/btg/ Battletech General!

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MWO released a new mech model for anyone interested

I figure the mauler wouldn't be great but for fluff and flavor how much can you do keeping the AC2s.

>>51175850

I was expecting them to have all the first-gen PWSes.

I thought everyone would have those, either factory fresh or emergency refits as the Jihad progressed. Except for maybe the Exalibur-PW because it was rare by the fluff.

>>51175870

Not enough to make it worthwhile. It gets you enough tonnage to add armour, Artemis, C3, and more DHS but it's still going to overheat, still has poor damage for its size, and now relies on DSHONARABU DAVION SCUM weapons to get there.

>BONAR Machin

No, Captcha. Not even a little bit.

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>>51175947
>>BONAR Machin
>No, Captcha. Not even a little bit.

More than you'd think.

What does the LB stand for in LB-autocannons?

>>51176333

Lubalin Ballistics. The original manufacturer.

It just stuck with all the other classes because whatever.

>>51176333
Lotso bullets.

Anyone else wish we had a battletech game kinda like dropzone and dropfleet commander?

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>>51175737
Not out till the 24th, got my hopes up for a new model to dick around with. Thanks anon.

>>51176366
No, unless it would replace Alpha Strike, then yes.

>>51176333
Light Barrel. It makes sense for the -10, since it IS lighter, but not the others so much

>>51176333
Lord British?

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>>51176596

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>>51176558

It's Lubalin Ballistics, anon. Always has been.

This is from 3050U but the Champion's text has always featured that clarification.

>>51176364
>>51176734
Thanks guys. Although I think Lord British Heavy Industries might have been really fun.

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>>51176734
>It's Lubalin Ballistics, anon. Always has been.
>This is from 3050U but the Champion's text has always featured that clarification.

I'll be darned. You learn something new every day! I always assumed it was "Light Barrel" too, like >>51176558, but here it is in TRO2750, published in 1989 - nearly 30 years ago!

What an ugly design!

>>51176734
Huh. Don't know how I missed that

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>>51176734
>>51176838
Oh, neat. I never knew that. Does that basically make Lubalin Ballistics the "Kleenex" of autocannons?

Here, have an SPG I made. Who else besides me enjoys futzing about with "updates" to venerable tank designs? We have a canon Merkava already, etc, etc, so why not some WWII love?

I thought LB was only speculated to be luxor ballistic or whatever and there was no official confirmation?

>>51175947
I'm pretty sure that the MUL is wrong there. I remember them having access to more than that when I was doing research for a Jihad AU

What's the average CBill price of an IS Assault mech that uses Jihad-era IS tech?

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OC, inb4
>laptop resolution
All contents subject to change.

>>51177886
XL or SFE? This is very important. If the former, 18-25, if the latter 8-12

New player; nobody I know IRL plays it, but I discovered megamek. How do you fight Clan mechs? Even when I try to close under the cover of smoke, I find my guys getting shredded anyway by their 3/4 pilots and heavy armament.

>>51178154
Overwhelm them with numbers and fight at knife-fighting range. You'll never win a ranged engagement, their weapons are better than yours at that, so close to point-blank where your armor weight can carry the day.

>>51178053
SFE. 8-12 seems low, though - I'm trying to make a relatively budget-conscious machine and I'm hitting 15 mil easy.

>>51178207
What are you throwing on it to get to 15?
At any rate it's still cheaper than XLs, which are extremely common on assaults by them, so it works for a budget machine

>>51178154
Numbers
Armor
Dirty tricks (using smoke is a good one)

Think of it this way - if you lose two Awesome 10-KMs taking out a Turkina Prime, you're winning by 141 BV.

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Am I a faggot for playing only with mechs I like the design of and not really caring about their load outs or stats?

>>51178784
Nnnnnnno? I think a lot of people have that design (or designs) they love despite them being crap or suboptimal. You always get points for style, Anon.

>>51178784
You are precisely the opposite.

>>51178784

Only if it's because you want to pilot a Balius that you've named Twilight Sparkle.

>>51177798

It doesn't make much sense to me either. Use your newly-acquired CGL powers?

>>51179487
We're only allowed to use our powers for low level trolling and adding chapters to books. It's like an entire team of Mati from Captain Planet.

>>51178283
Would a Mechbuster or two fall under the dirty tricks? Also, if I were to play someone in a fluffy manner, at what point would Clan mechs break Zelbrigen?

>>51180338
>Would a Mechbuster or two fall under the dirty tricks?
Maybe, but it depends on what guns they have, and the MB is a flying glass cannon in any event, and Clan LPLs are nasty.

>Also, if I were to play someone in a fluffy manner, at what point would Clan mechs break Zelbrigen?
That's kind of tricky. Going full fluff it depends on what Clan you are on and when, and also by how much. It ranges from never breaking Zell no matter what the enemy does, to only ganging up on a specific unit that interferes in a duel, to one infraction and it's a free for all, or to "These Stravags aren't worthy of honorable combat in the first place." and not bothering with Zell at all.

>>51180338

>Would a Mechbuster or two fall under the dirty tricks?

Clanners would just love you to send a conventional fighter like that their way, anon. It'd be shot down long before it got into range.

Conventional fighters are given a lot more credit in fluff than they can earn on the field.

>Also, if I were to play someone in a fluffy manner, at what point would Clan mechs break Zelbrigen?

After the IS side dicked around too much.

How much "too much" is depends on the Clan and the era.

>>51175497
Shit picture edition

>>51180999
Nice meme my friend!

Are there any 3050+ refits of the warhammer/marauder that basically do the same thing as the 3025 model, but better, without changing too much?

>>51182074

Warhammer: -7M, -8D.

Marauder: -5R, -7D, -9S though these all rely on XLs. So YMMV on how much of a change that really is.

>>51182074
Depends on exactly what you define as better, but the for the Whammy, the 7M, 7S, 7K and 8D are all worth looking at. Also the old Royal Whammy 6Rb ends up being available again around the Jihad according to MUL, popping up first among the Taurians and later becoming Periphery general/merc. Sadly, the later and better Royal Whammy, the 7A, does not. Even the Clans don't have it.

As for MADs, what >>51182138 said, most upgrades tend towards lighter engines to replace the AC/5 with something bigger like a Gauss rifle (5A), RAC/5 (5R), or LBX 10 (9S). Though the old SL era MAD-2R gets brought back just like the WHM-6Rb seeing Taurian and then further periphery/merc distribution.

What Davion regiments that exist in 3145 OTHER than the Assault Guards, really go in for assault mechs?

What is the average production rate for a 'mech? High rate or low? If 25 of an assault mech is produced a year, is that a lot? What about 25 light mechs?

>>51182881
There aren't any hard numbers for most designs, though the Valkyrie was being produced in what was considered a rather large number of 130 units a year in 3025. In fact, the Archer is probably the single most common design in the entire Inner Sphere with 100 thousand produced before the First Succession War. The best answer you're going receive on production is "however much it needs to be." Hard numbers are difficult because of the three pillars of "FASAnomics/Why don't the Houses just tax their planets to make more mechs?", "Army sizes," and "Small number of Factories."

Interestingly, this has come up for the /btg/RO frequently. How do you fluff designs that fall through the cracks, yet are really good, fill a niche that is needed in a faction's TO&E, or feel like they should have always been there? And will I have to go back to add quirks to old designs we made if the Battlemech Manual adds any more?

>>51183039
Any of the bugs are more common.

>>51183369
Yeah but bugs die easier, despite the probable 200k each of the Wasp and Stinger, and likely 100k of the Locust. There would be less of them overall. Then again, if we assume half of them are left, that leaves maybe 50k Archers, to 100k each Wasps and Stingers, plus those 50k Locusts.

>>51183393
Pretty sure it's stated somewhere that over half a million wasps have been produced since the introduction of the chassis in the 2400's. It holds the title of most produced battlemech of all time.

>>51182881
Depends, but generally Star League era was up to several hundred per factory line per year. Succession Wars average is more in the upper single digits or the lower double digits outside old SLDF complexes that survived.

Then by the mid 3050's, it's into the middle double digits, tripling or quadrupling the old output but still only a couple battalions worth of machines for upgraded factories per line per year.

>If 25 of an assault mech is produced a year, is that a lot?
It's big boy factory tier. You're talking Kathil size plant minimum, or Quentin post-upgrade

>What about 25 light mechs?
Pretty standard small factory numbers in the late succession wars.

>>51179302
But anon, the Balius doesn't have a partial wing.

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>>51183393

The Wasp's TR 3039 entry specifies that it is the most common 'Mech, followed by the Stinger and Locust.

