/btg/ is dead, long live /btg/!
Gritty Serious Realistic Mechs Only Edition
Old Thread: >>46831387
===================================
Combat Manuals: Mercenaries (final build)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/62qpwm49e3pjdgn/E-CAT35260_Combat_Manual_Mercenaries.pdf
Touring the Stars Compilation
https://mega.nz/#!ixlWHA5Y!VC7rjxgsAxnDddAkvqFU2LF2U7oU8zE_X6dYUV5Ggqs
Touring the Stars Manassas
https://mega.nz/#!vt8k2DaS!IR0VJXpFyhcWhDOZHF_uNo7yaBHNqKo2h-2nrSaENRc
===================================
>/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
HAHA Bone Norman
Did Kai have any positive impact on Danai Liao-Centrella?
I noticed he bequeathed his favored mech to her.
>>46890093
Well he probably didn't rape her if that's what you mean.
>>46890093
they had pretty much no relationship beyond "you're the new liao-named protag, take the liao protag mech"
So, I haven't actually been into Battletech since just after Alpha Strike was released. Has anything interesting happened since then or has the game been in stasis?
>>46890093
>>46890135
It pretty much surprised everyone in-setting that he left her his mech, too. They were pretty much noted to have had barely even met each other, let alone any meaningful interaction.
In other note, thanks in part to eBay being pretty much retarded (and to me actually forgetting that I had paid for it), I just yesterday received my Salamander Mech from Shimmy's Kickstarter years upon years ago. I'm pretty sure I'm the very last of the KS backers to get delivered.
>It will take me a month to figure out how I even wanna pose this thing, holy fuck.
>>46890292
Things have been pretty quiet storyline-wise (if that's what you're referring to) since the 3145 jump, which was happening right around that time. In non-storyline news, we got Interstellar Ops and Handbook House Kurita at long last. Otherwise, it's been mostly microproducts.
Also, Alpha Strike has had a lot of updates, if that ruleset matters to you at all.
>>46890292
Since AS, there has been (I think) the 3145 TROs and era books, the 3150 TRO, some Historicals, the PDF of Interstellar Ops and then everything kind of ground to a halt relatively recently with the TTS series.
Oh, and AlphaStrike Companion was released somewhere in all that too.
Butt
>>46890338
I posed mine in 3D, then used that as reference to pose the model :D
>>46889817
>Falcon
I actually almost included one of these as a choice for players in a campaign I am starting. I couldn't bring myself to do it because they have almost nothing going for them, and the weapons layout is awful.
>http://www.warhansa.com/index.php/katalog/robomechs.html
Just reposting this from last thread for posterity. Honestly it's a pretty tempting thing; plastic MWO minis for $9 a pop. If Piggy were smart they'd actually colab with this dude and get CGL in on it too, because there is a hell of a market out there for minis of MWO sculpts.
>>46890860
I would make fun of its tiny little hands. Then I realize that it can actually reach down and pick up things from the ground without going completely prone. It seems like something that any mech with hands should be designed to do but almost none can by their appearance, so bravo.
>>46891399
I've always thought that humanoid 'Mechs should have usable hands as often as possible, and chicken-legged 'Mechs should be the ones with gun/flippy arms and no hands. I've thought that way ever since I started playing this game, and there are only a few humanoid 'Mechs I like that don't have at least one fully usable hand.
>>46891399
That looks kinda like a thud. Is it?
>>46891496
Thud IIC, IIRC.
>>46891496
Thunderbolt IIC, featured in TRO Prototypes
>>46891660
>>46891692
Huh. That makes sense. Looks pretty good
Is the Combine going to attempt to retake Vega in the future?
>>46891724
After being soundly reamed by the Bears, who have an entire Galaxy there the last time they tried?
I don't see it ending well. The Dracs have never beaten the Bears and are unlikely to start doing so any time soon. I guess if the writers need the Dracs to fall completely to wrack and ruin and don't want to follow the seemingly inevitable Julian-inspired resurgence plot line having them get side-tracked with GIB BACK VEGA BURRS is one way to do it.
>>46892012
I figured at some point in the future they were going to try and take it back like they did Dieron
>>46892012
>the new Kanrei going full irredentist
THIS GON BE GOOD
>>46892138
mybushidoisready.gif
>>46892012
>Dracs can't beat da Bears
This makes me wonder... with all the IS factions getting gutted and chopped up, and losing at almost everything they do as of late, do you think that maybe the plan for the next "phase" of the game is to have a lot more small factions so there is more player choice or something? I mean I look at the FWL, and the LA, and the Suns even, and it's like CGL wants to start having everything fall apart/break up into smaller pieces. Am I on crack?
>>46892198
FEDSUNS BORDER BELONGS TWO JUMPS FROM NEW AVALON
WITH A KURITA ON THE THRONE
>>46892339
But look at the factions that it ISN'T happening to. Then look at who the top CGL boys like, then reconsider why this might be happening
>>46892339
>with all the IS factions getting gutted and chopped up, and losing at almost everything they do as of late
Aside from, y'know, the CC, who are just wrecking face forever.
>and it's like CGL wants to start having everything fall apart/break up into smaller pieces. Am I on crack?
I'll believe that's their plan once it happens to the CapCon and MoC, but until then I'm pretty sure it's just a way of carving other factions up into bite-sized chunks for the winning factions to eat piecemeal
"Don't talk to me or my son ever again"
>>46892516
>>46892631
Point. I keep forgetting we have a few juggernauts puttering around that won't ever get gutted till someone's pushing up daisies.
>>46892516
They like the Dracs? Since when?
Besids, it's the CC's turn to have some shit dropped on them, and it looks like the Thuggee Cult is gonna deliver per some hints in TRO 3150.
>>46892676
The dracs are *about* to get fucked, they've just been given a brief respite by forever '45
>>46891355
CGL owns the models regardless if piggy made it or not. Ultimate authority is with CGL.
>>46892631
>Aside from, y'know, the CC, who are just wrecking face forever
I thought the lore implied they were heading towards problems down the line?
I notice Daoshen is seeking an agreement with the Oriente while Ilsa is fostering closer relations with the Anduriens.
And as I recall, it mentioned Ilsa was a shrewd manipulator and that the Magistracy has offered troops to the Aunderians and has troops stationed in the Confederation to relieve the native Capellan units for their invasion of the Suns.
It also mentioned that the woman the notoriously unstable and violent Thugee cults venerated self immolated, which seems like it could be the trigger for something unpleasant.
>>46892634
>no MAD for the other parent
>>46892856
Well I would've had a Mad Cat 2 and the original with the 3 as the child, but hey.
>>46892676
>They like the Dracs?
From a military standpoint, aren't they currently throwing the majority of their forces into an attempt at conquering the Federated Suns while leaving a great deal of their interior exposed?
I remember reading that there were areas of the Combine near the Raven Alliance that were coming under attack from that clan and that the warlord of the neighboring district had relatively few forces to confront said aggression given most were part of the Combine invasion force.
>>46892723
Do they? Cause isn't Piggy licensing the ability to make vidya from Microsoft? So actually... we'd need to get Micro$oft to agree to it too. Which would never happen.
>>46892792
Yeah didn't the RotS whip their asses then force world concessions?
>>46892920
Whatever piggy makes, do or screws up, CGL has the ultimate authority to say yes or no to selling minis or anything battletech related.
CGL owns the rights to every single mech model ever made by piggy. Microsoft has no say, they own the video game rights not the intellectual property.
>>46892920
>Yeah didn't the RotS whip their asses then force world concessions?
Before the DA, yeah
>>46892896
>From a military standpoint, aren't they currently throwing the majority of their forces into an attempt at conquering the Federated Suns while leaving a great deal of their interior exposed?
Yup. And that military is not just over-extended but heavily ground down by the advance. A lot of their wins have come courtesy of the Wolf Dragoons too.
On the other border you have the Bears, who are shitty with the Dracs for a variety of reasons including them seizing a bunch of RotS worlds and who have done nothing but build up their assets with the odd curb-stomp of the Dracs since 3085.
