/btg/ is dead, long live /btg/!
THE CENSORSHIP IS REAL
Old Thread: >>46389915
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Combat Manuals: Mercenaries (final build)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/62qpwm49e3pjdgn/E-CAT35260_Combat_Manual_Mercenaries.pdf
Touring the Stars Compilation
http://www.mediafire.com/download/p7u9jvxir86862t/Touring_the_Stars_Compilation_%28ver._0.1%29.pdf
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>/btg/ does a TRO:
http://builtforwar.blog(not spam)spot.com/
>How do I do this Against the Bot thing?
http://pastebin.com/pE2f7TR5
>Overview of the major factions?
http://bg.battletech.com/universe/great-houses/
http://bg.battletech.com/universe/the-clans/
http://bg.battletech.com/universe/other-powers/
>How do I find out what BattleMechs a faction has?
http://masterunitlist.info/
>Map of /btg/ players (WIP):
https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=1116217&add=1
>BattleTech Introductory Info and PDFs
http://bg.battletech.com/?page_id=400
>Rookie guides
http://pastebin.com/HZvGKuGx
>Sarna.net - BattleTech Wiki
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page
>Megamek - computer version of BattleTech. Play with AI or other players
http://megamek.info/
Unit Designing Softwares
>SSW Mech Designer
http://www.solarisskunkwerks.com/
>MegaMek Lab
http://megameklab.sourceforge.net/
>BattleTech IRC
#battletech on irc.rizon.net
>PDF Folders
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/9q792hobnbpw3/Battletech
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/sdckg6j645z4j/Battletech
Steiner stronk
Reposting for those that missed the end of the previous thread.
>>46440636
let me check
right now we have
>5 mechs
>3 BAs
>1 tank
>1 VTOL
that's it? Am I missing something?
>>46440708
And one mystery quad they spoiled a sketch of. Anyone save that?
Is it just Heavy Mechs or Heavy Units (tanks, mechs, aircraft) period that are the backbone of the Lyran military?
>>46440882
6 Mechs (Thane, Kitefin, Juzumaru, Brass Bull, Knight, and one more not revealed previously, but attached), 3 BA (Geist, Veles, and Castellan), Hulagu Tank, and the Dragonfly.
>>46440882
yeah, that one with some kind of artillery
I didn't save that one, but I'll try to find it in the archives
Between Tanks and Battle Armor, which are easier to construct and field enmass?
>>46441162
Heavy with Sniper and turreted ERMLs?
>>46441292
I think that's some sort of artillery cannon.
You can get an 80-tonner with turreted ERML and an LTAC pretty easy.
>>46441179
Tanks. The Marians could even build tanks back in the days when they had to import their AC/10s.
>>46441179
tanks by quite a bit. BA is not significantly easier to produce than mechs, you can just build them faster
>>46441292
>>46441459
>reinforced structure
Oh my. Which faction produces it?
>>46441459
Holy shit, that is mean.
>>46441459
I can't believe you've done this
>>46441776
I didn't make this. It's all Muninn.
posting bad ideas
>>46442331
I'd play it. Actually, I lie. I'd *run* it, then bitch that I can't play it.
>>46441459
>>46441162
From the name, STEINER2STRONK
>>46442331
I'd personally rather mix it with Traveller or maybe Halo, because ME is a fuckshow of a setting
For a request in the IRC.
>>46442813
DRAC STRONK
>>46442478
I like both series and I fit, in my headcanon, many voids in BT setting with ME info.
HOWEVER, a crossover like the one implied is a terrible idea. ME with mechs can work great. BT with space magic could also work. A full mix of both franchises will give you only headaches
>>46442997
You're ignoring the inherent hilarity of Cerberus making an *actual* Atlas for Shepard to fight, only to have it Lifted and smashing a frigate.
Well the 1st Andurien Rangers have ridden again. We managed to squeeze in a couple short scenarios and one big mission this weekend. For the first scenario we did a two-on-two mech battle while we waited for our OpFor player to arrive, and ran it like a training exercise for the lance due to their new mechs. Dirty Harry was sporting a Wraith and Dingo a Phoenix Hawk (of the Masters variant with SRM-4s), fluff-wise as gifts from the 5th Free Worlds Legionnaires on planet. So it was me (as Moretti) and Dingo vs Zippo and Dirty Harry. It pretty quickly got brutal, especially with the Wraith bouncing around all over. My Trenchbucket and the Hermes II each got knocked out before our OpFor player arrived and we started the next scenario. Dirty Harry really got a taste for the Wraith and its LPL, which he used to cause an ammo explosion on me.
Our next scenario back on the campaign track was another learning experience of sorts. The POWs taken in the last two engagements had mostly been mercenaries or criminals, leavened with a handful of secessionists organizing the show. Interrogation by SAFE had determined foreign agitators in the mix, operating from a hidden base in an abandoned village outside French Bluff. The lance approached it warily, with intelligence indicating fixed defenses. From the buildings we were greeted with SRM and laser fire from gun emplacements, and swarms of infantry manning field guns. There was little in the way of mobile defenses but so many infantry and swarm attacks became a real threat. Zippo's flamer came in handy, as did Dirty Harry's speed to throw the guns off-balance. Support arrived in the form of infantry from the 5th Legionnaires Beta Regiment, namely a few groups of Branth Irregulars. With the emplaced guns suppressed the Branth riders were able to make passes at the defending infantry and wreck them.
>>46443231
The remaining defenders surrendered once their emplacements and field guns were knocked out and the players proceeded to scan buildings for contraband (I wrote down on the underside of each building what was inside). Inside the largest, a mostly intact agrodome, they found a Union class dropship whose crew gave themselves up. When asked about the defenders, one member of the crew revealed they had gotten a distress call out and the defenders were on their way back from an aborted attack on a PPC warehouse..
So this moved us into our main mission: destroy or disable the gunrunner main force.
Back up showed up: of a lance of Galleon tanks and a platoon of IS Standard battle armor. Bravo lance moved out with its support to intercept the gunrunners as they returned, leaving the Branth Irregulars and SAFE to watch over the dropship.
