/btg/ - BattleTech General

Wish i had bear designs. Whatever i come up with has been done before or is just a inadvertent copy of another mech. Plus after the perfection that is the Karhu G, whats left to build? :)
...changed my mind, we need new vipers since that lame excuse for a sakhan turned psycho khan Aletha lost it.

>>54535020

I have an urge to learn how to play BattleTech

>>54535114
Grab the BattleMech Manual. Best starting point right now.
>>54535107
>Locust
Bugbro. NEED FOR SPEED.

>>54535020
>Marik mech edition

Ok, lets do this.

Say /btg/ is in the committee room after Operation Serpent gets back from Clan space and the Albatross, Grand Titan and others have had their combat debut in serious shit.

And we know how flawed they are now.

How do we fix them?

>>54535145
>How do we fix them?
We don't, we start selling them in droves to the Periphery who will be blinded by recovered lostech which is still in much shorter supply there to know better, and rake in the burdbucks.

>>54535145
>Albatross

ALB-3Ur. Alby himself would approve. Gauss, ERLL, MML9 for long range fire, with a snubby and SRM barrage batting cleanup? I'll take it.

>>54535114
Yeah, seconding the Manual. It's only ten bucks, so it's a pretty cheap way of getting into the game.

>>54535114
>>54535365
And if you guys want to get your feet wet "online", there's always MegaMek that can be used to get your hands on robutt on robutt action without a second of delay. Instant gratification motherfuckers~

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>>54535145
Well, the first thing they'll do is decide that at their readily invested CBill cost, these mechs remain the primary candidates for every single piece of "futuretech" available. Strip them down and invest that clantech in them. Make them truly worth the 30 million CBills already spent apiece.

Now with quadvees! Megamek is also a awesome way to get into aerospace. Im always down to help someone learn that aspect of the game..if for no other selfish reason that it means more people to play it with.

How does CASE work with Clan tech?

If I have an Inner Sphere battlemech being rebuilt with Clan weapons and armour, is CASE considered automatically included?

>>54536270
All clan explosive ammunition have CASE by default already. Case II is 0.5 tons, I think.

>>54536270
Unless the Tech Base and Internal Structure are Clan, then no. You have to allocate the tonnage.

>>54535145

We don't don't. We sell them to the Periphery (as mentioned above) and use the sweet bird bucks to make a Mech army based around nothing but C3i linked Gaussboats, cLRM boats, and hardened armor IJJ equipped spotters. Vees, areos, and infantry can handle all other roles.

>>54535020

Pin up anon needs to come back and finish making one of those for each faction, then we can just constantly rotate them as the OP image for all future BT threads.

>>54536308
>>54536383
So which is true?

Using MML it has Clan CASE at being 0 crits and 0 tonnage even if I have to allocate it.

>>54536740
MML is not the rules. As for the allocation portion, .mtf files need the CASE noted in the location for code purposes.

>>54536773
I assumed it was made with the rules in mind.

So do I just use IS CASE?

>>54536862
Unless it has Clan tech base, yes.

>>54536862
If the CHASSIS is clantech, you don't need to add CASE, but it it's an IS CHASSIS, you do.

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>>54536876
Ok, thanks guys.


Here's the mech I'm working on as it currently is.

>>54537162
Why not rip out the torso lasers and replace the LRM-5 with an LRM-10? And put the ammo in the same torso, drop the extra CASE, and add a fourth JJ.

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>>54537202
Like so?

>>54537363
Yep. Admittedly, you lose the RT and you lose all your ammo, but you've still got your ERLL.

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Bored, have a Raven with missiles like the MechCommander intro cinematic.

>>54537394
I think it'll work.

I'm involved in a small campaign based around a group of Clan Wolf freeborn warriors and Inner Sphere abtakha garrisoning a world during the Refusal War when a Cockfalcon force raids it.

The Wolves are essentially third line type troops with refitted IS battlemechs, while the Falcons will mostly be second line troops.

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>>54535145

I made this several threads ago to this same question.

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>>54538118

And here's my albatross fix.

The basic idea for both of them is get rid of the stupid XL engine, up the armour to reasonable amounts and keep most of the dakka.

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>>54538372

This was my second attempt at fixing the albatross. Same idea, just a slightly different weapons loadout.

Why do they keep going back to the unseen? Know how this all goes away? They never existed, or the designs/plans/factories were all destroyed. They did it with the LAMs, why not the Marauder?

>>54538565
No one had trouble envisioning ways to get rid of them. The whole point was that people didn't want to, because they're insanely popular.

>>54538609

And it isn't like LAMs where they are an obnoxious gimmick. A lot of the best core mechs are unseen.

>>54538609
Fat lot of good that did anyone. How many lawsuits will it take before people realize they all just need to officially die. Nothing stops them from being used in home games, but no more mentions in official product.

>>54538648
I'm pretty sure this current lawsuit is going to settle it once and for all. With CGL not even bothering to show up to court, I assume they're fucked even if the other parties lose.

>>54538711
Sorry, that should be "even if the other parties win". Bleah.
That's just an assumption, of course. Is it possible to piggyback on another party's lawsuit and just hope to ride to victory on their coattails (in this case, if HG is ruled to be in the wrong)?

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>>54535020

i support everything about this message

>>54535020
>>54539202
I'd let her play with my metroids, if you know what I'm saying.

Hey btg I remember there being a khan who was an elemental piloting a fire moth. Is that just me being delusional or was it a real thing? If it was does anyone have a source, it's for a bet.

>>54539758
Aletha Kabrinski of the Ghost Bears.

>>54539797
You got a source there? Need it for the bet

>>54540303
BattleTech.

>>54540303
Not him, but only incidental.
http://www.sarna dot net/wiki/List_of_Bloodnames#Ghost_Bear_Dominion
lists Kabrinski as exclusive Elemental bloodname,
http://www.sarna dot net/wiki/Fire_Moth_(Dasher)
mentions Aletha's Fire Moth.

>>54535020
There are more of these, right? Any tasteful Kiritan ladies?

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>>54541735
>Kiritan ladies

Death to pedofiles!

If you could replace the four invading clans with four other ones, and possibly rearrange the invasion corridors a bit, what would you choose? How would it change things?

>>54543220
Exchange burrs for HH, JF for Ice Hellion. Have them race.

>>54543220
From left to right
>Coyote, Star Adder, Steel Viper, Ice Hellion
Also need to figure out the second wave

>>54543860
I'd swap the vipers and hellions personally

>>54543220

Clan Doesn't Exist, Clan Not Real, Clan Not Appearing In This IP, and Clan That Wasn't.

They don't fucking invade because their entire society is a giant fucking convoluted pile of shit that makes no sense.

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>>54544186

what game do you think you're playing, anon? the whole damned setting doesn't make any sense, from the way that FTL travel works, to economics at any point, to "ridiculously expensive and fragile giant fightan robits are the best option we can come up with" is patently ridiculous, and why we love the game. embrace the silly, or drive yourself mad ignoring it.

>>54544277
>reddit and morty
fuck off

>>54544186

OK then.

Explain literally any plot point in this game, ever.

The REEEEEE over the Clans is almost as old as I am. Get the fuck over it already.

>>54544277

I'm playing battletech you fucking newfag.

>>54545041

really? because you had me under the impression you were just playing stupid. surprises every day.

Have the new TRO been posted yet?

So, I'm reading the original Battledroids manual and it's crazy that so many things in this are explained that I see referenced later but never really explained again.

