8 replies to this topic

[Koniving]

fighting north of our borders in defense against the foreign invading forces, we salute you.

Here is some advice from the Zhizhu Mercenary Corporation, brought to us by the mercs hired to defend against them.

This new enemy force, as you already know, is composed of 4 invaders with similar origins and differing intentions. Their reasoning and origins are of no concern.

All you must know is how to defeat them.

Many tactics have been deployed so far. Of note Blitzkriegs using fast Battlemechs to storm the gates and take out their defenses have proven moderately successful, but as with any strategy counter measures have been created.

Two more of note include rushing to disable their defenses without direct confrontation, often leading to the slaugh...ahem... 'deemed necessary sacrifice' of countless forces in the process. Which has had little success. The other is in getting a strong foothold into enemy territory and wiping out enemy forces before proceeding, which has had greater success but many failures as well.

But here is one you may not be aware of. These supposedly superior machines seem to have trouble fighting at close ranges. Furthermore, their legs seem to be very weak.

A strategy that Zhizhu has come up with is to destroy an enemy's leg and then flat-out ignore him. The pilot will become so insulted that he or she will eject, diminishing their numbers.

Legging an entire enemy force, and then swiftly going after the objective has led to mass enemy ejections, wiping out entire droves of the enemy with very little effort. Just remember to return to cover promptly after the mass ejections begin, or else the enemy dropships will make short work of you.

Good luck.

Edited by Koniving, 27 January 2015 - 08:47 AM.

[DaemonWulfe]

We've made it a standard tactic to eject after being legged during defense as a reflexive move. The trick is to observe the teams that ROFLstomp you. In our case, we've had excellent success at dealing with clan pugs and small mixed teams. We've employed all of the aforementioned tactics handily, except against the higher tier competitive groups who have used them all against us with equal success. I've found the best way to deal with them is by killing them as you go. In the end, overall success using any of those tactics will depend largely on how committed your group is to the plan.

It gets hairy when you're on the charge and all the gauss/erll fire comes in. For many pilots, this causes them to instinctually break formation to seek cover instead of keeping on the move to get past the gates and establish a foot hold. On our best days, we'll hammer the crap out of most teams as long as we keep moving in unison, but we also have plenty of those days where everyone forgets to call targets, the team gradually comes unglued and a stomp commences.

I have found that the best methods for putting down clan mechs are direct fire/direct damage weapons, coupled with heat discipline. It also pays to focus on the entire drop deck as well. Having 4 or 5 fast moving light/medium hunters with BAP/Tag/NARC in combination with high alpha heavy/assaults should allow most teams the flexibility to deal with light, or heavy base assaults. We've had good luck with having at least one or two assault LRM boats, but any more than that and you're asking for trouble.

I've also found it's good to develop counter tactics to all of the above, and learn how to respond to each. This will help us a lot on our defenses, as we're likely to be facing some highly organized and skilled teams, but they can be caught off guard as well if you keep a keen eye on their movements and mech types, and position your guys in a manner to best deal with it.

By the way, if anyone knows of a fool proof way to stop an all IS rush, I'd like to know! We've apparently become a bit lazy fighting clan rushes. The clans don't move nearly as fast. It's shooting fish in a barrel unless they're top tier. Those guys just whoop our ass and rush the base anyway.

Edited by DaemonWulfe, 27 January 2015 - 03:44 PM.

[DaemonWulfe]

Oh yeah, it takes healthy doses of tenacity as well! Nothing makes a match of any type more fun than a team full of blood thirsty pilots in the mood to destroy! Mindset is a huge part of it as well. At our best, we're following our drop deck doctrines, executing orders faithfully, calling out targets, drinking and ...just generally having a good time with our bretheren! If we lose, we shake it off and congratulate the other team with a GGWF, then we debrief and jump right back in. Even if we lose, if we can bring a good fight the match still feels good.

