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[Timberwolfd]

KESTREL it is.

Real quick, do you want to run this one by the rest of the unit at all?

I suppose we should give people time to give their opinions. It takes all of the fun out of being a supreme autocrat. Though, there aren't a lot of other viable options and I think you are also right that it would be nice to get out of the same 3039 mech list everywhere.

Any thoughts?

[deadlyfire2345]

I am down to go pew pew wherever.

[Hat]

KESTREL it is.

Given past unit preferences, a 3.5 year commitment (including transport) seems a little out of the standard MO.  It's also not a factory world, so any major work will need to wait more than 3 years to get done.  Training rotation could be a plus.

Metagame: Given a cap at 6 missions, it's certainly possible that we get out of there well before JF hits it.  It does run the risk of newer lances not getting the funds/opportunity to hit a factory world before facing Clan mechs.  Of course, depending on people, that could be a rolling problem and may not be worth weighing in too much.

Ultimately I'm flexible.

[Timberwolfd]

It is a longer contract, but the opportunity to train up lances and buy more skills and SPAs before the clans is also a thing. Ultimately I'd say pilot training trumps the equipment benefits, since DHS can be installed without a factory and they are one of the biggest performance differences of any of the upgrades. It would be hilarious to be there for the initial invasion and maybe sneak out with clan salvage because of the contract terms.

I should also note that the updates on customization may make it even less of a problem.

[Darrian Wolffe]

I suppose we should give people time to give their opinions.
Any thoughts?

OK, group message sent so people know to check in.

I'm currently torn between KESTREL and YAGA. 

YAGA's dangerous; it pays well and we're going to get good-quality salvage if/when we get any.  Basically we have to go in and rescue a Cappie force who's either worried about being overrun by Fedrats, or is in the process of being overrun, or who has already been overrun (in ascending order of danger to ourselves), and there's no way to know which it'll be till we get there. 

KESTREL will most likely be a milk run until roughly Spring of 3050, where it will abruptly transform into a really major problem.  Garrison contract gives everyone all the time they could want to get any and all Class D refits (and easier) done - I personally would simply open up the floodgates and as long as you can source and pay for the parts, the only reason to even ROLL is to see about Quirks.  If we get hit by Periphery forces - which isn't a guarantee, mind - it'll be Oberon Confederation gear.  Which means "pretty good for pirates", but they'll generally be short 1-2 mission segments with long breaks in between.  The trick is, of course, the metagaming issues (which are impossible NOT to do, which is why I haven't yelled at anybody - read: you - about doing it).  There's also the resultant fluff issues: Clan gear doesn't fall under normal salvage rules until after the Clan Invasion ends; you get to exchange it for IS Tech gear and money and can occasionally keep SOME of the Clan stuff...but keeping 70% of a Trinary isn't going to be a thing.  The one benefit is that we know ahead of time that if we have to abandon the planet, we don't take a contract breach as long as we're ordered offworld (ie, the contract is canceled; we'd still get our agree sum b/c it's being canceled by the employer), which is what generally happened to merc units who garrisoned FedCom worlds the Clans hit. 

[Timberwolfd]

I suppose we should give people time to give their opinions.
Any thoughts?

OK, group message sent so people know to check in.

I'm currently torn between KESTREL and YAGA. 

YAGA's dangerous; it pays well and we're going to get good-quality salvage if/when we get any.  Basically we have to go in and rescue a Cappie force who's either worried about being overrun by Fedrats, or is in the process of being overrun, or who has already been overrun (in ascending order of danger to ourselves), and there's no way to know which it'll be till we get there. 

KESTREL will most likely be a milk run until roughly Spring of 3050, where it will abruptly transform into a really major problem.  Garrison contract gives everyone all the time they could want to get any and all Class D refits (and easier) done - I personally would simply open up the floodgates and as long as you can source and pay for the parts, the only reason to even ROLL is to see about Quirks.  If we get hit by Periphery forces - which isn't a guarantee, mind - it'll be Oberon Confederation gear.  Which means "pretty good for pirates", but they'll generally be short 1-2 mission segments with long breaks in between.  The trick is, of course, the metagaming issues (which are impossible NOT to do, which is why I haven't yelled at anybody - read: you - about doing it).  There's also the resultant fluff issues: Clan gear doesn't fall under normal salvage rules until after the Clan Invasion ends; you get to exchange it for IS Tech gear and money and can occasionally keep SOME of the Clan stuff...but keeping 70% of a Trinary isn't going to be a thing.  The one benefit is that we know ahead of time that if we have to abandon the planet, we don't take a contract breach as long as we're ordered offworld (ie, the contract is canceled; we'd still get our agree sum b/c it's being canceled by the employer), which is what generally happened to merc units who garrisoned FedCom worlds the Clans hit. 

Garrison contracts also test soft skills as well, correct? Which means we would get to try out some of the other RP aspects as well.

