Author Topic: Advantages of light 'Mechs  (Read 41521 times)

Rockjock

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #180 on: 04 August 2020, 02:39:56 »
I've also gone with the idea that there must be some secret advantage to light mech production that we don't fully see in game/build mechanics.

Even if you limit yourself to base tech levels offensive operations really need heavier units.  If you have a union available for a raid, yes, you can fill it with 12 Stingers and Wasps, but 12 P-Hawks is generally preferable. 

Defensively, without a limit on number of units you can deploy more light mechs and vehicles means more area coverage for a given price point. 

So for my thinking at least a 3020s P-Hawk would be used as the scout/scout hunter element for raider/assault unit, where a planetary defender would deploy a pair of Wasps and a few cheap conventional units to cover a wider area in a defensive mode, for a similar budget.  Just my 2 cents.

Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #181 on: 04 August 2020, 04:02:20 »
This is an incredibly stupid tactic.
  I've used it. You'd be amazed at how some players believe scenarios should always be face-to-face battles -They usually wind up losing to people who don't play that way. Faced with the above scenario, what do you do, let them lob missiles at you until they start breaking things?


Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #182 on: 04 August 2020, 04:17:36 »
The problem with BT as a game and how most people play is that it distorts how it would be if it were a real universe.
  Most people don't know how to wage war in a real universe. All the fiction, rules and fluff place the Mech at the top of the food chain, when longtime players know that a decent infantry/vehicle mix will give a 'Mech unit of similar BV or CBill value a good run for their money, even beat them, at the hands of a decent player.

Elmoth

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #183 on: 04 August 2020, 08:38:03 »
  Most people don't know how to wage war in a real universe.

I am SO glad I am one of these.

I think that regarding bug mechs transport is a major problem, but generally mech availability is (or was in 3025 at least) something to consider, and a mech, any mech was better than no mech.

A merc unit or a military unit that does not know what terrain they will be fielded in a few months time might prefer to invest in a bug than in 3 hovers that would suck if they go to an alpine planet next. And the survivality thing being said above also applies.

I like bugs. Bugs being 1 mechs out of every 5 makes sense to me. they are the light cavalry ridden by minor sons of the nobility, the raiders with elan, the ones that mess with your supplies and burn your villages, not the frontline heavy cavalry of the French that comes thundering at you in pitched battle.

Vehicles are just spearmen waiting to be ridden down, but they can make light cavalry flee if they work coordinately. Sometimes vehicles they become effective pikeman shiltrons and the mechs just impale themselves in them, but that happens to the best sometimes.

Infantry are caltrops: they mess a lot with cavalry of any kind or achieve nothing.

Cheers,
Xavi

Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #184 on: 04 August 2020, 14:05:44 »
I like bugs. Bugs being 1 mechs out of every 5 makes sense to me. they are the light cavalry ridden by minor sons of the nobility, the raiders with elan, the ones that mess with your supplies and burn your villages, not the frontline heavy cavalry of the French that comes thundering at you in pitched battle.

  Excellent comparaison of Light 'Mechs toi cavalry elements.
  My GM was a longtime wargamer who applied real war elements to campaigns, where scouting was crucial to the success of any battle. Most BT players consider scouting missions as boring, due to the use of swift Light Mechs. They don't realize how crucial to intel scouting missions are in a campaign. Inversely, most BT players have no concept of cavalry screens -units whose primary mission is to prevent enemy scouting elements from getting close enough to their main body to gather crucial intel. These screening elements are called piquets (also picket), whose duty is to act as a tripwire to spot enemy elements in order to alert the main body. A realistic campaign would be a continent-sized double-blind battle of dueling intelligence gathering.

  Example:
Force A sends several fast scouting elements five km ahead of its main body.
Force B travels as a single unit, without any screening elements.

Force A's scouting elements locate Force B and at extreme range, report size, weight, numbers, speed, direction and location of that unit. Suddenly, Force A has a significant intelligence edge over Force B and may plan to ambush, interdict, etc., by calculating Force B's future location, and literally choose the field of battle. During the wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, such intel also allowed multiple forces to converge on a smaller unit, as Napoleon discovered in Russia, where Cossacks were literally everywhere and watched every move Le Grande Armee made, and those Cossacks literally chased the French all the way to Paris, annihilating stragglers and looting while in pursuit. 