The Archer is 4th or so.

Stalker is supposed to be the most common assault.

>>51183682
Or a ERLL mounted in the head.

>>51183657
That's one thing that always bothered me about FASA production numbers. In the real world (here we go...) first world nations like the US and Russia could manufacture thousands of a MBT in a few short years. I always wondered why there wasn't some way to mass produce cheap units in BT that would be a real problem for competing armies. Is there a MBT thing that can be mass produced by the thousands on one world that would put mechs on edge? I would figure primitives might be able to pull that off, but whatever. The production numbers always blew my tiny little mind.
Does the Po even come kind of close as a mass produced MBT? I don't know.

>>51153036
>>51153385
>>51154126
>>51148440
My group has been running an AU along those lines for several years now. The League remains together, Alys Rousset-Marik is seen a rouge member of the house out to aggrandize herself and so has little support, and Golden Dawn is met by a united FWLM that stems the tide. The League reaches a second alliance out of necessity with the Capellans, and the resulting Republic border is closer to the Terran Hegemony border on the League side than the blob of worlds it has in canon. The RotS reaches worlds near and around Irian, Savannah and Kalidassa, but the League retains them. Notably Zion Province is taken by the Republic, but Augustine is not. Exiled from the League, Alys Rousset-Marik rails against it but not much comes of that. The FWL meanwhile, works in conjunction with the CapCon to hide military assets.

Ironically what would emerge into this concept stemmed from the map in the first Dark Age book that showed the League still united. Not knowing too much about the overall status of the Inner Sphere, our early games were as Republic mercs fighting raiders *from* the FWL. Somehow this transitioned to fighting *as* FWL mercs.

As the Jihad unfolded we kind of backfilled or corrected plot points for it. The backwards way the story was done kind of ended up beneficial. We probably wouldn't have gotten the AU we did otherwise.

>>51183855

The Vedette is by far the most common vehicle. It doesn't fare too well against 'Mechs even in groups though. You'd need to go to something like a Manticore, Von Luckner, Shreck, Alacorn or Behemoth to get something that's actually frightening for 'Mechs to fight.

Low production numbers are a conceit of the setting for 'Mechs and ASFs. The bottleneck isn't price or materials, it's that until the Helm core hits nobody knows how factories work. In the 3020s they were perilously close to treating factories as mysterious gods to be propitiated with offerings of raw materials which would reward them with completed 'Mechs if sufficiently appeased. The Valkyrie factory was a complete black box and their understanding of 'Mechs wasn't much better than that.

>>51183947
Yeah I use Vedettes and Scorpions a lot as filler machines. If my guys need to get through a border crossing it's not uncommon for them to deal with a platoon of either with maybe a couple squads of infantry. I use those as quickie battles to help up experience and make the game a little fluffier.
Manticores... expensive, but damn I love those tanks. They are just mean when used right. Von Luckners as well. I kind of gave up on Shrecks because of their low armor and made my own version replacing a couple of PPCs with two LB-10Xs with ammo, and about double the armor the original had. It works extremely well in groups in taking down heavy mechs.
The Alacorn... over 16.6 million a piece (like cost is much of an issue in a BV game) where you could probably buy more than 20 Vedettes for that price. I made my own Alacorn dropping one gauss and making the tank cheaper through a cheaper engine. (Why do I count the C-Bill cost, I don't know. OCD strikes me again.) With that vastly reduced cost I was able to budget-play two two-gauss Alacorns with a few smaller tanks for the price of one regular Alacorn.
And Behemoth... base defense, yeah.

I remember reading somewhere about that Valkyrie plant. I forgot just how badly their reduction in technology had gotten.

Odd question about the fluff, about a mass produced tank like the Vedette and Scorpion, is the AC/5 autocannon similar in firepower to a real world 100 or 120mm cannon on a modern tank?

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>>51183785
Did someone say fixed ERLL?

>>51184066

>is the AC/5 autocannon similar in firepower to a real world 100 or 120mm cannon on a modern tank?

Vastly more powerful.

A small laser hits with enough energy to literally turn a modern M1A1 Abrams into a bubbling pool of molten metal.

Light Rifles from TacOps were, according to the author who made them, designed to weigh about as much as those weapons and showcase what they can do against BT-scale armour.It's no coincidence that the Light Rifle does 3 damage and that rifles all lose 3 damage against anything with BAR 8+ armour.

>>51184089
Eh, no. They were talking about a quad mech, with a partial wing and a head mounted ERLL. Something sorta like this: http://img14.deviantart.net/391e/i/2014/105/b/c/twilight_attack_by_zacatron94-d7en469.png

>>51183855
Building a mech is more akin to building modern advanced fighters. It's less an assembly line and more a hundred chassis scattered over a huge floor in various stages of completion.

The reasons for force sizes are related to a few different things.

Back in the Star League era, ground forces didn't matter nearly as much because of the vast amount of warships. Cluster up big forces of tanks and they'll just get bombarded into oblivion. Plus the Star League purposefully capped the size of the House militarizes to make things more manageable.

Remember that even in the later eras, a proper invasion meant sweeping the entire satellite net off a planet as well, making communication for large forces spread out over a whole world a massive pain as well.

Usually, any given planet only has a couple points of contention. The dropport, the HPG and any manufacturing onworld. Rarely more than four locations total. These things also need to be near a lot of commerce and infrastructure, making massive basses near them pretty difficult.

Now, by the mid-2850's, warships were out of the equation, but Holy Shroud and Holy Shroud II was in full effect, crippling the remaining knowledge base after the infrastructure for just about everything was crippled.

This is the point where massed tanks might have taken hold if it wasn't for the houses previously showing just how willing they were to use every weapon of mass destruction they had in their arsenal.

Instead, war at that time began to become more ritualized. Jumpships became nontargets. Manufacturing became too valuable to destroy. Rules of salvage and ransom took priority. And combatants fought away from civilians whenever they could.

That said, there was a move in the early 3000's to possibly mass produce tanks, but only because they expected to lose the technology to make battlemechs by 3050.

So basically, all that is what conspired to make the setting what it was.

>>51184261

>Back in the Star League era, ground forces didn't matter nearly as much because of the vast amount of warships.

Eh. It would have made a lot more sense if that was how it worked but even back in those days it was all about the ground forces, which were huge for everyone because they needed to compete with the neighbour's ground forces.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it would make a ton more sense if the SL just deposited a Squadron over every rebellious world and blockaded/bombarded it into submission but cannonically the SLN was little more than a glorified taxi service most of the time.

>>51184261
>It's less an assembly line

There are exceptions, though. That fully automatic Valkyrie factory in the Federated Suns was supposed to work on the principle of:

>shovel 'Mech bits in at one end
>receive shiny new Valk at the other

>>51184315
Well, of course. For the same reason we deploy ground forces today, when we could just blow the crap out of people from the other side of the planet. Unless you want to totally annihilate a target, you're going to need forces deployed to hold it.

>>51184315
Ground forces were used for less collateral damage. They weren't afraid to break out the ortillery though if the ground game was too lopsided.

>>51184137
>A small laser hits with enough energy to literally turn a modern M1A1 Abrams into a bubbling pool of molten metal.
I know BT uses metric and not imperial weights, but using imperial weights (as that's all I know off the top of my head,) a small laser burns away about 375+ pounds of armor. Are you saying that modern M1A1 armor is that weak against a laser like that? If so... wow. Just wow. I know it's fiction, but wow.

>>51184261
>So basically, all that is what conspired to make the setting what it was.
Very concise. I appreciate that. It explains the Mad Max feel to things by 3025 with an occasional story of that pilot who had a 250 year old Wolverine and whatnot.

Thanks a bunch guys. It helps clarify this a bit.

>>51184327

Most factories are automated though.

What he's describing is more like Gilmour's Cronus "factory" or Solaris boutique lines. THey do exist but they're pretty rare.

>>51184327
Honestly, it's weird how many parallels exist between 3025 and WH40K. Lostech and STCs, anyone?

>>51184327
Not even mech parts, just raw materials. That's insane.

That's peak Star League tech though from the same people who could hollow massive warship drydocks out of moons and hide super bases so well you couldn't find them even if you were walking on top of the front door.

And even then, it could only make an introtech machine.

>>51184417
>Are you saying that modern M1A1 armor is that weak against a laser like that? If so... wow. Just wow. I know it's fiction, but wow.

You're looking at it the wrong way around. It's not that armor 500 years older than the small laser is that bad...it's that standard Battletech armor is so GOOD that a weapon capable of outputting that much energy only deals THREE points of damage.

