Pilot Net megagame testing

[spare bay]

Recon only gets 1 piece of equipment. Line Infantry are the special ones who get 2

[weary stump]

I’m down to do some lore for the steel dawn

[dim spade]

This is old lore

from back when I was a Battlegroup playtester

[willow ferry]

ell yeah, im gonna start writing something soon

[dim spade]

https://i.imgur.com/R1Go5Ws.png

I'm remembering all the old memes of me playtesting

[weary stump]

What happened to you?

[dim spade]

I got dunked on on like 5 seperate occassions that required fundamental rule changes to the game

https://i.imgur.com/rY9FQh3.png

[weary stump]

You lost so hard the game fundamentally changed its rules

[lyric harbor]

oh whoops

Just taking the chassis lance then

Recon snipey boys

@vocal scarab besties

[weary stump]

Gonna sneak around a railgun in your hand?

[vocal scarab]

besties

[lyric harbor]

https://img.sunrise-inc.co.jp/images/datacard/51_main.jpg

[weary stump]

Fuck yah

Also damn recons can move 4 spaces

You’re gonna be running around the map like nothing

[lyric harbor]

2 spaces if we're wading through shitty terrain most likely

but still

my plan is to hole up somewhere annoying to reach and keep supporting fire/suppress at range 2

and keep scouting for everyone

[weary stump]

Makes sense makes sense

Bringing the swallowtails

[dim spade]

"We put an Apocalypse Rail on the Swallowtail"

"What"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMGWJNRoWPE

[weary stump]

That’s how SSC made the death head

[lyric harbor]

Rules irrelevant q: what scale is the game for units? Company? Battalion? Regiment?

[wind yacht]

I don't know what any of those words mean

[lyric harbor]

That answers that question lmao

No worries

Basically 'how much stuff are you imagining makes up a single player's unit'

[floral patio]

I'm not doing lore until we get past the play test but people should feel free

[weary stump]

[icy linden]

?rank Pilot NET Megagame

[elfin knot]

addiech (Admiral)

Role added

Added <@&1310264693650362378> to @icy linden.

[icy linden]

Ahhh

[weary stump]

?rank Pilot NET Megagame

[elfin knot]

magmanaught (MagmaNaught)

Role added

Added <@&1310264693650362378> to @weary stump.

[lyric harbor]

?rank Pilot NET Megagame

[elfin knot]

sukithefox (Suki)

Role added

Added <@&1310264693650362378> to @lyric harbor.

[dim spade]

?rank Pilot NET Megagame

[elfin knot]

voytheboy (Voy)

Role added

Added <@&1310264693650362378> to @dim spade.

[slow copper]

?rank Pilot NET Megagame

[elfin knot]

ashieldofmeat (AShieldOfMeat)

Role added

Added <@&1310264693650362378> to @slow copper.

[wind yacht]

https://assets.forge-vtt.com/6748d258f7d2a582c141b871/Test Map Export.webp?optimizer=disabled

hell yeah it worked

[worthy pelican]

It's a map!

[slow copper]

If we use orbital drop equipment, how much information do the enemies get about where we deploy? (I am trying to figure out how safe it is to immediately rest to print new equipment)

[wind yacht]

Basically, the enemies have perfect knowledge over where you deploy

[worthy pelican]

That is easier than the GM trying to split their brain, lol.

[wind yacht]

Annoyingly, the output script also does not copy drawings or text

[worthy pelican]

Oh, that's an export from Foundry?

[wind yacht]

yep

[worthy pelican]

Nice! Does it show tokens?

[wind yacht]

nope

Just the background and tiles

[worthy pelican]

Yeah, OK

That's where I was getting stuck. The built-in thumbnail generator only does background and tiles, so I was trying to sink my hooks into the live PIXI canvas, haha.

[wind yacht]

Would anyone like to try logging in as a player to see the scene?
https://perijove-megagame-playtest.forge-vtt.com
player pw pilotnet

[spare bay]

It was just a black screen for me. Did you give vision to all the players? You might also have to have a token with vision to be able to see anything

[wind yacht]

I have token vision off

If I log in as a player I can see it fine.

[spare bay]

even then, do you need to have a token to be "in" the scene?

[wind yacht]

I don't think so

There currently are no tokens or actors. Do you have any errors in the browser console (F12)?

[spare bay]

I'm on mobile, don't have access to my PC

[wind yacht]

I see. Foundry might just not work on mobile

[trail fractal]

Didn't see any errors, could log in. Triangle, half circle, full circle, is that difficult terrain and terrain defence bonuses?

[wind yacht]

yep.

[trail fractal]

As far as I can tell: if you zoom in on the center of the map, you can't see what the tile coordinates are. Need to be a bit careful to identify the correct coordinate, but otherwise fine.

Map is missing airbases, and I assume you want to add some more things as well.

[worthy pelican]

I'm a little unsure how to handle the vertical coordinates. Is this space AB01 or AB02?

[trail fractal]

On the other side of the map

You get a number for the other half-rows, it is AB02 btw

[worthy pelican]

It's the same coordinate strip on both ends of the map

I think this illustrates my question better

[wind yacht]

The space is in line with only one of the two numbers

Each tile is in-line with only one row number:

[worthy pelican]

Ooh, I see. They're off-center on purpose to clear that up.

All good then 👍

[trail fractal]

The tiles at the other end are off-center aligned as well. At least that was the clue for me.

[wind yacht]

@livid geyser would you pin this, please?

[wanton ermine]

oh dang that looks sharp peri, kudos

big fan of the terrain symbols

[wind yacht]

Thanks!

[trail fractal]

Question: do water tiles have anything special going on, or are they open normal terrain?

[wind yacht]

Entirely water tiles are impassable

[spare bay]

So the half circle and full circle are just the "natural" terrain defense bonus? 2 is the max then in that case?

[wind yacht]

I know we are the union navy but it's been a long time since we did anything actually wet

[wind yacht]

yes

[trail fractal]

Naval "air"base? XD

[wind yacht]

Naval air bases are absolutely a thing

[trail fractal]

And how do we take them, if water tiles are impassible?
And can the enemy get to me, if basing wherever I want includes the water?

[wind yacht]

No ground units can enter water tiles

oh, for chassis wings

one moment

Can't park your fuel truck in a lake I'm afraid

[trail fractal]

That was expected XD

[vocal scarab]

Well, you could
just ain't going anywhere with it afterwards

[worthy pelican]

Hopes: crushed
Dreams: destroyed

The map looks great, well done!

[trail fractal]

Yeah, it is a nice map @wanton ermine

[wind yacht]

@wanton ermine made the map so you can direct praise and/or criticism at them

[trail fractal]

Question: do we know where the enemy units are when we deploy? And/or do we need to think about drop pods droping right on top of enemy units?

[wind yacht]

You will generally know where enemy units are, though it's possible to drop on some hidden scout units.

Actually, drop pods need a stance

You know, dropping in A stance would be funny

[vocal scarab]

helldivers moment

[willow ferry]

:)

[trail fractal]

Dropping in A stance sounds pretty nice when you want to bring air support?

[floral patio]

@wind yacht so is that little triangle in the middle the city we're... Defending?

What's the mission objective?

[wind yacht]

Defending that, and taking 2 of the other 4, I think

[floral patio]

There are more?

[wind yacht]

I will set up a proper mission briefing and send it soon

[floral patio]

Oh on the roads

[trail fractal]

I am not seeing any triangle other than the terrain triangles? Is it not loading or have I missed it?

[wind yacht]

That triangle of tiles is what Tohu is referring to, I believe

[trail fractal]

Ah, that makes more sense.

[willow ferry]

ok so i wrote some lore ill be taking criticism today (its so late god damn) ```the 23rd “Starhoppers” Mechanized Drop Infantry is a regiment specializing in CQC and rapid ingress tactics. They are often seen breaching various things, from enemy spaceships to trenches, and even urban environments. They were first formed on the hab-station “hvilestedet” a massive habitation complex near the edges of the long rim from there they were supposed to be sent to the dawnline shore as a peacekeeping force, but due to unforeseen events were sent to the other side of union territory to help fight pirates as the 23rd mechanised were deemed to be “not important enough to be at the dawnline shore” and so their misadventure began.

Currently led by Senior Colonel Harrison Carthage, and Major Tom Vilea, both veterans of the Starhoppers since its founding. They earned their fame in the Gramesa Sector where they were sent as a retaliatory expeditionary force against a local pirate empire, they spent years fighting the pirates that had entrenched themselves alongside other Union forces to break their chokehold on the systems. Spending many years displacing positions and performing boarding operations against the pirates.

