to spot the Ore Collector. It's a ways back into a room that's just around the corner. Everyone will try to lock on and obtain some kind of reasonable scan before we head in.

0:55 - Unfortunately, our wonderful plan is foiled, as the cover breaks up the sensor links between our titans, causing most of us to lose sight of the enemy. Looks like we'll have to go ahead and move into the room. Fortunately, SirFozzie maintains sight of the enemy and continues scanning.

1:21 - SirFozzie completes his scan, but unfortunately, it's only a red level scan. That means that very little information is given, and what's there is pretty inaccurate. Fortunately, it appears that the Ore Collector hasn't spotted us, and is remaining stationary for now. Good enough. That'll give everyone a chance to get some good scans. That'll help accuracy.

1:47 - Godzilla Blitz finishes his scan, getting a yellow level scan. That's decent. Mostly it just confirms the existance of a single small energy weapon in the center torso, and the fact that most armor values are quite low. Perhaps it's time to start firing.

2:01 - Godzilla Blitz starts things off with shots from his large and small lasers. Unfortunately, only the second hits, but that's enough to get the thing running in our direction. Unfortunately, it's awfully fast, which will make it difficult to hit.

2:16 - His weapons having recharged, Godzilla Blitz fires again, this time hitting with the large laser in the left torso. It's not clear yet who the Ore Collector has decided to focus on. My current guess is sachmo71.

2:28 - We've moved into a semi-circular arc surrounding him. It appears that we were correct in our guess as to its target, although it hasn't fired yet. We'll take everyone into close range, and let sachmo71 run on by, forcing it to waste time switching targets.

2:29 - sachmo71 moves into close range and fires his cold light gun. The blast rips off the Ore Collector's left leg, sending it crashing to the ground. Well now... I guess we'll see if we can take some aimed shots and disable it. Unfortunately, SirFozzie hasn't yet achieved a successful scan, so he can't make any called shots. Guess he'll keep trying for a scan while he heads for the radio uplink.

2:54 - sachmo71 misses a shot at the head, but manages to hit and disable the Ore Collector's lower torso. eh... kinda close.

2:55 - Moments later, a shot from Godzilla Blitz rips off the enemy's head. That should do it. Time to move on. sachmo71 and Godzilla Blitz will stop by the radio uplink building to pick up copies of the map. Then we'll all head to the next open area.

Battlefield Map

4:03 - Interesting, looks like the next cavern contains an armor bay. That can be used to repair armor. Could be useful if we encounter stiff resistance.

4:11 - SirFozzie begins to enter the second cavern, and spots another Ore Collector. He begins locking on. While Mike comes back to comment about the armor bay and to direct our attention to the new target.

4:26 - The Ore Collector starts turning our direction. Looks like it's spotted us. We'll keep moving while we continue scanning.

4:55 - On second thought, looks like it's not agressive yet, so we'll just hold here for some scanning.

5:51 - After a bit of scanning, Godzilla Blitz once again starts things up. Unfortunately, he gives a rather poor showing, missing with both his lasers.

5:52 - sachmo71's luck is little better, only hitting with his small laser. SirFozzie also hits with one weapon, but his one weapon does over twice as much damage with a single hit. That's more like it.

6:15 - For some reason, Godzilla Blitz and sachmo71's can't seem to hit the broad side of a barn. But SirFozzie on the other hand... His weapons take a little longer to reload, but once they do, he hits the moving Ore Collector with both cannons, tearing off it's right leg. Conveniently enough, when it falls, it disables its left torso. Ahh... Time to move in for some aimed shots.

6:35 - sachmo71's close range aimed shot at the head misses, disabling the Ore Collector's back center torso. That'll work too.

6:49 - A well placed shot from Godzilla Blitz's large laser rips of the Ore Collector's head. Excellent. That's two down, and we still haven't taken any damage...

7:41 - As we continue forward, Mike warns us of another collector around the next corner. Shouldn't be a problem. They haven't been much of a challenge yet.

7:55 - There he is. Just a bit to our north. Get him!

8:03 - Looks like he's already spotted us and begun moving our direction. There's won't be much time for scans this time. We'll try to avoid him until we can at least try to pick up a scan.

9:15 - Unfortunately, everyone fails their scans. Must be the heavy metals in the mine. Yeah... that's it. Nevermind. We'll just head right in.

9:27 - sachmo71 moves into close range and fires his cold light gun, conveniently disabling the right torso of the Ore Collector and knocking it to the ground.

9:32 - SirFozzie also moves into close range, and uses his auto cannons to take off the enemy's left leg. That'll keep him down. Time to pick up some scans now.

9:43 - Well, so much for that. The Ore Collector shuts down before we have a chance to scan and disable it. Too bad. Those count as official kills if we can take off the head or disable the center torso. Oh well. Moving on.

10:58 - Ack! Just about the time I started feeling like things were getting slow, a number of the nearby wall crumble, and pools of acid start leaking out across the floor. Mike comes back on. "It looks like those stupid ore collectors have damaged the integrity of the mine. The walls seem to be caving in. I would suggest that you avoid the acid. It is known to damage Titan-AT armor." Umm... ok, that's it. No more playing with these guys. We're just going to head for the factory and shut them down. If we can take some out in passing, good enough, but we won't stop for them.

11:34 - We enter the next room and spot another Ore Collector and an ammo bay (which can be used to stock up our ammo supplies). I'm not sure it's worth stopping for the time it'll take to reload.

12:24 - sachmo71 connects with a nice shot back over his shoulder as he passes by, and disables the Ore Collector's right torso. SirFozzie also connects with both cannons, taking out the left arm, and knocking the enemy to the ground.

12:38 - The Ore Collector shuts down. Nice. Didn't even have to stop.

12:54 - Shoot. There are rumblings throughout the mine again, and more walls collapse. Mike comes back on the P.A. "It looks like those stupid ore collectors have damaged the integrity of the mine here as well. The faster we take them out the happier I will be. I really do appreciate this help. We do have a few more collectors to disable." One of the collapsing walls reveals another Ore Collector to the southwest. Targeting...

13:43 - sachmo71 gets a hit in passing the new enemy, and disables the left torso, knocking the Ore Collector to the ground.

13:48 - Taking advantage of the easier to hit, prone enemy, Godzilla Blitz lets loose with his weapons, tearing off the right leg. That should be enough to cause a shutdown here pretty soon.

13:55 - Sure enough. There it goes. Continuing on.

In the next chamber we spot another Ore Collector. Godzilla Blitz gets a hit in with his large laser, discovering that it's protected by a shield. But we quickly leave the enemy behind on push on towards the last room.

15:29 - As we begin to enter the next room, Mike comes back on with a warning. "Great job so far. But we have a little more to do. There are two ore collectors next to each other and both are active. This will be a little tougher than the last few fights. I suggest you disable one at a time. Concentrating your firepower is always a good idea. No problem.

15:59 - We enter the last room, and spot the first of the two enemies. We stop for a moment to pick up scans.

16:59 - As the Ore Collector approaches, sachmo71 connects with his cold light gun and rips the leg off the enemy. It goes to the ground hard. We'll keep firing and hope for a kill, since there is not sign yet of the other one. It's probably further around the corner.

17:14 - Everyone continues to pound on the fallen enemy, but it's sachmo71 that gets in the last shot that disables the center torso. We move into the room, quickly spotting the other enemy.

18:43 - After jockying around and trying (unsuccessfully) to acquire scans, sachmo71 and SirFozzie move into close combat with the last Ore Collector. Godzilla Blitz is still lagging a little behind.

18:45 - There we go! sachmo71 lands a shot, disabling the Ore Collector's lower torso. That should shut it down.

19:05 - It doesn't seem to be shutting down yet. Rather than risk a dangerous explosion, everyone starts trying to acquire scans so that we can do some called shots.

19:56 - Having acquired a decent scan, SirFozzie begins shooting for the head. A near miss disables the right torso.

20:00 - That's it, that enemy shuts down. sachmo71 heads for the factory to shut everything down.

20:43 - Mike comes on as sachmo71 shuts things down. "The mining camp down here for the mechanics still looks ok. You can disable the entire mining operation here. We'll take over from here. Mission accomplished. Thanks."

***

Salvage: $73,027
Bounty: $36,000
Payment: $125,000
Upkeep: -$17,551
New Total: $376,316

Godzilla Blitz - Status: Alive - Health: 117/117 - Kills: 2 - Hits: 36% - Titan: Ready
sachmo71 - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 1 - Hits: 30% - Titan: Ready
SirFozzie - Status: Alive - Health: 90/90 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 46% - Titan: Ready

Mike follows up with us a little later after things calm down. "Great work. You've really helped us out here. We won't forget it. Get some rest at the HQ and make some repairs if you need them. When you're ready we'll tackle the second phase."

It gives me a nice warm glowy feeling to report that there are no repairs necessary.

***

Roster Summary:

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 1703 of 3200 (+1703)
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $4,002 (+552)
Battles: 1 (1W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 36%
Kills: 2 (+2)
Awards: Most kills in one battle (2)

Attributes:
Intelligence: 10
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 12
Instinct: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 53
Jump: 45
Scouting: 42
Close Combat: 53
Guided Missile: 36
Cannon: 49 (+5)
Energy Weapon: 56
Electronic Warfare: 33 (+27)
Scanner: 50 (+3)
Leadership: 63
Survival: 22

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 1272 of 4000(+1272)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $2,520(+270)
Battles: 1 (1W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 30%
Kills: 1
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 10
Instinct: 9
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 56
Scouting: 37
Close Combat: 46
Cannon: 30 (+5)
Energy Weapon: 53
Electronic Warfare: 6
Scanner: 48 (+8)
Business: 60
Survival: 43

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 1013 of 4000 (+1013)
Hit Points: 90
Upkeep: $3,726 (+276)
Battles: 1 (1W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 46%
Kills: 0
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 10
Instinct: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 53
Assault Piloting: 22
Jump: 32
Scouting: 47
Close Combat: 46 (+2)
Cannon: 51
Energy Weapon: 30
Electronic Warfare: 8
Scanner: 46 (+5)
Damage Control: 61
Survival: 36

Oops, forgot to post the map of the battlefield after I hit the radio building. Here ya go!

Well, a pretty easy first mission. Not that that's all bad. This one wasn't worth much experience, but it did give us some rather huge amounts of cash. That should be extremely useful. This campaign was supposed to be midway in difficulty between the tutorial and the first real campaign. I just figured we'd ease in slow and pick up some experience.

Woo!

Can of corn! We don't even need new paint, forget about major repairs! Boo yaa! And just to think, Bee didn't want to be part of this group. Silly man, silly man. We're destined for Glory, that's Glory with a capital "G", I tell you! We sure can rip up those fierce, heavily armed, um, mining robot thingies. What's next boss, ATMs? Let us at 'em!

Hey, can we get little stickers to put on our helmets? Or am I thinking of a different game?

