/btg/ Battletech General!

ha, butte hold

Anyone tried the new simplified fire and smoke rules in the Battlemech Manual yet? Or was TW right to get rid of it and no one actually plays with that stuff? I don't here much about it ever, but I see it in all my old rulebooks.

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I have a need, a need for Grasshopper Variants.

An IIC version is good to.

>>52297385
Ha ha, I believe in Devlin Stone

>>52297072
Just be wary of what dropships you choose. Leopards, Mules, DroST IIs (my personal favorite) are all fine because there a a ton of junkers out there and they all have quirks about them that make them sub-optimal.

Some shit just has to happen in-game for things to make sense. Mercs having at least one dropper goes a long way to making them play better, because what employer would risk their own droppers on expendable assets, and what merc dropper crew wouldn't just sign on with mercs permanently anyway due to ease of finding work and protection for their asset. Same reason it's not out of bounds to give a decently sized pirate band a jumpship as well as a dropper; they kind of need it to function. Just pick a shitty or junky common model and roll with it.

>>52297475
>believing in a murderous Blood Spirit/Blakist/Cameron sleeper agent with Tharkadian fish DNA

Holy fucking shit, fucking kill yourself you degenerate cuck.

>>52297443
Smoke is best left to MegaMek for most people, since they don't want to deal with it spreading and all that. I don't mind it in campaign play (you know, during that blue moon...)

>>52297449
I got you famalam. One of my favorite 'Mechs and one of my favorite pieces of art for it too. I'll make something new, so gimme a sec.

>>52297449

I think we all know a Relaser variant is optimal.

>>52297475
haha brenda bakke

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>>52297443
I did, but well, I tested it.

>>52297449
How many? I've got 32 of them. Have a "IIC" ish one though.

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>>52297449
>There will never be a grasshopper resculpt that looks this good
End me

>>52297565
Oh wait, the rear CT doesn't have 10 points of armor. I HAVE FAILED THE BASICS OF MECH BUILDING! SOMEONE KILL ME!

>>52297503
Fuck off medron

>>52297443

Like the other anon said, I don't mind it in megamek but in regular play it's more record keeping, more dice rolling, and more hassle. There's a certain level of verisimilitude past which I'm just willing to handwave things. Also I think the rules just aid jump-pulsers by hampering them relatively less than other stuff (even other good stuff like Gauss walls and TAG+Arrow swarms).

>>52297587
You will never be a master of hyper entrpic warfare now.

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>>52297565
Or this one, which is the scout the Lyrans deserve, but can't have.

>>52297587
Well at least you remembered not have 14 point of armor, that would be suboptimal :^)

>>52297565
Whatever you feel like posting is good with me

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>>52297449
>An IIC version is good to.

why is ssw so weirdly slow saving a dang text file

>>52297597

Stormfury pls go

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>>52297449
>>52297538
And here we go. It's kinda lame but I mainly just wanted to mount an LPPC in the head for some reason as an LRM5 replacement.

>>52297715
Nice try, Akalabeth.

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>>52297449
Posted last thread

I like kicking

>>52296652
SLS Memetic Trigger
RWS Forced Discharge

>>52297597
>>52297715
>>52297923
OFS Insolent Kouhai

I know its stupid but sometimes I wish we could have a weekly /btg/ megamek/mekwars match

Probably because I'm trapped in the North-East

>>52298387
I've suggested this a few times no one responds :(

>>52298425
scheduling is always a pain.
Keep trying, anon!

>>52298387

Where in the NE? I have a group that meets 1/month for real life sessions.

>>52298474
CT
>inb4 "connecticucked"

>>52297499
The Daneis/trojan is also a good one for smaller units, especially periphery ones

>>52298474
Lucky. Every time I try to get Battletech anything going it dies off because some circumstance or another prevents us from getting together after the 3rd time or so. Or I stupidly try doing things online with people and they're even less reliable. Wish I could be less bitter about how cursed I am regarding this damn game, even though I really enjoy it.

>>52298522

Yeah, i'm in VT, so that's a bit far out of the way.

>>52298540
Oh hey, I totally missed these. Nice catch. Are there any functional differences between the Danei and the Trojan? I assume weapons?

The only person who played with me is my g/f and she's terrible and gets upset because she loses badly.
Now she doesn't even want to play.
inb4, least you have a gf.

>>52298586
Just the weapons, and the danais being like ~30 million cheaper because it isn't buying weapons at a 28x markup
Did you know that the canon price of a leopard in "can't fly right now, but can with some work" condition was once only 12 million? And a Buccaneer (which should also be on the list) in similar condition was only 20?
Using those prices makes them a lot more reasonable for mercs, doesn't it?

>>52298642
>Using those prices makes them a lot more reasonable for mercs, doesn't it?
The 'four assholes and a leopard' style certainly does when the leopard is only about ~50℅ of the unit's total value rather than 90+

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>>52298800
>>Four assholes and a leopard.

>>52298592
Mine is willing but she has terrible dice luck so I don't ask her to play at all because I don't want her to get frustrated with it. I feel like anyone who does offer to play with me at this point is just doing pity party shit, and so I don't even bother trying to play with anyone anymore.

>>52298642
Yeah costs on dropships and whatnot have always been insane. It's funny how nobody has ever made an effort to try and normalize the economy in the game. It's like an in-joke at this point.

>>52298919
Spaceship costs should be insane. The most expensive part of a battlemech is the fusion engine and Dropships got ones that make mech engines look like two stroke lawnmowers.

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>>52297449
Shut up, it makes a good IIC design

>>52298974
Not THIs insane. I'm pretty sure we've seen math that says most actual fleets are completely unsustainable by the in-game economy, and military operations would bankrupt any and everyone, even the Star League. I got no screen shots to back that up, so take it with a grain of salt, but I know the numbers are batshit.

>>52297449
The head looks pretty cool, anyone know any ideas how to kitbash something like it?

>>52298974
The problems is that under the current pricing structure, fusion engines aren't actually expensive, a replacement only costs a couple million, and so-called civilian cargo ships are flat-out commercially unviable unless you got them for 20% of list price or less without shit like eighty-year mortgages at 0% interest
Under the original prices they were viable if not extraordinary profitable, which is how they should be, but a 4x increase in ship prices without a corresponding 4x increase in cargo prices (which would make mercs who don't own their own even more hopelessly unviable then they already are), they get fucked

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>>52297689

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Bonus, it's an Urbie.

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>>52297449
Made this a while ago

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>>52299301
>Null Signature System
Nice

>>52297182
How would you recommend starting collecting the table top minis? I have a ton of the rulebooks on PDF (Actually decided to purchase them form DriveThruRpg), but I haven't got any minis yet. I've considered doing some trial runs on Roll20 or TableTop Simulator.

>>52299484
Have you tried MegaMek yet? If so, then the Introductory Box Set is your best bet if you can get it at MSRP. Or, wait for the Alpha Strike box LOL. The Lance Packs are also cheap on Amazon sometimes, and also VERY cheap at FRP Games (when they are in stock).

>>52299484
The plastic lance packs. Check out gamenerdz.com, they have em for 10 bucks a pack, and you get a discount the more of em you buy at once.

>>52299484
>>52299656
If you look up Battletech Lance packs on ebay you'll also find gamenerdz selling them for $11 a pop and 10% off if you buy three. There is also another seller who sells at $10 with $3 off if you buy two. Both have free shipping.

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>>52297449
I don't know if it really counts as a Grasshopper anymore, but when you salvage one plus a couple of Hetzer Assault Guns in an AtB mission and your pilot just happens to have Jumping Jack and enough XP to buy a weapon specialization...

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Marauders

>>52299819
>ammo in the head
I know this mechanically isn't a huge deal but if I were a pilot I'd rather be Dispossessed. A 'Hopper with an AC/20 or any ballistic weapon at all is certain different, that's for sure.

>>52299847
Not too bad, but I'm a bit of a freak in that I like the Reseen MAD and am not really that keen on the MWO one. Shimmy's isn't too bad, but it really kinda feels like with a lot of his stuff he did that "change it 10% so it's considered non-infringing" thing whereas Alex's stuff is mostly completely re-imagined, and that's one reason I prefer the latter to the former with regards to the Unseen. Check TRO 3028 for Alex's Wasp and Stinger; the Stinger especially is awesome. It's a baby MWO PHX-1.

