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[Darrian Wolffe]

So, I usually roll a d3 and cut the number of available contracts down to 3+die roll, to get between 4-6 contracts, in addition to discarding the obviously chaff contracts (0% transport, 0% salvage, 35 jumps away, against a Green/F enemy).

But this time once I'd cut away the chaff, everything that was left was a GREAT mission.  Every one of these is a potentially really fun situation, and I can't narrow it any further in good faith. So you get a bigger selection this time. Try not to spend it all in one place.

[Darrian Wolffe]

[Darrian Wolffe]

[Darrian Wolffe]

[Darrian Wolffe]

[Darrian Wolffe]

[Darrian Wolffe]

[Darrian Wolffe]

[ItsTehPope]

Please, please let Hozon let us have the opportunity to steal a Kodiak.

[Hat]

Preferences / Recommendations
Most new lance friendly - ISHIGAKI (Garrison Duty)
Quick smash & grab against a new clan - DELPHIN (Recon Raid)
Kharmically fitting - IKARUS (Planetary Assault) (Sommerset)
Most likely to FUBAR in interesting and strange ways - KYOKI (Recon Raid) (Terra)

I'd likely pass on MANNA, HOZON, ENJO & NIKE.  The 4 above have their appeals.  Details below.

MANNA (Cadre Duty)
Similar to the contract we just completed, with higher pay and better transport terms.  Salvage is a bit worse (40 vs. 50%) and there's no BLC at all for Manna.  While losses are certainly possible, we shouldn't be dealing with the same level of focused firepower we did under the final mission of SAPPHIRE.  Even with it, some extra salvage balances out.  Not sure it's as high of a priority.  Opponent moves from a Clan Vet/B to an IS Elite/B which should be similar or slightly worse opposing pilots and a step down in equipment.  Recenters us from a geography perspective and FWL doesn't have a rep of hating mercs etc.  Not involved in but close to the ongoing hostilities between the CapCon and St. Ives and the growing tensions within the Federated Commonwealth.  It's a nice mix of combat and non-combat rolls which the unit demonstrated it can deal with.  One downside of note, it's a House Command.  Also, likely limits BSP usage, but that's not inherently a bad thing.

HOZON (Extraction Raid)
We'd get to cut our teeth against a new clan, so a plus there.  Equipment should be on par with what we just faced, but the pilots are a step down (clan regulars vs. vets).  Allies are better, though nothing to write home over.  BLC is 50% but we're not typically taking a lot of permanent losses for equipment.  The salvage rights of 20% is a red flag for me.  Extraction raids also end up boiling down mostly to single mission succeed/fail once the target's identified.  That said, with the Bandit and the other units we have, extracting an individual is certainly doable.  It's an additional challenge.  With Pilum and Zeta new lances, low salvage seems like a poor choice.  Acquisition checks are at +2, high number of solo missions.

ISHIGAKI (Garrison Duty)
High monthly pay, though the 20% salvage will offset that.  There's certainly the possibility of training which will help new and existing lances alike.  Especially for the new lances, the extra months during the contract, higher base pay and the -1 on acquisition checks for IntroTech means that they can get their warehouses stocked with parts and actuators for their units along with other key elements potentially before they need it.  The faster turnover contracts won't give them that luxury and may cause them to struggle.  It'll also give them opportunities to update their personnel and find the techs, doctors and pilots they need for future contracts.  Some non-combat skill use will likely happen, though again, our most recent contract shows we can handle it.  It's a liaison command, which is fine.  It has a mech factory which as part of the garrison we'd have access to.  It'd be an opportunity for them to refine their units without an extra stop after next contract.

IKARUS (Planetary Assault)
Opposition is going to be roughly the equivalent we just faced with Falcon equipment and bloodnames rather than wolves.  The potentially bigger challenge is we're going to see more heavy and assault stars.  No idea what their rules of engagement are going to look like.  Allies are better and heavier.  From a #s perspective, similar to current.  While most of the unit is set up for this, Zeta and Pilum may struggle and there may be challenges with salvaged equipment as the majority of it will be clan, making it harder to work.  It's back to Sommerset, so somewhat fitting from that perspective as that's where the Rangers first met the clans.

