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BattleTech video-game Beta gameplay
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>BattleTech Introductory Info and PDFs
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>Overview of the major factions?
bg.battletech.com/universe/great-houses/
bg.battletech.com/universe/the-clans/
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>How do I find out which BattleMechs a faction has?
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Unit Designing Softwares
>SSW Mech Designer
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>MegaMek Lab
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>/btg/ does a TRO:
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>How do I do this Against the Bot thing? (old)
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2017-03-03 – (Against the Bot)
mediafire.com/file/kffatbm11ffus7l/Against_the_Bot_Instructions_v2-5.pdf

bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56065.0
Current 3.21 rule set is included in the mekhq package

>Map of /btg/ players (WIP):
zeemaps.com/map?group=1116217&add=1

>Rookie guides
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>Sarna.net - BattleTech Wiki
sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

>Megamek - computer version of BattleTech. Play with AI or other players
megamek.info/

>BattleTech IRC
#battletech on irc.rizon.net

>PDF Folders
mediafire.com/folder/sdckg6j645z4j/Battletech
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/btg/'s own image board: - (2017-05-28 - Still getting worked on & now has 12461 pics!)
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More goodies! (Rare manuals, hex packs, TROs, discord server, etc.) Last updated 2017-05-15!
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Do we Butte Hold anymore?

what's butte hold?

A remote planet, home of Redjack Ryan and his pirate band. Canonically, Ryan has a thing for dressing in leather and having his captives whipped. The inferences and jokes /btg/ have drawn from that are as obvious as they are juvenile.

Are there any MekWars servers alive these days? And if so, how uh... serious business attitude would you rate them?

Picture green burd related.

Okay... what manga is that from? That's freaking hilarious.

Bird Cafe, I think the name was. It was a cute product of the monstergirl craze of some years ago, one on the cuter and more endearing side despite being in possession of its own form of creepiness. But c'est la vie.

So I made some mechs that were specifically designed to be boring yet tactically flexible. Named after Roman Republic units, their names reflect their roles and the general design philosophy: well-rounded yet mediocre alone, true strength lies in cooperation.

The tech/availability rating is fucked, I think, because it's saying that none of these are commonly available until the Jihad era. Is it because of the loadout? Is the loadout to ridiculous to be mass produced?

First up, the Velite. Designed to be used in conjunction with the next two. Its main roles are harassment and recon. Light armor, very fast landspeed with a handful of jump jets to help it through rough terrain. All energy loadout. Recommended to use against light vehicles and infantry only, will get chewed up otherwise.

1/3

Next up is the Hastati. a maneuverable medium mech, possessing a handful of jump jets for added evasiveness. It has enough armor to make you feel comfortable that you wont blow up immediately.

A mixed loadout, equipped with ballistic, missile and energy weaponry to make sure it has the tools to face any challenge.

2/3

and I forgot the picture fuck my life.

Here is the Principe. Essentially a heavier armored and armed version of the Hastati, it is usually reserved for Lance leaders.

Has the same movement as the Hastati, continuing the signature pattern of maneuverability with this production line.

Next, I'll work on the Triarii, which Im torn between making it a brawler or a supportive weapons platform.

3/3

4/3

Bit of a rush job, but here is the Triarii. A bit slower than the others, but has a far more heavier loadout, the Triarii is basically a bunch of guns and missiles strapped to a pair of legs.

The heat management isn't that great(bit of an after thought), but with some vigilant management, I'm sure it won't be too debilitating of a design flaw.

Am I shit at designing mechs y/n?

These are very much succession war era militia level. I would say that a midline 3025 FedCom regiment would trample the lot in most even-BV engagements, and if taken to Jihad, they would be hopelessly out of sufficient strike potential to threaten modern hardware. What era were you aiming for?

They'd fly for succession wars stuff in theory, but you still have to remember that even then they would be competing with meanies such as Hunchbacks and Awesomes being commonplace adversaries.