Given the nature of Lopez the gunrunners couldn't easily go to ground, they had to get their dropship to have a chance to escape. So this would be a winner-takes-all battle. A company of Savannah Masters came at the lance, running recon and probing for weaknesses. Dirty Harry and Dingo lit up a couple with their large lasers, and Moretti tagged another couple with LRMs before they faded back to help the next wave. A lance of Pegasus hover tanks backed up by four platoons of infantry, a Stinger and an UrbanMech. The Pegasi split into two flanking forces with Savannah Masters backing each one, while the Mechs and infantry approached to trade fire at a distance. Our Galleon lance and a couple squads of BA focused on one group of flankers, while Zippo and Dirty Harry handled the other flank with some BA backup. Moretti and Dingo traded fire with the center force, and quickly Dingo had his day made when he headcapped the Stinger with his first shot. It was a cool moment, especially for someone newer to the game.
>>46443027
>the Illusive Man is Hogarth
Fund it
>>46443251
One of the Galleons scored a hit on a Pegasus, and then some of the BA finished it off. But the Pegasi were playing for keeps too and hit Dirty Harry in the head so he had to roll to see if he was still conscious, which he was. Zippo then busted a Pegasus open after some lucky hits immobilized it. My LRMs shredded another Pegasus and Dingo finished it off. But that's when things could have gotten ugly as the third wave arrived: an Anubis, Cossack, Raven and Duan Gung. The Anubis made its presence known by blowing up one of our Galleons. Dingo responded by unleashing every weapon his Phoenix Hawk had on the nearby Cossack, getting some crits and taking it down. I turned my LRMs on the Urbie before it could bring its AC into play, and Dirty Harry finished it off with a LPL-induced ammo explosion that forced the pilot to eject. The Raven killed another of our Galleons, and two squads of our BA jumped in to attack it. I hosed it with my LRMs before they swarmed it, taking it down piece by piece. While this was going on we had the rest of our BA distract the enemy foot infantry. We all traded shots some more before Dirty Harry's Wraith got a crit with that LPL and lit the Duan Gung up like Chinese New Year. More anticlimatically, one of our remaining Galleons got a lucky hit on the Anbuis and forced the pilot to eject.
(last game post, sorry if they're too long)
With the enemy mechs dispatched we mopped up the remaining vees and infantry, losing a squad of BA in the process. Rather than stay on the field for salvage the players were more eager to return to the agrodome and claim the enemy dropship, so that's what the lance did. For the AAR, the rest of the company showed up to make sure no enemy forces escaped, and soon SAFE was on the ground to take charge of prisoners and debrief them. Instead of Mask the dropper crew were all Canopians, further muddling the situation. What the SAFE operative was able to tell us is that it's clear the scale of gun running into and out of Andurien is more than just Liao, it's likely a full Trinity Alliance op. With the gunrunner operation on Lopez crushed, Gamma Battalion was being rotated back to Camp Nogales on Andurien to refit and resupply before further missions. Due to the success and the play Duke Humphreys was giving unit in the media, more funds had been allocated for mech acquisition and this meant some upgrades to be had. If the Canopians were really involved then a reprisal was in order, and with a dropship now in the regiment inventory options were expanded.
So begins planning for the next few missions. I'm thinking of switching up to an omni Blackjack, Dirty Harry and Dingo like their rides, and Zippo is considering his options since everyone else is sporting upgraded tech now.
Any suggestions for future missions? I was considering either a string of longer scenarios based around a reprisal raid in the Magistracy, or maybe some defensive mission on Andurien.
Which of the 5 Houses is the most feudal before 3049? Which the least?
>>46443636
Prior to 3049, the CapCon was pretty futile.
>>46443309
I'm liking the idea of reprisal raids on the magistracy. Maybe have some of the raids directed towards trying to weaken the cohesion of the Trinity Alliance in small ways?
>>46443669
ayyyy
>>46443636
Probably the Dracs or Feddies. The Lyrans have the Estates General, the FWL has Parliament, the Cappies have general weirdness in their power structure.
>>46443892
I was thinking that would be most feasible for them since even with the CapCon's help over the last decade (as of the year in game) most of the MAF should still be introtech at best and not too combat experienced besides pirate hunting.
What kind of targets would work for that? Worlds with armament factories? Border worlds near the CapCon and NCR?
>>46444106
The best thing would be to try and find a way to sour the taurians on the whole deal, any way they can think of, Since they're very important to the other two member's plans and are benefiting the least from it. Maybe the mechs involved in the gunrunning were supposed to be going to the TDF and there'd be all kinds of hell to pay if the players can get the evidence to the TC or something
Hitting Magistracy units in the CapCon would be good, try and spin it as purely the CapCon's fault for getting them involved. The best place to hit, industry-wise is Detroit, though it's pretty well defended, though not insurmountably so. That would have the bonus effect of pissing off the taurians, especially if you also make it an effort to point out that the CC and MoC are getting their (the TC's) factories blown up over something that is 100% unrelated to them.
(Once upon a time, I played in a SAFE MW3e campaign centered around efforts to prevent the Trinity Alliance from even happening, so I've worked on this before. Sorry if these schemes are 2spooky for a basic fightin campaign)
>>46443922
OTOH the Lyrans have like 50 layers of Nobles who wander around doing shit and social generals.
More like, FWL >>> Feds > Lyrans >>> Dracs/Caps
>>46444106
>most of the MAF should still be introtech at best and not too combat experienced besides pirate hunting.
That should be true all the way into the Dark Age as well. Really, they should be happy they even have Mechs at all.
>>46444554
Gas the trannies space war now
>>46444517
He's asking about the most feudal, dude. Fedsuns are extremely feudal in organization, Caps are pretty much a straight-up dictatorship.
>>46444554
>>46444639
I realize the whore you hired last night just devastated your ass with that strapon, but that doesn't mean you need to post about how much your butt hurts every time the MoC comes up.
>>46444517
having lots of nobles isn't that feudal, though. it's the hierarchy. Lyrans seem more post-feudal, like 1700s-ish.
