What is this about?With the discussion of the new Mechwarrior game, I got back into playing MegaMek. Since the last time I played, MekHQ has had the Against the Bot rules built in, making single-player games far easier to handle then having to roll for and set up everything yourself.
For those who haven’t really heard of it, BattleTech is a boardgame pitting giant robots ranging from 20 to a 100 tons against each other, pounding each other to pieces with lasers, cannons, missiles, melee weapons, fists and even kicking each other to death. There’s a supporting cast of infantry, tanks, helicopters and (space)planes you can also fight against, which tend to exist to show how awesome mechs are, but due to the combat system, can still hilariously blow up your 100 ton deathmachine with a single lucky critical hit to the center torso or head.
MegaMek is an open source project that recreates the boardgame on the computer. It includes MekHQ, which provides the backend to model all the supporting structures needed such as personnel, supply, repairs and maintenance, travel, etc.
For those who like diving into the universe behind BattleTech, You can also find a lot of information on
Sarna.net, which I’ll be making extensive usage.
With that said, I’d like to start a Let’s Play of MegaMek using Against the Bot, which allows you to pit your unit against an unending stream of scenarios featuring greater and lesser numbers of bot-controlled mechs, tanks, helicopters and hovercraft.
The starting year for my game is 3040. The last major war before the Clan Invasions has ended, but in the Inner Sphere, that doesn’t mean much. Low level skirmishing continues to occur endlessly, and there’s plenty of opportunities to make your mark.
This also gives the unit 10 years (10-15 contracts) to get their feet under themselves, expand and train before the Clans come calling and kick the crap out of everyone until Inner Sphere technology and stealing clan technology allows everyone to catch up.
Technology wise, at least in the beginning most mechs will be standard technology, which presents a different set of options and challenges before double heat-sinks changes the heat load for most mechs and all sorts of new technology comes onto the scene. The exception is the occasional SLDF Royal-class mech that someone may be lucky enough to generate with or that can occasionally be found in a special mission. Highly advanced, most of these mechs left with the Clans and served as the technological basis for the highly advanced Clan technology.
Hold Up, What to the Who Now?For a full description, you need a while to read through Sarna.net. For a short version, read
this post for a good summary of the factions of the Inner Sphere.
For a short summary of history up to now:
Humanity discovered a faster then light (FTL) technology in 2107 and used it to jump to Tau Ceti, discovering an Earth-like world that was suitable for colonization. This sparked a general rush out into the universe, and humanity expanded across the galaxy. Unlike other settings, no other sapient life was discovered, so mankind’s only enemy among the stars is himself.
It’s not like we need the help killing ourselves off anyway.
As humanity spread and flourished, interstellar empires rose up. The core worlds, those closest to Earth, formed the
Terran Hegemony, who are most important to this history for pioneering a walking tank, powered by a fusion reactor and equipped with an array of energy, missile and solid-shot weapon systems. This was the start of the era of the
BattleMech and the
Mackie, deployed in 2443 was the first of them. Of course, good things never last, and the design for the Mackie was stolen ten years later and spread to the other nations, who all started coming up with their own designs.
About 130 years later, in 2570, the
Star League was formed, uniting the Inner Sphere together under the Terran Hegemony, House Davion (Federated Suns), House Steiner (Lyran Commonwealth), House Kurita (Draconis Combine), House Liao (Capellan Confederation) and House Marik (Free Worlds League).
Humanity entered a golden age of peace, prosperity and advancement that lasted 200 years. However, in the waning years of the Star League the ruling family was murdered by a trusted advisor,
Stefan Amaris, a sociopathic monster who declared himself dictator and tried to take control of the Star League.
A brutal civil war broke out, and in the end,
Aleksandr Kerensky, Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force ended the rebellion by executing Amaris and his entire family. After that, the heads of the five houses met to decide who would be the new First Lord of the Star League, as the entire ruling family had been murdered. Each, naturally, elected him (or her)self most fit, and after a year of squabbling, they disbanded the council and decided that kicking the crap out of each other was the best way to solve the dispute.
