Author Topic: Clan vs IS gameplay  (Read 6012 times)

Question

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Clan vs IS gameplay
« on: 21 April 2012, 17:40:01 »
I have noticed that almost all clan vs IS battles ive watched fall into one of two categories :

-The clan player takes fast mechs, usually meds/heavies that move at least 6/9 or faster, and preferably with as many pulse or long ranged weapons as possible. He then proceeds to run circles around the IS player. If the IS player has a force that all moves at least 5/8 or faster, preferably with long ranged weapons like ER PPCs, he may win, but it will take a very long time because both forces are running and firing at long range on very high numbers. One player usually surrenders when a lucky headcap, triple engine TAC, leg TAC, etc occurs that either prevents the clan forces from running in circles, or the IS forces from giving chase. If the IS player has slow mechs, he is unable to get into range and is easily shot to pieces without so much as a scratch on the clan forces. The clan player never makes any attempt to move closer than 20 hexes to fire his large pulse lasers, ER large lasers or ER PPCs. Games easily last more than 4 hours because very little damage is being done per round.

-The clan player takes a very heavy force. This is usually 2-4 heavies that can move at least 5/8 but pack high armor/fire power (e.g. timberwolves, novacats) or assaults with very high damage potential (e.g. direwolves), possibly a mix of both. The configs show a bias towards long ranged weapons like ER LL, large pulse, ER PPCs, gauss rifles, etc, but favouring energy weapons (presumably becuase of ammo constraints). The clan player attempts to deploy in advantageous terrain (e.g. on a wooded hill) and attempt to get the IS player to charge him, at which point it turns into a shooting gallery. If this is not possible, he deploys in open terrain and spends most of his time walking forward and backwards 5 hexes to give the IS player a +2 to hit mod while giving himself a +1 to hit mod. He will always attempt to stay out of range by walking backwards or running away. He will only move closer when the IS player is too close to avoid and he is attempting to get some kicks/rear shots in, or move into his short range bracket.

The game usually ends in one of the following ways :

1.The IS player refuses to charge the clan player, the clan player refuses to move out of his deployment zone, the game is cancelled, both players walk away with bad feelings.

2.The IS player charges the clan player in his terrain and has his force quickly destroyed, or some kind of miracle occurs (e.g. clan player misses all his shots) and the IS player wins.

3.The IS player brought mostly slow mechs, at which point the clan player just keeps walking backwards till the IS units are destroyed.

4.The terrain is relatively open, the IS player brought a force of mostly fast mechs and manages to get into short range. The clan player is overwhelmed with kicks or point blank shooting and destroyed.

Is this the norm for anyone else? From the IS side, it seems sucidal to take anything slower than 5/8 because they will not be fast enough to chase a clan player, or get into range fast enough. Overall the games are very boring to watch, and i cannot imagine that they are very fun to play either.

Rorke

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #1 on: 21 April 2012, 18:06:33 »
For the record, it's been years since i last played versus a clan force.

Mainly because my foes found IS level 2 mechs more fun to play, or as i like
to occasionally say "they grew up".   But i digress.

In all honesty i played vs clans during the 3050-58 era, of course for me the
real fun began back when 3055 came out.  Well Penetrators and Falconers up
front with Salamanders and Gunslingers up back, sort of worked kind of well for me.

But in my experience my foes typically charged at me using their superior mobility, whilst
i crawled up the board with my Fedcom heavies and assaults.  I've fond memories of what
even a humble Jagermech 6DD can do to a Loki.   Threw in a lot of Caesars and Axmen into the
mix too, well perhaps i could have used 3025 stuff.  But if they're going to go all power gamey with
their clan stuff, i'll be damned if i don't grab whatever improvements i can eh.

So to sum up, it's not always like what you have described.  Perhaps my foes might have been
a touch more sneaky and calculating, but they weren't.....my good fortune.  I guess i won more
than i lost, but in honesty the butchers bill was seldom slight for me doing it.

I maintain to this day that ultimately the chap with a keen eye for an opportunity tactically is in a way
better spot, rather than flash harry in his uberomniwhatever. 
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Kobold

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #2 on: 21 April 2012, 18:15:33 »
So basically you are saying "to win, clan players try to play to their advantages."

As long as both sides have very divergent tech levels, that is what will always happen.  Funny thing is in my experience if the clanners DON'T try to lurk at long range plinking away, they get crushed (assuming BV balancing and 3/4 clan pilots).

willydstyle

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #3 on: 21 April 2012, 18:47:04 »
Mainly because my foes found IS level 2 mechs more fun to play, or as i like
to occasionally say "they grew up".   But i digress.