I wrote the production year for them to be 2980. They were designed by a minor mech production company to be well-rounded, cheap units that are best used in numbers(to bolster sales). So they'd more appear in the Late Succession Wars.

I'm planning on doing a near-the-end-of-the-Clan Invasion models, the mark 2s.

But yeah, they were designed to have a versatile load out and to be somewhat mediocre and boring, but with enough "Oomph" to hold their own.

Was thinking of designing a Brawler for them too, something to counter other big bad cocksuckers like the Atlas. Might call it the Equite or something(in keeping with the theme).

Practically any 3025 unit that isn't absolute bottom of the barrel could whip these mechs like a rented mule.
Like, the 1st medium is in effect a Vindicator, but worse, the 2nd medium is like a Wolverine but worse, and the heavy desperately wants to be a stalker, but can't pull it off

Any specific details on why they suck? IS it just because it's not really focused on a certain role? Poor loadout?

The Velite is basically a Fire Javelin with armor, and so doesn't really provide any real difference from the original aside from the RSD.
The Hastati is a slow AC/5 toting 50 ton mech, so its anemic firepower means that letting it get close is the only threat.
The Principe is now just a crappy Wolverine clone, with the same overly short ranged guns as the Hastati. I'd take the Trio over it.
The Triarii, as that other user said, is trying to be a stalker, and a 3/5 heavy without a knockout blow just isn't exciting.

AC/5s: Not Even Once
Those things are almost bafflingly terrible as weapons, replacing them with PPCs or LLs would SIGNIFICANTLY improve those designs
Mounting MGs at all is generally a mistake, since a SRM-2 loaded with infernos or a flamer are objectively superior anti-infantry weapons, and even if you DO decide to mount MGs, NEVER bring a full ton of ammo, it's a pointless waste of weight and will go off like a small nuke if it gets hit
Speaking of which, storing ammo in the center torso is a profoundly bad idea, and just generally having ammo in a location without several other things (preferably heat sinks) to absorb crits is just begging to be evaporated as soon as the armor gets breached.
As for the heavy, it's not terrible per se, the issue is that it's designed along the lines of an assault mech, but can't do it as well as an actual assault because it's only 70 tons
It just doesn't have the armor to survive being that slow very well, and it doesn't really have the firepower to justify it either

So, be rid of the AC5s, add more long range firepower, and do an overhaul on the Triarii?

I just added MGs because they're light and do damage similar to a small laser.

Also, I like the mental picture of a big group of machine guns going BRRRRT. So it's more of a personal taste thing.

Anything else to take into account?

The other user is pretty much right. I do use AC/5s and MGs, but usually to flesh out purposefully inferior units so players can combat things by tech & weight is a little inferior to their own machines. It's an edge modifier.

>SRM2s with infernos against infantry... that makes me shudder

They all have a lack of total punch at their chosen range of engagement, apart from the Velite. If I had to produce a fighting force out of your mechies, I'd field a force consisting of nothing but Velites. Which ain't too bad really.

Sup dudes,

Just got into battletech and I thought I might have a go at character creation for A Time of War. had an idea for a clanner mechwarrior bouncing around for a while.
...
...I cannot make heads or tails of this. Any help please?

It's just a really convoluted point buy system. I'd go with MW3e personally, if only because lifepaths there are rather simpler.

Are there any introductory box sets for Battletech available at a reasonable price?

see

For a time of war, character creation isn't hard, but it's really fucking arduous. Point buy is faster but less organic. If you're using lifepaths.

Step 0: 100 points each to all attributes, For skills, 20 points to Language/English, 20 points to Language / Faction, 10 points to Perception. This costs 850 XP. Then, choose faction, pay the XP costs.

I highly suggest you start with a notepad file or on a loose piece of paper first, and add it to the character sheet once you're done.

When you're finished the chargen, I suggest not only putting all remaining XP into your attributes, but buying negative traits to further bring them up. Otherwise, the characters end up really wimpy.