With a Republic now under the command of Devlin Stone, who the Bears revere. And Julian commanding a resurgent Suns.
I do not see this ending well for the Dracs. Like, at all.
Minimum is the Bears attacking in support of the RotS to reclaim the worlds the Dracs seized, giving Julian a chance to push back the Drac advance. With a Black Dragon/Loyalist showdown for good measure, at the worst possible time.
Possible- or at least plausible- is a four way rape train of the Bears, Snow Ravens, RotS, and Suns leaving the Dracs completely fucked. Also with inevitable civil war at the worst possible time.
The Dracs are doing well at the moment. But the foreshadowing of what's about to go down has been pretty clear, and it's only a matter of time before the other shoe drops.
>>46892995
Gotcha. Wasn't sure how the rights worked exactly. So yeah, if there's a guy doing plastics already, and the quality is good, since IWM can't say shit about plastics (which is why the box sets are as they are) they should go for it. But they won't.
>>46892995
AFAIK PGI owns the actual representations of the 'Mechs they created for MWO. CGL has the rights to, say, the Cicada the way it looks for BT in its art and IWM has the rights (in perpetuity or essentially so) for making that a physical product as a miniature.
To get minis made of the MWO versions would require something like PGI agreeing, Microsoft signing off, it being approved by CGL and then finally handed off to IWM. Possibly with CGL cut out, but the rest of the chain likely holds.
And at every step everyone wants a cut of the profits, or might say no for their own reasons.
Hence no official minis. Probably ever.
>>46893027
I feel like this scenerio HEAVILY depends on what's with the homeworld clans. If we get the bears VS homeworld thing that might be coming, that changes the game re: the dracs
>capcha 3052
>>46893027
>Bears
I thought they were also watching their borders against Jade Falcon, (possible) Wolf Empire and Hel Horse's aggression?
From what it implied, they weren't doing all that great in the scramble for the Rasalhague worlds Clan Wolf abandoned.
>>46893181
To add to that, if they're serious about assisting the Republic in restoring it's borders, they'll possibly be in conflict with the Falcons, Horses, Wolves, several renegade Republic factions and more than one Great House before long.
>>46893181
The Bears aren't really that interested in expanding, though. In the past all they've shown is a desire to mercilessly fuck their enemies up, after which they go back to turtling and building more Leviathans. They've already *got* almost all of the former FRR- they took most of that from the Wolves in the 60s- and are easily top five, arguably top three for manufacturing bases in addition to being the pre-eminent military power of the setting.
The RotS can probably count on Bear assistance with the Dracs at minimum, given the Bears will go into near-religious rapture at the news the great hero Devlin Stone has returned. The opportunity to again humiliate the Dracs will just be icing on the cake.
>>46893253
Depends on how much help the RotS wants/needs. The Bears are very much behind them and one of the Bears' primary contributions to every major plot arc since their introduction has been some variation on "fucking up the Combine's shit."
This isn't to say they're necessarily going to go on a rampage all by their lonesome. I mean, they could, and they've got the forces available to lay waste to the Combine unless Xin Sheng-level asspulling happens in the Dracs' favour.
More that the Dracs are in an increasingly vulnerable position, surrounded by enemies who are increasingly gaining strength and desire to hit back.
>>46893027
I'm actually super excited by this prospect as a Dracs player.
The faction shines the brightest when it's getting buttfucked and forced to do some high risk shit.
>>46893571
>The faction shines the brightest when it's getting buttfucked and forced to do some high risk shit.
Explain that to the OF fedsuns fans, please. They whine more than anyone about things not going their way.
>>46893571
>yfwTHE DRAGON ROARS
Honor soon, fellow Drac!
>>46893544
>"fucking up the Combine's shit."
To be fair, I'm imagining it would be harder this time around as the Combine has recently had a war with a Clan (and destroyed them) and I believe one of the events detailing a combat deployment of the Tenshi had them raid a Rasalhague world and handily defeat a Rasalhague-Bear Garrison, making off with valuable technology afterward.
I assume the Combine would also have a contingency plan for war with their Rasalhague neighbors given it's been a recurring thing for them.
>>46890892
I've been assigned a Falcon in the SLDF campaign I am in. So far, I've tried both the 4Nb-PP and 4Nb-PP2. I actually like the PP2; it has paired well with the Phawk in my lance.
>>46893649
In complacency lies death. Everything coming up FedSuns means that they have no taste for defeat, knowing nothing but the honey of victory. Meanwhile, Dracs appreciate victories more because after the ashen taste of defeat it is that much sweeter.
Life is much more interesting when you take setbacks in stride and see them as character-building opportunities.
>>46893672
The Dracs have the majority of their military on the Suns border and couldn't have stopped a Lev-II-led task force. A Lev-III-led task force is gonna be even worse, and the Bears have both.
If the Bears want to stomp their shit in solo, the Dracs can't stop them. Re-routing their troops to try would open them to a Suns counter-attack, and there's the whole brewing civil war between Toranaga's Black Dragons and Yori's loyalists.
The Dracs have gone well for a while but the cracks are really beginning to show.
>>46893793
>Re-routing their troops to try would open them to a Suns counter-attack
I thought the Suns would be busy with the Raven Alliance (they've seized several Suns worlds) and the Capellans afterward?
>>46893719
It had to be the Introtech Falcon; the non-Intro ones aren't too bad.
>>46893765
Which is kinda funny when you realize the faction that takes defeat with stride is the traditionalist tyranny and the other one are supposed to be the free thinking heroes.
>>46893891
Suns has put more effort into resisting the Dracs, and the Drac border troops would probably be weaker. The Capellans just kinda swooped in and beat up some March Militia and stuff.
>>46893924
>swooped in and beat up some March Militia and stuff.
And seized the capitol of said March and executed it's lord sometime afterward.
>>46893891
Caps have been dealt with, they were forced to start targeting Republic worlds after being BTFO by Julian.
The Dracs have seized several important worlds that the Suns will want back, including Robinson.
Reclaiming all the worlds the Dracs took may not be possible but a Bear attack and/or Drac civil war will really screw them up. Even more so if the Suns buy the Dragoons, who did a lot of the heavy lifting.
The Dracs are over-extended and ground down. Their advance is unsustainable and they can't hold what they've taken even before factoring in problems like the Bears, RotS, civil war, Ravens, or Suns' inevitable counter-attack.
>>46893976
Yeah, I'm just talking which units are over there and relative strength.
>>46893988
>>
>The Dracs are over-extended and ground down. Their advance is unsustainable and they can't hold what they've taken even before factoring in problems like the Bears, RotS, civil war, Ravens, or Suns' inevitable counter-attack.
It's grorious, isn't it? The light that burns brightest dies soonest.
>>46893571
>The faction shines the brightest when it's getting buttfucked and forced to do some high risk shit.
Tell that to the taurians
>>46894296
The Taurians shine the brightestright after they get nuked.
What does /BTG/ think of melee assaults? I'm rolling up a fresh merc company after my last one ate it on their first mission, and my commander is getting a custom mech. Thought I'd try and pimp out a Pillager with TSM, and I'm not sure what faceruiner to slap on it.
>>46892012
>The Dracs have never beaten the Bears
>>46894629
More melee.
MORE.
>>46894629
I've been working on a TRO mech that kicks for 40 damage on top of 60+ weapon damage. Too bad it's 2700 BV...
>>46894883
I need to give my torso cockpit mech a snappier name, though oddly, its current name fits the role much better than it did before.
>>46894883
>>46894694
currently sitting at 79/78 crit slots filled, according to MegamekLab. But I'm showing one open slot. wat do?
>>46895006
MechCommander 2 and MechWarrior 4 Davions/10.
>>46895023
Cut my teeth on Mechwarrior 4 and a Sidewinder joystick when I was in elementary, then rolled on to MW4: Mercs when it droppped. Fafnir was my pimp ride there.
So...yeah, I like 'em big.