>>46444663
I thought the Caps had a whole slew of fairly powerful nobles propping up the Chancellor
>>46444434
These are some good ideas. Now I have the gunrunners (plotwise) as being a Mask/MIM scheme to arm Andurien secessionists and keep that part of the League unstable in the event of a war with the Trinity Alliance.
But fucking shit up to make the Taurians mad could be a good angle. What year did the Canopians outright annex Detroit? They have a couple regiments there iirc (don't have my sourcebooks handy at the moment).
>>46444554
Let's not go down that road man. I was talking for the era.
>>46444774
But they had no civil war or noticeable discontent when they went into PURGES EVERYWHERE mode. You'd think that such a situation would lead to a fast replacement of the Chancellor if the nobles were propping up the throne.
>>46444867
This isn't the FWL, LC or FS. The CCAF is pretty much under total government control, and the most disloyal elements already fled with Ridzik or Candace. The folks left under Romano were the ones too loyal or scared to do anything but follow orders.
Luckily Candace was content to let billions suffer so she could get the robo-dick from Justin.
>>46444941
I thought Candance supported efforts to overthrow Romano?
>>46444941
Yeah, which is why we're saying it's not a feudal state. It's a dictatorship.
>>46444865
>What year did the Canopians outright annex Detroit?
62-63? IIRC they only had one regiment there, the Canopian Highlanders, with not a ton of conventional support assets.
Actually, now that I think about it, hitting Detroit might be a really good plan (presumably late in the campaign) as the MAF is really not going to do well on the defensive; their large numbers if fast lights, while great for pirate hunting, would really handicap them in an urban-defense CQB situation
>>46445012
Nominally. None of them bore any fruit, unlike say the ComStar guerrillas on Terra (who killed Trent Arian) or Hanse's "FWL civil wars" in the 4SW.
>>46445012
According to Candace she could have come back and overthrown Romano whenever she wanted, but she didn't feel like it until Justin was killed.
>>46445017
Yeah, I was meaning that to back your point up. I just wrote it too Stackpolean.
>>46445136
>ComStar guerrillas on Terra (who killed Trent Arian)
>>46445148
Given that she a traitor and forsook the nation of her birth and make off with part of it, I'm not sure Candance would have gotten that far in any such attempt.
>>46445030
According to Sarna (if it's correct) the Magistracy made it a protectorate in 3066 and annexed it in 3067.
So in 3065 it should still have some TDF troops too. Maybe a good idea to do like you suggest by hitting Detroit, but pull a Jaffray and falseflag raid the TDF painted as Canopians to get them to assault their Trinity allies.
>>46445177
Well, yeah, it was totally the Blakists, but you gotta act like it was CS. It's like how you can't just say SUN-TZU DID SIAN.
>>46445256
>Candace laughed derisively. "The Capellan Confederation could have been mine any time I wanted it. When I left here twenty years ago, Justin and I discussed any of a number of plots that would have given me the throne. We could have claimed a kidnapping from which I was later saved through a miraculous escape. My father would have embraced me again, as would the people. If not that time, then when the troops from the St. Ives Compact moved to fight against the Andurien invaders, or when the St. Ives Compact severed diplomatic relations with the Federated Commonwealth to prevent Hanse Davion from attacking the Capellan Confederation.
>"There were plans within plans, and I always had more than enough aid available from within the Confederation itself. Romano's purges may have gotten one or two of my agents, but they created dozens more. You would not be far wrong if you imagined that I have had more palace people on my payroll than did my sister."
>I relied too much on my mother's view of her sister. That mistake I will not make again. Sun-Tzu leaned back against the door and concentrated on the pain of the knob grinding into his spine. "Why did you wait this long to strike?"
>Candace laced her fingers together and peered over them at him. "It is because I do not want to be Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation. While your mother painted me a whore and traitor for my alliance with Hanse Davion, I found it a way to allow my people to maintain their cultural identity without being absorbed into the Commonwealth. Though I think Hanse was far more responsible a ruler than Romano could ever have been, I had no desire to see my people denatured through union with his empire.
>>46445256
The CC is so used to authoritarian rule that they'd probably accept another murder-usurping without much fuss.
>>46445260
>but pull a Jaffray and falseflag raid the TDF painted as Canopians to get them to assault their Trinity allies
And hope that they don't bother to do any checking of anything. Half the plans suggested here assume that the non-PC factions are utterly retarded and will fall for anything. You niggers need to play something other than D&D, something were the enemy isn't a line of brainless orcs you smash the skulls of.
>>46445325
Point noted, /pol/ack.
>>46445325
False flag attacks under different paintjobs is a proven method of raids in BattleTech history. And to be fair, the TDF is one of the more kneejerk dumbass militaries out there. Cool yourself down and suggest a plan instead of bitching.
>>46445420
I thought their military was fairly competent?
>>46445325
>not falseflagging as Canopians pretending to be Davions
>The Prince stared out through the curtains of his bedroom window at the lights of the New Avalon Institute of Science. Face it, Hanse, you resented his painting you as a man who has torn children from their mothers and husbands from their wives in a mad quest for power. He suggests that you are incapable of sympathizing with the common folk in your realm.... that you are an emotionless dictator. . .
>The Prince turned and stared back at his empty bed. Would he understand that I, too, have felt the separation and loss caused by the war. Would he believe that my one choice was to fight Liao in his own realm or to fight him in mine?
>Hanse was smiling as he sprinted across the open bay toward the rope ladder hanging down from the 'Mech's cockpit to the floor. It's been a long time . . . far too long. He eagerly scrambled up the BattleMaster's broad chest. They've brought the war to me because they've forgotten. They've forgotten that before I became Prince of the Federated Suns, a command couch was my throne, a neurohelmet was my crown, and the battlefield my domain. After tonight, no one will ever forget that again.
>The BattleMaster's canopy shattered as an SRM burst against it. Hanse felt the stinging fire of shrapnel as pieces of the polarized glass sliced into his left arm. A trickle of blood slicked the command couch's left arm. Hanse narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the left joystick control. There it is, Mr. Green. I bleed for the Federated Suns. Is it not my right to demand the same from my people?
