Stop reinforcements from cheating

[Jonathan8883]

I'm glad my kids weren't around to hear me cussing.
How is it that a lance of mechs can get dropped off in line of sight by a dropship and then act, all before I get to do anything?

Dropping a heavy lance behind my assault lance and coring an Atlas, killing a 10/10/10/9 pilot, all without me having the chance to respond? That's un-fun cheating.

 

[Packrat]

Long story short, ambushes are good. First turn attacks are good.

I disagree that these two things being combined is good. A strategy game spawning brand new units and having them attack immediately is akin to a platformer having completely nondescript tiles damage the player. It's something that exists outside of the challenges of the genre and becomes nothing more than a practice in memory.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

...Designing around the feeling of unfairness in a game is incredibly hard. You not only need to communicate to the player what is happening at any given point, but you also need to communicate to the player what they did wrong and how not to make the same mistake again...

Excellent point good, Sir.

In the Military we would use Mission After Action Reports to capture the essence of the just concluded Mission. HBS has each of the Mission’s Primary and Secondary Objectives, Planet, Mission Type as well as all manner of Mission Metrics (Total Armor Damage, Lost Weapon or Mech Limb totals, Injury Report, Enemy Battle Damage Assessment/Mechs Destroyed or Escaped, etc.)

A screen where all that is listed (and can be Screen Cpatured) would make for one heck of an AAR screen. Being all OCD, like I am, I would save all such AAR’s to Evernote so I can track trends and run some spreadsheets.

Not making the same mistake again, would be in my opinion be all the more possible with such a Mission AAR tool. : )

 

[Prussian Havoc]

I disagree that these two things being combined is good. A strategy game spawning brand new units and having them attack immediately is akin to a platformer having completely nondescript tiles damage the player. It's something that exists outside of the challenges of the genre and becomes nothing more than a practice in memory.

HBS is not specifically determining the players Mech Disposition and Orientation and then spawning AI Reinforcements in their Rear Arcs.

AI Mechs spawning in the Players Rear Arcs are totally incidental to the pre-match Reinforcement Coordiantes and the Player’s chosen Scheme of Maneuver.

That being said, I completely agree with @JibSail, it is good that the AI is a competent tactician capable of completely by coincidence ambushing the Player with first Turn Fires from its suddenly appearing Reinforcements. For me, this approximates an AI that is a Competent Tactician, who both recognizes the value of such a surprise Ambush and (even if by coincidence) sometimes BUT NOT ALWAYS achieves such Ambushes.

Of course, opinions differ Good Sir. :bow:

 

[JibSail]

I agree with you. However I think that "nondescript" is the issue and not the spawn and attack.

A good example of what I mean would be a pre mission briefing that shows a map overview and highlights possible reinforcement drop zones.

Even if you've never played on that map before, you would have a good idea of the areas to avoid and would expect possible reinforcements.

Another would be that the "reinforcements inbound" dialog from Darius pops up a turn before the units spawn.

Ambushes are a different story, since an ambush is an unexpected event.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

I agree with you. However I think that "nondescript" is the issue and not the spawn and attack.

A good example of what I mean would be a pre mission briefing that shows a map overview and highlights possible reinforcement drop zones.

Even if you've never played on that map before, you would have a good idea of the areas to avoid and would expect possible reinforcements.

Another would be that the "reinforcements inbound" dialog from Darius pops up a turn before the units spawn.

Ambushes are a different story, since an ambush is an unexpected event.

Excellent point. :bow:

Some Reinforcements could indeed be ground-bound and inbound, with Darius able to comment and give likely time and distance. That manner of reinforcement would offer some variety to the second phases of our Missions.

Though if the Reinforcements are supposed to be inserted by Dropship, pretty much the entire map is open to such introduction of forces, that is the whole point of Dropship insertion of BattleMech forces. : )

 

[JibSail]

Though if the Reinforcements are supposed to be inserted by Dropship, pretty much the entire map is open to such introduction of forces, that is the whole point of Dropship insertion of BattleMech forces. : )

I always thought that dropships would try to avoid hot lz's.

I guess there is space for a whole new game mechanic revolving dropships in and of themselves.

It's crazy how much detail can emerge from something as simple as spawning additional units. Probably enough to warrant a full expansion xD