/btg/ - Battletech General

Then comes the CGL derivative 4X model.

Minis of both are made, legal 4X comes first.

Nscale versions of the shimrauder have a limited and quiet production, then pirates bootleg the design in 6mm scale.

Random MWO styled version in the mean time.

Classics project quietly starts. Warhammer comes first, then the Marauder.
My previous concepts are ultimately thrown out for another fresh look.

Lineart eventually drops.

And a cover cameo.

Derp

Sculpting happens.

And finally a mini that you can't buy, yet :P

Guys has that project on the Polish/Canadian OG periphery faction continued?

Good job Mr. SS, your work on the unseens is quite nice compared to how the MWO unseen look

>Marauder Edition

Hey! I can contribute!

When did Dana grow her hair out?

your MAD is awesome looking

>Trying to design a Mech
>Get advice from /btg/

OK, so looking through Tech Readout 3058, and for the Inner Sphere, I don't see anything smaller than an assault mech with two gauss rifles. It seemed like a good idea - no hand or lower arm actuators, so I can flip around and shoot behind me, C.A.S.E. in each arm to prevent total mech disintegration if someone looks at a gauss rifle the wrong way... and plenty of lasers in case the enemy wants to move closer for some reason. It seemed cooler in my head than how it looks on paper.

It's still a work in progress. No idea how to fill out the fluff, though, and I'm pretty sure all the good names are taken. Maybe I should start considering names in other languages...

Gauss Hunchie, yes or no?

but you cant brawl with a gauss rifle

Agreed, hunchies are for getting close.

Champion II? Because damned if those arms don't remind me of the Champion.
And are you looking through original 3058? Because the Avatar G mounts them, but it's in 3058 Upgrade, not the original. And there are few others dual gauss heavies in other TROs.

>C.A.S.E. in each arm to prevent total mech disintegration if someone looks at a gauss rifle the wrong way
IS tech can't mount standard CASE in arms though, only torsos. Are you literally doing everything by hand? Becasue some of the programs in the OP like Solaris Skunk Works or Megameklab make this shit a whole simpler, in part because the generally don't let you do things the rules don't allow.

> It seemed cooler in my head than how it looks on paper.
It's a good unit, just kind of boring because of how good it is.

Snub nose PPC hunchie with a capacitor

I'd call it the Corner Case

...

>Champion II? Because damned if those arms don't remind me of the Champion.

I could consider that. It would be about as boring as the design itself, so maybe that's the name it deserves.

>And are you looking through original 3058? Because the Avatar G mounts them, but it's in 3058 Upgrade, not the original. And there are few others dual gauss heavies in other TROs.

Yeah, my copy of 3058 has a primary configuration, then alternates A-C, none of which include a gauss rifle. There's the Nightstar, but it's 95 tons!

>>C.A.S.E. in each arm to prevent total mech disintegration if someone looks at a gauss rifle the wrong way
>IS tech can't mount standard CASE in arms though, only torsos.

Oh yeah! Duh!

>Are you literally doing everything by hand?

Yes.

>Becasue some of the programs in the OP like Solaris Skunk Works or Megameklab make this shit a whole simpler, in part because the generally don't let you do things the rules don't allow.

I think I have a designer program here with the 3050 rules in it. Shame on me for not using it. This idea was just rattling around in my head.

What about AC-20 Orion or Cataphract? Would you roll one?

People stopped toying with it some time last thread. Its still out there but I think people have paused for breath. I know its still fresh in my mind and I intend to continue work on it.

You know that hunchie is just getting in position for a point blank ac/20 shot.

I built one, called the HBK-2CS4C. Mounts a Gauss and an ER Large. Pretty spicy, give it a shot.

An Orion, sure, but I don't use Capellan crap.

Flamers have abysmal range, and can only deal heat or damage per turn, not both. Flamers are for burninating infantry, or for setting fires, assuming fire and smoke rules are in play for your tabletop game.

MWO any good or even any fun?

