Battle Armor of the Week - Ironhold Assault Battle Armor

[Weirdo]

Until they revise TW and say that infantry can only be carried in dedicated bays or compartments, I'm going to continue to stick them anywhere they'll fit, and a Daedalus will continue to be an APC for me.

[Arkansas Warrior]

Imagine being carried around by a running giant.  Poor seasick bastards.

[Weirdo]

They're clanners, they can suck it up. Or threaten the 'mechwarrior.

[Gryphon]

Is there any reason you couldn't put BA in EXTERNAL cargo containers?

Just slap a lift hoist on it and attach a box to it. "Instant any mech can carry BA" optionality!

I am betting this is so awesome, and equally so obvious, that it is actually not allowed by the rules, right?

[Weirdo]

It's very allowed. It's just rare because external cargo sows the carrier down, and is really hosed if they take fire.

[SCC]

Depends on how big the 'Mech is, the Cargo Carriers rule still allows 10% of the 'Mechs weight right?

[Weirdo]

Yup.

[Fallen_Raven]

It's very allowed. It's just rare because external cargo sows the carrier down, and is really hosed if they take fire.

BA doesn't exactly love incoming fire when they ride Omnis either, so I'm not sure how big of a loss that would be. Maybe an Industrial 'mech could make use of the idea, especially a cargo model with TSM. Not like they are built for speed anyway, and its cheaper than rebuilding the 'mech with heavy weapons.

Come to think of it, a Powerman industrial 'mech could carry three points of Ironholds using the Tac Ops weights, or a full star using Total Warfare. That is a scary payload for something that is technically unarmed, and a terrifying ambush for anyone who tries to pull it over.

[Weirdo]

Infantry and BA take a lot more damage as external cargo than mechanized BA do. I think it's automatically the full damage of everything that hits the carrier, not just a third of torso hits. It might be doubled.

[Fallen_Raven]

Infantry and BA take a lot more damage as external cargo than mechanized BA do. I think it's automatically the full damage of everything that hits the carrier, not just a third of torso hits. It might be doubled.

It maybe my familiarity with your Ravagers and my Cavaliers have given me odd standards of BA survivability, but I'm still not sure that the extra damage is all that bad. In my experience, either a squad will die the first time a stiff breeze hits them, or nothing short of a nuke will stop them. Considering how tough Ironholds are, and how ruthless Falcons can be, I think it might be a possible tradeoff when you really want to put a five suit ball of pain on the battlefield. (I still wouldn't run them into the front line like this, but dropping them off in the back to stop a breakthrough seems more reasonable.)

[sillybrit]

Until they revise TW and say that infantry can only be carried in dedicated bays or compartments, I'm going to continue to stick them anywhere they'll fit, and a Daedalus will continue to be an APC for me.

As was just pointed out to me:
"Infantry may ride inside any non-’Mech unit during the course of a game, provided the unit has dedicated cargo space." (TW p223)

So there's already a TW rule that disallows infantry/BA being carried inside 'Mechs, in addition to the construction rules errata for TM not allowing them to be built with the appropriate transport bays in the first place.

BTW, by "Daedalus", did you mean the Solaris 'Mech in TRO3055, or is there another Daedalus? I couldn't find a variant of the TRO3055 version with any form of transport bay, so somewhat baffled.

[SCC]

BTW, by "Daedalus", did you mean the Solaris 'Mech in TRO3055, or is there another Daedalus? I couldn't find a variant of the TRO3055 version with any form of transport bay, so somewhat baffled.

He means the ship in Macross/Robotech

[Gryphon]

Just how many points of BA could that carry then...

And how many tons is it to make it a Jump one vessel...

Let's ask Weirdo...he'll know this...heck, he might even have one written up!

[Weirdo]

Actually, I was referring to the Industrialmech in Klondike. Big quad cargo thingy.

Considering how tough Ironholds are, and how ruthless Falcons can be, I think it might be a possible tradeoff when you really want to put a five suit ball of pain on the battlefield. (I still wouldn't run them into the front line like this, but dropping them off in the back to stop a breakthrough seems more reasonable.)