That's not really called for.

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #4 on: 21 April 2012, 19:17:15 »
I think that in this cases, both sides are poor tactians. 

In the cases of the Clan player, they are relying too much on their better range and not enough on their mobility.  Also, while they may have advantage in one on one combat, they can easily be overwhelmed. 

In the case of the I.S. players, it seems to me that they are seeing their inferior ranges, speeds, etc., as too much of a handicap.  In the right hands, a Spider can destroy a Dire Wolf. 

What both sides need is patience and experience.  And it sounds like both sides are also afraid to lose pieces.  This game, much like Chess, is all about risk vs. reward.  You are going to lose pieces.   But it's how you lose those pieces that win or lose the game.

Fallen_Raven

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #5 on: 21 April 2012, 19:47:49 »
Any Clanner who wants to hide in the woods is going to be very disappointed when I set those woods on fire. If someone wants to play the long range game, I'll pound them with LRMs. If they want to play speed machines, I'll send in the Spiders to give them a merry little chase. Whatever someone wants to do, I'll either beat them at their own game or I'll change the rules to suit myself. Afterall, this is just a game and I'm just in it to have fun, so if someone whats to have a themed fight I'm willing to work with them.
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Stormfury

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #6 on: 21 April 2012, 20:40:52 »
Whilst Clan equipment is better on a per-item basis, canon Inner Sphere 'Mechs tend to use the available technologies better than Clan machines. Having a higher cost BV-wise (and in adjusted tonnage or any other balancing metric I have ever seen) with the requirement of paying for more skilled pilots on top of that means that there is a much narrower band of units to choose from and ways to employ them in order to be competitive.
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Ghostbear_Gurdel

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #7 on: 22 April 2012, 00:09:26 »
In my experience as a Clan player, when we use BV to balance, I either have light and medium mechs that get crushed by IS Heavies and Assaults, or a few heavies (and maybe an assault) that get crushed by a company of IS assault mechs.  #P
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willydstyle

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #8 on: 22 April 2012, 00:46:48 »
Whilst Clan equipment is better on a per-item basis, canon Inner Sphere 'Mechs tend to use the available technologies better than Clan machines. Having a higher cost BV-wise (and in adjusted tonnage or any other balancing metric I have ever seen) with the requirement of paying for more skilled pilots on top of that means that there is a much narrower band of units to choose from and ways to employ them in order to be competitive.

There's no "requirement" to pay for clan pilots, other than if the players wants his force to be closer to what's in the background of the universe.  That being said, the Clan player could be playing a Solahma unit as justification for using lower-skilled pilots too.

Stormfury

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #9 on: 22 April 2012, 01:19:09 »
Whilst there is, strictly speaking no actual rules requirement to use advanced pilots when playing Clan, IME the amount of grief you get simply for choosing to play that tech base is enough without adding accusations of "gaming the system" due to Pulse Lasers and/or range brackets.

I've been derided as a munchkin for daring to run a Timber Wolf Prime, an Ice Ferret A, and Ice Ferret D, an Adder Prime and a Mist Lynx A with Clan Regulars against a Level II of C3i 3075-era heavies and assaults piloted by IS Veterans and Elites. And then told that the Clan tech was the only reason I won, especially since I wasn't using Zellbrigen.

No, I won by taking risks and closing with your mutually-supportive formation and handing him an advantage. And if you balance by BV, you're not supposed to use Zellbrigen any way.

The bias against Clan technology and Clan players in the BT community is a very real phenomenon, as both the OP and Rorke's post can attest. 
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Question

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #10 on: 22 April 2012, 03:05:10 »
So basically you are saying "to win, clan players try to play to their advantages."

As long as both sides have very divergent tech levels, that is what will always happen.  Funny thing is in my experience if the clanners DON'T try to lurk at long range plinking away, they get crushed (assuming BV balancing and 3/4 clan pilots).

I seriously hope the clan strength is not to bring only mechs with long ranged weapons, run at 20+ hexes firing long ranged weapons on 11s while the IS player fires some on 12s for 4+ hours until a lucky shot does serious damage.
« Last Edit: 22 April 2012, 03:19:03 by Question »

willydstyle

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #11 on: 22 April 2012, 03:06:18 »
Whilst there is, strictly speaking no actual rules requirement to use advanced pilots when playing Clan, IME the amount of grief you get simply for choosing to play that tech base is enough without adding accusations of "gaming the system" due to Pulse Lasers and/or range brackets.

