Author Topic: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon  (Read 23969 times)

Paul

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #60 on: 29 June 2012, 11:45:13 »
Ah, the Osteon.

Back during some of the initial discussions about the WoR many years ago, a fair bit of the discussion was about the 'Mechs the Society might have access to. Was it even plausible for them to build any new ones? Apart from the Rule of Cool mandating such, we also swiftly arrived at a crude framework that would make it possible for the Society to produce a few of their own 'Mech designs.
A key story element was that the Scientist Caste had been holding back from the Warrior Caste, that they did some weapons research on their "own" time, and failed to share it with the Warrior Caste on account of them not asking for it. When they finally did, they got the watered down versions of the weapons that'd long since been developed, each with some flaws or weaknesses because they were "rush" jobs.
We decided the same applied to 'Mech design: the Scientists had better ideas on how to make 'Mechs, but were constantly inhibited by the demands and specifications of the Warrior Caste.
The Society's own 'Mechs had to reflect that in some way.

Another key element is that they had to demonstrate not just the Society's willingness to use technologies shunned by the Warriors, but that they had to demonstrate deliberate exploits of the Clans' chosen method of warfare. Put another way; while many Warriors were slow to accept lessons from their Inner Sphere opponents, the Scientists lacked most of the cultural obstacles that inspired the reticence of the Warriors.

They also had to show some blind spots on the Scientist side with regards to warfare. Little mistakes the Warrior Caste would never make, or never make again.

And finally, they were burdened by the fact that the Society's rebellion started too early. They weren't ready, and neither was their 'Mech force.


There was some debate about the format. It was clear that the Society couldn't plausibly have hundreds of new 'Mechs available to them. Their own 'Mechs would be rare. They'd be a costly investment, and a costly risk. The ideal Society plan was basically a bloodless coup; they needed the Warrior Caste to be as intact as possible, just taking orders from the Scientists. Things like their 'Mechs and ProtoMechs would ideally be a "force in being", a problem for the Warriors just because it existed. The ability to actually compete in conventional war with the Warriors seemed improbable, or at the very least, decades removed.
Along those lines, only a very few designs would be logical. 10 different 'Mechs would spread resources, and increase risks. It'd also increase the footprint of their manufacturing.
The decision was to make only 3: a scout, an all-round 'Mech and a support unit.

The Pariah/Septicemia became the all-round 'Mech, leaving the scout and support unit for the actual WOR book.


Design for the Osteon could've gone in a couple of different directions. It was specifically built to exploit the conservative combat philosophy of the Warriors. In most Clans, the most skilled Warriors end up in the heavier 'Mechs, taking out the heavier 'Mechs was generally considered a bigger test of one's skill, and the heavier units usually also represented the primary combat unit of the Clan's warmachine. They were the frontline aspect of Clan warfare.
One way to exploit that tendency is to dramatically increase its durability. If it's going to attract the attention away from your primary combat unit, the Septicemia, or more traditional Clan and SLDF 'Mechs, you might as well make it good at it. Ferro-Lamellor and Reinforced internal structure were a fixed aspect of the Osteon's design even before it got any weapon systems. Hardened Armor was pondered, but would have reduced the available pod tonnage too much. Other aspects amplified the durability as well, such as the torso-cockpit and the CASE II.

Giving it the spiffy iATMs was an obvious choice, but also aligned with its support role. In order for it to be a true frontline unit, it needed 2 things it wasn't going to get: a competitive warload, and skilled MechWarriors. The skilled ones all went to the Septicemias, the job of the Osteon was to find a spot, and unload on whoever deserved the pain. Combined with its weaponry and the Nova, it could actually be effective in that role.
A role that's also difficult to grasp for the more hidebound Warrior, making them less successful at countering it.

The other configs all sought to stay in sync with that idea. The mortars were great, both because they're actually effective in a "dishonorable" way, but also because it showed that the Society had no compunctions against using anything if they believed it would work. The vibroblade is another expression of that.
Pretty much every config was done such that it didn't demand much intellectual firepower from its operator. It was either good at only 1 thing, or the amount of decisions to make about how to deploy your unit were minimal compared to more traditional Clan weapon layouts.
This also showed one of the Society's mental blind spots: they equated minimal skills as a MechWarrior to also mean minimal leadership and tactical acumen, regardless of training and experience. On top of generally looking upon Warriors like meathead jocks that couldn't be trusted to make solid decisions; that's why they were taking over, after all.