>>46894629
>>46895006
Swapped the twin Gauss for twin HAG/20s. Suprised at how far the BV dropped. I guess losing the 15+ auto-PS check or fall is that big?
>>46895107
>15+ auto-PS check
What?
Do you mean the PSR made for taking 20+ damage in a turn?
>>46895107
You lose the headcap ability, which means you don't have a 1/36 chance of instant kill per shot (which is one thing that makes the Hellstar so terrifying)
>>46895324
Shit, yeah, that.
Been too long since I've done this. better make sure I have some simple mechs in the mix to remind of how this all works...
>>46894883
Talons are an abomination against God and mech
>>46894883
2700 is high? I mean this TRO is pretty bleeding-edge, right?
>>46895362
It's not got talons
>>46895378
My gut feel is that it's a little high for this particular mech, due to the combo of TSM and one of the other weapons I think is overcosted and the combo of the two thus being even higher. Admittedly, I don't really think any mech over 2200 bv or so is really worth it most of the time.
>>46895107
Your BV will always be high because of your Jump Jets, but Gauss Rifles have a higher OBV than HAGs do, due to the concentrated damage potential.
battlebump.
>>46893571
>The faction shines the brightest when it's getting buttfucked and forced to do some high risk shit.
I agree. As a MoC player I'd like to see us get into that kind of trouble, or even wiped out entirely if it means some serious shit is going down.
Mornin /btg/
Who or what are we angry about today?
>>46898718
>scorpion sigil on the cup
Morning, Master Arminas.
>>46898741
Challenge: Find a better image to place on the Elementals mug.
>>46898718
I'm mad about "friends" who are actually cunts. I'm starting to see the merit in the Clan system.
>>46898924
Sounds like a typical gamer problem. We see more of them than the average human would I think...since so many of us are already 'cunts'.
>>46898770
literally any other clan, MA
>>46899043
These people are normies.
>>46899143
You have a problem with the Scorps? They're like the least annoying clan.
So aside from general clan annoyances what about them has your panties in a twist?
>>46899193
Normies. *chuckle* Can't live with em. Can't live without em. Suck it up buttercup.
>>46899230
I'm teasing you, anon. Unless you're really MA or are you not familiar with him?
>>46899263
Nope. No clue who MA is.
>>46899475
He wrote one of the munchiest (and longest) AUs I've seen on the OF, and it was all about the Scorps.
We don't have any actual annoying scorpfags so I was teasing you since most /btg/ is familiar with MA.Really they're one of my favorite clans anyway, but for who they are.
>>46894636
Not even a dracfag but it would be nice to see the Bears lose something and the Dracs win something for a change.
>>46899552
I spend very little time on the OF and the time I do is usually spent reading fan articles.
That and I don't really recognize any initials of posters that don't namefag here. Thanks for the explanation though.
>>46890135
> no distant relative to bequeath you his mech
>>46894975
howabout Snap Dragon
it's snappy
it's Draccy
As a Bears/Rasalhague fan I'm actually kind of upset that the possibility of the Vega Protectorate breaking off into its own nation with Omega Galaxy going full cultural enrichment didn't happen.
Also the fact that it's just a footnote that an entire galaxy basically went AWOL and like ten years later the rest of the clan welcomed them back and basically told them it was no big deal just made it worse.
>>46898770
>>46889817Crooooooooooooooow?
>>46900876
About how many sibkos do you think clawed their way out of Kat's iron womb ?
>>46901342
Just Alaric. No Vic, no dick, nawimsayin?
>>46901305
He's different
>>46898718
Feeling pretty good. Gonna paint something in a bit. Maybe get stuff under-coated.
Playing ATB currently, took me three goes at it to work out what I do and don't want going on, even with the guide. Shot up some pirates, got salvage. The usual really.
>>46901444
poor Alaric, not like he's the only one who got fucked by Dark Age but still
>>46892012
>The Dracs have never beaten the Bears and are unlikely to start doing so any time soon.
That used to hold true for the Capellan-Suns situation until recent times.
>>46901027
>Space Sweden gets rapefugees to do their own fights
Poetry.
>>46890135
I thought Kai may have given it to her to inspire her to be a positive influence for the Confederation.
I have to wonder if Kai knew that Danai was the daughter Daoshen and Ilsa.
>>46893988
>Caps have been dealt with, they were forced to start targeting Republic worlds after being BTFO by Julian.
The only thing I've heard is that they're no longer on the March Capitol.
I've heard nothing that has suggested that the Capellans have been booted out of their other March holdings.
I'm aware that previous versions have received a lot of harsh criticism by a few/some/many of you at btg (hard to tell with all the anonymity), yet I would still like to share the finished Revised and definitely final version of Fan-TRO 3150 Lyran Commonwealth Supplemental with you.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/80lm2c9qexapfu3/Fan-TRO_3150_Lyran_Commonwealth_Supplemental_Revised.zip
I also feel I need to address some of the points that were brought up here in the past.
1) errors:
Yes, there were definitely quite a few errors and glitches. Too little time in RL and premature releases. I've tried to rectify all of them with the Revised release, but of course I can't be sure, especially in the language department, as I'm no native speaker. But I hope this final release has fixed most issues.
2) cheesefest/minmaxed: Yes, there are mostly minmaxed designs in the TRO, which is an entirely deliberate and pragmatic decision.
I don't believe in making intentionally flawed designs, I also don't believe in making just another bland Mech with little to no character. In my opinion, there is no skill involved doing so.
It is much more difficult to create a minmaxed design that pushes the boundaries of the current ruleset and is as innovative in its approach as possible. I don't think I have achieved that with every unit in this TRO, but surely with quite a few of them. Show me a single canon or Fan-TRO (or even fan design thread that predates the original release date) design that can One-hit-kill a 95ton mech, show me one medium mech that can jump 10 and still bring enough hurt to be useful, etc.
Also, this Fan-TRO has always been a partial conversion of an old AU of mine, an AU in which all designs are minmaxed, no matter if Lyran, Kuritan, Clan or whatnot. Making the designs deliberately worse than they were, simply was out of the question for me.
I fully understand that some oppose munchkin designs. I don't ask for you to like it, just for your understanding.
3) I'm a butthurt Lyran fanboy: Yes, when I play, I play Lyran, and no, I don't care too much about the other factions (besides the financial aspect) which is why I decided against doing a TRO for all factions, also I simply don't know enough about the other factions to write coherent fluff that could possibly be compatible with canon events.
So, yes, you might call me a faction fanboy.
But am I butthurt?
I startet this TRO many months before TRO 3145 LyrCom was even released and released the first edition of it shortly after it finally arrived.
I was even in contact with one of the devs to make sure my designs didn't more or less appear in the official faction TRO.
As for the minmax approach, I already talked about that.
The NTNU section, which I added in the second installment, was mostly there to update designs from the 3050-3070 eras that hadn't received any official updated variants (although some did so later in TRO 3150).
Of course, some NTNU entries serve to "fix" Dark Age mechs, but most of them do so at least with an original approach, I dare say.
So am I butthurt? No, not really. Maybe a little.
If those points mean you "can burn all units except maybe for the Eisenblitz", fine. I can live with such hostility towards my Fan-TRO. But I still hope at least some of the outspoken critics here at least reconsider their position a little after I have explained why I did things the way I did them and after having done my best (remember, I'm just one person who did this) to improve the final version over previous ones.
If that's not the case, then I hope you can at least still get something out of having the to this date (and for the forseeable future, it seems) only BT Fan-TRO on your harddrive that offers a coherent standard in new professional artworks (meaning no sketches or drawings by slightly less talented artists).
That's all I have to say in my defense. ;)
Oh, and I wish you the best for your very own Fan-TRO Built for War. Looks fairly promising! :)
Discussion Question: Mercenary Wages: Too Low?
>>46905527
DEATH
TO
MERCENARIES
>>46905381
>I don't believe in making intentionally flawed designs,
Then you shouldn't be making a TRO.
