/btg/ Battletech General!

Like my Blakist women: smoking hot, Terran-grown, and faintly radioactive

I wish Myomer from Battletech existed in our world, it'd make building robot limbs so much easier. A plastic that contracts when put in an electrical current, is near 100% efficient, and lasts thousands of years of continual operation.

>Using a futuristic version of myomer for penis implants...
I see this being a thing for making BBC

keep those manei domini hands off our pure non robot women

Fuck building robots, man. You'd be able to make prosthesis for people who lost or were born without body parts, and everyone could be Adam Jensen.

>explodes when you splash a little petrol on it

>pouring petrol on your robot limbs
What are you, a carsexual?

Speaking of industrialmechs, I remember some of the early dark age lore saying that a lot of battlemechs were actually *converted* into industrialmechs.
Maybe we should do a design challenge? Like industrial conversions of common mechs

m-maybe

Dammit, the Canopians are posting again.

Can't stomach the shit. Literally. I chew through cola like an MG in rapid-fire mode though. Dat truck-fucker is an Elsie, bro.

Why did you pick the faction(s) you did to main? If you main a faction, that is.

Me, I started out FWL because I thought their fluff was interesting. But after a few years of garbage mechs and no good tanks I went over to Davion. Haven't regretted it, even with the current fluff situation. Lots of great mechs to pick from.

PHONECOMPANYFOREVER

TUKAYYIDBESTDAYOFMYLIFE

CLANSGOHOME

>maining factions in Battletech

You are missing 70% of the fun if you don't play multiple factions

In Macross 7 they re-purposed a mess of old mechs / destroids into construction equipment.
>My Archer drills will pierce the heavens!

I started when I was a kid through The Crescent Hawk's Inception with being a Steiner guy, but when the Fed Com Civil War happened I felt so upset I went Fed Suns all the way.
I also do mercs from time to time, but I don't limit myself. I will gladly play any other faction if I am to role play the bad guys in a scenario. My favorite villain roles are Dracs and Clans. But then again, I was the type to love playing Nod with friends in Command & Conquer just because.

>coffee
>not double cocoa

I 'main' taurians (though I definitely play mercs more often). What got me was the fact that I fucking love westerns and periphery 2e was my first real battletech lore book; the Colonial Marshals and general westernness hooked me completely.
My other 'main' for a long time was the FWL, because FM:FWL was also one of my early purchases and they also seemed cool, especially the Knights Of The Inner Sphere and Regulan Hussars
This was in like 2003 or so? I didn't know anything about post-99 lore or the DA, so needless to say, getting into the wider lore later was a bit sad and disappointing

As stated elsewhere, I'm a foreverGM so I kinda play a bit of everything. Each faction has its own advantages: Dracs let me do whacky shit (yes I have a Panther company, why do you ask?), Lyrans let me play like an utter bozo using ultra-heavy troops, with Davions I can take really lightweight forces and play a very tight tactical game, and so on.

As a PC I like weirdo factions, which also means I like dead ones 99% of the time. I play a lot of mercs, have some Blood Spirits (I like protomechs and second-liners, what can I say?), and I have a force of Santander's Killers because space pirates are awesome. It mostly comes down to liking the unit choices and tactical options provided by a force. Basically it's some combination of interesting force >limitations< (like pirates using PAF shitters) and interesting fluff or color schemes.

Mercs because of flexibility. But to make things interesting the origins of the unit started in the Periphery, ending up to become quite successful.

Straight black, usually. I do use the thin mint (the girl scout cookies) creamer sometimes.

Funny, I just usually use the girl scout troop leader instead.

FWL because I like range games and units that need to work together.

Unfortunately I eventually figured out that Battletech doesn't really support either of those well, the FWL gets shit on or forgotten about, and that I like elite pilots.

So now I mostly play Hell's Horses.

>range games
>not supported well
do you even play the range brackets
hint: the secret to LGRs is to put the target in your medium bracket but to stay in their long bracket

do the same thing with SNPPCs, but it's playing the "sit at 9 hexes" game so you're in short but they're in med/long

>range games are supported he says
>while talking about medium range and nine hexes

Yeah, I want to shoot people when they're 23 hexes away, not six.