I've been derided as a munchkin for daring to run a Timber Wolf Prime, an Ice Ferret A, and Ice Ferret D, an Adder Prime and a Mist Lynx A with Clan Regulars against a Level II of C3i 3075-era heavies and assaults piloted by IS Veterans and Elites. And then told that the Clan tech was the only reason I won, especially since I wasn't using Zellbrigen.

No, I won by taking risks and closing with your mutually-supportive formation and handing him an advantage. And if you balance by BV, you're not supposed to use Zellbrigen any way.

The bias against Clan technology and Clan players in the BT community is a very real phenomenon, as both the OP and Rorke's post can attest.

Yeah, there's a very limited group of people I choose to game with, because I'm tired of being told that I *have to* play a certain way. Pretty much any Clan that exists in the IS doesn't use Zellbrigen against any but the most honorable IS forces, and even then only if a Trial has been declared anyways.

That being said, I find that C3 is expensive enough that 3/4 clanners vs. C3-equipped IS is actually a pretty good balance. The over-priced nature of the 3/4 pilots offsets the over-priced nature of C3 :D  People have to realize that the improved range of Clan weapons is generally only worth a turn or two of favorable hit numbers when you play on limited map sheets, and just suck up a few turns of fire while you rush the bums :D

Question

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #12 on: 22 April 2012, 03:17:46 »
Whilst there is, strictly speaking no actual rules requirement to use advanced pilots when playing Clan, IME the amount of grief you get simply for choosing to play that tech base is enough without adding accusations of "gaming the system" due to Pulse Lasers and/or range brackets.

I've been derided as a munchkin for daring to run a Timber Wolf Prime, an Ice Ferret A, and Ice Ferret D, an Adder Prime and a Mist Lynx A with Clan Regulars against a Level II of C3i 3075-era heavies and assaults piloted by IS Veterans and Elites. And then told that the Clan tech was the only reason I won, especially since I wasn't using Zellbrigen.

No, I won by taking risks and closing with your mutually-supportive formation and handing him an advantage. And if you balance by BV, you're not supposed to use Zellbrigen any way.

The bias against Clan technology and Clan players in the BT community is a very real phenomenon, as both the OP and Rorke's post can attest.

I don't see where this biasedness comes from.

Ive seen some clan players close with the enemy, but its a minority. Ive seen very few clan players take short ranged weapons like AC10s or 20, and the games usually play out like how i described....usually taking forever and/or completely lopsided in one side's favor.

Ive seen clan players go around saying "we have to run in circles or we lose" many times. So much so that i played a new player recently, who's strategy was precisely this, because that's what he had been told. The game took an extra 8 turns or so because i had to chase his remaining stormcrow and a light mech with intervening woods causing us to shoot on high numbers most of the time.

To be fair i've seen IS players do this too, but the difference isn't as big because of the same ranged weapons and very few IS players seem to play like that.

Stormfury

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #13 on: 22 April 2012, 03:27:13 »
Clan 'Mechs almost always have less armour than Inner Sphere machines of the same tonnage. A lot of the time they have only 75% of the armour coverage of comparable designs. Clan designs also tend to spend most of their mass on long-range weapons.

The results of this are obvious; if a Clan machine closes, it has to tear through a tougher opponent at ranges favouring the Inner Sphere design's weapons.

Clan players have to use range and movement to compete. Inner Sphere players have the luxury of other tactics.

Every new piece of technology has opened new tactical avenues for the Sphere- C3, C3i, iNARC, LRM munitions, A/C munitions, R-A/Cs at standard levels of play, Stealth Armour, and so on all enable Sphere players to fight differently.

Each new piece of Clan technology just gives the ability to do damage.

It's that simple.

If you are not happy with Clan players having to play to the advantages offered by their technology base in order to remain competitive, perhaps you should consider the reasons for them employing them in the first place.
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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #14 on: 22 April 2012, 03:39:10 »
Clan 'Mechs almost always have less armour than Inner Sphere machines of the same tonnage. A lot of the time they have only 75% of the armour coverage of comparable designs. Clan designs also tend to spend most of their mass on long-range weapons.

The results of this are obvious; if a Clan machine closes, it has to tear through a tougher opponent at ranges favouring the Inner Sphere design's weapons.