DI-computer stands for Diagnostic Interpretation
Nuerohelmet is short for Nueral Impulse Helmet
Engine sinks are actually heat driven turbines instead of radiator heat pumps like external sinks and that's why you can't just swap shit around willy nilly
Shit ranges are a result of lesser electronic systems basically slapped together, and it's that which fucks over the ranges of the guns which when linked to old SL holodisplays and AI battle computers plus about four other systems can reach out and slap shit at the kind of ranges people talk about in the real world
The structure of armor is explained in detail
Takashi's nickname was literally "The Unifier of Worlds"

Gotta say, definitely worth a read if you're a Battletech guy.

>>54545840

nope

>>54545896
Side note, if you're up for a laugh, check FASA's old works with Star Trek the role playing game. Some of their predictions of computer power and the like is so quaint.

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If they made a BattleTech movie who could she play?

>>54546211
Sterling Mckenna

>>54546211
Isis Marik? When's the movie set?

Is there a great editable pdf character sheet for time of war?

>>54546540
Yes. It's called a piece of paper and a pencil.

Seriously, that's all you get. Good luck!

>>54546540

Yeah, lemme dig it up for you. A buddy of mine is working on a printable excel sheet as well, that works for the life paths.

>>54535020
is that official art? Jesus the human character aesthetics feel so different these days.

I remember when humans looked like they were dressed to audition for Top Gun or Aliens.

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>>54546540

>>54546813

the fuck, i cleared all the fields
shit

>>54546657
>>54546813
Thanks a lot, I can write over the text.

>>54537543
They where probably Streak-2s on that Raven, I mean they only pissed off the Timber Wolf from the sideshot and the killing blow was on the rear that was allready hit by Centurion and the other mech I did not recognise.

>>54546962
It was a commando, cent, hunchback, and raven.

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>>54546803
None of these pin ups use official art, or even art made with BT in mind. Which kind of bothers me. That said yes, character aesthetics have changed, but some of this is also a matter of loose art direction and it can vary heavily from artist to artist.

>>54547001
Ok thanks, that solved that. It's really neat intro for a game, almost all of the older Mechwarrior games have really decent intros in them.

>>54547012
Well in the old art, some of the female and some male characters where either almost naked, or in atleast one case topless

>>54546962
The mechs in the Mechcommander 1 intro video lance was a Hunchback (ejected), Centurion, Raven, and Commando.

>>54546803
That art looks to be illustrated by someone Japanese. Not a moeblob, but definitely has the anime aesthetic.

So by extention, no it's not official art. A few people keep churning out pin-up girls pictures with women from western comics and various japanese sources.

Maybe Korean. They're stepping up their game, these days.

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>>54547012
What would you rather see in them then? They're meant to be pin-ups, so of course the girls will be attractive, and likely in various stages of undress/lack thereof. Since they're just random art from the internet selected to be aesthetically pleasing and at least somewhat sci-fi or culturally related to the faction they represent, it's hard to find "perfect" art, but suggestions are always welcome.

I realize they won't all meet everyone's approval and trying to please everyone is a good way to go insane, but keeping preferences in mind as they're made is certainly possible.

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So are there Clanners who get full on Culture Shock and defect to an Inner Sphere nation?

Can I be a mercenary with a rogue Clan gf qt that I gallivant around the galaxy taking on the most dangerous jobs to test our skills and get mad dosh?

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>>54547839
Why wouldn't that be possible? There are plenty of Clan Bondsmen all over the Inner Sphere, and it's quite possible that several of them are among the more prestigious Mercenary units. There are even stories of Clan pilots going rogue and claiming planets as "protectorates" killing pirates and bandits and keeping them safe since they have nothing else to do and cannot get back to their brethren. It's possible your commander perhaps defeated one of these, maybe in a raid, or a duel, possibly on Solaris, and the rest writes itself.

Don't let anyone tell you how to play, anon. Just find like-minded people to play with.

>>54547839
>This spheroid hasn't read Wolf Hunters
>He hasn't read of Galatean merc bro with his smart elementalfu who loves being romanced inner sphere style

>Hasn't read the JHS books where Victor is banging his elemental bodyguard on the side before he marries Isis

>>54547246
>Not recognizing the porn artist that drew this character and the photoshop that put her in this image
Step up your powerlevel

>>54544186
>The SLDF disintegrates instead of leaving, unable to resolve conflicting loyalties
>Humanity reverts to the stone age after the far more severe succession wars finish nuking the most populated worlds
>Comstar's communications monopoly never happens because there's no one to pay them
Post apocalyptic interstellar sci fi with giant stompy robots when

>>54548084
We had that and then a bunch of people wanted furry psychotics to invade. I'm not saying that the plot moving forward is a bad idea, but the aesthetic that drew a lot of people into Battletech was removed and replaced with something that wasn't the game's original brand of silly, then they tried to go back to that later and failed because you can't recapture lost magic. Just let it go man. Make an AU, play in the SW era, or go full PaF, whatever you want. Just because it's 3250 doesn't mean it has to be at your table.

>>54535020
so is there like, more art like this

>>54547788
My only issue is that they aren't BT art. Not dissing the effort you guys put into getting the things together, and I understand you make do with what you have and pin-up worthy BT character art to work with is in short supply, I'd just rather see more of artists whipping up OC like >>54547839.

Bear in mind I'm also the kind of weirdo who raises an eyebrow when people post straight up Dougram art (as in not unseen art from old books but Japanese art) and such. Especially when Hastys are involved, since the the Thunderbolt does have some visual alterations to it, though I'm pretty sure here and there some Hasty looking Thuds have appeared in BT art too.

>>54546211
Who is that anyway? She looks like eye candy, wouldn't let her play any role associated with brain or brawn. Disbelief can only be suspended so far.

>>54548160
I wish I were a talented artist; I'd be drawing 'Mechs and girls galore. But I'm stuck with PDN and some meager ability to cut and paste, and that's all I can really offer. It couldn't hurt to go looking for specifically Battletech art though, I suppose. Not sure what I'd find, but I'll keep an open eye.

>>54548160
Hasty Thud has always been the real thud. The OG Battledroids models were it, the Battletechnology stuff was it, and the metal mini was it. TRO:3025 has always been the odd duck and roundly ignored by most of the fanbase.

>>54546962
True, but the Mad Cat has 9 points on each side rear torso so unless both Tbolts hit the same side it wouldn't go internal. Plus it fired the rounds staggered.

>>54547888
Victor was like..5'2", how did he survive banging an Elemental?!

>>54548543
Small mammals always find a hidey hole.

>>54535020
I need sauce, for scientific purposes.

>>54548194

Alexandra DaDDario (see what I did there?), and you'd be wrong about her acting ability.

>>54548543

I think he's joking but even if he isn't, Victor is pretty much what you get when someone puts all the points gained from the "short" flaw into combat skills and survivability.

Fucker even survived a Gauss round to the face.

>>54548479
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MQPWE_M_EM

Well let's take a look at battle scene itself, the fight starts at 1.50 min mark, when the Huncback takes a salvo of missiles and Large Laser fire, causing alot of damage. Panther craps himself.

THe IS mech fire back, hitting shit all, Timber Wolf fires again and takes out the Huncback at 2.10min.
Centurion and Commando leg it and TW shoots at them. At 2.40 Raven fires two missiles from the right side hitting the missile pod with both missiles, enough damage to piss off the TW pilot but not enoug to mess the side torso.

Raven legs it and ends up in alleyway. TW turns around and just about when he is ready to fire, salvo of missiles hits him in the rear centre and left torso. The damage is bad enough that it seems to fuck up the missile pod as you see bits dangling out of it. The TW turns around to face the mechs that fired at it and then the Raven shoots two missiles, both hitting the TW centre torso, which takes it out.

