WoB BV costs

[Sartris]

any unit designed beyond the bounds of BV (or whatever other hipster balancing system you might use) might as well not exist because virtually no one will play with it

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

You can restrict play to tournament-legal tech without bothering with BV.  It just means you're not going to be looking up a bunch of extra rules for the game.

[Sartris]

Not really what I was getting at.

If it’s not in the mainline books - TW and TO especially, it’s barely going to see play anywhere. And most items in those books are given bv to fit in the construct of the game as currently designed

And if it’s ignored by the vast majority of players, why have it?

[grimlock1]

The Rules thread however, gets an official ruling (and helps to update the rulebooks), so, there is no 'cluttering it up'.

Asking a question here will get you a bunch on non-official answers, even as stated:

RAW (Rules as Written): NO. As written, the rules do not allow the penalty to be waived for Torso cockpits, even if fluff-wise they are identical in scope to Small Cockpits.

RAI (Rules as Intended): Maybe...Maybe not. We don't really know what the intent is here, and for every Person whose opinion in YES, there are just as many whose opinion is NO, and often those answers depend on which side of the table you are currently sitting ;)

So, ask away in the Official RULES section, no one will ever be upset.

Heading over there now.  Thanks.

[Corky]

So wait, according to the record sheets celstials come with small cockpits. How do you build make the neural interaface?

[Maelwys]

The neural interface is just a piece of equipment that doesn't change the stats of the cockpit, except for price.

So its just a basic small cockpit, but fluffwise it has the DNI tech.

Its the same with the Clan's Enhanced imaging tech.

[Corky]

But the special cockpit to work with that takes 2 slots and 4 tons?

[Maelwys]

Ah no, that's the Machina Domini Interface cockpits. Sorry, I thought you were talking about the basic DNI connection for the VDNI or BVDNI implants.

To install the Machina Domini tech, it would take a complete rebuild of the Celestial series.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Machina Domini is an entirely different type of tech: that's the one that allows a pilot wearing a PA(L) suit to pilot a mech (Headmaster tech).

[jackpot4]

The WOB has NO balance.  It's complete lunacy.  A Level II of lights and mediums with cyborg pilots will rip apart a lance+ of mediums and heavies.  It was pure slaughter when I ran part of a WOB campaign for my group.  It was devastating.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Yeah, I've seen that happen.

On the other hand, I've also seen one charge straight into the teeth of a Lyran assault lance and come out the other end as scrap metal.

[marauder648]

Aye, really in a campaign or something a Level II of Manaei Domini's in Celestials would be the 'boss'.  Yes they are gonna have the EI stuff the WoB came up with, yes they are gonna be damn good pilots and shots and yes, their Level II will be built up so its a mutually supporting one.  And they'll probably have some baddie music playing as they make their appearance too.

Its basically the same as is discussed on this thread - https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=64943.0

If you run into a bunch of damn Elite Clanners in their prime and go at them unprepared.  It will be like throwing small cute puppies into a wood chipper. IE needlessly cruel and very bloody.  Going full ham on the MD is the same, you're making something there to face that is there to be utterly terrifying to face.  These guys turn up, you hope you have a LOT more Mechs or you've got some damn cunning plan for the big showdown.  And if you ain't.  Run.  Just run.  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTMb2UkW4xY