Clan players have to use range and movement to compete. Inner Sphere players have the luxury of other tactics.

Every new piece of technology has opened new tactical avenues for the Sphere- C3, C3i, iNARC, LRM munitions, A/C munitions, R-A/Cs at standard levels of play, Stealth Armour, and so on all enable Sphere players to fight differently.

Each new piece of Clan technology just gives the ability to do damage.

It's that simple.

If you are not happy with Clan players having to play to the advantages offered by their technology base in order to remain competitive, perhaps you should consider the reasons for them employing them in the first place.

So in other words you are saying clan players can only win if they play 4+ hour games where they run in circles firing on 11s and 12s with long ranged weapons till they get a lucky hit?

Other clan players, agree/disagree?

Devs, is this what you intended when you designed the clans?

katya_Kerensky

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #15 on: 22 April 2012, 04:07:06 »
Fist-Fallen_Raven I agree with you 100percent, Any group playing with the full rules that are NEEDED to play most clan equipment should have the rules for fire, smoke, conventional forces etc that equal up the clans techy edge. And that's all it really is an edge.

Two-playing to win vs playing for fun, Some times I read posts and it sounds like Battletech has a serious tourney feel to it for some reason. If I'm playing for fun, namely against some one less experianced than I am the Timberwolf 5mp walk then 5mp back track is not something I use, It's not fun for them, It doesn't sell the universe to them. Now yeah there are friends and long time buddies you have to do that kinda stuff with when your betting on the game or at least holding bragging rights till the next time you play.

Three-Rules of Engagement These are in the Main Rule book, we count them as rules at all time.  Do they fix everything? No every game you find is going to have one element or two that's going to make it un fun or 'broken' and its not BV its not tech its the player. If your playing with a jerk   he could be fielding ICE hover tanks or Direwolf's.  We have clan players and they play in the spirit of the universe, Just like our non clan players play in the spirit of the game.  Our resident Davion player still runs an Enforcer an Assassin a Jagermech and a Vulcan, All stock 3025 cuz he likes them and he thinks there true to form for something that makes a faster game of battletech. Some times he does well Some times he doesn't. 

I remember The Rock, The Master Rules,  the Warrior Trilogy,  The Animated Series, MW2, Ghost Bears Legacy, MW2 Mercs Twilight of the Clans, Mech Commander, MW3 and a thousand Battletech games set in the Invasion of the clans era and Operation Bulldog both story driven and campaigns by the numbers. And yeah at first I was jaw dropped by the tech, I went through a hate of it, Then a love of it (Look at the name..) And I have to say I get more upset at some one playing a Marauder II in 3025(Even though it only lasts a second) more than I ever will at a Direwolf hitting the table or a Hellstar. 

I've seen omni's decked with more ERPPC's than I care to think about and in the end I lucked out with being around players over the last 20+years that cared more about having fun that any kinda balancing issues. 

I'm probly ranting a lot but Don't every sweat the Clan tech edge in games. We have an older gamer than runs almost 90% SW era mechs, Complete with MG ammo and never bats an eye at an ammo explosion. I asked him 'you know there is this thing called case right?'  He responded simply by saying ''You don't put a bumper sticker on a Mercedes Benz, And I don't need to compensate for anything by playing the best tech there iz'' To him that Warhammer lugging MG's he probly won't use the whole game is just how he see's the mech in his head. Some players love the way clan mechs look, the lore behind them or the effect they have in game. Nice thing about battletech is everyone's views of the game can come together over weapons fire.
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Stormfury

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #16 on: 22 April 2012, 04:09:52 »
Quote
So in other words you are saying clan players can only win if they play 4+ hour games where they run in circles firing on 11s and 12s with long ranged weapons till they get a lucky hit?

No. That is what you are saying.

And, frankly, if you have a group where that is what the Clan players have been reduced to in order to try and win, I have a hard time believing it is all their fault.

I would not want to face a larger force with heavier armour bringing what sounds like PPC and Medium Laser-laden designs under circumstances that exclusively favour their combat capabilities either. But if that's what I had to face, game in, game out sooner or later I would start fielding Fire Falcon As and Fire Moth Alethas and cruising around at ~23 hexes too.
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TJHairball

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #17 on: 22 April 2012, 04:34:10 »
So in other words you are saying clan players can only win if they play 4+ hour games where they run in circles firing on 11s and 12s with long ranged weapons till they get a lucky hit?

Other clan players, agree/disagree?