Aside from the whole Dutchy of Andurien thing have there been any other military conflicts between the Magistracy of Canopus and the Capellans?

nothing major, but a decent amount of standard succession war boarder raiding
same thing with the taurians

bump

ops, wrong pdf

Nice.

Q: first time trying "against the bot", Noticed that most of my units go into battle with half-ammo loads. I get running with less ammo means less risk of ammo explosions, but given that 2 of the mechs I started with are AC/20 hunchbacks, the lack of ammo is starting to get annoying.

Is there a way to get my techs to load the full ammo capacity? I have the ammo in storage, but I don't see an option in the repair bay to load it

They should be deploying with 5 shot loads unless you have them loaded with special ammo like Precision or something. Those are halved.

Oh. Nevermind, I'm just retarded. the "(5/10)" is kinda confusing.

Right, the Hunchback has two tons of 5 round ammo bins, for a total of 10 shots. MM shows you the total rounds remaining of one bin followed by the total rounds remaining in the mech.

Ahhh. TY

I don't get it, what's the point of NARC equipped missiles? ARTEMIS IV missiles get all the benefits, without needing a beacon fired first. Am I missing something?

Well, the Artemis IV system only applies to one mech. Furthermore you need one for every launcher, if I remember right. Meanwhile, one NARC pod on one mech can give all teammates' NARC-equipped missiles the benefit against a target.

I see. Because Artemis IV systems can stack with certain other types of ammo. I missed that part. Makes sense now, thanks user!

Artemis only works with Artemis missiles, you can just carry other missile types.

Ah, right. Sorry, one more question, would equipping NARC capable missiles on my missile launchers contribute to the BV of the mech? Or otherwise cost more space on the mech? I checked in the Tech Manual, and it appears to be weight equivalent to standard ammo, so I didn't think so, but thought I'd double check with someone more knowledgeable than myself.

No changes to the BV or the shots per ton.

Thanks!

Cheers mate! I think I got it.

With CERPPCs, and IS HPPCs with capacitors, are AC/20s worth anything anymore?

Heavy PPCs have minimum range, same as normal PPCs. 15 heat for 15 damage, 90m minimum range. Have fun with that.

AC20's will still be the heat efficient option.

It is also recommended to consider bringing flak and/or precision ammo if you have deep bins. Tandem and armor-piercing are bullshit though.

Also flechette AC20s are hilarious.

Hilariously good, or hilariously bad?

Depends on what you think of erasing an entire infantry platoon with a single burst of an AC/20.

Sounds like an AC/20 inferno round would be more fun.

A NARC-tagged unit is also considered to be spotted for purposes of indirect fire, btw. Another thing to consider.

1) Narc was "Rediscovered" sooner than Artemis IV, and Semi Guided LRMs come much later. By standard rules, TAG's useless for anything but Homing Arrow IVs until well after the clan invasion.
2) In bigger units, you may be able to justify using Narc, so long as it's replacing a lot of artemis systems.
3) Narc can be used to spot indirect weapons fire without LOS from any unit.
4) Unlike other homing rounds, NARC homing LRMs don't cost extra BV. Although not properly programmed into megamek, standard LRMs are supposed to get no benefits from TAG.

.... yeah that's about it. Similar to flamers, it's less than stellar equipment that other than a very few specific situations, doesn't do the job as well as other gear.

A AC/20 shot is about 400 pounds (not metric, sorry) right? That's a lot of napalm.

Well, I ain't no fortunate son user.
>incendiary ammunition inflicts 2 additional points of damage against unarmored infantry, lowers the threshold for starting fires to +5, and decreases to-hit modifier for night combat to +1.

Arguably more effective in smaller calibers, but yes it's a lot of napalm.

It would be roughly 400 pounds, but not all of that is explosive. There's still propellant, casing, penetraters, etc. And many ACs fire a stream of shells, so it would be fairly small amounts of napalm spread over a wide area.

Has anyone done an Awesome-Atlas for the around 3050 time period, maybe something in canon?

No, because the two have have different battlefield roles.

I don't follow. They're both assaults. Explain. I'm a newb.