Their most famous operation was the siege of Baidalon IV, a massive trade port that the pirates took hostage. Not wanting to endanger them the commander of the siege decided they needed specialists that were used to space combat and so, the 23rd were uniquely suited for the job as many of the troops were born and raised on stations, and spending the last 5 years fighting through spaceships, stations and trenches let them break into Baidalon and flushed out the pirates in the span of a month with surprisingly few casualties despite the tough resistance and made sure that as many of the civilians trapped were saved.```

[floral patio]

Yeah

My first thought is we have a lot of terrain fighting

So we probably want to focus on the two left cities

[lyric harbor]

Tryharding

Recon infantry with Aerial Camo and Chassis Lance

I organized them like a weird mix of recon and armor, which I guess they are

tank platoon org but with Death's Head/Swallowtail sniper teams

[wind yacht]

That rules

[vocal scarab]

hell yeah

[wind yacht]

Adversary units are up on the document

[heady moat]

we love a good org chart

[wind yacht]

Oh hey verry

When did you get the new pfp

[heady moat]

oh i've had this one for like a month now, it was supposed to be a halloween thing but i've been too lazy to change it back to a normal shroomish

When the arrival of the Union brought the war to an end, most members of the unit joined the Union Navy; few members had a home to return to, as the conflict had reduced South Harbor to a wasteland. The resulting 114th Operations Wing is now known for their unflappable demeanour and cold optimism: after all, they've flown through worse.```
(i never read Lancer lore that well tbh)

[floral patio]

Ok, so we're fighting humans here

I assume multiple people can be in the same hex btw?

Ok if everyone who says they'd sign up do so we'll have at least 20 people

😄

At this poiint

[worthy pelican]

Up to 3 friendly units and 3 hostile units per tile

[floral patio]

kk

[worthy pelican]

We can have a giant mosh pit. 😉

[floral patio]

@wind yacht Question about R stance and Local Recruits, do I roll the extra dice in the second round from Local Recruits, or is it just set to 1?

[wind yacht]

Maximum of 1, even after bonuses

[floral patio]

Hmm, might swap that out then.

Nothing else in perks is very good defensively tho'...

[wind yacht]

Determined

[floral patio]

Determined says "When Attacking"

So does Ambushers, Lancer Team, Pankrati and Superior are only useful in S or A stance

So Aerial Camo is literally the only thing that does anything if I'm in R stance

As it turns out lmao

[wind yacht]

Yeah, that's why support units don't get perks

[floral patio]

Yah. But even Reinforce is an (R) action

[wind yacht]

I don't really intend units to be able to take support actions and also participate in combat effectively in the same round

[floral patio]

Sure! But there's also not perks that do something other than help effectively participate in combat.

[wind yacht]

I don't necessarily consider that to be a problem

[floral patio]

Right.

Any chance of Support units getting to be able to Reinforce?

Or one of the equipments or systems unlocking it?

[wind yacht]

I could just add that to forge-2

[floral patio]

kk, I'd prob just swap to Heavy Support then

Also you never answered if the movement on Forge-2 is required?

Or can I sit in place and Construct twice?

[wind yacht]

Movement is never required

All movement specified in an order is optional; a unit does not have to move, even if an order says that it moves.

[floral patio]

Ah coo'

I do think more stuff that helps with defense could be cool in perks.

Even if they don't work in R stance.

[vocal scarab]

FTX c-21 "Flock Omen"

"Here at Farseeker Exotics we push the boundaries of the known and go further beyond, researching and homesteading planets untouched by humanity in order to make tomorrow brighter for us all. And of course, what kind of message would that be if our exploratory field teams weren't available for the public? For only a small sponsor fee, you can guarantee that the future will be found in your name! Our standard package comes equipped with twenty-eight personnel, four FTX-brand all-terrain light transports, and the peak of information gathering and security in 4 Histoplas-frame mechanized units - If you don't see it, they will! Deluxe package upgrades include..."

:// all the PR goons say theyre not intended for engagement, that the mechs arent weaponized or combat certified and that the teams arent all armed to the teeth. but past the legalese these are corp mercs by any other fuckin name and a lot less blame to hold. incredible that union hasnt smacked them yet. dont bother asking any of the grunts about the tech and chassis they haul around - poor fuckers only know enough to shut the hell up about it. you see some of these guys on the other team, watch it. this company is a joke but the shit they field is something way outside of their caliber

[vocal scarab]

I'm being self-indulgent

[wind yacht]

Yeah the tokens are looking good

[wind yacht]

Hello <@&1310264693650362378> testers - the first round of the test game starts Saturday. Round 1 orders are due <t:1733032800:F>. The unit list will be locked at about that time. Check the pins for all relevant links.

SITREP
The planet Arbora has been in talks with the Union Administration Bureau for formal membership for several years. As talks have neared their conclusion, a coalition of cities rejecting Union membership invaded nearby states in a bid to remove Union influence. The city of Saginaw has petitioned Union for aid, as the independence coalition moves to take the city and its spaceport and printers. Eager to forestall a repeat of the Vestan incident, Union Naval Command has hastily assembled a quick response force from neighboring systems. The UNS-LS Vistula leads the task force of subline transport ships. Lacking in orbital support, ground troops will be limited to local and bluesky assets.

OBJECTIVES
-Defend the city of Saginaw and its spaceport
-Take 2 of the 4 outlying cities, currently under coalition control

SCENARIO RULES
-To reduce civilian casualties, any Bombard effects targeting city tiles make half attacks. Coalition forces intend to capture the cities intact, but may discard this restraint if they become desperate.
-Saginaw's print facilities are available to Union forces. Any units that Rest in the city heal 3 HP and may replace their Equipment.
-The Saginaw regional spaceport (grid AK08) has been fortified by the defenders. It is a friendly airfield that is ready to receive troops on round one. Any units with the Local Recruits perk may start in or adjacent to Saginaw, and take their round 1 orders from there.
-UIB agents are in contact with informants in the occupied cities. Any coalition units in cities are visible to Union forces.

Roll call: if you have read this message and are still available to play, highlight your name in green on the signup list.

[slow copper]

• If you don't have Local Recruits or Drop Pods, where can you start?
• What happens to air units stationed on air fields when you move in/attack the air field? What if the air field that air unit is stationed in is taken by an opposing side
• Can a gravity catapult be used for air lifting?

Dropod gang: Where do we want to show up? My initial thoughts are that trying to take Muskegon plus it's airfield could be useful. Denying enemy air assets a place to land (though I assume they have hidden airfields somewhere) could be pretty nice. Plus then we can redeploy from the airfield after

Kalamazoo has too many units is a silly place, so maybe we shouldn't go there >.>

[willow ferry]

yeah, i think kalamazoo ends up being last due to its geography. but where do we drop, right at the airport or somewhere between (AS-02 and AV-04)

(also who else was in the drop squad?)

[slow copper]

Well, we only have to take 2 of the 4. Though I expect them to try and move in on us

Currently me, you, Tron and Ffzdf have drop equipment. If we want to be really aggressive, we could drop the combat capable units on the airport with the support at AS- or AT-02 (or add the support to the airport if we want to be extremely aggressive lol)

[bright nimbus]

If the drop troops want to do an aggressive push on the NW I can provide air cover

[willow ferry]

ell yeah that would be nice

[lyric harbor]

I'm on team 'take muskegon first'

leave some of us to defend and just drop onto em and roll armor up in support

[unique sequoia]

Hello, is it too late to join the playtest?

[slow copper]

Depending on what we see at Muskegon, we might want people landing at the Saginaw airport to push towards another city

[willow ferry]

i think so but ask @wind yacht for more info it might still be open

[slow copper]

oh, we can airlift back to space and then reuse our drop pods. That seems pretty strong

[unique sequoia]

If its closed, is there a way I could spectate it?

[willow ferry]

most likely i think the board state is going to be published here

[willow ferry]

(also where is the section on retreat? i cant find it)

[spare bay]

Retreats is the last section in Attacks and Hits, after Battles.

[spare bay]

afaik, today is the last day to join; just add your name and unit to the roster in the pins.

[wanton ermine]

much as I'd love to hotdrop into their faces, I think I'd at least like to drop Adamant Sky within 8 hexes of the Saginaw airbase, just so we can airlift reinforcements in if need be. From say, AS-04, if I'm counting the range right, I can apply the weapons of my unit to both the airbase and the city, and also allow for airlifts from Saginaw

also @wind yacht if us, the players, are expected to make tokens, could you provide an example of what you expect?

[unique sequoia]

I think not conquering Kalamazoo and sapping the two bridges that lead to it may be a good strategy

[willow ferry]

yeah so the real question is should our focus be topinabee or ypsilanti

[unique sequoia]

also, would it be possible to build a road + bridges over the lake (red)? or make a road towards the west (orange)?

this would shorten our path towards Topinabee

we focus our attack north, and our defenses south

[unique sequoia]

I think Topinabee is better, if we build that road

[willow ferry]

probably but that depends on muskegon

[icy linden]

Question

Where do we start

[worthy pelican]

Peri made tokens already and I've been painting them. 😉 Should have the rest done tonight. I assume the "token made" column is mostly for his own tracking.

[wanton ermine]

oh oki

[icy linden]

oh where's the link to the map?

[worthy pelican]

This post has the link to Foundry. Maybe we should get it pinned?

[unique sequoia]

I think I'll go with a Combat Engineers unit. Build stuff, fortify, defend the city and all that

[icy linden]

sweet looking at the map

where do you want my recon movement?

[heady moat]

the first post (already pinned) has it too now, actually

[worthy pelican]

Oh, so it is. Nice.