Kerensky, disgusted with the whole situation, took 80% of the SLDF with him and headed out of the Inner Sphere in the direction of galactic north. 270 years later, the Clans will come from the galactic north, proclaiming themselves the true inheritors of the Inner Sphere, and seeking to bring about the rebirth of the Star League under their control.
Meanwhile, in the Inner Sphere, the so-called Sucession Wars will be fought. The first wars led to widespread destruction due to orbital bombardment and the use of biological, chemical, nuclear and fusion weapons on the battlefield. Particular targets were orbital shipyards and manufacturing centers for BattleMechs and other military hardware.
From 2786 to 3025, the First through Third Succession Wars ended with very few planets changing hands, but widespread destruction driving technology back centuries. The universe in general became pretty grimdark as civilization teetered on the brink of collapse and many technologies in widespread use being irreplaceable and no longer understood.
In 3022, things began to shift however. Houses Davion and Steiner formed an alliance bound by marriage between their leaders, and the other three houses (Liao, Marik and Kurita), likewise formed their own compact.
The Fourth Succession War occurred from 3028-3030, and for the first time resulted in a major shift in borders. House Liao had the crap kicked out of it and was reduced to a rump state, and Kurita also took major losses. The Free Worlds League (Marik) took losses as well, but generally came out better than the other losing Houses.
In 3034, the next major shift in the Inner Sphere occurred, when the
Free Rasalhague Republic formed in the galactic north, serving as a buffer between House Steiner and House Kurita. This reversed the Steiner gains during the Fourth Succession War, as most of the worlds they captured were turned over to the FRR.
The final war to occur was the War of 3039, which ended in a stalemate. House Davion stood to make major gains against the war-weary and reorganizing House Kurita, but called off the war when the brilliant tactics of the Kurita General of the Army (and heir apparent) Theodore Kurita created a bluff that the Draconis Combine was in a far better position that it really was.
For all that the next decade would come to be called the decade of peace, peace is a relative term. The great houses skirmish endlessly along their borders, and intrigue within one of the great star nations can pit one noble against another on the battlefield. Pirates are also an ever-present threat, as the star systems on the map are only the settled ones, and many other stars can serve as a temporary lair for pirates to strike from. There is plenty of work for mercenaries, and that is where we come in.
What’s the plan, then?This is going to be a hybrid Let’s Play, combining screenshots and after-action reports with sections of creative writing. The game will focus on a mercenary unit and its campaigns as it pursues the almighty C-bill.
Generally speaking, more content should be posted once or twice a week, and will cover a couple weeks of in-game time.
Forum goers will be able to submit their name, callsign and history to be included in the unit as more mechwarriors sign up and new mechs are acquired. You will also be asked to vote between available contracts and other important decisions as they come up.
Death is a very present possibility - no matter who you are, a missile to the cockpit can end your career in a single unlucky round.
The first step in the Against the Bot campaign system is to create the initial company. It consists of 12 MechWarriors (with or without mechs) and 12 support personnel – in this case, 10 MechTechs (to fix the mechs), a Doctor (to fix the people) and an Administrator (to fix the paperwork.)
If you’d like to submit a character, reply to the thread with the information below:
Name:
Callsign:
Age:
Birthdate:
Gender:
Nation of Origin:
Bio:
If you want a random nation of origin, roll 1d20:
Something to think about in the bio: How did you come to possess a mech? Why are you a mercenary? And why are you joining a brand new outfit instead of an established unit?
Player Characters
Captain Han "Rebel" Zoku -
HanzokuLieutenant SG Jack "Euchrejack" Eustance -
EuchreJackLieutenant SG James "Knave" Brenner -
KnaveLieutenant JG Zhou "Anvil" Smythe -
AnvilfolkSergeant Konrad "Little Dog" Lai -
RedKingCorporal Roger "Raptor" Williams -
GentlemanRaptorPrivate Kevin "Neonivek" Collider -
NeonivekPrivate Alexander "Thermo" Roberts -
TaricusRecruit Xidonius "Lil Brother" Oniislyvia -
XardalasRecruit Martin "Lucky Bastard" Johnson -
Rince Wind
Current Unit Formation
Poll
4 (100%)
Author
Topic: Let's Play MegaMek (Against the Bot campaign) (Read 74939 times)