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>>52299847
>Marauders

We're all MAD here!

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>>52300000
nice get

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>>52300000

GODDAMN.

>>52299819
>>52299941
If the defining feature of a Hopper is the head-mounted weapon, you could probably drop the LL for a head-mounted SRM4 and put the remainder into ammo/sinks/MLs, giving up standoff capability for crit-seeking ability to go with the big gun; although I guess it's still more of a Super Hunchback.

>>52300220
Super 'MECHNAME isn't always a bad thing though. It's a bit jarring when you do it on a chassis known for being a mostly-zombie when the result is strapping the grand daddy of ballistic weapons on it, but "fat 'MECHNAME" is something that, especially in Introtech, gets repeated a lot.

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>>52299941
You kinda need to say Phoenix or Project Phoenix when referring to the old reseens; since the new shimmyseens are the canon reseens now. Or something. And both 1 and 3 are Shimmrauders, with 1 being the self c&d and 3 being the new reseen, which I haven't quite nailed yet. 4 is gonna be the sprite for the Marauder II, hence the girth.

>>52297577
not gonna do a total redraw atm, but have a head redraw G

>>52300863
>Based spriteanon does it again
Blake bless you

>>52300863
Sorry, still stuck on calling them "Shimmyseen" but I guess you're right.

Not that it matters; Battletech is basically dead to me now. I guess that's what happens when you look in the mirror and realize the only thing every collapsed group and failed foray into a community has in common is you. Finding out you're the That Guy when you spent your gaming life hating them is not a good pain.

>>52301509
its okay anon,
just play clanner or fedrat or capcon and no one will expect anything less.

>>52300388
This made me try to think of any other jumping heavies that mount an AC20, but I can't think of any in the 3025-3049 period. The Victor has both but at 80 tons it's just in the Assault category - are there any heavies that combine big ballistics with jump capability?

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>>52298387
>>52298425
It should just be announced several times say this week what day and time.Also announce what kind of game and force allocation. Say Saturday 8pm EST as an examole. Then on Sat anoounce it in thread a bit. About an hour or two ahead of time give the connection information. ???. Profit.

>>52301619
That's a great idea, I'd be happy. I love this game more than I should and would alter my week to play with you all.

>>52301605

Axman.

>>52301619
Addendum. Also announce what version of Megamek is to be used. That will avoid the I can't connect ass pain that sometimes occurs.

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>>52298387
>>52298425

I've never heard anyone ask for this before. I can host one. If you're not demanding consistency of players, it's definitely a thing that can happen.

>>52298522

One of my players is close by to you. They exist.

>>52298917

you just described my AToW campaign

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>>52300000

this is now /madg/, Marauder General

>>52301794
Different anon here. I would love a weekly or bi-weekly TG game. Although we might want to come up with some scenario based play if it becomes a thing. General melees get boring after a while.

>>52301794
Make a time and night. I'll play. Thanks for offer. I'm open for antics of all sorts be brawls to long stories etc.

>>52301806

Yeah, my current campaign we decided to just handwave transportation. We did a couple of test battles of aerospace and quickly came to two conclusions. The first conclusion was that by dint of us having dropships and the OPFOR not having dropships, the OPFOR would always have a massive numerical superiority of fightercraft, allowing them to guarentee the win against air own aerospace fighters and then just pick apart the dropships at their own leisure.

The second conclusion was that the campaign could end in a single battle or on a single bad roll if the Union failed its lawndart check, and thus we no longer have any of our mechs or pilots.

Based on those two factors and that one plays rather heavily into the other, we decided to forgo ASF and transportation.

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>>52301782
This so much, my brother never upgrades and then we spend 20 minutes moving assets to the new install and getting re-setup.

>>52301819
Marauder Affective Disorder General.
not sure if the C-Bills will be legible once camo is on but whatevs.

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>>52302006
and the side torso Cs are backwards.

>ultra heretical flat top

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>>52301619
>>52301654
>>52301831
>>52301864
>>52302006

Gonna poke the bro I've got hosting the server to update it to 0.43.0, just to keep it reasonably current. Saturdays will likely be the good evenings; FFAs, team battles, and scenarios can definitely be run. All I ask is that you poke me on the IRC: #battletech on irc.rizon.net - not gonna give IPs and shit out here, and I don't feel like being a namefag much.

>>52302125
Is that server you and Muninn and CA play on available to anyone who wants to play with a friend?

>>52302125
I have some old ass comp in my work room I dunno if I can. But I'll try. I'm hyped on idea.

>>52302125
I will get in touch with you on IRC tommorow. Saturday evenings work great for me. Thank you for offering to organize this, ought to be a blast wrecking mechs with anons.

>>52301866
So give the OPFOR a Leopard CV. Leo and six pack vs. Union and two escorts isn't too horrible.

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>>52302233

Overall, it's generally running, but uptime is not guaranteed (read: it's not monitored much except for certain times or if issues arise), and the admin password will not be given out. I'll see if another general use server can't be setup for /btg/ stuff.

>>52302239

Shouldn't be too bad if it can run java alright. Unless you're the type of individual that plays the bot on postage stamps and loses.

>>52302277

Sounds good; I can't guarantee quick response, as I'm kinda busy as shit during the week, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

>>52301594
Well, I wish I were kidding or it was a lighthearted matter, but thanks for the jokes anyway, anon. Your intentions were good.

>>52302320

just come play MM with us; we can haze you into the right path if you inadvertently channel adolf shitler

>>52302335
>playing with /btg/
Yeah that hasn't worked out either. I dunno what it is about me but I guess I'm just an unlikable person. Probably because I'm too negative. Oh well.

>adolf shitler
You actually managed to elicit a grin. Well done.

>>52301831
Some simple and scaleable scenarios would be a King of the Hill style match or a team-based attack/defend style mission (convoy escort, base assaults, etc.).

>>52302385
I'd advise against convoy escorts unless the vehicles are really tough to kill. And even then, armor doesn't prevent vees from being mobility killed.

>>52302403

armored motive systems + TacOps rules makes it legit

>>52302410
TacOps helps but yeah you'd really need to use AMSs. I dunno why the TacOps stuff isn't just made the baseline. It doesn't really make them that much better. Other combat vehicle types can be decent without throwing shade over the Battlemech parade.

>>52302353

(2:18:00 AM) CampaignAnon: call him a negative nancy and to get in here birdman

That's about as good of a demand as any. Drop your cock, grab your socks, and get the fuck in here for some giant robits you nerd.

>>52302403
It doesn't necessarily have to be a convoy in the "unarmoured supply truck column" sense - any sort of unit that could be controlled or played by one player and designated as a VIP/commander in Megamek could work, whether it be a Rattler Mobile Fortress or a Spider.

Another would be Urbie Derby/Urbanmech Racing, although that requires a fair bit of self-enforcement.

>>52302485
That's true. Another interesting idea for an escort would be a force that included an "instructor" that's an Elite (2/3) pilot, maybe two depending on the size of the game, and a bunch of 5/6 green recruits in trainers (Chameleon/Watchman/Pixie/etc). The trainees outnumber the attackers but obviously the attackers would all be 4/5 with maybe a single Veteran of their own.

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>>52302524
"Stay on my wing and you'll stay alive, nuggets!"

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Awesome gets its 2017 redraw

>>52302524
...that's literally Warrior: En Garde's beginning. Justin Xiang Allard and his training batallion of mostly Stingers attacked by a Capellan regular company of Cicadas.

Only one heavier machine on each side; the commanders/instructors Allard in a Valkyrie and Gray Noton in his Rifleman.

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Repostan for Muninn and Anons to look at and give feedback on. A few people said the current /btg/RO look was too plain so I added a few elements to make it more like the frame of a tablet.

NEA or dude who knows NEA - tell him to answer his email at least.

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>>52302524
>>52302853
>>52303024
It's definitely a military fiction staple, that's for sure.

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>>52302870
and so do all the MONgeeses

>>52302006
>not sure if the C-Bills will be legible once camo is on but whatevs.
You could always whip up a camo to go specifically with it. Folks would have to assign it manually of course.