[unique sequoia]

my unit is ready I think

[bright nimbus]

It's been added to the pin with the player list and rules

[willow ferry]

so any ideas for a plan?

we did have the idea of dropping onto muskegon and getting hold of the airport up there, while we hold the south as the rest of the main forced went for topinabee

but is there anything more concrete?

[heady moat]

finding out exactly what the force to the south is would probably be pretty useful so we don't get caught off guard by a fast unit sneaking into Saginaw

[willow ferry]

oh yeah totally

[slow copper]

Oh, I missed the range limit on airlift. Yeah that makes sense (assuming we can airlift to a gravity catapult)

[slow copper]

@wind yacht it looks like Airlift isn't in the list of actions a Support unit can take. Is this intentional?

[trail fractal]

The Muskegon area sounds like a good idea for a drop. If you want a different option to compare it to consider participating in crushing the advance force and moving to Ypsilanti:

As I control an Air unit and the only known enemy airbase is outside Muskegon I would like to take that out. But I may be a bit biased.

[willow ferry]

thats true

[icy linden]

I have a scout unit

Hmmmm

[blazing basalt]

Oh hey I was just wandering through pilotnet and found this. I love me some megagames. When do signups end today, is it too late for a last minute player?

(Also hi admiral.)

[trail fractal]

Ask @wind yacht for if it is too late to sign up or not.

In the mean time, rules, map and player list is pinned.

[blazing basalt]

It looks real shine

[trail fractal]

It is still about a day and a half before we need to submit our first order, so there might be time?

[blazing basalt]

Looking at the units people already have it seems like another air unit of dedicated interceptors might come in handy?

[trail fractal]

Question: is the round 1 orders deployment and first order?
Question: Is the blue area where land units lacking special deployment can deploy?

[trail fractal]

Maybe, but we already have a dedicated SAM support unit as well. And people are talking about dropping near the only known enemy airbase.

So I would say an interceptor would be good, but make sure you have other orders you can give it as well.

[blazing basalt]

Monarchs look nice. Capable air cover, and capable of softening up an area if we gain air superiority.

[trail fractal]

Yeah, it looks real nice

I like the range upgrade on it too.

[lyric harbor]

A lot of us took Aerial camo precisely because we're afraid of getting caught out and strafed/bombed to death

so I'm fully on board with neutralizing enemy air cover

[blazing basalt]

OR 8 and fairly free basing means I can essentially just take a quarter of the map and cover it.

(Cover it effectively? Different story.)

[wind yacht]

It is not too late to join. Put your name down in the signup list (link in pins)

[wind yacht]

• You start in space and Airlift down to an airfield.
• If an airfield is taken by ground units, air units in that airfield are destroyed. I should add that to the document somewhere
• Gravity catapult cannot be used for airlift.

Also, good morning folks. Before you all plan the operation I do need to add more hostile contacts to the map

[wind yacht]

uhh nope, I will add it

[wind yacht]

Round 1 orders will be Airlift or Rebase, unless the unit has the Local Recruits perk

[unique sequoia]

its not too late :D

[blazing basalt]

Ayyyy

[wind yacht]

yes, welcome

[unique sequoia]

should we pin the sitrep message, with the mission's objectives and all that?

[wind yacht]

oh probably

[wanton ermine]

😔

[wind yacht]

@livid geyser would you pin this, please?

[wanton ermine]

also, where are we meant to submit the orders?

[wind yacht]

The link to the order submission form - oh oops
It will be in the pins momentarily

[wind yacht]

done

[unique sequoia]

I'm going to defend the main city, who will be doing so too?
my plan atm is to build a shorter road towards Topinabee, and then fortify the south

[trail fractal]

So maybe half the players will have their first order be airlift to Saginaw regional spaceport?
The enemies are already pretty close, aren't they able to enter Saginaw city on this turn? Provided they get a turn while we deploy.
Sounds like everyone will be right in the thick of it.

[unique sequoia]

it seems me and Ammourazz are the only ones with local recruits so far

[trail fractal]

We also have people with drop pods/platforms

[wanton ermine]

I'm planning on dropping at AT-02, given I cannot in fact airlift troops

[livid geyser]

i'll need to properly absorb the documents and finish picking my options tonight

👀

busy work week

I don't have huge opinions on where to go, I'm happy to contribute to defending the main city

[blazing basalt]

Hmm. We'll need to see the enemy forces. I could make the terrifying decision, as a light unit, to rebase ahead of the main force and set up for interception in the future.

[wanton ermine]

@wind yacht can you airlift back to space from an airbase?

[lyric harbor]

I'm recon so I'd like to scout those possible enemy contacts

[wind yacht]

You can yes

[lyric harbor]

Do we start in field or do I need to take a deploy action

like idk 'airlift' onto the city

[wind yacht]

Yes, airlift into the city

[blazing basalt]

We are all in the one place uncorrupted by capitalism.

https://tenor.com/view/space-tim-curry-gif-7935778

[wind yacht]

The spaceport can only receive 3 units by airlift each round

(6 after it is upgraded to a FOB)

[lyric harbor]

Oh jeez, so we're gonna have to collectively agree on who arrives?

[wind yacht]

yeah

[blazing basalt]

I think the answer is definitely gotta be the support units, then

[wind yacht]

Or take drop pods and swap them later

[blazing basalt]

Drop in the scvs and get them to build us some nice platforms to land on

[trail fractal]

so bring drop pods or local recruits?

we need someone to hold the airbase, and support units ain't it.

[blazing basalt]

Ok so as a light air unit it'd probably be best to just rebase but do it like, right next to the city so I can get down turn one and start contributing.

[lyric harbor]

I think it's gonna be hard to contribute without people spotting for you

since iirc you're Vision 0

[wind yacht]

You can Bombard without vision of the targets

[lyric harbor]

also I'm biased but I think we could drop pod the 2 heavy support and then airlift the three recon units down to get some vision going

[blazing basalt]

I was thinking patrolling and trying to give our local recruits some air cover

[lyric harbor]

that would be good

y'know what we need here? poll permissions 😛

[unique sequoia]

I have local recruits, so I can just spawn in the city, right?

[blazing basalt]

But generally yeah I think our priority is trying to get our forces actually into the fight to start with, followed by gathering intelligence so we know where to put the forces once we're done with em

[wind yacht]

You should ask Winged about it

[willow ferry]

alright so where should the drop people go immediately south or should we wait or do the Muskegon gambit?

[wind yacht]

yes

[willow ferry]

we have solid drop potential and i feel like we should use it

[unique sequoia]

@wind yacht can I build on an adjacent tile?

[trail fractal]

I think we need more people with drop pods or local recruits, right now it seems the airbase can only let 3 ground units arrive per turn, and we have 8+ ground units that has that airbase as its only deployment.

Have I understood that right? @wind yacht

[lyric harbor]

I don't think we're gonna be particularly pressed in the first rounds

we're dropping 5 units round 1 plus 3 airlifted

[willow ferry]

fair

[lyric harbor]

that's enough for local security at least

unless we're gonna storm Muskegon

[unique sequoia]

I think I could build a temporary base turn 1 with the subalterns

that would allow 3 more people to airdrop I think?

[lyric harbor]

I think construct actions happen in the tile you are in

so you can only build half a base

[unique sequoia]

true

[lyric harbor]

but half a base is pretty good

[trail fractal]

If any of these units have move 4, we could be under attack in round 1, and even if not, they could still reposition into the city if we leave any of these 3 tiles undefended.

[unique sequoia]

half of TWO bases

TMC stands for Terrarium Mercenary Company

[lyric harbor]

lmao

[wind yacht]

Movement is optional

[lyric harbor]

if they have move 4, they're light infantry so we shouldn't have much difficulty defending

[slow copper]

Swap one of those for the combat engineers (so they can upgrade the air field)

[lyric harbor]

Oh so just deploy adjacent to the city and then build a base round 1

nice

[unique sequoia]

Nice

[trail fractal]

If we have local recruits on [A] orders, or [A] drop pods going into the city, otherwise they just need to survive to take the tile.

Like we could in theory lose the airport round 1.

[slow copper]

You don't have to do the move part of the construct action. So you can fully build a base with that one Support thing (can you confirm @wind yacht?, )

[willow ferry]

so me/the other drop troops drop onto the city in order to form a defensive line so we can set up bases?

[vocal scarab]

That's correct yeah, got clarified yesterday

[lyric harbor]

see here

[slow copper]

Oh whoops he double answered it while I was asking lol

[willow ferry]

(we as in the support units i should have phrased that better)

[slow copper]

Do we want to bail on the drop near the East city plan?

[unique sequoia]

I feel like we could use a better way to handle the macro strategies
something like:

1. talk all together about what macro strategy to take overall (for example, defend the main city and then storm the 2 northern cities, defending from whatever comes from the south)

2. divide in groups to accomplish those objectives, so that each group may organize the micro strategy among themselves

[slow copper]

I think it'd be really nice tempo wise to take it

[wanton ermine]

uh

well

I've submitted my order lol

[trail fractal]

Support units don't hold the field.

