FIrst Jenner test results...

Hey there!

Welcome! Some good news on the art front, an area I thought all but wrapped up but for the fleshing out of of some computer-generated art. David Dryburgh has agreed to do a few vignettes for the interior illustrations. I asked him to do them based on designs we have in the TRO, so I will send him some of the more unique machines. Some will be ‘Mech-centric and others will focus on vehicles.

As you know, I put some feelers out on the forums for playtesting the Jenner JR7-X. No one nibbled until I added that the playtesters would get their names mentioned in the Credits section of the TRO. Now I have no less than five playtesters! The first to come back with some solid information on the performance of the JR7-X is Brian over at ScrapyardArmory.com. What follows is a paraphrasing of his first report:

“First battle: Jenner JR7-X vs Jenner IIC
Terrain: 2 standard BT maps

First three turns are boring. The one who lost initiative was always able to evade the other. We figured this had to change so we chose to engage, no matter what, for the remainder of the game.

We begin duking it out in the center of the map. The winner of initiative was able to bring full weapons to bear while the loser was at least able to perform an arm flip. The worst aspect of a lost initiative was the potential for an unopposed kick, which can be devastating for ‘Mechs of this size.

First round of fire from the IIC scattered damage across the X while the lightly armored IIC suffered a shoulder crit from return fire.

The second round of fire shaved more armor off the X while the IIC suffered two leg crits thanks to a successful kick.

The third round of fire was the last. The IIC took additional MRM shots to its damaged leg, blowing it off.

During each round of fire only one of the three MRMs hit but it was enough due to the IIC’s poor armor. The IIC had slightly better success with its shots, scoring five successful SRM hits. However, the SRM damage was spread out and never came close to punching through the armor of the JR7-X.

I have two more battles planned. Working on them hopefully this week.

Brian”

I will continue to post playtest results as they occur. Hope you enjoyed this one. The only advice I have for Brian – and this is a suggestion based solely on the capabilities of the JR7-X – is that he might have used the longer reach of the MRMs to get a few hits in prior to the close-combat sequence. Of course, MRMs have a +1 penalty to hit due to the nature of their ‘dumb’ rounds. And the Jenner IIC might have been all but impossible to hit from longer ranges due to its speed modifiers and the movement modifiers generated by a JR7-X pilot trying to keep up.

There is no way I can know, so I rely on Brian’s experience and skill, assuming he did the best he could with the tools at hand.

‘Til next time!

Steve