>>52304224
Good call. Know if there are any color illustrations of the Bounty Hunter's rides?

>>52304266
Yes. TP Irian has one

>>52304266
None of the top off my head other than the MWO one, though camospecs has multiple instances of his Mad Cat and reseen MAD IIs as well as his PA(L) under Special Projects- Personalities though they aren't entirely consistent in precise colors.

>>52304266
There aren't any I can think of, though the first ISP book says the scheme is money green with yellow or gold C-Bill symbols on it.

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I'm dumb. Dossier the Bounty Hunter is a thing

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>>52272609
>Brains and guts!

A tomato patch, a chicken coop, and the maintenance crew are all out fishing... and they call themselves police officers?
No... more like "defenders of justice".

>>52303375
TALK TO ME DAMNIT

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yeah, custom camos take way too long since you have to relaunch MM every time to check your edits.

>>52305398
give it a few hours, Australia is asleep.

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>>52302006

>>52305524
>yeah, custom camos take way too long since you have to relaunch MM every time to check your edits.

Is that something to do with the format change? I haven't fucked with any since then, but I always just made camos in photoshop on a layer below the mech sprite's layer which is set to multiply and the result always looked exactly as it would in MM.

When is the best time to use a Light Fusion Engine?

>>52305891
Nope. It's because MegaMek only reads files on start and caches them in memory.

>>52305915

Pretty much custom-made for slow Heavies and Assaults.

Gives you a bit of tonnage back and allows you to survive torso destruction. A lot of designs that just have an XL engine can be replicated (sometimes with a bit of tweaking, like removing arm actuators) by giving them a LFE and Endo Steel.

You could do something like take the Devastator, and in place of the 4 MLs either have 2 and an MPL due to space constraints, or give it CASE and an MPL, or give the Thunder Hawk the usual 3 GRs, 6 tons of ammo, CASE, and 4 MLs/ER MLs that way.

Doesn't work very well on things that have a lot of extra DHS, obviously.

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>>52302524
>>52303024
*cough*

>>52303024
I always wondered if Noton's backup company of Cicadas were actual CCAF forces or mercs he had with him.

>>52306034
Right, I was wondering if something had changed that necessitated going into MM to check your edits, other than maybe concern created because of earlier issues you had with the sprites, because as I said my results in PS always were the same and thus I never felt the need to check if I changed anything.

But either way it's not like anybody is expecting you to become camoanon anytime soon anyhow.

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>>52305891
>>52306417
Thanks man, I was just wanting to see what shades of yellow read well in MM and if I could get some OSL lighting going off the turret sensors. Also, since stayed up all night drawing Awesome variants I didn't realize I had started with a 84x84 canvas and couldn't understand why my camo wasn't lining up. As far as my own camo folder goes, I usually just rip camo tiles from video games and throw a radial gradient on.

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New Mad Cats

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Crazy question but what if the Refusal War was somehow fought between the Wolves and Ghost Bears?

Like maybe the Falcon khans were extra sneaky and somehow manipulated Clan politics to get it to happen.


All in all I'm mostly interested how Clan Wolf under Ulric Kerensky would fare against Clan Ghost Bear in late 3057.

>>52307054

The Wolves would gut the Bears and then the Falcons would levy a Trial of Absorption on the Wolves.

>>52307054
Bears in that era would clean the Wolves clocks. The Wolf touman was a lot smaller.

>>52307054

Depends on whether Ben is a Line Dev or not.

>>52307157
>>52307054
I never really got the clans, but the only games I played more than once were MW4 and Mercs.

How does numerical superiority in the clans work? I imagine both sides only use a small number from the touman as part of any particular Batchall, but what's to stop the side with numerical superiority from weighing it over the other's head short of the concept of 'honor.' And say if the larger engages on a relatively level playing field and loses, what's to stop them from just wearing the smaller side out through attrition?

In the later SWs I understand most of the great houses fought with some level of chivalry to an extent, avoiding fighting in population centers or in areas of technological signifigance when possible, engaging in more skirmish-like warfare and retreating the field when clearly losing instead of turning fights into massive meat-grinders. Such was born less out of chivalry and more of necessity in the Inner Sphere, but apart from the basic rules of zellbrigen I don't really get what goes through the heads of those melee-averse animal fetishists.

>>52307054
The bears are cheesy golden boy bastards even more than the Falcons, so the wolves would get extra-fucked

>>52301509
>I guess that's what happens when you look in the mirror and realize the only thing every collapsed group and failed foray into a community has in common is you. Finding out you're the That

Hey! I'm that guy too. Wanna form a support group? Maybe if we find enough of us we could branch off a That Guy General. TGG?

>>52307278
Depends on how they bid. Like if Ulric bid the entire Wolf touman his opponent could bid his/her own clan's entire touman. And in such a case inter-unit bidding in individual formations is in the air. The khans could proclaim batchalls suspended, restrict bidding and hit with huge numbers, etc.
And with Ulric, a master sneak and bender of rules, there's no point to holding to zellbrigen.

>>52307278
>And say if the larger engages on a relatively level playing field and loses, what's to stop them from just wearing the smaller side out through attrition?
Absolutely nothing. It's exactly what happened to the Blood Spirits

>>52307054
It'd never happen. The Wolves and Ghost Bears are too closely aligned with the same wants and goals. The Watch would quickly sniff out the attempt at subterfuge and it'd mean the Falcons would be destroyed for their attempts.

Here's another what-if
If Katherine Steiner wasn't crazy and didn't break up the FedCom, and Sun-Tzu didn't fuck up the Second League, and under Victor's leadership the full force of both was applied to a general effort to fuck the invading clans to death, how much do you guys figure they and the AFFC would be wrecked circa ~67 or so?

>>52307757
If the Inner Sphere ever truly unified against the Clans earlier in the invasion era they would wipe the tube babies out with no effort.

>>52307157

Wolves were larger than the Bears, actually. The Jags were the largest, followed by the Wolves and Falcons, then the Bears and Adders.

>>52307262

Basically this. The RW was before the Bears had their heel-face turn, so they weren't ultra-competent good guys yet. And in that era, one Wolf Cluster almost killed off three (or four?) Bear Clusters in a Trial, so it's not like the Bears have a good track record to fall back on or Falcon-type flexibility in the field.

>>52307387

Wolves and Bears have never been friends. The Bears were hard-line Crusaders and still assblasted over the whole "killing two Khans, Rasalhague, and Tukayyid" stuff.

>>52307757

Unless the IS goes full WoB WMDs they don't have the military strength required to do more than maybe take out one Clan every ten years or so. Falcons are larger than the Wolves and have Thurston fiat protection, Bears are one of the largest Clans in that era with fiat protection, and the Wolves, while weak, have the Falcons and Bears on each side.

A policy of containment is honestly the best bet for the IS.

>>52307900
>Ghost Bears

>>52307387
>the watch
it's so useless it makes SAFE seem like MIM

>>52307907
>Wolves were larger than the Bears, actually.
[citation needed]

>Jags were the largest
Uh, no?

>one wolf cluster almost killed off three bear clusters
Because Ulric "Plot Armor" Kerensky was involved in that one. Play it on the table and it would be one-sided.

>>52307955

>memes

The Watch is actually reasonably effective. The problem is that the Warrior caste only listens if it suits them, and it mostly doesn't.

>>52307907
>Unless the IS goes full WoB WMDs they don't have the military strength required...
Reminder the woobies did nothing wrong and the clans could all be Blood Sprited Away by now.

>>52307907
>The Bears were hard-line Crusaders and still assblasted over the whole "killing two Khans, Rasalhague, and Tukayyid" stuff.
What steaming pile of shit have you been reading? The Bears are basically the manifestation of the Warden mindset. Same for the Wolves pre-WiE split, when the Wards took over and turned the Wolves into a Crusader Clan (but this was all post-Refusal anyways).

>>52307996

>citation

Original Clan SBs. No direct numbers are given, just rough levels of parity. This does fuck things up later with the Jags after 3052 and the Falcons and Wolves after the Refusal War, but welcome to BT, where fact-checking is slim to non-existent.

