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

[AStott]

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.

[Godzilla Blitz]

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!

[sachmo71]

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

[SirFozzie]

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

[Nyarlahotep]

Sign me up.

[Blade6119]

Im in!

[Katon]

Count me in.

[tucker342]

I'm in

[AStott]

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*

[Nyarlahotep]

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

[AStott]

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

[Nyarlahotep]

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

[MrBug708]

I wanna be on the list

[AStott]

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

[AStott]

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]

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.

[sachmo71]

Here we go!

[SirFozzie]

Just call us the Android Termination Squad

[Godzilla Blitz]

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.

[Calis]

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.

[SirFozzie]

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

[Katon]

I'll be an Android, I think.

[AStott]

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.

[Bee]

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.

[Eilim]

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

[The Afoci]

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

[SirFozzie]

Originally posted by Eilim
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.

Actually, that's MegaMek www.megamek.com

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Bee
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.

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?

[Eilim]

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.

[AStott]

"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

[AStott]

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.

[sachmo71]

Woo!

[Godzilla Blitz]

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.

[Calis]

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!

[Bee]

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

[AStott]

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... ...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.

[Blade6119]

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

[AStott]

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

[Blade6119]

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

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

[AStott]

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

[Blade6119]

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

[Bee]

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?

[AStott]

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.

[Bee]

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

[Nyarlahotep]

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

[Bee]

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

[SirFozzie]

Not I

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Blade6119
Can this be a little mini-dyansty?...who asott "acidentally" kills and how?

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.

[tucker342]

Great read

[AStott]

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...