But what's up with the flimsy lasers? I think those water squirt guns they sell at Target would do more damage. Can we switch to those?

Great job, AStott. Gotta get me this game.

Great read AStott! Excellent job also! I just DL'ed this campaign from the site, haven't had a chance to try it yet.

Good read, and I'm hoping to pick up some pointers from reading these, as I'm a pretty slow learner when it comes to these games. :)

One noob question: When you're doing the scans, are you just activating the scan or are you doing an actual active scan on the target? Might be a dumb question, as I'm not looking at the game now, but I THINK I keep just activating scanners, because the active scan usually takes a long ass time, is it best to just wait it out and do active?

Looking forward to hearing more! And awaiting my shot to break into the Raiders team! ;)

Good job AStott! Anyone who can keep GB's team alive deserves major props! :D

Godzilla Blitz: The cold light gun and large laser actually both do some pretty significant damage. When they hit, it was significant, but they also have a fairly long recharge time. The small laser do a pretty small amount of damage (and their range is low), but their rate of fire is pretty darn high. But, if you like squirt guns, there are titans with flamethrowers... :D ...evil, evil weapons.

Calis: This campaign is suggested as a nice easy starting point. I didn't find it a little slow and very long, but it looks pretty good for someone new (which was the intent). When I mention scans, I'm actually doing a real scan. If you get a yellow or green scan, it ups your hit percentage 4% and 8% (respectively). Plus, you can't do aimed shots unless you've acquired at least a yellow scan. It does take an awfully long time, but I think it's worth it. A high scanner skill helps. Oh yeah, plus getting successful scans gives you experience points...

Bee: Thanks! Actually, the real test will come probably two missions from now when we start the first "real" campaign.

I'm definitely thinking about adding another member to the team, since we made so much money on the last mission... We'll see.

maybe 2...come on...you know you want me on your team!

Blade6119: Tell you what, I'll kill someone off to make some room. Let's see now... :D

Can this be a little mini-dyansty?...who asott "acidentally" kills and how?

Oooo... I could set up a poll...

lol...i can just picture godzilla's face when he reads this!

Why is the upkeep on GB so much more than the other team members? Does he eat a lot? Maybe we should start calling him the Colossal Godzilla Blitz?

Blade6119: Well, that's only fair. I tend to get looks on my face when I read his posts...

Bee: You mean the $43,002? Um... err. Because he's a gigantic mutated monster who didn't get enough to eat after he leveled Tokyo? Well... Ok, let me go fix that. Of course, even so he's higher than the others. It turns out that upkeep is modified by the jock's own business skill. That's why schmo71 (our business manager) is so cheap. Uh... efficient I mean. Number of battles also plays a pretty consistent factor, as does rank. I think there may be another factor or two in there also, but I haven't been able to figure out what.

I thought the $43,002 was more accurate. Some people are just high maintenance. ;)

Sweet, sounds like I may get in sooner than I expected.

Anyone up for placing bets on who will be the first to die? :D

Not I :)

You know, I was thinking, this is such a great idea that we might want to do the same thing over in the X-COM dynasty.

:)

Great read:D

Well, I've decided that we're going to go ahead and pick up another pilot. We've got the cash to afford the recruiting fee, paying for a new titan, with enough left for potential disasters. That said, Godzilla Blitz goes out and does a little looking, and comes back with a new recruit:

Nyarlahotep
Race: Male Human
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 0 of 3800
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $3,250
Battles: 0 (0W/0L)
Hit Ratio: -
Kills: 0
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 10
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 10
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 56
Assault Piloting: 27 (default)
Jump: 21 (default)
Scouting: 45
Close Combat: 32
Guided Missile: 21 (default)
Unguided Missile: 56
Cannon: 23 (default)
Energy Weapon: 23 (default)
Electronic Warfare: 44
Scanner: 50
Damage Control: 20
Business: 20
Survival: 31 (default)

Nyarlahotep is piloting a Porcupine. It has a base cost of $79,404, and a maintenance cost of $2,406. It has a walking speed of 80 kph. It features 6 (!) class 4 Short Range Missile launchers. It also has a CyberSys M (class 2) scanner and a CyberSys (class 2) battle computer for a ok electronics package. The Porcupine has the following ratings:
Firepower: 10
Close Range: 18
Short Range: 18
Medium Range: 0
Long Range: 0
Speed: 17
Jump: 0
Armor: 18
Defense: 2
Recon: 6
Heat Management: 13
Power Managerment: 18
Overall Rating: 10
Classification: Short Range Recon Titan

***

All four jocks will be headed in for what I expect to be another fairly easy fight.

We let Mike know we're ready for the next step, and he gets back to us with a quick briefing.

"Now that you've reopened that section of the main shaft, we can get to the next step of your mission."

"It wasn't just the ore collectors that went haywire. The entire main shaft as far as we know has gone bonkers. I'm not sure how else to put it. The Processing Plant is the next section we can get to but it has some processors that are potentially more dangerous than the ore collectors you fought earlier. These Processor I models work in hazardous areas so they have a small sheild and their armor is slightly thicker. They also process material using a highly flammable liquid plasma not unlike military grade Flame Throwers. In addition to this they also have small cutting lasers. Disable the processors and get to the exit point to turn on the central control hub."

Eh... Do I look scared? Nyarlahotep on the other hand...

ACKKKK!!!! I was about to say woot up until that last line.

The four of us reach the bottom of the main shaft, and are greeted by Mike again.

"Testing... Testing the transmittor..."

"Mike Sagmodo here again. This is the central section of the mine, and the tunnel moves to the east and outward in a concentric circle counterclockwise. There should be a few processor robots standing around. Disable them all if possible but our main goal is that exit point."

"I'll try to guide you like I did before."

Shouldn't be a problem. The current map isn't really much to see. Just a central room with an exit to the east. Not worth sharing. Guess we'll move out.

0:34 - SirFozzie is the first one to the tunnel entrance, and as he moves in, he spots on the of th processors. Mike comes on, "Just past this cover there is a processor. Take it out. There are two tunnels heading north. The closest one is the main tunnel and the next one down is a small side tunnel. We should check it before moving on. Just in case somethings hiding in there." Hmm, yeah. Guess it wouldn't hurt. Perhaps we'll split up. We'll see how nasty these new processors are.

1:08 - Unfortunately, in order to get any decent locks on the Processor I we have to move almost all the way through the cover. This alerts the thing, and it begins heading our direction. Ack! No room to stay out of range of that flamethrower. Attack!

1:30 - Nyarlahotep completes a yellow level scan, revealing that the Processor I carries three small energy weapons. Probably one flamethrower and two small lasers. It also has perhaps twice the external armor of the other processors.

1:39 - As SirFozzie darts off to the side to prevent being a prime target of the Processor I, Godzilla Blitz moves into close range with the enemy. He lets loose with everything at his disposal, even landing a pair of punches, but missing with a kick. Fortunately, he is able to keep his balance.

1:42 - Oh shoot, I was wrong. It's got one small laser and two flamethrowers. Fortunately, only one hit Godzilla Blitz, but that's already pushed his heat up a good bit.

1:44 - Nyarlahotep lets loose with a full barrage of missiles. One hits Godzilla Blitz, but a decent number hit the enemy, disabling the left torso, and knocking it to the ground. Fortunately, when you take out a side torso, it effectively disables the arm on that side as well. That means that one of the flamethrowers should no longer be functional. Nice.

1:55 - The Processor I regains its feet, but with everyone pounding on it, it should go down pretty soon.

2:23 - Nyarlahotep moves into close range with the Processor I. He throws a punch, and succeeds in tearing off the left arm and again, knocking it to the ground. Unfortunately, a missed kick throws him off balance, and he joins the enemy on the ground.

2:26 - sachmo71 also moves into close range. A kick from him disables the right torso of the fallen enemy. Nice. Now we should be able to finish him at our leisure.

2:29 - sachmo71 takes careful aim with his cold light gun and fires. It's a perfect hit to the head, ripping it off, and disabling the enemy. Nice shot! Guess we'll go check out that side chamber.

3:40 - Godzilla Blitz is the first to enter the side chamber. He immediately sees a lot of rubble, and Mike comes back on, "There's a Processor right there. Go ahead and disable it. There used to be a radio uplink but it looks like it's been destroyed. I can see up ahead with the security cameras so just wait for my guidance." Right. Time for some scanning.

4:46 - sachmo71 and Nyarlahotep dodge off to the side, still trying to pick up a decent scan. The other two stay put and begin taking shots at the rapidly approaching Processor I.


4:54 - Godzilla Blitz moves into close range with the enemy and decides to try a charge. It fails, but he keeps his feet and lets loose with everything he's got. Unfortunately, all he connects with is a single punch.

5:05 - It may be only a machine, but I mock loudly anyway. The Processor I lets loose with all three of its weapons, but we can't tell who its target was, because they all miss. Pathetic.

5:07 - Ah... Godzilla Blitz takes off the left arm with a shot from his large laser. Excellent.

5:17 - The Processor I tries to escape deadly close combat with Godzilla Blitz and SirFozzie, but no sooner does it move off, then sachmo71 moves into close range.

5:22 - A few seconds later, sachmo71's cold light gun comes back online, and he efficiently uses it to disable the enemy's lower torso, sending it to the ground.

5:25 - Godzilla Blitz moves in close to help sachmo71, and disables the left torso with a punch.

5:26 - Moments later, sachmo71 follows suit and disables the right torso with a punch.

5:33 - That's it. It's had enough abuse. It shuts down. Right. [color=blue]Nyarlahotep will finish checking the ruins, and then we'll move on.

6:50 - Having moved back out into the main corridor, with sachmo71 in the lead, we get another message from Mike. "I see another processor just ahead to the north. If you don't see it now, you'll see it once you move north." Hmm, there's lots of rubble and such giving plenty of cover, and I can't spot it yet. Guess we'll keep moving in.

7:47 - Ah ha! sachmo71 comes around the side of a large mound, and finds himself nearly face to face with the Processor I he quickly begin locking on. No time for a scan. About the same time, SirFozzie comes around the other side of the mound and begins locking on as well.

8:06 - Ow! the Processor I comes charging directly into sachmo71. The collision knocks them both to the ground, and damages sachmo71's right hip actuator. Hmm, that'll make getting up a little bit tougher. May slow him down some too.

8:11 - SirFozzie moves into close range, and nails the Processor I with a kick, knocking it back to the ground as it was trying to stand up.

8:13 - sachmo71 takes a hit from a flamethrower. I'm not too concerned, as we're all on top of him (except Nyarlahotep who's been lagging a bit behind). We'll take him out before he does too much to poor sachmo71.

8:15 - Sure enough, SirFozzie rips off its left arm with a shot from his auto cannons.

8:24 - Uh oh... sachmo71's right leg is melted right off, as the Processor I connects with the flamethrower again.

8:33 - That's more like it. Nyarlahotep comes around the corner and lets loose a barrage of missiles. He surgically removes the Processor I's right leg and center torso for the kill. We hold our breaths, hoping the engine doesn't explode...

