/btg/ Battletech General!

You are the guy who was fired for being racist, aren't you?

Those are actually naturals. Believe it or not.

I've always been a fan of the classic Dragon (because I like challenges) and Hatamoto-chi.

I require proof for input into a Star League data cache.

I like the Dragon that got the upgrade so it runs 6/9. Damn that thing can be a troll against lights and mediums like Commandos that try to retreat from it.

For BA it's definitely the Kage. It has a nice role to it, and it's one of the few BA that has a dedicated space operations setup.

The friggin' Kishi- despite the DCMS focusing on light suits which have few advantages over mediums for basic roles- is fantastic and somehow manages to be interesting despite some quirky choices. 6 points of reflective armor means even a PPC can't stop one, it's ground speed is fantastic with the mechanical booster, and while the HMG is not a very good weapon they put it in the best location possible.
The only way it could be better is if the DCMS used some clan tactics with 5-man units, but that 5th member replaced the HMG for some kind of ECM or similar "tactical" tool like a grenade launcher to shield the rest of his point from other infantry.

Jap girls are cute but that outfit isn't. Anything better?

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I'm not a big fan of the Combine particularly, but am I crazy for liking MRMs? Sure, +1 to hit, but the idea of lighting off a swarm of 40 missiles close in... are they really that suboptimal?

For mechs its either the Panther(my first favorite mech) or the Komodo.

BA has to be the Kanazuchi.

Tanks...um...I honestly don't know.

The Sabaku Kaze is a pretty sweet hover tank.

>am I crazy for liking MRMs

Yes. Every last one of them should be scrapped, return deadfire missiles to legal, and then just have rocket launchers as their only legacy. Then all those garbage Drac MRM boats could be refitted to normal missile boats and just loaded with dumb rounds for the same effect, but with the flexibility of loading the bins with something else when needed or even in a spare bin on the same mission.

Can someone explain MRMs to me?

I've only ever played introtech.

Accuracy reduction immediately makes any weapon dumpster-tier, since it's so easy to push your to-hit numbers to 11 or more.

My players learned to HATE dead-fire missiles after running into a mech gang on Galatea during the Civil War. They totally underestimated how nasty they could be when I told them I had to roll three dice and take the lowest two.

They may be out of production in Drac space but I've ruled that smaller arms companies still produce them, especially out in periphery-land. That combined with Drac stores of them make it so that if you really want em you can probably find em.

Implying rocket launchers are less than good.

Rocket launchers are the exception, yes. They cost basically no tonnage, and as long as one ignores the existence of 15s and 20s with their retarded range reduction, RL10s are pretty fucking hilarious.

they are medium range missiles with dumb heads. you have more missiles but they are harder to hit the target

better question: why haven't you played Total Warfare yet?

Take LRMs. Now remove their guidance package to make the missiles lighter and smaller with the same warhead. Then cram a shitload of them together. Now you've got MRMs.

MRMs have a weird 3/8/15 range, and a flat +1 to hit penalty. They do one damage per missile, and fire 10/20/30/40 missiles at once. On a weight basis, the MRM 10 is the same weight as an SRM 6, and the MRM 20/30 weigh the same as the LRM 15/20, though they generate more heat than the LRMs. The damage potential is great, and they get really good ammo per ton, but their shit range brackets and the static +1 to hit mean it's nearly impossible to LAND those high-damage volleys, and if you start boating them to take advantage of the lightweight ammo you run out of sinks quickly. Oh, and no alternate ammo of any sort, which never helps.

I live in the midwest and have difficulty finding people to play with. If you know of any groups in southern Michigan I'd be interested.

Silly question but did the Dracs make Inner Sphere Standard?
And how did their battle armor built up to the 3060s rate? Only one I'm really familiar with is the Kage because the DEST units used them in their raid on Huntress.

Does Apollo make MRMs less shit?

Yes. IS standard is called that because every state made it. The Dracs made all the original state specialist suits, Kages, Zuchis, Raidens what have you since they were the earliest Field Manual. That's also why they kinda suck and later ones are better.

Yeah, but from extra shit to kinda shit is still shit ya know?

