The OMG!.. That's BattleTech Moment

[MeiSooHaityu]

I wanted to share a moment in BattleTech that was so absolutely spectacular, I don't think anything will be able to match it at quite this same level for me going forward.

It took place in the 'Steel Beast' Flashpoint, so it will be inside the Spoiler box below. Here it was...

Spoiler

I'll post my retelling below, but TLDR is at the bottom...

So I started the 'Steel Beast' Flashpoint. I came at it with the Commander SpecWarrior in a Hunchback 4G (Pretty Stock, but with an A/C20++(+20 Stab Damage) and a Small Laser ++ (+5 Damage) to go along with the 2 Medium Lasers), A Centurion A, a Kintaro (my scout), and a Griffin S.

The first two missions were relatively uneventful. I Had destroyed his "Retinue" with only the Centurion taking some minor Internal damage to the left torso. All other damage was armor related on the other mechs, so I just deployed the same lance in the next mission to take the broadcast station and that went pretty well also (only internal damage to the Hunchback 4G's leg.

Overall I was feeling pretty confident about this Flashpoint going forward. I could handle anything...

The Last Mission...The Showdown...That is where things became very unexpectedly tense.

I decided to go 1 v 1 with the Steel Beast and decided to take my Hunchback 4G (almost a deadly mistake). As a Solaris Gladiator I figured he would keep his word. We were televising this, if he cheated, it could ruin his career I thought. Well, I was wrong.

The Mission starts and a lance of 2 Galleons, A Locust, and a Panther comes at me from the side. I stopped my sprint towards the Steel Beast (scooting from forest to forest) to divert to the now threatening lance. They were very Ramshackle, and didn't pose much threat, but they were pinging me, and worse, they were distracting me enough for the Steel Beast's Crab to keep pinging me with his A/C5+ at distance as he closed in. The diversion to the unexpected lance also left me caught out in the open so I had no initial protection. The Crab's A/C5 was chipping away at me.

By the time I cleared the Lance (3 turns later), the Crab was on me, and I had taken some minor damage. Luckily, I was able to get one shot on him that sheared off his A/C5 arm (the one thing that might have saved me) What I didn't realize was he had those Flamers, and I was hot from dealing with the Lance and taking that shot at him.

He hits me, and shuts me down with his Flamers (doing a lot of damage), He then gets in my rear arc and lights me up (with his Medium lasers and Flamers). Once I can get back powered up, I took we exchanged fire again, and again he hit me with flamers. My Hunchback was too slow to get away and being in forest didn't help my movement.

TLDR resume point about here...

I took an assessment of my situation. I had no rear armor and moderate internal damage in all torso locations but my right hump. That hump was far worse... I had no armor front or back and was down to single digit internals in that location. His Flamer fuel was gone, but if one..ONE..Medium Laser hit there, my main weapon was gone. He on the other hand was fairly fresh except for that missing A/C5 arm.

I was SCREWED I thought...

I probably mistakenly moved into his front arc (in hindsight should have gone to the side and tried to take a leg). I was still hot and couldn't fire everything without fear of blowing up my right torso due to internal overheat damage. All I could really fire was the A/C20 and the small laser.

Things were bleak, but I had a Precision Strike, so I decided to use it. As the targeting paper doll pops up, I mouse over the head... 5% chance to hit... I think, Screw it! Everything on him was pretty fresh, I have no obvious locations on him to strike at because he is relatively fresh. So, I select the head and click 'Fire'...

'Head Destroyed'...The mech goes down..."What?!? Really!?! OMG! SpecWarrior you magnificent B******! You did it!!!! And with a 5% chance!

That Hunchback was one of the gods on the battlefield that day. Best of all, everyone on Solaris VII got to see it . I hope Duncan Fisher would have been proud. ​

In 300+ hours of gameplay I have never pulled off something so absolute clutch. I couldn't stop thinking about it all yesterday and even this morning.

Now I need to figure out what I am going to do with the Steel Beast's Custom Crab. Regardless, both it and that Hunchback are going to stay in my Inventory as trophies no matter how much I might out grow them. It is my reminder of the luckiest play I had ever pulled.

Have you had one of those "That's BattleTech" moments where things either went really well, or just really bad within a moments notice? Where the RNG just pulls off something amazing, or in one fell swoop, just dooms an entire run? I think it would be cool to share .

 

[Nakkivene]

The only exciting success I can remember is decapitating an Orion, my first or second heavy mech. Assassination mission, walk up, first ac-10 shot and boom!

The most vivid imagery of failure I have in my mind is the numerous times a tank has multiple locations at single-digit structure points and just rolls up to kill one of my guys. At which point I try to kick it, only to miss.

 

[BunglingLummox]

My only comment is to be wary of the BSC-27. It's rather buggy, and if you put it in storage it will never come out again, preferring to vanish into the aether (having it in storage will also eventually break the shop).