[wanton ermine]

and I don't know how conducive google forms are to changing them

[slow copper]

Ok. I'll come then lol

[unique sequoia]

it was a pleasure to fight alongside you, then

[willow ferry]

ik thats why i asked if the drop troops needed to come down near the city

[vocal scarab]

The gameplan of getting out some of our construction crews to fast track deployment sounds like a good one

[lyric harbor]

Units that can deploy Round 1

• 11th Airborne Infantry
• Adamant Sky (Heavy Support)
• Magonia (Heavy Support)
• 23rd Mechanized Line
• 33rd Line
• 40th TMC Combat Engy's

I think this list is accurate

plus all air units and THREE (3) chosen ground units

[trail fractal]

I think 2 local and 1 drop troop is okay for turn 1 city defence.

[lyric harbor]

and three (3) chosen ground units airlifted

[slow copper]

Hmm. @livid geyser I feel like a normal channel so we can make threads (plus actually search things) would help a lot?

[lyric harbor]

yeah

[willow ferry]

indeed this feels like it will get bigger (and thusly more complicated)

[willow ferry]

where were you dropping?

[wanton ermine]

AT-02

[slow copper]

Oh good. We have more drop pods. I think one unit drops into the East side of the city and the rest commit to the east city?

[wanton ermine]

as per what ASoM suggested earlier

[slow copper]

I'll drop there too. Do we want more combat capable units to drop into the airfield?

[lyric harbor]

If we're worried about an early rush, then we could mad lad and drop all three armored

@worthy pelican @sweet cobalt and @weary stump

[slow copper]

Shock and Awe

[lyric harbor]

that would fuckin' secure a city

[weary stump]

I am ready and willing for war

[blazing basalt]

I think the ideal spot for the 7th Group would be in Hex 7AM, immediately northeast of the city. Should be safe from those initial units and has a huge air defense range.

[slow copper]

(honestly I kind of want to ask everyone to take drop pods and we just drop into two cities and win the game potentially on turn 1 lmao)

[blazing basalt]

It's tempting, if not for the fact we probably have to hold em afterwards

[willow ferry]

wait quick question i can use the attack option when i drop using a (A*) order right or have i confused myself again

[trail fractal]

Not a bad idea, still need a local to hold the airbase for them though.

[slow copper]

You can indeed!

[willow ferry]

:)

[unique sequoia]

I am a local

Ammouraz is another rn, although his name isn't green yet

[willow ferry]

the airfield is AT02 right?

[slow copper]

AT-03

[willow ferry]

ive understood that right right?

[lyric harbor]

whichever it's more in line with

[slow copper]

AT-02 is the drop zone for the support units

[wanton ermine]

I am dropping one hex north because as much as I'd love to land a missile battery on top of them

[lyric harbor]

I'm gonna submit my order as 'chill in orbit' then rn

[wanton ermine]

that sounds deeply bad

[weary stump]

But think of the look on their face

As a whole ass fortress drops on their head

[lyric harbor]

consider the following: fuck it we ball

[trail fractal]

You could change aerial camo for local recruits if you want to?

[lyric harbor]

Nah I'm happy to come in later

[slow copper]

It is an extra d6 attack lol

[lyric harbor]

I'm recon so I can zoom to catch up

[trail fractal]

good point

[lyric harbor]

It's an extra d6 defend really, and recon should not be defending

....hopefully

[weary stump]

Also admittedly I need to look at the map proper

I haven’t had a chance to open the foundry yet

But I should be able to now

[lyric harbor]

don't worry, we only get to airlift 3 units to the map at once

I just suggested we drop all three armor units

and you can only go adjacent to the airbase anyway

[weary stump]

Oh, the invasion hasn’t started proper yet

We’re just doing the vanguard

[trail fractal]

Magma is one of those Armor units, which you know, but maybe it wasn't clear to Magma that you were talking about them.

[lyric harbor]

yeah- just drop pods, local recruits, and 3 units

also I know

[unique sequoia]

I have local recruits and can build, which is an [R] action after the combat phase. Where do we want a base?

it'd need to be adjacent to Saginaw

[wind yacht]

You could upgrade the spaceport to a FOB

[slow copper]

You can upgrade the spaceport I think. So I'd start there maybe?

[unique sequoia]

true

[willow ferry]

i guess then the second fort might be near the intersection of the two roads?

[vocal scarab]

Submitted - Flock Omen on standby in orbit

[slow copper]

Though it's kind of half a dozen one way, 6 another

[unique sequoia]

question: if I'm in the spaceport and I get attacked, but don't die, the enemy has to move back and out of that tile right?

[trail fractal]

No, it depends on the order you have and they have. If both of you have [A] stance then it depends on how the battle went, otherwise the one in [A] stance stays. [S] retreats before [R] but [R] is a bad stance for fighting, since you do almost no damage.

[slow copper]

I think the first wave of the enemy will get there before we can setup a base

[lyric harbor]

Fitting given the name

[willow ferry]

yeah but after that

[wind yacht]

Depends on stances and who wins the combat. See the section on Retreats.

[willow ferry]

once we stormed the beaches and made a FOB

[slow copper]

It depends on the order. [S] and [R] stance retreats but [A] doesn't

[lyric harbor]

But you also might be sharing a tile with other units

[slow copper]

And construct is [R] so you'll probably retreat before either side dies. Probably

[worthy pelican]

I've been skimming to catch up, but yeah my thoughts were that we should drop at least one armored unit

Didn't realize we'd be bottlenecked on spaceport capacity!

[vocal scarab]

It's a funny issue to have, but it makes sense

[weary stump]

How many spaceports do we have?

[willow ferry]

one

[weary stump]

Oh

[willow ferry]

so far

[weary stump]

Oh no

[vocal scarab]

Just one right now
But we can increase that to, 2-3 by next round with the heavy support engineers

[weary stump]

Ah

[vocal scarab]

Which should uncap our bottleneck pretty handily

[weary stump]

Yah making sure we can actually call down everyone is probably our best bet

[worthy pelican]

I'm just gonna go ahead and swap to drop pods so I can drop between the city and those hostiles. Hopefully we can win a reprieve and swap equipment relatively soon.

[slow copper]

You can also go back to space and drop again!

[unique sequoia]

I can build the base whenever then, but need someone to hold the ground in front of me

[worthy pelican]

Medics aren't terribly useful adjacent to the city anyway. 😉

[lyric harbor]

We still need 3 units to airlift down in any case

[vocal scarab]

Armour and maybe somebody with a good Bombard

[lyric harbor]

......we're gonna need our own google sheet aren't we

[slow copper]

... Mebbe

[weary stump]

I brought a howitzer for my armored unit

[livid geyser]

hmmm

I'll... think about it

[unique sequoia]

I think we'd need someone with an A order on these tiles:

[livid geyser]

I don't want to make new channels for individual projects

[slow copper]

Yeah, I get that

[vocal scarab]

I think we're fine for now? There's a lot of us but not so many that we can't organize in here

[unique sequoia]

how about a shared google doc folder?

[livid geyser]

or make a new discord

[unique sequoia]

we make a document for "objectives", write down which units could do it, what's needed, etc

[unique sequoia]

but you see, that's not needlessly complicated

[slow copper]

A discord would also be good (but is maybe a bit sad for people at home)

[trail fractal]

The spaceport provides better defense.
Also, we would prefer a local recruit to hold the spaceport so we are defending if they attack.

[worthy pelican]

If this becomes a 200+ person game in the non-playtesting version, a separate discord makes a lot of sense then

Dropping into the city for the defense is probably the smart play

[weary stump]

Yah we’re still a small game

[unique sequoia]

I gotta reread the retreat section again

[worthy pelican]

I was considering dropping onto that Y in the road. 😛

[lyric harbor]

You get more defense in the city as ASOM said

[weary stump]

wait where's the foundry link?

[worthy pelican]

Yeah, thus the smart play

[weary stump]

I cant find it in the pins

[unique sequoia]

so if I get this right, in order to not lose the airport on an attack we'd need to score more hits than the enemy, right?
because R stance units retreat after the 2nd round, but attackers retreat first so if they lose and retreat, I wouldn't have to retreat
@wind yacht am I getting this right?

[worthy pelican]

Top post, which is the last pin in the list

[weary stump]

thanks

[slow copper]

That was waar, but I appreciate that you think I'm that smart

[worthy pelican]

Armored companies are tough, but I'm pretty sure taking a 3v1 is a quick way to remove yourself from the game. 😉

[wind yacht]

A stance still retreats after R stance.

[trail fractal]

Just, uh have a unit with an [A] order.

[blazing basalt]

Hmm, maybe I should base myself in the city then.

But if I go just outside the city, my OR ends right on the enemy airbase...

[slow copper]

They probably can't attack the space port first turn

[weary stump]

wait how do I know what player I am?

[slow copper]

It doesn't matter I don't think

[trail fractal]

You can bring drop pods on specific missions

[slow copper]

Just pick a slot for now

[worthy pelican]

The players are just a big shared pool, all the passwords are the same

[weary stump]

oh ok

[unique sequoia]

alright folks, so to reinforce the airport 100% for sure I'd need someone on these two tiles, so that the combat doesn't happen on my tile

[worthy pelican]

I don't think we get to actually move anything anyway, since the order resolution is simultaneous by the GM

[unique sequoia]

its distance 4, a light unit could come there and make me flee

[blazing basalt]

I'm a light air unit, so I can land basically anywhere and have that be my base.