Not really. If you want a slow paced tactical shooter, try Dreadnought.

It's... okay, in small doses.

Play a few matches here and there, then log off and come back at a later date.

If you play it like an arena shooter with your favourite mechs, it's fun.

Try and make it into anything else, you'll end up frustrated.

How about a little design challenge to revive the thread?
It was observed that the periphery was exceptionally short on new designs in the 3050-60 period, so how about designing and posting some?

>It was observed that the periphery was exceptionally short on new designs in the 3050-60 period, so how about designing and posting some?

No. They shouldn't have any new designs in general and certainly no new designs until the CapCon intereferes with their fiat magic to build new factories. The periphery is supposed to be shit, so keep it that way.

Not to be as much of an ass as , but canonically the Periphery has no native access to a lot of Lostech until the Trinity Alliance and is also fluffed as having issues with production- the Taurians building a new 3035-flavour Hatchetman line and the Marsshall are both big honking giant deals.

This means Intro tech only, and most Introtech niches have been done to death.

After 3063 or whatever it was they start gaining access to stuff rapidly but for the era you're interested in you're kinda shit out of luck.

Sounds kinda interesting. You have any guidelines in mind?

Step 1: Buy old Banshees.
Step 2: Buy field refit kits from the FWL.
Step 4: Upgrade.

If George Hasek didn't turn into a retard and die, what do you guys think he'd have gotten up to in and after the jihad?

Making sure the Capellan March part of the AFFS didn't follow Yvonne along into retardville.

So Syrtis Fusilier RCTs while everyone else goes full LCT, probably doing like the Liaos and hording gear to rebuild formations. (Why not the 1st Kathil Uhlans to remind everyone of Morgan Hasek-Davion's vigilance against the Capellans?)

But that wouldn't happen because it would involve Xin Sheng being slighted in some way.

I just think it's funny how members of House Hasek disappeared entirely and when you try to ask about it on the OF the writers literally mock you. Quality customer interaction.

He would have just died in the Jihad regardless.

Very nice m8, thanks

Here's your reward:

i.4cdn.org/gif/1474705684942.webm

Blah blah blah AU and everything, but my thinking is that he'd spend pretty much all of his post-jihad time making sure his march is ready for the inevitable capellan attack.
Some ideas I came up with are
>selling AFFS mechs that are due to be scrapped for treaty reasons to 'scapyards' which are owned by "veterans' social clubs"
>convincing GM to rebuilt some of their destroyed kathil lines on an independent world in the near-periphery that isn't subject to whatever disarmament treaties that yvonne signed with stone
>buying up large quantities of surplused retrotech and new-builds from the periphery and mothballing them
>(these ones are adventure hooks for if I ever get to run this goddamn stuff)
>rumored to be bidding on an ex-WoB WarShip that's being sold on the black market
>allegedly stockpiling nuclear weapons
>building a secret mechwarrior academy somewhere in the fronc reaches
>plotting with literally everyone against house liao

Probably would have died to some Blakist bullshit while riding in with the cavalry to break the siege of New Avalon. That's not what I want to happen, but it's what I think would be written by TPB.

Slightly unrelated but
>tfw I just realized Sword of Sedition was written by Coleman
>a pure Suns and Levin novel
That's so fucking strange.

Insufficient LB-10Xs.

You could also have him buying up small mercenary groups in the Periphery or making a deal with someone willing to sell surplus to anyone like the Diamond Sharks/Calderon Protectorate. Word of Blake and Comstar mechs would be cheap because of the bad rep so you might see the rare Grim Reaper or Buccaneer in a lance.

I think you meant insufficient LGRs. He did say FWL refit kits...

