Ideas are bulletproof: The Republic of the Sphere Megathread

[Weirdo]

I have always wanted to try the Malice out. Shame that the other members of my group don't use vees or aeros very often at all, so barring some amazing crit-seeking opportunities I probably wouldn't get the full power out of it.

[Scotty]

I adore the Jackalope. Appearance and capability-wise, it certainly lives up to its namesake and it’s just fun to play with.

The Wolpertinger variant has one of my absolute favorite construction techniques.  It uses an XXL to save tonnage, then five IJJs and a Partial Wing to get back to a 7 jump speed.   Doing it this way instead of an XL and regular jump jets nets you half a ton gross weight and three extra heat dissipation for what is effectively a benefit of two extra tons of space.  And it does it generating less heat on the jump!  8 for the regular JJs, versus 5 for the IJJs (doubled by XXL, halved by IJJs, jump MP from the wing don't cost extra heat).  Exquisite.

240 XL: 6 tons
8 JJs: 4 tons

240 XXL: 3 tons
5 IJJs: 5 tons
Partial Wing: 1.5 tons

Of course the actual Wolpertinger variant also ups the ground speed to make what I'm fairly sure is the unique movement profile 10/15/7 so the comparison can't be that direct but it's still a technique I'm dying to see used again.

[Cannonshop]

I have always wanted to try the Malice out. Shame that the other members of my group don't use vees or aeros very often at all, so barring some amazing crit-seeking opportunities I probably wouldn't get the full power out of it.

Clearly you need to school them in just how nasty a vehicle/BA/conventional force can really GET in good hands.  once upon a time long ago, I was in a group who thought LBX and Infernoes were a waste of time.

six or seven sessions in, and they were grabbing those by reflex to deal with what I was slinging on the table.

[Church14]

Mech: Lament. Looks good, plays good.
Vehicle: Marksman MBT. No good reason. I just like it.
BA: aegis are a fun deviation from Normal BA


Runner up are the RotS Edison’s salvaged and kept from CS/WoB: Kheper and Bolla

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I like the MHI for no other reason than its resemblance to the HISS.

[Weirdo]

Clearly you need to school them in just how nasty a vehicle/BA/conventional force can really GET in good hands.  once upon a time long ago, I was in a group who thought LBX and Infernoes were a waste of time.

I do that plenty. It's almost to the point that they ask about my health if I bring an all-mech force to a game. And they will bring defenses. But they still rarely bring non-mech stuff off their own.

[Cannonshop]

I do that plenty. It's almost to the point that they ask about my health if I bring an all-mech force to a game. And they will bring defenses. But they still rarely bring non-mech stuff off their own.

  that does make it more difficult.

What's your thought on the Marksman M-1 (32nd century)?

[Weirdo]

The Marksman is my absolute favorite battle tank in the entire setting. I fell in love with it on looks alone the day MWDA released, and absolutely everything published about it since then has only made things better. I'm even in the process of cleaning up a plastic one to turn into a Christmas ornament. It won't be the first mini I've but in our tree, but it will be the first Battletech one.

(Runners up are the Joust and the original Manticore.)

[Cannonshop]

for those who are vaguely unfamiliar (all two of you? maybe?)



M1 Marksman.  I'm not sure about the camouflage pattern's intent, but it looks like it could be for operating on Mars, maybe?

[Weirdo]

Gray buildings, red dirt? Urban camo, specific to cities in Oklahoma. Now why you'd actually garrison anything in Oklahoma is beyond me, but it is 1,000 years in the future. That *might* enough time to actually put something valuable in there.

[Cannonshop]

Gray buildings, red dirt? Urban camo, specific to cities in Oklahoma. Now why you'd actually garrison anything in Oklahoma is beyond me, but it is 1,000 years in the future. That *might* enough time to actually put something valuable in there.

It's Oklahoma...maybe a new, battletech inspired NTC?

[Weirdo]

If NTC means something Training College, that would make sense. You put those where nothing interesting will get broken when the rookies lose control of their mechs.

[Scotty]

This is also why the SLDF I Corps and 1st Royal BattleMech Regiment prior to the Amaris Coup were headquartered in Salina, Kansas.  And the ComStar 201st Division.  And the Word of Blake 1st Division.

There is absolutely not a ****** thing in Salina, Kansas or anywhere within 150 miles in any direction (except Fort Riley, headquarters of the RL 1st Infantry Division, for exactly the same reasons).