Who is the best Battletech fiction writer and why is it Michael Stackpole?
>>46445507
Shoot, you hit on a good point. They'd probably assume we were Davions pretending to be Canopians and invade the Pleiades early. Damn.
>>46445531
Either the Trinity Alliance has to fight the FS (FWL benefits) or the TA breaks apart (FWL benefits).
>>46445582
Or it's dismissed as one of the many minor border raids that happens. You'd have to have some really good intel that points to a really juicy target, and then you'd have to hit that HARD, to make them think it's anything other than yet another minor border raid.
>>46445582
True. But salty sue is correct in that we'd have to be hoping for a number of just-right reactions to the raid. Probably better to just smash some Canopian targets and remind them the Magistracy isn't untouchable. I'll have to check out the Objective series and consider the best targets, though Detroit will definitely be on (gotta get them sweet Marshals, Anubis' and Troikas as battle plunder).
>>46445666
So shall it be, Satan.
>>46445508
This is always held up as an example of terrible writing, but it doesn't seem too bad. Do you people never think about hypothetical conversations in your own heads? Sounds exactly like what many people experience; L'esprit de l'escalier, for example.
>>46444106
here's another idea: why not do some gunrunning of your own?
rollis is a former taurian world in capcon hands, with a history of rebellions against the Cappies.
Run some mechs to the rebels there, and they could be easily provoked into an uprising, which would bring with it demands to rejoin the Concordat. now, this would put the pretty much everyone's balls in a vice; the cappies will never give up a world, even to their "allies", the taurians are obsessed with "GIB ANCESTRAL CLAY" as is well attested, so they can't afford NOT to back such a rebellion, and if Grover Sharplan won't back the boys on Rollis, they'd be like to toss him out and replace him with someone who would, likely the Calderon Protectorate faction, so he'd kind of HAVE to go along. also, at this time (you said 3065), Hansen's Roughriders and the Fighting Urkhai are both at loose ends in the area and could most probably be hired to back up the rebels, which would make their position much, much more solid and therefor increase the likelyhood that the CC couldn't counterattack and pound the whole mess flat before the taurians get involved proper (seriously, hiring mercs is THE BEST way to make a small amount of cash turn into a huge amount of firepower, especially for this kind of thing).
even if it fails, it'll still cause a huge internal clusterfuck in the concordat, what with accusations of "selling out taurians for the sake of an inner sphere power" and all sorts of outer bad business
>>46445985
Not sure a military organization (especially one that seems to be about a lance to company in size) has the skills and equipment to start and run a gunrunning op and trigger an insurrection. That's more SAFE's job, and if one side can do counter-ops for this sort of thing the enemy certainly can.
Better would be to get SAFE to find a politically important target that would be easy to hit, then smash it hard and fast. Hit soft targets like that repeatedly, and make sure you're identified as pirates or Marians. Anyone false-flagging as one of their allies is going to be under much more scrutiny from them, but doing it from a different enemy of theirs will likely make them not look as hard and divert their attention away from your region. If the MoC is getting raided hard by a band of well-equipped "marian raiders", they'll probably start making demands from the CC to help them. And any forces allocated to that end of the TA are forces not in place to hit Andurien.
And at the very least, you've bloodied their nose in reprisal for their gunrunning.
>>46446258
>That's more SAFE's job,
fair point, though the op that the players stumbled into seems like the sort of thing that SAFE would be very interested in, and maybe could do SAFE-style reprisals while the PCs launch raids on their own
>>46445985
That would be a really excellent plan.... For SAFE.
If the guy wants to get his players mixed up in the soopy world of intelligence work, it sounds like a good adventure, but otherwise it's a bit out of their element
>>46445985
A nice suggestion but as the other anons pointed out, it's slightly out of our reach and mission. As >>46446258 remarks, while the 1st is intended to reach regimental strength, all its battalions are currently under-strength and building.
Objective raids are more the order of the day, I'm guessing. Saving the large-scale ops until the regiment is up to strength.
Plus mostly the guys mostly want to light up enemy mechs, kick vehicles and squash infantry.
Fluff-wise I'll probably have each battalion do its own raid spree across worlds for maximum area and speed.
I might introduce a SAFE liaison with a sweet ride though.
>>46440636
>>46440708
>>46441162
>>46442813
Who is doing the art for these! They're beautiful!
>>46446491
I'd agree with >>46445030 and >>46445260
and have hitting detroit as the capstone of the raid campaign, when they hit regimental strength.
as for the taurians on detroit, depending on if you've already pulled off things to strain the relationship, you could pull something interesting there, like telling them
>"oh, we're just here to blow up cappie/canopian factories, if those were YOUR factories, we'd leave them alone, hint hint"
which have some interesting results.
>>46445985 has a good suggestion with the mercs, though. they could be hired to back you up on the raids for relatively little money, and that's four tough regiments plus supporting unit, which could make a nice big difference for the defenses of Andurien if it comes to a big fight.
also, if you got them out of the Suns, their role in the taurain clusterfuck of '66 wouldn't happen, which would mean that the TDF would be free to start feuding with the cappies rather than being busy with the FedSuns, which is all to the good, especially since it would mean that the Haseks would be free to go 100% against the CapCon rather than deal with the taurians, which is a big return on CAPCON GET FUCKED for a relatively small investment
>>46446721
Plog, who's done a bunch of art for canon products, especially for the TRO Updates series
>>46445475
They had the rape train run on them by a severely weakened FedSuns and suffered a lot of damage just at the hands of the Roughriders.
"Competant" for the Periphery doesn't mean they can stand up to much past pirates. They sucked on the offensive and got reamed on the defensive despite centuries of trash talk about how they were totally unconquerable with the best space-borne defense force in the game.
This being said as others have noted the best false-flag option with Detroit or the TC in general is to pretend to be the Suns. The TDF will do the rest for you.
>>46445475
they were written as competent from the get-go up until ~2000, but that went out the window when the plot needed them to be total psychotic retards for other, more important factions to benefit
>>46446721
Plog did >>46440636 and >>4644116
Shimmering Sword did >>46440708 and>>46442813
>>46441162
Is that an honest-to-god Cowl?
