Tried again the same mission again, again the reinforcements showed up on round 3. I did a good bit better but the outcome was never in doubt.
I tried a completely different mission. This time I was up against actual mechs which were a good bit easier. The reinforcements showed up on round 2 but took a round to get closer. I managed to down one (1) enemy mech but then I was facing 7 to 4 odds with nowhere to really hide.
The easiest mission I've seen anywhere is 1.5 skulls. I have yet to see one where I'm at even odds, never mind being at an advantage.
@Darkheart;, any comments?
Installing the mod is not that hard, but I recommend to always verify your Steam files before installing a new version. Also use the option to remove the recommended folders in the installer. Also disable Steam cloud synchronization, since it messes up the files.
While installing you can choose to have difficulty by planet (which I prefer) or your own company strength, where difficulty will always be the same on every planet depending on the net worth of your 4 top mechs.
When starting out everything above 1-skull missions is a big no-no. Once you have some better equips (and armored up your mechs!) you might start to eye 1,5-skull missions. There is a bit of a leap in difficulty in 2-skull missions, so beware.
Your starting mechs are mostly random, so I recommend to restart if you get too many lights. Your starting mechs will have a certain accumulated weight, but it is random if that consists of a heavy, 2 mediums and 2 lights or 2 mediums and a bunch of lights. If you are lucky and get high-tech lights it might be worthy to use them for parts (and not risk them in battle if possible). A good start is always at least one heavy and a good melee mech (more on that later). To make things a bit easier you can also choose a Clan background which gives you superior Clan tech.
Many mechs are over-gunned and under-armored or have severe heat problems. So I suggest to take the time (and money) to make them relatively heat neutral and armor the front parts up (!!!). Melee capabilities in RT are nerfed for many mechs. But there are dedicated melee mechs. If you are new to the mod I recommend to reroll until you get one of these (i.e. a Vindicator 6, Vindicator Butcher, Hatchetman, Firestarter 0, Spider P). They will kill a tank each round by stomping (2x damage) and can take out many mechs in one hit from the back. With dedicated melee equips like claws, hatchets or swords, triple strength myomer, talons, etc. a medium can kill fully armored assaults in one hit from the back if you are a bit lucky. Since tanks are incredibly dangerous in RT, but are killed easily in melee not having a dedicated melee mech is hard when starting out.
Evasion pips are permanent for each round no matter how often you are shot at. So they are your best defense. Things that give you evasion are always top priority. This means Defense Gyros and especially ECM and stealth armor.
In the beginning your main handicap will be your unskilled pilots. They will not hit often and are easy to be hit. I recommend to increase Gunnery on every pilot to at least 5 or 6 and then concentrate on Piloting which gives you extra evasion. With the recent changes every skill line is important, but these are the once I recommend for early survival.
My line-up usually is 2 dedicated gunners with 2x gunnery special skills and 1 Piloting special. 1 dedicated melee pilot with 2x guts specials and 1 piloting or tactics special. 1 scout with 2x tactics specials and 1 Piloting special.
Always remember to use the terrain, cover, line of sight and angle to your advantage!
The Flashpoint DLC messed pretty hard with the mod because of how HBS decided to handle things, so it is still (but steadily) recovering. In-mission-loading should be fixed with the latest version but might be still a bit wonky. If you are not playing ironman I recommend to restart the mission when things go South instead of reloading. This can also give you a different enemy setup.
Feel free to ask if you have any further questions!