The Awesome is a ranged assault, with long ranged guns that have a minimum range, while the Atlas has the LRM-20 for some token ranged fire to let it get in close with the AC/20, and it's also a command mech. In later eras, the Atlas end up gaining more ranged firepower, but it's still a beatstick. Meanwhile, the Awesome just gets more and more refined.

What? Nonsense! Atlas is a grade A stealth mech. Everyone who's ever played the game knows the ease of being snuck on by an Atlas.

Fookin' Lyrans

I always felt bad for Atlas pilots that could be picked apart by higher maneuverability machines with better long range weapons. I tried to correct that.

Is this Awesome a good 3050 refit?

I've seen a decent number of energy boat 3025 atlases because fuck risking a nice chassis like that with the possibility of an ammo explosion

Yeah but the Atlas RS is a great design. Take this for example. Similar weapons, and is a good refit. As for the Awesome, not really, in my mind. The 9Q is pretty much the top Awesome, and adding a bunch of backup guns that your bodyguard should have weakens it.

I still keep getting confused when I see this picture, wondering what context it draws from. But then I remember it's from that Something Awful group masturbation parade, and the work to forget begins anew.

Played a couple of real tabletop games last weekend with an old friend. First was a BV2 Blake 2 Level II v. Clan Star match using new variants of his favorite Star League toys plus clanbusters and some ol' reliables vs. some of his clan omni and secondline mechs that never see table time he picked up in mini lots over the years.

The unseen Viper was a monster on the table if you can keep it from getting hit. Full -3 targeting computer plus pulse bonus. No wonder people hate it so much. Masakari Prime was a bit like running a really hot and meaner Awesome. Madcat H was interesting. I always wanted to try heavy large lasers but never like their targeting penalty or their explodiness. That guy was MVP. He headcapped a Thug and a Black Knight, legged a Crab and gutted a Lancelot. Was still standing at the end of the match, half the mech gone and the rest held together by tiny shreds of armor and internal structure.

Then we played a 3rd War company scenario game where we rolled up random forces not balanced by BV. Still wound up pretty even except I fucked a bunch of my random pilot skill rolls so I had greens and regulars needing to close hard to hit.

As far as stuff I learned I guess I'd say that the love for the GRF-1S is way overblown. It's just a really fat, cooler running P-hawk. Nice for brawling but not how I like to play snipey Griffins. I'd take the 1N over it any day. I lost this match pretty good. He killed all my decent pilots within seven rounds to amazing rolls for TAC's to ammo bins, and it had turned into a typical 3rd War cripple fight by the end except he still had a Bmer and a Charger to King Kong my ass. It's funny when you see a 4/6 crippled Commando trying to outrun that thing. Highlight of the match was his crippled panther with both arms missing DFA'ing my Phawk and breaking its leg on the Pixie's face.

I almost forgot how fun it is to do this shit for real, the crazy shit happening, how you nickname the minis and chuck traitorous dice.

Has anyone here used the vandal, and if so, what are your opinions of it?

post them?
I could always use more boss mechs

1) No.

2) Eh. I can see what it's intended to do, but there are so very many questionable decisions in its design configurations. Seriously undergunned for a heavy (the A is just a super-Panther, the Prime is an uptonned Enforcer without the jets, etc..). There's a lot better uses of 2000+ BV out there.

Never built a cheesy introtech mech, eh? Behold my limburger, ye mighty, and despair!

(The funny part is that converting it into a raygun zombie also increases the firepower in both brackets.)

ML boats are some pretty intro-level cheese.

here are two, ignoring the incredibly boring "Marauder II, but with MLs instead of JJs" type which were and are sadly quite common

What vehicles and mechs do you use to ease new players into getting kills that have some challenge, but allow them to get a skill point through experience here and there?

as in as OpFor?