Hmm....our group uses TW weights, so the smallest 'mech that could haul a point of Ironholds would be a fifty-tonner...oh, look. The Falcons already have a fast, frontline fifty-ton mech! We have a transport! >:D

[Scotty]

As was just pointed out to me:
"Infantry may ride inside any non-’Mech unit during the course of a game, provided the unit has dedicated cargo space." (TW p223)

This just got me thinking.

Has anyone ever tried transporting battle armor via ASF and combat dropping them like living bombs?

[Weirdo]

Anyone who's ever fielded the Kirghiz C or the Mk. VII-C, I'd expect. 8)

[ANS Kamas P81]

This just got me thinking.

Has anyone ever tried transporting battle armor via ASF and combat dropping them like living bombs?

Now I want to see a Clan tech Mars with jump jets deploy infantry from altitude.

[SCC]

This just got me thinking.

Has anyone ever tried transporting battle armor via ASF and combat dropping them like living bombs?

Asked about this at one point, Omni-Fighters can NOT perform Mechanized Battle Armor Tactics so I'm guessing that you can't

Anyone who's ever fielded the Kirghiz C or the Mk. VII-C, I'd expect. 8)

Mk. VII-C What?

[Scotty]

Asked about this at one point, Omni-Fighters can NOT perform Mechanized Battle Armor Tactics so I'm guessing that you can't

Not even if you design a config or variant with a battle armor/infantry bay?

[Weirdo]

Asked about this at one point, Omni-Fighters can NOT perform Mechanized Battle Armor Tactics so I'm guessing that you can't

You can't put them on the outside, no. Inside is another matter.

Mk. VII-C What?

A shuttle with almost thirty tons of cargo space. ^-^

[SCC]

Not even if you design a config or variant with a battle armor/infantry bay?

There are also standard fighters and mag-clamps

[Weirdo]

Something tells me mag clamps are not up to the rigors of supersonic flight...

[SCC]

Something tells me mag clamps are not up to the rigors of supersonic flight...

True, but there's nothing the say they aren't in the rules, most people aren't dumb enough to try and there's really no point, even if they can't be used on VTOL's

[Moonsword]

TW page 227 is extremely explicit that you can't use mag-clamps to mount aerospace units.

[chanman]

Now I want to see a Clan tech Mars with jump jets deploy infantry from altitude.

Kanga APC would be awesome as well

[Welshman]

Just to confirm. After a serious internal review, it was determined to disallow the carrying of any live cargo inside a BattleMech.
This is due to a number of reasons-
The nature of BattleMechs, with their very restricted internal space (which is often if very odd shapes), precludes space properly sized to fit living creatures.
The motive style of a BattleMech creates an uneven and unsafe ride that is hard to protect against.
Related to the previous bullet, it would require whole new rules on how to deal with damage to living cargo.

The IndustrialQuad from Klondike seems to be an exception. I'm not sure we ever got to the errata, however the intention is to adjust it so it is carrying an external cargo module (like what is seen on cargo ships today). External cargo modules can carry infantry.

There is also a fiction reference to a DA IndustrialMech that disgorges infantry from it's arm. This unit was using a skip loader attachment with the infantry hiding in it.

Thank you,
Joel BC
BattleTech

[Weirdo]

Does this external cargo doohickey also apply to other Industrialmechs with cargo space?

[ANS Kamas P81]

Does this external cargo doohickey also apply to other Industrialmechs with cargo space?

Or for that matter, say, a Shadowhawk carrying a "five ton container" in its hands which can pop open and reveal a jump infantry platoon or a medium BA squad?  Not so much a rules question as it is a confirmation.

[Welshman]

Does this external cargo doohickey also apply to other Industrialmechs with cargo space?

I'm pretty sure we locked it all down, if we didn't please feel free to point it out. The intent is only if you can fit an external cargo module, can you carry infantry. That requires a lot of contiguous criticals. A biped Mech would look like it was a Size Triple E girl with the cargo modules sticking out of its chest.

[Weirdo]

This has me highly confused. Hopefully the errata itself will clear things, up, explaining explicitly which leg-motive units may carry infantry, and under which circumstances.