>>51184417
>I know it's fiction, but wow.

The second most magical thing about Battletech is their armor, right behind hyperspace travel.

Modern steel composite is garbage against it. One guy could solo a whole platoon of Abrams in a Wasp-1A.

>>51184417

>I know BT uses metric and not imperial weights, but using imperial weights (as that's all I know off the top of my head,) a small laser burns away about 375+ pounds of armor.

It burns away that much *BT* armour. But BT armour is is steel with aligned, woven diamond fibres over another layer of extremely effective material.

>>51184375
>>51184387

Orbtillery was used but naval conflicts with the SL were pretty rare once they got their advantage rolling. Not surprising really, the best House sips were the Tharkad and Atreus but those would get spanked by a McKenna and the SLN had more McKennas than everyone else had ships of any kind combined.

Ultimately what it comes down to is BT being all about ground forces and, especially, 'Mechs. Most planets rely on some other place for food or other things like parts for terraforming facilities or whatever and cutting them off would starve them out or effectively do the same by making the environment too hostile to survive inside of a few months. Self-sufficient planets are actually very rare.

But "lol, blockade!" is a very boring narrative even if it is the most effective and sensible thing to do.

>>51184477
>You're looking at it the wrong way around. It's not that armor 500 years older than the small laser is that bad...it's that standard Battletech armor is so GOOD that a weapon capable of outputting that much energy only deals THREE points of damage.

I understand. I remember old fluff saying they used to use diamond filaments or some such in the armor?

>>51184509
Oh wow, I posted this before-
>>51184501
-this showed up. I knew I remembered something about diamond-something being in the armor plating.

>>51184477
Or even worse, that a battle armor suit can take a direct hit from an Abrams main gun and not even get knocked down or scuff the finish.

>>51184419
>Most factories are automated though.

No they're not. It's a major reason why the production numbers change so much post-Helm core when they begin to automate more again.

The big complexes are all automated since forever, but they put out high volumes too.

>>51184525

BA suits don't get the damage reduction.

But yeah, basic BA will tank the hit, laugh madly, and then blow up the Abrams because they have a Small Laser a lot of the time.

>>51184546

Yes they are, man. Not to the extent of the Valk facility maybe but we have art and descriptions all over the place saying so.

Production numbers change after the Helm core because the *setting* changes so much, not because they suddenly go back to automation.

>>51184501
>most planets rely on some other place for food or other things like parts for terraforming facilities or whatever and cutting them off would starve them out or effectively do the same by making the environment too hostile to survive inside of a few months. Self-sufficient planets are actually very rare.

Nah, they're pretty common. It's just most planets never bothered making their own infrastructure for many things when they could just import cheaper. Don't forget, most unimportant planets only have like one continent settled and a handful of supercities. The Inner Sphere is still a really wild and unsettled place most of the time.

>>51184582
Hm, did you miss those mech models in TRO 3025 that had to have their repair parts hand crafted, because all the machinery that could make more had been destroyed?

>>51184582
>we have art and descriptions all over the place saying so.

Yeah, for places like Hesperus, Luthien and Kalidasa. The rest are basically gantries and cranes putting stuff together by hand.

>>51184597

Check the alphanumeric ratings for planets in the House books some time.

Most aren't self-sufficient. Those that are are core worlds or rich ones, House or regional capitals mostly.

>>51184623
Most are not going to die from terraforming machines getting fucked (most terraforming was completed ages ago though there are exceptions, not to mention the places that are domed or underground that were never terraformed). Most have some kind of agriculture or wild animals for food.

It's stuff like high tech consumer goods and military parts they don't have.

>>51184610

Or the magical time-travelling Zeus that existed before and inspired the first 'Mech?

A lot of things have been retconned or de-canonised.

Also, are you really arguing that cutom-made spare parts proves factories operate on the same principle? The two aren't even remotely the same.

>>51184620

The key factories are automated. I'm not saying they all are, but the majority of them are and smaller, low-output ones like Gilmour or Solaris are less common overall, largely because people barely understand what makes 'Mechs work. Before the Helm core hit there was some, not entirely unfounded, fear that they would lose the knowledge required to build or maintain fusion engines.

After the Helm recovery things are starkly different but as >>51184421 points out the late SW period shares a lot with the Mechanicum.

>>51184651
Clearly you didn't bother to read the Touring the Dead Worlds PDFs, about half of those dead worlds folded when their terraforming collapsed due to parts shortages caused by the 1st SW.

>>51184651

>Most have some kind of agriculture or wild animals for food.

I'm not saying they don't,

I'm saying they can't support their population without imports.

I'm not going to argue about it being stupid or against it being yet another manifestation of FASAnomics but a lot of planets just aren't self-sufficient for the necessities. Planets that don't need anything from anywhere else are rare indeed.

>>51184421
Not that weird when you consider 40K came out right after Battletech in the time when Battletech was exploding across the world and being printed in thirty languages. And also that the company making Battletech minis had the D&D mini rights GW had been gunning for and lost, so they needed to make their own settings and went with what was popular at the time.

It's even more obvious when you look at the old first edition GW Assault Droids like the Catapult knockoff.

>>51184678
Yeah, a couple dozen worlds out of hundreds and hundreds. The ones still on the map in 3025 largely don't share that problem because of the reason you said. First war killed off most that were susceptible to that kind of thing unless they were important to a bigwig like Gallery.

>>51183917
Sounds better than what WizKids gave us.

>>51184755

They killed off the ones that were most immediately susceptible.

Not all the ones that were.

Seriously have a look at the planets in the House books some time. Their alphabetic ratings usually indicate a heavy reliance on imports and those are key worlds, a number of which are in the interior and haven't seen significant war in centuries if at all and they aren't self-supporting despite being the special snowflake powerhouse important ones.

There's every reason to expect that the unlisted planets are largely worse off, not better.

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>>51184421
That's a generic 80s sci-fi tropes, anon.

40k, being the all-scifi-devouring monster that it is, did copy Battletech wholesale when it was popular but what came of that was the titans and the game associated with them which mutated into Epic over time.

So yeah, Battletech is directly responsible for the modern 40k skirmish game.

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So, /BTG/, some of my friends have started asking for a Battletech RPG campaign, mostly based on their love of the Mechwarrior vidyas, and the knowledge that I have multiple box sets for the wargame in my closet. I own the old MW 3rd edition RPG book (now called "Classic Battletech RPG"), but I also have a giftcard that could be used to get "A Time of War". Which would /BTG/ recommend?

The following specifics might matter:

They will be bottom-of-the-barrel mercs trapped in an abusive contract. They steal their mechs and go on the lam. (Pic Related)

Neither I nor my players have a problem with the Life Path system. Any results that would gimp a character concept are swapped for an equivalent result or handled with Edge (pg. 25), or bought off at the end of character creation (pg. 57).

My players are RPG veterans, but mostly of White Wolf, DnD 4e & 5e. They HAVE NOT played Battletech before.

I am not sure whether we would switch to the wargame rules for 'Mech combat, or try to play it using whatever systems the RPG offers (I know CBT RPG had rules for that in the Solaris book, not sure if AToW has something similar). I can push the players in either direction, but I would like to know what you think causes fewer headaches.

>>51184918
AToW just sends you to the regular war game, so there's that. If you already have 3E, I'd stick with that for now, since it's a little less difficult to wade through.

>>51184800
>the unlisted planets are largely worse off, not better.

Can't be. It doesn't square with all those bumfuck places with two drop cradles that get a dropship in every couple of weeks.

Also, now that I'm thinking about it, the sufficiency levels are for raw materials. Agriculture has it's own designation. And the old House books don't have that at all. It's the modern Handbooks.

...Just glancing through HB:HD, it lists 31 planets and 5 of them have garbage agriculture. The rest can feed themselves or have enough to export.

>>51184918

If NEA is still alive, he can and has gone into more detail, but he and I would likely agree in that if you're OK with the lifepath system, then MW3 is almost certainly a better choice.

>seriously tho, it's been a week. Did he die?

>>51185002
He's in the hospital. He posted last thread.

>>51184996

>Can't be. It doesn't square with my headcanon.

OK then.

I mean, believe what you want, clearly I'm not gonna convince you.

>>51185106
>headcanon
Go read the novels where people actually tour those parts of their realms. It's shown specifically in both Caleb's tour of the Outback and Jessica's tour of independent worlds on her way to Victor's funeral. Hell, it's shown on Wyatt in Target of Opportunity and there's plenty of others in older novels.

They almost go out of their way to describe dropports as small and underused in most novels of lesser worlds, really.