>>46905832
That is your opinion. I have mine.
>>46905527
A regular, non-enlisted Mechwarrior makes, what, 1500 C-bills a month, plus I would assume room and board. It's been a while, but I want to say that long ago I read that 1 C-bill had the same buying power as about 5 USD, maybe circa 1990 or so? So if I am remembering that correctly, a regular merc MW will make ~100k (in 1990s USD) a year, plus room and board, plus maintenance costs for their valuable piece of machinery (which of course they might or might not own), which isn't awful for someone who might spend most of their days on a backwater garrison, but may be less not-awful for someone who's spending all their time either crammed into a tiny drop ship bunk or getting shot at.
>>46906227
The year was '86 so it's a bit more, but otherwise, yeah.
>>46905381
Saying you intentionally minmaxed everything is fine, doing it for an AU is fine, but don't go around saying that creating a unique but not minmaxed design involves no skill. That's BS.
>>46905313
>other March holdings
To be fair they're almost all ancestral Capellan worlds stolen in the Succession Wars (wars, I should add, the Capellans did not want and even tried to end with the offer of supporting a Davion First Lord)
>>46906803
It kind of surprised me that Davion aggression was the reason for the formation of the Capellan Confederation.
It also makes me feel less sympathetic towards them regarding Capellan aggression and Romano's refusal to aid Hanse when his Wife's realm was under siege from the Clans.
>>46907242
Yeah I'm in agreement with you. All forum and fan personalities aside, the Cappie mentality of distrusting and working nonstop to undermine the Davions makes sense. I mean the way the Davions so casually waged brutal wars against the Cappies while at the same time applying casual racism against Capellan culture is kinda wonky. Particularly how unaware the Davions were of their actions. They treated conquered Capellan planets with a colonial attitude, and even Justin Allard considered Davions to be little better than carpetbaggers with ingrained racism.
>>46907787
My favourite part of the BT fluff has been the way in which you can view the various powers through different lenses. Conquered worlds in the Sarna Commonality/March enjoy economic booms and increased personal freedoms after the Davion conquest, and yet millions died for it and everything you say is also true. People can and do argue both sides while chopping out the inconvenient parts.
>>46907787
As I understand it, Davion Imperialism is meant to be likened to Great Britian, France and the United States isn't it?
>>46907787
>>46907943
As long we can all agree BETTER DEAD THAN LIME GREEN I'm down for whatever ideology you have.
>>46908000
Sorta. It's supposed to be like the first two, but for Hanse at least it seems like the third with the "freeing the Capellan people" and all that.
>>46908000
There's never been any explicit statement to that effect that I'm aware of, but the parallels are pretty clear, IMO.
>>46908042
>Hanse
The more I read into him, the more suspect his character seems given the sheer amount of problems his reign would lead to.
>>46907943
Well that's all true too. While I can see the patriotic or cultural reasons Capellans might hate Davions, the fact Sun-Tzu was able to curry so much support in the Sarna March does kind of surprise me.
But I tell myself it was the displaced Capellan class of citizenry that formed the core of the ZdG. The kind of folks that would chaff at their former hard earned positions being removed, citizenship cheapened, or offended by the systematic racism and colonization.
But while I can believe that aspect of a ZdG movement, I also think the former servitors and their children would have fought harder. I can't see why most of those worlds wouldn't have been open wounds for the next two decades. After all, the League had to deal with Andurien secessionists a generation after their defeat and that secession was motivated overwhelmingly by the ambitions of one woman without pragmatism or an improvement of life for the Andurien people.
>>46908251
It's never been really detailed, but I would think you could easily assume there was some sort of America-style "dismantle the ruling class" occupation policy (e.g Iraq), vs. ones that more co-opted the old guard and made them part of the new (e.g., what the British were so good at doing). So yeah, you'd have this huge pool of Capellan noble families that had been top dog for literally centuries all of a sudden reduced to almost nothing (or even less than nothing, since you can be sure they'd all be on an MI-whatever watch list and their activities heavily curtailed/monitored). Freedom of speech or assembly suddenly doesn't look like much of a compensation.
>>46908200
Like what?
>>46908409
Not just the noble families too. Anyone who had spent their life gaining citizenship just to see everyone handed it with a burger. The former middle class (such as it was) would probably be the one ripest for ZdG recruitment.
>>46908251
>>46908409
>>46907787
>>46906803
>>46907242
>>46908021
>lime green
Is it ever clarified what the shade really is? I thought it was darker.
>>46908042
Hanse loved them so much he freed 100 million from their mortal coils.
>>46908483
>people having a calm discussion of lore and politics
>hurr better call it b8
dumbass
>>46908557
You're required to be angry, invoke Coleman and act like a bitchy child when discussing the CapCon here.
>>46905381
But the problem is that you *didn't* make clever cheese machines. You just slapped jump 10 and medium lasers on.
>>46908483
I need a meta "Bait Poster is Bait" poster, stat.
>>46908631
Well it was a fun discussion while it lasted. Racism was a fundamental part of Allard's story and the Warrior Trilogy so discussing its relevance in BT shouldn't be triggering.
>>46908479
Good point: I hadn't even considered them. Some poor schlub works 25 years in the doorknob factory for it and suddenly any random Ivan gets what he has.
>>46908432
Well,
> Two Com-Star interdiction
It was said these were extremely harmful for the Lyrans.
> Romano Liao
It was the Fourth Succession War that handed her the reigns of power (directly or indirectly) wasn't it?
> Renewed Capellan Aggression in the form of Xen-Shang.
Wasn't the defeat dealt against the Confederation in the Fourth Succession War the one of the triggers for the eventual Xen-Shang movement that would later plague the Confederation's neighbors?
> Souring of relations between the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth and the Suns.
I read or heard it implied that his changes implemented to the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth and the abortive War of 3039 caused lingering tensions to build in the Federated Commonwealth.
Also, did he have anything to do with the "Davion Pride" that some Lyrans were resentful of?
> Attempting to deceive Thomas (Halas) Marik by replacing his son with a Doppelganger.
This is the one that seems the most controversial to me, unless there was something worse.
Didn't he declare war on the Confederation for attempting to do the exact same thing the Confederation attempted to do to him?
Yet he thought it a perfectly acceptable to do with the child of a Successor Lord (and on top of that it was suggested that Thomas would have upheld his end of the bargain even if the NAIS couldn't improve his son's situation).
> Operation GUERRERO.
The result of the Perfidy mentioned above and one of the events that would lead to the destructive sundering of the Federated Commonwealth.
Now granted, Hanse isn't entirely to blame for some of the above, but I believe he had a hand in much of it.
I could just be looking at things too critically however.
>>46908996
Doing the Doppelgänger trick on Thomas was all Victor. He was literally told "don't do this, it will end badly" but thought the risk of Thomas cutting off the upgrade kits was too much to him.
>>46909137
I thought the Doppelganger project was authorized on Hanse's authority, but was implemented on Victor's authority?
>>46909180
Yep.
>>46908662
>8 mediums
As far as things to do with 10 tons goes, that's a pretty good one.
>>46908965
That's how I considered it anyway, and I think it makes sense of the stuff that wasn't really detailed to us. If we ever got a Brush Wars II for Guerrero I'd wager something like that would be the rationale for how widespread ZdG was.
>>46908996
Don't sully the reputation of Hanse with your implications.
Though I would also add "not doing shit to counterattack" during the Clan Invasion. Apparently the FedCom strategy was to move troops around for a couple years while maintaining a static defense on the front. I mean why let Morgan Hasek-Davion stage counterattacks on Clan garrison troops, right?
>>46909680
Also just forgetting about units at the front
>RCTs literally vanish and reappear after a time
>>46909680
>"not doing shit to counterattack"
I thought that was to buy time for the upgrade kits and to rush new technology to the front like the Inner Sphere Standard (which arrived too late for the invasion)?
I also thought the had something to do with not wanting to waste units. FedCom's track record with combating the Clans had been poor up until the point hadn't it?