From what I see, Ravens missiles alone where not enough to do any serious damage to the TW, it's even mentioned that the Raven in seriously outgunned by the people watching the fight.

>>54548920
Okay? It's a variant with Thunderbolts because it's similar to the firing pattern.

>>54548586
Homare Fool Art, I think.

>>54548894
>I think he's joking

Nah, just fucked up the timeline. Victor had Tiaret in the Fedcom Civil War, then married Isis in 3067.

Xotl-kun, get on the IRC.

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>>54548160
Have some 100% canon beefcake then. I wonder whatever happened to this artist. I haven't seen him in any of the more recent books.

Question.

You have an UrbanMech. Maybe you won it in a game of poker, it might be inheritance, but somehow, you've gotten possession of an UrbanMech. And now you have to name it.

What do you name your new toy?

>>54549117
Peter Lorre

>>54548117
>furry psychotics
How...how fucking genegineered ARE the clans?!?
Sorry; I only ever played vidya. Now, of course, I have time and money to learn more about this world, but nobody around here seems to play any form of the game.

>>54549117
Stubbs.

>>54549151
Supposed to be 0% gene engineered and full selective breeding. The scientists did a little of it anyway for some of the phenotypes though and got wiped out when they got found out.

>>54549151
Aerospace pilots have bigger head and better eyes, better to withstand G-force.
Elementals are pretty much like Space Marine, bigger than average adult, heavily muscles, lots of stamina and endurance.
Mechwarriors supposed to be very fit adult human.

Sorry about that. Posting on mobile is a little wonky.

>>54549151
It's not their genes, it's their culture. They are a laughable mockery of everything Kerensky stood for, and that's the joke. That said, there are certainly cool things about the Clans, but make no mistake they are 110% plot contrivance. They only ever won at anything because the writers decided they would, due to them being the new big plotline. They don't actually have enough Mechwarriors amongst all the Clans combined to conquer the FRR, let alone the massive swaths of territory they took in the Invasion. But, much like with anything in Battletech, you have to ignore logic and just go with the flow. They do make pretty good villains because they are so over the top though, I'll admit.

>>54549171
>>54549270
Ah, so 'furry' doesn't represent them being actually anthro, it's just a reference to the ridiculous clan names. Phew.

>>54549274
You aren't putting the hurt on them enough. You have to be both a sadist and a masochist to be a good GM.

If they can't play subtle. Don't give them subtle. Just throw them into full Enforcers and Pimps.

>>54549350
They're called furries because they literally dress up in furs and animal masks and worship their totems.

>>54548939
It would be the original Tbolts as the 5-20s where not invented in lorewise or IRL in the timeframe the game is happening. The original Thunderbolts where relatively heavy damage weapons, 10 damage per missile so hitting with 2 would be like taking a hit from an AC/20 and that would have majorly fucked up the sidetorso of the Timber Wolf on the first volley that hits

That's why I believe that is a Streak-2 the Raven is packing for some reason as it could carry heavier missileloads easily.

>>54549117
The one Urbie I own in MWO bears the proud name Purple Nurple.

>>54549377
It's probably because SRMs in Mechcommander 1 were SRM2s and LRMs were LRM5s. So if a 'Mech had two LRM15s like a Catapult, it had 6 LRMs in Mechcommander. That's probably why.

>>54549117

Bob.

>>54549348

Literally no faction has enough troops to garrison more than a single planet, if that, according to modern military doctrine. The Clans aren't unique in that.

>>54549350
Their scientists cabal - the Society, however, did take gene-engineering a little too extreme, which resulted them being exterminated later on. Yes, furry did happened.
Another group that played with furry would be those afro-amazon group called Magistracy of Canopus.

When it comes to designing a mech for tabletop. Where do you want to store ammo? MWO has taught me head and legs but now I'm into BT what is the TT thinking?

>>54551012
all in CT. ALL OF IT.

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>>54551012

Literally the opposite. While the jokester in >>54551025 is taking the piss, avoid putting ammo in places where it is a) catastrophic when hit, and b) easily or unluckily hittable. When I say this, I mean, don't put it in your goddamn legs, because nerds will kick your legs, crit the ammo, and make sure you're a cripple. Don't put it in the CT, because a possible TAC on a 1 in 36 chance -will- undo all of your best-laid plans at some point. And for god's sake, don't put it in the head, because the only explosive thing a pilot should sit on is the charge for the ejection seat mechanism.

>>54551012
Preferably on a area protected by CASE as it protects others parts from being destroyed when that ammo is hit. CT is about the worse place to put ammo as if it get's hit your mech is toast.

Luckily damage isn't as pinpoint in TT as it is in MWO and hit locations shift alot.

>>54549683
Creatures from the Lagoon were real too. Star League is some serious dope.

>>54551064
So it's l/r torso and arms. I guess if I'm running an xl then ammo should be in the arms with the weapon that is using it?

>>54551064
desu, the obvious "hey, i'm sitting on a bomb" jokes aside, head is difficult to hit, and anything that gets through HD armor is more likely to destroy the head and kill the pilot, tan crit the ammo.

Unless you're worried by heat-induced ammo explosion, but that's another story.

>>54538648
The current lawsuit doesn't even involve the unseen. HG just threw a bunch of their mechs (even though they don't really have the rights) and threw them up next to BT mechs and called it copyright. They're literally comparing the Atlas to the up-armored Valkyrie and saying that it's infringing.

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>>54551111

Depends. Normal CASE will prevent any spread of ammo damage, which, while it can take an XL engined mech out of the battle, can still keep it intact for salvage (not a big issue for one-off scenarios, but can make a significant difference if you're rolling in a campaign). CASE II basically negates ammo explosion damage. Arms are best, torsos are next best, legs if for some godawful reason you must, CT/HD if you just don't like the mech or the pilot for some reason.

>>54551138

Sure, it's hard to hit. But I run a campaign; long-term survival despite luck and all its facets are definitely concepts. One bad PPC or AC/10 hit and congratulations, months of effort and characterization have just turned into microscopic red confetti. Alternatively, again, 10 points of damage can undo what might have been a linchpin in your force.

>>54551138
This is for a custom Urbie so heat isn't a issue and with 9 head armour well I couldn't see a huge issue

>>54551183

Why didn't you say so? Urbie changes the rules a bit; normal sanity doesn't quite apply when you're rolling with the trashcan. Hell, I'd allow an extra crit slot to be take up specifically by fireworks in the event the pilot has to eject.

Just reading ammo explosion rules and the examples given seem to times the damage by 2 of what they explain in the text.

i.e. 1 ton of mg ammo gives 400 damage and SRM 2gives 200. These values seem twice as much as I thought. Am I missing something?

>>54551160

Yeah and the Shadow Hawk. The Shadow Hawk is DOUGRAM. We can conclusively say what it's ripping off and it's not Macross.

>>54551227
Number of shots x damage per shot.
So an MG is 2 x 200.
A SRM-2 is 2 (dmg per missile) x 2 (2 missiles per shot) x 50 (number of shots)

>>54551227

Noope. MG ammo is hilarious.

>>54551214
Fair one

My next campaign I'm thinking of running a group of speedy shotgun wielding Urbies as my light or support lance.

You know for science

>>54551227

Each point of ammo does the same damage as the weapon it's fired from. Example: LRM15 does 15 damage, uses 15 LRMs. 60 LRM rounds explode inside, they deal 60 damage. 6 SRM rounds deal 12 damage. 60 SRM rounds explode, they deal 120 damage. Simple as that.