>play it on the table

You say this like it means anything. The majority of the BT plot can't be replicated on the table.

>>52307999
>calling the truth memes

The Watch according to canon:
>underfunded, ill-equipped, ill-maintained, and ill-trained for the duties of intelligence gathering and analysis

What a meme...

>>52308027

>What steaming pile of shit have you been reading?

The Bears only go Warden in '57-'58, anon. Go get Invading Clans and other Invasion-era material, the Bears were dominated by Crusaders and only go Warden around the time of the Great Refusal.

Fuck, there's even a god damn scene in Prince of Havoc where they're like "Oh and since the Bears are Crusaders and will fight in the Great Refusal we need to figure out who they'll go up against" followed by Bjorn Jorgensson getting up and going "No, we Wardens now, fuck you, Ghost Bears out."

>>52307999
The Society kinda proves how much the Watch sucks. They just like to think they are competent. Kinda like Wolfnet. "We're so awesome, we've infiltrated all the successor state agencies. And we know so much we publish TRO's instead of Comstar now."

Then wham bam, goodbye goons.

Of course the Wobbies make all the other intelligence groups look like they're playing in the kiddie pool.

>>52308062

>SB written from an IS perspective bitches out the Watch
>Watch operates with efficiency everywhere else

Hmm, I wonder which is more accurate.

At least we can filter you, you fuck. I'd say go back to the OF but I know you're banned there.

>>52308087

Ehh... depends on what you mean. The Society had opsec greater than even the WoB, so they blindsided everyone.

They seem to do a pretty good job with counter-intelligence most of the time; they had one big failure with Trent and Judith but otherwise leaks are pretty minimal. Analysis is also generally pretty good when they do it, but that's where the Warriors tend not to listen because they figure they know better.

>>52308027
>>52297182
Both are kinda right, Bears were crusader pre-tukayyid but afterward turned warden due to Rasalhague pussy

>>52308165
Sorry, didn't mean to quote OP

>>52308031
>original Clan SBs
I have them open in front of me. They disagree with your [dodging and lack of specific] citation. Try again with an actual citation.
According to the Warden handbook and OTP Revival the Bears had 13 Galaxies by 3057.
Clan Wolf has never had that many going by the Wolf phonebook, and other era writings.

So try again.

>>52308093
>turn to ad homs and filtering when the fluff proves you wrong
Lovely.

>>52308201

>muh Galaxies

Galaxies range from 3 to 9 Clusters depending on Clan.

The JFSB and WCSB also only list the forces used on Tukayyid rather than what they had in total for their OZ or back in the Homeworlds.

>>52308160
The Society is literally a parody of real life science societies. They're not nearly as advanced as you give them credit for. That you put them above the WoB is plain laughable. They got away with stuff mostly because they weren't overseen too closely. It's easy to obfuscate stuff when it's technically way above whoever is watching. The only person who can really keep tabs on what a scientist is up to is somebody with a relatively similar scientific background.

A man could be splicing in space squid genes to all the aerojocks and you'd never know it if you didn't know what to look for.

>>52308250
>muh clusters
We can go through and count them if you want. I already started on it and while I'll still cross checking alternate sources for the Wolves the count has the Bears still substantially in the lead.

>>52308262

They were able to put together fairly substantial forces and had infiltrated every Clan, some of them quite heavily like the Coyotes, over several decades if not a couple of centuries.

Granted nobody was specifically looking for the Society until it was too late, but the level the conspiracy was operating at should really have been ringing alarm bells all over the place. It didn't because the Wars of Reaving stuff was a bit ham-fisted that way and they needed to kill off a bunch of Clans.

>>52308217
>>52308093
>>turn to ad homs and filtering when the fluff proves you wrong
>Lovely.
If you really are Stormfury you probably anally rekt him on the OF back when and he's never gotten over it.

>>52308286

Two quick points.

First thing is that the initial presentation of the Clans (WCSB, JFSB) has the clear intent of them being *very* large and features a bunch of shit like the Free Guilds and implications that there are actually large numbers of people who aren't part of any Clan back in the Homeworlds.

The second is that we only start getting solid counts of Clan sizes *after* the Refusal War, when they've shifted from that initial conception and presentation of the Clans to one where they're much smaller and several elements like the Free Guilds get dropped in favour of everyone in the Homeworlds belonging to a Clan or being Dark Caste, no exceptions (except the very tiny Ebon and Katyusha Keshiks).

So yeah. By the time we start getting total numbers, the Bears and Adders are at the top tier and the Wolves and Falcons are also-rans. They were beaten down in the Refusal War, the Wolves are no longer authorial favourites (anything but, really) and the Jags are falling apart.

>>52307757
They could *probably* break the invading clans navally, which would make attriting them on the ground much easier
The first step would be to blow away the Levs while they're still in drydock, then let the Nova Cats take care of the rest of their navy, as in canon.
After that, taking the jade falcon navy apart piecemeal would be the next most important. The combined resources of the full FCN and SSLN could probably do that.
Of course this would draw in the 2nd round invading clans like the vipers and horses to start snacking on the asses of the clans who are getting fucked up, which would be a bonus

>>52308336
It's just the natural spread of that sort of thing. Scientists have always talked to each other across the world even during times of war. Crossing clan lines is nothing. And forces are nothing when you consider that most scientists are failed out warriors. You got instant military might when all your geneticists can slap themselves in a mech and do as well as a greenhorn straight outta the Nagalring.

Which is what they did. That's why Society pilots were crappy compared to standard clan.

Basically the Society was any standard scientific society until they went revolutionary. And it was easy for them to do so since they already had all the communications in place anyway and the military skill anyway.

>>52308454

>They could *probably* break the invading clans navally

Nope. The Clan Fleets are much larger and more powerful than those of the IS, even combined.

I looked into it once and the three remaining Invading Clans had roughly the same power between them in space as the IS of the time.

The other genetically engineered cannibal elephant in the room is that if the IS tried to press the other Invading Clans in a unified front there's a strong chance the Home Clans would get involved. They were all laughing when the Jags got bitch-slapped but the death of a Clan woke them up in that regard too.

>>52308444
>switching your argument from "the sources back me" to "the sources are inconclusive"
At least it's a polite concession.

>>52308533
Not to mention that with ships like the Potemkin, the invasion *capacity* of a Clan is much higher than that of the IS.

>>52308454
That's super dependent on if WarShip combat works like the fluff or on the table
It might be a good question to ask NEA next time he turns up
It's also really dependent on exactly how quickly the IS can produce ships

>>52308573

The sources are conclusive. They also change direction completely after the 3055ish fluff when FASA started fleshing them out more fully.

Given the way things were presented in the JFSB, WCSB, and IC I was really surprised when I bought a copy of FM: CC and discovered that most Clans were going to top out at 40 Clusters or less.

>>52308577

It is, but it might not matter that much.

Hypothetically, the IS might be able to clean up the Invading Clans. I consider this *vastly* unlikely given the scope of the forces they had to assemble to go after the Jaguars, but let's say for the sake of argument that they're willing to get a force roughly four times the size of Serpent and Bulldog together and capable of mobilising it without completely crippling their national economies, remembering that moving even a fraction of that force was able to drive the Suns to brink and send the Lyrans into a depression back in the 4th SW.

They *might* then be able to pitchfork the Invaders out. But the Invaders have a hell of a lot more friends in the Clan Council than the Jaguars ever did, and it would give Clan Sensible Snake the perfect opportunity to lead the counter-attack that would catapult them into the big seat they always thought they deserved. It's not likely to end just with the IS reclaiming lost territory.

Shit, the FRR might completely de-rail the process by going Bearmode earlier to protect their friends. Formerly JF worlds would be restive too going by what happened in the Jihad.

>>52308582

Warship combat in the novels operates largely on Rule of Cool and mostly assumes that the bigger vessel will win.

There's stuff like the Werewolf (a McKenna) taking on the Yggdrasil (Mjolnir) in the books that would only play out like that on the table if a complete retard was in command of the Mjolnir.

On the table, broadly speaking the bigger ships will win against smaller ones. The IS fleets consist of a lot of Destroyers and smaller ships, while the Clans have a lot of Cruisers and above.