>>46909554
Yes but it's the mech every kid with a fresh copy of SSW does first. Unless they opt for some version of Gausszilla.
>>46909847
Masses of counterattacks on garrison units during the year of peace would have yielded more technology. Yielding the initiative permanently is mind bogglingly dumb. Without Tukayyid they would have been fucked.
Does PA(L) take less training to use than heavier BA?
>>46898718
can't figure out what the fuck this fanmade mini i just bought is
guys, which one was the unseen thunderbolt with a RAC arm and anime legs?
pic unrelated
>>46909847
Part of the reason their performance had been poor was because they apparently gave up the initiative and in war that is damning. They allowed the Clans to choose the pace and locations of the attacks and entirely dictate the campaign without more than that single effort at Twycross. Instead they opted to let the Clans do as they please without reinforcing their garrisons and just let individual regiments and RCTs get picked off. It's amazingly incompetent given the emphasis the AFFS previously put on mobile warfare.
>All these non-purple posters
I mean, I know some of you have bad taste, but come on.
>>46910384
>>46910384
I'm a Marik player mostly but it's nice to talk about something besides having a purple circle jerk.
My wants to run a lance that consists of;
Crab CRB-20
King Crab KGC-0000
Great Turtle CTR-1
Scorpion SCP-1N
I have the intro box, all 8 lance packs, 6 squads of motorised infantry (3 ballistic, 3 energy), 6 squads of Infiltrator mk. 2, 2 Rommels, and 2 Saladins. All the record sheets I have are intro tech, for the Mad Cat and the Battlemaster. That Great Turtle scares the hell out of me. Can I build a competitive force or should I look into some variants for my mechs?
>>46910470
just outmaneuver her
>>46910470
>That Great Turtle scares the hell out of me.
Just so you know, the GT is one of the most ignoreable mechs in the game.
A faster lance could probably pick that thing apart; I have no idea how that lance deals with two Griffin 6Ss or a Falconer.
If you had to command a company comprised of only one mech, which would you pick?
>>46910530
Urbanmechs.
We'd sit right in the middle of a high-density city center and dare everyone else to come and get us.
>>46910496
>>46910525
It's the x-pulse lasers w/ targeting computer and all that damn hardened armor around the the chest mounted cockpit. Even hit and run tactics seem risky with the type of weapons that would make that worthwhile (ac 10-20, ppc) would still put me into gear untied hit range for her.
>>46910530
Mackie.
TERRAN HEGEMONY STRONK
>>46910176
To be fair, if they had pressed the initiative, wouldn't it have resulted in horrendous casualties for little gain beyond salvage?
I read the Clans were noted to have defeated Inner Sphere forces that far outnumbered them time and time again (and even in times before the Clans proper invaded when the Wolf's Dragoons were known only as mercenaries).
>>46910530
Zeus 9T
LRMs, ERLLs, and ERPPCs all work swimmingly in multiples.
If only I could swap out that Art IV for a TAG or flamer or something.
>>46910470
One fast question first:
Do you want to limit yourself in any particular fashion? That is, do you want to limit yourself to a particular faction, or by a manufacturing date (nothing past 3067), or by a particular balancing mechanic (tonnage, total engine ratings, Combat Value, Battle value, etc), or via a combination of these factors (10k BV2 or less, no more than 4 units, must be Davion machines available in 3055)?
Because right now, I could just say, "field everything you own", and I GUARANTEE you will thusly have a force capable of beating that lance, and it will be a valid answer.
>>46910621
As I said, pick it apart at range. 15 hexes is not a lot when the things you are fighting against hit at 22, and jump as far as you can run.
>>46910621
Literally just shoot it to death from outside its range
>>46910687
Fair question.
I should've stated earlier, her lance's BV 7,124, I would like to match it, we might build 7,500 to make it a little easier, then she can grab a BA or Vee to shore up the rest.
Faction and era isn't a factor.
>>46910738
What the hell can do enough damage and be accurate at 15 hexes or longer? Keep in mind at her longest range (15 hexes) she only gets a +1 range penalty.
>>46910825
Well, it's technically possible to kill the Turtle with a single mech with an ERPPC, ERLL, etc and a speed of 4/6*
It would take ages, but there's nothing the Turtle can really do about it.
ELRM?
You could just say that your Zeus is an X3 with a 3/4 pilot.
>>46910825
Artillery?
Question; Which planet is hosting the games now that Solaris VII is in the Wolf Empire??
>>46910763
OK, so here's the thing. The King Crab is big and scary and doesn't do much of anything outside of 9 hexes. The Turtle is big and scary and doesn't do much of anything outside of 15 hexes. The Scorpion and Crab are Introtech mediums that are incapable of throwing a lot of firepower downrange at *any* distance. In addition, the Crab and Scorpion are best used as more mobile units, which means that they are prone to be seperated from their larger lancemates. Thus, you're going to take a mostly-homogenously-mobile force and defeat them in detail. Kill the Crab and Scorpion first (all four of yours hitting both of them) while the Turtle and King Crab are lumbering into range, and then back up and focus-fire the King Crab from 10+ hexes away. Honestly, don't worry about the Great Turtle at all - it can throw like 10 damage downrange outside of 8 hexes, so seriously just ignore it. Kill everything else first, then dogpile the thing with massed close-range fire and physical attacks from the side arcs.
Given your lance packs, something like this might be fun (it's not *optimal*, but it's definitely competitive and WILL be a more enjoyable lance to run than the PERFECT lance at 7500 BV2: x4 Awesome -9Qs):
Guillotine-8D (1891)
Grasshpper-7K (1806)
Banshee -8S (2369)
Victor -9B (1370)
TOTAL: 7,436
Essentially, abuse jump movement to isolate and annihilate one of the medium Mechs at a time with all 3 of your jumpers. Provide fire support from the Banshee until something gets within 8 hexes of it, then show them what a TSM mech with a hatchet can do (ie, cut the scorpion cleanly in half in 1 swing).
Just make sure you're playing on a 2x2 map setup or larger. 1x2 or 1x1 maps tremendously skew gameplay.
>>46910137
If it's the one I'm thinking of they called it both Thunderbolt II and Mjolnir.
>>46910530
Cheat mode: Men Shens (or any other medium+weight IS omni)
Actually keeping to the spirit of the question mode: Vindicators.
>>46911212
>n the PERFECT lance at 7500 BV2: x4 Awesome -9Qs
OH SHIT NEA WHAT HAVE YOU DONE
That's 7500 BV exactly. We play 7500 BV lance games almost exclusively. Fuck I hope I'm the only person from my meta who reads BTG.
>>46910656
They were already suffering horrendous casualties for no gain at all. By being proactive and regaining the initiative they would pick and choose their targets and attacks, overwhelming by dint of numbers if nothing else. That said, the Clan advantages in tech could be mitigated, and with veteran minds in charge of localized counterattacks I'd wager the AFFC could have wrought havoc on the Clan garrison units.
But we'll never know because they opted to sit in place and wait for the hand of God to save them.
>>46911126
Solaris still has the games going on.
Guys, what the fuck do I do with all these prisoners?
>>46911212
Thnks m8
>>46911807
Ransom rules are in the AtB document. Or space them. I mean really, who keeps vehicle crews?
>>46911358
The Dracs had the advantages of Clan Smoke Jaguar basically being broken between Luthien and Tukayyid, with Smoke Jaguar idiocy aiding their cause even further.
The FedCom didn't do much about the Clans because the Falcons turned their aggression against the Wolves. They still had to deal with shit like the Red Corsair, but by and large the Falcons were containing themselves quite well. No need to ratchet up tensions with a Clan who was really, really looking for an excuse to toss the Truce of Tukayyid and actually had the strength and balls to carry off that threat.
Then you get to '57 and by the time the Falcons have had a minor power dip the AFFC *might* have been able to take advantage of Katherine's in charge of the place.
>>46911807
The time-honoured, fiat-powered Merc option (as seen by the Wolf Dragoons, Gray Death Legion, and Snord's Irregulars) is to induct them into your own unit and buy them awesome new stuff.