>>54551250
>>54551254
Thanks.

I thought mg was 1 damage and SRM ammo is 50missles not 50shots

>>54551282
No worries. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.

What are you reading from to understand things? If you're using Total Warfare, I'd suggest the quick-start rules or the Battlemech Manual instead.

>>54551306
It's fine. I'll keep it in mind though.

I use MegaMek so don't know rules as well as I could.

I'm trying to get it all in my head so I can get a few models and play it on TT for real.

>>54551350

It sounds odd, but might I suggest the old CBT Master Rules book? There's a few things in there that aren't up to date (partial cover and some C3 rules being the primary thing that comes to mind), but the base rules (hit locations and such) haven't changed much in many, many years. I find it's a much easier read, though I could be biased because I have a physical copy, as opposed to TW and TO.

>>54551160

>The current lawsuit doesn't even involve the unseen.

Yes it does, anon.

CGL folded because they know the Phoenix Hawk, Warhammer, Wasp, and Marauder are all way too close and there's no means to defend the case. That, or they don't have the money to hire a lawyer because they've been such a dysfunctional shitshow financially since forever.

The MWO models for the Unseen that they listed may be infringing and were also going to be used in the HBS game with the same models ported over.

The Armoured Valkyrie/Atlas etc are just them reaching because they may as well throw everything and the kitchen sink to see what happens. In the unlikely event they win, cool. Otherwise, it doesn't actually hurt their case and if HBS/PGI want to settle they have something to jettison that they gave no fucks about any way.

I know HG is hated, and rightfully so. But aspects of their case here are actually very strong, which is why HBS/PGI are going to have to fight hard and CGL just folded entirely.

>>54551350
The meck factory app isn't too bad either. It just also isn't all that great. Good for looking stuff up and brainstorming customs.

>>54551282
Keep in mind that all LRM ammo is 120 missiles a ton, and SRM2+4 are 100 missiles a ton, but SRM6 is 90 missiles.

Quick calc on ammo explosions:
Shots per round * damage per round * ammo left in the magazine == damage inflicted.
Running that regularly if you're suffering low armor in the area will give you an idea of whether to start expending that magazine or ejecting it.

Also keep in mind that every magazine of ammo is fed from independently. You can fire all 8 shots from an LRM-15 mag without evenly distributing it amongst all of your magazines.

>>54551530
>You can fire all 8 shots from an LRM-15 mag without evenly distributing it amongst all of your magazines.
Bane 3 pilots, throwing a whole torsobomb per turn.

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Why does Ostmann Industries make such fucking ugly mechs?

Because you touch yourself at night

>>54552686

because they still look better than you on any given tuesday

now sod off

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What's the appropriate model scale for infantry and battle armor, and how many should be stuck on a base?

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>>54552686
Well, the new Ostscout looks pretty cool.

>>54553517
>What's the appropriate model scale for infantry and battle armor, and how many should be stuck on a base?
Battletech as a whole is at roughly 6mm figure scale

>>54549117
Mr.Buttplug

>>54549117
R2-FU of course

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>>54553921

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I has questun.

How do I defeat an enemy lance that consists entirely of gauss rifle toting heavies that move every single step of the way clustered in a diamond, when my force is a balanced unit lacking artillery or swarm ammo? This is from a game long gone that I still sometimes think back to, with sore butt.

>>54554316
That sounds expensive (using whatever metric you like), you can probably afford a lot of LRM carriers for the same price. Make it rain.

>>54547888
>there's books that feature guys romancing and banging elemental waifus
Well, off to look for some smutty fan-fiction.

>>54554316
No one says you have to engage. Retreat is always a valid option. Alternatively, take ASF. Gausswalls suck no matter what you do. The best way to win is to dick with you opponent until he rage quits because you aren't following "the rules"

>>54554316
I think you pretty much had to have picked a better force composition. iirc, gauss rifles aren't great against infantry or PA.

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>>54554365
I have considered it, especially in case swarm LRM ammo was an option, but... in the end, I did not feel it sufficient for stopping their advance. At direct fire, armor would be the deciding factor. And at indirect fire, there wouldn't be enough time to obliterate the lance before close contact was made.

If it was double blind, I would feel safer with LRM carriers, but... even still, experience - thanks to taneru for that - dictates that even elite-gunnery skilled LRM carriers are unlikely to stop an iron wall.

>>54554590
>>54554574
Well, all this is sort of a bit past the part I was most interested in. The biggest peculiarity was that they moved in that completely closed formation, every step of the way. And all I could think of was "I don't know how to crack that". What's the approach, not the tool, that I need to crack that closed formation?

>>54548084
>Post apocalyptic interstellar sci fi with giant stompy robots when
Fucking philistine! Have you never heard of Earthsiege/Starsiege!?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starsiege

(honestly, I don't expect anyone to have heard of it, it's a 90's era video game series and most people here would be too young to remember)

>>54554833
Hit the weakest corner of it from far, far away until it cracks. Then move in for the kill.

>>54554316
Swarm attack with fast BA transports?

Fuck that, swarm with kobold IIc's. Make sure the machine guns are set to burst mode and ghost targets are activated...slap that bitch.

>>54554833
Honestly, I don't know why your opponent did that, we're they all facing the same way, or were they watching each other's backs? Because in either case I'd use something like BA or LRMs to take down one mech then keep going. Each mech you take down is a reduction in damage. So just start somewhere and finish them off one at a time.

>>54554834
I remember! Never played it personally (I never had a PC, I had *ahem* a Tatung Einstein) but I saw it and trying to pop round to my friends house to see him play...

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>>54555463
>>54555463
It was highly effective. It was just a constant advance-and-fire, forcing fire to originate and arrive on a close set of hexes and controlling the lanes of fire and traffic closely. It was, generally speaking, a very good maximization of focus on the advantages possessed by the heavy-only force.

Im gonna take a guess that those gauss heavys are 4/6 movement. Kobold iic's vtol at 6. Rekt#

>>54555618

Aside from the problem of range, I guess. Doesn't matter if the Kobolds can theoretically infinately kite out of the enemy's reach if they have to be at short GR range to fire back.

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>>54552686
Like the other unseen early mechs, they were initially designed off of the old Macross Zentradi battle pods. Then, you know, licensing problems and so forth.

>>54537582
Would suggest moving the ERML to somewhere else, so you don't lose it if you get an ammo explosion.

>>54556180
Blah, meant to reply to >>54537363

>>54556180
>>54556194
Same difference, they're both me.

I had it there to keep similarities with the original -2H but I guess you're right.

>>54555596
Then you need faster mechs. You can't tank gauss shots, so you need to take advantage of speed. If he can't hit you he's just wasting ammo. Use your movement modifiers to your advantage. If he's walking he's taking a +1, if you can move 6 on top of that then he's shooting on at least a 7. Then when you factor in cover he's going to be having a hard time hitting you. Also when you're fast than him you can run around to his rear and try hitting that.

4 heavy mechs with gauss should cost a lot. If you're balancing by BV you should be able to afford more, faster mediums. If you're balancing by something else then there should still be a way to tip the balance in your favor.

>>54555596

Take a ton of UAC/20 Blitzkriegs and use cover and terrain to get in close. NEA had a good quote about Blitzkriegs at some point.

>>54553522
I am a BT dummy. What is that insignia?

>>54555857

I ment you can bum rush and swarm the gauss heavys. iv used them to some scary success against IS heavys.
Not saying everyone will come back, but they can surprise you.