 

[mjbroekman]

Agreed. It's those lucky headcaps (p-shot or not) that are really "OMG! BattleTech is f'ing amazing!" moments.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

My only comment is to be wary of the BSC-27. It's rather buggy, and if you put it in storage it will never come out again, preferring to vanish into the aether (having it in storage will also eventually break the shop).

Good to know. I have it currently in my active inventory, and do plan to use it. I think the standard Crab seems to be more useful, however I think the BSC version will be decent.

The only exciting success I can remember is decapitating an Orion, my first or second heavy mech. Assassination mission, walk up, first ac-10 shot and boom!

The most vivid imagery of failure I have in my mind is the numerous times a tank has multiple locations at single-digit structure points and just rolls up to kill one of my guys. At which point I try to kick it, only to miss.

One of my more devastating losses was during a campaign run. I think it was Medusa that was knocked down in one of my Centurions, and then the AI ran up and stomped the head, killing the MechWarrior instantly. The mech wasn't too badly damage either and could have survived otherwise. It could not however survive a litteral...boot to the head.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Agreed. It's those lucky headcaps (p-shot or not) that are really "OMG! BattleTech is f'ing amazing!" moments.

Yeah, and I have a feeling that had it not happened, I would have either been destroyed or forced to withdraw and I would have had to do it all over again. :/

 

[MaP_Prime]

I had a recent game in Flashpoint, just not in a flashpoint, where I was out tonned by the opfor lance. It was my two Quickdraws, Wolverine and Kintaro up against a Dragon, Thunderbolt, Jagermech and Orion. I thought I was screwed, and don't get me wrong three of my mechs were shot to pieces but still standing by the end of it. I forget the details of it all, but I decided to fight it out instead of abandoning the contract. I funneled the enemy into a narrow passage where filled with trees so I could stay in cover, did my best to maneuver around to get back shots and one by one I brought the whole lance down. It was such a thrill to see the last enemy mech fall when I had most of my mechs teetering on the edge and some of my mechwarriors one random head hit away from an early grave.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I had a recent game in Flashpoint, just not in a flashpoint, where I was out tonned by the opfor lance. It was my two Quickdraws, Wolverine and Kintaro up against a Dragon, Thunderbolt, Jagermech and Orion. I thought I was screwed, and don't get me wrong three of my mechs were shot to pieces but still standing by the end of it. I forget the details of it all, but I decided to fight it out instead of abandoning the contract. I funneled the enemy into a narrow passage where filled with trees so I could stay in cover, did my best to maneuver around to get back shots and one by one I brought the whole lance down. It was such a thrill to see the last enemy mech fall when I had most of my mechs teetering on the edge and some of my mechwarriors one random head hit away from an early grave.

It sounds intense. I love fights like that. Ones that you almost want to Withdraw, but decide to hang in there and see it through, and at the end were amazed you made it through at all.

 

[BunglingLummox]

Just recently I started a new career and attempted a 1 skull merc battle contract with the starter lance (using the Spider over the Jenner, because it was a desert biome and I wanted to keep the Jenner pristine for the next one). Imagine my surprise when the game pitted me against a full lance of fully armoured mediums (Hatchetman, Griffin, Enforcer, Vindicator).

I would have withdrawn, but I decided to at least have a stab at it - salvage for any one of those mechs would be a huge payoff. After some initial maneuvering, my opening gambit was to DFA the Hatchetman's rear arc with the Spider. Can you see where this is going? Yup, ammo detonation, instant kill. Suddenly things looked much more manageable.

Much fiddly heat and evasion management later, I stood victorious atop a heap of my defeated foes. I mean, I say victorious. I ended up using both of my priority salvage picks on weapons (I needed the Large Laser and PPC to replace the ones I had shot off my Commando and Panther) and I limped away with not a single mech part for my trouble.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Just recently I started a new career and attempted a 1 skull merc battle contract with the starter lance (using the Spider over the Jenner, because it was a desert biome and I wanted to keep the Jenner pristine for the next one). Imagine my surprise when the game pitted me against a full lance of fully armoured mediums (Hatchetman, Griffin, Enforcer, Vindicator).

I would have withdrawn, but I decided to at least have a stab at it - salvage for any one of those mechs would be a huge payoff. After some initial maneuvering, my opening gambit was to DFA the Hatchetman's rear arc with the Spider. Can you see where this is going? Yup, ammo detonation, instant kill. Suddenly things looked much more manageable.

Much fiddly heat and evasion management later, I stood victorious atop a heap of my defeated foes. I mean, I say victorious. I ended up using both of my priority salvage picks on weapons (I needed the Large Laser and PPC to replace the ones I had shot off my Commando and Panther) and I limped away with not a single mech part for my trouble.