  While infantry and vehicles can be decent substitutes, what vehicle has the ability to travel through varied terrain than a 'Mech? VTOLs and Hovers are fine in Earth-like environs but what about on an airless moon or planet with very thin atmosphere? The same would prevent ICE engines that have to breathe to function. I recall a campaign where my opponent fielded scout infantry on light Jeep-like vehicles, desperately searching behind my lines to find my artillery units. I never spotted them physically but determined their use of secondary roads and carefully laid mines near blind turns, where they would have the least ability to spot them while on the move. The fragility of the unarmored scout vehicles resulted in the loss of several teams and likely prompted them to use cross country movement, which hampered their effectiveness. Needless to say, it wasn't until my opponent started deploying UAVs did he come close to threatening my artillery elements. The UAV overflew my Chaparral battery and from the next room (which is how we handled double blind ops) I heard the distinct sound of a forehead slamming into a desk -He had rolled snake eyes on the most critical roll of the campaign. I explained that the DCMS operator was probably watching hentai at the time...and was momentarily distracted. It happens, especially in the BTU.
 

Col Toda

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #185 on: 05 August 2020, 08:22:28 »
By 3072 ICE engines should get replaced with Fuel Celll varieties.  Also you tend to know ahead of time you are going to an airless moon so a Fuel cell combat vehicle with sealed life support would be normal . The combat fuel cell engine is the reason why light mechs get to be less than ideal .

PuppyLikesLaserPointers

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #186 on: 05 August 2020, 08:44:58 »
As I said earlier, as long as don't weight one light mech as same as a non-light mech or tanks, they may have a place in the battlefield - at least as the line unit.

I think that they are no more than a better protomech, NOT a regular mech, if it is on the frontline. Perhaps some kind of recon biped units are required. Perhaps some biped units are good on the irregular/weird missions, that is not the duty of the line units. But, their pathetic armor and pitiful armament means they are never be a same grade unit as the medium to assault mech/tanks. If you want to use them as the line unit, you better gather 3 to 6 of them as one squad, that is equal to one regular mech or tank.

Put a light mech as one mech in a lance that is expected to fight as the line troops is no more than the waste of space, or you must be not able to afford the regular unit and have to fill the gap by the inferior and cheap one. It's like as just put an armored truck on a tank platoon in the place of a MBT, just because you lost a tank and all you can bring right now is an armored truck modified by the company engineers.

 

Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #187 on: 05 August 2020, 09:00:19 »
By 3072 ICE engines should get replaced with Fuel Celll varieties.  Also you tend to know ahead of time you are going to an airless moon so a Fuel cell combat vehicle with sealed life support would be normal . The combat fuel cell engine is the reason why light mechs get to be less than ideal .

  You are also talking about vehicles limited to wheeled and tracked variants. I checked on numbers of light vehicles available between 3070 and 3075 and while fusion engines make up half of total designs, ICE vs Fuel Cell are 50/50, even though a Fuel Cell vehicle's price is closer to that of a fusion engine. So, I see in introduction of FC but no actual replacement of ICE in designs, as TRO 3075 still contains ICE engined vehicles fielded by the various factions.

Col Toda

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #188 on: 05 August 2020, 09:57:16 »
They should have been a whole Fuel Cell combat vehicle revolution at 3072 even it's own TRO . I designed an environmentally sealed Vedette Moon strider with a fuel cell engine w a light AC/2 w precision ammo a thunderbolt 5 , small x pulse laser and a TAG in a turret w 148 pts of heavy  Ferro fibrous  . As well as a Skulker Dune Buggy environmentally sealed fuel cell  w Bloodhound Active probe 3 ton infantry compartment and a trailer hitch / 10 ton trailet w LRM 10 w smoke to help close . No it is not as nice as the faster hover and VTOLs  I use on planets with an atmosphere but it does not suck . A dropship still can carry 3 light vehicle bays for 1 mech bay . The airless moon is uncommon but not unheard of.  Underwater its worse a mini sub w an LRT launcher can normally out range and speed just about any mech .