>LGRs
>In the 3050s
>In the Periphery

>small mercenary groups in the Periphery or making a deal with someone willing to sell surplus to anyone like the Diamond Sharks/Calderon Protectorate
AU stuff being what it is, there isn't really a Calderon Protectorate, but I've got him buying up pretty much all of the TC's 'no questions asked' exports (no nuclear war between the two and fellow anti-capellan xin sheng casualty Jeff Calderon running the show there makes that relationship merely slightly uneasy rather than 100% homicidal), plus stuff from filtvelt, the magistacy and even a bit from the froncs.
Good idea with the diamond sharks, though. I completely forgot about their post-jihad 'anyone anywhere anytime' sales policy

I just use Solais Skunkwerks, Makes the process much much simpler, allowing you to choose parts while the system automates the math, and making adjustments to designs is easy as hell

solarisskunkwerks.com/downloads

You'll want the Program here
solarisskunkwerks.com/downloads/SSW_0.6.83.1.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

And the Master Unit list here
solarisskunkwerks.com/downloads/SSW Master.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

This program also makes it very easy to find and print record sheets of desired mechs

Guys, what are the heavies you usually roll with?
Do you often use customized units?
Pic related, my favored gal

Whammy and Black Knight.

OMG! It's a mech that's *not* Unseen!

But user, that screenshot is from MegaMekLab.

Hard to say no to Orions and Thuds, especially since they're both nice generalists that you can throw in to most any situation. Though the Orion doesn't get upgraded nearly as well as the Thud does.

It's BattleTech, not "Battletech".

Thud, Archers, Warhammers and Marauders forever. Merlins, too. After 3055, the Bandersnatch joins the list, as does the herc and Cestus.
I use customs reasonably often, due to my fanatical hatred of unCASE'd ammo and torsobombs

I use whatever I can get my hands on, which usually means an Archer or a Rifleman. I don't customize unless forced to most of the time, just for the fact you have to repair so much in a campaign and screwing up your customization rolls can jack up a perfectly good ride.
>I'll just replace this AC/5 with an AC/10 and rip out some bits for the difference
>Oh, it jams on anything less than a 6 forever and has a permanent +1 to hit unless I fix this cockup at a licensed mech dealership

If I get a choice, then Thud/Warhammer/Marauder

thats why i make sure my techs are top notch

So do I, but there usually aren't a bunch of really good ones for hire within easy distance of the kind of dumps that hire sub-batallion level mercs to garrison their whole world. Or worse, you have a state unit with assigned techs and most of your field crew suck while the golden boys are relaxing in the dropship you won't see for a month. That's if you actually make it to the rendezvous on time.

You can tell my GM likes to put the pressure on outside of combat.

But that feeling when you successfully mount a PPC and some javelin arms on a trashed urbanmech in between battles with nothing but technician Steve and his magical field gantry with your mechwarriors working as his astechs? Priceless.

This is why i played a genius field mechanic instead of a pilot in the last campaign i was in. Sitting on the sidelines during all the hot mecha on mecha action was all worth it when i successfully refitted my entire assigned lance of succession war era shit mechs with turbo quirked clan salvage. Them tubeborns didnt know what hit em

Which Archers do you guys usually deploy?
I have always found them a bit too explodey, or fragile

In 3025, I use both the regular -2R and a simple custom that drops the LRMs to 15s to add extra heat sinks. After 3050, I love the-4M, often modified by dropping the art IV for extra lasers, as well as a dirt simple -2R upgrade that drops one ton of armor to add CASE and DHS.
None of these have ever gone wrong on me.
Also, one bit of maybe-bad advice for making archers less explosive in 3025 it to either do refits replacing some of the ammo with something else, like heat sinks or MLs, or being willing to take shots at longer ranges and worse odds than you're used to

Bog standard 2R. The 2K runs too hot for me and I'm a guy that loves riding the heat curve. I hold them back until I run them dry, usually. They key I've always found to successfully using explody machines is to make them a less tempting target than something else. A hunchback is worth its weight in gold for a purpose like this. Oh, and don't be afraid to hotload your LRM's. In a CASEless machine, the advantages are insane for relatively little drawback.