The problem is that it's virtually impossible to stop anyone who wants to get close to you from doing so.

Lyrans because I could be Social General. Seriously, the finer points of tactics are lost on me. I just want to play with my mini robots and shoot other mini robots, I don't give a rats ass if I win or lose.

Im a fwl guy, but this is me as well

I picked Clan Jade Falcon because I was an impressionable young grade schooler when that cartoon came out.

Clan Wolf has to be a close second tho. Would've originally gone Smoke Jaguar had I not heard they got wiped to extinction.

New to battletech goys with the starter kit coming soonish
Should I pick a faction to use (and paint my mechs) or should I stay something like a mercenary company?
Wouldnt mind being a pirate/bandit
>Pic unrelated

ded

...

Settle down freebirth. That booty is only for coupling with those of genetic worth. You acknowledge this quiaff?

neg star colonel, I cannot comply. the ancient urges are too strong

I commend your bravery freeborn, but you stand little chance against her in the circle of equals. However I can not rightly stand in the way of one so willing to strive for glory against the odds. Good luck Mechwarrior.

Until you get a faction or two you like, you could paint them in more neutral schemes like forest, desert, arctic or what have you. You could always put those Fed Sun logos on later (because I know you will join the best team sooner or later.)

Whatever happened to the Grand Titan, anyways? Is it still being produced in the DA?

AFAICT the line was destroyed in the Jihad and it was never restored to production. Objectives: FWL lists four machines in production there with the company trying to figure out where to go next.

What's your favorite model of Wolverine?

I like the -6M. The simple but effective nature of it makes me pick it over the -6R every time.

The -6K. I like the extra armour and the laser fit, and the lack of jumpiness doesn't bother me.

The line was wrecked when Keystone got taken away from the Blakists in the late-3070's. We don't know if they ever made it again. It wasn't one of the 4 lines brought back online (Phoenix Stinger, Thunderbolt, Battlemaster, and Jackal) in the 3080's.

Unfortunately, the Wolves hold Keystone as of the late DA, as well as Kalidasa, Stewart, and a ton of other key FWL industrial worlds.

Erik Feraru in TRO:3150 apparently burned most of Earthwerks Keystone to the ground with old school infernos loaded in his mech to deny it to the wolves all while killing the better part of two wolf stars of mechs. They were so impressed, when they finally captured him, they bumped him right back from bondsman to mechwarrior and slapped him in a garrison cluster.

It also seems the wolves have magically gotten the Battlemaster line back online at least to start cranking out their mixtech monster. Not to mention the Tomahawk II. That doesn't exactly square with all the FM:3145 comments about them being short on technicians and labor, and leaving almost all of their manufacturing machinery behind in their old OZ. Not to mention the force deployment where they only have 1.2 Clusters of Omnis in their entire Touman.

The whole "Wolves slapping locals into garrison clusters" thing will come back to haunt them, right? It just seems stupid to be consequence free.

Considering it's almost 80% of their paper strength at this point and the reports of the era say the locals have no interest in being Clanners, I sure hope so.

I have 2 request:
a mech with LBX10, hand for punching, JJ and maybe a backup energy weapon (basically a mini Victor, but assaults are nice too)
an fun or reliable AC2 mech, don't care if those guns are normal, ultra, or LBX

You guys ever get into BT fanfic?

fanfiction.net/s/110569/1/

m.fanfiction.net/s/110569/1/Blue-Skye-Dreams

Other link didn't seem to be working

Fuck only knows.

For all the talk about the Dark Age being a move to sweep away all the dangling plot threads and make things more cohesive they were probably worse at it than FASA, which really only left the mystery of Morgan's killer and the Wolverines unclear.

In the Dark Age alone you get Bannon, the Freeminders, what's happening with the Home Clans, the Wolves, the Blood Avatar thing, the HPG plague...

I would lay at least even odds of the problem being ignored. And not because of lolwulffiat, but just because it's what they do every other time.

Was it more likely that Loki actually killed Morgan or was it ROM?
I can't think of any better options.

Also I think the mystery of the jumpship tracking Task Force Serpent to be equally frustrating in the lack of answers. It's clear with their 1000 light jumpships and that jumpship gun the Republic got working that WoB was really into KF stuff.