DELPHIN (Recon Raid)
This is the classic smash and grab.  Again, the opposition is similar to what we just faced, but Ghost Bear instead of Wolves.  Higher salvage total at 60%, and it's short.  High acquisition TNs but we're only on planet for a month, so limited impact.  High frequency of solos.  House command which is less than ideal.  Short duration though.  Watchout for this, missions are going to be on top of each other.  There will not be a lot of time to repair between missions as we'll potentially have 6 missions plus solos in 31 days.  That may prove to be a challenge.

KYOKI (Recon Raid)
Ok, this looks too easy, not worth it and a big trap all rolled into one.  It's Terra.  Word of Blake.  It's Green/F troops.  That is, once we pass whatever's in orbit to get to the ground such as SDS systems because we've already seen those and they suck.  80% salvage sounds great, but at that level we likely can't use it all.  BLC is 10%, again not that BLC is going to have a huge impact.  I fully agree with Rob's assessment of "could be interesting."  It makes me wonder if that's in an Apocalypse Rising kind of way though.  Thematically and novelty wise it sounds interesting.  Reward wise not sure how much is there for us, oh and it's the Combine we'd be relying on as the employer.  There will not be a lot of time to repair between missions as we'll potentially have 6 missions plus solos in 31 days.  That may prove to be a challenge.

ENJO (Relief Duty)
The transport, salvage and BLC numbers are spot on what we just did and 50% transport on 8.1MM is a shrug.  Overall pay is good.  I'm a bit confused though by the employer and the enemy.  Errai is a FedCom world, so not sure if this is a planetary assault that's floundering and trying to get support or what.  Rob probably needs to clarify.  It is a factory world, so post contract customizations are possible if needed and mid contract once we hit 3 mission wins.  Acquisition checks are going to be rough to start, high number of solos.  DC on FedCom, gear is going to be mostly if not exclusively IS.  Our allies are going to have good gear, but are green.  Solid salvage and a step down at IS Vet for opponents.  Near Terra, so fairly centrally located for future contracts.

NIKE (Relief Duty)
So comparing to ENJO.  Better transport, but minimal different from a payout perspective.  Salvage is up 10% (50 vs 40%), BLC drops to 0.  Opponents are better (elite vs. vets), allies are better (reg vs. green) slightly worse equipped (B vs. A).  Command is House, again not my favorite.  It's working for the FWL against the CapCon, though is a CapCon world, so confused again about the mission type and the employer/enemy.  No factory.

[deadlyfire2345]

Would like a hard liftoff on the 15th if we do take any contracts here

[ADHDtv]

I'm currently leaning ISHIGAKI or DELPHIN, more so ISHIGAKI methinks

[Darrian Wolffe]

Relief duty can be on a friendly (to employer) or enemy world. What you are doing is relieving pressure on an existing unit which is already under attack. So when these take place on an employer's world, that means that somebody else has invaded the planet, and they're asking you to go help out.

They also tend to proc a lot of civilian extraction missions when you do them on friendly worlds.

[agustaaquila]

I vote Kyoki.

Nothing more.

[Darrian Wolffe]

Fury Lance opinions (for the new, these are the opinions of the Fury Lance CO, **NOT** the GM's opinions. There is a very large difference.)

Overall
We're an A-rated heavy-weight unit on the cusp of an Elite rating. We're going to be seeing mostly Veteran and Elite opposition, with A-C ratings almost exclusively, for the imaginable future.  That means a big portion of our decision-making process should be around "who we want to fight", and "for how long we want to fight them". 

MANNA (Cadre Duty)
IMO this is a pretty decent mission to shelter our new lances on, actually.  It's another mission just like we just had, so we know we can generally handle it.  Elite-B rated Capellans likely means a Warrior House or equivalent force will be hitting us, so we're looking at very good pilots, but split between 1st-generation FoundTech and high-end Capellan stuff.  I'm unsure if anyone want to be salvaging that type of gear.  But the big thing is that this is only a 4-month contract.  That's enough time to get our new lances through some markets and have a chance to get some XP and salvage without tying down the unit for a horribly long time.