>>46911930
Talking pre-Tukayyid and Year of Peace. Post-Tukayyid they had the ComGuard on their side and of course Clans stuck next to each other and cruising for a brawl.
>>46905381
>Show me a single canon or Fan-TRO (or even fan design thread that predates the original release date) design that can One-hit-kill a 95ton mech
I've got a SSW file from September 2011 (a bit under two years before 3145 LC, which by your own words was before that does exactly that. And does it slightly faster and a hell of a lot cheaper than your PSR challenged go at the TSM+Talons combo. It's in my "unfair to use" folder because I'm not a powergaming cunt with delusions of inventiveness.
>>46912007
Part of the problem prior to the Outreach conference is that nobody really knew where the Clans were and what planets they'd taken because ComStar had instituted a blackout on that.
Now, I dunno how believable you're going to find that, but when you literally don't know you're getting invaded until broken RCTs are fleeing in dribs and drabs and telling stories about invincible warriors with tech that lies firmly in the realm of bullshit with no way to tell whether the planets near the path of the invasion are actually OK the way they're saying they are via HPG or not is to go out there and find out in person, turtling up is going to seem the smartest thing to do.
Then nobody really does much in the Year of Peace because they've seen what the Clans are like when they aren't super pissed off that someone has taken a cheap shot at them and don't want to find out what would happen if they had extra motivation.
Also because single garrison-quality Clan clusters using exclusively SLDF-era designs with an occasional Omni were giving elite FedCom RCTs under the direct command of Morgan Hasek-Davion fits to try and pin down then finish off.
>>46911807
>>46911986
I like this
>>46911807
Give em auto-rifles, throw em at the enemy.
PENAL LEGION IS GO
>>46912074
>"unfair to use" folder
Oh? I gotta see this.
>>46912227
AFFC had black boxes. Hanse had data on the worlds they had taken (while on New Avalon) only a couple weeks after it happened and the second wave almost immediately despite being many lightyears away.
>Prince Hanse Davion leaned forward across the briefing table and stared at the holographic map of the Lyran Commonwealth. He reached over, took his wife's left hand in his right and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Are you certain four more worlds are under assault? They only hit the first dozen two weeks ago! Is it possible?"
>Justin Allard, standing halfway down the table, nodded slowly. "It looks as though the troops that conquer the worlds are not the same ones used to garrison the worlds. Once the populace is disarmed, the invaders are most willing to work with local authorities to maintain order. This frees up the shock troops to move on to hit forward targets."
>Melissa Steiner Davion studied the map. "If their first wave took twelve worlds so easily, why did they only attack four in this wave?"
With that quality of intelligence not using the Year of Peace to stage a slew on raids on garrisons was criminally incompetent. They didn't even reinforce any of the garrisons on the front line, just left them mostly in place to be killed without reinforcements.
>Also because single garrison-quality Clan clusters using exclusively SLDF-era designs with an occasional Omni were giving elite FedCom RCTs under the direct command of Morgan Hasek-Davion fits to try and pin down then finish off.
When? What battle was Morgan personally involved in exactly? I can't recall.
>>46912074
>>46912074
I will add that I DO like the Eisenblitz, though I'm not sure how much of that is independently making the same sort of design (not before your TRO was released, but before I knew of it).
This was the 60 point kick design I had.
>>46912397
>Justin Allard
Did his assassination hamstring the Federated Commonwealth's information gathering efforts during the invasion?
I always wondered how losing him affected things
>>46912397
>AFFC had black boxes. Hanse had data on the worlds they had taken (while on New Avalon) only a couple weeks after it happened and the second wave almost immediately despite being many lightyears away.
I dunno what to say, anon. There's a lot of contradictory shit going on with the Clan Invasion just between the novels and the three Clan SBs, never mind tech retcons and the rest.
Canonically, they were meant to have had issues tracing the Invaders. The premise falls apart if you look at it too long, but it's what we're stuck with.
>With that quality of intelligence not using the Year of Peace to stage a slew on raids on garrisons was criminally incompetent. They didn't even reinforce any of the garrisons on the front line, just left them mostly in place to be killed without reinforcements.
I honestly think they just stuck with where they put units in the 20-Year Update. The Dracs have literally like 30 regiments they could have routed to Luthien to defend it without weakening the Clan, Lyran, FRR, or Suns fronts but didn't because reasons. Hanse puts together a large formation of elite mercs and AFFC units to use as a rapid-response force that never gets used, instead holding them in reserve no matter what. OTOH those forces being deployed could have run into Clan front-liners with WarShips support if they'd counter-attacked, but even so.
Like I say, you just kind of have to shrug and go along with the Invasion. I think there's enough there to establish why they never counter-attacked, but as you say the way they were like "Oh, we're totally reinforcing our borders" and then FUCKING NOTHING, no reinforcement whatsoever is pretty dumb.
>When? What battle was Morgan personally involved in exactly? I can't recall.
Twycross. Also with Morgan Kell present, I think.
>>46912363
I haven't put anything into the folder in ages (last thing added was in mid-2013), so some of it is "new at BT and this is totes OP" that isn't really OP at all, but:
The 60 point kicking quad posted in >>46912410 (revision for more OPness would probably use clan endo-comp and add a turret)
A quad 8/12(16) tcomped LVSPL (in retrospect, not really OP)
Gausszilla with armor (2011 me was not very inventive)
A jump 7 MJB abuse heavy
A pair of clan designs that cost less BV with their HLLs than they would without them (designed to game the BV heat discount with some cLRM 15s)
A 6/8 hardened armor 50 tonner intended to run away and fire TComped cERLLs all day.
A 9/14 cheap as fuck booby trap on legs with no guns.
A Devastator that has HPPCs instead of normal PPCs (and the sinks to use them).
A jump 10 light with 4 Tcomped Mlas
an IS mech that has 19 Mlas and the sinks for them all WITHOUT using any mixtech.
Some really BV cheap 50-ton missile spammers.
A heavy with 3 Tcomped LVSPLs
A 8/12/8 large vibroblade mech with stealth and AES (inventively named the "ninja")
A 7/11/8 (when TSM active) twin-headcapping punch melee design
And a 6/9/11 clan 55 tonner with one of the following:
>2 ERLLs, 2 ERMLs, 27 dissipation
>ERPPC, Plasma cannon (1 ton ammo), MPL, 23 dissipation
>2 cLPLs, 23 dissipation
That last one being the last design I put in the folder.
>>46912546
He died just before the invasion ended, so not really.
>>46912573
>I dunno what to say, anon. There's a lot of contradictory shit going on with the Clan Invasion just between the novels and the three Clan SBs, never mind tech retcons and the rest.
I mean that's probably the biggest issue really.
>I honestly think they just stuck with where they put units in the 20-Year Update.
Exactly. I do see what you're saying, and OOC it's a bit of laziness and plot necessity. IC though I think it implies some legit criticism of Hanse and the AFFC leadership, even if they had to carry the moron ball for the story to work.
>Twycross
Hasek-Davion wasn't present for that one. And the plan went south because they were surprised by a frontline unit not supposed to be there. And in the end the AFFC still held the world with acceptable losses.
But yeah, at the end of the day it's mostly due to OOC requirements that the AFFC had to be dumb.
BattleTech fluff is just a giant clusterfuck from beginning to end. Best to stop thinking about it. Or make an AU.
>>46912821
>Or make an AU
ding ding ding, we have a winner
>>46912821
At least they're having a good-natured discussion on it.
And I already made an AU.
>>46912340
That... would be pretty neat actually.
IRC-related
>>46912821
Those are the third and second-best options, respectively. The first best option is to stop playing Battletech completely and go find another game with the depth and amount of fluff Battletech has, which isn't riddled with poor characterizations, inconsistencies, shitty characters who change personalities every couple of pages, and inane stuff that simply makes no sense with the game universe as presented in the core material.