8:43 - Fortunately it doesn't, but the Processor I's stills seems to be a bit active. Everyone starts trying to pick up an improved scan, while sachmo71 picks away at it with his small laser.

9:25 - Seeing that the Processor I seems to have stopped functioning, we leave sachmo71 behind... uh... to keep an eye on it, adn continue moving. (It looks like sachmo71 got credited with the kill, probably when he took out the lower torso. Not sure why the center torso didn't count as a kill. odd...)

9:40 - As we move on, Mike warns us of another Processor I up ahead, along with some acid leaking through the tunnel walls. We'll want to avoid that stuff.

10:10 - SirFozzie comes out from behind some cover and nearly face to face with another Processor I. Shoot. Last time that happened... He goes ahead and begins moving off to the side to avoid the charge.

10:34 - The Processor I runs right at Nyarlahotep, as Godzilla Blitz also chooses to dodge off to the side. Fortunately, Nyarlahotep avoids the enemy and runs right past him.

10:40 - SirFozzie moves into close combat from one side, and lets loose with everything, picking up a couple hits, but nothing critical.

10:49 - Godzilla Blitz comes in from the other side, but is just finishing up a scan, so he waits a couple more seconds before firing.

10:53 - Unfortunately, the scan doesn't pay off, and to make it worse, he can't connect with anything, except a single punch. SirFozzie moves on past the enemy to prevent it from locking on and using those flamethrowers.Godzilla Blitz does the same.

10:57 - The Processor I comes charging at Nyarlahotep, but fortunately misses, tripping and falling to the ground.

11:12 - Unfortunately, it gets to its feet before Nyarlahotep is finally able to fire, getting a number of hits with his missiles.

11:16 - SirFozzie gets in close, and charges the Processor I. The charge is successful, disabling the center torso. SirFozzie even keeps his feet.

11:17 - Moments later, he finishes a level green scan, discovering why the prior center torso disable (and this one) weren't recorded as kills. In this case, the engine is located in the center back torso instead. Hmm...

11:21 - As everyone moves into close range, Nyarlahotep connects with a punch, disabling the lower torso. That'll keep it down.

11:35 - SirFozzie settles the issue by ripping the thing's head off with a blast from his auto cannon. Moving on...

12:00 - As we move up to the next corner, Mike greets us again. "There is an armor bay up ahead. It should be fully supplied. The readout at my control panel says its good. If you need to restock your armor go ahead and use it. Its computer will give you any important instructions on how to use it." Ah, excellent! We could all use that.

12:39 - Um... oops... You know how if you pick at a scab, it eventually comes up and then explodes all over you... err... I mean bleeds? sachmo71, remember him? He'd been picking away at the fallen Processor I trying to force it to shut down. He slightly miscalculated, and hit the center back torso one too many time, destroying the engine, and causing it to explode... at point blank range... sachmo71 desperately hits his eject button, but it's too late. The massive explosion actually doesn't do too much of significance to his titan, since pretty much the only damage was the one leg. Now he's wishing he hadn't hit that eject button...

12:48 - Particularly considering that he's nearly killed during the ejection process. Heh. Um... oops?

12:49 - Ack! SirFozzie comes out from behind some cover and discovers that there is a Processor I guarding the armor bay. Shoot! Got to take that out first.

13:26 - The Processor I moves into close range with all three of our titans. It takes on Nyarlahotep, hitting with its flamethrower.

13:34 - SirFozzie disables the things left torso with his autocannon, knocking it to the ground, where its left arm breaks off. He then follows up with a punch, that disables the right torso. Man...

13:39 - Moments later, Godzilla Blitz disables the lower torso with a punch. That should keep it down. Everyone begins trying to acquire scans so they can take aimed shots.

13:41 - Except for Nyarlahotep, since you can aim those unguided missiles. So, he just fires away, conveniently ripping off the Processor I's head. Oh. Ok then.

15:31 - Having repaired all our armor, we continue moving. Looks like up ahead is an ammo bay as well. That will come in useful for our guys with cannons and missiles. But I wonder why a mining company has an ammo bay...

15:57 - Mike comes on again and verifies a suspicion I'd had. "I see the next processor just south of this cover. There is an ammunition bay in this section as well. You're not really supposed to know about it. But feel free to use it to reload your ammunition. Its computer will instruct you on its use. But I would appreciate it if you forgot you saw it." Uh huh.

16:49 - We come around the corner and spot the Processor I not far away. Once again, no time for scans.

17:13 - Nyarlahotep moves into close range with the enemy and charges it, hitting, ripping off its left arm, and knocking it to the ground. He goes down too, but I'd say it was worth it.

17:19 - Nyarlahotep is able to get to his feet first and lets loose with everything he can. He disables the left torso and the lower torso. That will keep it on the ground, giving everyone a chance to get some scans.

17:25 - Godzilla Blitz moves in close and fires, disabling its right torso and ripping off the left leg.

18:14 - Godzilla Blitz had picked up a decent scan, and was pounding away, looking for a head shot, but the Processor I shuts down, and so he waits for everyone else to get the ammo they need.

20:09 - Godzilla Blitz gets close to the next room. As he does, Mike comes on again. "There is another processor in the section to the east of this cover. There's a very small tunnel leading out of here. Its sort of a secret. You can tell where it is because its hidden by the cover on the other side. That is where the central control is located."

20:46 - Godzilla Blitz breaks out of the cover and spots the Processor I out in the center of the cavern. There should be plenty of time to pick up a scan.

21:02 - Some of the rumblings we've heard lately become louder, as all of the sudden, some of the walls collapse, including some which lead right back to where we started (where a repair bay is located). Mike comes on. "All of this fighting is bringing down the tunnels supports. But it did open up a quicker way back to the repair bay if you need it. Just jump over the water. You'll be fine." Not really needed, so I won't worry about it.

21:34 - Conveniently enough, everyone gets a yellow scan, a we all move to close range. Godzilla Blitz gets the first chance to fire, and takes off the Processor I's right leg with his large laser. Handy... Nyarlahotep then lets loose with everything, hitting with absolutely everything and disabling the left torso and right arm. Wow...

22:05 - Before we get a chance to do anything more though, it shuts down, and we head for the tunnel.

22:39 - As we enter the tunnel, Mike speaks up again. "You've found the entrance to the bottom section. I do see an Ore Grinder further ahead. It does have a vibra claw much like your military standard issue. I wouldn't advise getting close to it. It should be a bit tougher to take down than those others. Just beyond it is the control center." Hmmm, right. Keep our distance. Sounds wise. Those vibra claws can penetrate right through armor and take out critical systems.

23:12 - Aaaaack! It's almost right in our face as we come around the corner. Got to try and get past it. Run!

23:41 - We are able to just squeak past it as we all continue trying to get scans.

24:00 - SirFozzie gets a yellow scan, discovering that the vibra claw appears to be the only weapon, and it's located in the right arm. Maybe this won't be too bad.

24:41 - Despite our maneuvering to stay at short range, but out of close range, the Ore Grinder manages to move into close range with SirFozzie and Godzilla Blitz. Fortunately, it only does a little damage to SirFozzie before they escape out of range.

24:52 - At last, SirFozzie manages to disable the right torso with his autocannons. This is extremely good news, as the vibra claws were located on the right arm, and the right arm should no longer be functional. Time to move in close.

25:03 - Nyarlahotep lets loose an impressive volley, hitting with almost all his missiles, and ripping off the right leg. Take that!

Conveniently enough, this is considered a disable, and are able to easily walk over to the control center without further problems.

***

Salvage: $107,200
Bounty: $60,000
Payment: $125,000
Upkeep: -$28,097
New Total: $528,075

Godzilla Blitz - Status: Alive - Health: 117/117 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 49% - Titan: Ready
sachmo71 - Status: Ejected - Health: 30/99 - Kills: 2 - Hits: 54% - Titan: Ready
SirFozzie - Status: Alive - Health: 90/90 - Kills: 1 - Hits: 52% - Titan: Ready
Nyarlahotep - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 1 - Hits: 50% - Titan: Ready

Mike follows up with us after we shut things down. "The mine is clear. We're sending in our repair crew now. As a reward, we'll reccommend you to Master Suthira for additional training. He is one of the best. The bill is on us. You have our thanks."

The repairs only cost $28,954, most of which is for sachmo71's titan. Not bad, considering the payoff we were given.

***

Roster Summary:

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green (+1)
Experience: 3841 of 10400 (+2138)
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $7,280 (+3,278)
Battles: 2 (2W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 45% (+9)
Kills: 2
Awards: Most kills in one battle (2)

Attributes:
Intelligence: 11 (+1)
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 13 (+1)
Instinct: 10
Dexterity: 12 (+2)
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 60 (+7)
Jump: 45
Scouting: 43 (+1)
Close Combat: 55 (+2)
Guided Missile: 36
Cannon: 49
Energy Weapon: 62 (+6)
Electronic Warfare: 40 (+7)
Scanner: 54 (+4)
Leadership: 65 (+2)
Business: 20 (+6)
Survival: 22

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 2656 of 4000(+1384)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $2,880(+360)
Battles: 2 (2W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 41% (+11)
Kills: 3 (+2)
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 12 (+2)
Instinct: 9
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 60 (+4)
Jump: 15 (+1)
Scouting: 46 (+9)
Close Combat: 50 (+4)
Cannon: 33 (+3)
Energy Weapon: 60 (+7)
Electronic Warfare: 41 (+35)
Scanner: 50 (+2)
Damage Control: 20 (+1)
Business: 60
Survival: 43

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 3690 of 4000 (+2677)
Hit Points: 99 (+9)
Upkeep: $3,900 (+174)
Battles: 2 (2W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 50% (+4)
Kills: 1 (+1)
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 12 (+2)
Instinct: 9
Dexterity: 12 (+1)
Constitution: 11 (+1)
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 58 (+5)
Assault Piloting: 22
Jump: 32
Scouting: 47
Close Combat: 46
Cannon: 57 (+6)
Energy Weapon: 30
Electronic Warfare: 28 (+20)
Scanner: 50 (+4)
Damage Control: 63 (+2)
Business: 20 (+8)
Survival: 36

***

Nyarlahotep
Race: Male Human
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 2234 of 3800 (+2234)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $3,500 (+250)
Battles: 1 (1W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 50%
Kills: 1 (+1)
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 10
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 11 (+1)
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 13 (+1)
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61 (+5)
Assault Piloting: 27
Jump: 22 (+1)
Scouting: 49 (+4)
Close Combat: 41 (+9)
Guided Missile: 21
Unguided Missile: 61 (+5)
Cannon: 23
Energy Weapon: 23
Electronic Warfare: 53 (+9)
Scanner: 50
Defensive: 20 (+2)
Damage Control: 26 (+6)
Business: 25 (+5)
Survival: 31

***

Team Stats:
Battles: 0 (0W/0L)
Leader: Godzilla Blitz
Manager: sachmo71
Mechanic: SirFozzie
Budget: $499,121
Upkeep: $27,269 / month
Jocks: 4 of 7
Titans: 4 of 10

***

Wow! Some rather massive experience there, presumably as a result of the training from Master Suthira. Quite impressive. It's a little unusual for someone to be promoted to Green after only two battles. That makes the incredibly long battle worth it. I don't think most battles are that long.