As in it has the fucking quirk?
>>46446811
>The TDF will do the rest for you.
this has me giggling
>>46446895
Don't think so. Old fluff gave it Difficult Ejection.
>>46446811
>best space-defense
[LAUGHING BLAKISTS]
>>46446811
>This being said as others have noted the best false-flag option with Detroit or the TC in general is to pretend to be the Suns. The TDF will do the rest for you.
nah. pretend to be capellans pretending to be the suns, but pretend to be the suns REALLY BADLY so that even the taurians will notice and get even MORE pissed because they think the capellans are trying to play them for suckers. they'll loose their fucking minds, it'll be great
>>46446855
Bitch please.
They were a *PERIPHERY* power.
If the fucking Dracs who are supposed to be taken seriously as antagonists sit around herping every possible derp why the hell would you expect a weaker, less demonstrably decent nation to do any better?
Especially when the sole source for Taurian awesomeness is IC material from the Taurians themselves, and their combat experience from the fall of the Star League until the Pleiades Campaign consisted mostly of bandit-hunting?
>>46446975
don't miss the opportunity to give it Cowl too. maybe even justifying why it is difficult to eject because of the cowl
>>46446999
The TDF might just think its the Suns pretending to be the CCAF pretending to badly be the Suns so the bulls will think they're CCAF and not Suns.
>>46447005
I wasn't saying that they were awesome, I was just saying that they weren't TOTAL RETARDS until the plot demanded that they do so
go to the OF if you want to argue with medron pryde so badly, because nobody here is arguing for that shit
>>46441162
This wonderful beast's head confuses me. Is it weirdly concaved? Two cockpits stapled together angled at each other?
>>46447080
It's a bear without a snout, anon.
>>46447080
It looks like three panels in a concave shape, yes. That is a weird design.
>>46446998
No, not even kidding. The Taurians always bigged up their Asteroid Defence Force or whatever they were called and said they were like, totally the best special forces marines in known space and their dad would beat up your dad in a fight too.
Meanwhile the Dracs and Suns had platoons that stormed and captured Clan WarShips.
The fluff was pretty obviously written with a massive bias IC towards the TDF's abilities, I have no idea why this is somehue huesacred cow for the Taurians. Everyone's IC stuff like that, especially the Field Manual series, talks up their military and makes them sound badass.
Then the next novel arc rolls around and surprise surprise, the only factions who are even close to living up to their fluff are the Suns, Bears, and Capellans.
That's just the way BT is.
>>46447039
only hanse could have come up with something like that, and he's long dead
>>46446811
>>46447005
>>46447123
who exactly is arguing for what you're arguing against in this thread?
fuck off with the strawmen and go back to the OF, pal
>>46447123
Loki is badass too.
It would have been nice to see the League's Eagle Corps or Dark Shadows in action ever.
>>46447080
I believe it is something like this (top and front view)
the dark gray area is the cockpit
>>46447169
They go into action in JTP: Atreus, dying to a Shadow Division IIRC. And they get the Mercury Elite Emperor, which is fucking amazing.
>>46447265
>Mercury Elite Emperor
I am insanely disappointed that it never got a production model, it was a fucking BEAST of a mech and I want to be able to use it on the table without looking like a dick
>>46447080
Kinda reminds me a bit of Dog from HL2
>>46447326
Just use it. I do when I can.
>>46447115
I can totally see that from the left side, its just the stuff I circled doesn't make any sense to me.
>>46447171
This helps me greatly. I have difficulty trying to grok asymmetric heads.
>>46447401
yeah, I know. I just don't like using unique mechs in random games, especially since I play mercs.
since some of the guys I know play with customs, I sometimes just call it a Custom Emperor rather than the specific Mercury Elite model
>>46447163
>strawman
>after you literally claimed their characterisation was reversed and they went from being supposed to be competent
Yeah, nah.
>>46447169
LOKI pretty much suffers from being an adjunct to the Suns (like the rest of the Lyrans) and then being designated bad guys in the FCCW.
The only major thing I can think of that they did in recent history was the 4th SW op where they broke Theodore Kurita's JumpShip(s).
But like 90% of the problem is the myopic focus the game's metaplot has had on the FedSuns and Capellans, so anyone else's successes are either eclipsed or ignored.
>>46447480
but that's what happened. the first two periphery books described them as competent, and NOT from a taurian perspective, as you claim. later, they were made into discount wobbies for the DA's background and into easily manipulated pro-cappie goons for XIN SHENG XIN SHENG, but none of that existed before 2000, which is what I said.
nobody even mentioned mech production this time, which is what usually triggers you , so why are you whinging?
Let's quit it with this neverending argument and do something else:
How about a Design Challenge?
Design the most HURRDURR DARK AGE mech that you can come up with
>>46446767
>>46446866
How often do Plog and Shimmering Sword do art for /tg/brewed TROs?
>>46447760
So far? 100% of the time.
>>46447760
If you've got coin they'll take commissions.
>>46447760
AFAIK we're the only /tg/-brewed TRO
>>46447729
>tripod with an XXL and nothing but RELs and TSEMPs
>4K BV
>>46447729
done
>>46447896
8/10, pretty damn DA. Adding an XXL and ELRMs would make it perfect, but pretty good
>>46448037
can't put an XXL on an industrial, unfortunately
How common are HQ lances at the Battalion level?
>>46447130
That's just what he WANTS us to think. NUKE 'EM ALL.
>>46448334
uncommon before the mid-fifties or so, by the jihad, everybody but the MoC, OA and some mercs are using battalion command lances
>>46448393
>implying hanse couldn't get the taurians to support him if he wanted to
>>46448334
Depends on the state, but not very as a whole.
At least if you mean an independent, extra lance at that level.
>>46447729
If anyone needs help, here's a table of inspiration.
>>46448439
Yeah, I mean an independent extra lance.