Our choices seem to be Star Wars, Star Trek, Warhammer 40K, RIFTS, and perhaps White Wolf or D&D. Surely one of those games has the depth of fluff, strong characterizations, and focus on verisimilitude that we're all looking for, right?
...right?...
>>46912821
On that note, someone once told me that it was said the writers in Battletech were going to have the Clans invade from the direction opposite the one they did, but that doing such would put the Confederation in a sour position (in regards to it's continued existence as a faction).
Assuming the Clans had invaded from that direction, I wonder how Sun-Tzu, Cadence, Hanse and Thomas would have handled it given their nations would be directly in the path of said Clans.
I need a name for a non-canon band of pirates operating near Marian space in 3145. Any ideas?
>>46913036
>Assuming the Clans had invaded from that direction, I wonder how Sun-Tzu, Cadence, Hanse and Thomas would have handled it given their nations would be directly in the path of said Clans.
VSD would have made peace by nailing all the female Clan Khans.
>>46913036
Sun-Tzu gets assfucked, Thomas and Hanse laugh heartily and hi-five everyone involved.
>>46912990
>depth of fluff, strong characterizations, and focus on verisimilitude that we're all looking for
If you want these things, why do you play Battletech? Fluff is shallow, characters are superficial and the universe is far from something you can expect from human nature
I am here for the robots and robots alone. Everyone else should be here for robots and robots alone too
>>46913043
Porchwalkers.
>>46913043
The Diamond D
Make Dave "Africastle" Konopka as their leader
:^)
>>46913036
And I wonder what would things would have been like if the situation that happened with the Rasalhague Republic (Ghost Bear conquest and integration) had happened with the Capellan Confederation instead.
>>46913066
>Sun-Tzu gets assfucked
Romano. Attention pay you do not.
Also, the FWL gets utterly buttfucked because the thing that made them do well in the 50s in canon was them NOT being up against the clans, and so being free to develop their industry and sell it to the three that were.
>>46913173
>wonder what would things would have
*Wonder what things would have
>>46913187
Clanners? Andurien gives no fucks. Guerra y cuchillo!
>>46913187
Yeah, but now they have an external threat to motivate them and Andurien is in the line of fire.
And they can have the ComGuard run to the aid of Thomas.
>>46913173
>And I wonder what would things would have been like if the situation that happened with the Rasalhague Republic (Ghost Bear conquest and integration) had happened with the Capellan Confederation instead.
The combined state produces so many small economic cars that the entire rest of the inner sphere is in debt from buying them. This debt is so crippling that nobody can afford to wage war. The Pax Fiat ensues, and BT has to skip forwards a few hundred years to the fall of the Fiat League to internal strife.
>>46913036
>Assuming the Clans had invaded from that direction, I wonder how Sun-Tzu, Cadence, Hanse and Thomas would have handled it given their nations would be directly in the path of said Clans.
CC is devoured, Fedcom does perfectly amazing since Hanse is there to shove his victory boner around personally, and writers remember the FWL exists about when the jags are attacking Hesperus.
Always wanted to get into this when I was a kid, but my parents were poor and hated fun. Is now still a good time to get in with this game?
>>46912872
>>46912340
Alright, did this. Even have spares.
I think if anyone survives a few battles, I'll see if I can stick them in battle armour. Got a crappy flatbed truck I think can throw them in the back of for a suitable shitty wagon.
Fuck it, if any survive a single battle in that shitty set-up, promotions!
>>46912761
>Hasek-Davion wasn't present for that one.
I thought he was somewhere in orbit? Either way you've got two legends of the 4th SW present with the Kell Hounds- Daniel Allard and Akira Brahe. Andaforce composed of 1 Veteran 'Mech Regiment (10th Lyran Guard), a full FedCom RCT (9th FedCom) and two Battalions of Kell Hounds who were having all sorts of issues dealing with the Falcon Eyrie Cluster- 50 'Mechs, almost all second-line, and a Clan training cadre to boot.
The Falcon Guard accomplished very little at Twycross, which was significant- they'd maneouvred to a position that the Twycross commanders recognised would doom their attempt and that outcome was prevented solely by Kai's bullshittery in the Gash.
The intel failure was significant but I think the more damning factor in the mission was that the FedCom learned that to match a training cadre they needed the best part of three Regiments, and Victor, Kai, Daniel and Akira to even have a hope of pulling it off. The Falcons were fighting the FedCom toe-to-toe until the Guard were buried.
>But yeah, at the end of the day it's mostly due to OOC requirements that the AFFC had to be dumb.
If it's any consolation, at least the Clans were dumber?
>>46913187
If the FWL was invaded they'd end up doing the hyper industry thing anyway. Plus now they'd have a foe to unite against that threatens more than a simple change of currency. And access to Clan tech from the get-go. Just be the same thing only different.
>>46913516
>Nova Cats start in the FWL
Perfect.
>>46913036
I really don't buy that, given Kerensky's departure point.
On the one hand it has some attractiveness to it since the narrative seems to set the CapCon up for destruction and FASA genuinely seemed surprised at the number of fans who went with factions other than the obviously good-guy FedCom.
On the other hand, it's off in completely the opposite direction to the route Kerensky took when leaving the IS. They could have circled back around, but...
This being said I do firmly believe the FRR was *only* created to be immediately destroyed and thereby show that shit was totally getting real without needing to sacrifice the Lyrans or Dracs to that plot point.
>>46913173
The fiat would form a singularity and suck the BT universe in upon itself.
>>46913043
Have it lead by a former MHAF type who's taken the name/been assigned the codename Vercingetorix by the Ordo Vigilis.
SPACE ROMAN TO THE MAX
>>46913485
>who were having all sorts of issues dealing with the Falcon Eyrie Cluster
They were in a formation. Not all units were engaging them simultaneously, and they won. The only issue they had was the Falcons running away too fast.
>Galen glanced down at his noteputer. "As nearly as we can figure out, the Falcon commander knew something was up when their reinforcements did not come through the Gash. She issued the order to pull her people back so they could slip out of the Plain as evening came on. They did not expect to run into the Ninth F-C and so lost a few 'Mechs there. The Ninth is still pursuing the rest of them, but those damned 'Mechs run very cool, so they're stretching out the range on our people."
>Victor nodded. "Yeah, there's no denying they run cool. I've already had a preliminary report on a heat sink taken from one of their machines. They have some sort of doublechambered heat exchanger and a fluid with a thermal retention factor that's seven-tenths of air itself! The Techs think those units, which are about the size of our own heat sinks, probably are 150 to 200 percent more efficient than ours."
>"Hard to believe we beat them after seeing what they had going for them," Galen agreed. "The prisoners seem rather shocked at the defeat, too, but they've adapted. Mostly they want to know the name of our Clan so they know to whom they owe their allegiance." Cox laughed lightly. "The guards couldn't decide if we were the Clan Davion or Steiner, so they settled on Victor."
It pretty much confirms that hitting garrison units with 4-5 regiments would have shrekt the Falcon defenses.
>>46913585
Would have been better for everyone really. Nova Kitties settle down, get loads of love and support, and fuck up the invaders without having to worry about nip bullshit. Plus they love range games like the FWL does.
>>46913778
>FWL with cERLLs from 3050
Janos Marik is pleased by this development
>>46913585
>>46913778
>Smoke Jags and Nova Cats get the FWL corridor
>Andurien gets out of the League like it always wanted
>inevitable counterattack annihilated Jags years later
>Cats join the SLDF and Thomas gives them the Duchy of Andurien for their efforts
>Duchy of Cats builds Clan tech for the League and challenges Thomas' enemies to trials in Parliament
FUND IT NOW
Planning on making a second line clan invasion star. Leaning Wolf, so im gonna have an Orion IIC in there but I have no idea what else to add that'd be fluffy.
>>46913722
>It pretty much confirms that hitting garrison units with 4-5 regiments would have shrekt the Falcon defenses.
Well, aside from the problem of the Falcons having 22 Clusters. And most of their forces not being shit-tier, barely competent Sibko graduates with SLDF-vintage machines.
