Author Topic: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)  (Read 2963 times)

VF1LAM

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Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« on: 23 May 2022, 13:12:58 »
I have been experimenting with the idea of lances I would run for the BattleTech computer game (Harebrained Schemes, 2018) when I finally have a new Macintosh.  For a medium lance, I might go with:

Griffin
Wolverine (Marik variant with large laser or PPC replacing AC/5)
Kintaro
Cicada-3P (sniper 'Mech that can run to new firing positions or disengage quickly from powerful 'Mechs)

I could be wrong about how evasion or missile spreads work in the HBS version of BattleTech, but if anyone has ever started out the game and it is anything like what the YouTube videos show for the beginning few hours of gameplay where you have to build up a medium lance, how difficult is it compared to the tabletop war-game BattleTech?

Also, is the Bull Shark a good 'Mech design?
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Syzyx

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #1 on: 23 May 2022, 13:35:38 »
Though I believe this belongs a bit below in the computer games section, there is, unfortunately, a prime lance for the game:

4 Marauders

Because of the special equipment on the Marauder that lets it make called shots at a massively higher accuracy there is more or less no reason to use any other 'mech. It is fast enough for the timed missions, sturdy enough for holding out against the oncoming swarms, and otherwise deadly enough to kill anything the AI decides to field.

Personally, I like to gather up a lance of Urbies and see how far I can get. (Spoiler: Not very far)
But as a matter of fact I was quite busy getting potty-trained at the time and had no time for interstellar politics.- ykonoclast

Luciora

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #2 on: 23 May 2022, 17:45:57 »
You still have to build up to the Marauders in terms of C-Bills and experience.

I'd recommend the Vindicator, Centurion, or Hunchback for your heavy hitting anchor, then any of the classic trio for your seconds.  The Assassin I interchange with the the Cicada if I want a heavier movement scout, but the Fire Javelin may be a good choice as you get better armor for the cost of speed. 

The Trebuchet has alot if options if you want a missile only mech, the Centurion may be ok, as it has more overall tonnage at the cost of speed.  I can't seem to like the Kintaro however.  Might be just how missiles are done, and how it has a tendency to overheat.

GRUD

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #3 on: 23 May 2022, 21:08:00 »
Because of the special equipment on the Marauder that lets it make called shots at a massively higher accuracy there is more or less no reason to use any other 'mech.
But if you're Creative, you can make it so you can use that equipment in other 'Mechs, as well as the WHM "Special Equipment" that increases energy weapon damage.  I think it's "Optimized Capacitors"?   :thumbsup:  Sadly, I don't know enough in order to make the Archer's "Misselry Suite" available to my other 'Mechs.  :(
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Luciora

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #4 on: 23 May 2022, 22:22:45 »
Involves mucking around with the .json files.  I know I have my game modded so it drops the Drive train from the vehicles. 

But if you're Creative, you can make it so you can use that equipment in other 'Mechs, as well as the WHM "Special Equipment" that increases energy weapon damage.  I think it's "Optimized Capacitors"?   :thumbsup:  Sadly, I don't know enough in order to make the Archer's "Misselry Suite" available to my other 'Mechs.  :(

Elmoth

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #5 on: 24 May 2022, 02:15:58 »
The game is rather easy, so you can run whatever you fancy. I used a thunderbolt 5E or 2, a medium brawler (Wolverine 6M/Griffin 1E),  a fast scout (usually a Locust or Jenner) and a long range mech (usually a Centurion with an AC5 and more missiles, or an Archer if I can get one). Most combos will fit since the IA is debatable.

GRUD

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #6 on: 24 May 2022, 16:57:40 »
Involves mucking around with the .json files.  I know I have my game modded so it drops the Drive train from the vehicles.
Yes, and I've got 4 Assaults outfitted with the Drive Trains!  Nothing like moving on turn FOUR in an Assault 'Mech!   >:D  Well, eventually.  I train ALL of my pilots in Multi-Target, Sensor Lock, and then the skill/trait that gives them the bonus to Initiative.  :thumbsup:
To me, Repros are 100% Wrong, and there's NO  room for me to give ground on this subject. I'm not just an Immovable Object on this, I'm THE Immovable Object. 3D Prints are just 3D Repros.

Something to bear in Mind. Defending the BT IP is Frowned upon here.

Remember: Humor is NOT Tolerated here. Have a Nice Day!

Hey! Can't a guy get any Privacy around here!

Luciora

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #7 on: 24 May 2022, 18:05:47 »
I went 1 step further.  Modded the starting Blackjack to actually still be playable, but added a mess of DHS, changed one of the AC/2s to a UAC/2 and then gave it Victoria's special ability AC/20, for modding laughs.  I have to make sure the commander doesn't lose it, but yeah, that thing can one-shot mechs or cause whole sections to fall off.



