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1

BattleMechs / An unhinged HBK-4P+

« Last post by Andras on Today at 12:00:04 »

Going to take advantage of the dial the heat down for reduced damage optional rule here.

Two ways to kill an Elemental point in one turn. The first one dials back to 2h/4d and the second all the way back to 1/3.

Code: [Select]

Hunchback HBK-4P++

Mass: 50 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-D-A
Production Year: 3040
Cost: 3,893,500 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,435

Chassis: Unknown Standard
Power Plant: Unknown 200 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: None
    Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Unknown Standard Armor
Armament:
    15  Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Unknown
    Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Unknown
Targeting and Tracking System: Unknown

================================================================================
Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard                      83 points                5.00
Engine:             Fusion Engine                200                       8.50
    Walking MP: 4
    Running MP: 6
    Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks:         Double Heat Sink             16(32)                    6.00
    Heat Sink Locations: 4 LT, 2 RT, 1 LA, 1 RA
Gyro:               Standard                                               2.00
Cockpit:            Standard                                               3.00
    Actuators:      L: SH+UA+LA+H    R: SH+UA+LA+H
Armor:              Standard Armor               AV - 168                 10.50

                                                      Internal       Armor     
                                                      Structure      Factor     
                                                Head     3            9         
                                        Center Torso     16           24       
                                 Center Torso (rear)                  7         
                                           L/R Torso     12           18       
                                    L/R Torso (rear)                  6         
                                             L/R Arm     8            16       
                                             L/R Leg     12           24       

================================================================================
Equipment                                 Location    Heat    Critical    Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Medium Lasers                              RA        15        5         5.00
5 Medium Lasers                              LA        15        5         5.00
5 Medium Lasers                              RT        15        5         5.00
                                            Free Critical Slots: 8

BattleForce Statistics
MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      6    Points: 14
4          6       6       0       0      2     2   Structure:  4
Special Abilities: ENE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA

With 16SHS and the MedLas at 1/3 this first one works just fine for 3025. 15 shots for 3 damage each plus a walk.


With a TC you need to get tricky.

Code: [Select]

Hunchback HBK-4P++TC

Mass: 50 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A
Production Year: 3050
Cost: 7,214,500 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,566

Chassis: Unknown Standard
Power Plant: Unknown 200 Fusion XL Engine
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: None
    Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Unknown Standard Armor
Armament:
    20  Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Unknown
    Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Unknown
Targeting and Tracking System: Unknown

================================================================================
Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard                      83 points                5.00
Engine:             XL Fusion Engine             200                       4.50
    Walking MP: 4
    Running MP: 6
    Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks:         Double Heat Sink             10(20)                    0.00
    Heat Sink Locations: 1 LT, 1 RA
Gyro:               Standard                                               2.00
Cockpit:            Standard                                               3.00
    Actuators:      L: SH+UA+LA+H    R: SH+UA+LA+H
Armor:              Standard Armor               AV - 168                 10.50

                                                      Internal       Armor     
                                                      Structure      Factor     
                                                Head     3            9         
                                        Center Torso     16           24       
                                 Center Torso (rear)                  7         
                                           L/R Torso     12           18       
                                    L/R Torso (rear)                  6         
                                             L/R Arm     8            16       
                                             L/R Leg     12           24       

================================================================================
Equipment                                 Location    Heat    Critical    Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Medium Lasers                              RA        15        5         5.00
5 Medium Lasers                              LA        15        5         5.00
9 Medium Lasers                              RT        27        9         9.00
Targeting Computer                           LT        -         5         5.00
Medium Laser                                 HD        3         1         1.00
                                            Free Critical Slots: 10

BattleForce Statistics
MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      6    Points: 16
4          4       4       0       0      2     4   Structure:  2
Special Abilities: ENE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA



Does anyone know if vehicles can use this option?

2

Ground Combat / Re: Isn't VTOL is fragile a myth?

« Last post by DevianID on Today at 11:59:24 »

This is a conditional answer.  All vehicles are fragile.  The side facing has TAC on 2, 8, 12, and 66% of your facing is side.  So all vehicles have a massive inbuilt vulnerability.

Now, for vehicles, Vtols are the least fragile from a cost/tonnage pov.  They can't be outright immobilized via rotor hits, unlike tracked vees that are immobilized on a 10+ motive roll in the side.  Instead vtols lose 1 mp, which is 6+ versus tracks.  Overall, on average normal vees lose more total MP then vtols, cause while some motive hits on a tank/hover don't reduce mp, other motive hits take half or 100%.  Where normal vees outscale vtols is the tonnage limit.  A vtol caps at 30 normally, so 5 rotor hits is both immobilized AND dead.  A 100 ton tank that is immobilized is not technically dead, just probably dead due to immobile and called shots.

Vtols also get a free +1 tmm.  They can make use of terrain by landing, which will take 2 MP each turn to take off and land at the end.  They can't enter terrain, but neither can hover/wheeled/wige, and tracked cant enter heavy woods, so overall terrain is not a 'malus' at all for vtol.