If you're running a 30 or 40, yeah it helps a lot. They're not great, but if you're already spending all that tonnage for some reason, another ton isn't too much hardship for a significant benefit.

Useless with 10s and 20s though.

The sheer determination and autism demonstrated in the last thread with the missing DCMS regiments has me wanting to ask if anyone here could do something similar with the Combine's military production for 3025 and/or 3050.

Because from what I can gather they built basically everything on Luthien, had a Panther factory in or around Alshain, might have built something on New Samarkand and Al Na'ir, and captured Davion factories on Quentin.

So, for those interested, I'll be getting the weekly-ish /btg/ MM game going in an hour or two. Details will be given out on IRC. Probably gonna start with a Solaris-style brawl to get everyone familiar with each other.

Out of all the pictures you could post, you chose this?

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Yori 'Mech Works, Al Nair:
Atlas, Catapult*

Alshain Weapons, Alshain:
Dragon (only mentioned in the original House Kurita book, may be a destroyed production line?), Panther

LexaTech Industries, Hun Ho:
Archer**

LexaTech Industries, Irece:
Stinger LAM

Alshain Weapons/GKT, Jarrett:
Panther, Phoenix Hawk (added 3050)

Nimakachi Fusion Products, Lapida II:
Spider, Venom (added 3050)

Luthien Armor Works, Luthien:
Charger, Dragon, Grand Dragon (3024, replaces all Dragon production ~3040), Hatamoto-Chi† (3039, replaces most or all Charger production), Jenner (3046), Lancelot*, Quickdraw

Norse Battlemech Works/Victory Industries, Marduk:
(world recaptured from FS ~4SW)
Griffin (3050), Wolverine

GKT, New Oslo:
Phoenix Hawk**

LAW, New Samarkand:
Daboku (3038, discontinued shortly after), Mauler‡ (3048)

Independence Weaponry, Quentin:
(world recaptured from FS during War of '39)
Atlas, Jagermech, Marauder, Victor

Amalgamated Sword and Steel, unknown world:
Warhammer**, Wolverine**

* part of the infamous TRO3039 retcons, ignore if that bothers you

** only listed in early Succession War sources, like 1SW and FR2765:DCMS; these factories are probably destroyed early in the Succession Wars, explaining why they are never mentioned elsewhere

† early IRL sources put Hatamoto manufacture with Maltex Corporation on Errai, a FS world at the time; later (and therefore canonically superior) sources give it to LAW on Luthien

‡ early IRL sources put Mauler manufacture on Luthien, later (and therefore canonically superior) sources put it on New Samarkand

I have mixed feelings about those tatas. But the hat needs to be shooped to have the Kurita dragon on it.

why do you have mixed feelings? You want 'em smaller, pedoman?

That's why I chose it.

Ironically, Luthien never made Panthers. Panther factories were Alshain, New Oslo, and Jarret. back in the 3020's. Which makes it double stupid they would give them up with the Rasalhague District, especially when New Oslo was the biggest of the three.

The New Oslo Phawk Factory is mentioned in TRO 3039. Probably better to place that under TRO 3039 retcon.

Lapida II isn't brought online until the 3050's IIRC either.

I'm interested, only ever done ATB stuff and a skirmish like 4 years ago. How do I get in on this?

Join the irc channel.
#battletech on irc.rizon.net
And user will provide further details when it is time to start.

What user said - join the IRC, as I'm not terribly keen on posting the server's static IP on a Swiss chicken-yodeling message board. New players are welcome, I've no problem teaching.

From what I can gather the New Oslo plant continued to produce them for the Combine anyway because the same company owned all the plants.

In. Apparantly the topic of the hour is mixtech bullshit.

And I've done decade long campaigns in ATB, so I can at least trash Princess. Like that means anything.

Thanks for the info. I look forward to cross checking it all for my group's campaign. Raids across the Combine.

Hnnnghh, would massacre Kentares for.

That's just that user. He's an odd fellow, and possibly the angriest man in Canada.

WoB related pics really feel like the most iconic of BattleTech. Something about a technoreligous cult in robots.