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>>54556683

so, does anyone want to check out this ridiculous matchup I made in MekHQ?


https://mega.nz/#!pQEjSZLS!IkMLkQCK362uQ1nv279AojMbjCQVTGu_NU8FQFQTVXQ

>>54556955
Lexington Combat Group

>>54554834
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starsiege
was that the one where you had the quick yellow one, the human looking blue one, and the scorpion looking red one?

I loved that game. I'd always run out of missiles on the scorpion though.

>>54554834

I never got a chance to play Starsiege itself, but I played lots of Missionforce: Cyberstorm, which was like the Battletech to Starsiege's Mechwarrior.

Also Tribes because fuck yeah Tribes.

>>54557409
Tribes makes more sense the battletech.

Just dissapointed nobody ever said, "Ahhh SKEET SKEET SKEET SKEET!"

what mech is best for twerking?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjCJMd374yQ

>>54557409

You can play Starseige now. It's still great, in part due to the novelty of actually being able to play as the evil robots in the campaign.

>>54557689
cause you know, they shoot skeet discs. Not watersports.

Battlebump

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Atlas
Jenner
Raven
Blackjack

Random set of mechs I have which are left unpainted.
Do these mechs fit well for a Kurita lance? I'm not that familiar with lore.
and on that note, what are some of the better battletech books?

>>54535020
>Have a great house that dosen't run shit.
>Gay pride color scheme.
>Lord is so far up Comstar's ass you'd need an aggro mech to pull him out.
>Puts uzo in their PPC's

FWL worst successor state. Yes, even behind the CC. At least Romana was a hot ginger mechslut And they have Catapaults.

>>54559202
Two of those 'Mechs are Drac (Atlas and Jenner) and the Raven and Blackjack belong in a Cappie or FedSun lance.

>>54559350
Black jack could be salvage but yeah Ravens are iconic Liao mechs

>>54559350
>>54559374
Is it reasonable that the Raven would be salvage/sale?
It'd be an awfully long time until a lone Liao Raven gets some friends.

>>54554316
>>54554365

C3 network, on a shitton of missle boats. Slave it to a lance of 20 vtols. Just armor and that C3. Fly the vtol in, get 210 Meter range data. Fire for effect. Fire at will. Dosen't matter if that one gets shot down, just send in the next one. Those heavies are not going to reach you anytime soon if you 60m deep into heavy woods.

>>54559411
At the end of the day, anything is possible. You can make whatever Lance you want, and fuck the haters.

>>54554316
Mines. Lots of them. Even with LRMs you can deploy minefields to slow them down, and force them to move apart or at greatly reduced speed due to leg damage.

Terrain as well. Nothing says "fuck you" like a infantry-towed field gun, like an LBX-20 or UAC-20 waiting from behind cover that renders it invisible until they're both within LOS.

>>54559202
it feels like a FedSuns lance that was rotated through both borders and wrecked both places more than anything else

Who is the Stannis Baratheon of BT?

>>54560090

Someone who's meant to be super competent, is fighting the good fight, and has the law on his side yet gets utterly BTFOd by circumstance and GRRL POWER!, you mean?

Closest I can really think of is Victor for the early part of the FCCW.

>>54560685
Damn, I think you're right

>>54560706

It's hard to separate the two since book!Stannis is currently in limbo while show!Stannis went from "she is my daughter, you will not touch her" when Selyse wanted to so much as spank Shireen and told the troops who were faithful to the Firelord to fuck off when they wanted to burn someone because it wasn't right and would also piss off the majority of his troops who didn't buy into his religion, yet in the show was like "damn it's cold up here, better burn my daughter so I'm warm for the next five seconds!"

Victor in the FCCW is the closest I can think of for a lot of what happens to show!Stannis, especially him carrying the idiot ball at critical times. Victor in the Jihad probably even works for Stannis in the books since he tried to fight the WoB and lost.

There's no direct parallels though.

RIP, Stannis. For a while there you were the Mannis, until D&D decided to go for Tumblr points.

>>54547839
>So are there Clanners who get full on Culture Shock and defect to an Inner Sphere nation?
In canon, a few, but not a lot
Personally, in my games I like to up the culture shock factor significantly. Like not zentraedi high, but there are a LOT more defectors, deserters and the occasional clanner who gets kicked out for whatever reason and becomes part of spheroid society

>>54560685
>not supporting Katrina

It was her turn!

>>54560685
Does that mean Katrina was Renly? Yeah, I can sorta see it.

>>54561359

>I'm with Her.

>>54557306
Seems kinda lopsided.

27 IS mechs vs. 15 clanners?

>>54561649
This is your threadly reminder that, according to canon, a match between an IS battalion and a Clan trinary is hilariously lopsided... in the trinary's favor.

>>54561649
Considering the average Clanner pilot is..2/3? And dem ERPPCs.

It's long odds for the IS 'mechs.

>>54553921
Done that. *And* R2-FU2.

>>54562229
>in canon companies defeated binaries
oh lol

>>54563034

Yeah, the absolute top tier of IS units in battles that were poorly described and suddenly nerfed the Clans were able to pull that shit.

Once.

Context is a thing. We actually have more examples of forces smaller than a Cluster wiping the floor with entire Regiments, or even entire RCTs, than we do of that sort of thing.

Yes, the entire clan invasion made absolutely no sense
We've been going over this for the last twenty-five years, everyone knows it, but what's to be done? Rewrite the whole thing from the ground up to defuck FASAnomics?

>>54547948

Gelbooru yields nothing.

>>54563269
You don't need to rewrite the entire thing, just fix the details.
The main plot points can stay the same.
But the amount of effort it would take and the amount of butthurt which will be generated would be incredible.

>>54561293
You forgot the original defectors, Wolf Dragoons (and Snord Irregulars), then again they are made up of freeborns and washout (except for Nat).
As for defect to an IS nation, other than Cats to Dracs and Jaguar to Republic, others are more like assimilate like Bears and Rasalhague, Ravens and Outworld, and Scorpions and Castile. So, Deculture happened!

>>54562229
Depends on the makeup, a light/medium battalion of decrepit 3025 machines is going to have its ass handed to it against a frontline omni trinary. Even similar enough machines are in trouble. Meanwhile a top-tier 3050-tech heavy company should make a solid show against a lighter binary.

>>54563094
>the "top tier" of IS units most of which had never fought the Clans, beat the absolute cream of the crop Clan units

Yeah the context is important.

>>54557379
You're thinking of Ultrabots.

>>54563422
>others are more like assimilate like Bears and Rasalhague, Ravens and Outworld, and Scorpions and Castile
Those are more like nations defecting to the clans than the other way around

>>54563503
Well considering that top tier IS units had alot of fighting experience outside fighting Clans, I would say such a scenario is possible. Remember veteran and elite units know alot of the tricks you can use in mech combat and will use them to their advantage. Sure Clan unit has the tech advantage but experience wise the crack Clan unit might be disadvantage due to how Clans in homeworlds liked to fight their battles.

>>54563618
2 of the 3 nations in your example defecting to Clans where periphery nations that IS gave two shits about. Third one is the one still irritates me to no end. "Oh hey we are forming this Dominion that's both foreign and oppressive as hell, would you like to join it?" FRR response "If you put it like that, then yes not like we had Dracs doing the same shit just recently, and we won't even do the same resistance we did vs Dracs because we sure do like foreign powers come in take our planets."

>>54564258
Don't forget Rasalhague didn't just invite the Bears in. They had to kick Comstar out.

