/btg/ Battletech General!

The only ones they took were the ones who were former FWL commands. It's in Field Report FWLM.

>The newer regiments, as former FWLM formations turned Blakist
>intelligence has indicated a large number of moles and Regulan SAFE operatives are being inserted with every new wave of recruits, keeping a wary eye on these “immigrant” troops, lest they prove to be enemy sleepers.

Apparently this stuff was written between JHS:Terra and Final Reckoning where the Regulans going full planet buster was reserved for the MD rather than any Blakist in general. Though we already knew they would happily wipe out any Blakist they could get their hands on because of the Dark Age material.

Name your favorite 65 ton mech and your favorite 45 ton mech.

Phawk/Thud

Special mention for the Blackjack and Catapult

So...all of them?
>Has enough armor to take a beating

Visually some do, but in terms of construction the cockpit is still in one place.

Hellbringer, Ice Fridge

The colors of her sword, clothes and hair, to be more specific.

And Lester devotes a significant amount of Regulan GDP to hunting down "Blakists" in 3145, and gets TRIGGERED anytime something remotely Blakist looking appears.

It would be like the Russian military taking in Chechen guerillas wholesale.

Also having half you regiment think the other half is a bunch of nazi-plus tier traitors probably isn't good for unit cohesion.

As far as I can figure, they stupidly gutted the Regulans in the assault on Oriente that made no sense back in '70 on top of the first disastrous assault on Gibson. So after the final Regulan battles on 2nd Gibson to Circinus, there's no reason people who had largely sat on their ass like Oriente or Marik-Stewart, shouldn't have rolled over them without reinforcements. They just decided to be retarded and pull those reinforcements from the collapsing Protectorate forces.

I could maybe see them doing the Sirian Lancer thing since the Lancers were such a storied Marik unit, especially with Titus wanting some general FWL cred outside Regulus to stake his claim as Captain General, but the rest is just silly.

Also you don't need quotations around Blakists for Lester. The man killed a bunch of genuine ones in the 3120's and was so good at identifying them, that Jessica's falseflag just made him waste time personally checking it out for a couple weeks of transit. Once he had his boots on the ground of the world he had it figured out in just a couple days.

Anyone got TtS: Iron Land or Spotlight: Stone's Trackers to share for us yet?

P-Hawk, Catapult

>They just decided to be retarded
Sadly sums up most of the writing with regards to the FWL in the Jihad.

Whattup?

How does one start Battletech and can someone give me very brief overview of how the game actually plays?

I understand it's about mechs on a hex board but how much detail is there in controlling each model? How large is the rulebook? Is there a box set I can buy to dip my toes in the water?

I play lots of war-games already and I think I'm reaching my limit on how many more I can learn and reliably play.

Rulebook can be fairly small or large depending upon what types of units you include and what optional rules you play with.

There's a lot of detail with each unit. Each unit moves, shoots, and even does melee independently of the rest. Only when you get into "grouped" games like Alpha Strike, where a unit represents a whole lance, star, or larger, does that start to become a little more abstracted.

bg.battletech.com/new-to-the-board-game/

This does a pretty good job of explaining it, and giving you some free, deliberately simplified stuff to start with. Base BattleTech is the highest-detail game: you commonly run just one war machine per player, although experienced guys can run a few more at once. The mechancis of the game are very simple: rolling 2D6 does everything. It's the many many situational modifiers and rules that gives it depth. The ruleset is somewhat modular, in that a lot of the coplexity comes from environments and extra unit types that you can ignore until you're ready for them, or just ignore them altogether if you don't care about, say, aerospace fighters or basic infantry in your giant robot game.

If you want a more 40K feel, there's Alpha Strike, which boils down a mech's entire-page stats to just a little card's worth.

There is a very good box set, but it's currently between printings; the link shows you a picture of it.

Feel free to ask any more questions here or on the BT official forums. When BT players aren't screaming at each other about factions they're pretty welcoming to new blood.

Xotl doesn't love the IRC.

What's there to love?

My quotes

Blackjack, Catapult

Kinda won with this post.

Sadly I love a lot of both
honorable for 45 vindi
honorable for 65 axman (esp lac5) and ebon jaguar and mostly Loki (my cat is named after the mech)

Stat me

Japanese girl with back problems. She's either in a movie with Ernie Hudson and Tim Curry or else named after a Japanese ship. I think the former.

She doesn't look like she sports a lot of armor, so... best I could do. She's jumpy at least.

>a movie with Ernie Hudson and Tim Curry

... and Bruce Campbell! He plays the husband that dies in the first five minutes.