I think it's their mechs. The style of the SL era kit just looks weird. So seeing thugs, black knights, crabs or whatever makes them standout. That and the white paintjob.

as someone late to the faction-picking show, I think I would love the WoB. I'm perfectly fine being the bad guy, and I like a lot of their aesthetics.

That, or I just like the Gurka too much.

The gurkha is tasty. Have you tried pairing one with a lightray? They were practically born to skirmish together.

what makes that particular combo good?

What if the Black Dragon attempt on Teddy C3's life in the Caballero novels had been the group's last action and the ISF and O5P successfully purged the BDS?
No Hassid Ricol betraying the Combine, no Alshain Avenger suicide attack on the Ghost Bears, etc, etc.

What might the effects in the 3060s and beyond have been?
How different might the Sandoval invasion of the Combine during the FCCW have looked?

Fun fact, the bulk of WoB mechs were classic 3025'ers and 3050 upgrades mixed with Project Phoenix and 2750 stash machines. A Toyama, Legacy, Grand Crusader sort of thing was only about 10% of their forces.

And nine out of ten chicks aren't hot, but guess which one we notice?

hot damn a 7/11 55-ton mech. good armor, low weapon tonnage, but a tarcomp helps fix that. god help your wallet, though.

And your citation?

The TROs suggest otherwise. The 2750 stashes were tapped out after Tukayyid, and Terra's factories set to building the new divisions.

The novels where it's specifically mentioned like Double Blind, the short stories where it's specifically mentioned like almost all the ones in Fire For Effect, as well as the description of the WoBM forces.

You don't build as many regiments as they did by being picky. The 3025'ers were as common in their stashes as 2750 since a lot of them were Star League machines. They stole 2/3 the Project Phoenix production in the inner sphere and were even the brains behind the project in the first place. They also restored a number of destroyed core world factories to cranking out TRO:3025 and 2750 things like Crabs and Grasshoppers. Not to mention every FWL mech chassis they could buy, borrow or steal. Orions, Hunchbacks, Trebs, Stalkers and all the rest alongside Grand Titans, Hammers, Albatrosses and so forth.

Terra wasn't coming online full swing until after 3058. They made a lot of stuff, but even things like Wolf and Blake mentions that even the Shadows full of the nicest gear aren't all new production and the Protectorate militias don't have hardly any new gear at all.

I read Double Blind and a good many of those stories and that doesn't ring a bell. Can you copy-paste a blurb from one?

I'll have to review their RATs again.

Honestly their Star League and classic gear is cooler than the "OC-Do Not Steal" designs so I don't have a problem with it.

The one that really hammers it home off the top of my head is the one with the remnants of the 9th? Comstar Army in Case White fighting their way through the cities on Earth. Plus I think also the Mars battle and one of the Harlech ones.

Double Blind didn't have much other than talking about the stashes planted for the pirates and St Jamais muttering to himself about his glorious shiny new rare Grand Crusader he had to leave at home while he was driving a regular Awesome 8Q from their normal army units for deniability.

20 YU and so on indicate the New Oslo plant was going mostly if not entirely to the FRR before being seized by the Clans.

>What if...

Then the Dracs might have had a pre-3145 storyline in which they weren't a bunch of gibbering, infighting retards. Which is completely impossible under FASA and only seems possible under CGL because they've refused to advance the timeline for so long.

I think he means that the initial defectors were rolling in SLDF-era machines or 3025 basic models and those made up a fair portion of the known WoB, which means the hidden in plain sight Divisions had to be the same. But newer production would be the norm for Divisions revealed later in the Jihad, especially the MD.

Gotcha.

I always knew something was wrong with that guy. I'd take the Awesome over the Grand Crusader any day of the week.

>tfw no Jihad led by Trent Arian and the True Believers

So if you guys were generating all mech Level IIs for WoB, what might you give them for A and B Militia, MD, and Protectorate Militia?
Like example Level IIs.
I'm guessing the MD wouldn't be all Celestials, for example.

MD wouldn't be all Celestials, but aside from the last-ditch defence of Terra or very isolated occasions you won't see them anywhere else.

A Militia is mostly new production. B Militia is a mix of old and new. PM gets the oldest stuff and rarely have some new gear like the Titan II.