Vedettes are classic prey for mediums, and Stingers, Wasps, Panthers, Blackjacks, Shadow Hawks and Crusaders are all good mook enemies, depending on the players' weight class

Don't know what an OpFor is. Sorry.
I kind of use all of those as well, just not Cruds as much. I also like to make border crossing enemy formations using Vedettes, Scorpions, Strikers and sometimes really light hovers.
Odd, but I find throwing in an odd Griffin helps because of the 1N's difficulty dealing with enemies at short range.

>Don't know what an OpFor is. Sorry.
Opposing Force.

It's for opping.

Thank you.
Oppai? I like oppai!

> Eh. I can see what it's intended to do,

What do you mean? I think a lance is supposed to function as a "unit" in itself, but I'm not sure.

Pretty good
I've always had a soft spot for LL boats

Which introbox mechs would be most common in the periphery?

Anything unseen + the occasional stalker

bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=44906.0

I wrote that opinion of it.

The assaults at least are about the most common there after the Stalker (Zeus aside)
Dervishes and Whitworths would be reasonably common, hunchbacks a bit less so but still common enough
Like everywhere else, grasshoppers wouldn't turn up very often but would be highly prized when they do, quickdraws would show up here and there, as would trebs. Cicadas would turn up here and there, but not often spiders the same but less so, with Clints and Assassins being about as rare there as everywhere else.
Vindicators and to a much lesser extant catapults would show up in TC border forces along with a few enforcers or Jagermechs. There'd be the occasional Hermes in the MoC, and panthers, dragons and Jenners would show up in the OA and surrounding areas reasonably often.
Zeuses and Commandos would occasionally show up in pirates along the lyran-periphery border and very rarely elsewhere

This. Once you check Wasps, Archers, Locusts and Shadowhawks off the list, you're left pretty much with Taurian heavies and SL survivors. Plus the Merlin I guess.

So you're another one of those fucks who think that the CapCon is just glorified OPFOR?

" I should say that I think the answer is "you don't". From the first time I looked at it and really paid attention, the Vandal looked to me like the sort of thing you fight against. It's the high-level enemy that has some annoying tricks and strengths but can ultimately be overcome. To the brave Player Characters of the Federated Suns, it is the hobgoblin to the Gùn's goblin."

Fuck you and everyone near you. If I can make sure you get banned off the OF, I will.

Playing ATB, won't let me field my LRM carrier. Says it needs 4 crew...? Have a driver, and a gunner, tried assigning every type of personnel to the damn thing, nothing will take. What two crew does it still need then?

Not him but that's how the Blakists Celestials were made originally and explicitly. There's even game master notes in the back of 3072 that say a ton of the MD stuff was for mainly campaign non-BV game use. So anything based so closely on them will give the same impression.

I don't think the Vandal was intended as a glorified boss mook though, just as a copy of one instead. You see that trend with a lot of Dark Age machines. Not just the Caps, but the Robes and the Stoners too.

There is option to hire people straight into the vehichle when you right click on the vehicle itself. Mind you if it's greyed out then your LRM Carrier might be bugging out.

>stealth atlas
>Kindofwant.webm

Forgot to add it needs 2 more gunners, just checked LRM Carrier in Mekhq.

Ah, well, selecting the option mentioned seemed to work as well.

>As my Phoenix Hawk punches through the head, grabs the cockpit, then proceeds to punch it until the pilot is paste.

I saw it unfold in my mind's eye, and it was glorious.

How is a 45-ton Phoenix Hawk doing more than 5 damage with a punch, and how is a 30-ton Urbanmech doing more than 6 damage with a kick? Are there new (-sh) optional rules now for wildly random amounts of damage for physical attacks?

Direct hits/blows rule yo

He has direct blows enabled.

here you go hoss; threw one together for you.

I don't think the CapCon is OpFor. I think the Vandal is. It's got all the hallmarks of a high-level RPG enemy: dangerous in a group, able to nullify some important tactics, but with some flaws that can be exploited.

It's not a commentary on the Capellans in general; it's a way to think about how to use the Vandal.

Also I've been away from BT for a while and I can't tell if the "banned from the OF" wharrgarbling is a legit threat or not. Are things that bad?