Well, now we've got a whole ton of cash. What to do with it... Perhaps sell a couple of our recon titans and upgrade to lights? Could be nice... On the other hand, the future missions will be tougher, and maybe it's better to set the money aside for potential problems. Or maybe I should recruit another jock... I'll have to think about it. What do you guys think?

I would honestly recommend just saving your money for now, I think if you go for another Jock + Titan now, you'll end up getting into trouble in the not too distant future. I keep hearing how money gets pretty tight real quick, so whatever that's worth.

Upgrading to lights might not be a bad idea though....this is a tough call. :)

Great job again btw! Nice work, and wow...can't believe someone was already promoted! That's pretty crazy. Looking forward to seeing more!

If money is supposed to get tight, I think we should hold off and see how the next mission goes before deciding how to spend what we have.

Now that you're on the team? ;)

BTW, nice shot on GB! Too bad the Processor I got in the way of the other missiles. :D

Yeah, I'm thinking you guys are right. Better to save the money. Still... I could maybe just upgrade Godzilla Blitz to a light. I've got one picked out. It has a pair of cold light guns... *drool*

I know. So much for my quick route to a command position.:(

dola:

I would rather add a new member than start upgrading.

AStott: Great mission, except for shooting me with our own missiles. I think I read on another board that pilots need improved skills to use a Light Titan effectively. If that's true maybe we shoud wait? I have no clue what makes sense.

By the way, I ordered the game yesterday. Should arrive on Tuesday.

Bee: I'm reading closely. ;) I'm thinking we might want to "volunteer" you over in the X-COM thread. We've got a base mission coming up that needs some point men. Very safe. Good pay. Lots of bennies.

I got this one yesterday.. confusing right now.

Seems to be a pretty commom comment...

This Titans of Steel Thread has some helpful info in it (after a gets going). Most of the good stuff is on the second and third pages.

Godzilla Blitz: Yes, that's one problem with unguided missiles. If you miss, they can hit someone else in the same hex. Fortunately, this problem becomes less frequent at higher skill levels. Recon and light titans use the same piloting skill. Possibly what that meant is that you have to have someone at Green (I think) in order to purchase a light. Since this just happened, we're good (I think).

SirFozzie: This thread might help too. It's extremely common for people new to the game to be very confused by the way the "turn" system works. And unfortunately, the documentation is not really sufficient for explaining it. Definitely play the tutorial (just go to the battle module and select tutorial). Feel free to ask me if you have questions.

Well, I'm very strongly leaning towards upgrading Godzilla Blitz's titan. It should only cost about $100,000 (after selling his old one), so I'd still have a pretty big chunk of cash left...

Meet Godzilla Blitz's new titan. It's called an Icelord, and weighs 69.99 tons, getting close to twice the weight of his old 40 ton recon titan. It has a base cost of $152,828, and a maintenance cost of $4,631. It has a walking speed of 60 kph, which is a little slower, but he also has jump jets which can propel him at 80 kph for 53 seconds, which should help him out when he needs a little speed boost. It carries a pair of cold light guns, one in each arm. It has a Repakoff (class 1) damage control system, which is useful for making battlefield repairs. It also features a CyberSys S (class 1) scanner, and a Triton TC (class 4) battle computer. Fairly standard for this team. The Icelord has the following ratings (remember these are relative for the titans weight class):
Firepower: 8
Close Range: 15
Short Range: 14
Medium Range: 0
Long Range: 0
Speed: 15
Jump: 6
Armor: 18
Defense: 5
Recon: 7
Heat Management: 13
Power Managerment: 12
Overall Rating: 11
Classification: Short Range Light Titan

Hmm, those ratings don't look so hot, and it might have been more useful for a slower titan to focus on longer range weapons. But, I've bought it now, so no going back. I've used this titan in prior versions of the game, and always liked it, so I suspect it'll be just fine. When it comes time to upgrade titans again, I can always switch him over to another which carries a plasma gun (nice long range). I did sell off his old titan.

***

You might recall that the team had taken some rather significant training from Master Suthira as part of our reward for our prior job... Well, Master Suthira talks to us one day near the end of our training.

"Having completed your basic training, it is time for you to test your abilities in arena combat. Your opponents are a team of studens from the Dojo of Master Gersen. The global networks have offered to holovise the entire battle!"

"If you win you will earn $100,000, plus you'll have taken a giant step towards the arena circuit. If you win, I will also provide each of you with another 50 hours of free training."

"Master Gersen has a tendency to train his students in unconventional tactics, so be prepared for anything. If you jocks get into a tight situation do not hesitate to order ejects. A jock is more valuable than a titan."

"Get your team into position. Good luck, and make me proud."

Hmm... do I smell some kind of grudge between Suthira and Gersen? Well, sounds good to me. We can always use more free training.

Hells yeah, we're gonna be famous.

Bring the noise, bring the pain.

Well, famous or dead.

Wait, I guess that could be an "and" instead of an "or"...

I've thought several times about signing up, but the wait list is longer than one of Bucc's posts on the Civil War. :D

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. The Savannah Coliseum salutes you."

"Two old rival Dojo Masters bring their rising star teams to the arena to compete for a slot in the debutant circuit. Master Suthira's cadets are a promising formation, but keep an eye out for Master Gersen's reckless cubs."

"I'm hoping to see a great match here today, so get those credits rolling. And now, it's time for some action."

"Gladiators, lock and load!"

***

As our systems come online for the start of the match, everyone takes a look around at the terrain. We're in the northeast corner of the arena area. Everything is pretty much flat, arid grasslands with scattered patches of scrub. There is a decent sized hill to our immediate west-southwest, that appears to have some patches of trees on it. Beyond the hill, there appear to be a chain of small lakes which run from the north end of the map to the southeast corner. There are also a number of patches of soft sand around, which will most likely be difficult to cross without falling down.

Here's the plan. We'll send sachmo71 and Nyarlahotep up the hill to scout, while Godzilla Blitz and SirFozzie move slowly along the north edge of the hill. Perhaps they'll be able to ambush someone from there. If at all possible, we'll make the enemy cross the barrier of water and sand instead of crossing it ourselves.That should slow them down and damage them as they fall.

0:20 - Before they even have a chance to get up the hill, Nyarlahotep spots three enemy titans off at the center west side of the map. They are piloting a Badger, a Zealot, and a Fang. The last is the same as the titan that SirFozzie pilots (with its two autocannons), but we're not sure yet what the other two are. It appears they're making their way north, so we'll continue with our current plan. Those up on the hill should be able to take cover in the trees at the crest.

1:06 - As Nyarlahotep gets near the peak of the hill, he regains sight of three titans (which he'd lost while moving up the hill. One is a Bloodhound, another unfamiliar titan. Everyone starts acquiring lockons via the sensor links we've set up, and scanning begins, with a particular emphasis on the unknown ones so that we know whether or not it's safe to engage them in close combat.

1:27 - The Bloodhound fires twice on sachmo71 (up on the hill) with class 4 auto cannons. Both shots hit.

1:35 - Shoot. Nyarlahotep just gets to the top of the hill and positions himself in the patch of trees, when the newly respotted Badger fires a black ray gun, which misses, but sets the trees alight. Time to find someplace else.

1:49 - Nyarlahotep acquires a yellow scan on the Zealot. It's a recon titan with three cannons, no idea what kind without a green scan. He'll change his targeting to the Fang along with other so that they can concentrate their firepower.

1:54 - Yikes! The Bloodhound appears to be a light titan. In addition to the two class 4 auto cannons, it seems to have two class 12's. Ouch. It's firing a Godzilla Blitz right now, who at least can take some pounding.

2:27 - Well, the enemies are beginning to come across the water. Unfortunately, our fire is not very coordinated, as targets were lost by the guys coming back down the hill. Fortunately, our fire has been fairly accurate so far. Just no significant hits.

3:16 - The enemies are getting rather close, so Nyarlahotep and sachmo71 start heading north to where they can take cover in a patch of trees.

3:32 - Yes, finally! Godzilla Blitz lands a shot with his cold light gun, disabling the Bloodhound's left torso. Man, that thing can take a lot of pounding...

3:59 - Ok, things are just a complete mess now. Godzilla Blitz and SirFozzie have decided it's time to move now that almost all the enemies have crossed the water. Everyone is running around trying to avoid being the target of too many enemies, while still managing to take shots themselves. I'd still like to take that Bloodhound down as quick as possible...

4:05 - Nice. SirFozzie takes a shot at the Bloodhound just as he moves into close range with the Fang, and manages to knock it to the ground. That may work nice, since Godzilla Blitz is running forward to try and get in close combat with it.

4:08 - Godzilla Blitz takes advantage of the fact that the Bloodhound is easier to hit when it has fallen down, and takes off it's right arm with a rather nice shot from his cold light gun. sachmo71 also moves into close combat with the Fang, and charges it, hoping to knock it down before it can start doing nasty things to SirFozzie. The charge unfortunately fails, and sachmo71 stumbles, falling to the ground.

4:15 - Sure enough, the Fang lands a couple shots on SirFozzie, knocking him to the ground.

4:24 - SirFozzie pounds on the Fang getting a couple lucky hits, and disabling the center torso. Fortunately, there is no explosion, as we had two guys at point blank range, and a third not far off.

4:26 - Godzilla Blitz moves into close range with the Bloodhound, and charges, hoping to knock it back to the ground again. The charge is successful, but both titans keep their feet. Meanwhile, Nyarlahotep (remember him) had moved into the water to cool off a bit, and prepares to engage the Zealot, who has just fallen down in some sand, at very close range.

4:38 - At last, Godzilla Blitz, having missed with an embarrassing number of shots, manages to lang a pair of shots and knock the Bloodhound to the ground. Unfortunately, Godzilla Blitz is running pretty hot by now, so he decides to take the opportunity to try and pick up a decent scan so he can make called shots. That should also take long enough to let him cool off.

4:56 - SirFozzie comes to the help of sachmo71, and moves into close range with the Badger he pounds it pretty hard, knocking it to the ground.

5:02 - Ah ha! The Bloodhound pilot ejects, apparently (and wisely) concerned about being killed in the near future. Godzilla Blitz switches his focus to the Zealot who is having his armor nicely sanded off by Nyarlahotep's missiles.

5:03 - sachmo71 charges the Badger, who has just regained his feet. Conveniently enough, this knocks it back down, while sachmo71 keeps his feet. He follows up the attack with some weapons fire.

5:05 - The Zealot moves into close combat with Nyarlahotep's, charging him, and knock both titans to the ground.