I'm gonna ignore the 'all mech' part of that question and give you this.

>4x HPPC Burkes
>1x NXS1-A Nexus
>1x GUR-4G Gurkha

8 HPPC's (albeit slow moving ones) linked to two highly mobile C3i spotters, all for less than 5000 BV with the right pilots.

Ok, I can see that. Is Protectorate Militia stuff super old or just relative to WoBM/MD?

Like would introductory box set mechs fit for a PM force?

That actually looks awesome. What type of force is it most fitted to? WoBM "A" class divisions?

If I could figure out how to post a reasonably direct link, I would, but the /btg/ game is being streamed on Twitch at the moment, channel is gherritwhite. Got 8 nerds smashing their faces against each other, it's a good time so far.

Pastebin is the best alternative

What factions are best for making female cyborg assassins? I'm guessing androids are beyond BT tech.

>FEMALE cyborg assassins
Magistracy of Canopus

>female CYBORG assassins
The Word of Blake

>female cyborg ASSASSINS
The Capellan Confederation

All three have cyborg murder-operatives who may or may not be female, but each has a bit of that trio of words that they focus on.

Please rid /btg/ (and the world) of your faggotry. Permanently.

What about a Canopian-born agent who undergoes augmentation by the Confederation and defects to Word of Blake?

(You)

Anyone have a pretty recent map of the Inner Sphere? The ones on Sarna stop at like 3067, so they aren't very useful. I want to start messing around with a concept faction for stupid AU shit and I want to know the state of the Sphere around the start of the Dark Ages.

...

PM gets the worst of what's available because the WoB needed the best for their line troops. There would be newer tech scattered in but it would primarily be a dumping ground for their older gear.

Magistracy of Canopus. Their Ebon Magistrate commandos are better than anyone else's special operations groups because Kit.

There's one in FM: 3145.

>the lyran state getting double-penetrated by clanners
Sad but they deserve it. Just hope the clanners take responsibility.

They have a good kit?

What year? They've released several maps.

It was a mistake of own making

Several years too late but damn the people who made the clicky game fucked the battletech map up something fierce.

No, they have a patron author. Kit de Summersville is his forum name. Under him the Ebon Magistrate magically becomes better-equipped and more capable than MD Light of Mankind, Rabid Fox, Loki, or DEST.

>6th grade educations, rampant sexism and corruption
>we wuz cyborgz n sheeiitt

I still don't get how they turned one of the most interesting factions into a piece of shit sueland.

Map changes are fine and to be expected.

>implying there's anything sad about Elsies murdering and getting murdered by Clanners they bribed and then betrayed.

The Marik-Stewart Commonwealth dragged them to hell before they went down.

Because their medron pryde equivalent became the primary writer for them

Thanks, these are really helpful. As far as year is concerned, I was looking at around the Dark Ages, but I haven't settled on the exact year because I have to do some timeline research to see when said faction could exist or when it'd make the most sense, if ever. Also, where, hence the need for maps.

I love the explanation for it:
>See, they have less manpower so they have to make it count for more! :DDDD
Yeah fuck technology, education, established fluff, or the myriad facts about the Canopian military-industrial complex being on the verge of collapse. A little help from a basket case nation that's the technological stepchild of the Inner Sphere and BAM! Elite cyborg commandos to fight pirates with.

What is this, a map for ants?

Here you go.

To be fair the Ebon Magistrate is only described as the best with the Manei Domini and ROM's Light of Mankind gone.

Making them only better than DEST, Loki and the Rabid Foxes, among others.

Here's what the north part of the battlefield looks like, ish

MUH CAMO IS GONE.

and here's the south

Glad you're all having fun. Hope this takes off and more of you all can get some games in.

Although they only got statted in TR 3085 the fluff (and Kit's raging boner for the MoC) indicate it had been that way for a while.

Well, the Death Commandos were TEH BESTEST EVAR and had a lot of cyber gear, then the Manei Domini stole that gimmick, so to keep being betterer than the best the Ebon Magistrate had to be even more hard-core and even more aug'ed out than the Manei Domini.