Ammo, Ammo Explosions and you...

I've talked before about ammo explosions being one of the few ways that can kill your mechwarrior in this campaign.  I hope this post will clear up any questions you may have about ammo explosions.

Should you get an ammo critical on your mech, and the ammo will do enough damage to eliminate all the CT internals of your mech, your mechwarrior will be dead.  Unless that is, you have the Auto-eject enabled.  With the Auto Eject enabled, the ammo explosion will be detected and you will be jettisoned to safety....Unless you mech is in an enclosed space.  A critical hit on an EMPTY ammo bin will not trigger the auto-eject in your mech. 

Ammo comes out of the Ammo Bin during the weapons declaration phase.  When you place your sticks during the weapon fire phase, the very next thing you should do is mark off the ammo from one of the critical slots on your mech sheet.  This will let you know how much ammo is in each bin when you take a critical to that location.  (House rule: Mark off the ammo with Streak SRM's...then erase the ammo should the missiles not lock on. No, a critical to a Streak launcher that didn't lock on will no do an single volley ammo explosion)


The enclosed space, auto-eject might be an issue in our first arena, The Factory.  If there is a building roof, or bridge over your mech when you eject your mechwarrior will be dead and you will have to start over.  You can change the setting of your Auto-Eject during the END phase of a turn...after you roll for heat issues.  There will be cases where you will want to turn off your auto-eject mid match.  Mechwarriors that do not eject when they take an ammo critical take 2 hits to the mechwarrior, even if you have CASE.  Ejecting causes 1 hit to the mechwarrior.  Something else to to consider when setting your Auto-eject.

For our 1st match...
The following players are the ones that will have to worry about an ammo explosion taking out their CT.
Derek, Dave, Fab, Jay, Mitch, Gregg.

Kyle, Derek and Scott all have mechs without any ammo.  Rob and Jeff have mechs that have CASE around their ammo.

That's all for now.

Battle #1, Fight Card

Hello Solaris Fans!

Welcome to the Factory!  The old building will be the launching point of the 1st ever Solaris Olympiad.  Mechwarriors from across the inner sphere and beyond have come to Solaris to to represent their nation, clan or employer in a year long series of Battlemech contests.

In this evening's event we have Eleven mechwarrior's squaring off.  One contestant from the Lyran Alliance (Larry) was delayed in the Lancaster system on his way here due to Jumpship issues.  Our lone representative from the Draconis Combine (Lee) will also miss our opening event due to a Battlemech computer core issue.

That brings us to our 11 competitors.  They bring a wide range of mechs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.  The odd makers have chimed in and here ar the current projections on the chances they feel each contestant has on winning this evening's contest.

That Outworld Alliance mechwarrior must know something that we don't about bringing a Locust into this match.  He is massively under armored and under gunned compared with many of his competitors.  Most all outweigh him at least two to one.  He is the favorite to be eliminated first. 

The Top Spot goes to "Viper" from the Federated Suns.  That upgraded Watchman is a fine machine, and he should be one of the last few standing.

Dark Horse of the match will be "Irish" in his Brigand.  Those Rocket Launchers can bring a world of hurt to one target if he so chooses.  He might not be around at the end, but he can have his pick who will be joining him on the side lines...