Light mechs are ok for militia particularly  urban combat.  I like the wight varient w the snub Nosed PPC and jump jets . But eating space on an offensive combat dropship  not so much . Except for a jumping mech in an urban fight light vehicles just makes more sense 3072 and after . Before that date it had a very real role in an offensive order of battle.  Faux lights like the Cicada  is usually not a disappointing investment.  Light mechs w XL engines tend to be just too fragile and expensive generally with specific exceptions  but not as a rule .

Wolf72

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #189 on: 05 August 2020, 11:14:56 »
minor note (apologies if I posted it earlier): on a campaign level, the ICE gets 1,000 km while the Fuel Cell gets 666 km (figured at 10% of fuel weight as directed in TM).
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massey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #190 on: 05 August 2020, 12:02:09 »
Light mechs are in a weird place right now because of rule changes that make vehicles more effective, but design-wise nobody has adjusted to the new rules.  It's the same reason why infantry platoons are as effective as they are right now.

In the BMR and before era, vehicles were critically vulnerable to fire in a way that they just aren't now (and just vulnerable to hits in general).  A Wasp was a perfectly good vehicle killer because it could carry infernos.  In BMR, even hovercraft and other fast vehicles would die like flies if you shot them with LB-X cluster rounds.  A lot of those vulnerabilities have been removed or lessened in the modern rules, but the background material has not changed to reflect this.

It's disingenuous to act like we don't know why people would ever use light mechs over vehicles, when we know exactly why people did.  For the time period when most of the game's history was created, and most of the material was published, there were huge disadvantages to vehicles.  They may not exist now, but that was because of a conscious decision to change it, which wasn't followed through as it related to story or background.  Vehicles got better everywhere but the fiction.

Colt Ward

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #191 on: 05 August 2020, 12:47:22 »
minor note (apologies if I posted it earlier): on a campaign level, the ICE gets 1,000 km while the Fuel Cell gets 666 km (figured at 10% of fuel weight as directed in TM).

It has come up, but FCE is easier to refuel than ICE engines.  On a campaign, you also have to figure out how much ICE fuel supplies you are moving forward, can you seize any supplies (and is there a formulation difference), can you seize refineries with stock to produce your needs, and will any of the on planet sources be contaminated.

Water on the other hand . . . is multipurpose and is a lot easier to access than ICE fuel stocks.

To massey's point . . . really light vehicles were the only ones to take b/c of their cost and 'speed is armor.'
Colt Ward
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Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #192 on: 05 August 2020, 13:49:42 »
  Vehicles got better everywhere but the fiction.
  I fully agree. The same goes for infantry. Use the current rules in early Clan invasion scenarios and you soon realize that no matter how much Clan fanboys want to refight the invasion, the Clans would never have gotten as far facing conventional troops and vehicles, even without post-invasion technology.

Col Toda

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #193 on: 05 August 2020, 14:19:32 »
Price point . As tech went up so did the cost per unit . Be it a Wolfhound WLF 3S at 4.7+ million C bills or the Puma-E at about 7.5 million C bills .  That is enough for 2 or even 3 of the aforementioned  Vedette Moonstrider environmentally sealed fuel cell tanks.  Mechs are produced  by the dozens while conventional vehicles by the hundreds or even thousands  . That makes them attrition units . Strategically you can win if the enemy  loses 1 mech to ten times it's weight in conventional vehicles as you can replace them faster . The Clans started the invasion with about 1 year logistical train.  They lose in a war of attrition as their whole culture revolves around managing loses by doing batchal bids . The first campaign I was in the Clan invasion era we won by drowning them in combat vehicles along with some mechs . The Hells Horses showed up soon after in the next campaign.  Light mechs with XL or light fusion engines are more expensive than you give them credit for . Assault mechs enen in later years about half still use a standard or compact fusion engine . An 8Q Awesome costs about a half million C bills than the 35 ton Puma- E.

Colt Ward

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #194 on: 05 August 2020, 14:45:16 »
  I fully agree. The same goes for infantry. Use the current rules in early Clan invasion scenarios and you soon realize that no matter how much Clan fanboys want to refight the invasion, the Clans would never have gotten as far facing conventional troops and vehicles, even without post-invasion technology.