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Definitely the M1 Marksman as the favorite vehicle although I wish someone had made a ClanTech variant (with ATM’s perhaps!).

[Stormlion1]

This is also why the SLDF I Corps and 1st Royal BattleMech Regiment prior to the Amaris Coup were headquartered in Salina, Kansas.  And the ComStar 201st Division.  And the Word of Blake 1st Division.

There is absolutely not a ****** thing in Salina, Kansas or anywhere within 150 miles in any direction (except Fort Riley, headquarters of the RL 1st Infantry Division, for exactly the same reasons).

A thousand years in the future and who knows what is important in the middle of the continent? My money is that the flat ground made a great place for a military spaceport and staging area.

[Metallgewitter]

So fater flipping through Shattered Fortress again there is something that made me wonder if Operation SHOFAR maybe would have been more sucessfulk if the Falcons, Wolves and Capellans had not managed to get information about the RAF General assault to reconnect their territory. For example if the RAF had taken Castor without the 328th Cluster getting any men out (remember HPG's are dead) the Wolves would have no idea the wall had come down (well except courier jumpships and those could be destroyed / captured). So going from that line of thought if all antagonists (or maybe just one has the knowledge) had no idea the wall was actually down would the Republic had a better chance of somehow turning the tide? Basically a "keep up the illusion" way. I doubt it though it might have given the Republic precious more time to for one prepare their defenses and also perhaps coordinate more with the Federated Suns.

[Cannonshop]

A thousand years in the future and who knows what is important in the middle of the continent? My money is that the flat ground made a great place for a military spaceport and staging area.

there are a lot of places where that would be true.  The major advantage of THAT region, is a notable lack of tectonic activity-the ground is extremely stable in geological terms, making it a pretty good site for structures intended to last, particularly sub-surface structures.

Now, your downside for a spaceport.  Tornado Alley.  Your spaceport can be shut down at any time in the summer months (or spring, or fall) by powerful cyclonic storms.  The low density and sail area on a dropshp makes takeoff and landing...interesting, in the "oh god oh god we're all going to die" sense.

[monbvol]

So fater flipping through Shattered Fortress again there is something that made me wonder if Operation SHOFAR maybe would have been more sucessfulk if the Falcons, Wolves and Capellans had not managed to get information about the RAF General assault to reconnect their territory. For example if the RAF had taken Castor without the 328th Cluster getting any men out (remember HPG's are dead) the Wolves would have no idea the wall had come down (well except courier jumpships and those could be destroyed / captured). So going from that line of thought if all antagonists (or maybe just one has the knowledge) had no idea the wall was actually down would the Republic had a better chance of somehow turning the tide? Basically a "keep up the illusion" way. I doubt it though it might have given the Republic precious more time to for one prepare their defenses and also perhaps coordinate more with the Federated Suns.

I'll admit that is one of my peeves about the era, despite the lack of HPGs it seems information still flows like they are active anyway an awful lot.

there are a lot of places where that would be true.  The major advantage of THAT region, is a notable lack of tectonic activity-the ground is extremely stable in geological terms, making it a pretty good site for structures intended to last, particularly sub-surface structures.

Now, your downside for a spaceport.  Tornado Alley.  Your spaceport can be shut down at any time in the summer months (or spring, or fall) by powerful cyclonic storms.  The low density and sail area on a dropshp makes takeoff and landing...interesting, in the "oh god oh god we're all going to die" sense.

Which is countered by the fact Battletech does have weather control technology.  Indeed a world that the name of escapes me at the moment died off because imports of the weather control technology stopped coming.  So I'm pretty sure Earth is a pretty mild place weather wise.

[Weirdo]

There's a difference between terraforming a world whose weather would make it uninhabitable, and spending the same resources just to make literal Earth a little bit more convenient. As far as I know, nothing has ever implied the use of weather control tech in Terra.

Regarding major facilities on the Plains, I just recalled, wasn't Amarillo a major area during IlClan?

[Cannonshop]

I'll admit that is one of my peeves about the era, despite the lack of HPGs it seems information still flows like they are active anyway an awful lot.

Which is countered by the fact Battletech does have weather control technology.  Indeed a world that the name of escapes me at the moment died off because imports of the weather control technology stopped coming.  So I'm pretty sure Earth is a pretty mild place weather wise.

Inevitably...as long as they can keep the tech going after being godhammered twice (Three times?) by brutal invasions and Word of Blake's above-ground nuclear testing.