Yes, and I've got 4 Assaults outfitted with the Drive Trains!  Nothing like moving on turn FOUR in an Assault 'Mech!   >:D  Well, eventually.  I train ALL of my pilots in Multi-Target, Sensor Lock, and then the skill/trait that gives them the bonus to Initiative.  :thumbsup:

LastChanceCav

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #8 on: 29 May 2022, 13:11:16 »
For complete mech rending firepower, there's  the Annihilator.  Load it up with DHS, ++ UAC20s and watch it evaporate  other assault mechs. I know its not creative, but it still makes me cackle when it gets in range  :thumbsup:

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Rebel Yell

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #9 on: 29 May 2022, 14:00:04 »
4 Phoenix Hawk 1b's are ridiculously good against anything the AI ever has.

Jump and backstab everything dead at ludicrous speed.
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Luciora

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #10 on: 29 May 2022, 16:48:44 »
Modding the Hughlander to carry the hardpoints of the Mauler leads to many hilarious core outs, especially with 4 UAC/2++/+++.

Daryk

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #11 on: 29 May 2022, 18:51:32 »
It's been a while since my last play through, but at the time, loads of LRMs and a few PPCs worked beautifully.  Once they were on the ground, you simply used called shots to erase their CTs.  I remember one mission where an oddity in the terrain meant the oncoming assault 'mechs fed themselves to me one at a time through a gap in the terrain.  I didn't even take any damage on that mission.

Greatclub

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #12 on: 29 May 2022, 21:31:23 »
marauder, marauder, assassin w/COIL, cyclops w/LRMs

Aotrs Commander

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #13 on: 20 April 2023, 05:42:43 »
Edit: Nevermind folks, I didn't see the notice on the OP, just the thread being up on the new list this morning and thought it was a new thread. Blame it being before breakfast...

I have been experimenting with the idea of lances I would run for the BattleTech computer game (Harebrained Schemes, 2018) when I finally have a new Macintosh.  For a medium lance, I might go with:

Griffin
Wolverine (Marik variant with large laser or PPC replacing AC/5)
Kintaro
Cicada-3P (sniper 'Mech that can run to new firing positions or disengage quickly from powerful 'Mechs)

I could be wrong about how evasion or missile spreads work in the HBS version of BattleTech, but if anyone has ever started out the game and it is anything like what the YouTube videos show for the beginning few hours of gameplay where you have to build up a medium lance, how difficult is it compared to the tabletop war-game BattleTech?

Also, is the Bull Shark a good 'Mech design?

HBS:BattleTech remains by current highest-logged-time game - 787 hours - (though I expect Rimworld to eclipse it on my current game). I cannot say I'm an expert, beczause I am ultimately a low-difficulty-happy-gamer who has no fear of save-scumming, but I would like to think that sheer hours on target lets me have some level of ability to comment.

One: Short of mods, unless you Ae Very Good At Games (I am definitely not), in the end, you will be pushed towards a Steiner Scout Lance or at least, as noted, Maruders,, simply because you will be fighting 4 to 12 (or more) odds on the higher skull missions. And the enemy AI will also tend to Steiner Scout Lances - progression is towards heavier mechs, ultimately. It is a facet of being limited to a single lance. You will want a medium lance on hand for some of the flashpoint or story missions by end game (since some of those are tonnage limited), but in general, your modal mission is either going to be slowly increasing in tonnage or you'll be stuck on doing mid-skull missions (and without mods, you'll end up doing the same thing over and over).

If you are Really Good At Games, you might be able to get away with it, but if you're one of the lesser mortals who only plays games at mid or lower difficulties, a lance of four four mediums against twelves assaults is going to get you splortched by end game.



Two: If you use some of the big mods (BTA 3062, RogueTech, BattleTech Extended) you can get up to eight mechs at once; while this means you have more enemies, you have more latitude. That said, all of the aforementioned mods by unfortunate necessity disable in-mission saving (because HBS' version of Unity has a catastrophic memory leak and the modders can only do so much). You can get the mod which lets you use more mechs seperate, but I have never tried that.



Three: I personally think the Bull Shark is fantastic. Mostly, in fairness, because It is Not IS 3025 Tech (that's as far as I'll say), and is thus very powerful. I also found it also very consistent with headshots. The artillery cannon is merely okay, and quite good at swatting Locusts. I'd ultimately prefer to strip that out for more armour, but frankly, on vanilla, the Bull Shark is still very strong. (The regular Bull Shark made on 3025 tech, not so much.)



Four: I very strongly recommend, if you use no other mods (which I'd say play story campaign first vanilla nd then mod afterwards), use the Edmon Alternative Reputation mod, because HBS made the staggeringly poor decision to make all the pirates not only a single monolithic entitiy, but to tie the black market prices to one of the most common OpFors - and least amount of mission providers - in the game. Ptherwide, you can vey much end up in the situation way you need to try and find very low skull pirate missions (the only ones you can take at low rep by vanilla) and tediously grind your reputation up, It's just a bad mechanic. The aforementioned mod stops you being locked out of higher-skull missions by reputation; at low reputation with a faction, prices are higher and rewards are lower, so there's still a good reason to try and keep them happy, it just means you can do so without the tedium of doing dozens of very low difficult missions solely for reputation.