Other than that, you completely ignored how in my example, 26/31 worlds have moderate or better agriculture and how raw materials sufficiency has no bearing on tech sufficiency.

>>51178784
No you're a faggot for having sex with other men.

>>51184417
It would taken a medium laser to destroy a Challenger 2.

>>51185309
>It would taken a medium laser to destroy a Challenger 2.
I don't know /k/. Is a Challenger 2 have better armor than an M1A1 / M1A2?

>>51184509
The armor in BT is three layers.

The first layer is a steel-titanium alloy which is brittle, designed to be ablative. The second layer is ceramic/boron nitride with diamond filament (usually artificial), designed to catch heat and particles. Third layer is support for all of that, and is basically a structure that joins it and the frame together.

Ferro-Fibrous uses more of those filaments, though. It's part of the overall armor composite, which doesn't have the multi-layered technique that standard armor does, IIRC.

>>51185473
Fascinating. Did I read correctly somewhere that there are sensors within the armor that can tell the pilot approximately how much damage has been done at any one time?

>>51185527
Yes. It's where those colored wireframes in the Mechwarrior games come from.

>>51185346
In real life, it's debatable but probably, how BT would stat it, same.
/k/ommado's 2 cents.

>>51185094
Getting all that semen pumped out of his ass? Hahaha just joshing :)

>>51185805
just sloshing :)

Fixed that for you.

>>51185527
There's all kinds of sensors that can tell you exactly where damage has happened and how. The entire 'mech is riddled with 'em. Lots of redundancies, too. It's a fighting machine -- sensors will fail due to stress, damage, or just simply from botched repairs.

>>51185544
>>51186003
Okay this is where I wonder about armor repairs on a mech. Shouldn't armor repair take a little bit longer to replace the sensors if armor has been destroyed in one section or another? I would figure all that work up would be a pain in the ass.

Using the core 24 mechs available in this set:
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/25th_Anniversary_Introductory_Box_Set

What are good mech options for a two on two fight?

>>51186028
It's all modular. The micro sensors are woven into the armor plates and connect wirelessly to the DI computer. That's why you can chop up and patch armor but it all still works.

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>>51186003
>There's all kinds of sensors that can tell you exactly where damage has happened and how.

>Minimum burn damage to right forearm plating.

I know, got a little local heating... I guess right at the contact point. No big deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUxDmKFCD2o

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>>51186038
>What are good mech options for a two on two fight?

How well do you know the rules, and how long do you want the game to last?

Right away, I was thinking Whitworth (long range missiles) and Enforcer (lasers and autocannon) vs. Trebuchet (long range missiles) and Vindicator (PPC). That would be a good game to play that should result in a fairly close match.

For a faster game, or one with less complicated rules, smaller mechs with less armour and simpler weapons could help you get the hang of things. Unfortunately, the light mechs really aren't matched that well without including the bugs (Locusts, Wasps, and Stingers) or derivatives thereof...models that you don't get in the box.

You could pick some real bruisers like the Awesome, Zeus, Banshee, and Atlas, but you'll be there all day wearing each others' armour down. As undergunned as it is, teaming the Banshee with the Awesome puts all the PPC's together, and teaming the Atlas with the Awesome seems unfair to whoever got stuck with the Banshee. The Zeus is nice either way.

>>51186028
As >>51186095 said, it's all modular. I imagine most 'mechs have pre-fabbed armor sections that are easily fixed on -- it only takes about 15 minutes to repair a point of armor. Even if they're not, I imagine most repair facilities, even gantries and bays in DropShips, have the ability to extrude armor fitted to certain shapes if fed the right materials. Even without, they can probably be re-shaped to fit the frame better.

Part of a 'mech's manual is going to include armor fittings and shapes, internal diagrams, all that jazz. Using that with a little elemental engineering skills would mean modifying even raw slabs to be the right shapes would be fairly simple.

>>51186095

Given time and in the right eras sure. In the novels they just weld sheet metal armour over things.

I imagine that those are just done to get machines combat-ready ASAP and get fixed once they're somewhere safe though.

>>51186414
Sheet metal is just to patch, like the old 2nd edition story with Spam and Chicken from tractor trailers cut up. Proper armor patches, no matter how ugly, if they're made from flat standard armor sheet have the sensors though. Remember, stuff like the marauder with a lot of curves is known for looking like a patchwork quilt because most people don't have full preformed plates in the field.

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Why doesn't modern Catalyst buy any art from eastern sources?

Not to be a dick but people like Plog are plain bad at designing anything and most of the new stuff is just rehashed old designs with an MWO spin or stuff from the DA.

They could use a designer and being a franchise which is based around emulating eastern style of the 80s, surely they could find someone to do some work for them...

>>51186509

Plog is not bad actually. Generally better at unfucking other bad designs than making his own but certainly not *bad.*

The real problems are that CGL run everything on a shoestring budget which means cheaper artists and they have shitty art direction.

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>>51186612
>they have shitty art direction.

I mean, that's basically a staple of the series at this point.
People will love Mad Cats no matter how horrendously they may be drawn or printed.
Why not invest some in actual mechanical designers to get some decent designs going.
A solid idea behind shoddy paintjob is better than a shiny paintjob over a turd.

Like Macross itself... the original series is really among the worst looking shows ever made. It still shone through all over the world, spawned a fuck-ton of IPs and the new art both in MWO, by CGL, or the redrawn DYRL movie prove this thing was well made, even if the presentation was shoddy at best.

>>51175737
No, it's not released yet. They did recently make the Huntsman and Linebacker available for C-Bills and MCs respectively.

Not that I got either. I'm waiting for the Marauder IIC.

>>51186509

I rather enjoy a lot of the updated Unseen, Project Pheonix and Dark Age art.

When I look at the difference between 3025 and 3050 art work the 3075 to Present art work, I see a dramatic improvement.

anyone have the "spiders are a menace" pic with Michael Steiner?

>>51177123
Only of shotocannons.

How does Internal Structure work? How do you hit it?

>>51187734
Punch through armor.

>>51187826
I guess I got mixed up by the damage transfer chart. When I hit a location with no more armor (say the left torso) all the damage goes to the LT internals and automatically cause a critical hit roll?
I've been confused and thought damage went in to the next location.

When the internal structure is all gone, is that when damage transfers?

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>>51187411

>>51187926

Yes to all of this.

Also note that if you shoot a side torso off the arm attached to it also falls off.

>>51184137
I thought the Heavy Rifle didn't have that issue

How do you make Primitives in megameklab?

Were House units superior in training to the general SLDF?

I read Ronin mech warriors in the Combine were having a field day under Urizen Kurita against their SLDF counterparts.

>>51188428
That's in dueling, something the Ronins specifically were masters at. Also, thanks to the Gunslinger program, that was turning around up until everything went to shit.

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>>51187926
>When I hit a location with no more armor (say the left torso) all the damage goes to the LT internals and automatically cause a critical hit roll?

Yep. Every time you hit internal structure, you get to roll. About half the time, you get nothing, but you might get one, you might get two, you might get three (or blow it off, if it's a limb or a head). That's part of what makes short range missiles and Lubalin Ballistics autocannons (see earlier discussion at >>51176734) practical weapons: you make one roll to hit, but if your opponent has a "bare" location with no armour left protecting it, you suddenly get multiple chances to cause damage to it and thus to inflict some serious carnage.

>When the internal structure is all gone, is that when damage transfers?

As >>51188121 said, yes. That's precisely how that works. The attached image covers most of it.

>>51186368
>it only takes about 15 minutes to repair a point of armor.
So if you have an Atlas that took a pair of AC/20 hits to the CT, that's ten hours of work?! Mechwarrior 3 and those mobile field bases LIED TO ME!

>>51188238
I just checked. I think you use "experimental" under "tech level" and then you can make mechs with fuel cells, ICE, industrial strength internal structures and so forth.
Hope this helps.

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>>51187926
>>51188541
>The attached image covers most of it.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the entire ugly process is explained in excruciating detail in Total Warfare, starting on page 122. My diagram glosses over some technicalities like how ammo explosion damage transfers (pic related) and weird cases like inflicting a critical hit against a section in which all locations have already been damaged.

>>51188174

It still loses 3 damage against BAR 8+ armour.

With 9 base damage it only drops to 6 though, which is slightly better than the A/C-5. A/C-5 has better heat and ammo though, the Heavy Rifle gets 1/3rd the ammo per ton and four times the heat. Basically the same ranges however.

>>51188428

The average SLDF dude is probably better trained than the average House dude. Whether that translates into better skill levels is anyone's guess.

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>>51188759
Damn, I didn't know someone captured this on film.