It sounds like the Spider was the MVP of that battle.

Bummer you weren't able to claim any mech part salvage for the trouble.

 

[yrrot]

The game is just full of those moments that RNG makes for a great show. I've never played BT on the table, but played enough other TT games to know what the OpFor's face would have looked like when the dice just decided I needed to win.

While the AC/10++ or AC/20 headcap is a great dice roll, I still like one shotting mechs due to ammo explosions. First OpFor crests hill, Awesome shoots some PPCs to soften them up, and just happens to do enough damage to the same component to breach the armor and crit the ammo. Dead OpFor. Like, how many times did I just roll perfect there?

 

[gh0s7]

It sounds like the Spider was the MVP of that battle.

Bummer you weren't able to claim any mech part salvage for the trouble.

Oh, I don't know, it's a common occurrence to me in early games to be metaphorically praying to have specific equipment spawned in the stores of the system I'm travelling to, and even more in hoping to get the equipment in salvage instead of the mechs.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Oh, I don't know, it's a common occurrence to me in early games to be metaphorically praying to have specific equipment spawned in the stores of the system I'm travelling to, and even more in hoping to get the equipment in salvage instead of the mechs.

I will say this about early Career Mode. I wasn't expecting Medium Lasers to be such a scarce commodity . I don't know how many times I could have used a Medium Laser in the early game, but had to make something else work.

Even right now, I am dealing with a shortage of SRM4s, and I am far enough to have a healthy roster of Medium Mechs and close to getting a couple Heavy mechs. I have a Kintaro that I want to put some SRM4s in for heat management, but can't because I just can't find as many as I need (and I don't want to rework other mechs that have them).​

 

[yrrot]

I will say this about early Career Mode. I wasn't expecting Medium Lasers to be such a scarce commodity . I don't know how many times I could have used a Medium Laser in the early game, but had to make something else work.

Even right now, I am dealing with a shortage of SRM4s, and I am far enough to have a healthy roster of Medium Mechs and close to getting a couple Heavy mechs. I have a Kintaro that I want to put some SRM4s in for heat management, but can't because I just can't find as many as I need (and I don't want to rework other mechs that have them).​

"Well, my Jenner lost an arm, I guess I'll just go buy some new medium lasers to replace...", checks store, "...make that one medium laser and a heat sink, I guess".

I really like that change, as it makes the early game far more interesting.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

"Well, my Jenner lost an arm, I guess I'll just go buy some new medium lasers to replace...", checks store, "...make that one medium laser and a heat sink, I guess".

I really like that change, as it makes the early game far more interesting.

I agree. I like working around the scarcity of the market. It has required me to become a bit more creative at times. Either I am trying a new loadout, or hoping I don't need the Spider, so I rob 2 Medium Lasers from it to replace the 2 that got blown off my Jenner on a previous mission .

 

[OgreMkV]

I had a "sigh" moment today. Behemoth took 5 head shots in the same match. I had the cockpit mod so she was able to ignore the first 3, but then took another one and, finally a PPC to the head. She was in her Shadow Hawk and after the cockpit absorbed the first three hits, I put her at the back. Still a critically damaged firestarter managed a ML shot between all three other mechs and hit the head. Then a Panther did the same thing, from much further away.

Literally, hers was the only mech that had any internal damage and every single internal was on the head.

Good grief.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I had a "sigh" moment today. Behemoth took 5 head shots in the same match. I had the cockpit mod so she was able to ignore the first 3, but then took another one and, finally a PPC to the head. She was in her Shadow Hawk and after the cockpit absorbed the first three hits, I put her at the back. Still a critically damaged firestarter managed a ML shot between all three other mechs and hit the head. Then a Panther did the same thing, from much further away.

Literally, hers was the only mech that had any internal damage and every single internal was on the head.

Good grief.

Oh WOW!

 

[Jonathan8883]

I had a pilot one-shotted out of a pristine King Crab. Victor AC20 to the face.
She did not survive.

 

[stjobe]

My latest "OMG!...Well, that's BattleTech for ya" moment I retold here. From a promising career to a washed-up dispossessed bum drinking in cheap dives, always going on and on about how great it could have been in just nine turns...

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

My latest "OMG!...Well, that's BattleTech for ya" moment I retold here. From a promising career to a washed-up dispossessed bum drinking in cheap dives, always going on and on about how great it could have been in just nine turns...

Oh No! That really stinks!

Luckily it looks like you have enough funds to rebound back, although you might be cutting it close.

It's a hard decision to click that Withdraw button. You want to complete the mission, and don't want to consider that maybe it is time to run. Sometimes I myself have to remember that it is a business, and sometimes I need to protect my investment.

In the immortal words of Kenny Rogers...

"You have to know when to hold 'em...Know when to fold 'em...Know when to walk away...Know when to run".