Except most of the times the Clans could bypass a conventional forces defense to seize the objectives.  Bring a battalion of armor that is stationed on the periphery along with a battalion or two of mechanized infantry . . . my Gargoyles are going to slow a lot of it down if not stall it out on the roads, while they run around it to race for the capital.  Rifle infantry?  Sure, I have Elementals and those same Gargs have Inferno SRMS . . .

 . . . oh yeah, we do not zell vehicles, so I can whistle up my support from Naga if its part of the bid- it was not always included.  The Clan Invasion was a repeat of the early WWII blitzkrieg on planet after planet due to their greater strategic speed.  The logistics advantages and Clan mentality differences about losses just compounded their strategic abilities.
Colt Ward
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Weirdo

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #195 on: 05 August 2020, 15:47:49 »
++mod notice++

This thread is about light BattleMechs. Take all discussion about custom vehicles (fuel cell or otherwise) to the Fan Designs forum.
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massey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #196 on: 05 August 2020, 16:00:52 »
I think you have to keep in mind the mentality of Inner Sphere nations.  We tend to set aside the political aspect when we wargame a scenario.  Pre-Clan Invasion, you had a balance between national forces and local nobility.  You also have sort of an informal agreement between nations as to how they will conduct warfare.  The Clans didn't run into an Inner Sphere that was prepared for external invasion and who knew the habits of their invaders.

National vs local -- Nobody really wanted their subordinates to gain too much power.  Baron von Sauerkraut doesn't want Sir Bob (his vassal and inheritor to the title of Mayor of Cleveland) to have a large military at his disposal.  Sir Bob needs to keep his Phoenix Hawk in good repair, and that's basically it.  If Sir Bob decides to buy 30 ICE-powered tanks, then he suddenly becomes a threat to Baron von Sauerkraut's control over the American Midwest.  While it's helpful against invasion, it's disruptive to the local political balance.  Likewise, if the Baron puts together 5 regiments of light ICE tanks, then he becomes a challenge to his lord, the Marquis dePervert.  And so on it goes up the chain.

The other balancing factor is that conventional forces, at least in the fiction, remain highly susceptible to attacks that specifically target them.  Yeah you might be able to raise an old WWII style human wave army, but that's only going to last until somebody decides it's worth their while to kill every living being on the battlefield.  The Inner Sphere moved away from that style of total war, but by necessity that means you don't force your enemy into that position.  Don't tempt them by making it the only logical choice.

What that means is that vehicle regiments in the Inner Sphere are probably always kept fewer in number or at least lower in importance than Battlemech regiments.  You don't spam them because it's disruptive to the power structure.  You don't want the guy down the food chain to bring a lot of conventional forces, and the guy higher up the food chain doesn't want you to do it either.  And none of you want the national government to do it -- then you'd be out of a job.  Plus, those forces are only powerful until they become the primary target.  Once you start getting Battlemechs and Aerospace Fighters that are designed to slaughter vehicles and infantry, then it's over.

Edit:  Hence, the reason why light mechs make sense.
« Last Edit: 05 August 2020, 16:04:31 by massey »

Col Toda

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #197 on: 05 August 2020, 17:22:46 »
Like all topics in Battletech it is Era specific ..  Light mechs role in the Star  League was in addition to standard role aforementioned was to support infantry formations. The Succession wars they got too valuable for that role . Clan invasion the were the only mechs that could routinely keep up and go faster than the Clan 5/8  typical movement profile . At the  Civil War and Jihad Combined arms became the new normal light mech mission slots were replaced by light vehicles  if convenient and possible.  I  take an Overlord lose 12 mech bays 1800 tons and replace it with 12 light vehicle bays for 1000 tons , 200 large support for Salvage. and 600 tons of cargo minus 2 or 3 platoons of Battle Armor  . Single old dropship that the bays get reconfigured for combined arms  . This gives me the flexibility to attack with 16 mechs and 8 light combat vehicles carrying a squad or 2 of battle armor  . At the DZ 8 mechs and 12 combat vehicles secure that . Salvage unit is a Tunbo w Groundhog Exoskeletons with mission equipment.  Internal cargo permits have spare ammo and armor for a second or maybe even a third battle. The O-Bakemono's incorporate artillery in the mech forces .So I get total combined arms feel in 1 dropship without getting my hands on a super rare Conquistador  . Throw in a mature Tactical Doctrine  and you are all set . As I am losing 12 mechs for this flexibility dropping those mechs in which the light vehicles can take those combat roles and mission just makes sense .  So I dropped all light mech use by 3072 and gradually started to reduce there use by 3058 . At 3050 I used light mechs very heavily.  So like I said ERA depedant answer.  For Urban defense 3 Wright 2 SC 5/8/5 light mechs with Snub Nosed PPCs. And replacing the 2 medium lasers with A C3 slave and a TAG supported a Shiltron Prime is just a great miltia defense lance . Light mechs never seem to lose the urban combat role regardless of ERA.