"Yeah, a bunch of clanners is totally better than these other guys that have been holding together our shit state of seven worlds and rebuilding our industry since 3053."

>>54563503

Some of them had never fought the Clans before wiping the floor with the supremely retarded and understrength Jags, you mean.

It was only the St. Ives Lancers, Red Lancers, and Marik forces that hadn't fought the Clans prior to the Great Refusal any way. The Lancers had Kai fiat and the Red Lancers were fresh off going from the most fucktarded unit in the entire game, having done literally nothing but jack off on Sian and not even fight for at least two Succession Wars to being the most god damn terrifying and elite unit IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE because XIN SHENG, MOTHERFUCKERS.

Also >>54564109, they were still the best the IS had.

The Great Refusal is a clusterfuck of stupid /almost/ as bad as the FCCW they were shoehorning the plot into so they could fast-forward to that.

>>54561649
More like
27 IS Mechs
6 Gauss Wall Tonks
8 Aerospace
8 Fenrir BA with VTOL transport

VS.

15 Clan mechs (10 Timber Wolf 5 warhawk)
10 Aerospace
75 Elemental BA

>>54564788
oh, wait, forgot fire support lance of LRM boats, thats 32 mechs

>>54564814
The pilots in that example were probably a bit screwy cause they had their skills randomly generated.

>>54564459

>Prior to the Great Refusal

Should be prior to Operation Bulldog, my bad. All the units that were with Victor had at least participated in that if they weren't Clan War vets from other battles.

>>54564459
I was refering to the Clan Invasion in >>54564109 , sure alot of the crack IS units got steamrolled but being sneaky bastards like Hiro and Victor, that used the battlefields themselves to beat the Clans technical advantage IS forces got some really neat victories. And then you put someone like Focht, who had been prepairing for the fight and ComGuard armed with Star League tech and you can see why the Clans got trounced at Tukayyid.

I allways consider Operation Bulldog/Serpent to be completely different beast due to fact that the initial shock of the Clans caused had worn off and the elite units of the IS knew what they where getting dropped against.

>>54565589
And Operation Bulldog/Serpent had access to Clantech salvage as well as an extra what..ten years or IS lostech recovery?

>>54548543
I just remember she was his bodyguard, nothing about him banging her...

>>54565634
Considering that she was bodyguard to VSD, a guy who mere presense makes the women around wanting his D, even his sister. And add to that she is clanner who had rather freemind about banging people. I would be more suprised that they didn't do it.

>>54551064
I like to put ammo in the legs on mechs NOBODY wants to get close to. Think a kodiak, or king crab ultra. After all, legs tend to be heavily armored, and are often behind cover. If nobody is willing to get close to you to kick them, that makes them an excellent place to put ammo.

>>54554316
Indirect fire and mines. Especially on jumpy little shits that can stay out of range.

>>54566050
>you kick a mech and it turns into that tianjin explosion because someone thought it was a good idea to stuff four tons of ammo in the legs.
I like fooling around with shields and putting the ammo behind the torso covered by them.

>>54554834
Played a bit of Earthsiege and Earthsiege 2. Both ramped the difficulty way the hell up and required a joystick keyboard, and even mouse to play.

Starsiege I didn't buy into because it came at around the same time as Mechwarrior 3, so there was no need. It also doesn't sound terribly backwards compatable, either.

As for tribes, that was the turning point that guaranteed we'd never see another decent Mechwarrior competitor. Not single player, anyway.

>>54566168
Make it Machine Gun ammo and use the TacOps explosion rules.

Stupid question.
If I have CASE in my left torso, does it prevent an ammo explosion damage in the left arm from entering the torso?

>>54567201
The CT? Yes. The LT? No.

>>54544784
>guys guys I hate the popular thing am I cool yet?!

>>54554316
Take his BV in Slings with T-Aug ammo and some off-board AIV to use with the TAGs, then wish him luck.

>>54551012
In the pre-CASE era (ex. 3025) the CT is not the absolute worse place to put ammunition, mainly because there's a lot of other things that could be hit in the CT like the engine or gyro.

If the ammo is the only thing in a side torso in the pre-case era, a through-armour critical will set off the ammo and destroy the mech anyway, so you might as well place the ammo in the CT and just gamble that you take an engine or gyro hit instead. Head is still nicer, and legs are also not bad either.

The best thing of course is to pack just enough ammunition so that it's all used up by the time you're threatened with criticals.

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>>54568198
>The best thing of course is to pack just enough ammunition so that it's all used up by the time you're threatened with criticals.
Or just general good critpacking otherwise. Though some introtech mechs have critpacking issues from being victim of the rules change between Battledroids and Battletech that where you no longer had to allocate every single heat sink, like the Crusader.

>>54568427
>you no longer had to allocate every single heat sink, like the Crusader.
And suddenly double heat sinks become near-worthless.

>>54568481
What are you on about? DHS don't lose any utility under such a scheme, the only thing that changes is that introtech Mechs stop being such total walking bombs. Imagine a MAD-3R with 3 SHS in the LT along with the AC5 ammo.

>>54569168

Oh, wait, yeah. It's still early morning for me. Yeah, having the 10 DHS in the engine required to be allocated to the crit slots would make them worthless, yes. Whenever I hear about this issue, I automatically pair it in my head with the ORIGINAL plan for DHS ( which Randall has spoken about) where the engine HS must be SHS and DHS would be required to be external to the engine.

Apologies for jumping down your throat.

>>54569168
>Imagine a MAD-3R with 3 SHS in the LT along with the AC5 ammo.
Technically you can do that as is, just yank 'em out of the legs. You do lose out on most of that extra cooling when in depth 1 water though, which it especially benefits from.

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>>54535114
Battletech Quick Start Rules (Introduces players to the basic concepts of the TableTop Wargame)
http://d15yciz5bluc83.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/BattleTechQuick-Start-Rules.pdf

MegaMek, the battletech rules condensed into a video game, can help new players better grasp how the rules work in gameplay, and start developing strategies for TT
https://www.megamek.org/downloads

Some Youtube Links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZueXVg5-FhE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5xdm5m3HAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEJSLLlXLDI

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>>54535020
What are the best rules for running Mech Construction, Repairs, Maintenance, and Customization in a long term campaign?

The Rules in Strategic Operations aren't selling me, Battletech doesn't run on letters A through F, there was a spot of shortsightedness on making an A-Grade Tech The finest tech around, but an A-Grade Unit is scrapped together salvage

Couple that with Tech Manual's A=Good F=Bad, and it's another layer of unnecessary confusion

In that same vein, What the fuck is an A-grade tech? A tech's Green, Regular, Veteran, and Elite status correspond to a Skill level of 9,7,6,5, respectively, there's no reason to give them a Letter-rating on top of that

But excuse the rant, I'm not really after someone to explain Strategic Ops to me, from several attempts over the years to delve into it without success, I think I can safely conclude that it is not what I'm looking for for campaign play

Is there a more simple Ruleset for Mech Repairs, Construction, and Customization, in Campaign play? Preferably something that Runs on C-Bills and tech hours, If I need to replace 27 points of armor, It'll cost me 40k (8 points per ton, 10k per ton), How long will it take me, and how much do my techs cost to keep around / how much do they cost for OT?