New construction is extremely slow. Most factions stop popping new ships out after 3060 because reasons. Even then construction of something as small and relatively uncomplicated as a Fox Corvette takes 2-5 years.

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>>52308165
>Rasalhague pussy
>pic related

Can you really fucking BLAME them?

>>52308798

Meh.

>>52308796
>Most factions stop popping new ships out after 3060 because reasons.
The best explanation I've seen for that and the other wildly higher early-FM predictions for force growth were that they were written before the Jihad was conceived as WoB VS everyone, and that once that idea was set, everyone needed to be drastically toned down so that the upcoming Jihad wouldn't seem even more ridiculous than it already was going to be

>>52308798

Yes I can. But I'll blame any faction, anywhere, any time, for anything, as long as the faction isn't mine.

>>52309038

Ground force growth is all kinds of borked in the FMs. Dracs rebuild for shit, FWLM grows fuck all despite making literally ALL THE MONIES for over a decade, and the Suns whips out a dozen or so mega-tech regiments out of its ass after the FCCW because SHUT UP WE HAVE BONEYARDS.

WarShip deployment is fucked up in similar ways but for different reasons. The CapCon didn't get many because they were so badly off and poor; the fleet they did get is pretty dumb. The Drac and FWLN fleets have a lot of options because they were filled out first, while the FSN and LCN only have two home-grown designs each since they got fleshed out late. And then there was a decision around the time of the Twilight of the Clans stuff to limit fleet growth quite heavily to avoid overshadowing 'Mechs, along with the usual problem of the space game not getting much added to it since the player base is so small.

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>>52308798

If Rasalhague pussy looked more like this, then I'd understand. As it is, yeah. Meh.

>>52309197

It's because Battletech is more of a space drama with giant robits than hard sci-fi that requires that things make sense. Things happen because that's what the writers and line devs want, not because it makes empirical sense.

>>52309343

Essentially my point.

IC explanations for it are offered but ring hollow a lot of the time just due to the inconsistencies in normal stuff, much less getting into blatant authorial favouritism allowing certain factions to expand at rates nobody else can match.

>>52309237
7/Medron

>>52309237
Dude, I watch animu too, but that looks like a ten year old.

>>52309944

Don't worry, she's not 10 years old. She's barely 8!

Inspired by the grasshopper thing upthread, how about a design challenge, for IIC versions of SL mechs that probably should have one, but don't

>>52302403
>>52302424
Could do a smash and grab. Get a unit next to building X. Wait three turns there and then escort that unit off map.

We could try death races. Have a nascar esque track. Every mech gets a lane. You can not leave your lane. You can not move in reverse. You must move at least one hex forward every turn. I don't know howmy laps should be required and there are probably things I am forgetting. I played a scenario like that once and it was a lot of fun.

>>52308732
Economy is literally only a plot element. It matters when the plot needs it to.

>>52309197
Yeah the FWLM was predicted to grow by at least 16 mech regiments by 3067, but by the time we got to FM:U they only had added like 5.

>>52311573
Two regiments a year from '58 onwards, to be specific, was what was given in FM:FWL

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Need help /btg/, WIP, what faction should I make this unit based on the base color? I was not going for anything specific.

>>52311674
Right, I was thinking from 3059. So like 18 regiments.

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What are some mechs that would be appropriate for an Azami company?

>>52311674
>>52311721
And that figure is WITH them also exporting shittons of gear to everyone and their cat

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Jesus fuck, namefag general.

Continuing the upthread Bounty Hunting

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>>52312405

>>52311753
The Arkab legions are old light and medium shit. They're semi-autonmous and raised from the Azami worlds directly so they don't get really advanced stuff until much later. Procurement deliberately keeps them from getting too powerful. This seems to have been forgotten about by the Dark Age where they get modern heavies and assaults. Of course half the Azami worlds were cut off from each other for half a century by then.

>>52309237
pedo

>>52309944
pedo

>>52310391
extra pedo

>>52312666
Satan knows his own, it seems

What's the best low-end DropShip for a small combined-arms merc unit? Like a lance of mechs, a lance of tanks, an infantry platoon, a couple trucks, two Thumper arty guns and a pair of VTOLs?

>>52312766
>Anon 1 explicitly shows his interest in children
>Anon 2 calls anon 1 for what he said and somehow that means he is also a pedophile

You missed your logic classes, anon 3

>>52312817
Did you design your unit deliberately to game transportation costs? good for you
A buccaneer, Mule or Danais, or maybe an old DRoST or Jumbo are all equally reasonable options once you add a few extra bunks.
I'd personally go for the DRoST or Danais if you want especially low end

>>52312817
Union. Just convert some of the 'mech bays to vee and infantry bays.

>>52312862

Having interest in any potential sexual partner under the age of 25 makes you a pedo, though, and then only if they show secondary sexual characteristics large enough to be determined through baggy clothing. Aussies have the right idea, if she's smaller than a B-cup and you're attracted to her, then you're a pedo.

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>>52312666
One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us....

>>52307955
>it makes SAFE seem like MIM

That's the fucked up part here, comparing a House-tier intel agency to a bunch of cyberwhore trannies.

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>>52312666
Satan, pls.

>>52311690
FedSuns.

>>52311816
I just assume WoB stole it all. Imagine adding at least 11 regiments to the FWLM.

>>52313389
Don't forget the EBON MAGISTRATE are the best commandos in the Human Sphere :^)))))

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>>52313542
>tfw the FWL can cockslap the Caps and the Lyrans at the same time without an ounce of fiat

GLORIOUS

>>52313015
>tfw your gf is 19 and you're well past that age
I think I'm going full Hanse...

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Swerve Urbieplebs, new QT coming through.

>>52313604

That sliding sideways while shooting makes me think of skiing in Tribes more than anything from Battletech

>>52313730
I didn't like it until you said that. Now I know this is no mech, but a skiing heavy suit. Curiously his mortar is missing.

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>>52313757

Glad to help

>>52313604
I'm ok with this. There's room at the bottom with the Urbies.

>>52313798

Fucking Sandraker
>>>/off/

>>52308798
But the one on the left is Australian and the one on the right is Canadian...

>>52310740
Which SL 'mechs would you say should have one? Black Knight? Crab? Atlas?

>>52313604
Stats when? 2nd TRO preview when?

>>52314627
The /btg/ro is a lie. All you will ever receive is endless questions over formatting minutia.

>>52314411
Crab, black knight, starslayer, hussar maybe, Lancelot, Champion, Emperor, perhaps the Atla
The Nightstar would make sense, but it'd be so cheesy I can't say I'm for it

>>52314627
Muninn is fighting with real life and the impossibility of scribus, I guess.

>>52314680
Probably true.

>>52314627
As CA notes, my life right now consists of "Here are two million excel cells to work with, and more are coming in on Friday" among other things.

Nevertheless, a second preview is Soon (tm). Right now I'm busy plugging info into word docs so I can export it to a pdf which is then embedded in the layout program.

I hadn't been by the OF in years, so I poked my head in for a bit. Has it really gotten to just beemers circle jerking now?

>>52315103
Yes

>>52315103

Been that way for almost three years now, since they banned or drove off everyone else.

Is there anything interesting in the new spotlight on stones trackers?

>>52315800

No-one knows. Uploader-anon has stopped doing God's work, all we have is the archives. The OF will fellate the shit out of it but they're massively biased.

>>52315189
What's funny is just how unfriendly they are there to new players. Downright dickish.

Of all places it's /tg/ on 4chan where I came and learned the game.

Still also waiting on TtS: Iron Land and SO: Stone's Trackers.

>>52315826

Ignore this post. The official forum is filled with the most knowledgeable and welcoming players and has a much higher percentage of people who actually play the game than 4Chan.

>>52316223
Implying anyone on the OF has rolled dice on the TT since 94.

>>52316284
Hey, there's one guy who had a f2f game as late as 99

>>52316223
I know this is a troll post but gosh, I hate how true this is. I got back into BT a few years ago, and just out of the blue came here. I can't tell you how this is one of my favorite places online period.

Everyone here, over all has been incredibly respectful, fun, polite, and helpful. I'm always feeling guilty because I come up with design ideas at work and can't fire up SSW check my phone 30 mins later 2-3 people saying something kind to me and throwing ideas and builds.