So after reading up most of the plot for BT (except jihad as it seemed retarded), is the dark ages as expanded as the other eras?

For the first: Royal Shadow Hawk (2Hb), Snake, Icarus II and Hatchetman 5S/6S. The Shad being my preferred of the bunch.

For the second, I find old school Blackjacks are always nice.

>an fun or reliable AC2 mech, don't care if those guns are normal, ultra, or LBX

BJ-1 Blackjack. Decent armor, air mobile, packing 4 MLs to trash anything that gets too close and a pair of AC2s. Only drawback is that it's slow for a medium mech.

what's the deal with the Shadow Hawk 2D?

>what's the deal with the Shadow Hawk 2D?
youtube.com/watch?v=_V2sBURgUBI

I was thinking that too.

What's the deal with Aerotech food?

Hey, /btg/, what is the best resource if I want to make my own maps for battletech? Is HMMap good enough to pirate, or should I go for something else?

Enforcer 5D is another good choice. At least if it has a hand actuator. I really can't remember at the moment.

It doesn't. Only Enforcer with a hand actuator is the 7D, the DA one with the torso mounted cockpit.

Main:
Wolf, FedSuns

Secondary:
Bear/Rasalhague, Coyote, Lyran, Oriente, Trinity Worlds, Merc

Past:
Terran Hegemony

>Clan Wolf
>picking a subfaction of a House too
literally worst kind of player

>Hey, /btg/, what is the best resource if I want to make my own maps for battletech? Is HMMap good enough to pirate, or should I go for something else?
HMMap is the best thing rick rasley ever turned out, and is still the best battletech mapping program

user's just throwing the lapdogs a bone.

What was the final tally on how many people Victor Steiner Davion boned?
Wasn't it in the fifties or something?

It makes sense. I've lost my taste for SPA and tech bonuses, myself, but I understand wanting to improve and individualize units, especially over the course of a campaign.

Sorry I couldn't get back to you yesterday. Followup game design questions:

Is there a downside to disallowing tech or SPA bonuses from stacking, or to changing how TMM works in 2d6 (rescaling it, capping it, etc)?

Switching to a bigger die does create space for more tech and SPAs, but if new tech and SPAs keep getting made, won't that space fill up again and put us right back where we are now?

A side effect of adding space to the top and bottom of the die curve is that everything in the middle (decisions about range, terrain and heat from units with few tech or SPA bonuses) have correspondingly less effect on the outcome of their rolls. So:
-Are you okay with mid-speed units getting less out of their defensive movement modifiers?
-Would you increase some kinds of modifiers to scale with the new die range--for instance, raise short/medium/long range modifiers to +0/+3/+6?

two, one out of politics (omi) and one who had friendzoned him then gave in out of pity (isis)

manlets...

I don't even remember if he made it to 10. Fifty sounds right as a total count for stackpole protagonists, though

There's also the Mauler -3R: 3/5/3, twin LBX10 and LRM 15, small laser on the head, but it has no hands
Pretty nice, weren't for the lack of CASE somehow

A bit late, but that's what initiative is for. You move your things that you don't give a shit about bracketing first, and your braketingwhores last. If you have two or three bracketmechs then you'll get at least one working right even if the other guy decides to dedicate his turn to fucking your brackets.

>What's your favorite model of Wolverine?
I'm a bit of a grog, but you can't deny how goddamned sexy the -9M is. The -9K and -8C aren't bad loadouts either if you're running a c3 lance.

>an fun or reliable AC2 mech, don't care if those guns are normal, ultra, or LBX
If you're down with RACs, the Davions slap a few onto Wolverines in the Jihad. Backed up with decent armor, pulses and six-packs, so it's not incompetent in close combat, although they're not really the best design out there. If you're just looking for lulz, the Wobbies also put together an Annihilator with like seven of the damned things.

Other than that, it's pretty much Mauler or Blackjack.

As far as your other request, has the right of it. You could also try the Centurion or Wolf Trap, although those give up one hand to the cannon.

>what's the deal with the Shadow Hawk 2D?
The Davions used to have a Mech called the Swordsman. It sucked less than the -2D. Then the line got trashed and they went "fuck it" and slapped the same guns on the Shad, and damned if patty things like "armor" or "maneuverability" got in the way.
This is, of course, a retcon, but it makes more sense than "Uh... our designers caught the retarded?"