I think I had rules very similar to what I'm looking for in an old 1st or 2nd ed MW Splatbook, Can't remember which, I imagine it should be in a primary book but something tells me it was in one of the Mercenary handbooks as they were the first ones to actually have to deal with Accountanttech-tier logistic and financial management

Any and all help is sincerely appreciated

tried using mekhq?>>54569819

>>54569819
You want Field Manual Mercenaries (revised), and maybe some of the earlier merc books for flavour

>>54569819
Tech rating as in technology, not technician. Same as the tech ratings in Techmanual. And you;ve got the tech ratings backwards, A-rated tech is the oldest simplest shit around, that's why it has better numbers.The difference between tech A and E is that of just bolting steel plate on something versus dealing with ferro fibrous and its microscopic composite layers.

Availability ratings are where A is good and F is bad. It is indeed a mess.

>>54569205
No huhu. And isn't that how Freezers were supposed to work, those 'interim' DHS before they got everywhere?

I suppose it wouldn't be so bad with Clan designs, they're getting 2 heat for 2 crits, so really it's just more as if the heat sinks were half-weight. Which would have been an interesting shift, I think . 'Advanced HS - same 1 heat, 1 crit, but only 1/2 ton' would make a lot of builds think harder.

And no Hellstarian monstrosities, I think.

>>54569205

It's not that they were intended to originally work that way, but that if Randall could go back and change one thing, that's what he'd change.

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>>54569819
Update, I think I found the book I was looking for FAS1670, first place I found pricing for support staff, as well it had a version of Maintenance and repair based around support points generated, vs BV of the unit

>>54570264
Field Manual Mercenaries was perfect for Maintenance, And it directed me to Master Rules 35000, which had what I needed for Repairs and Customization, so I guess that's settled, Thank you very much

>>54570578
Ah, thank you for the Clarification, I feel a bit foolish now, Still feeling like the Strat Ops rules are a bit needlessly complicated, and somehow still too vague

>>54570063
Also a very good idea, could just use GM mode to punch in what I need and let MekHQ handle the rest, it would leave me with using the StratOps system though, I'd prefer to trust mechanics that I actually understand, Near as I can tell, StratOps rules cause techs to start destroying Units if left with too many maintenance cycles

>>54570843
>No huhu. And isn't that how Freezers were supposed to work, those 'interim' DHS before they got everywhere?

Randall and Loren have posted publicly a few times that if they could change something about the game, they would make the HS integral to the engine SHS only. That's what anon is refering to.

>>54551175
Ammo in the head is also ok if your mech has a torso-mounted cockpit.

>>54571473
that is dumb.
the game was a terrible slog before DHS.
i'm glad they didn't do that.

what they really need to do is reduce the weight of ballistics

>>54571473
Gotta agree with other anon.
I *like* heat management, but not to that degree.
I'd much rather bring ballistics up to the level of energy weapons.
Maybe bring MRMs up to that level while we're at it too.

>>54571814
>bring MRMs up to that level
Woah let's not go too crazy here.

>>54571998
I'd just loosen up the range bands (just a bit, 4/9/15 would be okay), and then implement something that would make them actually worthwhile to use with rookies.
Maybe a -1 TH, but with severe cluster hits penalties at the longer ranges. -2 at medium and -4 at long seems reasonable. Or even -1/-3/-5. They ARE supposed to be the dumbest dumbfire missile.

>>54572177
I'd just give MRMs -1 to hit and clusters, straight out.

>>54571814
>I'd much rather bring ballistics up to the level of energy weapons.
How would you do that? I think I would give LB-X autocannons the ability to fire speciality ammo, Ultras a 1/2/3 range boost, and rotaries a +2 on the cluster table

>>54572411
Cut their weight down.
Literally just that.
Oh, and shave a crit off the LB-20X

>>54572411
I think that primarily, ACs need to be smaller (fewer crits) and lighter. Maybe not the 20-class ones. GRs are probably fine as is, given how strong they are. Maybe remove the minimum ranges on 2- and 5-class ACs. Also, realistically the AC weapons' ranges should be proportional to their damage, but what the hell, it's not like BT is at all realistic anyway.

>>54572520
>Also, realistically the AC weapons' ranges should be proportional to their damage,

That's been covered at length and in extreme detail by nea. The short version is that if you don't give light ACs a niche by giving them a range advantage, nobody uses them. Look at the Renegade Legion Centurion game for an example; their ACs behave as you described and nobody used the lighter ones in practice when they got every advantage by mounting a heavier one.

MRMs would be fine if their BV was dropped. An MRM10 is just about the worth of an srm-4, not srm-6. Similarily MRM40 is not worth an LRM20's cost. And sillier yet is the expense laid on them in cbills. How is anyone going to use a bottle rocket array that costs as much as an erppc?

>>54572411
Chop the twos and fives down to 2/4 tons and 1/2 crits respectively, no minimum ranges, and drop all the 10s and 29s down by one ton and 1/2 crit(s)

>>54572685

BV is one of the least of their problems.

You should just be able to select a to-hit modifier of between 0 and -3 and also apply that modifier on the missile hits roll. So if you want an easy shot at -3 to-hit, you're likely to hit... but not with much, since the MRMs will be in saturation fire pattern and covering a larger volume.

>>54572902
I've always felt that they should just remove the +1 to hit. It's not like ACs have guidance systems but they don't have any modifier. Keep the cluster modifier but leave the to hit and they'll be much better. If you want to get real crazy, remove the cluster modifier when firing at medium ranges. Because its MEDIUM range missile.

I wish you guys would apply this much thought to making battle armor more dangerous.
Has anybody played with quadvees in mm yet? Hows the play feel with them?

>>54573486

The fluff for them says they're good for green MechWarriors because they are spray-and-pray missiles that cover a large target area.

Then the rules make it so you need to be an Elite or Veteran warrior with C3 to get any fucking use whatsoever out of them.

They don't have a Cluster modifier either unless you're using Apollo.

>>54573583

BA is already plenty dangerous. Probably what you noticed is that Clan BA basically stalls out with the Elemental while the IS is swimming in good shit like the Grenadier and Hauberk and it took the APGR to give them a weapon with an edge again and it's only variant designs and DA stuff that really explores what the tech base can do

Quadvees are shit if you look at them as 'Mechs. They look a lot better if you consider them to be vehicles with a gimmick and remember they deploy in Points of two like other tanks rather than as singletons like 'Mechs. With those caveats they aren't too bad. I think the conversion gear masses are a bit punishing, but not to a huge extent under that paradigm.

>>54573583
I've probably said this enough for people here to get sick of me, but I love quadvees. My group has a bunch of clanner's who usually play with Zell and sometimes bidding. I like to play quadvees to take advantage of the fact I get 10 per star. Then I can transform them and my opponents are faced with the choice of breaking Zell and having me stomp them or trying to take out 10 mechs when they only brought five.

>>54573816

Sheeeeee id take that fight, sounds deliciously fun. Hows zell work with them, do you fight them by point? Thats awesome!! Totally want some in my Nova!!

>>54573583
Battle armor is honestly fine. Hell, not being insta-murdered by infernos anymore is a pretty big boost compared to how it was

>>54573920
Hells Horses treats every vee like a mech, but every other clan doesn't count vees for Zell. Each quadvee counts as its own mech in Zell though, but usually only when in quad mech mode. Or at least that's how my group does it.

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Do you guys ever use homogeneous lances?

I love playing Terran Hegemony/SLDF games so I've gotten used to using lances or entire companies that are just one mech.

In the "modern eras" (say from the Clan Invasion to the current Dark Age) is that common with any of the major factions?

And, for someone who got into the game playing mostly TH/SLDF vs Successor State/Peripherat matches, what faction might you recommend? I was considering ComStar or its fanatical offshoot, or maybe the Republic of the Sphere.