We have our little meme's and gripes but what ever. You all are cool people, even though no one likes my factions, meaning you are all wrong.

>>52315826
Weird meme. Friendly to new players is pretty much the thing they do best.

Has there ever been a faction poll here? I can't imagine it's all purple bird. Even those guys have to have second and third favorites.

>>52316284

The particularly shitty part of it is how those are the people in charge of writing the rules. Xotl does what he can but a number of writers and designers have stated outright that they don't play very often or have never played with tech past 3058 or so, and then bloviate about how they know the mechanics and item X or 'Mech Y are actually super awesome.

Ultimately the OF is CGL writ large. Nepotism and ego-stroking are prized far more than knowledge or ability, and the rest of the forum population or gaming audience suffers for it.

>>52316540
My favorites are the old Terran Hegemony, ComStar/WoB, playing as the little states that arose in the Chaos March, and Taurian Concordat.

>>52316413

If the newbie just posts "new to the game, what do I do next" then the advice is usually at least OK and the air is pretty welcoming.

If they then go into any other thread, not so much.

>>52316576
Wow. I just thought they had shitty online community management. How can you make good decisions if you are willfully ignorant of large swaths of the material. Shit is complicated enough learning all the things mechs can do with all the available material. If you add in vees, ba, protos, and goddamn them ASF's the amount of interactions is ridiculous.

>>52316540
I think you might actually see a higher number of taurianfags then you'd figure
My theory is they come here to escape medron pryde
Also I might actually bet that people who like dracs would be very close to or even outnumber CapCon fans, because this place is the bizzaro OF

>>52316540
I like Lyran Commonwealth/Alliance, Comstar/WoB, Marian Hegemony. I would list GDL, but dead mary sue mercs don't count imo.

>>52316711

The only good thing is that they are better with the rules than they are with fact-checking and proof-reading.

Wait.

>>52316757
>My theory is they come here to escape medron pryde
That's partly it. I've never seen a "fan" so serious poison his professed faction so solidly. I got tired of him and his students who worship pryderockindustries feeling the need to join every discussion about the Concordat, so I left.

>>52316540
I like the TC, Blood Spirits, Suns and sometimes enjoy a bit of Smoke Jaguar.
I also like to play minor periphery factions and Chaos March mini-states when I get the chance.

>>52316673

Wolf, FWL, and WoB.

>>52316540
In order of preference, SLD, Lyran Commonwealth/Clan Coyote = Mercenary. I like them all equally, though their presence on the list is whether I like them slightly more. If we go by minis painted, it's SLDF, Mercenary, LyrCom and the Coyotes.

>>52316540
I think more people like the smaller factions here vs OF.

Hell coming back into BT I had no idea Taurians were a thing. They are pretty cool, at first I thought people liked as a meme.

Steiner STRONK and Clan Wolf

I got into BT from the the old dos games and MW2 and the cartoon taught me JF was the bad guys so I have an excuse for pleb tastes

So of the guys selecting WoB, how many play it for being cheesy over the top evil with cool toys.

Also who plays it because they think Wob is in the right as far as the schism goes?

I choose it for cool toys myself. Dat battle armor.

>>52316916

That's why I got into Wolf in the first place too. I learned to love the FWL and WoB as a GM, though. Gotta have space for adventures, and someone to torment your players.

>>52316933
It too me a while to warm up to WOB. I hate to admit this, but I kinda freaking love cappie mechs.

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>>52316929

It's mostly the option to be cartoonishly evil with zero remorse. The toys are fun (especially Manei Domini stuff), but it's great to just be unrepentant villains.

>>52316858
You know, I sometimes wonder if Coleman or Kit or MadCap might have ended up that obnoxious if they never got to make their fanwank canon.
I kinda think they might have, and we'd be having a giggle over Xinshengindustries.net, too

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>>52316929
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

WoB was in the right, but yeah they're "evil" to a certain degree. At the same time, no more evil than any other faction. Even the Word's worst deeds are only a drop in the bucket compared to what the Houses have done.

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>>52316916
>>52316911
Hail fellow Lyrans. Have you managed to come to grips with the large number of incompetent General Officers that seem to fall ass first to important combat commands? I do it by pretending my lighting company is a safe space. (It doesn't work)

>>52316993
I prefer the foct secular route myself. I just did not like how they carried it out with victor.

Props on the B5. Lando's journey to power and his fall where a true joy to watch.

>>52316757
What I find so hilarious about the TCfags here is that not one of them seems to have any beef with the suns, and they all seem to beef with coleman and the cappies instead.
It's hilarious

>>52317082
Is it really beef with cappies, or is it beef with coleman and blatant fiat. It's the same reason I hated fedrats when I started back when they got the juice.

>>52317082
>they all seem to beef with coleman and the cappies instead.

Because Xin Sheng made their leadership go full retard.

>>52317067
I enjoyed Focht at first but hard difficulty getting into FochtStar. Once Twilight of the Clans was over and he retired instead of retaking Terra I dropped him and his meaningless phone company hard. I mean without the fluff and mysticism playing Com Guards is basically just playing corporate security. WoB at least had great flavor. Plus the Primus being an ISF plant.
It's not that I didn't want to like FochtStar but they simply seemed so pointless.

>>52317082
>they all seem to beef with coleman and the cappies instead
I don't think there's a single person here who DOESN'T strongly dislike Embezzlement-san, so that isn't saying much

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>>52317126
>>52317135
>>52317147
Come on guys, what's the big deal?

>>52317126
>or is it beef with coleman and blatant fiat
Probably that. Very, very few people here have genuine actual anti-faction beef, our local lunatic and the occasional OF crossover excepted

>>52317141
Holy shit anon. You hit the nail on the head with that one.

>>52317126
>when I started back when they got the juice

Why don't you come to Broken Wheel and say that to my face, you filthy rock hopper.

But seriously, The Periphery didn't even come out until the 4th Succession War was underway. Hanse had been set up since 1985 as the up and comer of the 3rd War. The Taurians didn't even exist back then. Look at Battletech 2nd Edition. It just has the space pirates and the Outworlds in the Periphery.

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>>52316540
Lyran state, in all forms. All day, every day.

>>52316540
FWL and WoB

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>>52316972
Even I fall for their charm
For the Dola I think its just my nostalgia

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>>52316540

It isn't JUST a meme. I honestly have the FWL as my favorites, but I will also admit to enjoying the FRR and the FedSuns. I also like a lot of the DC mechs even if I don't like the Combine itself.

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>>52316540
Taurians, with a bit of Liao and Lothians.

in b4 super disliked opinion. I really didn't mind fed rats going super power. I didn't like how FCCW fell apart it felt, forced desu. Now I can understand why they did it so soon. I wanted them to steam roll a bit longer not even being a feddie but just to cause some pretty fun faction swapping and re sorting.

I was hoping to see cappies and purple burd getting closer in reply. Long story short I thought it just got dropped and there was a lot of good possible plot.

To let feddies go super power the fiat needed to happen. As much as I'm a raging austist that stuff doesn't irk me too much, it's a game and those things sometimes happen.

>>52317141
The Problem with Foch's boys was they didn't do shit AND got neutered bad. So basically all they did was sit around Hogstar space until Case White and got destroyed there.

You know what really made them boring though? It's one of the things what made WoB great. ROM. Comstar lost all their cloak and dagger information and intelligence, the heart and soul of Comstar.

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All of you hailing the Lyran State are all true supporters of House Steiner I trust. No dirty Skye separatists out there plotting agaisnt the Archon?

>>52317307
I love the essential concept of the DC, they're gloriously space 80s, I just loath the modern execution of them as mouth-breathing hopelessly self-sabotaging pointlessly edgy war criminals

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>>52316929
I came for space technopaladins who believe the ends justify the means.

>>52317327
Good points. Word of Blake *was* ROM. The Word of Blake Militia was an extension of the past when the Com Guards were under ROM, practically.

And that's why WoB isn't really dead. Terra may have fallen, and big chunks of the Militia may have died in its defense, but the heart of the Word of Blake survived. ROM, including its Light of Mankind spec ops, are still out there. Even after decades of Blakist hunting.