Rolled 2, 5, 6, 6, 2, 2 = 23 (6d6)
>>46448440
rollan
>>46448539
Unlikely. You might see an extra two mechs added to the Battalion Command Lance, one as a bodyguard, the other something like a Cyclops or another C3 (the combat role, not the piece of equipment) unit.
>>46448425
>uncommon before the mid-fifties or so, by the jihad, everybody but the MoC, OA and some mercs are using battalion command lances
[citation needed]
We have the FM series saying otherwise, where are you getting this from?
>>46447729
The Durr is one of the most advanced mechs currently in production. Utilizing an advanced XXL engine, supercharger, torso cockpit and TSEMP as well as new-production armor, the Durr is fast and capable of disabling mechs three times its size with ease. In order to keep costs low, the XXL engine was kept on the light side and a composite structure was used instead of an endosteel one, but a MASC system compensates for the slower engine and enables the mech to match the fastest mechs of the sucession wars. Finally the mech mounts a wrecking ball, so that its enemies will mistake it for a meager industialmech until it strikes.
>>46448425
Do you see any female Taurians? No? Then he can't. There's gotta be some red meat involved to get Hanse on board.
>>46447130
>hanse
>dead
What do you think the HANSEatic League is about?
>>46448639
>What do you think the HANSEatic League is about?
Did Sun-Tzu's proposal to Isis Marik really give Old Man Hanse a heart attack?
>>46448589
you're right, it was the mid-60s, not 50s.
I think it's FM:U or possibly the Handbook: ____ series books that talk about it
>>46448678
>YFW Hanse and Janos will never pair up Isis and Victor, leading to the greatest age the sphere has ever known
>>46448639
>Do you see any female Taurians? No?
well, when victor was on his cock rampage, there was still Janice Calderon, so that element is there
>>46448726
No, dude. Nothing changes between the FM series and FM:U for force organisation on that level.
Some houses like the Suns are more likely to have Battalion command lances than others, but the most common deviation from the norm is a Regimental Command Company with no added Battalion Command Lances.
>>46448737
>Free Suns Commonwealth
Eat shit yellow swine
>>46448639
>Do you see any female Taurians? No? Then he can't. There's gotta be some red meat involved to get Hanse on board.
>implying he wouldn't pull off a double-reverse rusemaster and marry kitty off to jeff calderon, thereby preventing the FCCW and tameing the TC
Git Gud, other houses
>>46448737
>YFW we could have had that if WizKids/CGL hadn't literally forgotten about the Marik-Stiener-Davion kids
>>46447729
Why make something new when you can make something BETTER?
I BELIEVE IN DEVLIN STONE
>>46448580
Well here it is. I honestly cant think of ever using HDA. Though this does give me ideas for fun zombie machines.
>>46449684
HDA?
>>46449763
Heat Dissipating Armor
>>46449684
It's like some bizarre Republic refit of some 3070's Blakist machine.
>>46449819
Yea my designs usually look like they would fit right in with either the WoB or Cappies, plus they usually steal the names I want to use too. Which often leads me to using names of scientists for mechs.
Ive posted this before but this is what evil looks like
>>46450187
I don't get it
>>46450187
What's so bad about...
>Chameleon LPS
Ah, now I get it.
>>46450187
I can't believe you've done this
>>46450221
It has the TMM of a light mech when you hit the nitrous oxide button, which means it can get the UAC20 into close range bracket for double tapping goodness and on top of that, its INVISIBLE.
>>46450236
>>46450276
If only I was around during the Jihad, the Blakists would have won.
The Biot isn't something I would bring to a friendly game, maybe as a boss fight for a campaign or something.
Have another bossfight.
aside from the fafnir, what other designs use a HGR?
>>46450187
this is why artillery cannons were invented
>>46450511
Atlases, Hollanders, Crusaders, Barghests...
I dunno, look at big lyran assaults.
>>46450187
I don't get it. Just bring a jumpy pulseboat or two.
>>46450187
Well as long as we're posting stealthmechs.
>>46450603
Is it time?
if we're doing annoying mechs, have my latest entry into the field of XL-to-endo assaults
>>46450646
Are you even trying, sempai?
>>46450646
What other ones are in that line?
>>46450547
It can dictate engagement ranges rather well, even LXPLs will have difficulty as the LPPCs have more range and the chameleon negates the pulse laser benefits at long range. Anything fast enough to close the engagement range with jump jets probably was meant for backstabbing or fending off backstabbers. These mechs are generally packing MPLs as LPLs just eat up too much tonnage for what you would normally encounter.
>>46450603
>>46450634
>>46450662
Brothers! Do not show our spooky hands yet! They will just nuke us from orbit before our terror can begin!
>>46450744
I mean like, just two Uziel 8Ss can savage that thing up something terrible.
Or even just one, really.
>>46450662
I said annoying, not abomination
>>46450922
>step 1: walk Thunder Hawk into heavy woods
>Step 2: get nuked
>>46450689
Emperor (on the right in this image), and the Nightstar, which I will post next
>>46451087
>HMP
>In 2005+11.
>laughingRickRaisleysittinginapileofmoneyrubbingitonhimself.png
>>46450777
TMM for Uziel
JJ =+4, the Biot running is +2
So baseline of +6 to hit the Uzi
TMM for Biot
normal run =+3, SC run = +4, Uzi Jumping is +3
Baseline to hit Biot is +6/+7
Now weapon ranges come into play. Only at >3 hexes does the Uzi have anything in its favor completely where CLPS does not have any effect so you get the nice -2. At 3 hexes is within short range of the UAC20, but at medium range for MPLs so those are an additional +1. At 5 hexes the MPLs are at long range thus negating any advantage where they are now at +4 like normal weapons. Meanwhile this is at mid range for the UAC20.
And all of this is just for the UAC, nevermind with the 3LPPCs where the Biot can just kite the Uzi.
This thing is about as bullshit as the gunsmith and as >>46450534 points out, the best method to deal with TMM out the ass is just bombard hexes.
