Mercenaries Kickstart Discussion 2: Contract Negotiations Begin

[MarauderD]

The Falcon, Hornet and Imp have been confirmed as not being in the Kickstarter:

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/general-discussion/mercenaries-kickstart-discussion-2-contract-negotiations-begin/msg1854041/#msg1854041

I'm sure they have their fans, but I wouldn't be crushed if they were retired to the dustbin of history. 

[marauder648]

The Falcon, Hornet and Imp have been confirmed as not being in the Kickstarter:

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/general-discussion/mercenaries-kickstart-discussion-2-contract-negotiations-begin/msg1854041/#msg1854041

God doughnut I don't care about the Falcon, and honestly the Hornet could be replaced with a marble and it would be an upgrade but the loss of the Imp is a massive blow The art and models for it are RANCID and aggressively bad. There's nothing nostalgic about it, its horrid. And I was super hoping it would be in the Kickstarter

[MarauderD]

God doughnut I don't care about the Falcon, and honestly the Hornet could be replaced with a marble and it would be an upgrade but the loss of the Imp is a massive blow The art and models for it are RANCID and aggressively bad. There's nothing nostalgic about it, its horrid. And I was super hoping it would be in the Kickstarter

If it cheers you up, the Imp C is alive and well in the ilClan era with the Dragoons, so there is a chance it will get new art someday!

[marauder648]

If it cheers you up, the Imp C is alive and well in the ilClan era with the Dragoons, so there is a chance it will get new art someday!

I'll just get other Imps. And yeah it exists but dear lord, you'd think that a 'Mech associated with the Dragoons like the Imp, in a Merc themed kickstarter would get some much needed love considering it looks like a beachball with Mr Potato head parts badly glued on it and then some very square and dull arms and legs attached.

[NeonKnight]

I'll just get other Imps. And yeah it exists but dear lord, you'd think that a 'Mech associated with the Dragoons like the Imp, in a Merc themed kickstarter would get some much needed love considering it looks like a beachball with Mr Potato head parts badly glued on it and then some very square and dull arms and legs attached.

Sounds like an awesome paintscheme

[Ghaz]

I'll just get other Imps. And yeah it exists but dear lord, you'd think that a 'Mech associated with the Dragoons like the Imp, in a Merc themed kickstarter would get some much needed love considering it looks like a beachball with Mr Potato head parts badly glued on it and then some very square and dull arms and legs attached.

Maybe it has to do with production (looking at the MUL it seems like it hasn't been in production since the Clan Invasion era).  It might have just been cut because there was too many 'Mechs that were commonplace that needed to be done first.

[Greatclub]

Only reason I have a hornet is Sword and Dragon. I don't want another

I have no idea why somebody put one of the best pilots in the 'sphere in that deathtrap, though. Or how one would find its way into a SpecOps unit.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I'll just get other Imps. And yeah it exists but dear lord, you'd think that a 'Mech associated with the Dragoons like the Imp, in a Merc themed kickstarter would get some much needed love considering it looks like a beachball with Mr Potato head parts badly glued on it and then some very square and dull arms and legs attached.

The art in Operation Klondike was decent, at least.

[Weirdo]

Ehhh....it was a vast improvement over what came before, but still had a ways to go before it reached 'good'.

The Imp and Champion are easily the two mechs that most desperately need Scrogginsization.

[Scotty]

The Wyvern needs it significantly worse, but it's also a worse mech so I understand skipping over it.

[Maingunnery]

Ehhh....it was a vast improvement over what came before, but still had a ways to go before it reached 'good'.

The Imp and Champion are easily the two mechs that most desperately need Scrogginsization.

The Champion mostly needs actual arms.

[Greatclub]

The Champion mostly needs actual arms.

or stalker-style arm turrets, not... psudo-wings.

[Colt Ward]

I'll just get other Imps. And yeah it exists but dear lord, you'd think that a 'Mech associated with the Dragoons like the Imp, in a Merc themed kickstarter would get some much needed love considering it looks like a beachball with Mr Potato head parts badly glued on it and then some very square and dull arms and legs attached.

How associated is it really?  I do not think I have ever read a single piece of fiction the mech appears in.  A lot of these 'Dragoon' mechs suffer the same way . . . the only ones I remember appearing in fiction and linked would be the Gallowglas and Marauder II- even if the latter ends up all over the place.

[MarauderD]

The Wyvern needs it significantly worse, but it's also a worse mech so I understand skipping over it.

Metropolis/C3PO?  Whatever could you mean?   

[carlisimo]

I’d love to see the Wyvern, Striker, Thorn, and Champion redone.  I’d use them.

I could live without the Falcon, Hornet, and Imp.  I could also live without the Shogun - I’m surprised it’s been redesigned because its availability seems to be very limited. 

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

How associated is it really?  I do not think I have ever read a single piece of fiction the mech appears in.  A lot of these 'Dragoon' mechs suffer the same way . . . the only ones I remember appearing in fiction and linked would be the Gallowglas and Marauder II- even if the latter ends up all over the place.