>>52317380
>I just loath the modern execution of them as mouth-breathing hopelessly self-sabotaging pointlessly edgy war criminals
But that's literally everyone except the wolves, falcons, bears, MoC and capellans when written by CGL.
And of those five factions only the MoC aren't retarded war criminals with magic immunity to consequences, they've only got the second bit

>>52317403
What I loved was in I think Epsilon Etidani the WoB commander espoused what I thought was essentially views similar to Focht. Well more accurately I guess I should say Blake and not Toyama's twisted version.

>>52317318
>the fiat needed to happen

Remember the original 3025 accords were started by Katrina Steiner and she invited everyone. Think who was in charge at the time. Mad Max, Takashi, Janos. No wonder they all told her to fuck off. To her, Hanse was just a dumb kid who had replaced his dead brother. And he kinda was, did a lot of things radically for the Fedsuns at the time that we now consider standard Fedsun MO. But boy did he take that ball and run with it. The only one of his kids born with even an ounce of his ambition was Katherine.

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>Houses/Clans
>Periphery "States"
>WoB
But Anon, why don't you want to be a Pirate

>>52317495
>The only one of his kids born with even an ounce of his ambition was Katherine.
And to think she threw it all away over a broken heart

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>>52317378
""""Free"""" Skye is full of retards. They want to leave the Lyran state and... what exactly? Be chewed apart by the Dracs? Absorbed by the Free Worlds?

Every Free Skye person is either a moron or bought and paid for by a Kelswa-Steiner.

Well let me tell you, Skye ain't free. The fist of Steiner and Tharkad gotta be litterd with the blood of Patriots. Robert KELSWA-Steiner aka “Cuckswa-Steiner” is not my duke of skye. he is corrupt Tamari and probbaly Marik as well. Fist and Steiner not First and KELSWA-Steiner ok. praise melissa.

>>52317472
Malcom wasn't WoB. He was old school Comstar. It was the Republic that labeled them Blakists. This is even sort of explained in some of the novels where it's been so long since the war that people use both interchangeably, especially after the Blackout.

Put a gun in an adept's hand and he's a "Blakist"
Wear the OG wizard robes? "Blakist"
Sing the old hymns? "Blakist"

>>52317516
>And to think she threw it all away over a broken heart
Whut?

>>52317621
She wanted the VSDick

>>52317380

The thing for me isn't that I like their fluff, it is that I like their variants of mechs. A lot of the common designs that are 'meh' or outright bad have a Kurita variant that is basically the best version of the mech available. The Catapult, the Shadow Hawk, the Phoenix Hawk all have this, although the Kurita Atlas is notably bad.

>>52317621
Her onii-sama chose a filthy drac over her.

>>52317584
Thank you for correcting me. I think I will go back and read it again.

>>52317523
I couldn't agree more. Do you actually play skye units? Because you will be the first loyal son from skye I know of minus that one glorious bastard and his Vtol merc outfit.

>>52317472
>>52317584
To clarify Buhl and his were Blakists, but they weren't Word of Blake.

I suspect that if WoB ROM is still operating in the Republic, they were the ones who sold BuhlStar out. A sacrificial lamb to eliminate rivals and let the Republic think they have a handle on Blakists.

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>>52317621
Victor fucked every princess except the one willing to set the sphere on fire for him
In retrospect a poor choice
>Victorwonderswhereitallwentwrong.hpg

>>52317730
holy shit how fitting that meme is.

On mech related, any Dervishes that aren't shit?

>>52316540
Burd, WoB/C*, and Snowy Magpie (always had a soft spot for the R-Teams).

also RWR

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Thoughts on the Blessed Order's not-Celestials?

>>52316929
In it for the technocultism, warcrimes, and cyborg waifus (Ebon Magistrate are retconshit).

Factionally I'm a True Believer. Settle our differences, -then- burn the Clans to ash and restore the Star League.

>>52317945
what are the different WoB factions?

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>>52317876
I love RWR and for that matter SLDF CAAN but that time period doesn't really seem that popular. It would be nice if they got Battleforce or ISAW done up with mekHQ. Could you imagine doing AtB but it being the Amaris Civil war or 4th SW?

>>52317730
You know, the other day I was reading this terrible Star Wars fanfic where at his moment of death Vader was able to send a short message back in time to his teenage self.
Now I'm imagining one with Victor, and the message is just
>kiss Katherine back

>>52317831
Refit the normal one with SRMs for the LRMs. Makes it into a fat Javelin.

>>52317945
Blake be with you brother. I may have different views on Blake's plan, but we can surely agree on the Clanscum.

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>>52317961
Here you go

>>52317703
>were Blakists
Not really. I mean they were pretty above board for the most part until Wyatt made them reveal the Comguard. That's when Buhl had to gut the hyperspace college and all the stuff in Australia and move it to their secret base on Liberty Station. And they did it with the knowledge of the First Circuit. You see that in Sword of Sedition with Levin and First Precentor Whatshisface. Though at that time, Levin didn't seem to care and even got some of the Comguard to help him hold North America in the Republic Civil War.

Pretty sure that's partly why the Republic grabbed all of Comstar under the wall. Because they knew it wasn't just Buhl and his band of merry men.

I bet you're right about ROM selling them out though. Seems like it was Mckinnon's toady Holt's report that turned the tide against them.

I still bet it was Paladin Mckinnon who did the blackout and all that shit. He's the only one old enough to know all the WoB secrets, was joined with Stone at the hip and always seems to be balls deep in Comstar and rebellion plots. Remember how the big riot on Terra for the election of a new Exarch wanted to get him elected instead of Levin? Stone also made him "retire" as soon as he got back. Could very well be a Focht/Waterly sort of event, but with no Demona Aziz to tattletale on them.

>>52316929
I came for the 48th shadow division's stealth rules, and stayed for the unrepentant WMDs and spoopy spec ops. I really don't know that much about them beyond that, sadly.

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>>52316540
>Has there ever been a faction poll here? I can't imagine it's all purple bird. Even those guys have to have second and third favorites.
Pirates. I mostly GM, though, so I prefer to play insane jackoffs with stupid PAF custom machines over yet another iteration of the Houses. I actually have at least one force for every Successor House, plus a personal Merc company and several minor forces.

...on the Clan side I play Blood Spirits, because the combination of Elite pilots in shitbox potatomechs and shitty washouts in protomechs makes me happy.

>>52316825
>>52317460
If only this weren't so true.

>>52317500
That's a Monster of a 'Mech, anon.

>>52317652
>A lot of the common designs that are 'meh' or outright bad have a Kurita variant that is basically the best version of the mech available. The Catapult, the Shadow Hawk, the Phoenix Hawk all have this, although the Kurita Atlas is notably bad.
...Uh, the original Kurita Pixie is kinda shit. And the SHD gets way better in Marik hands than it ever was in the Dracs'. I mean, some of the Phoenix variants are okay, but the -Ms are actually quite good. The Kurita Catapult is just a shitty jumping Marauder.

>>52318093
>Not really
There are different types of Blakists. The Blessed Order objectively were Blakists. They weren't Word of Blake. Not Toyama types.

>>52317831
>On mech related, any Dervishes that aren't shit?
Honestly replacing the SRMs with paired MLs and adding SHS in place of ammo is actually really solid in 3025, makes it like a jumpy treb

>>52317945
True Believers for heart
Expatriots for mettle
Toyamas for plotz

>>52317961
Toyama are the ones who did the Jihad. They're the guys who most people think of when you say WoB. Sixth of June are the ultra-Toyama, named after the day Myndo Waterly died.

Shunners, who said "fuck the IS we're gonna go be isolated in a dome city on Mars(IIRC?)" where they got murdered by DIED IN AN ACCIDENT the Toyama.

True Believers are "let's get our house in order then new SL and remove clan REMOVE CLAN". They played mediator among the factions until they got purged/assimilated after the Toyama spaced their leader over Tharkad and started the Jihad (noticing a pattern?)

I think there was one more pre-jihad faction, but I can't remember it.

Then there's the Manei Domini, who are the crazy cyborg cult we know and love. They've got funky goals and end up deciding that Stone is the future or something. They're allied with the Toyama until partway into the Jihad, at which point they fuck off for mysterious cyborg reasons while the Toyama go full Defense of the Reich in the old Hegemony.

