Recent Posts

91

Off Topic / Re: So.....GASLANDS!

« Last post by NeonKnight on 17 May 2024, 22:47:08 »

why do I remember Car Wars when I look a this?

Similar game.

92

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Question about CGL books.

« Last post by Aresneo on 17 May 2024, 22:44:26 »

I've seen some of the campaign and source books like Battle for Tukayyid, Tamar Rising, Dominions Divided, IlClan, and Empire Alone, as well as Total Warfare. Some are still available in print but others are only available in PDF. Does Catalyst do reprints on the ones that are sold out or will I be consigned to buying the electronic versions?

All of the listed books, and all other books released as hard cover, are currently in print, it just takes time between print runs, and since fulfillment is about to start for the Mercenaries Kickstarter the most recent print runs have been sent to the fulfillment centers and the copies left after fulfillment is complete will then be sent to the normal warehouse.

93

Off Topic / Re: Sore Thumbs III: What Non-BT Video Games Are You Playing?

« Last post by Darth Nichos on 17 May 2024, 22:42:00 »

I've heard of Ogre Battle and Ogre Battle 64 but never really played them; didn't know they had a connection to Unicorn Overlord

94

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: If you could get pre-painted BattleTech figures, would you?

« Last post by Aresneo on 17 May 2024, 22:39:10 »

I thought those were from that game that was streamed during GenCon. Dominions or Domination or something like that?

The game that was streamed was BattleTech Command, the minis for that are Battleforce scale and do not include the units seen in the Liya international video.

95

Off Topic / Re: What did you just eat?

« Last post by Garrand on 17 May 2024, 22:30:31 »

Friday, and I bought a box of KFC chicken for us. I cook my own gravy and mash taters, plus make my own slaw too. The third world country I'm in doesn't have the damn biscuits, so I'll just stick with the mash for carbs.

In Ecuador, you can get KFC with rice!

I don't remember biscuits there either...

Damon.

96

Off Topic / Re: NHL 2023-2024 Vegas Edition: Mojave, Mo' Problems

« Last post by rebs on 17 May 2024, 22:27:36 »

Poor Craig.  I’m sure he’ll be compensated well at least.

97

Clan Chatterweb / Re: Clan Jade Falcon III: Admittedly, We May Have Falconed a Little Too Hard

« Last post by Generic Clanner 24601 on 17 May 2024, 22:23:57 »

Just commenting that I also finished and enjoyed Without Question.

98

Off Topic / Re: So.....GASLANDS!

« Last post by Cannonshop on 17 May 2024, 22:22:57 »

why do I remember Car Wars when I look a this?

99

Off Topic / Re: Eminence in Anime - The M@ster Anime Thread Beyond Viewing's End

« Last post by Darth Nichos on 17 May 2024, 22:21:08 »

That would be nice; Re Zero, The Ascendance of the Bookworm, and The Saga of Tanya The Evil seem to be the only major Isekai series that come to mind without the RPG mechanic

I'm sure there are others but those are usually single season anime that didn't really stand out

100

Aerospace Combat / Re: FC Naval Command Decision

« Last post by Cannonshop on 17 May 2024, 22:17:44 »

Agreed.

I never minded the Fox being a Corvette/Transport & loved that they went full production at multiple yards to make it "common-ISH", for a 3050's warship anyway. 
It made sense to me when you have 200 Mech Regiments & ZERO Warships, that your first Warship actually work w/ said Regiments.

What did bother me is we got a pair of big specialized cruisers after that, 1 per realm, and no "Fleet Destroyer".
I can handle that we didn't get a "Fleet Corvette", since our "Corvette" was a "Transport" but that lack of a Destroyer really takes away your "Patrol" ship.

1.  LOL, Love #1  Hilarious & dead on.

2.  Agreed on concept, not sure any nation in 3050+ is even close to that, no one since the SLDF has actually pulled that off I think.

3.  My thoughts on the FC fleet is their attempt at a PSN would have been Destroyer based.  Its not as cheap or numerous, but nothing in 3050 is truly as common as a Vincent or Lola.  Nor does any nation have the materials to be tossing out ships that lack Collars.  They all need them to pull some measure of double duty or require escorts since they really can't afford to have WS deployed at the "Squadron" level.  And as mentioned the Suns have a history of DDs being their Go-To ship class.   Fox/Durendal might have been a similar planning as Robinson/Davion(II), only maybe smaller?