5:19 - Godzilla Blitz comes to the rescue, disabling the Zealot's right torso, and knocking it to the ground.

5:35 - The Badger, having taken just a little too much pounding, ejects. Only one left now. It shouldn't last long.

5:38 - Nyarlahotep demonstrates that if you just keep firing missiles at a target, eventually everything will start breaking down at once. He takes out the Zealot's right leg and right arm, and then decides to back off before he overheats, or causes an engine explosion in his target.

But, there's no need. That's it for this match. A very active match, but one which we handily won. Much different in feel from fighting in the mines.

***

Salvage: $55,601
Bounty: $0
Payment: $100,000
Upkeep: -$33,623
New Total: $496,006 (+121,978)

Godzilla Blitz - Status: Alive - Health: 117/117 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 43% - Titan: Ready
sachmo71 - Status: Ejected - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 35% - Titan: Ready
SirFozzie - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 1 - Hits: 71% - Titan: Ready
Nyarlahotep - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 43% - Titan: Ready

Master Suthira contacts us immediately after the match. "You succeeded in defeating Master Gersen's best students." He seems somewhat smug. "It is a glorious day for you and my Dojo. I have several holozines already inquiring of interview session. You are on you way to glory. I am proud of you."

Yes, yes. Give us the training now...

The repairs cost us $40,795, most of which is for sachmo71's titan, although a pretty hefty chunk goes to repair Godzilla Blitz's as well. Not too bad I guess. We still made a decent profit.

***

Roster Summary:

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 4773 of 10400 (+932)
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $7,540 (+260)
Battles: 3 (3W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 45%
Kills: 2
Awards: Most kills in one battle (2)

Attributes:
Intelligence: 11
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 11 (+1)
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61 (+1)
Jump: 51 (+6)
Scouting: 46 (+3)
Close Combat: 58 (+3)
Guided Missile: 36
Cannon: 52 (+3)
Energy Weapon: 63 (+1)
Electronic Warfare: 43 (+3)
Scanner: 56 (+2)
Damage Control: 20 (+1)
Leadership: 65
Business: 20
Survival: 22

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 3982 of 4000(+1326)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $3,060(+180)
Battles: 3 (3W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 40% (-1)
Kills: 3/1*
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 12
Instinct: 11 (+2)
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 60
Jump: 26 (+11)
Scouting: 50 (+4)
Close Combat: 52 (+2)
Cannon: 34 (+1)
Energy Weapon: 60
Electronic Warfare: 44 (+3)
Scanner: 50
Damage Control: 20
Business: 60
Survival: 43

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green (+1)
Experience: 4296 of 12000 (+606)
Hit Points: 99 (+9)
Upkeep: $7,540 (+3640)
Battles: 3 (3W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 55% (+5)
Kills: 2 (+1)
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13 (+1)
Instinct: 10 (+1)
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61 (+3)
Assault Piloting: 22
Jump: 36 (+4)
Scouting: 50 (+3)
Close Combat: 50 (+4)
Cannon: 63 (+6)
Energy Weapon: 30
Electronic Warfare: 41 (+13)
Scanner: 50
Damage Control: 63
Business: 20
Survival: 36

***

Nyarlahotep
Race: Male Human
Rank: Rookie
Experience: 3176 of 3800 (+942)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $3,540 (+40)
Battles: 2 (2W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 48% (-2)
Kills: 1
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 10
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 11
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Assault Piloting: 27
Jump: 40 (+18)
Scouting: 50 (+1)
Close Combat: 54 (+13)
Guided Missile: 21
Unguided Missile: 61
Cannon: 23
Energy Weapon: 23
Electronic Warfare: 53
Scanner: 50
Defensive: 30 (+10)
Damage Control: 30 (+4)
Business: 32 (+7)
Survival: 31

***

Team Stats:
Battles: 3 (3W/0L)
Leader: Godzilla Blitz
Manager: sachmo71
Mechanic: SirFozzie
Budget: $455,211
Upkeep: $33,623 / month
Jocks: 4 of 7
Titans: 4 of 10

Greatttt.. you know what.. I fight for glory in the arena, and then I spend 50 + hours a week fixing Sachmo's titan

:)

Great job, AStott! 3 wins and 0 losses. And this time is was against real titans! Whoa!

WOOHOO!!! Now that's what I'm talking about. Look Ma, I'm on top of the world!!!

We have received a message from Master Suthira...

"I am traveling to the North Continent, to interview about the master of the Titan-AT. It is obvious that your recent victory has once again pushed me into the limelight. For that I thank you."

"However, I have heard rumors of a Rogue Squad that has been raiding the southern continents. I ask you to protect my Dojo at Rolling Haven, since all my other able students are away on various competitions."

"Any threat to the integrity of the region should be met with deadly force. Mercy is a Core World term. If you are attacked, destroy without regrets."

No problem. He's given us so much training, I suppose there's some sense of loyalty.

One day, we are taking it easy, sitting in the shade near our titans, waiting for the sensor station at Rolling Haven to report any contacts, when suddenly there is a burst of static from the radio, followed by:

"Commander, we are detecting an undetermined number of inbound bogies. They are not responding to identification requests. Please investigate."

Right. On our way. Everyone hops in their titans. Rolling Haven is situated on a rather large island formed by a river that runs north/south. The center of the island consists of a large hill in the middle, with a couple small hills to the south end of the island. These hills are pretty well covered with trees. The surrounding land is pretty typical of what we've seen lately. Dry, fairly flat, a few patches of trees scattered here and there. No sign yet of the enemy.

Rolling Haven surroundings

0:01 - SirFozzie, on a hill towards the south end of the island, spots two enemy titans off to the southwest. One is in a recon, the other in a medium. Ouch! That could be trouble. We'll try to stick to the trees and focus on that medium titan.

0:21 - As Godzilla Blitz and sachmo71 begin to head up over the central hill to meet the other two (so they can focus on the first two titans spotted), a third titan shows up way up in the northeast. I think we'll ignore that one for now and take care of him later.

0:43 - SirFozzie finishes his scan on the medium titan. Unfortunately, it's a red level scan, so all we know is that it's a design called the Scorpion.

1:05 - Looks like the recon titan to the southwest is a Fireball. It's got napalm missiles.

1:18 - SirFozzie completes a yellow level scan on the Scorpion. Looks like it has a missile launcher (appears to be a class 2 heat seeking missile launcher), and two energy weapons, which appear to be large lasers.

1:52 - Shoot. A couple misses from those large laser set on fire the woods which SirFozzie and Nyarlahotep were using for cover. Time to move.

2:17 - Godzilla Blitz and sachmo71 had been shooting at the Fireball, since that was the only enemy they could see, but it crossed the river and lost sight of it behind the hills on the south end of the island. Fortunately, the Scorpion just moved into their sight, so they switch targets.

2:58 - The Scorpion gets off a couple pretty solid hits on Nyarlahotep, sending him crashing to the ground with leg and hip actuator damage. Might be tough to get back up...

3:14 - He does manage to get up, but he's hurting pretty bad. That Scorpion is focusing on him. He does his best to get out of line of sight.

3:22 - Godzilla Blitz and sachmo71 had switched targeting back to the Fireball as the Scorpion had backed up out of their sight. Now, Godzilla Blitz takes off its left arm with one of his cold light guns.

3:32 - At last, Nyarlahotep manages to move out of the Scorpion's line of sight. SirFozzie is doing likewise. This should allow everyone to finish off the Fireball, and force the Scorpion back out into everyone's line of sight.

3:39 - Excellent! sachmo71 takes out the Fireball's lower torso, sending it to the ground permanently.

4:21 - Whoops! Nyarlahotep launches a volley of missiles, but accidentally takes out the Fireball's right torso. This happens to be where it keeps its engine, and with a roar, it explodes! Fortunately, we're all a little ways away. We'll take some damage, but it shouldn't be too bad....

4:41 - The Scorpion comes back into line of sight through some trees just on the other side of the river. He's not far away from SirFozzie, so that will (presumably) be his target, so he starts dodging his way to... anywhere else.

4:51 - Remember that other titan way up in the northeast? He's just crossed the river almost directly east of our position. We've still got a little time, but we'll need to finish this guy off quick.

5:00 - All you have to do is ask... Godzilla Blitz lands a shot, and disables its left torso. Excellent progress. It appears to be backing up again, trying to break line of sight. ...and that should help him on his way. sachmo71 uses his small laser to set on fire the trees he was using for cover. Heh.

5:16 - Ok, that's it. That one other recon titan has started firing long ranges missiles at Godzilla Blitz and sachmo71. They'll move over and take him on while the other two finish off the wounded Scorpion.

5:50 - The Scorpion backs up and out of our line of sight again. The two who are focusing on him will move further south to try and pick him up again.

5:59 - Godzilla Blitz picks up a green scan on the recon titan he's after. It's a Pike, carrying two class 6 long range missile launchers. And as soon as we started heading its direction, it started frantically backing up. Yeah... that'll save him.

6:12 - SirFozzie moves far enough south to spot the Scorpion. He bgins locking on.

6:18 - The Pike foolishly moves into close range with sachmo71. Well... I guess he didn't have any other choice, with a river at his back, and only long range weapons. And he'll soon be in close range with titans which outweigh him 110 tons to 40 tons... Yeah.

6:46 - Yup, there he goes. The Pike ejects. Only the Scorpion is left now, and he's very heavily damaged.

6:54 - Didn't realize he was that chicken. The wise Scorpion ejects from his titan, and the fight is over.

***

Salvage: $73,280
Bounty: $12,000
Payment: $30,000
Upkeep: -$39,667
New Total: $530,824 (+75,613)

Godzilla Blitz - Status: Alive - Health: 117/117 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 38% - Titan: Ready
sachmo71 - Status: Ejected - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 32% - Titan: Ready
SirFozzie - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 75% - Titan: Ready
Nyarlahotep - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 1 - Hits: 37% - Titan: Ready

We notify Master Suthira of the event, and he thanks us for our efforts to keep his Dojo (and the town) safe.

The repairs cost us $38,502, almost all of which is for Nyarlahotep's badly battered titan. Not much of a profit on that one, but at least we made something.