(Except the lake. ;.;)

[slow copper]

Oh, that's fair. Hmm

[unique sequoia]

we can bet on them not having light units there, but I think its a risky bet

[worthy pelican]

Yeah, we need to keep control of that spaceport for sure

[slow copper]

In the far future of Lancer, floatplanes are a forgotten technology

[worthy pelican]

I think that's actually a higher immediate priority than protecting the city

[trail fractal]

That is quite tricky, since we need a unit on [S] to move before a light unit on [A], it might be better to just defend the spaceport.

[weary stump]

to defend it, think its better to drop right on it or adjcent to it?

[worthy pelican]

Protecting the city is also easy because of the defense bonus, but I agree with Turi that we should make sure to screen that open terrain approach

[slow copper]

Oh, the issue is any combat unit being air lifted in is in the [R] stance

[unique sequoia]

another light unit on A also works, but yeah

[worthy pelican]

Oh yeah, that's a good point. 🤔 And the only units which could even take S orders this round are our local recruits.

[slow copper]

We might need more people to take drop pods (since we already committed to the east). You can swap them out though

[worthy pelican]

Well, I'm definitely game to drop into AK09, AL09, or AM08. Whichever we need more presence on.

[blazing basalt]

'Monarchs of the Sky'

A light interceptor flight sponsored directly by SSC, this unit of elite warriors are best known for their large collection of the somewhat rare Monarch chassis, appearing on the battlefield with a creative use of adaptive chroma-chassis paint and blasting speakers to achieve a stunning appearance that's as spectacular as it is deadly.

Or at least, that's what they'll tell you.  Each pilot is given gene-modding, designer pilot gear, and a company-wide stylist, happily living up to every stereotype of the entitled flyboy.  They might save lives with their air shows, but most infantry forced to talk to them afterwards take a long moment to consider when asked if they'd rather die then put up with them again.```

[worthy pelican]

Might be best to put an extra unit on AK09 (open terrain) compared to AL09 and AM08.

[trail fractal]

Drop in AK08 instead of AK09?

[worthy pelican]

The risk with AK08 is that a battle there would force our supports to retreat, regardless of whether we hold the hex.

[trail fractal]

Provided the enemy survives 2 rounds...

[unique sequoia]

if there are units in AK09 and AL08, I'd upgrade the spaceport to a FOB
if not, I can hold ground in AL08 or in the spaceport

[blazing basalt]

(Maybe I should set up on the forest of 7AO so I have the ability to set up to, t2, fly a patrol and get shooting on the Muskegoon assault and pibot back to our city defense if necessary.)

[worthy pelican]

Oh, R retreats after 2 rounds.

OK yeah, that changes things.

Though also, we can only have 3 units on a tile, so whoever we're airlifting in will fill that space

[trail fractal]

That doesn't seem right, how can a FOB recieve 6 units in that case?

[slow copper]

You can airlift to adjacent tiles

[worthy pelican]

Aha

[trail fractal]

That explains it

[floral patio]

I can swap back to local

Or drop pods

[worthy pelican]

Well then, maybe we drop into the red spaces and airlift people into the green space(s)?

[slow copper]

If you don't want to permanently change your build, drop pods are good

[worthy pelican]

And I understand @unique sequoia's local rec combat engineers are planning to deploy at the spaceport and start upgrading it immediately?

Or reinforcing, or something constructy?

[floral patio]

Nah I'm happy to swap back to my original build

[slow copper]

Oh huh, roads only give bonus movement if you reposition

Ok, that's good. That means they can't bring stronger units to attack Saginaw turn 1. I expect the three of them to attack together though

(and I'm guessing the one in the back is a support)

[worthy pelican]

That was my guess too

[floral patio]

I'll deploy on the bottom point

And Hold Position

AL-9 I think?

It's worth noting I think

That even if people are in R stance

If they're one tile south of the city

THey still stop the enemy from reahcing the city

They'll get bruised in the fight, but are probably pretty unlikely to die, particularly if they're together

And then can have the real combat units come in after

[blazing basalt]

Unless there's any obvious problems people can see with the plan the 7th flight chassis unit will rebase themselves into the forest of 7AO and prepare for combat operations on t2 when we can act.

[floral patio]

That seems pretty easy for them to murder you at

Why not just 8AL?

[blazing basalt]

That one seems easier for them to murder me at.

[floral patio]

Except we'll be all over the city

[blazing basalt]

And it's out of range of muske

[floral patio]

If you're at 7AO and any of them are 4 speed they can just walk over to you

On the following turn

[blazing basalt]

I did consider 7am, just north of the city.

[floral patio]

That's... Worse? They're south of the city

Again if you're not in a location that has our people on it

I'm pretty sure they can just move and kill you

[blazing basalt]

I am making the presumption that if they try and walk around the city where we're deploying everyone without droppods we'd just...kill em.

[floral patio]

Sure but you'd die first.

[blazing basalt]

(Also it'd take them two turns to get to me if I'm in 7am.)

[floral patio]

Yes, but we only find out where they moved after they moved

And if they're light units, we can't necessarily catch them if they just double move onto you.

8 movement from those locations ias a lot of range

[blazing basalt]

Ngh, fair. I suppose I could base in 7al and still be able to patrol onto their air base.

While being in the city.

[floral patio]

I'm just pretty sure if you're not directly where we can park a unit on top of you

You're at risk of instant death

[worthy pelican]

Peri did warn that there's some risk of landing on invisible scouts too. They're out there, we just don't know where.

[blazing basalt]

Yeah but if they maneuver onto 7AL, they're light units who just cunningly put themselves with no fortify movements right next to our defensive emplacements.

[floral patio]

Yes.

And then we trade you for them.

And that seems like a bad trade.

I think trading 1-1 for enemy units seems like a bad plan.

My assumption is here that we're going to have to fight more total forces in stuff than we have.,

That could be wrong, but I think assuming that it is on turn 0 is a bad plan.

[blazing basalt]

I'm not sure basing myself directly on the frontline is a good move though.

[floral patio]

Why I was saying the top city hex

[blazing basalt]

Ah yes, I said that at one point. 7AL, top city hex.

[slow copper]

If there are invisible scouts, there are probably some near that invasion force near Saginaw

[floral patio]

Oh, I thought 7AL was the one right above the city

[trail fractal]

You can still rebase to an airbase or to Tron (gravity catapult)

[worthy pelican]

It is. 8AL is the top hex of the city

[blazing basalt]

I'm a light air unit, I can rebase to anywhere that's not a lake.

I wish we hadn't made our monarchs to be water soluble

[trail fractal]

I know, so am I, I am just saying we don't have to.

[blazing basalt]

But anyway my inability to read a map aside, the top city hex seems like a good place for me to be. Can still patrol in the enemy airbase, and my OR gives me crazy airstrike range.

[floral patio]

😄

Lmao

Yes top city hex seems fine

We can probably move someone onto that on the 2nd turn

To keep you safe

But I think just "Where someone is defending" seems the safest

[blazing basalt]

Yeah. Hopefully the enemy doesn't do a brilliant double march around our defenses and set up in the city.

[worthy pelican]

Mhm. They could, but it would be ultimately suicidal so I hope they won't, heh.

[unique sequoia]

Yes, as long as there's more people around to defend the spaceport

[floral patio]

Turn 1 just Hold Position from me and you is probably the play Turi

From all the Local Recruits

Which is just the two of us and Amr

[worthy pelican]

A general question for the room then - are we more or less abandoning the plan to drop a bunch of stuff next to the airfield at Muskegon? Or are we planning to split our drop capacity between the two?

[floral patio]

Since everyone else has to be in R position

[worthy pelican]

Snagging a second airbase would still be really good

[floral patio]

I think dropping into an enemy city at the start sounds suicidal

To me

When we don't know how much stuff is over there really

[worthy pelican]

mhm

It was being discussed before we knew that we had to airlift everybody in. The drop pod team was thinking about all dropping up there to take it early.

[floral patio]

We have a total of 3 units that can drop and fight

Since our other drop units are support

[slow copper]

Tron already committed so we have to commit lol

[floral patio]

I would bet on them having more than 3 units around

[slow copper]

But the plan was to drop into the air field

[floral patio]

I mean... Tron could change their order probably lmao

[dim spade]

Me and Varmint are gonna build are guys tonight

our

[worthy pelican]

Yeah, the game technically hasn't started yet. I'm sure Peri would let Tron change orders, lol.

[wanton ermine]

An unfortunate limitation of google forms is that no I cannot

[slow copper]

I think tempo wise it'd be really good to take the airport from the enemy

[floral patio]

@wind yacht Hey Peri can we change orders once submitted

I bet we can

😛

[slow copper]

@wind yacht how do you feel about setting it up so you can change the orders

[floral patio]

Turns aren't due for like, 36 hours almost

[slow copper]

I think that's a thing you can do with Google forms

[floral patio]

I'm sure we can figure out the technology of "Change turns" in that time period

[slow copper]

Only if we switch taxes over enough

[blazing basalt]

Order put in. Hopefully by t2 we'll have better eyes on the enemy and can figure out what we're fighting.