>>54574198
>In the "modern eras" (say from the Clan Invasion to the current Dark Age) is that common with any of the major factions?
Not really no. None of the factions have enough mechs to say that a company or battalion is homogenous. They're oddities more than anything, like Barber's Marauders. You might see a lance though.

>>54574198
>In the "modern eras" (say from the Clan Invasion to the current Dark Age) is that common with any of the major factions?
Not even remotely. All twelve mechs in a company being completely different models is more common than even three of a kind

>>54573681
Hauberk is pretty nasty. for the clans I agree that things plateau with the elemental until goodies like the Thunderbird or Ironhold arrive.

>>54574198
Kurita is known for putting together companies of Panthers (with a few officers piloting heavier units), or whole battalions of Dragons.

ComStar is the absolute least likely to field homogeneous units.

>>54574198
I'd say your best bet might be a crappie lance full of vindies but even that's stretching it.

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>>54574258
>>54574269
>>54574498
>>54574502
Fluff or "feel"-wise (maybe the word is aesthetic?) what faction(s) might you recommend?

I was just going to go with ComStar/RotS since I'm interested in a Terran-centric force.

How many of you choose a faction based on its available mechs, how many on its fluff, and how many on kinda 50/50?

>>54574198
You could probably use lances of omni-Centurions, Vandals or Avalanches in the Dark Ages. Vandals in particular seem to be pushed for lance use.

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Can anyone tell me if these MekHQ units are time cannon? Supposed to be set in Civil War era, either as operation Bulldog or as an addendum to it.


https://mega.nz/#!YAsylA7a!d9S_gPqGFWNMVBSgKV0UqUb48Dsw2Eagxe9gdFV_tTg

>>54574198
honestly in the post-SL era 'Gimmicky Merc Unit' is gonna be your best bet for all-of-a-kind lances

>>54574993

I had to learn to love some of the mechs in my faction. Wasn't a big fan of the executioner for almost 10 years, Now i can't get enough of em.

I really wish the designers wouldn't insist on assigning mechs randomly. Its so fucking asinine, it kind of ruins my immersion. Lances should be composed of mechs of similar ranges and speeds, rolling on a RAT makes me feel like a rat.

Thats just not how things work! You either get ASSIGNED a motor pool or you schedule requisitions and trade for what you want.

>>54574993
I go for era-relevant factions chosen by fluff antipathy mostly, due to mekwars legends experience. It truly was the best playground.

I always feel dirty for crossing the streams, choosing good mechs from all over. And if I really feel irritated by someone else's minmaxing, I play clan wolf.

>>54575831
RAT is fine when you're rolling 12-36 times for a unit, and THEN grouping those into lances. it does shit the bed for single lances, though, sure

>>54575831
having randomly distributed mechs might make sense if you were in the middle of an engagement, or for training purposes, but units are supposed to maintain unit coherency.

It drives me nuts that shit is a total grabbag. You might not end up with what you want and have to take whats available, but you should at least get to pick and choose from a list.

>>54575860
thats terrible!
You'd waste all that time trying to sort them according to their weights, speeds and loadouts that by the time you got around to playing the game it'd already be over.

Rolling on RATs makes sense if your falling back or regrouping, or if you are being reinforced, but you should have some say in what you start with.

>>54575765
Nice virus hax bro.

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Okay gaiz, lets do a Strat Op's Campaign Together. To start off with, we will stick to the company level. First things first, which faction are we?

>>54575889
>You'd waste all that time trying to sort them according to their weights, speeds and loadouts that by the time you got around to playing the game it'd already be over.
oh, lord no I don't use that for pick-up games, I'm saying that they're fine for creating a unit at the start of a campaign, like a FMMR merc unit or the like
for pick-up games I've never been in one that isn't BV-balanced, and if I'm running a campaign I just assign OpFor based on whatever I feel like throwing at the players

>>54575831
What's wrong with how they assign things?

Are you implying there's something wrong with this Level II?

>KTO-19 Kintaro
>BJ-2 Blackjack
>GRF-3M Griffin
>SCP-1O Scorpion
>TBT-7M Trebuchet
>SHD-5M Shadow Hawk

>>54575918
shouldn't we choose era first?
and I'm going to crash this campaign with no survivors and say Outworlds Alliance for faction

>>54575911
yeah, cause thats a good use of my time. Writing security penetration into a class file from a program I don't have the source code to, then using it to ransomware some broke ass teenagers toaster on a program almost nobody uses.

>>54575862
>units are supposed to maintain unit coherency.

Not after 300 years of near-constant warfare they aren't. Compare and contrast German orders of battle and rate of thier uniformity prior to 1939, and in March of 1945. That's only 6 years of war. If it happens in real life, that's an ironclad defense of it happening in the fiction.

>>54575936
Right, okay.

OP's Ops
Era:
Faction:

>>54575930
>Are you implying there's something wrong with this Level II?

Yes there is. It should be made up entirely of 1, or at most 2 different Mech chassis. There's not a single real-world example of TO&Es breaking down like that.

>>54575943
Yes! Exactly! I knew it! That's just how you email criminals' minds work!

>>54575951
arguing with you is like banging my head against a wall, so I'll just concede.

>>54575982
>real-world
There might be your problem.

Within the BT universe, do you see any problem with that Level II?

>>54575988
Haha I win

Hey guys, I'm going to make the new thread in a few. Are there any changes I should make to the OP?

>>54575936

OP's Ops
Era:
Faction: Outworld Alliance

>>54575988

Not him, but you should. Your argument is dumb. It's been a core conceit in Battletech for the entire length of its existence that basically nobody uses homogeneous Mech units. You may as well argue that Mechs shouldn't exist at all.

>>54576030
Era: Second Succession War

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>>54576047

>>54576057
Disprove this point:.

>It's been a core conceit in Battletech for the entire length of its existence that basically nobody uses homogeneous Mech units.

>>54576056
OP's Ops
Era: 2nd Succession War
Faction: Outworld Alliance
Year:

whats the year?

>>54576076
It's not disprovable because it's correct. Anon is just being an autist.

The only faction who used uniform units with anything even approaching regularly was the Star League. Nobody else on the history of the game has ever done so.

>>54576161
So you are basically copping to having an agenda? That "specialization leads to defeat"?

Because if you are, then that's absurd.

new thread
>>54576206

let's leave the argument behind, please

>>54576161
Didn't ComStar uniformly use SL mechs? :^)

>>54576214
No promises.

>>54576198
Specialization is what allows us to function as a society. Focusing on and mastering a skill or set of skills is what allows our societies to prosper.

If we are all generalists, none of us will advance far enough in our field of study to be of use to anyone.

>>54576214
>let's leave the argument behind, please

That's outrageous!

>>54572411
>>54572478

I say give the LBX cannons the ability to fire equal-rated thunderbolt missiles, like how the Sheridan and a bunch of Soviet tanks could launch ATGMs out of their guns.

>>54574258
Oddly, it was in the pre-modern era where you could find homongenous companies of Panthers and Valkyries, or battalions of Stingers.

After the war of 3039, and the lostech of the helm core spreading everyone got back into the 'mech making business and manufacturing bunches of different designs, instead of just the few dozen no one wanted to risk screwing with.

>>54575982
>real world

We're not recovering from a technological decline after a near apocalyptic interstellar war either, so it's not a valid comparison is it?

If you look at WWII though, when the Soviets were dependent on lend lease, or later when the Germans were getting beaten back, you see units made up of whatever units they had. Captured, out of date, or frankenstein modifications.