***

Roster Summary:

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 6088 of 10400 (+1315)
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $7,800 (+260)
Battles: 4 (4W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 44% (-1)
Kills: 2
Awards: Most kills in one battle (2)

Attributes:
Intelligence: 11
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Jump: 54 (+3)
Scouting: 46
Close Combat: 58
Guided Missile: 36
Cannon: 56 (+4)
Energy Weapon: 63
Electronic Warfare: 50 (+7)
Scanner: 56
Damage Control: 20
Leadership: 65
Business: 20
Survival: 22

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green (+1)
Experience: 4954 of 4000 (+972)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $5,490 (+2430)
Battles: 4 (4W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 38% (-2)
Kills: 3/1*
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13 (+1)
Instinct: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61 (+1)
Jump: 35 (+9)
Scouting: 50
Close Combat: 53 (+1)
Cannon: 35 (+1)
Energy Weapon: 63 (+3)
Electronic Warfare: 51 (+7)
Scanner: 50
Damage Control: 21 (+1)
Business: 60
Survival: 43

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green
Experience: 5204 of 12000 (+908)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $7,800 (+260)
Battles: 4 (4W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 59% (+4)
Kills: 2
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 13
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 10
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Assault Piloting: 22
Jump: 40 (+4)
Scouting: 50
Close Combat: 53 (+3)
Cannon: 63
Energy Weapon: 30
Electronic Warfare: 41
Scanner: 53 (+3)
Damage Control: 63
Business: 20
Survival: 36

***

Nyarlahotep
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green (+1)
Experience: 4741 of 3800 (+1565)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $6,670 (+3130)
Battles: 3 (3W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 45% (-3)
Kills: 2/1* (+1)
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 10
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 12 (+1)
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 63 (+2)
Assault Piloting: 27
Jump: 51 (+11)
Scouting: 50
Close Combat: 59 (+5)
Guided Missile: 21
Unguided Missile: 63 (+2)
Cannon: 23
Energy Weapon: 23
Electronic Warfare: 53
Scanner: 50
Defensive: 36 (+6)
Damage Control: 36 (+6)
Business: 35 (+3)
Survival: 31

***

Team Stats:
Battles: 4 (4W/0L)
Leader: Godzilla Blitz
Manager: sachmo71
Mechanic: SirFozzie
Budget: $492,322 (+37111)
Upkeep: $39,493 / month (+5870)
Jocks: 4 of 7
Titans: 4 of 10

79% hit ratio. Wow. :)

Guess I'm in my element!

Oh yeah! We're loving it!

Humm...Nyharlotep gets the most experience for getting blown over then damaging all the rest of us with that missile shot that blew up the enemy?

I'm curious, do we get to save the world at some point, or are we kind of wandering around and looking for stuff to destroy?

By the way, my copy of the game arrived today. Haven't had a chance to install yet, but I hope to take a look at it on Thursday.

Woot!!! Bonus points for nearly completing my objective of giving myself a battlefield commision.

AStott,

Have you installed the patch?

The reason I ask about the patch is that GB is still alive, so I can only assume there's a major bug in the game. :D

SirFozzie: Yeah, I've been extremely impressed with your hit ratio lately. The last two games have been over 70% I believe. Most impressive.

Godzilla Blitz: I'm thinking that part of the reason Nyarlahotep got so much experience is that he was smacked around so much... :D Seriously, everytime you succeed at a skill check, you get more experience. He's got a ton of missile launchers, he was knocked down... I'm not sure what else. The amount of experience gained during battle has always been kinda nebulous to me.

Nyarlahotep: Yup, congrats on the promotion. Everyone is green now. Did you notice that sachmo71 was only 18 points short of hitting green the battle before this last one? Heh... that's gotta suck.

Bee: Cute. :D I'm doing my best, but he's got the best titan in the group, so he's pretty tough to take down.

Godzilla Blitz: Oh yeah, forgot to add. Supposedly there is some kind of basic story line to the camapaigns I'm playing, but it's not neccessarily a real tight one like with XCom. In fact, after I finish the... 20 (?) or so campaign missions, what's left is random (arena-type) battles, plus whatever other campaigns that people design and post. So, it's essentially "wandering around and looking for stuff to destroy". Not that that's a bad thing... :)

AStott,

Can you carry your team (and finances, etc) into new campaigns?

Oh Oh I can answer that one!

Yes.

It carries over from everything, random missions to campaigns, campaigns to campaigns, etc...constantly building up your team and pilots.

Now, it's about due time one of you suckers bit it in a mission! You're slacking with the casualties AStott!

Bee: As Calis said, a campaign is just a string of missions, and you can select any mission you want when you go into a battle. The nice thing is that you can even be midway through a campaign and switch over and play a couple arena fights to build up some more money. Or you can start up another campaign. It essentially saves the last game you've played of each campaign series, so it doesn't matter which campaign/mission/arena fight you play next. Works really nice, and is quite flexible.

Calis: Yeah, I think that the first two missions were so easy that there wasn't a fear of losing someone (although we almost did anyway on the second). The latest two are tougher, and we could have lost someone. I think it's only a matter of time before we lose someone. I really wish this game had injuries take longer to heal. That way there might be more of a need to recruit a larger team.

Master Suthira follows up with us regarding the attack on Rolling Haven.

"It will take too much time for me to return to exact revenge. However, you seem able to do what I cannot and that is to attack this Rogue Squad immediately."

"Try to find out where their base is located. If you do find their base, it is more important to capture it so we can retrieve any data before it is destroyed."

"I will offer you 50 hours of free training if you succeed in destroying any fleeing Rogue Titans. I'll keep funding your squad as long as you fight for my Dojo."

Sounds like a pretty nice deal to me. We'll head in soon.

We manage to find their base without too much difficulty, but it is definitely guarded. We approach from the southwest. Between us and the base is a band of the soft sand which can prove so hazardous. There are a couple small lakes scattered around, along with some patches of trees (particularly to the far east of us).

Initial map view

It appears that we are up against three recon titans (Porcupine, Pike, and Guru) and one light (type unknown). The Porcupine is the same titan that Nyarlahotep is piloting. The Pike carries a pair of long range missile launchers, and we haven't encountered a Guru before. The light titan is quite some ways off, and if needs be, we may be able to avoid it and just head straight for the base.

I think the plan here will be to head north northeast for a low spot of ground with some trees. Take on the Porcupine and potentially Guru while staying out of sight of the Pike. By the time we finish that, we'll see where we're at, and most likely take on the approaching light titan at that point.

0:44 - We sweep north, and have all reached the depression, except for Godzilla Blitz who is lagging a bit behind. Unfortunately, no one is getting successful scans. Fortunately though, SirFozzie fires a single shot from his autocannon, and hits the Porcupine in the leg, knocking it down and causing even more damage to the right torso. Nice start. So far it looks like the Guru is sweeping around the south end of the lake that lies between us and the base. That's handy, because we're headed north. It'll give us a chance to focus on the Porcupine for a bit.

1:01 - Go SirFozzie! As soon as the Porcupine gets up, most of the rest of our team takes some shots at him, but once again, SirFozzie takes a single shot, hits in the left leg, and knocks him down again.

1:06 - Seeing the unusual success we're having, as sachmo71 comes out of the depression, he heads right instead of left to take on the Pike who's probably approached a little too closely to effectively use its missiles.

1:23 - The Porcupine charges into Nyarlahotep, hitting hard. Fortunately, he stays standing, while the enemy falls. Nyarlahotep responds to the charge with an alpha strike that rips off both legs. Umm... yeah, that should keep him on the ground. Most likely he'll eject soon. Time to change focus.

1:29 - sachmo71 continues the tradition set by Nyarlahotep, and hits with his cold light gun on the Pike, knocking it to the ground.

1:37 - Seeing that the Porcupine has continued firing, Nyarlahotep fires off another alpha strike, this time disabling the left and right torsos. Must keep things symmetrical you know... That should shut him up. Since the others are targeting the Pike, he'll go ahead and try to scan the Guru which is still on the other side of the lake from us. Try to figure out what its carrying. Most likely something short range, since it hasn't fired yet.

1:41 - sachmo71, feeling confident with our successes so far, charges the Pike, knocking it to the ground and keeping his feet.

1:50 - SirFozzie feels likewise. His charge rips off the Pike's right leg, sending it down, and with only long range missiles, most likely out of the fight. Time to focus on that fast approaching Guru. Um... after he stands up that is.

1:59 - Dang, we're setting up a definite tradition here. Godzilla Blitz hits the Guru with both cold light guns, knocking it to the ground.

2:33 - The Guru moves into close range with sachmo71 and SirFozzie. Godzilla Blitz is close behind them. Of course, that light titan is approaching, and is now probably at medium range, so we'll want to finish this guy quick. Still no idea what he's carrying... Oops... SirFozzie just found out. Looks like two machine guns and a dreaded tesla bolt, which has short range, but insane damage... as in... enough to take out a recon's head with one shot... Fortunately, this shot only hit SirFozzie's leg, tearing it off and sending him to the ground.

2:45 - Take that! As Godzilla Blitz enters close range with the Guru, he fires, and takes off it's left leg. Phew! Now just a little more damage to force him to eject, before this light titan gets any closer.

2:46 - Thanks. Looks like the light titan has at least two medium lasers, which he fired at SirFozzie. Going for the kill I guess. Hmm... eject or not...

2:47 - Godzilla Blitz takes out the Guru's center torso, which is apparently not the location of the engine, and then turns his focus to the approaching light titan.

3:20 - Phew! The guru ejects. That's good, because he was still hitting SirFozzie with his machine guns. Now sachmo71 can turn his attention to this new light titan too.

3:31 - Having activated his jump jets to give him time to finish his (unsuccessful) scan, Godzilla Blitz decides to try and crashland his titan into the light, which appears to be an Attila. Unfortunately, mere seconds before he lands, the light runs on past.

3:42 - I'm suspicious that this Attila specializes in close combat, because other than the two medium lasers, he hasn't fired at all. I think Godzilla Blitz will try to avoid him.

3:54 - Of course, that only works when the enemy doesn't knock you down. Stand up! Stand up! Guess we need to send everyone into close combat and out Godzilla Blitz. Moments later it moves into close combat, and attacks, revealing that it seems to carry a pair of power axes.

4:08 - Of course, that's nice too. sachmo71 hits the center back torso with his cold light gun, disabling it and sending the Attila to the ground.

4:32 - Nice, before it can even get up off the ground, Nyarlahotep, who has moved into close range, takes out the center torso, and with it the engine. Now to finish off those first two, who still haven't ejected.

5:01 - Whoops, spoke too soon. The Pike, apparently having seen his buddy go down, ejects, ending the fight.

***

Salvage: $57,006
Bounty: $0
Payment: $30,000
Upkeep: -$40,538
New Total: $538,790 (+46,468)

Godzilla Blitz - Status: Alive - Health: 117/117 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 69% - Titan: Ready
sachmo71 - Status: Ejected - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 54% - Titan: Ready
SirFozzie - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 50% - Titan: Ready
Nyarlahotep - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 1 - Hits: 56% - Titan: Ready

We let Master Suthira know of our success. He informs us that he's finished his business, and will try to meet us for our next battle. We're apparently doing a better job than he expected.

The repairs cost us $56,178, giving us a net loss, although not much of one. We have Godzilla Blitz to thank for the largest portion of our repair bill, although SirFozzie isn't far behind.