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #198 on: 05 August 2020, 18:58:33 »
++mod notice++

Clearly, I was too specific. Take ALL the talk of customs (ESPECIALLY custom non-mechs) to Fan Designs where it belongs.
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Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #199 on: 05 August 2020, 19:12:14 »
Except most of the times the Clans could bypass a conventional forces defense to seize the objectives. 
  Funny, I thought only the Clans would abandon defending an objective just to fight... 8)
 
  Why would you field light 'Mechs?
  The are cheap, mobile weapons platforms, and you have throngs of redundant pilots ready to work for food. While a light might be challenged by state of the art infantry forces and vehicles, anything less than the best would be just so many targets, such as insurgencies, pirates and unruly mobs. Most vehicles are just upgraded tanks or armored cars, concepts that predate WW1. VTOLs and hovers appeared just a few decades later, and the use of these units is well documented, and tactics have not changed in centuries.

  I had originally written a long, scientific dissertation on why the FCE should have appeared soon after the world-shaking Fusion Power Revolution (in comparison the the Industrial Revolution) that would have spawned countless related technologies but in the end, it would have made war (other than commonplace political disputes) obsolete...and we can't have that, can we?

Greatclub

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #200 on: 05 August 2020, 20:09:52 »
throngs of redundant pilots ready to work for food.

I don't want to imagine what that would do to the morale of your nominally elite forces, even the ones not in bugs. Social status only goes so far.



I kinda expect the effectiveness of vees, ASF and infantry to be adjusted down next edition. Not to BMRr levels, but down.

Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #201 on: 05 August 2020, 20:41:58 »
I don't want to imagine what that would do to the morale of your nominally elite forces, even the ones not in bugs. Social status only goes so far.
  Real elite forces would not care. The posers might.

Minemech

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #202 on: 05 August 2020, 21:25:36 »
 There was a bit more complexity in the relationship between mechs and hierarchy. At the lowest end of the totem pole were the dispossessed, and impoverished nobles who would dream of piloting an Urbanmech in open plains, if it meant that they could pilot a machine. The next tier were people who made it into mech academies without owning their own mechs. This group has surprising potential for mobility, but they are at best nouveau rich, and viewed with great contempt by those from lines of heraldry, and even some of the dispossessed, and impoverished nobles. These bottom two categories are excellent starting points for roleplaying. The next tier would be people who own whatever they have, and some minor nobility. They will pilot their family locust with pride, and use the knowledge passed on concerning how to use it well. They would be considered respectable in social circles. These mechwarriors could work for a local militia, or even sign up for service in a line regiment. It only goes up from there. Slowly people accumulate multiple mechs, and try to work their way into higher levels of nobility, or divide their mechs among their offspring. A lance of bugs can prove a valuable tool for social advancement, because they are cheap, yet you can easily find a planetary noble who will want them in their army, or a line regiment that needs a temporary patch. Just keep in mind that missiles are expensive.

 Acquiring prestige using lights is quite possible. In the periphery, lights might provide the bulk of defense against pirates. Certain medals will be out of reach, but if you perform your job well, recognition can follow. There is always a prestigious light unit checking out who does their job well. If you work your way into it, you may leave with much wealth, land, and prestige. You may even leave with a Phoenix Hawk, or Assassin gifted to your family.

Wolf72

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #203 on: 05 August 2020, 22:36:50 »
Yeah, even though offspring X is from upper nobility, that means naught (or should) when it comes to assigning mechs.  That Wasp pilot is also nobility and has done 5 full missions with it, s/he's getting the next medium that is available.  Not new-guy with strings to pull.  YMMV, but that's the game of BT Life (new guy may have a lot of pull).  Maybe it's already ingrained that everyone (not really everyone) starts off with a Light.