Pedo/10

I'm extremely confused by request to stat boteslut as a mech. Now if somebody actually wants to build her as an honest to god bluewater navy ship, or even just a damn warship, I could get behind that.

... "boteslut"? What degeneracy is this character?

But Battletech is a naval wargame.

That's the Japanese Battlecruiser Kongo.

You have me there.

Fuck off medron

OK, using NEA's Gratuitious Battlewagons ruleset v0.2 (the last version I have), we get the following:

Kongo (1935 refit)
36,600 tons
Hullform: 4 turret Superfiring, Partially-flared hull (38% mass)
Moderately Compartmentalized (0% mass)
Double-bottom Hull (2% mass)
Limited Torpedo Bulges (2% mass)
Limited Armor Belt rated to 11" guns (15% mass)
Medium Limited Deck Armor (5% mass)
>22,700 tons used

Propulsion:
3rd Generation Fuel-oil Turbines, 30 kt top speed: 6,400 tons.
4,750 tons Fuel Oil

Main Armament:
x8, 14" gun in 4 Twin turrets - 680 tons
Main gun ammo: 510 tons
Gyro-stabilized Central Fire Director with electric Rangefinder - 320 tons (primary)
Central Fire Director (Coincidental) - 200 tons (secondary)
Local manual fire control - 40 tons (tertiary)

Secondary Armament:
Class 3 uniform Light (8, 6" and 8, 5" guns) - 300 tons
Gyro-stabilized Central Fire Director with electric Rangefinder - 320 tons (primary)
Local manual fire control - 40 tons (secondary)

AA battery:
Medium - 50 tons

Comms:
Flags, Searchlights, 2 Gen 3 Wireless systems - 160 tons

Aircraft Stowage:
1 Double Gen 2 Aircraft Stowage (2 floatplanes) - 40 tons
1 Single Gen 2 Aircraft (1 floatplane) - 25 tons
Aircraft tank from ship fuel stowage

Total Mass: 36,535 tons.
65 tons off historical mass.

Quirks:
High Freeboard, Slow Turret Traverse, High-caliber secondary armament

FAST BATTLESHIP

REEEEEEEEEEEE

She's a pretty fast woman if you know what I mean

Can somebody tell me when this rules set became a thing? Because that's pretty neat, and an error of 0.001% on the construction mass between real life and the game system is downright amazing.

Blackjack, Jagermech

NEA had been working on it, and posted that iteration of it over in /hwg/ a couple of months ago. Some fun times were had when one of our anons over there built Hood and Bismarck, and proceeded to have them slug it out.

About what time period does each gen represent?

I'm a little hesitant to ask because I don't want to open a can of worms, but if you were to supplement the Big Three periphery powers' mech production with regards to the weight classes they were lacking in, what would you give them circa 3050?

Namely for the Magistracy and Concordat with regards to a single assault line each, and the Alliance with a medium and maybe assault line.

The Concordat is well off with lights, mediums and heavies, and the Magistracy has its lights and mediums (for its heavy I'd just add the Marauder since IIRC there were rumors of MAD stashes anyway). For assaults I was thinking Banshee for the Concordat (because the irony of using a Terran Hegemony design) and Stalker for the Magistracy (defectors or merchants from the FWL could provide the schematics). The Alliance gets take care of with the Merlin for its heavy slot. For a medium I thought maybe a Crab. Not sure if it would really warrant an assault line, but if so maybe a Charger.

As an aside, I can see in Objectives: Periphery both the Magistracy and Concordat have gained production of the Phoenix Hawk. It doesn't specify the model. Any idea when they both got it, and if it's anything but the base variant?

That is a REALLY solid game concept. There's a bunch of detail stuff missing, but the core concept is just amazingly solid. You can certainly see the Battletech influence; that looks like a game intended for one player to only be running one or a couple of ships, but the ships fall apart in very specific ways rather than being a blob of health like they are in Alpha Strike. More complex and engaging than Victory, less complex than the hyper autistic naval sim games like Seakreig.

I'd estimate that they'd fall along the normal generational lines military gear uses. WW1, inter-war period, WW2. There's sort of broad performance leaps along those lines. A 1st generation aircraft mounted on a battleship would be something roughly equivalent to an Avro 501 or the Short Admiralty 827 (out of service by about 1925). 2nd generation aircraft would be roughly equivalent to a Gloucester Sea Gladiator or Fairy Seal (out of service just before WW2). 3rd generation aircraft would be roughly equivalent to Fairy Swordfish or Blackburn Roc Seaplane (out of service between 1943-45).