***

Roster Summary:

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 7302 of 10400 (+1214)
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $7,936 (+136)
Battles: 5 (5W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 46% (+2)
Kills: 2
Awards: Most kills in one battle (2)

Attributes:
Intelligence: 11
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 12 (+1)
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Jump: 59 (+5)
Scouting: 50 (+4)
Close Combat: 61 (+3)
Guided Missile: 36
Cannon: 58 (+2)
Energy Weapon: 63
Electronic Warfare: 56 (+6)
Scanner: 56
Damage Control: 20
Leadership: 65
Business: 22 (+2)
Survival: 22

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green
Experience: 6164 of 12000 (+1210)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $5,607 (+117)
Battles: 5 (5W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 41% (+3)
Kills: 3/1*
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 14 (+1)
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Jump: 45 (+10)
Scouting: 53 (+3)
Close Combat: 57 (+4)
Cannon: 35
Energy Weapon: 63
Electronic Warfare: 51
Scanner: 50
Damage Control: 22 (+1)
Business: 61 (+1)
Survival: 43

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green
Experience: 5876 of 12000 (+672)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $7,998 (+198)
Battles: 5 (5W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 58% (-1)
Kills: 2
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 14 (+1)
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 10
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Assault Piloting: 22
Jump: 48 (+8)
Scouting: 50
Close Combat: 55 (+2)
Cannon: 63
Energy Weapon: 32 (+2)
Electronic Warfare: 41
Scanner: 53
Damage Control: 64 (+1)
Business: 21 (+1)
Survival: 36

***

Nyarlahotep
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 5667 of 11600 (+926)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $6,710 (+40)
Battles: 4 (4W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 47% (+2)
Kills: 3/1* (+1)
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 10
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 12
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 63
Assault Piloting: 27
Jump: 56 (+5)
Scouting: 56 (+6)
Close Combat: 60 (+1)
Guided Missile: 21
Unguided Missile: 63
Cannon: 23
Energy Weapon: 23
Electronic Warfare: 53
Scanner: 50
Defensive: 40 (+4)
Damage Control: 42 (+6)
Business: 40 (+5)
Survival: 31

***

Team Stats:
Battles: 5 (5W/0L)
Leader: Godzilla Blitz
Manager: sachmo71
Mechanic: SirFozzie
Budget: $482,612 (-9710)
Upkeep: $39,984 / month (+491)
Jocks: 4 of 7
Titans: 4 of 10

***

A pretty good battle. It went a lot easier than I expected. I think because of those lucky knock down hits that we got on quite a few of the titans. Of course, that Guru could have been really bad... (zip! goodbye head! dead jock!) ...but we did good.

Still no deaths... Guess the betting is still open. Although I'm guessing that Nyarlahotep will find himself at point blank on an engine explosion one of these days and end up killing himself. We'll see...

Hey boss,

If we'd attacked the ATMs like I suggested, you wouldn't have to worry about "me" costing us money when you order me to charge some badass titan with power axes.

______

Great write-up as usual!

Have I ejected in *every* battle? Sound like my record in the bedroom...

Don't guess things like that. If you need to make predictions, make ones along the lines of Nyarlahotep will find himself rich beyond his wildest dreams and cruising for honeys in his pimped out titan.

Godzilla Blitz: I think you'll end up costing us more generally because you're in a larger titan, so repairs costs will tend to be more. At some point we'll move someone else into a light titan as well so you can split the burden. Besides, you're pretty badass in your titan too. Those cold light guns pack a pretty hefty punch...

sachmo71: :D Actually, you didn't eject this time. Still, I should track the number of times everyone ejects. Good idea. We'll see who remains... uh... on top of that statistic chart.

Nyarlahotep: heh... Hey, not my fault if that prediction comes true. You keep charging in their and indiscriminately destroying things with those missiles. I suppose they're a little hard to control...

I'll just stick with my prediction for now, it seems a lot less deathful for me.

good stuff

We receive a message from Master Suthira regarding our planned attack on the Rogue Squad.

"After successfully clearing the Estuary we have a real chance to exact revenge. The data files you managed to retrieve from the base's computers revealed that they arrived at Rolling Haven from the east."

"The twin South Continents of Savannah are connected by a thin land bridge. You will have to cross this area to avoid the high cost of orbital insertion."

"However, if you succeed, the authorities have authorized a payment of $50,000. In addition, I will provide all of you with 20 hours of training. You can keep any salvage."

Right. Time to move in on the enemy's main base. Let's move out!

We're most of the way across the land bridge when our detection systems give us the clue that we may be in close proximity to some enemy titans. Godzilla Blitz ignites his jump jets, and takes to the air to do a quick check of the area ahead. He doesn't spot any enemy titans, but up ahead, the land opens up, and if need be, we should be able to outrun them and lose them in the plains and forests beyond.

But, for now, we're presented with a twisted neck of land, with some fairly thick stands of trees in the center. There are also a number of rather tall hills that block good portions of our vision. I guess we'll just move in and keep our eyes open.

View of the battlefield

0:40 - Looks like the enemy has spotted us. We receive the following broadcast transmission, "Patrol protocol has been broken. You have been detected. Cease further action. Submit to the patrol or cease existence." Fat chance.

0:41 - Far up ahead, we spot a light titan ignite its jump jets and head towards us.

1:21 - We spot a second light titan, a Paraiah. Not sure what this thing carries. Two lights already... we may need to run for it instead of fighting...

3:05 - Godzilla Blitz completes a yellow scan on the Pariah. It's a 100 ton titan, medium class. It carries two missile launchers, two large missile launchers, and a small energy weapons. We might be ok if we stay out of it's sight. Unfortunately, sachmo71 and SirFozzie didn't spot some soft sand on the ground ahead of them, and are having problems getting to their feet again.

3:09 - The other titan comes out of the trees into Nyarlahotep's view at relatively short range. It's called a Berserker, and it weighs 70 tons.

3:24 - We've spotted another recon titan up ahead. Not sure what type it is.

3:36 - So far, the Berserker has only fired a class 4 autocannon. I heavily suspect it's loaded down with close combat weapons.

4:04 - We do our best to avoid close combat with the Berserker. Meanwhile, the enemy recon titan approaches. Looks like it's a Quantum b. That's what sachmo71 is piloting.

4:05 - sachmo71 manages to set on fire the woods where the Berserker is currently at. Now, if we could only knock it down...

4:32 - Finally, sachmo71 knocked the Berserker to the ground. Meanwhile, the Pariah has found a place where it can fire on us, so it's time for everyone to get moving for cover. SirFozzie has moved off and is distracting the enemy Quantum b.

4:59 - Nice. sachmo71 rips off the Berserker's right arm. It may be time to enter close combat. Unfortunately, the Pariah is now firing at SirFozzie.

5:04 - As sachmo71 moves into close combat with the Berserker, he fires his cold light gun, ripping off its left arm. So much for Mr. Close Combat Titan.

5:07 - Ouch! The Quantum b fires its cold light gun at Godzilla Blitz, hitting him in the head, and severely wounding him.

5:13 - As sachmo71 gets to his feet after having fallen from a missed kick, he takes off the Berserker's right leg with his small laser. Man, he's just a dismembering machine!

5:29 - Trouble. Godzilla Blitz comes out around the corner of some trees, looking to get into some close combat on the Quantum b, but unfortunately it charges him, knocking him to the ground. On the plus side, the Pariah, which has also just moved out of the trees across the way isn't targeted on him yet. Unfortunately, it is targeted on SirFozzie, who is headed for the open areas to the east, knowing that if he gets there, the enemies will pull back, and we'll be able to get through.

5:43 - Godzilla Blitz is not doing well at all. He's having problems standing, and I believe the Pariah is retargeting on him. Fortunately, sachmo71 comes into sight of the Quantum b and fires away, disabling its left torso and destroying its engine. Nice kill!

7:25 - Well, looks like Nyarlahotep did it again. He finishes off the center torso (and left and right) of the Berserker. Too bad he caused the engine to explode too... The blast knocks Godzilla Blitz and sachmo71 to the ground, ignites all the surrounding woods on fire, and stuns Nyarlahotep. Also too bad that this apparently doesn't count as a kill. Not sure why.

6:43 - Nyarlahotep manages to stumble out of the burning woods, just seconds before his titan would have overheated and shutdown.

6:51 - Yikes! There goes the missiles in Nyarlahotep's titan. They start exploding, destroying the left torso, right torso, right arm, and shutting the titan down.

7:08 - sachmo71 moves into short range of the Pariah, and manages to knock it to the ground with one shot from his cold light gun. We should be able to take it now, since missiles don't work so well up close. SirFozzie and Godzilla Blitz start moving in.

8:09 - Wow, sachmo71 takes out the center back torso of the Pariah, destroying its engine. That does it. We're able to continue on at our own pace.

***

Salvage: $85,305
Bounty: $0
Payment: $80,000
Upkeep: -$41,074
New Total: $606,843 (+124,231)

Godzilla Blitz - Status: Alive - Health: 64/117 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 47% - Titan: Ready
sachmo71 - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 2 - Hits: 55% - Titan: Ready
SirFozzie - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 87% - Titan: Ready
Nyarlahotep - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 52% - Titan: Shutdown

Thank goodness for such a large salvage and payment. The repairs cost us $109,305, still leaving us with a profit. Repairs for Nyarlahotep's gutted titan are nearly half the cost, with another third eaten up by Godzilla Blitz.

I am award sachmo71 the battle star for his amazing performance in this battle.

***

Roster Summary:

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 8632 of 10400 (+1330)
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $8,192 (+256)
Battles: 6 (6W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 46%
Kills: 2
Awards: Most kills in one battle (2)

Attributes:
Intelligence: 11
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Jump: 60 (+1)
Scouting: 55 (+5)
Close Combat: 61
Guided Missile: 36
Cannon: 59 (+1)
Energy Weapon: 63
Electronic Warfare: 56
Scanner: 56
Damage Control: 20
Leadership: 65
Business: 22
Survival: 22

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green
Experience: 7500 of 12000 (+1336)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $5,829 (+222)
Battles: 6 (6W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 44% (+3)
Kills: 5/1* (+2)
Awards: Battle Star

Attributes:
Intelligence: 14
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Jump: 50 (+5)
Scouting: 58 (+5)
Close Combat: 58 (+1)
Cannon: 44 (+9)
Energy Weapon: 63
Electronic Warfare: 51
Scanner: 52 (+2)
Damage Control: 22
Business: 63 (+2)
Survival: 43

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green
Experience: 6873 of 12000 (+997)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $8,256 (+258)
Battles: 6 (6W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 60% (+2)
Kills: 2
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 14
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 11 (+1)
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Assault Piloting: 22
Jump: 50 (+2)
Scouting: 52 (+2)
Close Combat: 55
Cannon: 63
Energy Weapon: 32
Electronic Warfare: 41
Scanner: 54 (+1)
Damage Control: 64
Business: 21
Survival: 36

***

Nyarlahotep
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 6416 of 11600 (+749)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $6,930 (+220)
Battles: 5 (5W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 48% (+1)
Kills: 3/1*
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 11 (+1)
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 12
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 63
Assault Piloting: 27
Jump: 56
Scouting: 57 (+1)
Close Combat: 60
Guided Missile: 21
Unguided Missile: 63
Cannon: 23
Energy Weapon: 43 (+20)
Electronic Warfare: 53
Scanner: 50
Defensive: 40
Damage Control: 42
Business: 40
Survival: 31

***

Team Stats:
Battles: 6 (6W/0L)
Leader: Godzilla Blitz
Manager: sachmo71
Mechanic: SirFozzie
Budget: $497,538 (-14926)
Upkeep: $40,940 / month (+956)
Jocks: 4 of 7
Titans: 4 of 10

Not too bad I guess. We not only made a profit, but we made up for last time's loss. Still, my prediction about Nyarlahotep just about came true. If he'd been a couple seconds slower in moving out of the burning woods after he destroyed the Berzerker, he'd have shut down in the burning woods. That would have been it for him. Of course, I might have been able to get SirFozzie to the exit area before that happened, which would have also won the battle for us, but then we wouldn't have gotten the last kill (and associated salvage). I wonder if the reason that Nyarlahotep didn't get the kill was because the Berzerker had already shutdown, and you don't get a kill for taking out a shutdown titan. Oh well.