And having no way to counter the Aegis-heavy WarShip fleet the Falcons had. With most Clusters having a directly assigned WarShip- the Falcons should have had an Aegis in-system at Twycross according the JFSB TO&E.
Either way you're talking about a significant investment of force for a potentially uncertain result. You'd be mobilising forces roughly equal to 4th SW waves, with attendant economic disruption, to target fewer worlds.
And hoping the writers keep forgetting the WarShips.
>>46912821
>Or make an AU.
I already have. I've even posted it here
>>46913036
>On that note, someone once told me that it was said the writers in Battletech were going to have the Clans invade from the direction opposite the one they did, but that doing such would put the Confederation in a sour position
I severely doubt the writers ever considered it, but it's come up in discussion a lot.
I personally prefer the variant of that concept where we flip the entirety of the periphery, clans AND states, vertically, so as to avoiding the endless fuckshow that is bringing the major periphery states into it
>>46913043
Magnusson' s Marauders: angry descendants of Illyrians who fled the Marian invasion and went pirate
>>46913890
Pretty much any of the SLDF mainstays would work. The Wolves of that era preferred speed to other concerns (the Ice Ferret is literally their most common machine, followed by the Gargoyle) so maybe opt for that. Also energy-based 'Mechs.
Plenty of Crabs, Lancelots, Flashmen, and Exterminators in their force lists. Thugs and Champions too.
>>46913904
>And hoping the writers keep forgetting the WarShips.
I don't see what the big deal about Warships is. All you have to do is keep crashing ASFs into them.
>>46913904
>>46913904
>Well, aside from the problem of the Falcons having 22 Clusters. And most of their forces not being shit-tier, barely competent Sibko graduates with SLDF-vintage machines.
You're not suggesting the implication was to hit every garrison at the same time? And the Falcon Eyrie cluster was a solid second-line unit with omnis in it too. Considering the quality of sibko-trained MechWarriors I wouldn't consider their provisional garrison clusters to be much better since they've never been shown to be (and they wouldn't be any better equipped).
>And hoping the writers keep forgetting the WarShips.
Worked in the books. Besides, at that point the Clans had bid all the warships out of action after Rasalhague, so I'd guess that's why the Aegis supposedly there did nothing. If it was there.
>Either way you're talking about a significant investment of force for a potentially uncertain result.
Well that's war. But luckily Hanse didn't have to make any difficult strategic decisions or really do anything at all because the writers handed the IS a deus ex machina.
>>46913904
>And hoping the writers keep forgetting the WarShips.
They kind of have to; giving the clans WarShips and the IS NOTHING to counter them with was a bad idea, because it leaves you with really two story options: clan Ortillery masturbation, which is shit and boring, and ignoring them, which is a bit silly.
If I were rewriting the naval aspect of the clan invasion, I'd personally move the intro date for cap missile-armed DS/PWS back to 3050-51, as the desperate IS scrambling response to the clan WS, and that by '52, the DC and FedCom would have enough of them that if they went nuclear, they could force a naval stalemate, so as to convince the clans to back off. These PWS would then be used as stopgaps until the real IS WS were ready, then mothballed until the jihad and nukes o'clock
>>46913864
I cant stop cumming
>>46914174
Could you start going?
Somewhere else?
>>46914025
It's a fluff v crunch issue.
If you play it out on the tabletop, you can kill an Aegis with like 18-26 ASFs and it can do all of nothing about it.
If you go by the novels, WarShips are fucking awesome and wipe out swarms of ASF with ease. They can only be challenged by bigger, badder WarShips.
The IS has no WarShips at all until late '57. Bit of an issue.
>>46914028
>You're not suggesting the implication was to hit every garrison at the same time?
The point was that you're mobilising a force of similar size per planet to what the AFFS was using to overwhelm the CapCon in the 4th SW for counter-attacks. It was unsustainable then and nothing's changed in that regard.
>Considering the quality of sibko-trained MechWarriors I wouldn't consider their provisional garrison clusters to be much better since they've never been shown to be (and they wouldn't be any better equipped).
They're about on par but the Falcons didn't deploy PGCs for some time. The first time we have a solid indication of their presence is in Objective Raids. Which has its own issues. Going by Invasion-era material, the Falcons were actually using front-line forces as garrisons, this being part of the reason Twycross was chosen at all since there wasn't supposed to be Front-liners anywhere near the place.
>Well that's war. But luckily Hanse didn't have to make any difficult strategic decisions or really do anything at all because the writers handed the IS a deus ex machina.
That's pretty much every BT plotline though. "And then everyone sat on their hands and waited for the designated protagonist to BTFO the designated antagonist, regardless of how retarded it makes everyone involved look."
So, just got into Battletech with a friend last week. We've come up with our respective commanders
(Self Appointed) Count Nestor Ramikin is a former Solaris Arena champion who's retired and decided to conquer himself an empire to retire in.
His nemesis, Star Captain Berkai Khan, is absolutely not the Khan of the Jade Falcons, but calls himself Khan because his delusions of grandeur are as bad as Nestor's.
Despite their hugely inflated opinions of themselves, the two are locked in a bitter struggle over an inconsequential little planet in the ass end of space that no one else even cares enough about to stop them from fighting.
Sound good?
>>46914250
The point was that you're mobilising a force of similar size per planet to what the AFFS was using to overwhelm the CapCon in the 4th SW for counter-attacks. It was unsustainable then and nothing's changed in that regard.
That's utterly wrong. By the 3050s and 3060s multi-regiment forces were the norm again. They did it in the War of '39 routinely.
>They're about on par but the Falcons didn't deploy PGCs for some time. The first time we have a solid indication of their presence is in Objective Raids. Which has its own issues. Going by Invasion-era material, the Falcons were actually using front-line forces as garrisons, this being part of the reason Twycross was chosen at all since there wasn't supposed to be Front-liners anywhere near the place.
The Falcons deployed PGCs in Revival starting around the 3rd wave, so they would have been in place right when the bloodnamed warriors went back to Clan space.
>That's pretty much every BT plotline though. "And then everyone sat on their hands and waited for the designated protagonist to BTFO the designated antagonist, regardless of how retarded it makes everyone involved look."
Sure, but it doesn't mean we can't add Hanse's sloth to the list (which is what this is all about btw).
>>46914321
Those sound great for a comedy campaign, I like it. Set it on some ass-end former RWR planet just outside lyran space and it's perfect. Maybe they're both looking for an ancient stash of mechs there (though they of course turn out to be industrialmechs at the end)
>>46914250
>The point was that you're mobilising a force of similar size per planet to what the AFFS was using to overwhelm the CapCon in the 4th SW for counter-attacks. It was unsustainable then and nothing's changed in that regard.
Economics is as much a part of the plot as warships and common sense are.
Remember how the shitload of regiments moving about in the war of 3039, the Clan wars, Operation Guerrero and the FCCW didn't collapse anyone's economy like the Sun's was after the 4th war?
>>46914321
a planetwide proto on industrial mech demo derby would be pretty kick ass
>>46914448
>>46914321
Note: Nestor has replaced his mech's computer voice with that of DUNCAN FISHER
>>46913817
Is Janos Herb's self-insert?
>>46914165
But then you have to account for the fact that the IS would never stop building PWS because they're better than warships
>>46914501
>But then you have to account for the fact that the IS would never stop building PWS because they're better than warships
I don't mean those horseshit sub-capital gun psudo-monitors, just shitty mules with Killer Whales taped on.
That, and it'd use the same justification as why the IS didn't go 200% all out on ASFs as a counter, which is that fluff WS are MUCH stonker than TT WS. Alternately, in 3057, the clans remember that you can fit AMS to capital ships, and they do, thereby nerfing missile spam
>>46914480
YES
I need more purple burd/nova cat stuff ASAP
>>46914480
Plz include a battle commentary program
>>46914599
Of course; it's a mix of actual recordings and generated phrases so it never gets old.
>>46914321
Sounds great!
