I had the presence of mind to take screenshots this time, so apologize in advance for the page bloat but I think you'll enjoy them!
Ryan Burrell (RedMenace) vs.
Zach Hartlage (LadyLegPenguin)
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THE MATCH SETTINGS
- Map: Rocky Crater
- Biome: Vacuum (Intense [35%] Heat Sink Reduction)
- Budget: 35M C-Bills
THE LOADOUTS
So, our preset brackets only go up to 25M so I did have to create a custom lance for this one. Still, I used the same approach to creating it as I did for the other presets (mix of 'Mechs built around a general play style, only one MW with an 8-point skill, etc.). It's listed below with MW skills in order as Gunnery, Piloting, Guts, Tactics:
- Atlas AS7-D (stock) / MW: Buckshot ( Multi-Targeting + Bulwark / 5, 4, 6, 4)
- Awesome AWS-8T (stock) / MW: Wildfire (Multi-Targeting + Bulwark / 6, 4, 5, 4)
- Thunderbolt TDR-5SS (stock) / MW: Mockingbird (Bulwark + Sensor Lock / 4, 4, 6, 5)
- Firestarter FS9-H (stock) / MW: Paradise (Evasive Move + Ace Pilot / 2, 8, 3, 6)
Zach's lance consisted of:
- Atlas AS7-D / MW: Apex (Multi-Targeting + Breaching Shot / 8, 3, 6, 2)
- Thunderbolt TDR-5SS / MW: Mockingbird (Bulwark + Sensor Lock / 4, 4, 6, 5)
- Thunderbolt TDR-5SE / MW: Buckshot ( Multi-Targeting + Bulwark / 5, 4, 6, 4)
- Kintaro KTO-18 / MW: Kraken (Multi-Targeting + Sensor Lock / 5, 4, 4, 6)
MY PLAN
I've played on this map once before waaaaaay back when against Connor in a trial run during its development. I know Connor had made changes since then so I assumed there would be at least a few differences. It's a small map, and the vacuum heat sinking penalty is *amazingly* fierce. I knew that above all I needed 'Mechs that were heat efficient, but I also knew that at this C-Bill limit I'd need decent firepower too... so a balance had to be struck. The Atlas is fairly heat efficient and beefy, and because this map is fairly small I didn't figure speed would be as big a factor. The Thunderbolt SS is just a solid 'Mech all around and with good heat handling to boot. The alternate, fire support Awesome is actually pretty bad at heat management thanks to its large lasers, but I resolved to use alternating fire with its LRMs to help keep that in check and also preserve ammo. Lastly, the big fear factor: the Firestarter. My hope was that I could goad Zach into an alpha strike or two and then use the Firestarter to take advantage. Still, in this cost bracket I was going to have to be
very careful about when I rushed in with the little guy or he'd be toast before accomplishing anything.
THE BOUT
So, I'll preface everything that comes after with this: this was a really,
really good match that had me on my toes the whole time.
The forces start facing each other with two large-ish hills separating them with a sharp ravine running between them. I sent my two Assaults and the Heavy up the hill and started sprinting the Firestarter around to my far left. I wanted to try and draw Zach's forces toward me to and in doing so allow the Firestarter to loop around behind, staying out of sensor range. Because the map isn't very big, I had to try and pull his forces to my right a bit. We spent the first ~5 rounds jockeying for position around the little hills and taking pot shots at each other - Zach frustratingly being smartly conservative with his play and not generating much excess heat. Here's roughly how we ended up at the start of Round 6:
You can see that thus far I've managed to move the Firestarter around the extreme left side, basically wall-walking it thanks to its jump jets and heat neutrality. The bad news is that Zach has continued to be reticent about crossing that divide between the hills and so in another turn or two the Firestarter will necessarily be within sensor range of anyone he may still have sitting on that hilltop. The plan is to reserve the Firestarter down to the last phase so that I can move it twice in a row when I spring my trap, but even with its crazy speed it'll still need to be fairly close for it to actually have the surprise factor I'm going for.
Fast forward a couple rounds and Zach has basically said he doesn't want anything to do with this fight I'm trying to pick with him here on the hills. He's oriented his force back down into the corner - likely suspecting by this point that he's being flanked since he's never made sensor contact with
whatever it is that's moving in Phase 4 - to cover his rear. As this is happening I realize it's now or never so I jump the Firestarter down from the lip of the crater, then back up to the hillside. Much further away than I'd like but I'm running out of options I feel. Plus you'll note that Buckshot in my Atlas has taken two injuries at this point so... the clock is kind of ticking for me.