Just because a mech doesn't get depicted in the fiction doesn't matter much.  How many times did the Nova Cats actually get depicted using the Nova Cat?

[Luciora]

*waits patiently for anthology stories and Scrogginization about the Liberator*

[Ghaz]

How associated is it really?  I do not think I have ever read a single piece of fiction the mech appears in.  A lot of these 'Dragoon' mechs suffer the same way . . . the only ones I remember appearing in fiction and linked would be the Gallowglas and Marauder II- even if the latter ends up all over the place.

The Imp is very much associated with the Dragoons as it was the 'WHOOPS!' 'Mech that they brought with them from the Clan Homeworlds that they shouldn't have.  From the Imp's entry in TRO3050U:

The Imp’s original appearance among Wolf’s Dragoons confused ComStar’s ROM in the early 31st century, though the revelation of the Dragoons’ origins and over two decades of scrutiny into the Clans has finally uncovered the mysterious origins of the machine.  Once thought to be a forgotten Star League prototype, this ’Mech actually debuted soon after General Aleksandr Kerensky settled the Pentagon worlds, born as a symbol of the strength of a self-declared Star League in Exile and nearly forgotten before the end of their Golden Century.

[Colt Ward]

Just because a mech doesn't get depicted in the fiction doesn't matter much.  How many times did the Nova Cats actually get depicted using the Nova Cat?

More than the Imp has been used in fiction.  More than the Imp (and Annihilator) has shown up on RATs or in Unit lists (aka phonebooks).

For all the 'we produce these designs a lot' the Dragoons designs are mostly ignored when it comes to them actually taking the field.  How many Imp, Annihilator, Shogun, Marauder II, Gallowglas, Hoplite, or Firefly were on Misery?  Luthien?  Coventry?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

More than the Imp has been used in fiction.  More than the Imp (and Annihilator) has shown up on RATs or in Unit lists (aka phonebooks).

For all the 'we produce these designs a lot' the Dragoons designs are mostly ignored when it comes to them actually taking the field.  How many Imp, Annihilator, Shogun, Marauder II, Gallowglas, Hoplite, or Firefly were on Misery?  Luthien?  Coventry?

We don't actually know because TPTB deliberately don't give hard numbers for those sort of things.  RATs are explicitly not comprehensive.  By the logic you're using, most mechs that are associated with a specific faction actually aren't because there's no fiction that depicts those particular mechs being used by that faction.

[Sartris]

We don't actually know because TPTB deliberately don't give hard numbers for those sort of things.  RATs are explicitly not comprehensive.  By the logic you're using, most mechs that are associated with a specific faction actually aren't because there's no fiction that depicts those particular mechs being used by that faction.

I hate people having nice things and would love to use this logic. Unfortunately for me greekfire has a trio of snipers hired to watch me 24/7 and take me out the second I attempt to initiate the plan

[Hellraiser]

  How many Imp, Annihilator, Shogun, Marauder II, Gallowglas, Hoplite, or Firefly were on Misery?  Luthien?  Coventry?

We don't actually know because TPTB deliberately don't give hard numbers for those sort of things. 

Well...Technically... We do know that first world listed thanks to the Dragoons Phonebook.   
Just saying.

[Greatclub]

Well...Technically... We do know that first world listed thanks to the Dragoons Phonebook.   
Just saying.

We need a grognard to start counting...

[Weirdo]

*looks slightly to his left at his copy of said book, 3 feet away from him, knowing full well it does indeed have the information in question*


Hmmm...nah.

[Scotty]

I'd sooner read a real life phonebook than be bound by any of the Battletech phone books and I encourage everyone else to throw off the yoke of ancient out of print book oppression

[Hellraiser]

Mine is boxed up, but given they were mostly concentrated in Zeta, I wouldn't be surprised if 5+ Regiments totaled less than a Company of them in the entire unit.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I'd sooner read a real life phonebook than be bound by any of the Battletech phone books and I encourage everyone else to throw off the yoke of ancient out of print book oppression

Yeah, especially given that I don't think I've ever even seen those books in person.

[CarlK]

As someone who wasn't playing back in the day, what exactly are these "phone books" you are referring to? Like a full OOB for a faction?

[Sartris]

the three most prominent are wolf's dragoon's, jade falcon, and wolf.

i just flipped through WD and counted fewer than five imps

[glitterboy2098]

As someone who wasn't playing back in the day, what exactly are these "phone books" you are referring to? Like a full OOB for a faction?

pretty much. most of the early mercenary source books, and the earliest clan sourcebooks tended to have listing of not only the names of the regiments and battalions but details all the way down to individual pilot names and their mechs for every lance. for the bigger groups like the dragoons, wolves, and falcons, where there were multiple regiments so listed, the end result looks a lot like a phone book in layout.