Another such blind spot is actually the torso-mounted cockpit. While "obviously" superior in the sense of the 'Mech surviving, allowing you to simply replace that chunk of meat in the cockpit, it would also contribute to some bad logistical decisions. Either the MW in it pulled out too early to safeguard himself, or his ammo stores caused him to stay too long. The ammo stores exist to provide options and flexibility, they werent intended to inform how long the unit loiters about the battlefield. Consequence is an Osteon with low ammo loads, and dead MWs.
The intent was for the Osteon to just drop a load of firepower and leave, but since most Scientists had 0 combat experience, they couldn't predict how those design feature would influence its operators.
That's a long term problem since a key weakness in their supply of MWs was skills and experience (including experience fighting as a unit with each other). You kind of need MWs to come back to become better.

There's other hints at such mental lapses in the other configurations and Mechs. There's several on the Septicemia, so both Ben and I expected a lot of people to immediately figure out what was going on. We were concerned we made it too obvious what the story was.
That didn't really happen, which shows a mental blind spot on our end: we were able to correctly interpret the meaning of every hint we placed, so we insufficiently accounted for the ability of people to arrive at other (legitimate) conclusions. We realized that possibility, of course, but overestimated to what extent people would arrive at the "correct" conclusion. If multiple conclusions are equally valid without more information, you get much more of a spread.


Beyond all that, the Osteon's intended to be a fun "boss" 'Mech, something to really worry your opponent with. Seems most players get that, and use it that way. Only thing I'd suggest is, that if you'd like to use it within the framework of what was "intended", you'd deploy them no less than 3 at a time, with pilot skills randomly determined as if they're Green or Regular MechWarriors. Inner Sphere Green or Regular.
Sure, the Society had a few hotshots, but most of those got Septicemia. (nyuk!)
That's not to say you can't park a 2/3 or even higher dude in there. While the Society's total 'Mech force and supply of Osteons was sparse, that would've happened several times.

Paul
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Alex Keller

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #61 on: 29 June 2012, 14:01:02 »
Thanks, Paul!!!  I wish we could get more comments like these on some of the other designs.  They are fantastic to read from a BT fan perspective.

Paul

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #62 on: 29 June 2012, 14:10:47 »
Glad you like it.

Do note that not every designs comes with that much thought behind it. IE, when I did the Patriot, I certainly didn't have such an elaborate design process (beyond intending to create a Regulan 'Mech that could conceivably chuck nukes) There's not too much else to say about that little guy. The Sept/Ost and Ceph each were a process of literally weeks. The Patriot was a day. So was the Balius, but I had a bit more to say about that one too; largely because a lot of people apparently don't use quads the way I do.

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TigerShark

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #63 on: 20 January 2013, 23:54:12 »
@ Paul,

Were the pilots intended to be 5/6 and 4/5 for Society pilots, respectively (you mentioned Inner Sphere "Green" and "Regular")?
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Paul

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #64 on: 21 January 2013, 07:52:50 »
"Intended"? Not so much, but that was what the Society had access to for the most part. Again, they also had access to some 3/4s and even 2/3s, but not many.
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TigerShark

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #65 on: 21 January 2013, 12:56:22 »
What would you say the most "common" Society pilot skill level was then? 4/5? 3/4?
  W W W . M E K W A R S - D O M I N I O N . C O M

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     - Orders of Emperor Stefan Amaris to his troops

Paul

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #66 on: 21 January 2013, 13:09:32 »
4/5 or 5/6
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TigerShark

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #67 on: 21 January 2013, 13:21:48 »
I've been running a campaign with Society equipment and 4/5 seems incredibly overpowered when using BV. Anything "lower" than 3/4 (4/5, mostly) is really tough to deal with under that system. I suppose it makes sense, in universe, though. :)
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  "You will fight to the last soldier, and when you die, I will call upon your damned soul to speak horrible curses at the enemy."
     - Orders of Emperor Stefan Amaris to his troops

Paul

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: Osteon
« Reply #68 on: 21 January 2013, 14:33:07 »
I've been running a campaign with Society equipment and 4/5 seems incredibly overpowered when using BV. Anything "lower" than 3/4 (4/5, mostly) is really tough to deal with under that system. I suppose it makes sense, in universe, though. :)

Yeah, and the in-universe logic is what guides the decision. Balancing a game is up to the player(s). CGL has a couple of ways for someone to balance their games, but if those methods are not considered ideal, players are certainly welcome to do what is needed for them to have a fun game.
IE, if your society-based games are more fun when everyone has a 3/4 or better, go for it. Maybe that was just one of the best Society units that ever existed, it wouldn't be outrageous.
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