[tassa_kay]

Regarding major facilities on the Plains, I just recalled, wasn't Amarillo a major area during IlClan?

Yep. Home to one of the RAF’s redoubts and the most centrally located RAF installation on the continent.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

There's a difference between terraforming a world whose weather would make it uninhabitable, and spending the same resources just to make literal Earth a little bit more convenient. As far as I know, nothing has ever implied the use of weather control tech in Terra.

Yes, but on the other hand the Terran Hegemony was shown to be quite willing to use terraforming simply for vanity projects and tech-flexing, so it makes sense that they'd do so on Terra as well as off.

[tassa_kay]

Why would Terra need to be terraformed? It’s already a habitable world. I think there’s some conflation happening here between “terraforming” and “ecological restoration”, which Terra did experience a lot of per JHS: Terra.

I think Weirdo called it when he says that it’s unlikely weather controlling tech isn’t being used on Terra, as JHS: Terra also points out that much of Terra’s land area is “naturally arid and even forbidding to humans”.

[Weirdo]

If a book says that Terra uses weather control tech, I'll accept it at face value. Until then, I'm going to assume that the most any power holding Terra has done in the regard was to simply say when asked "...but why?"

Besides, I think that we all know that if the Camerons were going to put DoME resources into altering Tornado Alley, they'd want more tornadoes instead of less, as yet another crazy defensive measure. 

[monbvol]

If a book says that Terra uses weather control tech, I'll accept it at face value. Until then, I'm going to assume that the most any power holding Terra has done in the regard was to simply say when asked "...but why?"

Besides, I think that we all know that if the Camerons were going to put DoME resources into altering Tornado Alley, they'd want more tornadoes instead of less, as yet another crazy defensive measure. 

That's the fun thing about weather control, if you can stop tornadoes you can sure as hell start them.

But ultimately, yeah my point is more the technology clearly exists.  Is it 100% that it is on Terra?  Probably not.  I'd wager only about a 10% chance by the ilClan era.

[Geg]

There's the whole debate we've been around again, and again, and again.  All the Republic's big wins were off-stage...

We never actually got to see them being competent, functional, and at their strength...and that's a shame right there

Operation ERUPTIO as told via shell games shows a competently led and devastatingly effective Republic operation could look like.   Schmetzer did a great job with how he portrayed the Paladin without needing to use their POV.

My feeling is that the Republic suffers from the lack of a dedicated source book to tell its history.

[Metallgewitter]

Wasn't Terra already "greened" when the old Alliance was in control? Or did that only come when the Hegemony took over? I think there are not a lot of information but the books often tell that the Terran goverment repaired the damages that the early industrilization caused to Terra but they never mentioned HOW. Simply planting new trees is probably not enough. I could see the Hegemony using perhaps simple weather control tech but most likely nothing heavy like the Storminhibitors on Bryant or sun shades on Venus.

[Maingunnery]

Wasn't Terra already "greened" when the old Alliance was in control? Or did that only come when the Hegemony took over? I think there are not a lot of information but the books often tell that the Terran goverment repaired the damages that the early industrilization caused to Terra but they never mentioned HOW. Simply planting new trees is probably not enough. I could see the Hegemony using perhaps simple weather control tech but most likely nothing heavy like the Storminhibitors on Bryant or sun shades on Venus.

Weather control tech will not do anything against actual pollution. The Terran government likely did things such as cleaning and reconditioning the soil.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Besides, I think that we all know that if the Camerons were going to put DoME resources into altering Tornado Alley, they'd want more tornadoes instead of less, as yet another crazy defensive measure. 

No way, trying to weaponize Tornado Alley sounds much more like Stefan Amaris' brand of 'genius.' There's a Shrapnel story in there somewhere, a SLDF unit that has to assault a weather control station during LIBERATION to prevent the AEAF from creating a sharknado or something.

Favorite RAF units were mentioned up-thread, and just based on looks, the Lament is dead sexy to me. Never run one though, is it any good? Triskellion also gets a nod for being different on top of being pretty damn effective (in my experience). Thrilled the Smoke Jaguars get them both in the ilClan era.

[Geg]

Favorite RAF units were mentioned up-thread, and just based on looks, the Lament is dead sexy to me. Never run one though, is it any good?

The Lament suffers from using non-BMM tech.   They are good fun to run, but (IMO) need extra coordination with your opponent up front to set expectations about how the non-core mechanics are going to impact the game.