>it's a Mechwarrior gets bondsman'd by the clans, fucks a bunch of people and becomes a warrior again episode
Seriously, is there any battletech fanfiction that ISN'T that?

what more can we ask for, really?

A story about a man and his mech
He loves to pilot it, stomping around, punching, shooting , and doing things like he himself were a giant, getting happy with a good performance, sad when it gets heavily damaged
It's written like a children's tale
the title? "Mac and his King Crab"

>The Davions used to have a Mech called the Swordsman
The Swordsman is a fucking sweet mech and needs a mini ASAP.

Welll, there's that one series about an aerospace pilot (!) who gets with an AI WarShip, which is pretty good.
There's several variations on the theme of faction wank, ranging from drakensis and his many variations on
>hanse davion teams up with X to fuck the Capcon even worse
All the way to MA and his maximum scorpion shit. Then there's JA baker, who has produced some funny but badly in need of a proofreader comedy stuff.

When playing Successor States is there any reason not to play Davion? Or even Steiner I guess?

Steiner stronk, deal with it faggots.

>drakensis
What the fuck? He does battletech? I only knew him to do weird avatar fanfic
Small fuckin world, eh

Because you like playing a faction that's interesting in more ways than "we won big in grogtech days".

I agree wholeheartedly.

>When playing Successor States is there any reason not to play Davion? Or even Steiner I guess?
Yeah. Not being a min-maxing twink.

Less-flippantly, if you're playing with a historical gamer mindset, and building scenarios that go beyond "go2woods, apply gauss directly to the forehead", any faction and era can be fun to play. Battletech was created by, and caters to, historicals guys more than the tournament clique. As such, some of the "sides" are unbalanced. Adding in TacOps rules helps balance that, as does getting away from all-mech-all-the-time gameplay; one of Davion's key weaknesses is their lack of anti-vehicle and anti-infantry firepower, which doesn't matter in the slightest in an all-'Mech game. Likewise, most of the shit the Liaos get up to (night raids, minefields, artillery, guerillas and irregulars) aren't supported in intro or TW-level play, which unnaturally weakens them. There's also the fact that most people don't actually play Davion or FedCom forces fluffily, and just snag the biggest and best units from the TROs by the handful. By that metric, the Liaos (who have virtually no assault manufacturing for YEARS, and favor the AC/20 when they do) and Dracs (who have a lot of overpriced turds in that bracket, plus optimizing all their Heavies for speed instead of firepower) get fucked. The FWL has solid units but nobody pays attention to them, so it's kind of a wash there.

As stated upthread, I play pirates >specifically< because I like the challenge. It lets me use batshit insane, non-optimal customs, or fuck around with Primitives, technicals, and shitty vees. Meanwhile the social general across the table from me is synthesizing pure NaCl by the tonne wasting Gauss shots on mechanized infantry because it's the only thing he ever has LoS to for more than ten seconds. I like there to be an element of >risk< to my games, so if I do something stupid it hurts.

I'd read it.

But I'd also read the gratuitous clansmut too.

>an aerospace pilot (!) who gets with an AI WarShip
man and robot waifu is the best ship of all

What solid units does the FWL have? I thought they got shit like the Dracs.

It's not about "How can I shoot him at 9 hexes effectively" but "I don't want them to get to 9 hexes to begin with"

And there is literally nothing you can do to stop people from getting close. Even mines are only semi-effective. BattleTech is ruled by short-ranged shooting, because everything gets better the closer you are. For example, even LRMs have "the sweet spot" at 7 hexes where they're most likely to hit. Same with Gauss Rifles or anything else with a min range.

Part of the reason ERML boats are so effective is because keeping people out of 8 hexes or so is virtually impossible.

>tfw you play Smoke Jaguars and Ghost Bears but your gf plays Wolves and Nova Cats

ha ha time for HIGH IMPACT SEXUAL VIOLENCE

As a ForeverGM, I play a LOT of OPFOR. I did back in the military too; I did a detachment as a Red-team trainer for boarding parties, as well as playing OPFOR in a couple of Harpoon games with the junior officers. Playing a force that's designed to lose a stand-up fight provides some interesting tactical challenges. Do I send in a suicide team to knock out the objective? Do I go for maximum drama with the PCs rather than the tactical goal? What special rules will make this scenario more fun for all of the players? Am I role-playing or going for a specific "feel" for the fight?