I next sprint the Firestarter down the hill and behind Zach's Thunderbolt, making use of one more double-move by reserving down from the previous phase. Paradise fires everything he's got into the rear arc, breaching some armor, Overheating the Thunderbolt very slightly, and also scoring some crits with the MGs (thanks MGs!). Not quite as impactful as a shutdown but I'll take it.
However, such audacity is not without cost. I've really got to give it to Zach for his response, because a lot of players would freak out about a thing spewing flames into their unit's backside and try to run from the danger. Zach instead
turns his force around and pulverizes the Firestarter in one turn, knocking it prone and then focusing fire on it. He then efficiently reorganizes his forces into a solid wall of 'Mechs:
An important note here, because I do think it was a critical point in the match: I may have lost the Firestarter but its death came at the cost of Zach having to orient his Atlas toward it. That then allowed me several volleys from my own Atlas and Awesome (which Zach has never got a visual on to this point) into its rear arc, heavily damaging it and diminishing some of its weapon capability.
Zach's up against a wall (literally) and even though I'm down a 'Mech I'm still in good shape otherwise and pushing forward. Then... Zach jumps his Atlas up onto the wall for a height advantage, some Evasion, and braces. Another golf clap here for him because this was such a delightful surprise and so confounding because he'd kept it hidden all match. Now if I want to get to his Atlas at the center of his line I've got to deal with the still pretty fresh Thunderbolts on each end. At this point I'm wondering if Zach is some sort of secret tactical savant... and if maybe I've overextended. I'm glancing warily at the injured Buckshot's portrait around this time.
The next few turns felt so touch-and-go for me that I forgot to take screenshots. I've got my Awesome sort of stuck on the side of the hill, it can get down but it'll be out of range to attack and I don't feel like letting up the pressure is a good idea (it's also quickly running out of ammo). I move the Atlas onto the one, tiny sheet of ice on the whole map and pray that Bulwark keeps me up while I loop my Thunderbolt around to fire at Zach's Atlas's damaged left side. My Thunderbolt moves up and gets absolutely
hammered, falling prone and suffering two injuries in one go. Mockingbird's head is now on the chopping block, and it's sheer luck that she survives getting her last torso segment blown off via a Called Shot. However! She managed to buy the time I needed for the Atlas and Awesome to whittle down the opposing Atlas and Kintaro. My Atlas gets a two-fer, using Multi-Target to junk the final few points of CT structure from those 'Mechs in one volley. I manage to run the Thunderbolt out of harm's way, putting off the inevitable only a bit because it is *very damaged*.
I'm feeling good... but not victorious. Mockingbird is a single tap away from being a goner, my Atlas's armor has seen better days, and my Awesome is basically dry on ammo and I've had to Overheat it three times. Zach begins jumping his Thunderbolts around my side, keeping up the Evasion and presenting bad hit chances for already ammo-depleted 'Mechs. He's also moving outside the range of the Atlas on its ice patch (that AC/20 runs really hot!), so now I have to think about that, too. I turn the barely-alive Thunderbolt around and charge in now that it's down to zero heat - I get off some good hits but it falls in the exchange. We're now down to two 'Mechs each.
My Atlas moves up and manages to take out the leftmost. previously-damaged Thunderbolt. I'm feeling more confident in victory now but Zach A) doesn't give up and B) still has a surprise up his sleeve. His remaining - mostly pristine! - Thunderbolt jumps onto the outer lip of the crater, taunting me.
He then works his way around the edge, forcing my Atlas to close. In a last ditch effort, he DFAs from his perch, causing heavy damage to my Atlas but thankfully not dealing a headshot. His last ploy expended, I'm able to finish him off.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This was a
great match. Zach played very conservatively and confounded me at every turn - he refused to take the bait when I put it out and kept his cool (literally) despite fighting in our most extreme environmental setting. He even managed to surprise me several times (dat jumpin' Atlas!), which really says something given the amount of time I've sunk into our combat gameplay. There were at least three critical points in the fight where if things had not gone my way I'm fairly certain I would've lost. As it stood I won with an Atlas a hair's breadth away from death and a healthy but woefully under-gunned Awesome left, and that's it. 24 rounds of solid, intense combat.
No surrender from my side, never! I can tell you that my Firestarters were veeeeeeery agressive. I built them with additional leg armor in order to focus on DFA'ing. All the damage to the Jagermech was caused by a Firestarter with 2 Flamers and 4 MGs. I was so close to finishing it off! I mainly wanted to distract his sniper with this Firestarter, and it did work, for a while... One of my biggest mistakes in the game was that I accidentally right clicked on "Done" when it was the turn of my Stalker, so It ended my turn. I could've finished off his Kintaro way earlier than I did. It could've been a game changer...