>>46451110
I kinda learned how to use it back when it was actually decent and haven't been assed to learn anything newer since I got back into battletech. I mean, it's good enough for the 3025-65 stuff that's 90% of what I design, so why bother fixing what ain't broke. BV 2 is an issue, admittedly, but I mostly play scenarios and campaigns, so it's not as much of an issue as it might be otherwise
>>46450689
anyways, here's the nightstar
>>46451149
>Uzi Jumping is +3
+4, those are iJJ.
>>46451157
Dude, grab Soloaris Skunkwerks for mechs and armor works for armor. Much more up to date plus free. Even simpler than HMPro. You'll like it.
I just wish we had the same sort of thing for aerospace, DS, and smallcraft. I hate calculating all that stuff by hand. I don't mind doing it for battle armor and infantry though. That's actually kind of a fun exercise.
Enter the dragonfly
>>46451206
>Dude, grab Soloaris Skunkwerks for mechs and armor works for armor
I tried. for some asanine reason my java is fucked and they won't work, they just hang with the loading image and no process open forever
>>46451206
honestly, if I need to, I use MML, but when I don't NEED it's functions (mostly to put designs in the right format for MegaMek, but sometimes for primitive tech and occasionally Battle Armor), I just use HMP
>>46451206
>mfw contemplating Warship designs
kill me now
>>46450603
Here's a revised version that is a lot meaner. Imagine a giant, fire-breathing skeleton you can't hide from and that won't let you call for help.
r8 my Archangel
how are the Cerberus and Gunslinger, the two very first dualgauss assaults? I've heard mixed opinions on both
>>46451443
>first
No, that would be the Clanbuster King Crab
The Cerb and Gunslinger are pretty garbage, by the way. Cerb has no armor and goes too fast, and the Gunslinger has two jump.
TWO JUMP
>>46451487
So the Cerberus is a Marik design?
>>46451167
iJJs stack an additional +1 to AMM? Maybe I should have formatted it better but that +3 is for the Uzi making the attack, already included the +4 above it.
>>46451487
I meant in publication terms.
and yeah, the gunslinger is looking pretty shaky with a BAP on a long-ranged design and fucking 2jump
I've given it a quick once-over to patch some of the more glaring flaws. now it kinda looks more like an Emperor than anything else
also, have another XL-to-endo refit, this one a heavy instead.
ugly, but it's a pretty effective mech
>>46451564
>I meant in publication terms.
Didn't Tukayyid come out before 3055?
>>46451631
did it? I'm not sure
if so, pretend I said "two of the first" rather than "the two very first"
>>46451443
>>46451487
>>46451564
>>46451631
>>46451656
The Devastators predate all that and are unfairly good. Literally the final boss fight of the McCarron's Armored Cavalry book.
>>46440351
I count five fucking lasers on that thing, do you want toast? because overheating in this thing would make you toast.
>>46451751
Huh, OK. Never had that book.
>>46451788
Best Liao mercs assault a Feddie mini Castle Brian experimenting with recovered tech. One of my favorite scenario books.
>>46451788
I also forgot to mention, that only counts if you forget about clan mechs as stuff like the Executioner dual gauss was statted before that.
Haha time for more stealth mechs!
I originally planned on having a torso mounted cockpit and sticking all the flamers in the head but then I remembered the PSR involved with maces and this would have been the Stalker II all over again, except funnier.
So how are you guys playing mostly these days? tabletop? megamek? other?
>>46440351
>Mechpilot with this much clothing
Alright I know we already have one but another can't hurt I guess.
Design Challenge: Pick a random APC from deviantart or any other website you like and build it as close to the specs given by the artist/picture itself.
Since we are at it: How do you guys choose the manufacturers and models for your fluff?
Since the Reddemer Design looked kinda AFFS I tried to put as much manufacturers from the FedSuns in there as possible. Also kept an eye on similar designs in terms of armor(it uses the same armor as the goblin) and stuff.
>>46448726
The FMs have the Suns using command lances, the Lyrans sometimes using them, the Capellans explicitly attaching them to the first company in a battalion, the Dracs explicitly not using them, and then the FWL as typical being ambiguous and not having a comment on them either way (although they use them in scenario packs, so I assume they're a thing).
>>46454167
APC, or any AFV?
>>46454277
fine too
Do vees take up as much space on a dropship as mechs?
>>46454167
Have a very, very silly Hell's Horses IFV. Features exposed linkages on the UAC's and power reverse.
>>46454882
Another IFV that was inspired by (but not a strict adaptation of) the Swedish Stridsvagn 103.
>>46454882
da fuq is dis
>>46454450
Depends.
The main thing is that crunch wise, the variability in unit sizes exists somewhat for vehicles in this regard; unlike the 150 ton mech cubicles for mechs of any non superheavy size, vehicle cubicles come in light, heavy, and superheavy sizes, each type both weighing and capable of carrying vehicles up to 50,100, and 200 tons respectively.
Outside of the compact mech quirk (which can only be applied to medium mechs or lighter), a 150 ton mech cubicle carries only 1 mech, the same weight could be used for 3 light vehicle cubicles, and for every two mech cubicles you can have three heavy vehicle cubicles. Though in terms of space, this would be more, as each cubicle eats an item slot.
Now that aside in more fluffy terms the main thing is that mechs occupy more space vertically, while vehicles occupy it more horizontally. This is also demonstrated in crunch to a degree, when loading/unloading a unit in a cargo bay rather than a dedicated bay for that unit type, vehicles can be moved more quickly than mechs because they can be driven in or out of the bay, mechs can't do this under their own power as they're to tall to fit in the bays, so they basically get laid flat on a large pallet or similar.
>>46454450
Vehicle bays scale in size, so you can have light vehicle bays that take up less space, or super heavy bays that take up more, than a mech bay. I forget the exact weights on them though.
>>46455183
All I know is it was tagged as an IFV on deviantart. It's fugly and highly impractical looking, so that screams clan right off. I suppose I could have also statted it as a lighter vehicle with 8 APGRs, but yeah. It's too fucking nuts looking to try to be practical with statting it.
>>46455236
Looking at the thing, it screams armored motive system. And to really go nuts, you could go mixtech and stick an IS one on there, taking that 15% weight hit.