Finally, the rotor reduces damage, while the tank motive locations of 3 4 5 9 do not reduce damage.  So a vtol gets some free damage reduction.  Again its a scaling thing, a 30 ton vtol has more total effective armor then a 30 ton tracked vehicle, but a 100 ton tracked will of course have more actual armor cause the rotor is capped at 2.

So if you are comparing the VTOL to other light units, it is not fragile at all.  Its the hardest to disable/kill of any light vehicle, and is the only vee type that can be tougher then a same weight battlemech--a 20 ton vtol is probably harder to kill then a 20 ton mech, assuming 'good' design.

The vtol IS fragile compared to heavy/assault tables, cause its 30 tons.  If suffers from the same issue light mechs have, in that in big games with high accuracy units, the only important metric for survivability is maximum armor--small evasive units are still getting hit easily versus elite/pulse, and just like a 30 ton mech can't easily soak 40 large pulse damage, neither can a vtol.  But you can't really blame a light unit in such a case, especially as it is a fraction of the cost of those elite clan pulse monsters.

3

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Clan Sea Fox - Red Diamond Logo

« Last post by Rob Bendig on Today at 11:55:31 »

Could be, but here's the thing. Kalasa was born in 3094 and Diamond Shark reverted to Sea Fox in 3100, when Kalasa was 6. I'm going to guess he didn't have any significant nostalgic links to Diamond Shark at that early age. That being said, as you say, the shape of the red diamond is identical to the blue diamond on the Clan Diamond Shark logo. I haven't read Hunters of the Deep (which is set in 3134 and focuses on Kalasa) so maybe that would shed some light - though that predates him using the Hammerhead from 3147.

There must be some reason for the diamond rather than the expected Spina Khanate ray's stinger.

4

Fan Articles / Re: VotW: Behemoth

« Last post by BrianDavion on Today at 11:51:52 »

In the Lyrans' case, it may be as simple as 'we already have so many big monstrosities, why bother with upgrading THESE slowpokes? Use the resources for the stuff that doesn't suck!'. Honestly I'm not sure how I'd even mod a Behemoth to be more Steiner than it already is... HGRs can't be turret-mounted, and the thing is so abysmally slow that keeping targets in the front arc isn't always easy to do. If anything, going back and reworking things, making what we now know as the Davion model into a Steiner tank and giving the Davion version RACs of one form or another is as good of an idea as I can think of. Steiner may just have to suffer. Or maybe the LBX version is one of theirs?

Marik though, yeah, and say this as someone who likes the LGR but felt it got very tiresome to see every single Marik unit of the 3060s have to get one grafted on whether it made sense to or not (see: Warhammer 8M). But sometimes it's a good upgrade- the Ontos was a bizarre change, dropping everything that the original was to mount three LGRs, but it was a VERY good tank once it came off the assembly line in its new form. LGRs give you a range advantage few can match- so if you're only able to move 2/3 and enemies can avoid short-ranged weapons from you all day long, switching the old SarLons out for LGRs means you now have the ability to make the 'no-touchie' bubble around you much larger, for only a modest loss of punch. It's one of the situations in which an LGR upgrade really makes a lot of sense, and with that in mind it's a shame it never came about in canon- maybe Ontos production was sucking up too many of the new guns to spare for old second-line rolling-fortresses.

on the subject of LGRs on the Behemoth, ya know who had a factory for these buggers and DIDN'T get an upgrade version of it?
The word of blake. I did some testing and a LGR C3i varient is pretty easy to do, just swap out the AC 10s and replace the armor with HFFA, and you've saved eneugh weight for C3i, this would be a pretty simple refit that'd be just what the Precentor ordered for the blakists late Jihad defensive operations

5

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: BattleTech Gothic

« Last post by Ghaz on Today at 11:46:24 »

My FLGS is already taking preorders, but has noted that his cut-off date isn't until November.

6

BattleMechs / Re: Rakshasa 75 ton Mech made acceptable thanks to the miracles of modern technology

« Last post by Speedbump on Today at 11:31:01 »

So this is what the XL engine version looks like:

Code: [Select]

Rakshasa MDG-3B

Mass: 75 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Dark Ages
Tech Rating/Era Availability: F/X-X-F-E
Production Year: 3134
Dry Cost: 18,898,250 C-Bills
Total Cost: 18,985,250 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,835

Chassis: Unknown Endo-Steel
Power Plant: Unknown 375 Fusion XL Engine
Walking Speed: 54.0 km/h
Maximum Speed: 86.4 km/h
Jump Jets: None
    Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Unknown Light Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
    2  Light PPCs
    2  MML-9s
    1  Medium X-Pulse Laser
    3  ER Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Unknown
    Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Unknown
Targeting and Tracking System: Unknown

Additional:


================================================================================
Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Endo-Steel                   114 points                4.00
    Internal Locations: 1 HD, 1 CT, 1 LT, 3 LA, 4 RA, 2 LL, 2 RL
Engine:             XL Fusion Engine             375                      19.50
    Walking MP: 5
    Running MP: 8
    Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks:         Double Heat Sink             14(28)                    4.00
Gyro:               Standard                                               4.00
Cockpit:            Standard                                               3.00
    Actuators:      L: SH+UA    R: SH+UA
Armor:              Light Ferro-Fibrous          AV - 228                 13.50
    Armor Locations: 2 LT, 3 LA, 2 RA
    CASE II Locations: 1 RT                                                1.00

                                                      Internal       Armor     
                                                      Structure      Factor     
                                                Head     3            9         
                                        Center Torso     23           35       
                                 Center Torso (rear)                  10       
                                           L/R Torso     16           25       
                                    L/R Torso (rear)                  7         
                                             L/R Arm     12           23       
                                             L/R Leg     16           32       

================================================================================
Equipment                                 Location    Heat    Critical    Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium X-Pulse Laser                         CT        6         1         2.00
MML-9                                        RT        5         5         6.00
MML-9                                        LT        5         5         6.00
ER Medium Laser                              LT        5         1         1.00
Light PPC                                    RA        5         2         3.00
ER Medium Laser                              RA        5         1         1.00
Light PPC                                    LA        5         2         3.00
ER Medium Laser                              LA        5         1         1.00
@MML-9 (LRM) (26)                            RT        -         2         2.00
@MML-9 (SRM) (11)                            RT        -         1         1.00
                                            Free Critical Slots: 2

BattleForce Statistics
MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      8    Points: 18
5          4       4       2       0      3     1   Structure:  3
Special Abilities: CASEII, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA, IF 1
The extra crits it gets back from not having MASC, a supercharger and 2 DHS outside the engine free up enough space for Light FF armour, at which point the available weapon tonnage is dead even. This one is dead instead of crippled if it loses a side torso and can't choose to run 10 if it really needs to. On the other hand it has a walk speed of 5 and doesn't risk crippling engine or leg failure every time it runs more than 6 hexes. If either MASC or Superchargers were actually reliable on the first turn of activation I'd probably take your version, but with the current rules I think I prefer this one.

7

Fan Fiction / Re: The Kapteyn Universe

« Last post by Vampire on Today at 11:21:53 »

Read again. It's not what happened in our universe. It was what should have happened had things followed their logical course.

The story is "Think like a Liao" , Tormano survives the assasination attempt and has the assasin ID and codes to go back to Max Liao and kill him. With Max out of the picture, the revenge motivation of Hanse Davion disappears, and Janos Marik can bring himself to trust the new Chancellor. Concord of Kapteyn aside, it makes all the sense of the world  for Liao and Marik to come to a truce and move all their troops against the main threat.

The official 4th Succesion War is a hare brained swinging door scheme unworkable without author fiat and grossly executed, and I mean it as gross. What it would have made sense is for both Steiner and Davion agreeing on a joint offensive on Kurita. But for Steiner to go alone against Kurita to help cover Hanse Davion back in a war against Liao? That is not to the benefit of House Steiner at all. Instead, as Janos Marik correctly feared, it would be better to strike first against a weakened Free Worlds League so the LCAF achieved a victory and gained experience, before turning against the Combine.

Anyway, that's my take. I will read this Kapteyn thing and see where it leads.

8

The Inner Sphere / Re: What design would you steal in the IS?

« Last post by BrianDavion on Today at 11:21:40 »

I feel like there is a Centurion or Cent-Omni that might be available there.

Centurion omnimech C, Plasma rifle, LRM 10 2 ER MLs, and jump jets

9

Fan Fiction / Re: ...if it's easy.

« Last post by Wrangler on Today at 11:20:08 »

Ears out

10

The Inner Sphere / Re: The Clan Political System Analysis (or why i hate them)

« Last post by BrianDavion on Today at 11:20:04 »

Slang comes when groups of people are physically AND culturally isolated.  As bad as communication is across the inner sphere now, they actually got a pretty robust common cultural heritage from the star league, and continuing through comstar.  This isn’t that different from the modern day where various dialects and refional accents are collapsing due to the influence of radio and television and now the internet.  It’s been a marked change just in ~ 100 years, and it’s been going on for an extra 1,000 in the B tech universe.

But let’s face it - mostly this is about useability for US - the consumers of this fictional universe.  Odd local slang needs to be edited out of anyone ever bothered creating it, and even if the speakers of a story aren’t speaking English, it’s ‘translated’ for is so we can understand it.  Theres no value in making something difficult to understand.

ohh for sure, realisticly each planet would have it's own dialect. rememebr HPGs where only developed in the 2600s, whereas worlds where settled centuries earlier in many cases. So yeah realisticly you should have MUCH stronger dialects, and I understand why they don't lean into this with characters, but I feel this is something that could be a bit of a writing gold mine, with people in military units largely speaking "court english" etc followed by each world with a regional dialect, see4ms like a really fun thing to work into a merc based story