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MechWarrior Hall / Re: Word Association 36: SAY WHAT AGAIN!!!
« Last post by Wrangler on Today at 16:12:10 »chill
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Ground Combat / Re: Favorite hauler for assault BA (Inner Sphere, Clan, and Comstar/WoB)?
« Last post by Luciora on Today at 15:40:50 »Only the finest lostech SL TP.
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Ground Combat / Re: Favorite hauler for assault BA (Inner Sphere, Clan, and Comstar/WoB)?
« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 15:22:56 »I believe they used to have separate "fluff" in the TROs.
Some would say CARGO, while others called out INFANTRY BAY.
My understanding is that TW clarified it is "all the same" at the TW scale.
That said, Alpha Strike turns around & does separate them back out as CT & IT respectively.
Though they also have an "optional rule" that makes them interchangeable if both sides agree.
For simplicity sake I think anything should be equally usable as both.
If I want to stuff my grunts in the back of a pick up truck then I can, and if I want to load my Maxim full of TP Boxes, then I can do that too.
It's just easier for game play.
Some would say CARGO, while others called out INFANTRY BAY.
My understanding is that TW clarified it is "all the same" at the TW scale.
That said, Alpha Strike turns around & does separate them back out as CT & IT respectively.
Though they also have an "optional rule" that makes them interchangeable if both sides agree.
For simplicity sake I think anything should be equally usable as both.
If I want to stuff my grunts in the back of a pick up truck then I can, and if I want to load my Maxim full of TP Boxes, then I can do that too.
It's just easier for game play.
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Aerospace Combat / Re: Fleet Recon
« Last post by monbvol on Today at 15:13:10 »I think we have to agree that one of the conceits of the universe is that you do have to get very close to gather anything meaningfully. In theory you can just park a satellite somewhere between the Oort cloud and the system proper, even a few light minutes away, and just hoover up all the EM that oozes out over time. But then sigint is basically just 2,000 satellites per House/faction, and their intel gathering is amazing.
We know that capability doesn't exist, so have to accept that along with crap weapon ranges and 'Mechs being king, signint requires true liability in proximity to your intended targets.
I'll offer a thought on this particular point:
Yes you can insert a satellite like that and hoover up all sorts of intel but it has the problem of then that information is not useful until it gets back to your mission planers, which are going to be in a different system 99.999999% of the time.
Since the conceit of the setting is Black Boxes and HPGs are not that common(and for the later are not under your nation's control in most cases) that means that you have some decisions to make on how to make that information actually useful.
The tactic I see here is you jump in somewhere between the local Oort cloud equivelant but still more than 15 AU from any known inhabited bodies/known stations.
Deploy the satellite on a long slow coasting trajectory, maybe a couple others to do line of sight communications around celestial bodies, and have a controller ship sitting say about 30 AU out.
Communications delay will be a few hours by that point but done right no one would even notice it when the intel ship jumped in or out and the satellites could easily go unnoticed for years.
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Fan Articles / Re: Mech of the Week: HEL Helios
« Last post by MoneyLovinOgre4Hire on Today at 15:05:49 »The Helios also uses Endo Steel.
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Off Topic / Re: What are we Reading Now: Conan the Librarian
« Last post by MoneyLovinOgre4Hire on Today at 15:03:29 »Religious discussions are one of the fastest ways to get moderators swarming on a thread. So let's not.
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Novel and Sourcebook Reviews / Re: Without Question
« Last post by MoneyLovinOgre4Hire on Today at 15:00:10 »I also enjoyed the Fox Patrol cameo. Honesty, I feel like Katie and Star Commander Alexis should be pen pals or something.
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Aerospace Combat / Re: Fleet Recon
« Last post by Paul on Today at 14:54:49 »I keep trying to leave the Pirate Point argument-because it's irrelevant to the topic.
I agree about 50% with you.
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But then, that's why you pack fuel and consumables-because your spy ships don't NEED to arrive that close, to do their job. Their job benefits from arriving at a distance outside the detection grid, then coming in at newtonian under it.
I agree that this would cover the bulk of the missions you wouldn't do by having people simply travel to the target planet to do observation in person.
I think there is meaningful disagreement on 2 points:
- Sometimes, you're in a big hurry to get information right now. A slowboat mission could take weeks, even months to get in position and gather information. Often, that's not an issue at all. But when it is, and you need your signint 5 minutes ago, you better get crafty with pirate points for insertion.
- Secondly, even when you slowboat in, you need to have a strategy to jump out. Just because you've found a nice spot interstitial in the system somewhere doesn't mean it's also suitable to jump out of at a moment's notice. Especially if you're using some kind of satellite body somewhere to obscure direct observation. And a run back to the regular proximity limit, regardless of which direction you're aiming, could take too long. So if you're able to get the best of both worlds, you found a hidey spot that at least makes a jump out plausible.
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and that's only if you REALLY want to get close to get those real-time images instead of light delayed.
I think we have to agree that one of the conceits of the universe is that you do have to get very close to gather anything meaningfully. In theory you can just park a satellite somewhere between the Oort cloud and the system proper, even a few light minutes away, and just hoover up all the EM that oozes out over time. But then sigint is basically just 2,000 satellites per House/faction, and their intel gathering is amazing.
We know that capability doesn't exist, so have to accept that along with crap weapon ranges and 'Mechs being king, signint requires true liability in proximity to your intended targets.
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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Upcoming Releases XXIX: First Annual 29th Birthday
« Last post by OrokuSaki on Today at 14:47:20 »I received my Command Lance today. The Orion actually looks nice! Unfortunately, it doesn't fit in with my "plastic grey" unit scheme...
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Fan Articles / Re: Mech of the Week: HEL Helios
« Last post by DragonKhan55 on Today at 14:45:32 »Is it actually that much cheaper than a Victor-9D? Their capabilities aren’t quite identical, but they’re similar enough that I’d think just building more Victors would make more sense than developing a whole new mech that has…a few more SRM tubes and a lot less armor.
Cost is a factor in actual BT. A Helios-3D is about 5.7 million C-Bills, a VTR-9D will run you 8.5 million and requires Endo-Steel as well which can only be spun and forged in Zero-G conditions.