Edited by DaemonWulfe, 27 January 2015 - 03:36 PM.

[wanderer]

Another note is very, very simple.

Do not engage the Clans outside of a large unit formation.

You will be dropped with the sacrifical dregs of the Inner Sphere. They will not be organized, nor effective. You will be used for target practice, and your desire for battle regardless of the odds is precisely what the Clan forces desire in order to easily win worlds and amass huge amounts of supplies from your smouldering robot corpses.

If you cannot drop with a large Capellan force, do not drop at all on a Clan-attacked world. You will only become fodder. The Combine has learned this very well, which is why they've mostly ceased organized defenses vs. Clan attacks in favor of striking at House Davion. Indeed, even a disorganized force has a respectable chance versus a Davion defense, but your odds of running into a well-organized Clan force are extremely high. They sit there, expecting fools and get them nightly.

The Capellan Confederation has no allowances to waste on such foolishness.

[DaemonWulfe]

That's not a bad idea, but as an FRR loyal unit, we'll be back on our front lines soon. We have noticed though, that fighting clans has changed how we do business on the battlefield. These fights have really honed our abilities, to the point where this side trip in Liao space feels like a vacation.

We've encountered one group (I forget their tag) that rolled us hard. The rest have been anywhere from shooting gallery easy to challenging enough to keep us on our toes. It's a nice change though! Fighting against the better merc units who pick up clan contracts can get disheartening from time to time.

Edited by DaemonWulfe, 28 January 2015 - 10:30 AM.

[Faith McCarron]

DaemonWulfe, on 28 January 2015 - 10:25 AM, said:

That's not a bad idea, but as an FRR loyal unit, we'll be back on our front lines soon. We have noticed though, that fighting clans has changed how we do business on the battlefield. These fights have really honed our abilities, to the point where this side trip in Liao space feels like a vacation.

We've encountered one group (I forget their tag) that rolled us hard. The rest have been anywhere from shooting gallery easy to challenging enough to keep us on our toes. It's a nice change though! Fighting against the better merc units who pick up clan contracts can get disheartening from time to time.

You won't find much of a challenge fighting against Davion. When they win, it will be bacause a zerg rush caught you with your pants down, that's all. In a stand-up fight, hardly any of their units are much to worry about, hence why they zerg often, it's the great eqalizer to give less skilled teams a chance at beating a superior foe.

Their successes have come when they have numerical superiority, fielding 1 or 2 more 12-mans than their opponents on a given front, so that they're always going up against either turrets or ad hoc pug units. You will note that since Kurita turned Rimward and the Davs no longer have 12-man superiority, they have consistently lost ground on their fronts.

[wanderer]

Quote

These fights have really honed our abilities, to the point where this side trip in Liao space feels like a vacation.

We welcome any Rasalhague unit that wants a week or two away from the Clan borders with generous contracts, the morale boosts of victory with purpose- and ones that ease the pressure on your other neighbors, the Combine. Then, they will return with the auspicious blessings of the Chancellor, coffers replenished from delivering righteous justice, and minds renewed for the herculean efforts of protecting worlds from the chemistry-set enemies of the FRR.

[PerfectDuck]

Not all of Kuritan experience with the invading force has been failure. The clans are strong in numbers but weak in several other regards. My unit, Night's Scorn, has been able to develop several strategies which seem unstoppable by even the elites of Clan units. When our reinforcements get settled in and we have the resources to shift our attention back up at our clan fronts, expect to receive tactical advice and video footage from the Combine showing how we've been able to successfully take them on.

[Lily from animove]

yeah good luck, nice to see a few units trying themselfes at the clanners.
Clanners are not as op as you think, but we mostly see pugs facing us, because the most units seem to prefer going against other houses.

But you know what? there will the moment come, where you can not run away from the clanners, and that is the reason why you should now, lern to face clanners and develop tactics against them. Now as long as it is about ratehr meaningless planets.