Devs, is this what you intended when you designed the clans?
I don't think you're going to get an answer from the people who designed the Clans. The 3050 TRO came out 22 years ago.

One of the basic issues that has to be understood in balancing IS vs Clan matches is that how you choose to balance the match will determine a lot of how fair it is to play IS / Clan.

A "balanced" match will typically pit fewer Clan 'mechs against a larger number of Inner Sphere 'mechs. If you play with the same number of 'mechs on each side, the Clan player will generally have more firepower, and the Inner Sphere player will generally have more armor.

I'm mostly of the opinion that the Clans are more boring to play, tech-wise. Inner Sphere has a lower level of tech, but more diverse and more interesting tech, as Stormfury has pointed out.

You can build Clan 'mechs with horrifically terrifying short-range firepower. Case in point. You can even pack inexpensive Clan 'mechs. If you're building custom Clan units, you can pack ferro-lamellor armor, SFEs, and ECM everywhere to make nastily tough zombies.

It's simply that if you have a relatively clear board, long-range mobile units are a winning strategy, and since the Clans can do that better than the Inner Sphere, it becomes a fairly attractive strategy for Clan forces. You aren't stuck using it simply because you're playing Clan, though, and map selection - along with the use of smoke cover - can go a long way to making that strategy less attractive.
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Moonsword

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #18 on: 22 April 2012, 04:42:31 »
I suggest everyone take a deep breath, take a step back, and consider how what you're posting comes across.  Some of you are getting close to the line on Rule 3 in here, folks.

katya_Kerensky

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #19 on: 22 April 2012, 04:43:25 »
O.O not me I hope
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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #20 on: 22 April 2012, 04:50:02 »
My experiences, if you can build your units as you wan't with only BV as an indicator, the is outnumbers usually the Clan player by far. If the IS Player is good at tactics though, he should at least archive a draw, but much more a Victory.
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Rorke

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #21 on: 22 April 2012, 04:58:40 »
That's not really called for.

The intent was ironic more than anything else, i'm not in the business of insulting people.
Nor for that matter, making sweeping generalisations about certain groupings or factions.

Seemingly i need to perhaps signpost certain mildly dry humour in future with emotes, how
dull.
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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #22 on: 22 April 2012, 05:53:56 »
No. That is what you are saying.

And, frankly, if you have a group where that is what the Clan players have been reduced to in order to try and win, I have a hard time believing it is all their fault.

I would not want to face a larger force with heavier armour bringing what sounds like PPC and Medium Laser-laden designs under circumstances that exclusively favour their combat capabilities either. But if that's what I had to face, game in, game out sooner or later I would start fielding Fire Falcon As and Fire Moth Alethas and cruising around at ~23 hexes too.

I described a scenario where clan players drag games out for 4+ hours by running in circles at long range.

You proceeded to say that it is just players playing to the strength of clans. So yea, it does sound like you are saying that this is what every clan player should be doing, by "playing to their strengths".

PPC and medium lasers are some of the most common weapons found on canon variants and they are far more balanced than say, clan large pulse lasers. Not sure why you are unhappy with it. With clan equivalents you can stay at your short range firing at their medium range. Firing on 11s and 12s hping your opponent quits or you get lucky isn't what every clan player should be doing IMHO, especially if both players are trying to have a fun game.

If you want to go into the territory of winning at all costs...well...you might as well flip the table, start a slap fight and let that decide the winner.
« Last Edit: 22 April 2012, 06:00:09 by Question »

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #23 on: 22 April 2012, 05:59:25 »
Fist-Fallen_Raven I agree with you 100percent, Any group playing with the full rules that are NEEDED to play most clan equipment should have the rules for fire, smoke, conventional forces etc that equal up the clans techy edge. And that's all it really is an edge.

Two-playing to win vs playing for fun, Some times I read posts and it sounds like Battletech has a serious tourney feel to it for some reason. If I'm playing for fun, namely against some one less experianced than I am the Timberwolf 5mp walk then 5mp back track is not something I use, It's not fun for them, It doesn't sell the universe to them. Now yeah there are friends and long time buddies you have to do that kinda stuff with when your betting on the game or at least holding bragging rights till the next time you play.

Three-Rules of Engagement These are in the Main Rule book, we count them as rules at all time.  Do they fix everything? No every game you find is going to have one element or two that's going to make it un fun or 'broken' and its not BV its not tech its the player. If your playing with a jerk   he could be fielding ICE hover tanks or Direwolf's.  We have clan players and they play in the spirit of the universe, Just like our non clan players play in the spirit of the game.  Our resident Davion player still runs an Enforcer an Assassin a Jagermech and a Vulcan, All stock 3025 cuz he likes them and he thinks there true to form for something that makes a faster game of battletech. Some times he does well Some times he doesn't. 