(I am capable just barely of limited text editing, so I applied it even to other mods.)
« Last Edit: 20 April 2023, 07:10:30 by Aotrs Commander »

thedancingjoker

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #14 on: 20 April 2023, 05:52:28 »
.....I'm pretty sure they got the answer to their question about lance composition many months ago. Although I know it doen't take much to get some of us taliking about it.

Caedis Animus

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #15 on: 20 April 2023, 06:08:04 »
I always found Lance Comp funny in HBS Battletech because of how easy it is to make a good one due to Heavy Metal. I love that DLC, but I really wish the vanilla mechs got some TLC from it ability wise too.

Wait, this isn't the video game forum.

Aotrs Commander

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #16 on: 20 April 2023, 07:08:56 »
.....I'm pretty sure they got the answer to their question about lance composition many months ago. Although I know it doen't take much to get some of us taliking about it.

Crap, I didn't notice that date on the OP; but in fairness, I just saw the thread up at the top today (someone else posted before me), it's not like I was digging through the back pages or anything. And it was first thing in the morning.

Apocal

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #17 on: 23 April 2023, 03:34:31 »
I have been experimenting with the idea of lances I would run for the BattleTech computer game (Harebrained Schemes, 2018) when I finally have a new Macintosh.  For a medium lance, I might go with:

Griffin
Wolverine (Marik variant with large laser or PPC replacing AC/5)
Kintaro
Cicada-3P (sniper 'Mech that can run to new firing positions or disengage quickly from powerful 'Mechs)

I could be wrong about how evasion or missile spreads work in the HBS version of BattleTech, but if anyone has ever started out the game and it is anything like what the YouTube videos show for the beginning few hours of gameplay where you have to build up a medium lance, how difficult is it compared to the tabletop war-game BattleTech?

Easier. The only things that might trip an experienced BT player up are "converting" over to a modern turn-based tactics game, learning to lean more on firepower/armor rather than dodge-tanking and ballistics -- AC/5s especially -- being much, much better than they are in TT BT. That makes the calculus on what is and isn't a good mech change quite a bit (i.e. the Shad is legit in HBSTech)

Also, is the Bull Shark a good 'Mech design?

In HBStech, yes. Better than most. But on the table it is crap because it devotes a bunch of tonnage to dealing five points of damage.

Luciora

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #18 on: 23 April 2023, 10:38:07 »
The Bull Shark is also an illegal non-canon mech with no actual published rules. 

GRUD

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #19 on: 24 April 2023, 18:48:55 »
Also, is the Bull Shark a good 'Mech design?
In HBStech, yes. Better than most. But on the table it is crap because it devotes a bunch of tonnage to dealing five points of damage.
Well, it's 5 points to EVERY location on a 'Mech or Vee at least.  Would be more useful if it had a "Cooldown" period of 2-3 turns, like the Raven's ECM Pulse.  Sure, the Bullshark's "Mortar" gets 2 shots versus the Thumper's one, but still pretty limited.  Plus the range of it sucks.   xp  If you've got a spotter with LOS of ANY point of the map, the Mortar/Thumper should be able to hit it.
To me, Repros are 100% Wrong, and there's NO  room for me to give ground on this subject. I'm not just an Immovable Object on this, I'm THE Immovable Object. 3D Prints are just 3D Repros.

Something to bear in Mind. Defending the BT IP is Frowned upon here.

Remember: Humor is NOT Tolerated here. Have a Nice Day!

Hey! Can't a guy get any Privacy around here!

LarrySweeney

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #20 on: 05 June 2023, 02:47:08 »
While I haven't personally played it on a Macintosh yet, I've seen some gameplay videos, and it seems to capture the essence of the tabletop game quite well. Adapting strategies from the tabletop may require some adjustments, particularly with how evasion and missile spreads work in the HBS version.

Regarding the Bull Shark, it's a powerful and heavily armed 'Mech. Its impressive firepower and durability make it a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. However, as with any 'Mech design, it's important to consider your own playstyle and the overall composition of your lance.

By the way, have any of you heard of a card game called double deck pinochle? It's a great way to unwind and strategize off the battlefield. Let's keep the BattleTech discussions going, and feel free to share any other lance setups or game experiences.
« Last Edit: 12 June 2023, 00:21:55 by LarrySweeney »

Daryk

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Re: Best lances for BattleTech computer game (HBS 2018)
« Reply #21 on: 05 June 2023, 03:25:48 »
Not to mention how armor and weapons work in general!

 

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