[Hat]

YAGA's a non-starter for my PC given it's against the FedCom.  He'll suck it up and follow orders, but wouldn't be happy about it.

[Darrian Wolffe]

YAGA's a non-starter for my PC given it's against the FedCom.  He'll suck it up and follow orders, but wouldn't be happy about it.

Quick GM note: you know that just because you're from an affiliation doesn't mean that you won't take contracts against them, right?  I mean, that's a TOTALLY legit bit of RP, and I have zero issue with you doing it, but I wanted to be sure that it's your choice to play it that way, and you aren't doing it because you feel you're *supposed* to.  Merc contracts aren't personal, most of the time (see also: Dragoons, Wolf's).  It's just business.

[Timberwolfd]

YAGA's a non-starter for my PC given it's against the FedCom.  He'll suck it up and follow orders, but wouldn't be happy about it.

Quick GM note: you know that just because you're from an affiliation doesn't mean that you won't take contracts against them, right?  I mean, that's a TOTALLY legit bit of RP, and I have zero issue with you doing it, but I wanted to be sure that it's your choice to play it that way, and you aren't doing it because you feel you're *supposed* to.  Merc contracts aren't personal, most of the time (see also: Dragoons, Wolf's).  It's just business.

Notable exceptions made for contracts on worlds named Misery, No Return, etc. ...

[Hat]

YAGA's a non-starter for my PC given it's against the FedCom.  He'll suck it up and follow orders, but wouldn't be happy about it.

Quick GM note: you know that just because you're from an affiliation doesn't mean that you won't take contracts against them, right?  I mean, that's a TOTALLY legit bit of RP, and I have zero issue with you doing it, but I wanted to be sure that it's your choice to play it that way, and you aren't doing it because you feel you're *supposed* to.  Merc contracts aren't personal, most of the time (see also: Dragoons, Wolf's).  It's just business.

Yes.  He would certainly be against contracts targeting old FS space.  Given his treatment by LC social general types, he could be talked into a contract on that side without too much difficulty.  Ulan Bator though is solidly in FS territory though.

[Timberwolfd]

Okay, let's talk some IRL and logistics issues.
I believe everyone has generally gotten a handle on the rules and we have become successful as a unit.
I think pretty much everyone would agree that the clan invasion is a gigantic elephant in the room. We can play a year or two longer IRL before we get to the clans, or we can fast forward time a bit to get there and change our play style (primarily opponents). KESTREL will let us fast forward time and get to the invasion. Narratively, it puts us in a a gift wrapped position to start the clan invasion story arc.

A few adjustments to the KESTREL contract make it a bit better for us as players. If we take the contract, which, barring great outcry, we will, we renegotiated for 50% straight support, which means the unit will make more money (or more accurately, be paid for half of the overhead expenses), which will add up over 3 years. We will simultaneously reduce the advance pay in favor of higher monthly pay, so that lances with less wealth and well connected won't go broke. On contract, we will rotate training lances so that everyone gains XP. With 12 lances, each lance should get 3-6 training sessions in addition to other XP like annual increases and combat XP.
Thoughts?

[Ice]

I would be opposed to going against fedsuns as my character has ties to the Dresari and Sandovals.....this is from a RP stand point only

Let's look at the contracts how many of these are toward the invasion areas lol I think ATB is pushing us toward this decision and honestly I think its going to continue to push that.

KESTREL seems to be the best option to me outside of arrow

The Xp and chance at clan salvage before we get hosed by exchange is a big bonus

Repairing and such for them will be horrible though considering finding parts

Arrow gives us one more chance to get a better contract later and make a little cash and some xp

[Timberwolfd]

Repairing and such for them will be horrible though considering finding parts

Arrow gives us one more chance to get a better contract later and make a little cash and some xp

Rob has flat out stated that mech salvage will be exchanged. The most we'll get is some weapons/gear to keep
But the price premium on a salvaged mech warms my lucrewarrior heart.

[Hat]

Given the discussion I’m fine with Kestrel.

[Ice]

Repairing and such for them will be horrible though considering finding parts

Arrow gives us one more chance to get a better contract later and make a little cash and some xp

Rob has flat out stated that mech salvage will be exchanged. The most we'll get is some weapons/gear to keep
But the price premium on a salvaged mech warms my lucrewarrior heart.

The way he had it worded is normally it gets exchanged until after invasion but in this instance we wouldnt necessarily get to keep 70% of a trinary if we did get it but we would be able to keep a bigger portion of it compared to what we normally would get.

I mean yes clan tech weapons are awesome as well as DHS but in this instance I mean having maybe a mech per every 2 lances wouldnt be horrible. The logistics would be downright crazy if not impossible to try and find replacement parts/armor so keeping them isnt going to be super great for us either. Very few mechs would I outright want to keep considering this fact. The tech is more important but it is frail. So idk I mean having the mech isnt that great considering the drawbacks until later.