Godzilla Blitz had a scary moment too. He was caught out in the open under the guns of a medium titan with a heavy complement of missiles, with a recon standing over him, and him unable to stand up because every time he tried, he'd get nailed again and knocked down. If sachmo71 hadn't come in and taken out that Quantum b, we might have lost him.

Interestingly enough, I was heavily outclassed in that battle, so I normally would have just run for the exit (you only need to get one guy there to win). But, in this case, I figured we could remove the medium titan from the equation (which was almost 50% of the total weight of the enemy's team) long enough to take the others first. That ended up working well, and paid off for us in profit.

Sachmo,

Yo compro las cervezas!

Muchas gracias, amigo!

GB

We made a nice chunk of ducats, so my prediction about me almost came true also.

Nyarlahotep: Good point!

While we continue on towards the main base, we receive a transmission from Master Suthira.

"I just received authorization for an orbital insertion. I just hope that I can arrive in time to be of use. In the meantime, get past Gunner's Bridge and establish a presence on Twin South B continent. If you meet too much resistance from the local Titan-AT squad, show them the error of their ways."

Right. He'll meet us then. Pushing on...

Oh boy. I hope Master Suthira gets here quickly, because this could be nasty. Ahead of us, there is one last bit of land bridge. Unfortunately, standing between us and our goal are three titans, a recon, a light, and a heavy. In addition there is another light further up to their north. We are obviously not going to be able to out fight this bunch, so we'll have to run for it.

The land bridge

So, here's the plan. Godzilla Blitz will use his jump jets to get over as much of the water to the south of the land bridge that he can. I suspect he'll end up splashing down in the water because the jets won't stay on the full distance. We can live with that. Then, he'll run for the exit area. Meanwhile, the others will attempt to distract the enemy to keep their attention away from Godzilla Blitz. With a little luck, we won't take too much damage, and when Master Suthira shows up we can slip on by.

0:19 - Oh boy... another light titan showed up to the north...

0:42 - Godzilla Blitz completed a scan on the heavy. It's a Frost Giant. It carries three big energy weapons. No idea what those might be, but they've got to be nasty if that's the only weapons it's got.

0:43 - SirFozzie completes a scan on one of the lights to the north. It's a Whip, and it carries a missile launcher and an energy weapons.

0:55 - Ok, well the light to the south is a ghost, and we know it has a plasma gun, because it fired it at SirFozzie, who's out front. Fortunately the shot missed.

1:42 - Well, Master Suthira just showed up. He was airdropped in to our north. He's piloting a heavy titan called a Catapult. It's a long range titan. We'll mostly stick with our plan for now. Godzilla Blitz will continue as before, while the others will kind of head in Master Suthira's direction.

2:25 - Godzilla Blitz, now in midair over the way, completes a green scan on the heavy Frost Giant. It has three cold light guns. Nasty... Meanwhile the others have pretty much successfully drawn almost all of the fire. For now it's pretty ineffective.

2:51 - Godzilla Blitz has reached the endurance of his jump jets. He sets down safely in the water. He's been taking some fire from pretty much all of the enemies, but fortunately, he's been a difficult target up in the air. He managed to make it a little over halfway across the water. Hopefully the enemies will ignore him for now.

3:47 - Well, looks like Godzilla Blitz is past the worst of it. He's out of the water and past the soft sand on the shore. Better yet, looks like when he fell in the water, the enemies retarget on other people, and it looks like they've foolishly chosen to leave him alone. So, for now, everyone else continues to pound on the approaching titans, while Godzilla Blitz makes a dash for the far end of the land bridge.

3:53 - Whoops! Spoke too soon! Looks like one of the lights has turned, and is coming after Godzilla Blitz. Fortunately, he's far enough back, that he shouldn't be able to catch him, unless he gets off some lucky shots. To bad Godzilla Blitz won't be able to fire back behind himself...

4:06 - Umm... they've all turned and are heading after Godzilla Blitz! Ack! Run for it!!!

4:33 - Wow! Check out the pretty light show! sachmo71 catches the Mugger in midair with his cold light gun as it comes jumping across a section of soft sand. The shot hits the recon titan in the center torso, taking out the engine. It explodes with a roar, causing minor damage to our recon titans nearby.

4:42 - The Ghost also tries to jump in the air to cross the sand, but SirFozzie catches him with his autocannons, and knocks him down. Fortunately, at this point, it appears that all of the enemies have lost interest in Godzilla Blitz, as he's moved down out of their sight. No way they'll be able to catch him.

5:18 - Ack! The Frost Giant nails sachmo71's left torso and destroys the engine in that location. Fortunately, it doesn't explode. Hurry, Godzilla Blitz! Hurry!

5:30 - At last, Godzilla Blitz reaches the end of the land bridge. Master Suthira comes on the radio, "Good work. I will try to hold off any opposition while you exit." Good enough, we're out of here.

***

Salvage: $1,212
Bounty: $4,000
Payment: $30,000
Upkeep: -$39,367
New Total: $606,843 (-4,155)

Godzilla Blitz - Status: Alive - Health: 117/117 - Kills: 0 - Hits: N/A - Titan: Ready
sachmo71 - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 1 - Hits: 8% - Titan: Destroyed
SirFozzie - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 45% - Titan: Ready
Nyarlahotep - Status: Alive - Health: 99/99 - Kills: 0 - Hits: 30% - Titan: Ready

Well, repairs are only $26,247. Of course, it would be higher, but sachmo71's titan is a complete loss, and we'll have to replace it. That's going to shove us far into the hole for this mission. Ouch... Besides that, Nyarlahotep's titan requires the majority of the repair work.

***

Roster Summary:

Godzilla Blitz
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 9995 of 10400 (+1363)
Hit Points: 117
Upkeep: $7,986 (-206)
Battles: 7 (7W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 46%
Kills: 2
Titans Lost: 0
Awards: Most kills in one battle (2)

Attributes:
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Neural Sense: 12
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 14

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Medium/Heavy Piloting: 25 (+17)
Jump: 61 (+1)
Scouting: 60 (+5)
Close Combat: 61
Guided Missile: 36
Cannon: 63 (+4)
Energy Weapon: 63
Electronic Warfare: 60 (+4)
Scanner: 60 (+4)
Damage Control: 20
Leadership: 66 (+1)
Business: 29 (+7)
Survival: 22

***

sachmo71
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green
Experience: 8090 of 12000 (+590)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $6,090 (+261)
Battles: 7 (7W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 43% (-1)
Kills: 6/2* (+1)
Titans Lost: 1
Awards: Battle Star

Attributes:
Intelligence: 14
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Jump: 56 (+6)
Scouting: 60 (+2)
Close Combat: 58
Cannon: 54 (+10)
Energy Weapon: 63
Electronic Warfare: 53 (+2)
Scanner: 60 (+8)
Damage Control: 23 (+1)
Business: 63
Survival: 43

***

SirFozzie
Race: Male Replicant I
Rank: Green
Experience: 8147 of 12000 (+1274)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $8,514 (+258)
Battles: 7 (7W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 58% (-2)
Kills: 2
Titans Lost: 0
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 14
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 13
Instinct: 12 (+1)
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 10

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 61
Assault Piloting: 22
Jump: 50
Scouting: 60 (+8)
Close Combat: 60 (+5)
Cannon: 63
Energy Weapon: 32
Electronic Warfare: 42 (+1)
Scanner: 54
Damage Control: 66 (+2)
Business: 21
Survival: 36

***

Nyarlahotep
Race: Male Human
Rank: Green
Experience: 7469 of 11600 (+1053)
Hit Points: 99
Upkeep: $7,150 (+220)
Battles: 6 (6W/0L)
Hit Ratio: 46% (-2)
Kills: 3/1*
Titans Lost: 0
Awards: None

Attributes:
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Neural Sense: 10
Reaction: 12
Instinct: 12
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11

Skills of Note:
Recon/Light Piloting: 63
Assault Piloting: 27
Jump: 60 (+4)
Scouting: 60 (+3)
Close Combat: 60
Guided Missile: 21
Unguided Missile: 63
Cannon: 23
Energy Weapon: 50 (+7)
Electronic Warfare: 53
Scanner: 52 (+2)
Defensive: 40
Damage Control: 42
Business: 40
Survival: 31

***

Team Stats:
Battles: 7 (7W/0L)
Leader: Godzilla Blitz
Manager: sachmo71
Mechanic: SirFozzie
Budget: $295,667 (-201871)
Upkeep: $43,761 / month (+2821)
Jocks: 4 of 7
Titans: 4 of 10

***

I've decided to splurge a little and pick up a light titan for sachmo71 in recognition of his accomplishments. I choose the Thor. It has a base cost of $160,252, and a maintenance cost of $4,856. It has a walking speed of 60 kph, and is able to jump at 85 kph for 64 seconds (rather nice). It carries a plasma gun and medium laser in the right arm, and a class 7 auto cannon in the left arm. It features a rather impressive Mark BC-X class 6 battle computer. This should give a rather impressive targeting bonus. The Thor has the following ratings:
Firepower: 10
Close Range: 10
Short Range: 15
Medium Range: 18
Long Range: 0
Speed: 15
Jump: 8
Armor: 18
Defense: 5
Recon: 8
Heat Management: 10
Power Managerment: 12
Overall Rating: 10
Classification: Medium Range Light Titan

Man, that was nasty. Good thing sachmo71 didn't blow up when he lost his engine. That would have been a disaster. As it is, we made it through. sachmo71's new titan should give us some rather nice firepower and maneuverability (with those jump jets). Of course, we'll have to keep a real close eye on heat, but it shouldn't be a big deal.

Only two missions left in this particular campaign, and then we'll be moving on to the Android Rebellion campaign. Actually, we'll probably take on some random arena battles first to pump our cash level up.