Later on the 4M is a gem, the steiner srm and narc ones are never very good, goons are goonsclusive so pretty irrelevant to me, the kuritan upgrades to the 2K are garbage until the 8K which is a totally different kind of machine, the liao stealth archer is good but a little too expensive BV-wise for my taste. The royal is also excellent but its a royal. The periphery rocket one is hilarious.

I'm a big fan of customs, so aside from modding the -2R with 15 pods to reduce heat concerns and up the endurance, I use pic related when the 3050s roll around.

Or if you're feeling Blakist, this one.

this is gorgeous dude.

-4M master race.

What battlemech and it's variants do you guys think is the best just stock?

Almost all the Hunchbacks, Griffin, Catapult, Javelin, Thug, Thunderbolt are the ones which comes to mind

Things with hands decent movement and armor, and a good weapons load. So basically something like this minus the catapult.

Best at what? Deathkilling would be something like the Annihilator or Hellstar. General utility would be one of the 55-ton trio or a Thunderbolt or something. It really depends on what it needs to be the best *at*.

Literally a poor surat's Mad Dog

Define best.
The thunderbolt and pretty much all of it's variants are exceptionally good at what they're trying to do, which is be utility ass-kickers

The nightstar, devastator, pillager and thunderhawk and hellstar are cheesily good stock at just plain killing shit

You just gave me a horrible new idea.

Prototype Light Gauss Rifle: When fired, roll 2d6. On a 2, the capacitor banks explode, causing the same damage as a normal critical hit and destroying the weapon.

The only good stock Mechs are those which mount at least 95% of their maximum armor load, carry no explosive ammo (with a specific exemption for AC/20 ammo or Guass Rifles), have a standard engine, and are capable of dealing at least 1/3rd of their mass in damage beyond 18 hexes and at least half their mass in damage inside of 9 hexes.

Very, very, few stock Mechs are good.

Hold on to your autism, user

>Very, very, few stock Mechs are good.

I think what you mean is that very few are *optimised.*

There's no difference. A design that is not optimized is not "good" by definition.

...

>Hands needed

Flipping arms doesn't come up much, then?

>that body posture
more like Monte Crook, somebody call chiropractor for this man

I am doing some heavy customization to a Marauder/King Krab hobo-mash-up on Scorpion legs.

We're on a desert world and there's a cult of speed tailing us, we need 360* rotation on atleast four flamers per hand, not counting those AC/20's for anti-mech Cockpit Punching.

>Doesn't have machinegun knees or exploding knees.
0/10

New TtS today, I promise to upload it sometime in this weekend

Easily the best of the bunch. It has rules for fucking giant crystals, the kind of rule I wanted since that Mechwarrior 2 mission

>giant crystals
HA HA TIME FOR TIBERIUM

This sexy beast, Jump Jets, good heat management, and a LRM for when you're getting in close.

Alright goys, important question. If you are shooting at an enemy mechs left or right side, do you hit their rear torso armor? Played against a new person today and we had played in two different ways.

Literally a timeless classic.

Nope. You have to be in their rear arc (prior to any torso twisting) to hit rear locations.

Really? I always played that if you were hitting their left or right side the opposite sides armor and central armor were rear hits. Also does torso twisting decide which part you hit at all?

As I have always read it, the front.

Looking through the various rulebooks this game has had going back to 3rd edition, I can't find anything that explicitly says hits to the left or right side hit the front torso armor. I can see why someone might think it could hit the rear, since side facings are on the 'back' half of the hex.

The example spread across pages 114-120 of Total Warfare actually has shots against a 'mech's left side hitting torso locations, but never explicitly says they hit the front. There are actually similar (and much shorter) examples in the BMR, Compendium, and 3rd ed rules, but none of them come right out and say it hits the front.

That said, note that the only place that mentions 'rear' on the hit location table is the Front/Rear column. I'd think if it was intended that side hits struck the rear armor, the entries on those columns would say 'Rear Right Torso' instead of 'Right Torso', and so on.