>>52318093
Wait are there novels depicting events related to EE?

>>52318095
Nothing wrong with that. The point of the game is to have fun and the good guys need bad guys.

>>52318135
My preferred refit is similar, except with armor instead of SHS

>>52318186
True believers are what FochtStar should have been IMO

>>52318138
>Reminded about the Heart of Blake
Never Forget, Blakes True Vision

>>52318133
Ironically, calling that group the Blessed Order is a gentle retcon. All material previous to the Republic-written reports in ER:3145 and TP:EE just showed them using that name occasionally because that was the old Comstar way of doing things, along with them going back to the robes and the prayers.

Say what you mean by Blakist though. Because to me, you have to be Word of Blake to be Blakist. Otherwise, you're saying that 3025 Comstar were all Blakists. Which makes sense from a certain point of view if you're referring the the pseudoreligion of Blakism. I just think it's a little silly to split it out that way when Comstar for most of its life was that way.

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>>52317831
>On mech related, any Dervishes that aren't shit?
The -9D is brutal. It >is< packing one hell of a torso bomb, but it's also got upgraded armor, and it can light off twenty LRM or SRM tubes plus 2-3 comped ERMLs every turn while jumping around like a drunken rabbit. Makes for a startlingly mean bodyguard in a fire lance and a nasty mugger in close terrain. The jets let it overheat and still get the fuck out of Dodge. You just have to watch the heat gauge or you're going to explode, especially if you're packing Infernos (since you have 5t of ammo, you probably should).

In its time, the Primitive Dervish was also pretty decent. Not the top of the line in any respect, but still solid.

>>52318186

The one you missed was the Counter-reformists, who thought ComStar needed to be changed but not as much as Focht had done. You can imagine how much power and prestige they had in the WoB.

True Believers also didn't have a hate-on for the Clans, they were just pre-reformation ComStar. What little Clan rage the WoB ever had was isolated to 6th of June and the Manei Domini, if that wasn't a lie to begin with.

>>52318189
>Wait are there novels depicting events related to EE?

Sort of. The lead up and aftermath but not the even itself.

Target of Opportunity introduces all the main players in the Comstar and Republic end. Then there's one important chapter in Sword of Sedition related to the aftermath. Then all the Tucker sections in Bonfire of Worlds, about 1/4 of the book. Then the opening story of ER:3145 resolves the Tucker stuff.

The last one is not exactly relevant to Comstar, but you'll want that resolution so fucking bad after reading Bonfire.

>>52318282
>Say what you mean by Blakist though. Because to me, you have to be Word of Blake to be Blakist. Otherwise, you're saying that 3025 Comstar were all Blakists. Which makes sense from a certain point of view if you're referring the the pseudoreligion of Blakism. I just think it's a little silly to split it out that way when Comstar for most of its life was that way.

Not sure if being subtlely trolled...

Blakism was a part of ComStar from practically day one in the game. Word of Blake didn't make it up on 6-6-3052. There's a reasons hundreds of thousands banded together to preserve their common religious beliefs as they saw them.

If you view Blakism as solely being the Word, well I hate to meme at you but you're wrong. Buhl's contempories even "Peace of Blake" each other.

>>52318186
>Toyama every line

These guys sound interesting

>>52318359
>Then the opening story of ER:3145 resolves the Tucker stuff.

But it's really, really shit.

>>52318359
If one has never read any DA novels is this an acceptable place to start. Or will I need to start somewhere else and work my way there?

>>52318404
Read Ghost War first.

>>52318371
They're the ones who decided that CRASHING THIS SPHERE
WITH NO SURVIVORS
was a great idea

>>52318365
You're misreading my post.

I said. "Do you think Blakist means member of the Word of Blake or a believer in Blakism?"
Then I said "It sounds like you think it's Blakism and that's seems dumb to me."

Not even saying I'm right. But you ask the average guy what Blakist means and it's member of the Word of Blake. It kinda reminds of those old forum fights where some author wanted their nickname to be Wobblies and not Wobbies because it was some pun on an old labor union. Took two years to hammer that out.

>>52318470
>I said. "Do you think Blakist means member of the Word of Blake or a believer in Blakism?"
>Then I said "It sounds like you think it's Blakism and that's seems dumb to me."
Might seem dumb but that's reality. Kind of like how how a Muslim is a follower of Islam, and some are members of bad groups. And some people think all Muslims are in bad groups. But either way they're all still Muslims. Not hard to wrap your mind around.

>>52318399
Yeah, but god damn does a guy have all the wrong leads on who is behind what if you don't read it.

>>52318568
The reason it doesn't make sense is not all the Word of Blake factions are believers in Blakism, like all the guys that quite when Focht put Victor in charge. But all the Word of Blake are called Blakists in every sourcebook.

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>mfw one of my pilots loses her mech to an ammo explosion but knocked out an upgraded version of her mech that can be fixed up with salvage in a couple of days

Free upgrade to a Fire Javelin and a bunch of spare parts.

>>52318606
I think you're confused to a degree. Not every Blakist quit ComStar. Some waited to see if Focht's reforms could breath new life into the organization. Not everyone wears their religion on their sleeves.
Either way, this is semantics. The Blessed Order were Blakists, though they're referred to as neo-Blakists to prevent the confusion you've displayed.

>>52318606

Retcons, anon.

WoB were set up as religious whackjobs reacting to Focht secularising ComStar after killing Myndo Waterly.

Then CGL decided that ComStar had actually been secular all along, the religous stuff was all just trappings meant to mollify outsiders, and the space wizard stuff was dropped. Especially the bits where WoB was all "No, we're space wizards, we hate the shit out of ComStar and Focht especially because he said our space wizard religion was a lie!"

>>52318697
This is extra ironic when the Dark Age novels have that space wizard fanatic shit in spades, even the ones written while the early CGL jihad was going on.

At least the 6th of June still sorta had that wizard tech cult thing going on.

>>52318686
This has literally happened to me twice with a Vulcan 2T/5T

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>>52318814
I couldn't have scripted it better. Fire Javelin had a damaged leg and RT, old Jav lost it CT and LT but RT was perfectly intact.

>>52314707
Honestly there's a number of divergent ways to go about this. The general trend for most IIC models seems to be "swap everything for Clan components and double the armament" (or at least the backup weapons), but sometimes this means scaling the tonnage up or down - some 'mechs gain or lose weight; it's this part that I feel is somewhat tricky.

>>52319174

Most of the IICs we've got now remain at the same weight, TR 3055 was the outlier. But since it was also the first time saw any it also means people think it's the norm.

>>52319223
>>52319174
Then there's versions where they take the original concept and go full retard, like the Hunchback IIC.

Yeah two UAC/20s sounds fine to me.

>>52317831
I actually feel packing Inferno SRMS and/or specialty LRM rounds help the original immensely; it's got the ammunition for it. Compared to other anemic 3025-era medium loadouts I actually have found the Dervish to be surprisingly useful at times - it doesn't have a lot of raw firepower but can split it between a lot of targets which is helpful in the late stages of a game.

>>52319251
It still follows the trend of "double the armament". Imagine if it was 65 tons in the Heavy Class (maybe without the jets).

Even then, it's pretty glorious if you *do* manage to get off 4 UAC hits in one turn; even most Assaults aren't going to have a good day after that. If only Ultra ACs were actually more reliable at getting a second shot.

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>>52314707
>>52319223
You know, I'm not really sure if there's any way to really fundamentally change what the Crab is about. This one's pretty much identical to the 27sl, just made slightly better/snipier with Clan components.

Maybe swap the ECM for a Targeting Computer, for more of a Clannish feel?

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>>52316540
Obligatory single dirty Capellan here. XIN SHENG

New thread
>>52320733

>>52319397
I hit with the 4 UACs on a Hunchie 2c once. It was against an Awesome. It was glorious. I didn't kill the thing because it's a zombie. But once it got done frying my Hunchback it was easy pickings for a dasher.

What if all 'Mechs, from the Mackie, all the way to the latest Dark Age 'Mechs, had Full-Head Ejection Systems?