>>51188582

They sure did. Repairing stuff takes much longer than you'd think.

>>51188582
Note that part of the time is removing bad components. Armor that's been melted or smashed has to be cut out so replacements can be affixed. Just because the internal structure may not have been damaged doesn't mean there's *no* damage. Sensors underneath, attachment points for armor, auxiliary coolant lines, all manner of things may have been damaged or destroyed by the impact. The time may also include what's required to fabricate or shape new armor.

>>51189161
>>51189225
Atlas can carry normal maximum of 309 points of armor. 309 x 15 minutes = 4635.
4635 / 60 minute hours = 77.25 hours of work, or almost two full 40 hour weeks.
Two technicians working regular 40 hour weeks (not considering overtime for battlefield conditions) is a lot of work.
Wow, just... wow. I thought it was a lot faster than that. If I got a situation with one good tech ONLY having to take care of one mech, or something like that, just... I'm gonna need some more tech guys.
Isn't the normal team for one mech something like 5 guys in a tech team per mech? I don't know where I read that, but I thought it was kind of standard for a while.

>>51189491
He got it wrong. It's 5 minutes per point on a mech. 3 minutes for ground vehicles. 15 minutes is for aerospace fighters.

Ironically, capital armor for warships and dropships is only 2hours a point, 66% faster than regular aero for equivalent armor.

>>51189586
Shit, messed up the math. Only 25% faster. I need to go to bed.

>>51189586
FASAnomics, mang

>>51189586
Is there someplace I can see the reference to the 5 minutes per point? I don't want to overwork my techs and for them to unionize on me.

>>51189849
>I don't want to overwork my techs and for them to unionize on me.
That's very important. We let the DropShip assemblers unionize and look how that worked out

>>51189586
You're right, I did. I was using the old BMR rules for reference.
>>51189849
Stratops, 183

Tamaiya clear coat good for BT models?

I do the prime- paint- weather (chalks)- Tamiya gloss clear- decals if I'm fancy (I'm not)- Testor's Dullcoat routine ingrained from fine scale modeling. Gloss coats are supposed to be harder and resist wear better, but matte finishes look better on war machines. YMMV. Tamiya gloss clear with a tiny pin drop of solid color as a glaze is a great way to finish lazors and cockpits and shit.

Is it ever stated why Medium mechs are the back bone of most Sphere militarizes and why Light mechs aren't?

>>51183947
>Low production numbers are a conceit of the setting for 'Mechs and ASFs. The bottleneck isn't price or materials, it's that until the Helm core hits nobody knows how factories work.

It's a really stupid conceit though

>>51184137
>A small laser hits with enough energy to literally turn a modern M1A1 Abrams into a bubbling pool of molten metal.

Get the fuck outta here with that bullshit

>>51191065
Lights are too under armed and easy to knock out.

They're flawed as a concept, really, like light tanks and light jet fighters. Mediums should be the the lightest mech forces go, and vehicles do the work of light mechs.

Light mechs can be trainers.

>>51186509
>Not to be a dick but people like Plog are plain bad at designing anything
>Plog

Fite me irl

>>51191209

I thought Lights made up for that by being numerous, cheap to produce and more difficult to hit than a Medium or Heavy machine?

>>51189094

I wish I had saved my big explosion in AtB campaign I am still running, it was Longbow Mech vs an AC/2 from an Warrior helicopter, one crit hit through armor later and there was no more Longbow. I imagine the pilot of the longbow was going "Allright let's start this fight with, huh what the.... fuuuck" as his automated ejection seat threw him out of his mech going supernova.

>>51186509
>how to be a maximum pleb in a single post

>>51191395
>numerous
Less common than mediums, actually.
>cheap to produce
Less cost-effective than buying mediums
>and more difficult to hit than a Medium or Heavy machine?
Only rarely, most are just as hard to hit as fast mediums

>>51191686

So the back bone of most militarizes in the Sphere are, and always have been, Pheonix Hawks, Wolverines, Griffins and Shadow Hawks?

new warrior here
i like the idea of quad'mechs but i deard they are all on the bad side
any truth on that? even so a nice one to begin fighting with?

>>51192046
Yes. And archers

>>51192062
good luck getting 90% of the quads to fit on a hex

>>51192046
Those, and whatever other mediums are common locally. Like, the CapCon probably has more vindis than any given one of those unseen. And then there's the dracs, who have a backbone of lights and heavies

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>>51192062
>i like the idea of quad'mechs but i deard they are all on the bad side
>any truth on that? even so a nice one to begin fighting with?

The advantages of a quad are that they are more stable (bonus to piloting skill rolls), deal better with the loss of a leg, and can "crabwalk" diagonally without having to expend movement points to change facing. Additionally, the front legs are more robust than arms would have been, so a quad has the potential to carry more armour than a biped of the same tonnage.

The disadvantages? Well, for starters, you have no arms, so you can't punch or smack someone with a tree. You can't lift or carry things, although this might not impact your game a whole lot. Finally, because legs are mostly muscle and motive mechanica, quads have far fewer critical slots available to them in construction, limiting (especially at higher tonnages) their ability to carry certain kinds of weapons and take advantage of things like endo-steel internal structure and ferro-fibrous armour.

>>51192263
>Additionally, the front legs are more robust than arms would have been, so a quad has the potential to carry more armour than a biped of the same tonnage.

They have to pay for it, just to clarify for >>51192062

>>51192191

I thought the back bone of the Combine was Lights and that they fielded more than anyone else?

The lore for the Wolf Hound and their fights with the Lyrans made it seem like the Combine spammed Lights more than any other House.

>>51192062
Quads have a few advantages, but significant drawbacks too.

Pros
>get a bonus to PSR
>can lateral shift
>can mule kick
>better protected in partial cover

Cons
>Get less internal space to carry weaponry
>cannot torso twist, which limits fire arcs. Unless you use quad turrets.

thanks for the info on quads, it does not look THAT bad, i should be able to work around them

>>51192306
I always though a cool idea for quads would be to make their CT have 12 crits and a free "Turret" crit or something, since they ought by rights have one. Hell, just say all the legs mount to the bottom of the CT and the whole "torso" is effectively a turret.

>>51192301
The dracs fucking love panthers, their signature light and one of their most common mechs, but they also fucking love the Dragon, their other most common machine, and other heavies, as well. They actually have a higher percentage of heavies than anyone else

>>51192327
Try some quads in megamek and see how they play.

>>51192356
Agreed, similar to quadvees.

>>51192438

Now that's odd, because I always heard the Lyran Commonwealth fielded more Heavy and Assault mechs than any other House.

They mention the Steiner doctrine of war calling for heavier mechs, naming Heavies and Assaults as the back bone of their mech forces.

>>51192486

Steiner has more assaults, which is reflective of the strength of their economy. The Lyran Commonwealth has always been fluffed as having a very strong industrial economy.

Fluff question about the Dracs in 3145:

>The Hatamoto-godai is a rarity in mainline Combine regiments. Packed with electronics, it is a line commander’s BattleMech capable of coordinating a full company through its C3 suites. Its dual lasers and extended missile rack make it woefully underpowered.

What units would be likely to use this? I thought the Dracs had sort of steered away from C3 in the DA as the Black Dragons effectively took over? So if it's not going to line rgeiments, and it isn't going to HONORABUR regiments, who is getting it?

>>51186767

You really think Macross was low quality animation for it's time? You think you can just say words and have an opinion like it means something even though you're clearly just talking out of your ass? Look, Macross isnt an amazing show but this is some serious revisionist history shit, it had some pretty fucking expensive animation and a generally high quality of output baring a few outsourced episodes, mainly to save money for the big action set pieces in the show. And if you're going to talk about derp mechanical design, Macross is last on that list having probably the most care and realism/effort in that area of almost any animated work in history. DYRL you're right being a pretty big cleanup, and to this date one of the best animated pre CG films of all time. Macross came out in fucking 1982, that makes it practically a product of the 70's. Have you seen other animation from the 70's?! Come on.

>>51192536

The Ghost Regiments, ISF and DEST perhaps?

Also, the Akrab Legions and perhaps those sharing a border with the Dominion might receive it.

>>51192486
>more Heavy and Assault mechs than any other House.
Heavies *and* assaults, as a whole. The dracs have slightly more heavies but not as many assault mechs as the lyrans

>>51192510
Yeah, the breakdown is something like:

Dracs: 35% L - 15% M - 35% H - 15% A

Lyrans: 20 % L - 25% M - 30% H - 25% A

And for comparison:

FWL: 15 % L - 40% M - 25% H - 20% A

>>51192576
You care too much about a weeb cartoon from before you were born

>>51192651
That's not even close to the correct breakdown for 3025

>>51190022
>Stratops, 183
Thank you!

