Topic: You Are Bolo: A Suggestion Game (Read 7330 times)

GreatWyrmGold · « **Reply #15 on:** October 02, 2012, 10:59:55 pm »

Attempt to locate fuel; if successful, refuel.

Approach life-signs.

Sirus · « **Reply #16 on:** October 02, 2012, 11:18:55 pm »

T+ 000:02:86:307

While you can detect quite a bit of fuel in the pile of machine corpses (something that can be very dangerous in the wrong circumstances), most of it is out of reach of your extendable (and rather delicate) fuel siphon. You do manage to scavenge some, which is a welcome relief (5).

T+ 000:10:02:267

Feeding some power to your drive systems, you begin to crawl forward...only for some of the debris on top of you to shift, trapping you in place (2). You cut power to engines and weigh your options.

The most obvious solution would be to apply more power to the drive train, and force your way through. However, if the mass on top of you proves to be too much even for your mighty treads, it could cause damage and limit your mobility.
You could try using your weapon systems to blast some rubble away, possibly making the stuff on top of you fall to your sides. The downside of this is the very real danger of backblast in such close quarters, which could damage and reduce your offensive capacity.

You also notice that the shifting debris made small opening above you (hidden roll!). Perhaps you can exploit that somehow.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Joben · « **Reply #17 on:** October 02, 2012, 11:53:00 pm »

Send a recon drone up throug the hole.

Sirus · « **Reply #18 on:** October 03, 2012, 12:21:42 am »

T+ 000:10:45:002

Ever since the old XXIII series, Bolos have kept stores of robotic drones to improve tactical and strategic capability. They are frequently used to extend sight, sensor, and communication range, which is quite helpful when it comes to aiming indirect-fire weapons. Drones can also be given predetermined flight paths and even manipulate small objects with small tractor devices. Yours are fairly advanced; the size of an Old Earth UAV but with the maneuverability of a modern air-cavalry vehicle. They have extensive flight times, and are quite nimble and speedy, but other than a modest ECM package they are completely defenseless.

You have slots for fifteen drones in your cargo bay, but only 11 of the slots are filled. You send one up through the gap in the wreckage above you.

T+ 000:12:32:431

You ponder the aerial images the drone sends back to you. The various wrecks are quite extensive, but it doesn't seem like any larger machines that would be harder to shift are among them (5). In fact, some decent explosives would probably shove most of it away with relatively little risk of damage to yourself.

Those aren't the only images your drone sends back, however. If you had a heart, it would have gone cold at the sight of cities - Human cities - in various states of ruin. Even more battle wreckage is scattered all over the place, including the burnt-out remains of alien siege engines...and at least six other Bolos.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

GreatWyrmGold · « **Reply #19 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:15:09 am »

Use decent explosives.
Locate and identify life signs.

Sirus · « **Reply #20 on:** October 03, 2012, 11:24:34 am »

T+ 000:12:41:099

The general term "deplete-able munitions" covers any weapon that uses actual ammo. This includes your VLS missiles, place-able explosives, and your anti-personnel flechette weapons. Everything else is an energy weapon and does not fall under this category.

Your stores of munitions are dangerously low; you only have 26.75% (random.org) of your maximum capacity. While your nanites can manufacture more, using enough explosives (placed by a drone) to shift the debris would take an estimated 9.66% (again, random.org) of your maximum capacity. Would you like to do this, or explore other options?

In the meantime, you order your in-air drone to search for the previously detected life signs. It tears through the air, faster than perhaps is wise, and the drone picks up a squadron of air skimmers scrambling to intercept (6). It does, however, manage to locate and identify the life signs. They are clearly Human, but the drone needs time to gather more data - time that it might not have if the incoming skimmers are hostile.

werty892 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 03, 2012, 11:37:17 am »

Use explosives, then manufacture some more

Sirus · « **Reply #22 on:** October 03, 2012, 12:06:44 pm »

T+ 000:12:45:107

You decide that using the explosives to break free falls within acceptable use, and direct your remaining store of drones to begin placing demolition charges in key locations. It turns out your original estimate of the required explosives was too high, and you end up only using 8.00% (5).

The feed from your recon drone cuts off as one of the skimmers blows it out of the sky (1). Your auditory sensors, even as damaged as they are, pick up the sustained whine of their powerful engines as they begin to sweep overhead, obviously hunting for whatever launched the drone in the first place.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

GreatWyrmGold · « **Reply #23 on:** October 03, 2012, 03:16:29 pm »

Uh-oh...
Blast skimmer with infinite repeater thingy. It doesn't use ammo, does it?

Sirus · « **Reply #24 on:** October 03, 2012, 04:11:27 pm »

Correct, they do not use ammunition. However, Brave is still under a mountain of debris - no one has ordered to trigger the demolitions yet

GreatWyrmGold · « **Reply #25 on:** October 03, 2012, 04:31:16 pm »

Trigger explosions, then

Quote from: GreatWyrmGold on October 03, 2012, 03:16:29 pm

Uh-oh...
Blast skimmer with infinite repeater thingy. It doesn't use ammo, does it?