It's kind of freeing, in a way, to try to lose with maximum style points rather than obliterate the opposition. Achieving your mission in the teeth of brutal opposition is way more rewarding than a cakewalk, and that's true of both the PCs and the GM. We still tell stories about the time my Mad Dog pilot took down a Davion Guards Assault Lance before being gunned down by a Griffin on a Hail Mary kick - but that diversion gave the OPFOR time to retreat with the VIP they'd kidnapped..

It's all about the scenario play and campaigns, is what I'm saying. Any game gets boring after a few dozen tournament-style slugfests.

If you want to dip your toes, I suggest hitting up the scenario-building chapter of Total Warfare, and incorporating Forced Withdrawal and/or Morale into your games. If you wanna go whole-hog, roll up a couple companies with Xotl's RATs and play a few games trying to do the best you can with >what you have

The Awesome is one of their signature 'Mechs. Their Unseen updates are some of the best in the game, and they get boatloads of Omnis later on. They have the luxury of not being right on the Clan front and also not desperately XIN SHENGing their way out of a brutal gangbang for twenty years. In the Invasion, they develop the Wraith (one of the nastiest Mediums ever created), have access to the Solaris 'Mechs, and use a number of interesting Heavies and Assaults. Until they develop the LGR, they have a fondness for interlocking lasers and LRMs with the LB-10X, which may not be as brutal on the headcapping front as the FedSuns shit but certainly out-shines the "SHS and ERPPC" thing the Combine has going. Dig into the MUL and record sheets a bit (especially 3085:Project Phoenix) and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

>And there is literally nothing you can do to stop people from getting close.
Well, not in lance-on-lance against jumpers using slow-ass 'Mechs. But you can fuck with their movement pretty hardcore in terrain-heavy maps in larger games, and initiative sinking is a thing for a reason. You can't stop everything from closing all the time, but picking fast units on your part can help. So does sending in something like a Nightsky to buttfuck them while you pull back - this isn't D&D, you >can< shoot into close combat and most opponents would rather choke up on an easy target than deal with your backfield.

Play Republic of the Sphere then

This is waaay more than I planned on writing, but whatever. I'm high as balls on Ritalin and there's not much on my plate.

Anyway.
One of the places the FWL really starts to shine is in the Civil War, when they get some really goddamned nasty heavy cavalry units, and perfect a few of the earlier designs. The OTL-8M is a near-perfect TSM heacapper/brawler, they tack an HPPC onto the Hermes, give the Albatross the Gauss it always wanted, and generally unfuck all their bad designs just in time to go down the crapper in the Jihad. Don't forget their Blakie Lend-Lease either, some of that shit is evil.

On the vehicle front the Mariks rarely have the >best< designs, but they have >good< ones. And a lot of them. They also have Qwickscell's largest facility, so when all else fails it can be LB-5X Vedette time.

I remember a star wars one as well, oddly enough.

I have two design challenges for anyone interested. Both come from looking at the Marik made Wolverine 6M.

Make a Succession Wars Marik variant (both called 2M here) of the Griffin and of the Shadow Hawk, since they build both.
Hard mode: something besides a "PPC shortage" refit for the Griffin.

>You can't stop everything from closing all the time, but picking fast units on your part can help.

A major issue with trying to fight effectively at range is that you have to sit still to get better shots. So if you're shooting at an opponent who is trying to get close at range 20, for example, your mods might be...

Your shot: 4(pilot)+4(range)+2(TMM)+1(Woods)
His shot: 4(pilot)+4(range)+2(running)+1(Woods)

You're exactly the same, but if you move at all, you're worse off, because he doesn't care but it's something you need to land.

>So does sending in something like a Nightsky to buttfuck them while you pull back...most opponents would rather choke up on an easy target than deal with your backfield.

My experience is that this is just throwing away BV. It's better to just unload what you can at range and then fight as a group at short-range instead of feeding the enemy a mech at a time while your range units ineffectually try to shoot while running away.