[spare bay]

Can we get the map pinned as well?

[floral patio]

It is

[spare bay]

or whatever the most up to date version of it is

[floral patio]

You open up the forge link

[spare bay]

not the foundry link, but an image

or if someone would be kind enough to take a screenshot and post it

[trail fractal]

@floral patio Where are you deploying, and is it a stationary [A] order? (I am a flight type chassi, so I have some more options for where I base.)

[floral patio]

Here

In Hold Position

If I'm reading the map right and the south city position is AL9 anyway

[trail fractal]

Sounds like a good spot, probably not my first choice for a base, but I will keep it in mind.

[floral patio]

Yeah, idea was just

Holdddd

Holddddddd

Get attacked

Holdddddd

[trail fractal]

Yeah, it is good for you XD

[blazing basalt]

A dirty job, but an important one.

[floral patio]

😄

It makes me sad Reinforce is an R order.

Otherwise I'd do that

[trail fractal]

Fun fact, the enemy "sentinel" has Reinforce as an [A] order. XD

[floral patio]

Noooooo

Stupid AI

[spare bay]

how do you even know that lol

[unique sequoia]

Its in the doc

[floral patio]

It has the list of enemy units

Yeah

[unique sequoia]

So, should I build in the spaceport, or hold ground on the spaceport?

[spare bay]

since I'm behind, what happened to our hot drop strat? Am I still sticking to @slow copper?

[floral patio]

Hold ground I think

For turn one

[slow copper]

I still want to push for it. But other people are sketpical, lol

[floral patio]

We only have 3 units ATM that can not be in R stance

I think we all should

[spare bay]

Where did Tron elect to drop?

[slow copper]

Currently near the airstrip in the east, but he is considering changing his order

[floral patio]

Hey I mean if y'all go drop and die that too will be knowledge

[slow copper]

I made a spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZWDtChFxA2UVOhbFlOkwpyY6kIpzxvZlX1RZA2SeaRg/edit?usp=sharing

If people like it, pinning it would be appreciated

[floral patio]

I like that

[spare bay]

Drop Pod is *A btw, so we come out swinging

[floral patio]

On sure

That's nice at least

[unique sequoia]

Anyone planning on dropping south pf the spaceport?

[spare bay]

(can someone do me a favor and screenshot the current map?)

[trail fractal]

That, uh might not matter for this turn, you would have to have an [s] order to get there before an enemy light on [A] moves past.

[spare bay]

oh man, we're surrounded? oof

Tron committed to AT-02?

[slow copper]

He might change it if allowed

[spare bay]

hm

[slow copper]

I think it's worth discussing some more on the attack plan since there is disagreement and we still have a full day

[spare bay]

how reliable are these contacts already on the board?

top left and bottom right are the least defended apparently

[floral patio]

What is there is for sure there

We know there's hidden units too

[spare bay]

Was Peri still in the process of adding more enemy units? I assume more will spawn during the game.

[floral patio]

How many?

No idea.

[spare bay]

hm, I hope we'll have a way to see our collective vision easily

[floral patio]

It'll be on the map

Anything one of us knows, all of us know

We just don't know much yet

[trail fractal]

If you still want to attack muskegon airbase, consider having tron drop outside of supress range of the muskegon sentinel, or you could drop all of the people that are going there right on top of the airbase.

If you don't try & win a airbase drop, our air can help next round.

[lyric harbor]

Tohu, don't forget to turn your name green in the sheet for roll call

[floral patio]

I did I thought

[spare bay]

but it's also important to know what we don't know, hence being able to easily tell what's outside our vision

[floral patio]

Yeah

It's green

[lyric harbor]

oop my bad, it didn't sync since ages ago

[floral patio]

rom, Ryo, shieldofmeat, thrantar, amr, voy, varmint, and winged

[unique sequoia]

alright, I'll hold ground on the spaceport then

[floral patio]

Are the people who aren't green

[spare bay]

If we decide to drop on them, we should just go directly on top and force a battle right from the start imo

[slow copper]

So, there are currently 9 units that have to come in via an airfield. If you don't build turn 1*, they will take until turn 3 either way to get them all in.

• @wind yacht: If a combat engineer (Medium) builds on a turn and completes a Base/FOB upgrade, can more Heavy troops airlift in that turn?

Oh whoops. I thought really hard about making myself green last night lmao

[floral patio]

I think if we use the drop pods for defense, it makes sense

To build

[weary stump]

Steel Rain

[floral patio]

Otherwise I think me and Turi need to hold position

[unique sequoia]

I could build it in the first turn if we had a light unit with drop platform to spawn below the spaceport tho

[floral patio]

The risk of losing the spaceport and/or city if we don't hold position is just really high IMO

If we're the only ones able to defend turn 1

[unique sequoia]

I know, it'd still be nice if we had someone more there tho

[floral patio]

Yah, agreed

[slow copper]

Really I want to convince more people to take drop pods since you can swap them out with Saginaw's printers

[floral patio]

Or at a base

You can also swap out once we have a base

[slow copper]

Well, it has to be a FOB, but yeah

[spare bay]

you have to get back there tho is the thing

[slow copper]

(or near me!)

Oh, re units in cities, from the sitrep:

UIB agents are in contact with informants in the occupied cities. Any coalition units in cities are visible to Union forces.

I think this means we know what units are precisely in a city?

[spare bay]

drop pods being reusable is also kinda nice though, but it's pretty slow to do so

[floral patio]

Yeah

Just not necessarily around them

[slow copper]

Eh, way faster than moving normally if you have an airfield

[floral patio]

I mean I don't think the expectation is we win quickly tbh

[slow copper]

True

I don't think the expectation is we all take drop pods and bumrush the cities >.>

[floral patio]

It would be very funny.

I think technically if we all take drop pods we can win turn 1

[slow copper]

Look, either we win immediately or die horribly. Either way it would be hilarious

[floral patio]

With what we're seeing on the cities

[spare bay]

I'm kinda also just wondering how actually useful Airmobile will be. They're pretty reliant on everyone else setting up bases for them.

I'm kinda just holding out as the only one right now, for testing purposes

[floral patio]

Well, me and Turi

😄

We're the only ones who can make bases

[slow copper]

I think it also depends on how rebasing dropships work. Tron is also an airfield lite

[floral patio]

For what it's worth, I expect to spend most of the game making roads and bases

I also expect us to gain ground kinda slowly

If this plays anything like the main games did

[spare bay]

Unless Peri changed it, last I asked, you just rebase the dropships as a separate order, which doesn't affect the infantry unit other than not being able to fly that turn

[floral patio]

We'll be spending most of the time not advancing

[slow copper]

Oh yeah, we definitely have to creep forward after initial drops. But I don't know if the original game allowed as aggressive drop pods?

[spare bay]

Was it also the case in the og game that once your unit is destroyed, you're just out of the game? That's the main thing I'm worried about

[slow copper]

I think it is also good as a scouting thing. As you can go check a bunch of random spots

Yeah, that's how it works here

[floral patio]

I think yes, but they had a LOT more people

[unique sequoia]

same here

[weary stump]

Yah admittedly with how we’re a relatively small group and any lose is a big deal, we probably want to play that safe defensive war as well

[trail fractal]

Or we has lots of people with drop pods and drop on 2 enemy cities turn 1, with remaining players either defending Saginaw or bringing blacksky wings. XD

[spare bay]

would it be safer to have everyone land on Saginaw and just crush that large attacking force nearby? We'd still need to have people use Drop Pods to bypass the landing limit of the city, anyways

[floral patio]

Yes it would absolutely be safer.

[slow copper]

Drop pod people can also go back to space to drop on Muskegon in the future

[floral patio]

That doesn't mean it's the right choice.

[slow copper]

I think we could be hit with air support from Muskegon during the engagement though

Also, they might reinforce their Muskegon position if we take too long to take the airfield?

Or just spend a billion turns reinforcing to make it a huge PITA to take the city or airfield lol

[floral patio]

My big concern is even if you take the city

You could just get mobbed

[blazing basalt]

I think due to the fact we don't have sufficient forces to take it, our current game plan is to land at Saginaw, scout out the local attack force, and then probably split into two task forces?

[slow copper]

Well, that's why we take the airfield first: so people can reinforce if there are more units than expected

[blazing basalt]

One to hold the city, one to go and start taking enemy positions.

[floral patio]

Only if we don't have to also defend the main city

With everything else we got

[blazing basalt]

The alternative is that we do a major restructure and have everyone who was going to hang out in space instead just take drop pods and subject Muskegon to a steel rain

[floral patio]

Yah. Lemme know if we're landing drop pods at home so I can do mroe Construction, otherwise my order to defend the city is in

[slow copper]

I think a big question is how fast they will reach the city

And ideally we would fight them instead of them choosing to fight us

[unique sequoia]

same here

[floral patio]

Potentially they can hit the city turn 1

Since we don't know how fast those units there move

Or how much more is arouncd

[spare bay]

They're basically right next to it

T2 max

[slow copper]

Yeah, but fortunately only scouts can hit it first turn right? (Assuming they don't do a weird reposition)

[floral patio]

Yeah

Those are still hp4

So not like they're bad at fighting

Also @wind yacht Sob the AI can Reinforce in A position, but not me? Sob

[spare bay]

the funniest A stance order imo is Flash Printers lol

@worthy pelican @willow ferry do you want to just drop with me directly on that nearby force? If I understand things correctly, @hearty yew should be able to give us some supporting fire as well.