HOZON (Extraction Raid)
Of the various anti-Clan missions up there, this is probably the safest.  Regular is still *CLAN* regular skill, and B-rated means a mix of frontline Omnis mixed with some IICs.  The trick is that Bears are going to be a lot heavier-weight and harder-hitting than we just saw.  Where Wolves use Fenrises to fill out formations, Bears use Mad Dogs, and that's a *big* difference in firepower.  Again, this is only 4 months, so we aren't tied down to a contract for too terribly long.  Plus, I hear that there's reserve Mech depots on-planet and if we're careful we might be able to steal a shut-down Bear Mech or two.

ISHIGAKI (Garrison Duty)
I get that this is the "safest" mission in the pack, and it gives our new lances the greatest ability to build up, but does anyone actually want to be sitting on Al'Nair for TWO YEARS? Like most of the parties I throw, the place has no atmosphere. Now the upside is immediate factory access, *probably* good unit markets, and if we get hit it'll be by FedCom troops with worthwhile gear to salvage.  But man...20 months is such a goddamn long time. Fury Lance would very personally rather not take this one, just because of the time involved.  Also, if it matters, Dracs don't give awards to mercs, aside from a paycheck and a promise not to open fire if you leave the planet quickly once your contract is done.

IKARUS (Planetary Assault)
OK, so thematically this is great.  We're going back to take back some Steiner schmuck's home planet. I feel like I've heard that before.  I mostly agree with Hat; it's going to be a lot of pitched battles, against a force *roughly* equivalent to who we just fought.  Except we're attacking this time.  Falcons will either go all or nothing with zell, so this could be a very bloody fight if we aren't very careful about how we work together.  Having competent allies is nice.  Personally, I think the goal should be to salvage Norbotten Lance a Turkina.

DELPHIN (Recon Raid)
This one I'm not sure about, because while I'm OK with a high OpTempo against IS tech opponents, doing that against Clanners is another matter entirely.  This is the sort of mission where having loads of Omnimechs becomes really useful due to the repair/replacement advantages.  Plus, frankly, we're a much slower unit than we used to be, and I'm not sure we're still really well-suited to contracts that are going to require fast movement and in-and-out gameplay.  Again, particularly against Clanners who are broadly going to be as fast or faster than us and have more mounted firepower, AND who are going to broadly out-skill us.  Elite-rated Bears are going to hit us like trucks.  We can probably do it, but I don't think it'll be easy or clean.

KYOKI (Recon Raid)
This is literally a milk run. Remember, intelligence is always perfect, and we're up against green militia troops. Nothing can possibly go wrong.  Plus, hey, it's only a month long.  It's not like the Word of Blake has any reason to dislike the Numenorean Rangers, right?  I don't think we've ever had such a high OpTempo before, but that's a new challenge.  Strong recommend, as long as we prioritize Zeta and Pilum to get any Mech Techs in the next marketplace.  That should get them to where they can keep up repairs well enough.

ENJO (Relief Duty)
I don't mind this.  All the numbers check out and we'll be salvaging high-end FedCom gear.  I'm just not super inspired rescuing some Dracs who aren't going to be grateful for it anyway. And again, no pretty ribbons at the end.

NIKE (Relief Duty)
So we're going onto THE ancestral Capellan world in order to rescue a FWL unit who was stupid enough to go there in the first place.  The one place in CapCon space where you're absolutely guaranteed to find high-end enemies in high-end gear on a world that the Capellans have had **800 years** to fortify and booby-trap.  And when - not if - we lose stuff, there's 0% BLC to compensate us.  Great contract, 10/10, no notes.


Conclusions
Right, so basically all of these are doable, and all of them are conceptually on-par between managing risk and potential gains.  I personally feel that ISHIGAKI is the worst choice, solely because of the time commitment; if it was an 8-12 month contract I'd be a lot more favorable.  Newly promoted LT SG Clan Trueborn MechWarrior Elsa Ward's first choice is - of course - Operation KYOKI.  Because it would put her feet-first on Terra.  Second choice is Operation IKARUS, because who wouldn't want to beat up on some Jade Falcons? Jade Falcons suck. Especially MechWarior Smit in Blitzkrieg Lance, who was not only so unskilled as to be captured by Inner Sphere mercs, but couldn't even manage to get a Bloodname first.

In any case, Fury Lance's order of preference is:
KYOKI
IKARUS
HOZON
MANNA
<the other three>
Setting our DropShips on fire
Starting an in-character Warhammer 40K, 40Kth edition, tournament instead
ISHIGAKI