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>>51192651

No.

>>51192263
>Don't talk to me and my son and my grandson ever again.

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>>51192576
You are my brother.

>>51192722
>Steiner cucked by FWL for centuries despite huge materiel advantage

How can anyone take them seriously

>>51184496
>One guy could solo a whole platoon of Abrams in a Wasp-1A.

A wasp could never catch up to one, or even spot an Abrams before it was headshot by one from several kilometers away.

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>>51192576
>Have you seen other animation from the 70's?!

Gundam UC, Ideon,... have you seen stuff from that era?
Macross derps character faces every other scene, has an episode so horrible they issued a public apology and re-animated it to show it on TV, lost their sponsor like mid-way through and has been such a death march the team managed to spend a day looking for an entire episode lost on a fucking train.
Macross is gorgeous at times but "at times" is not a thing you want to hear in a show spanning 36 episodes.

>>51192785

>Steiner command eternally written off as incompetent and throwing money/bodies at all problems

>they never learn, not even the during the Succession War and Clan Invasion

They really liked to write them and the Combine to be dumb as shit.

>>51192785

It's probably good to point out that League has a more balanced military than the Commonwealth does.

They believe in combined arms warfare, meaning they can exploit the fact the Commonwealth relies on Assault mechs as the back bone of their mech forces.

It's a similar reason to why the Combine was able to gain so much ground against the Commonwealth over the centuries.

>>51192956

It kinda makes sense when you factor in the whole "Social General" thing. You have a bunch of dumb pricks with more money than brains that buy their position because of the prestige, not because they understand tactics and strategy. It's a stated thing that the Lyrans at a tactical level are actually reasonably competent, but they lose their best to mercenary commands a lot because they then no longer have to deal with retarded strategy.

>>51193021

I find it kind of amusing that despite having an economy strong enough to make Comstar actively sabotage them, the League still liked to use cost-effective options with combined arms, and never delved into "just throw more money at the problem".

>>51193215
That's because the League isn't a military dictatorship, unlike every other IS power.

Is there a chart that shows what each of the earlier Unseens was based off of parody wise?

Like the Warhammer and Marauder being based on Macross designs, what were the other Unseen or original 3025 mechs like the Wolverine and what not pulled from design wise?

Also, is the Highlander meant to look like Shock Wave - Shock Blast from Transformers?

>>51193376
Every non-macross unseen aside from the Locust is from Fang Of The Sun Dougram. The Locust is from Crusher Joe

>>51193448

>Fang Of The Sun Dougram

Thank you. Much obliged.

Does that mean designs like the Zeus, Atlas, Banshee, Dragon and the like are original designs artwork wise?

Why don't we see ICE mechs in the 4SW?

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>>51193376
Couldn't find one, but I found these.

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>>51193542

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>>51193555

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>>51193564

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>>51193564
Damn, now I kinda want to get a Warhammer in MWO. Wait, I think I have that loyalty one.

>>51193516
>Does that mean designs like the Zeus, Atlas, Banshee, Dragon and the like are original designs artwork wise?
Yes

>>51193523
Because ICE is much heavier than fusion reactors, and if you mount any energy weapons (which over 90% of 'mechs do), you further lose due to power boosters.

Fusion engines were still being produced by the end of the 3rd and 4th SW, but their production numbers were small enough that 'mechs were the usual recipient. Only the occasional vee would get one.

>>51192356
>Hell, just say all the legs mount to the bottom of the CT and the whole "torso" is effectively a turret.
That's visually what the Tarantula does at least, though the Tarantula also dates to back when quads worked like bipeds and their special rules were strictly optional, so they could still torso twist.

>>51192301

There's a difference between "backbone" and "most common," anon. Red blood cells are the most common in the human body but they don't hold us upright and shit.

>>51192536

From what Xotl said, the project head told people something along the lines of "no C3" and just meant "no normal C3, the DCMS uses Boosted now."

This being said, the Dracs of 3145 do seem the sort to mostly not want C3 at all since the Black Dragons, or people functionally indistinguishable from the BDS, are running the show and have been since the end of the Jihad.

>>51193523

They weren't quite that desperate yet. They were getting there and it might have happened but for the Helm core.

Ladies and gents, Atleast Itsnot is taking the field in a Free For All Grudge match. Here's the twitch stream:
twitchtv gherritwhite

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>>51194156

dis gon b gud.

Two players accidentally brought nukes.

Outside of playing online, where do you find people with the patience to play battletech? No one I meet is ever interested even at the flgs.

Additionally; I found 2 rulebooks today for $8. One was printed in 1990 the other in 1994. Are they worth picking up and playing if I can get someone to agree. All I've ever played was some anniversary box years ago in college (and my friend took it with him back to his college where it was lost forever despite me paying for half) but I was a big fan of the MechWarrior games.

>>51194156
What's this match about?

>>51194425
"How bullshit can a 0/0 pilot with 8 SPAs and 12 quirks be, when faced with 9001 infantry?"

>>51194425

11k bv YOLO

>>51194447
At least some of the bullshit level probably depends on whether or not LOS range rules are in effect.

>>51194531

Double-blind in a full urban CQB.

>>51194447
Oh, is that what's going on in the other corner from Gherrit?

>>51194623
Yeah I'm just picking off a mech or two a turn with Atleast Itsnot.

>>51194447

This makes me very sad I'm celebrating my birthday with my wife tonight. I happen to have an 11K BV2 force (10,988 BV2) of 4 F-95 Stingrays with 4/3 pilots and 10 large Thermobarics per fighter that would be PERFECT for your scenario.

Have fun.

>>51194678
It's a 35x35 map, and Atleast Itsnot may be able to shoot a chunk of them down before suffering a Thermobaric explosion.

>>51194709

Ah, ASFs on a 35 hex square map are nonviable anyway unless you can use low altitude movement.

Hey NEA - you doing better?

>>51194802

Mostly. Kidney stones the size of grapes are not precisely the most enjoyable experience.

I had to walk ~a mile on a spirally-fractured tib/fib once. This level of pain was comparable.

>>51186509
because that's exactly how the unseen came to be?

So I was thinking, if you can put an Arrow IV in an Urbie then why not an Atlas?

>>51195127

But why?

>>51195127
Because it's not an urbie?

(you can do it.) But it kinda doesn't make any sense nor fit flavor of the mech.

>>51195271
if you got the C-bills you can put nearly any weapon into any mech.

>>51195127
But an arrow IV is a bit terrible for an atlas, now a BANE with arrow IV thats a bit different

>>51195227
Because nukes.
>>51195354
>But an arrow IV is a bit terrible for an atlas
Terrible for an UrbanMech too, but there's nothing more fun than taking a mech and making it nuclear-capable.
>>51195271
Did it.

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>>51194857
>spirally-fractured tib/fib

Uzumaki!

>>51195573
>Uzumaki

Lol.

Don't laugh too hard, tho. I'm a nurse practitioner (no, I don't get to wear a sexy uniform) and spiral fractures are crazy bad news. Assuming there's no infection, it's better to have a compound fracture than a spiral, because the compound will at least heal well if set properly. Spiral fractures, especially in the legs, tends to fuck people up for life. IIRC NEA plays hockey, and I'm outright amazed he can do that if he had a spiral t/f break and then had to aggravate it by walking on the fucking break. The best a lot of people who have that sort of break can do is walk and/or limp at a moderate pace for the rest of their lives.

>>51195127
No point. It's shit flavor and it's not even funny like the Urbie and the AIV. Congratz, you can put an AIV on a Mech with plenty of tonnage and room for it.

>>51194857
>Kidney stones the size of grapes

Fuck mate, my sympathies. Small stones are bad enough, large stones are a godamn nightmare. Are you on any meds for the t/f? There's a fair number of pain relievers and muscle relaxers that dehydrate the patient, and constant dehydration significantly raises the risk for stones.

>>51192722
What's the source for that? I'm slightly incredulous to Davions and Liaos having that many assaults, when Davion's were like all centered on one planet and Liao supposedly had issues making anything over 70 tons for years.

>>51195915

Xotl's RAT for 3028-3050.

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>>51195828
>The best a lot of people who have that sort of break can do is walk and/or limp at a moderate pace for the rest of their lives.

If he slows *way* down, and then only posts here in /btg/ when it rains, we'll know something is up...

NEA, you *have* to get better, even if it means resting for a few days and letting us knuckleheads run rampant here on /btg/ while you're away.