Sirus · « **Reply #26 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:44:33 pm »

T+ 000:14:09:753

The drones are quickly recalled, all ports are sealed, and you activate your internal dampeners to brace for the shock. Their condition is fairly poor, but they'll do their best to keep power surges and fires from spreading inside your shell.

With a deafening blast, the charges blow! The scrap heap is thrown away in all directions...and some of it flies straight up, only to obey the law of gravity and come crashing back down (6). The impacts are enough to dent even your mighty flintsteel hull in places, but the damage is mostly superficial (3).

With the thrill of imminent battle racing through your circuits, you throw full power to all tracks and surge free of what rubble remains and bring up your battered Battle Computer.

Hyper-Heuristic Mode Active. BatComp currently operating at 40% capacity.

A quick glance at your sensors reveals...nothing (1)? That can't be right...

It takes a precious 3.500 seconds to locate the skimmers with your optical heads. 3.500 seconds, during which the pilots of those vehicles have begun to recover from the shock of your explosive entrance. The lead skimmer launches two missiles at you just as you finally spot it in the sky. As your port infinite repeater battery swings around to target the aircraft, a dozen more are launched. You have no idea what sort of warheads those things carry, but you don't want them to hit if you can avoid it.

Spoiler: Infodump time! (click to show/hide)

Infinite repeaters are a Bolo's "broadside" weapon of choice. Mounted along the flanks, they are used to destroy lightly-armored vehicles and aircraft, stuff that you wouldn't want to waste a main battery shot on. While the original infinite repeaters were basically machine guns with armor-piercing rounds, Great here is a newer model, the Mark XXXII. The XXXII mounts fourteen 10cm Hellbore plasma cannons, seven on each side. With a fairly high rate of fire and plenty of destructive potential, they should serve Great well.

Now, for the various defenses.

The outer shell is fairly self-explanatory. It's your outermost (and thickest) layer of armor. Strongest in the front and top, weakest - a relative term! - in the back and underneath.
I already alluded to what the internal dampeners do. Think of them as a combination blast shield/surge protector. Bolos may be sentient, but they are still machines, and taking heavy damage will not only send pain signals to the personality center, but will also send power surges racing through the circuitry. Dampeners rarely absorb all damage, though.
The battle screen is essentially your "shield". It's an energy barrier that you can project at various facings and strengths. It is most effective against physical impacts (though there are limits), somewhat less so against explosions (though still capable of surviving the edges of a nuke), and least effective against energy weapons, especially other siege-level weapons. Battle screens can also absorb some energy from an attack and divert it into the Bolo's capacitors.
Point defense clusters are groups of ion-bolt "miniguns" that are designed to track and destroy missiles. They can also be used against aircraft that come too close, but their range in that regard is somewhat limited and they don't do well against armor.
Finally, ECM. With proper jamming and hacking techniques, a Bolo can disrupt it's image on enemy sensors and disable tracking on incoming missiles. It's the closest thing a Bolo has to being "stealthy", but it does nothing to hide the Bolo itself from visual spotting or dumb-fire rockets.

The skimmers will be shot at next turn. How do you want to deal with the incoming missiles?

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Parsely · « **Reply #27 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:52:46 pm »

Use Point Defense on the missiles, raise battle screen. Once the missiles are down, lower screens and open up on the skimmers with your repeaters. If you can perform evasive manoeuvres, do so.

Sirus · « **Reply #28 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:18:05 pm »

T+ 000:14:13:112

With BatComp damaged, you're not quite as combat effective as you could be. Nevertheless, your reaction times are still far better than most any organic, and you don't freeze up in panic. The point-defense clusters begin to track the missiles' progress, and you raise your battle screen just in case. At 73.890% efficiency, it will hopefully be sufficient.

The clusters spit out streams of charged particle bolts; not the most accurate of weapons at the best of times, but the sheer volume of fire ensures that they don't really need to be. 13 of the missiles are shot down in mid-air, and one detonates harmlessly against your battle screen (4). That last one only hit because the range was so short. You note with some amusement that the missiles seem to be nothing more than air-to-air designs, deadly against things like your drones but not designed to deal with anything like yourself.

There are seven skimmers in the air. 5 of them are killed in the first repeater volley (4), and the last two manage to get off another pair of missiles each before they are destroyed (6). Now that your systems are warming up though, they present no challenge and are shot down well short of you (5).

The entire engagement takes only 2.653 seconds.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Kill Count (click to show/hide)

Joben · « **Reply #29 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:30:43 pm »

Spend a few minutes continuing repairs and making munitions; Harvest scrap to replace materials used.

Prioritize sensor repair.

Even though we don't recognize the skimmers do we suspect they were a human design?

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Author Topic: You Are Bolo: A Suggestion Game (Read 7330 times)

GreatWyrmGold

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Sirus

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Joben

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Sirus

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GreatWyrmGold

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Sirus

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werty892

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Sirus

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GreatWyrmGold

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Sirus

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GreatWyrmGold

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Sirus

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Parsely

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Sirus

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Joben

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