K2 Catapult

Phoenix Hawk 3PL

I'd actually do things a bit different. I'd give the Taurians the Toro back for flavor's sake, because all-bug light selection is boring as shit. The Assault I'd give them would either be the Mackie because the thing deserves to keep existing in the SW era, or the Stalker to go with their "most common everything" selection if I had to be boring.
The Canopians I'd give the Spider for lights, the Hunchback for a second medium, many of which would get swayback'd for more variety, and Crusaders on the heavy end and Longbows, or possibly the introtech Emperor if I was feeling weird, for assaults
The Outworlders I'd give the Whitworth and possibly Dervish for mediums, and the Riflemen as another heavy (and the merlin makes even more logical sense if they've already got a 60 ton 4/6 factory going). If any assault, the Mackie again, but probably nothing

That's actually not bad. If we're going with flavour too, I'd like to see the Talos return as well. I feel like the Crud would fit the Magistracy of that era too.

>OA
Give them the Striker. SLDF mass-produced leftovers a best.

I didn't think of the striker, but it does fit
The Talos would make sense, yeah. Call it and the Toro the lines that were inexplicably mistaken for commandos and hatchetmen

Hmm. Tough choice. Blackjack is my 45 of choice, with the Vindie in close second. They actually compliment each other really well too for workhorse lances. For the 65s, the Catapult is my classic 'Mechfu, but honorable mentions to the Thud, Ostwar, JagerMech, and Koschei.

I thought that, but then there was a gen 1 radar.

>replacing the Commando and Hatchetman production in the TC with the Talos and Toro
Yes. Many times yes.

Also, speaking of the OA, I am starting to like them more and more. Their 'Mech selection a shit, and I don't really use Aero myself, but I like where they're at and I like their propensity to hire mercs to shore up their army. It makes for a colorful force composition to say the least. I wonder how much they like VTOLs... I am a big fan of them as of late.

>Call it and the Toro the lines that were inexplicably mistaken for commandos and hatchetmen
Works for me. Right down to the commonality in AC10 usage. Say some mercs showed up with the Hatchetman, journalists/intelligence noticed an uptick in the production of AC10s and AC10 ammo, and folks jumped to the conclusion the Taurians have the Hatchetman in production somehow. Turns out they just got a Talos line up and running again. And while it's a fun and flavourful medium, there's nothing munchy about its design.

That's actually fairly simple. The first generation of radar on ships existed from 1938 or so through about 1942 and is equivalent to the British Type 281 using separate Tx/Rx antennae. The American equivalent would be the RCA CXAM-1, such as those installed on the North Carolina BBs.

From then until the end of the war, the Tx/Rx antennae were usually combined and the resolution was significantly improved. That would be the second generation radar systems. A good example would be the SK air-search and SG surface-search radar like the ones installed on the Iowa-class BBs.

>And while it's a fun and flavourful medium, there's nothing munchy about its design.
It makes a nice counterpart to their neighbor's Centurions and Vindicators, too.

>BA
>at least six recoilless rifles
>and rules for special ammo

There you go. Should actually be not useless that way.

Alright: still getting my feet wet in Battletech Classic and lore and shit.
So the introbox and the "starter" books lead me to believe that Jihad is the current story, though Dark Ages comes after. Is CGL Ignoring Dark Ages or what? Also has the Storyline moved at all or are they gonna shift a bit with the new MECHONLY rules book?

Dark Age is current. Jihad ended back in 2012.

They've just spent a couple years futzing about with historicals of old eras like the year of the Star League and the year of the Early Succession Wars so new DA material has been very slow. Next big plot book will be ilClan this year. Probably this year anyway. I've been waiting for it since 2014.

>Jihad ended back in 2012.

It was six beautiful years while it lasted.

Jihad made even less sense than the fucking Clans did, and the Clans were nonsensical bullshit.

Ok.

Let's not go down this road for the millionth time of "everyone's opinion of what era makes sense and why people who disagree are wrong".

Is that alright?

Need a BattleTech related filename for this.

>victorandomi.png

>The Remembrance.jpg

>suntzuandnaomi.jpg

>AlaricAndMalvinasPet.jpg

It was the best despite all the issues

Agreed.

I've been reading up on the Amaris Coup and it got me thinking...

How do you pronounce "Hegemony"?

I've been saying "hejja moany"

You're saying it right.

Hedge-eh-money

>Hegemony
howjsay.com/pronunciation-of-hegemony
You're on point.

OK, what the literal fuck

>Upsilon Galaxy is of Republican background, largely raise around Stewart. While originally part of the Free Worlds League, the brief occupation of their homeworlds by the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth has given the population a healthy fear of outsiders. Clan Wolf has tapped into this fear by offering these worlds the ability to defend themselves where neither the League nor the Republic could.

