[SPOILER] Defense: Panzyr campaign mission feedback

[Mad_Turtle]

This mission is so weird I signed up for the forums just to complain about it. So many parts of it just don't make any sense from either a gameplay or realism perspective and it left me with a lot of questions. Why is there a full lance of mechs hanging out in the center of your base? Why do you need to stop the APC when the barracks is already overrun with a troop APC sitting a few meters outside the gate? Why are the turrets offline? Why can the turrets only be turned on when APCs are gone especially when half of them are "surprise drops? Why are the APCs able to unload their troops immediately and safely while a hostile mech covered in anti-personnel weapons is standing nearby?

[Mod edit: Disrespect]

 

[Edmon]

This mission is so weird I signed up for the forums just to complain about it. So many parts of it just don't make any sense from either a gameplay or realism perspective and it left me with a lot of questions. Why is there a full lance of mechs hanging out in the center of your base? Why do you need to stop the APC when the barracks is already overrun with a troop APC sitting a few meters outside the gate? Why are the turrets offline? Why can the turrets only be turned on when APCs are gone especially when half of them are "surprise drops? Why are the APCs able to unload their troops immediately and safely while a hostile mech covered in anti-personnel weapons is standing nearby?

[Mod edit: Disrespect]

Welcome to the forums .

The turret point is the one that gets me. Why are my turrets always offline? You know if they got those running immediately, you'd have way more chance of surviving right? XD

 

[Mad_Turtle]

I'd love to hear the developers or QA team's perspective on why this mission was made like it is. Balance issues are easy to understand. Bugs and exploits are easy to understand. Whatever happened here isn't. Every silly, thoughtless, random element of this mission was clearly done very intentionally and I can't even begin to figure it out. Its almost like they drew ideas like "APC defense", "no turrets", "time limit", out of a hat and challenged themselves to stitch together whatever they pulled.

 

[Kereminde]

Okay, I finished this mission with both objectives. It looks bad, but if you've been keeping up with building your forces it's not terrible.

Spoiler: Tactical Analysis

Frankly, "need a Light 'Mech" is incorrect for the hilltop barracks defense, because you will be open season for any 'Mechs on the ground. I believe there were a couple enemy Light 'Mechs up there, like a Commando or something small and nimble which was a pain to take care of. What you want is something jump capable which can ascend quickly. A HGN-733 is not a bad choice, neither is a TDR-5SE. Also, short of a Panther a Light isn't going to have the firepower to destroy that APC.

Defending from the other APCs is a little harder as there are three on the ground. Two move around the landing pad on the right and one comes from behind and to the left - this last one is the one which ends up being a serious danger, since it also has a PPC Carrier helping cover it. Playing defense too close to the objective is an invitation to be forced to start over, as you need to be able to kill these APCs quickly and not have them get a chance to get in. Body-blocking is a possible answer, but more useful is focusing and having your best shots with hard-hitting weapons. This is not the mission to use the idea of a HBK-4P Discoback and fire a ton of low-damage weapons, because it will spread and not penetrate. If you still have your SLDF gift properly armed, it is your best answer. If you don't, a 'Mech with an AC/20 or AWS-8Q stock will be a suitable choice paired with a high gunnery. The enemy 'Mechs are not the primary targets, just avoid giving them back shots or a single target to pick on.

I wound up taking a HGN-733 (stock, save for adjusting for + variant weapons), the HGN-732, an AWS-8Q, and a Black Knight with a Large Laser instead of a PPC. Excepting some unfortunate consequences of the Schrek getting two salvos into the back of the Awesome I ended in good shape. The APC at the top took three turns to get to the barracks, and I started moving the Highlander 733 there as soon as the mission started, since LRM 20s can fire on practically anything below on approach. It had to contend with a couple smaller targets but the APC was not there by the third turn so I could move the HGN atop a wall node point and blow it open through the side with an AC/10.

It's likely I over-built my forces doing missions trying to fish and see if I could score an Atlas early enough. It's quite possible to do this with your special gift from Artru and some high-end Heavies. If you have Flashpoint then a Hatchetman is almost enough to send to the hill, provided you start to put it there when you begin; similarly a Battle Computer would be a considerable boon allowing you to enjoy a greater flexibility in handling those APCs.

I'd rate this story mission lower on the difficulty than some others, but higher if you want to do all the objectives. In either case it's not the most annoying one for bonus objectives (hello Smithon).

 

[newageofpower]

If you have an assault weight LRM boat this mission doesn't feel that hard... 2x LRM 20 (or even a LRM15+LRM20 if you're feeling lucky) will ice an APC and the rest of the LRM racks can be set on other targets.

 

[LongRange]

I did it with the HGN-732B, a 2x AC20 KC, missile boat and a JJ Orion with high armor. Sent the Orion sprinting and JJing up the hill and got the opfor APC before it got to barracks. Took a few hits to the rear armor doing it, so make sure your back can take hits. That activates turrets which gets the opfor mechs attention and takes pressure off your lance. Started the Orion back down hill to either back shoot the bad guys or draw attention so the rest of my lance could.

For the PPC carrier just let the APC get ahead, take it out then vigilance to reduce incoming PPC damage. Next round it will be toast.

From there it’s just a mopping up job.

 

[BARBOSA (Aries)]

On my part was 3 assault, 1 medium.
Blocked the APCs path with the assault mechs and rescued the barracks with 150m jumps and vigilance on my medium.
But this might be the hardest mission on main campaign. Only a few flashpoint missions are harder.

 

[Kereminde]

On my part was 3 assault, 1 medium.
Blocked the APCs path with the assault mechs and rescued the barracks with 150m jumps and vigilance on my medium.
But this might be the hardest mission on main campaign. Only a few flashpoint missions are harder.

Mmm, I found "Extraction" harder, but that was more due to going in blind (i.e. no spoilers) and the sheer attrition of a number of battles going on. I wasn't prepared and it brought me to losing Dekker's ride (but no, he got out with 90 days in the MedBay) and almost having the 732 take a dirt nap hard. It was easily twice as long as I had anticipated - I smelled 'trap' early, but did not anticipate quite the force which would be deployed at the middle and end as part of it. "Grave Robbing" was also harder but that was because of the caveat "Kamea must survive". I did wind up almost losing from an ammo explosion in that Kintaro shortly before the mission ended.

The difficulty for this one - in my mind - hinges on whether or not you care about the optional objective, much like "Liberation: Smithon". If you decide "screw it, sorry Kamea but I don't have time for that" then it's a bit less troublesome, but doesn't become as simple as Smithon. Having a 'Mech with a focused capacity for damage (Gauss, AC/20, AC/10 or PPC +dmg) will make stopping the APCs easier as opposed to raining LRMs or many Medium Lasers and hoping they focus on one area. Melee is a good tactic, but can render you vulnerable to the escorts in rear armor.

Step one for "Defense: Panzyr" really has to be

 

[Mad_Turtle]

I gave up on the secondary objective and it still took me four more tries. Two were due to APC's zooming by after missed melee attacks. On the third attempt the Catapult got a lucky volley off and blew up my Highlander's Gauss cannon so I ragequit. Damn you RNGesus