[willow ferry]

i have given my order to drop onto the airport but if i can change my order i wouldnt mind

[hearty yew]

I was planning on dropping whereaver @floral patio was dropping and providing support while she built up some bases

[spare bay]

Which tile is the airport? The one near the upper right city?

[willow ferry]

mhm

[hearty yew]

(I gotta fix server notifs/ channel mutes so I know when activity is in here one sec)

[spare bay]

I believe Tohu is dropping at Saginaw

[worthy pelican]

I might be game for that, but we might have to drop in front of them to properly intercept. @wind yacht how does that work with movement - assuming the units we're dropping on are the same weight and have A-stance orders, would we land and force battle before they move?

[hearty yew]

ye I saw there's a lot of convo I missed thats why I'm fixing that so I don't have to play catchup

[slow copper]

They weren't joking about the flash part (also I guess no one wants to leave their new toys behind)

[spare bay]

ah that makes sense, like you dig in before starting the print

[hearty yew]

are you suggesting dropping on the force near 12 AM?

[spare bay]

I believe players go first, all else being equal

[hearty yew]

In the case of further ties, player units move before non-player units.

[spare bay]

and yeah, that group near Saginaw

[wind yacht]

Airlift happens in the Move step, which is before construction happens

[floral patio]

Probably be on the eastern city edge atm or on top of me at the southern one?

[worthy pelican]

Right right. I suppose since you're Light you have a good shot of pinning them down before they move. They would have to take S orders to evade that.

[wind yacht]

Airlift happens on the same priority as any other movement

[floral patio]

Do air units have to deploy to the base before they can go anywhere else?

Or can they do order the first turn?

[worthy pelican]

Pretty sure they have to deploy to the base first

[spare bay]

Drop Pods are A stance tho so they go before R

[wind yacht]

Resubmit the order, I'll use the one with the later timestamp.

[worthy pelican]

Unless we aquire some Blackwings before the game kicks off. 😉

[floral patio]

I know @hard lance was talking about maybe being a Blackwing instead of arty?

[spare bay]

we still have 3 newcomers without unit info

[worthy pelican]

I do think Ryo's build is really useful as a fire base

Not to say they have to stick with it, but I think someone should take something like that

[hard lance]

Nah, I was originally thinking Blackwing and then I was like "wait, park and shoot? That's way easier for a first run"

[worthy pelican]

Yeah, if you want to limit your decision space, Blackwing is the absolute worst choice. 😆

[hard lance]

I admittedly was kind of drawn to the idea of a "problem-solver" deployment which is why I was thinking Blackwing, but I figure I'd do that on the second round if we get to it

[worthy pelican]

Blacksky wing does look really cool, I considered it too. I am also drawn to the sole HORUS option in the compendium, lol.

[blazing basalt]

Blacksky's neat, but you can steal their capabilities by just equipping the blacksky equipment

[spare bay]

it's funny tho bc you only have to play every other round basically

[blazing basalt]

So you can be a space bomber and move to the ground once we've got a landing zone clear

[spare bay]

with the mandatory repair

[hearty yew]

Okay I'm caught up in here. Yeah since my build is designed to supportive fire and help people heal by just standing there I think being near the action makes the most sense.

[hard lance]

Does it matter what player number we take to see the map?

[blazing basalt]

no

[hearty yew]

Also rules question: Smartgun gives me supporting fire 2 but line infantry has supporting fire 1 already. Does that stack or does it override?

[spare bay]

it's a separate order basically

so it doesn't stack

[hearty yew]

gotcha, but since I can do only 1 it makes the supporting fire 1 irrelevant

[spare bay]

yep

[hearty yew]

gotcha. Might swap off of smart gun then cause I missed I alerady had sf 1. I'll take a look

[blazing basalt]

There's a very funny alternate universe where we get 22 players to play blackskies and two to play infantry

[hearty yew]

maybe chassis lance since it still gives the extended range while adding more opotions. Supporting fire at range 2 with -1d6 and supporting fire at range 1 with normal dice

[blazing basalt]

11 bombing strikes a turn, then land some boots on the ground to claim the crater for Union

[hard lance]

Hey wow it turns out adding notes to the player list so I can see what my fucking equipment does without ctrl-f the rules is real useful lmao

[hearty yew]

that does sound just better yeah

[hard lance]

In case anyone else was doing tab flipping

[hearty yew]

honestly reasonable yeah

[spare bay]

does give you a bit more flexibility

[hearty yew]

I think AM9 deployment? Gives me range of the enemy, covers another space if Tohu is covering AL 9?

lets me still provide supporting fire if you, Eranziel, and wizard drop in

[hard lance]

If I drop in on AK08, can I shoot the same round?

I assume not, right?

[hearty yew]

you don't have local recruits or drop pod so I believe you can't...

but im also not even sure LR/ drop pods lets you do that either, im not 100% certain how initial deployment fully works

[floral patio]

Drop pods lets you go in on the first round yeah

My understanding is drop pods have to spend first order to land, LR is already here so we can do whatever

Everyone else has to spend an order to land through the space port

[hard lance]

OH HELL YEAH THAT'S WHERE I WAS GOING ANYWAYS

Drop my big-ass tank off in the airport, and someone can tell me if the shit ton of people in AM11 are people I should apocalypse rail off the planet

[spare bay]

The problem is that airfields have a limited capacity for the amount of airlifts that can land there in a turn

so we're gonna have a queue

[worthy pelican]

3/turn currently, 6/turn for an FOB

[blazing basalt]

Will we, if the support goes all out, be able to get everyone down by the end of t2?

[willow ferry]

uhhh, quick question do we @ voy, varmint and winged (also rom and thrantar for that matter) to see if they are still in the game?

[spare bay]

definitely the first 3 since they don't even have units in yet

we don't have to give orders until tomorrow tho

[willow ferry]

yupyup

[sacred valley]

@sacred valley Poke

[willow ferry]

@dim spade @urban plume @livid geyser hello sorry to bother you at whatever hour you have but are you still in for the pilot net mega game (as the fact yall still havent written in any units) either way gl hf <(:D

[dim spade]

I did say

[hard lance]

If we land there, do we have to get out of the way for other units to land, or is just kind of assumed people will figure it out

[dim spade]

Me and Varmint were gonna do ours tonight

[hearty yew]

I think there isnt a limit to how many units can be on a space, just how many units allowed to land

[lyric harbor]

3 friend 3 foe

[hearty yew]

ahh yes, A given tile may contain a maximum of 3 PC ground units and 3 NPC ground units

there it is

[hard lance]

Okay then I'll go last because I move VERY slow

[willow ferry]

indeed you did, sorry bout that was just a few minutes of scrolling up so i forgot

[hard lance]

I think that means my order is "drink tequila in space?"

[heady moat]

damn it feels good to be an air unit

[spare bay]

I think you just get pushed past maybe? It should work itself out I think

I'm pretty sure air units still need to rebase down from orbit for their first order, but I don't think they count towards the airlift limit

[hard lance]

Okay I'm submitting order "clap ass into spaceport" and we'll see what happens, I guess 🤣

[spare bay]

lol

inb4 Peri has to do a lottery to see who airlifts in first

[hard lance]

Does that mean unit's current position in the order is "space"

[heady moat]

yeah exactly, don't have to worry about who i'm taking space from, just "yeah that's where i'm gonna live"

[urban plume]

yeah i’m working black friday night shift so i can’t do shit rn

unfortunately

but me and voy are gonna hash stuff out when i get home

[spare bay]

[lyric harbor]

yeah I put 'orbit'

[hard lance]

Yeah I'm assuming Landing is Skirmish - Orbit->Spaceport

Oh wait no

Hrm

Reposition?

[lyric harbor]

nah it's airlift

[hard lance]

IDFK

Ahhhh

[lyric harbor]

[R] Airlift: In the Move step, if adjacent to a friendly airfield or FOB, move to any tile adjacent to another friendly airfield or FOB. The two bases must be within 8 spaces of each other. An Airlift may also occur between the carrier spacecraft and any base.

[spare bay]

yep

[willow ferry]

@wicked plover

[hard lance]

Oh nice that was buried in there lmao

I just absolutely blurred over that

[spare bay]

it's a relatively new addition afaik

unless I'm crazy

[wicked plover]

me when diplomacy lancer goes hard:

[hard lance]

"Helpful formatting change to just have an 'initial drop' section" is my feedback

[willow ferry]

@north juniper

i got more (droptroops (hopefully)) for the cause

[wind yacht]

We are starting to push the upper limit of the number of players I'm confident I can handle

[livid geyser]

I am still planning on finishing mine tonight yeah

[willow ferry]

weehoo that was just a making sure ping rather than a hurry up sorry bout that

[livid geyser]

no no it's fiine haha

[wind yacht]

You're fine, we have more than 24 hours and I haven't even put all the NPCs on the map yet

[livid geyser]

I am a bit tired for sure, but i'll be done with this work week in a few hours

[wicked plover]

do we have a list of existing player units?