Anyone else listen to heavy meatel when they play MW:O. The game is shit. But alas it fills the void in my soul for stompy mechs.

>>51196214
I started playing it last year.
It's gotten a lot better recently.

>>51196214
>The game is shit. But alas it fills the void in my soul for stompy mechs.
No. There is another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF6vZ4kDJAs

>>51196353
>stompy mechs

But the mechs are completely unable to stomp in MWLL, they just shuffle along.

>>51196396
Yeah but jumpjets take you places man. Also, battle armor.

>>51196353
I like the maps and gamemodes in MWLL, and proper jumps of course, but the models and animations of MWO are what make it popular.

>>51196214
I've listened to all kinds of shit while playing MW4 and MC2. Metal, rock, techno, and even a few oddball songs. Helps to set the mood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZlwMB_bdU

If you want some heavy metal stuff that was built for the MechWarrior universe, go get the MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries soundtrack. Several tracks on there are arguably heavy metal.

>>51196020
Oh, I thought it was a canon thing.

>>51196936
It's directly taken from canon numbers from the old Battleforce rulebook

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>>51195828
>Are you on any meds for the t/f?

Tizanadine (muscle relaxer) and Dicofenac Sodium (pain). It's been 10 years and I still get pain bad enough that I have trouble walking when there's major temperature changes.

For reference, the Army docs used a different (cheaper) bone screw than normal for the hardware. Instead of being essentially flush with the top of the bone, the screw head sticks up and rubs against the muscle. All to save ~$30 per screw. The only solution is to remove the hardware and reinstall it (6 months in traction again, 6-8 months of PT again, and then learning to walk and ice skate from scratch *again*).

>IIRC NEA plays hockey, and I'm outright amazed he can do that

I played at a high level (college JV; prevented from full varsity because I wasn't tall enough) once upon a time. Now I skate at a low level - largely because I had to learn to skate again from scratch and my endurance/agility are shit compared to what it once was.

>>51196148
>letting us knuckleheads run rampant here on /btg/

Knock your bad selves out. I'm too tired/medicated to care that much right now, and likely for the next several days. Hell, I'm just waiting for the meds to kick in right now so I can go to sleep.

>>51196353

You know, I've always wondered: does MWLL have a single-player component? Playing games with people online is almost universally miserable, but a single-player campaign (and a computer that's got the horsepower to run LL now compared to when it first came out) would pique my interest.

>>51197099
>does MWLL have a single-player component?
No. It does have giant robots though.

>>51195828 here

>>51197099
>Tizanadine (muscle relaxer)

This is almost certainly your problem. On the off-chance your docs didn't tell you, Tizanidine has a known side effect of causing really large kidney stones if you take it for long enough. Baclofen is the primary alternative to Tizanidine for long-term treatment; Cyclobenzaprine and Diazepam are used only for short-term relief.

Good luck mate. Try not to die, and keep coming back here and calling people on their bullshit. /BTG/ is better with you here than without you. If for no other reason than hopefully your existence will make the MOC/Cincy hater stroke out and die alone.

>>51194193
"accidentally"

>>51197099
Why do you have a larger ratio of shirty life experiences than most?

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>>51197099
>Knock your bad selves out. I'm too tired/medicated to care that much right now, and likely for the next several days. Hell, I'm just waiting for the meds to kick in right now so I can go to sleep.

Sounds good. Might want to check under your bed for centipedes first, though.

>>51197663

Cinci person here. NEA's Call of Cthulhu statline (sorry, but it's true):

(Rated from 3-18)
STR: 11
CON: 11 (pre-injury something like a 14)
SIZ: 9
DEX: 17
APP: 12
INT: 16
POW: 3
EDU: 18 (College+ ~masters)

(Rated from 1-100)
SAN: 80 (Int x 5)
IDEA: 80 (Int x 5)
KNOW: 90 (Edu x 5)
LUCK: 15 (Pow x 5)

>Why do you have a larger ratio of shirty life experiences than most?
>minimum possible luck stat

>>51197777
>DEX: 17
>INT: 16
>EDU: 18 (College+ ~masters)

Stat inflation much?

What's the best way to use Blazers in a custom mech? Use it on a mook mech like the Sarissa, so everyone has to respect that once in a while, that podunk militia pilot will take off someone's cockpit? Or use it as part of a higher-end brawler?

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>>51198004
>DEX: 17
You haven't seen NEA's hand-eye. It's nuts. There's a reason he played hockey and there's a reason he works with swords professionally and internationally. We were having a FB discussion and he was playing goalie last week, while doing it <without goalie pads>, and lost the game by only a single goal. Do you have any clue how hard it has to be to play goalie in hockey without actual goalie pads? Pic related.

>INT: 16
Depends on how you define intelligence. I've seen a membership card for the Triple-9 society, in his wallet though. That's a 1 in 1000 IQ level, minimum. They don't allow membership at a lower level than that, and you have to have been graded through three different testing services so it's unlikely to be a fluke.

>EDU: 18 (College+ ~masters)
This isn't actually me making a judgement call. The Call of Cthulhu rules mandate an EDU score of 16 for completing some college, 17 for a BA or BS, 18 for a BA with some post-graduate, a 19 for a Masters, and a 20-21 for a Doctorate. If you have X level of education, you get Y score automatically.

>>51198161
>while doing it <without goalie pads>, and lost the game by only a single goal. Do you have any clue how hard it has to be to play goalie in hockey without actual goalie pads? Pic related.

Honestly, this seems to sum up NEA's life. Doing stupid shit the hard way.

>>51198161
>and there's a reason he works with swords professionally and internationally
Huh, I figured he was an accountant or something else boring, like most BT guys

>>51198030
I would use it either on a light that needs punch, or pair it with an AC on a heavy machine.
Also, the blazer is oddly hilarious as the only energy weapon on a brawler missile tank

>>51198230
Nah, he writes fights for stage shows, does stunt work (he's got pictures of getting to tackle Scarlett Johanssen on the set of Avengers in Cleveland), and teaches historical swordplay of some sort. You'd have to ask him for more details. I just know that he does some crazy shit. Of the current 15-16 regular Cinci players, it's like him and one other guy who don't do some form of IT.

>>51198216
True dat. Still, in this specific instance, the goalie (Battle pope was the goalie actually) got badly sick like 5 minutes into the game and NEA filled in since he was the only person on the team with goalie experience. I can't really fault him for that.

>/btg/ does a TRO:
>http://builtforwar.blog(not spam)spot.com/
OH SHIT GUYS CHECK IT.

>>51198161
>>51198302
Shit, you cincy motherfuckers are a hockey team AND a battletech team? Y'all should go beat the leafs so you can be even with toronto

How do you add custom units to megamek? All the units seem to be in compressed folders?

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>>51199125

>And third, the Battle Armor section is being prepared for finalization.

Yesssssssssssss.

>>51199232

SSW can export to that format, so can MML.

Just place the file in the units folder and it sorts itself out.

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>>51193627
Are there more of these?

Who, all told, would /btg/ call the Wayne Gretzky of mechwarrioring?

>>51194857

Dude. Get. Better.

>>51200343

My knowledge of the sports of north America is lacking but I think he's supposed to be the best ever or some shit?

So Kai Allard-Liao probably.

Hey, the TRO is coming along then. I missed those last few updates and I really liking that Ironclad mech.

>>51200412
Yeah, an anon prodded me into actually doing some blog posts. I really hate doing them, and most people get their info here anyways, but hopefully someone finds it useful.

>>51198030
Retrotrech or Periphery Headcapper. I like retrotech games and it's fucking hilarious on the Sarissa.

>>51196999
Why wasn't that just cited then? Still doesn't add up with established canon though.

My opening session for my Taurian Concordat game begins today in around an hour or two. I'm opening it as a flashback with players pairing off into three teams. Each pair will play a lance-ish sized game against an OpFor player for control of single objective point - a bridge, a pass and a firebase. That'll cover the afternoon until evening dinner break. Then tonight we'll move onto the full group event.

Plot wise, the players are members of two small merc units accompanying Liao regulars on a raid against a Capellan March word. One unit is led by a NPC, the other by a player and their collective mission is to run interference with the Davion militia while the Liao regulars focus on the main objective.

If the bridge or pass are captured, it'll prevent Davion reinforcements from making an early appearance from side or the other or both of the game board in tonight's big game. If the firebase is captured, it'll give the players Sniper artillery support for the game, otherwise that'll go to the Davion defenders.

>>51201926

Supplementary material is often like that.