I remember The Rock, The Master Rules,  the Warrior Trilogy,  The Animated Series, MW2, Ghost Bears Legacy, MW2 Mercs Twilight of the Clans, Mech Commander, MW3 and a thousand Battletech games set in the Invasion of the clans era and Operation Bulldog both story driven and campaigns by the numbers. And yeah at first I was jaw dropped by the tech, I went through a hate of it, Then a love of it (Look at the name..) And I have to say I get more upset at some one playing a Marauder II in 3025(Even though it only lasts a second) more than I ever will at a Direwolf hitting the table or a Hellstar. 

I've seen omni's decked with more ERPPC's than I care to think about and in the end I lucked out with being around players over the last 20+years that cared more about having fun that any kinda balancing issues. 

I'm probly ranting a lot but Don't every sweat the Clan tech edge in games. We have an older gamer than runs almost 90% SW era mechs, Complete with MG ammo and never bats an eye at an ammo explosion. I asked him 'you know there is this thing called case right?'  He responded simply by saying ''You don't put a bumper sticker on a Mercedes Benz, And I don't need to compensate for anything by playing the best tech there iz'' To him that Warhammer lugging MG's he probly won't use the whole game is just how he see's the mech in his head. Some players love the way clan mechs look, the lore behind them or the effect they have in game. Nice thing about battletech is everyone's views of the game can come together over weapons fire.

Spirit of the universe. I like that. But for some reason it seems many clan players are utterly convinced that running in circles firing on 11s and 12s/taking a few heavies and sitting them in your deployment zone is exactly how the clans should play and what they do in the fluff (i'm pretty sure there are no stories written like this though, because it would be very boring to read).

Moonsword

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #24 on: 22 April 2012, 06:11:14 »
Alright, back to neutral corners everyone.  This thread is being locked for at least 12 hours to give you all time to cool off a little.

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #25 on: 23 April 2012, 10:33:38 »
Unlocked. Let's remember to keep things civil in here, please.
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Neo-Tanuki

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #26 on: 23 April 2012, 14:14:04 »
@Question:

Has your group tried the Chaos Campaign scenarios in the Era Report: 3052 and 3062 sourcebooks?

I've just recently gotten back into Battletech after a hiatus of many, many years. I picked up these books because I first got into Battletech when the original Clan invasion sourcebooks were released. The Era Reports have what I think are some really good IS vs. Clan scenario ideas that have different objectives than just "Line up and shoot each other." For example, there are recon scenarios where the object is to dash in, scan as many enemy mechs as possible without getting hit, then getting your force off the board with the data. Or an Inner Sphere unit trying to retreat to their dropships and trying to get Mechs across to the other side of the map before the Clanners wipe them out. I really loved reading through these scenarios; I wish my old group had something like Chaos Campaign when we started Battletech.

Maybe adding these kind of victory conditions to your games as an alternate to straight-up slugfests might help remedy some of your group's issues, perhaps?

Interestingly, when I did start playing Battletech way back then (early 90s or so), our Clan players (including me) tried very hard to adhere to the "fluff" described for the Clans. We always tried to take no more than 3/4 of amount of Mechs our IS players fielded (for example, 5 Omnis vs. 8 IS mechs of similar weight) and required Clanners to stick with single targets until destroyed or disabled-no combined fire. We had a fun group and actually, the IS won about 3/4 of the time by aggressively getting in our faces and going nuts with physical attacks! We all had a good time though, and didn't have the issues your group described...sorry to hear you're having these problems. Again, I'd suggest picking up Era Report 3052 and 3062 and seeing if those scenarios can help your group out.


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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #27 on: 23 April 2012, 14:58:45 »
Munchkins make Chocolate.....

I play Battletech.   :D
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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #28 on: 23 April 2012, 15:45:48 »
Munchkins make Chocolate.....

I play Battletech.   :D
Same but I do really like chocolate.

Moonsword

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Re: Clan vs IS gameplay
« Reply #29 on: 23 April 2012, 16:18:28 »
Thread locked.

EDIT: And to make something clear, it's going to stay locked this time.
« Last Edit: 23 April 2012, 16:48:36 by Moonsword »

 

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