>Stewart
>a world in the FWL for over 800 years
>fears being part of the Marik-STEWART Commonwealth
>Turns to Clan invaders to let them defend themselves
>after just being conquered by them and their hated enemies the lyrans

Can whomever came up with the Wolf Empire plan be shot?

The writing in Derp Ages is full of holes. What's surprising about this?

Not really *suprising*, per se, it just gets more egregious the more I read.

See, this independent world stuff made sense when it was the Early Dark Age and the Republic was falling apart. All those worlds going back to their home affiliations when they saw the chance after decades of forced relocation of their populaces and total neutering of the nobility is just logical.

Anybody doing the same for clanners is just fucking retarded, especially because clanners don't give a shit about existing power structures and the families that have run worlds since before there even was a Star League.

Are design challenges still a thing here?

The FWL as a whole is totally nonsensical. Take, for example, all the little independent worlds...right next to the incredibly shitty neighbors, the Regulans, or getting raided by the MoC, or with Andurien knocking. There's literally no reason for them to still be independent.

The FWL's writing went from minimalistic in the previous eras to full-on stupid in the current one.

All those little independent worlds used to be Regulan. That's part of a concerted effort by the Mariks to kill the influence of the Regulan state in the parliament. The Principality once stretched all the way to Tematagi.

But this isn't Stewart being a world that got sucked up by the FWL in 3065 not wanting to go back to the FWL. This is a planet that's been a core part of the FWL deciding they want to abandon the Republic to do their own thing, then somehow joining the people that invaded them to defend themselves from...themselves?

I was always irked by the idea that anyone would willingly join the Clans when you have to throw away most of your political power and even your fucking last name and family history. Who the hell signs up for that; doubly so in a universe where people never forget their national identities all the way back to Terra.

Or another great example, the Caballeros.

All those little worlds wanted to get the fuck away from the Regulans. The reason FWL worlds can declare themselves independent in the first place is because Camlann wanted them to fuck off.

Once in a while
I try to respond to them, at least

>That's part of a concerted effort by the Mariks to kill the influence of the Regulan state in the parliament
This some Regulan conspiracy theory? Sounds like something Kirc Cameron-Jones would mutter to himself.

Stewart was part of Thadius's long game after fortress. He'd been wooing them for years even before the blackout. The clanner shit is stupid but them going independent after fortress and joining Paladin Marik's little substate is all laid out fine in the novels.

>Stewart's Planetary Legate MacNaughton and her lap- dog Governor Ingram would be particularly shocked by that last bit. It was their solidarity, and her espoused dedication to Stone's ideals, that had prevented them from becoming the center of power in this region.

>Not that he bought her faith in the return of The Republic for a moment. His intelligence sources were thin in this region, so he had no hard data, but unless he missed his guess, MacNaughton was waiting until everyone's back was turned. Then she would go running to the Marik-StewartCommonwealth, taking their namesake planet with her. That would be irony.

When Tommy just straight up gives away Gibson to the Robes, that sort of thing isn't exactly conspiracy. And booooy were the Regulans pissed.

>the Caballeros

I remember trying to figure out what the fuck was happening there when FM 3145 first came out

>Lyrans annex Galisteo, Caballeros surrender to them and join them
>Caballeros defend Merton, but lose it
>Merton joins Tamarind
>Raid Tamarind with the Goons
>Protect the Trinity Worlds by...attacking the nation they're a part of in the employ of their ancient enemies and some Clan scum?
>say they'll only take defensive contracts
>assault Simpson's Desert
>participate in the recapture of Tamarind...recaptured from who is unclear, sine the Lyrans NEVER owned it
>Eventually surrender to Tamarind and switch sides

The LCCC should just hang every one of those wannabe Pancho Villas and take their mechs.

And especially that the fucking WRASSLEHOGS and OA would do it. Like, they're two out of the top three "FUCK YOU GET OUT" nations in regards to outside rule, and there's also the factor that the clans are literary the embodiment of every last thing the OA has ever been opposed to, like seriously

Gibson hadn't been a part of Regulus for over 300 years by that point. Nice try, Lester.

Originally he didn't "give it up" to the WoB. He allowed them to settle there at the suggestion of Precentor Gibson, his friend, on the grounds that Gibson's extremely diverse and multicultural society would be better suited to accommodating Blakist refugees. The planet was still governed by its local government. Ideal War even goes into the complications that develop, as the Blakists don't actually control the world and despite Gibson's diversity a lot of locals don't like them.

I'll offer one up then. Although its not really a traditional one.

Design a mercenary unit that employs only non mech forces. Have it perform a niche roll that conventional forces perform better than mechs or would be impractical/costly to perform with them. Bonus points for a unit history that explains why the unit was formed.