Or need we point oujt the first version of the Inner Sphere in Flames again? According to it the TC can out-produce the Lyrans and a final showdown of TC vs LA is one of the more common end-states for an ISIF game unless the Suns player is smart enough to smash the Concordat straight off the bat.

I find those values nonsensical given what we see of the state militaries but since "read the Tech Readouts/Field Manuals/House Books/novels" isn't as persuasive as "here is this concise chart" good luck trying to convince anyone it's worthwhile.

>>51201926
It might be simply fanon. I perused my copies BattleForce, BattleForce 2 and Strategic Operations out of curiosity and couldn't find anything like it except a general IS tonnage charge in BattleForce.

Considering the Davions have only something around two assault mech lines churning out 25 total, and the Liaos have only one in that era right on the border probably getting raided all the time, I wouldn't take the chart serious. Maybe in 3039 or 3050 the Davions would have more.

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>>51199719
I made a few more of them, though those two are the most detailed ones I made.

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>>51199719
>>51202962

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>>51199719
>>51202962
>>51202973

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>>51199719
>>51202962
>>51202973
>>51202981
And here is the new-and-improved version of the Allahu Akbar one.

>>51202962
Cute. I like.
>>51202973
Do we now have a meme a police detective Wolverine? Is he a 250 year old mech who is too old for this shit? Would he wear an old black and white cop's uniform like the silly pics that are out there of am Urbie, or some 1970's green sport jacket and have a horrible cigarette addiction on the job? I need to KNOW these things.
>>51202981
I don't get the reference to this one.
>>51203004
Don't know about this one.

Thanks for helping make more silly. I always like more side-silly in my hobbies so everything isn't always 100
% serious business.

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>>51203315
>I don't get the reference to this one.
THROUGH THE FIRE AND THE FLAMES WE CARRY ON

>Don't know about this one.
Too much fisting?

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>>51203004
>>51203315
>When the Archon mocks your favorite setting.

>>51202748
Gotcha.

>>51199232
Just note that you have to restart MegaMek for it to take effect after you add the file. MegaMek can read changes to files it knows about while it's running, but it needs to restart to add new files to its cache.

>>51203431
Oh hell hwy didn't I recognize FREAKING DRAGONFORCE for crying out loud. Thanks.

So I have a striker/recon-in-force lance attached to my command company. It consists of a SHD-5D, GRF-6S, WVR-8K, and a PHX-4L. I'm considering replacing either the Griffin or Wolverine with a DV-8D for the extra fire support. Is that worthwhile? I'm hesitant to replace the Phoenix Hawk with said design, as the 'Hawk provides security and stealth for the lance with an ECM bubble.

How do you, as an Inner Sphere power, make a better aerospace fighter than the Eisensturm?

Or can it not be done? Is the Eisensturm the Leviathan of ASF?

>>51204537

I'd be replacing the Shadow Hawk or Griffin really.

You could split the Phoenix Hawk off, and use it as the basis of a pursuit or recon lance too.

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Just played the tabletop game for the first time with a friend.

Hunchback vs Enforcer with the beginners rules.

Enforcer blew off the Hunchback's leg. It was awesome.

Next game will be Banshee vs Cyclops, full rules with heat and everything.

>>51204623

For a 6/9 platform there's no real way to improve on it. The only obvious tweak is to remove the fixed DHS and add it to the design's pod space instead.

Build heavier and you lose pod space. Build lighter and you lose armour and probably pod space.

A 5/8 100-tonner is the only real way to get a signficant enough boost in pod space and armour to make it worthwhile. You can get the 300XL, cockpit, 5 tons of fuel, and 19.5 tons of armour with 63 tons of pod space.

But that 6/9 thrust is pretty significant because it lets the Eisensturm keep up with most fighters down to about half its weight.

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>>51199719

I find it even odder that you can fit things like Marauders, Crusaders, Defiances, Hauptmanns and Fafnirs in the throne room, never mind what firing a Gauss Rifle in said throne room is likely to do (unless that throne room has the length of a football stadium).

>>51204736
>painted in the colors of the Skye Jaegers
why

The Lyran state must be cleansed of secessionists.

>>51204778

I assume they kept them on the rolls for one reason or another.

Maybe as a way of getting around Stone's disarmament shenanigans.

>>51204778

Skye Jaegers, not Skye Rangers.

AFAIK the Lyrans have never had an issue with the Jaegers.

>>51204678
>Next game will be Banshee vs Cyclops, full rules with heat and everything.
You mean the original Banshee with one PPC, a pop gun AC/5 and a small laser? Yeah good luck with that.

>>51204884

To be fair the Cyclops' armour is so bad I can see a Banshee doing a bit of long-range wearing down before closing to play rock-em-sock-em-robots and succeeding.

>>51204912
I dunno, the can opener is pretty legit.

>>51204630
I see the point about replacing the Griffin with it.

What would you replace the Shadow Hawk with, if you had to pick?

Welp, wasn't expecting the dice Gods to look at my players with such disfavor. The defenders of the bridge held out, despite having a third less BV value. The pass fell to the players but their forces were slammed, again despite the defenders having a third less BV. The Firebase was a draw, with the sniper artillery bunker destroyed so there's that.

>>51204882
Skye Jaegers were traitors too.

Mini question.
I got a lot of mechs that had been prepainted, and I'm trying to strip a few of them. Already soaked in simple green overnight and got most of it off, how do I get the stubborn patches and the stuff in the nooks and crannies out? Just a toothpick or knife or what?
Thanks for the help guys

>>51205706
Plastic bristle brush works well.

>>51204623
It's really hard. As someone else said, the only option would be to remove equipment to give it more pod space for weapons. It's an assault-class fighter, with a very high movement profile for its weight, and quite well-armored.

If you go up 5 tons (to the maximum) you're going to need to drop down to a 5/8, but you gain a bunch of tonnage so you could basically make an upgraded version of the Stuka.

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>>51204778
>>51204815
>>51204882
>>51205413

I believe they were kept on the rolls as they elected to remain in the Alliance when vast sections of the Skye province were ceded to the Republic.

A full third of the unit left at the end of the Jihad did choose to join the Republic however.

Though I want to say having one of their mechs posted to the throne room is a reward for their loyalty to the Lyran state (they also aided in rebuilding on Hesparus), it's worth noting that when a pair of rogue Hauberk battlesuits made an attempt on Melissa Steiner, the Fafnir from the Sky Jaegers made no move at all to intervene.

Not that it should have given what that likely would have meant for anyone in the room at the time.

>>51205970
DEATH TO TRAITORS

Is the Capellan Augmented Lance a viable strategy?

And what vehicles do they usually add to them?

LRMs or SRMs perhaps?

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>>51205706
>how do I get the stubborn patches and the stuff in the nooks and crannies out?

Disposable eyelash/mascara brushes. You can get into a lot tighter spaces than with a toothbrush.

>>51203774
>didn't recognize FREAKING DRAGONFORCE
that's good, though

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any good MWO screenshots out there?

>>51205706

One of those little wire toothbrushes that you can use instead of flossing. Get three in a pack for a dollar in the dental hygiene section of a dollar store.

>This March, we will be detailing the mid-summer release of new Inner Sphere and Clan weaponry and equipment for MechWarrior Online. The timeline is advancing, and with it comes not only a new array of potential weapons and equipment technology with which to customize your existing ‘Mechs, but the potential for an array of new and remarkable ‘Mechs to pilot and customize.

good, good
we will finally have Jihad-era mechs around 2022 :^)

>>51207055
ops, forgot the actual paragraph

>Coinciding with the early March announcement of these new technologies, four new ‘Mechs will be announced and launched for pre-order to herald this new era. The Inner Sphere and Clans will both be receiving two ‘Mechs, with at least one of their two respective ‘Mechs hailing from the 3060+ era.

>While these ‘Mechs and new technologies will be released simultaneously in the summer, the technologies are not reliant or restricted to the new ‘Mechs. Upon release, the MechLab will simply be expanded with new weapons, new equipment, and new opportunities for customization.

>>51202962
what mech is that supposed to be, a Vindicator?

making a VTOL company for AtB (mostly just to see how long it takes for everything to go up in flames). any unit recommendations?

>>51207055
I wonder how they're gonna handle the 15 year truce after tukayyid.

Just for later-
New thread
>>51207210

>>51207159
Ferrets with the guns and cargo stripped and 4 RL10s added.

Does anybody have a Crusader variant in the same style as the SRM-only Archer? I want a close-up MMM specialist mech to surprise my players with since they have no fear of the two legged bomb.

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Is this sufficiently Tikonov for a heavy?

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>>51207374
>only one AC/20
I thought you wanted to kill your enemy, not having them think you're homosexual