>>46455387
>And to really go nuts, you could go mixtech and stick an IS one on there, taking that 15% weight hit.
but why
>>46455405
Because
> It's too fucking nuts looking to try to be practical with statting it.
>>46454167
Quirks are AA Targeting and Gas Hog.
It'd be so much better if I could have used a fusion engine, but having an exhaust muffler labeled in the art makes even a fuel cell engine feel like cheating.
New silly design challenge: Build an APC-type vehicle capable of carrying an entire battalion of foot infantry
>>46457906
How much tonnage would that even entail?
>>46457992
Standard IS battalion is made of three companies wich are made of three lances(platoons).
Your standard foot infantry platoon weights 2.5 tons.
So for a battalion we are at 22.5 tons.
Rolled 5, 2, 4, 1, 1, 6 = 19 (6d6)
>>46448440
ill try it
>>46453515
Tabletop every two weeks at my lgs.
>>46453515
I don't actually play this game, I'm just here for the factionposting.
>>46453515
Face to face with my buddies when we can find the time, a lot of AtB, sometimes pickup games at the FLGS
>>46453515
Tabletop every sunday i'm able to.
>>46453515
Megamek, since I don't have a local group to play with.
>>46454167
"Drop Ship" is a misnomer. The Stork is designed for fast insertions of BA, Jump, or Foot infantry and then getting them out again at speeds no other APC is capable of. It carries no integral weaponry but is capable of carrying up to four weapon pods or external munitions if necessary.
>>46448440
>>46458205
ok here u go friend
feedback appreciated
3145 rules question:
When I fail the roll for Radical Heatsink System it sustains a critical hit and from now on every weapon attack and move generates 1 heat more. Right? But does it work last one time on that failed roll or ceases to operate instantly?
>>46459075
Ceases to operate on that failed roll.
>>46458997
I'd put a VTOL Jet Booster on this if I could.
>>46459124
Thanks
>>46462785
Best way to do recon
>>46462920
I dunno, 6/9/9 and 5/8/8 mediums are also pretty damn great
>>46463159
>not 5/8/10 75-tonners with a tarcomped cERPPC and full Ferro-Lam
>>46462785
How does one add in a BT black and white pic to a background like that?
Or in other words...how does layering work?
>>46463201
>not 5/8/10 75-tonners
Unless you're using mechanical jump boosters, you can't get that. Partial wing is +1 for heavies.
>>46462785
>>46463201
>using cheesemechs when everyone else is just trying to have fun
Bondsref urself my man
What's the best way to beat a Hellstar?
I've heard tell there was a PDF for making house-specific loadouts from the starter set. Anyone know anything about that?
>>46463861
artillery
>>46463861
Quazimodo.
Or, as always
Nuke it from orbit. Blake be praised.
>>46463861
A shitton of Savannah Masters
>>46463861
Quasimodo tag-team.
>>46463861
Plasma rifles, infernos and BA, the lighter and more numerous, the better
>>46464131
>Plasma rifles, infernos and BA
This is a bad idea
Well, the BA isn't, but the rest is. You hit a Hellstar with a shitload of heat and... it just shoots three cERPPCs at you instead of 4.
>>46464162
As a combo, it's good, because it takes the hellstar from killing 4 BA a turn down to three, which is pretty good IMO, since it makes the difference between an IS BA unit being removed entirely and being still on the table
Are VTOLs deployed and organized as vehicles or like other airborne assets (Conventional/aerospace fighters)?
Are the Inner Sphere making plans on ever reconquering what the Clans wrested away from them in 3050?
>>46465025
Lyrans are too busy trying not to die. Combine already did. Wrasslehog merged with them. None of the squashed periphery or pirate factions up there matter at all.
So, no.
>>46465097
BLACK DRAGON STRONK
>>46464750
As vehicles
>>46453515
I'm lucky (so far) and have been managing a game session each weekend for the last month. Not sure how long it'll last with RL interfering for someone, but it's fun for now.
>>46463357
Need a "Signed up to defend the Concordat, Invaded the Pleiades instead"
Should have been a Vietnam for the TDF with the locals hating them.
>>46466454
You find the image and i'm sure someone could make it.
>looking through the Deadborder MM icon threads
>Today is the Yinghuochong. It's name is Chinese for "Pack Hunter"
kek
>>46464036
>>46464117
So, provided the right terrain (and balanced bv obviously), is the Quasi truly able to counter PPC boats? Has this been tested? Just wondering if the solaris fluff plays out on the table.
>>46466989
Jump in close and they are trading 28 for 27 (with much better numbers) + punches.
>>46467030
And that 28 is at normal to-hits while the 27 is at -3 to hit (so probably hitting on 5s vs 7s in the quasi's favor)
I know it's probably not relevant now, but since the Free Worlds has reformed and claims the Silver Hawk Irregulars as a standing unit, have they declared an act of war against the Republic?
I read the reformation of the Irregulars would be considered such.
>>46467547
Probably not formally but after a decade of the Republic being a fucked to death pile of burning caca they probably didn't care. Plus the Capellans, Dracs and Clans are more relevant threats.
>>46467547
>have they declared an act of war against the Republic?
By now I think everybody in BT is just considered at war with everyone else by default.
Lack of fighting is just temporary cease fires, and only actual peace is bothered with any sort of declaration.
>>46467547
It's all in FM3145
Also fuck the Republic
>>46467957
b-but Terra stronk!
>>46463894
>>46467957
>not believing in Devlin Stone
>>46468217
>Devlin Stone
>devil in stone
my god
>>46451782
7 lasers and one mid-to-long range ballistic weapon. that isn't toast, that is extra crispy kernel special
Hey guys, how about a force-building challenge? The year is 3062, and you're putting together a "milita/mercenery company in a box"-type setup for tramp freighters to haul around and sell to anyone who's interested.
The restrictions are a maximum mass of 800 tons (just under 1/3 of a Buccaneer's cargo capacity) and a maximum price of 30 million C-bills. Ammunition and spare parts don't need to be included in the kit; they are sold separately
Feel free to include custom designs, just include them with your post.