It's the OJT Mech. (you go, commando from MW2:Mercenaries!)
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Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #204 on: 05 August 2020, 23:26:54 »
Sometimes rank, wealth and station is everything...

GENERAL BURGOYNE. Mr. Dudgeon: we are only doing this—

RICHARD DUDGEON. Because you're paid to do it.

MAJOR SWINDON. You insolent— (He swallows his rage.)

GENERAL BURGOYNE (with much charm of manner). Ah, I am really sorry that you should think that, Mr. Dudgeon. If you knew what my commission cost me, and what my pay is, you would think better of me. I should be glad to part from you on friendly terms.

  A commission in the Royal Army was sometimes the only way a man of station and wealth to gain political influence, and that commission was often costly, with low pay. The main rewards were a chance of recognition and the opportunity to make contacts with other people under similar condition or the few who who are already rich and powerful, who have no need to improve their lot in life and are just bored.
  For the average House citizen, becoming a 'Mech pilot is an escape from the drudgery of farm or factory, as well as a chance to rise in social status, above commoner. For a noble, being a 'Mech pilot is a confirmation of social superiority, and the means to hobnob with established, influential social elites and the super-wealthy, plus forge connections with those who could boost your career in the future.
  A light 'Mech may not have the awe factor of an assault class machine, but it is a huge step up from being dispossessed.
« Last Edit: 05 August 2020, 23:28:32 by Mohammed As`Zaman Bey »

PuppyLikesLaserPointers

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #205 on: 06 August 2020, 04:47:46 »
It seems that the distinctive culture makes keep making the lights, then. I am not used to 'being mechwarrior makes the person superior over a tank commander' despite they are no more than just a tank commander.... But the world actually does anyway.

Mohammed As`Zaman Bey

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #206 on: 06 August 2020, 08:12:00 »
I am not used to 'being mechwarrior makes the person superior over a tank commander' despite they are no more than just a tank commander.... But the world actually does anyway.
  I agree but the factions' academies crank out mechwarriors faster than they can produce 'mechs or even fill open slots in their militaries, so you will always have excess pilots ready to do anything to do what they were trained to do.

PuppyLikesLaserPointers

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #207 on: 06 August 2020, 08:47:34 »
I understand why Tripod is released on Dark Age. Only making the single-seater walker tanks does not meet the supply of fresh battlemech pilots.

Minemech

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #208 on: 06 August 2020, 09:47:49 »
  I agree but the factions' academies crank out mechwarriors faster than they can produce 'mechs or even fill open slots in their militaries, so you will always have excess pilots ready to do anything to do what they were trained to do.
In some families, there will be a prearrangement with a local government to grant their child a few years of service, before they live off of their wealth, or run their businesses. This is just part of the stratification of Battletech. Those families may even pay a noble to rent a loftier looking machine, with no intention of their child ever fighting in it. Others will demand that their child serve a tour of duty within their respective state to acquire their inheritance. Others may simply demand that they have an academy certificate hanging on their wall. There are many competing interests related to mechs in the Battletech universe. If you do not own a mech, and the House will not allow you to pilot a state owned mech, you may find sponsors who will back you conditionally. This sponsor might be the mother from one of those families, demanding that you serve their child's tour of duty. Their bribes can fix complications.

Greatclub

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Re: Advantages of light 'Mechs
« Reply #209 on: 06 August 2020, 19:03:17 »
Sometimes rank, wealth and station is everything...

The Devil's Disciple


OK, the old British system wan not what I thought you were talking about, but it does make some sense. I'm sure there would be problems with it, but there's problems with every social setup.

It wouldn't surprise me if that was part of the 'warriors cabels' Hanse's grandfather died trying to crush.
I understand why Tripod is released on Dark Age. Only making the single-seater walker tanks does not meet the supply of fresh battlemech pilots.

Considering the sheer cost of those monsters, that is hardly a way to get more people in seats. You can get a company or more of decent lights for the same price.
« Last Edit: 06 August 2020, 19:40:34 by Greatclub »