[trail fractal]

Yes, same as the player signup:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XuQC_8pkVuQIVF6a8jf7-ghyvjfrkIDuXFByZQ_zFbw/edit?gid=0#gid=0

[spare bay]

it's pinned, for future reference

[worthy pelican]

Back to the token painting mines I go

[hard lance]

This does not change my deployment planning but this is good to know for folks

[unique sequoia]

ammourazz, what are your plans for this first turn?

[hearty yew]

Hey Folks, I made an updated version of the signup sheet that uses dropdowns to autopopulate which choices you can have and autofills unit notes so they're more easily accessible :
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13UVocVDS_ALM6Od2nUoETQ-zjHD6Rr1ct0SuxNrwDZw/edit?usp=sharing

[floral patio]

Oh neat.

I coulda just give you edit access to the other doc lmao

[hearty yew]

I was messing around and breaking

a lot of things

[floral patio]

Ah, lmao

Well, just copy it over?

It looks better IMO

[hearty yew]

I should be able to do that, yes it lets me create scripts for this doc, kk, I can do that if its cool

[floral patio]

Reminder I'm happy to help GM if you want me to instead of play

[hearty yew]

depends on who is capable of moving. Currently considering an AM-9 start with some sort of supportive order but that depends on who else can act turn 1

[spare bay]

trying to coordinate team battles will be a challenge, esp given how important it is to not be outnumbered

[blazing basalt]

Look, it's very simple

If everyone chooses to charge gloriously into combat, we'll never be outnumbered, and courage will shield us.

[willow ferry]

thats why we all should take drop capability and vertically charge our enemies

[north juniper]

some of you may die, but thats a sacrifice im willing to make

[unique sequoia]

I have local recruits and building stuff, if someone positions in ak9, just below the spaceport, I would be able to upgrade it to a FOB turn 1

[hearty yew]

if we have the supplies to go straight to fob I would be open to that option. The main issue is that I have a lot of range 2 support so I do want to be in range of the enemies if others are gonna fight immediately. If not I absolutely can go ak9

[wicked plover]

I kinda want to run Heavy Support w/ Rapid Deployment Actuators, Apocalypse Rail, and Icarus SAM System

[blazing basalt]

I mean, I think the fighting's going to happen regardless, our best defense against it is actually putting all our boots on the ground instead of having them play old maid in the hanger bay waiting for their turn to get down

[hearty yew]

Alright should be in the original pinned sheet working now. The original is still there and regardless note auto-populating is active

[slow copper]

I don't know how committed we are to it, but I made a spreadsheet to organize what we are doing here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZWDtChFxA2UVOhbFlOkwpyY6kIpzxvZlX1RZA2SeaRg/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Oh, more units got added to Muskegon since I last looked

[sacred valley]

I'm not finalizing my drop plans until our initial intel is also finalized.

[blazing basalt]

Frame pilots getting on the omninet and shouting down at planet that they're going to kick separatist asses at Muskegon

[slow copper]

The rocket artillery does make me want to drop directly on the city instead of the airfield first a bit lol

[unique sequoia]

@wind yacht the base construction rules mention supplies, how does that work? is there a limit to how many bases or FOBs we can build? does constructing roads and bridges also cost supplies?

[wind yacht]

There's a maximum number of FOBs that can be constructed per scenario. No limit for this scenario. No limit for bridges or roads.

[blazing basalt]

Is there a limit to a number of air units that can be in a single airbase?

[slow copper]

3 for a normal base, 6 for a FOB (I think this is instead of normal stacking limits?)

[spare bay]

air unit basing is independent of ground unit stuff afaik

[hearty yew]

If there’s no limit here we absolutely should build a turn 1 fob

[floral patio]

Me and Turi can get a FOB up really fast if we don't have to be on defense of the city

[hearty yew]

It only needs 2 ticks for a fob right?

[floral patio]

Nah

2 ticks for an airbase

2 ticks for a FOB

So if both of us spend our first turn we can have a FOB up end of turn 1

[hearty yew]

Oh I see are you suggesting a new fob? Cause we could upgrade our airbase into a fob too right?

[floral patio]

I...

Don't know if we can?

A spaceport is not an airbase

[hearty yew]

Oh fair distinction

[blazing basalt]

Getting an actual air base up is something that should be on the support team priority list at some point

Half of air command is light chassis so we can manage and the other two can just hang out in space but getting an actual base will help us operate a lot

[slow copper]

If we only have two medium+ aircraft, they can operate out of the Saginaw spaceport I think?

[heady moat]

yeah the scenario does say it has an airfield, from there Whitefish can hit any enemies out in the field and even Topinabee directly, and Archon can hit most enemies on the way to Saginaw also

[blazing basalt]

Oh, that'll do for now then

Might want to eventually build one closer to assault a city but that's like, a turn six priority at best

[spare bay]

I do wonder what the optimal ratio of ground and air units is

we're pretty thin on air units I think

[unique sequoia]

@hearty yew could you confirm if you would be able to hold AK09 (below the spaceport) so that I could upgrade it to FOB turn 1?
I have the subaltern system so I can do 2 construct actions in one turn
it'd be risky for you, specially if there is more than one light unit in the enemy's force, but on the other hand as long as you survive you can retreat to the city and heal quickly
what do you think?

[sweet cobalt]

Skimming through chat, but I’ll confirm that I’m playing in a few hours!

Sounds like I should swap Bioplating for Drop pods since we’re bottlenecked and the area around Saginaw is open terrain anyway.

Where do we need me?

[bright nimbus]

if needed drop tanks I think let us reach more or less the entire map from Saginaw

[wicked plover]

Airmobile infantry are silly fast, gracious

[heady moat]

oh yeah that too, yeah we're super set for range

[spare bay]

yep, we're very fast, but dependent on bases (which other people have to make for us)

[spare bay]

I think our current plan is to drop around the enemy force near Saginaw

[icy linden]

Yello

[unique sequoia]

I'm trying to get people to hold AK09 so that I can safely upgrade that spaceport to a FOB
Would you be willing to fight on open ground against unknown forces? :3

[sweet cobalt]

I could do that

[livid geyser]

quick note, if i'm joining the game session, what player number do I pick? to see the map I mean

hmmm o.o

is it okay if I run a blacksky wing? not too much air power right now

[hearty yew]

you pick whatever. Those are just "viewer" slots and when someone logs out you pick a diff one. I believe

[hearty yew]

yes I can commit to that pending more information. If the final units peri places changes situation I may have to adapt

[blazing basalt]

You can just run a normal wing and equip the blacksky equipment to run a sortie straight out on turn 1.

An airstrike on that trio of enemies to the south is a bold, but potentially rewarding manuever, imo

[spare bay]

more air power of any kind is probably a good idea

[livid geyser]

c:

I like flying

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_s37gx2VcJa1wgxyzk.mp4

[spare bay]

and here I thought your name was Legs :P

[floral patio]

What's the benefit of the IPSN Mitchell actually?

The -1 HP means that it gets less dice on Airstrike, right?

So it's just -1HP and then gets its airstrike capability back?

[heady moat]

it replaces the action

[floral patio]

Normal bomber wing strikes at 4... Oh they strike at 5, yeah ok

They're just worse at everything else

[heady moat]

yep, it's why I went with the Hammerheads myself, I prefer survivability over performance under ideal conditions, at least for a first game

[floral patio]

Sidenote for everyone in a fighter that you can start with the return boosters and then swap into another equipment if you want to act turn 1

[spare bay]

I believe you'd still have to spend a turn to rebase to the surface tho

[floral patio]

Yeah

But it lets people act turn 1 if they want

And people are gonna have to spend a turn to rebase to surface anyway

[worthy pelican]

I think it would also oblige them to repair on round 2 like a blacksky, but yeah.

[blazing basalt]

Yeah. It does get firepower on the ground t1 though, and it's a slightly worrying situation there.

[floral patio]

@dim spade @urban plume @north juniper Reminder you need to get your character into the sheet, and @sweet cobalt @wicked plover reminder to lock yourself in if you're still playing and are sure of your pick

[dim spade]

we're GONNA

[north juniper]

Ill finish it in the morning, its 3 am and i should be asleep

[dim spade]

Me and Varm already described our situation

[north juniper]

I couldn't finish reading the rules so im unsure what to pick

[wicked plover]

How does one "lock in"?

[floral patio]

Just make your name green

[wind yacht]

It's an acknowledgement that you read the sitrep rules, which are pinned

[dim spade]

Varm's gonna be dropping out

[sweet cobalt]

Rules question: Is Pankrati Training only for [S*] Skirmish or [A*] Attack orders?

Confused if it's:

• 1: all [S] or [A] stance orders or
• 2: if it should be [S*] Skirmish or [A*] Assault because [A*] Attack does not seem to be an actual order

[wind yacht]

It's 2, fixed

[dim spade]

I think I'm gonna to Fighter Wing and go FULL air intercept mode

[spare bay]

nice