4.  Maybe if the Jihad didn't happen & we got to see continued growth they could have gotten to that point
Not entirely sure why the OG-Mjolnir & the Avalon were 2 different ships really as I don't get the point of multiple "similar tonnage" frames. 
At least not in 3060.  Maybe the Avalon w/ its Fuel Tanks & DS was going to be a "Fleet Tender" for several Destroyers?  IDK.

5.  What are your thoughts on the "Tracker" as a "Fleet Corvette"?
The similar Size & Docking Collars has always made me want to see the Merchant Shipyards covert over to Trackers.
Not sure how well it would actually work as a Corvette but I just like the idea of using those shipyards.

I like the Tracker (or a tracker-like vessel) as an option for a 'patrol service' navy, but then, I also like the no-collars-at-all Bonaventure for the same concept (though less, despite really liking hte Bonnie).

The Tracker class would be a good intermediate between "Dropship and jumpships" and "Light Warships"-aka a good equivalent to a cutter or first 'non-transport-oriented' warship for doing 'relatively small jobs that don't involve mobs of ground units'.

or may not involve coming into close orbit at all.

It's better as a 'first round' than my usual picks (Mako, Bonaventure, etc.) because of the size (small enough to be mistaken for a merchant) and general design role fits quite well for a first round dedicated patrol/escort ship.

so our general drift would be:

Patrol Service: Trackers, lots and lots of them to secure spacelanes and provide quick response to pirate/bandit activity.

Transport Service/General tasks (though done somewhat poorly): Fox

First step up from the Fox: Some sort of Destroyer, probably less dropship capacity, more uniform weapons layout focused on delivering fire, maybe also a bigger integral fighter complement.  Initial role would be coordinating groups of the smaller ships when in division formation (*or whatever the FSN calls it), with an eye toward eventually being the escorts for your Cruisers.

Next step up from that: A fast cruiser.  By 'fast' I don't mean "Pulls improbable Gees" but instead, more like "Lots of fuel bunkerage and LFB capacity, decent guns, good protection but not BATTLSHIP good, and a strong fighter complement"

Flagship Level: your Avalons, your Mjolnirs.  Big, dedicated combatant ships that really shouldn't be left alone on their own without a battlegroup because they're very expensive prestige machines.

Tonnage wise, maybe this:

105-150,000 tons: Patrol Service ships.
250,000 Plus: well, we have the fox for this.
500,000 (Plus or minus 10%): Destroyers.
680-700,000 tons: Light Cruisers
750-ish thosuand tons: Heavy Cruisers
1 million tons plus: Flagship vessels.

structure with the following proportions:

1 Flagship is 4 Cruisers/heavy cruisers, is sixteen Destroyers, or 32 Foxes, is 64 or so Trackers or other patrol corvettes in that lightest category.

kind of the "Ideal proportions" thing.  a flagship vessel is grossly outnumbered by escorts, but how often are you going to actually HAVE a fleet engagement??

Flagships spend most of their time in important systems looking big and impressive.  Cruisers in less important, but still important systems looking big and impressive.  Destroyer groups either support the bigger ships, or do lots of day-to-day practice and patrolling between systems on a regional level, acting as flag or lead for Corvette squadrons that are mostly doing the day-to-day business of navying (commerce protection, SAR, cartography missions, bandit pursuit).

then, you have your personnel pipeline.

A flagship's commander needs to have service in two or three lower branches. (aka corvette time, destroyer time, Cruiser time).  Your entry level officers (O-3) on a command track begin with corvettes, where they learn the ropes and the roles.  Then up to Destroyers after a staff tour, then from Destroyers to Cruisers, and only the best Cruiser bosses get a Flagship or Battleship.

Thus, actually developing your experience base and skills instead of simply declaring them into existence because someone didn't crash a dropship in the academy when they washed out of 'mechwarrior school.

by the same hook, this also means your Naval service has to have a completely different institutional culture from your ground arm, because for this to work, you can't be overpromoting a 20-something fresh from the Academy to Admiral (Kerensky, we're looking at YOU).

This means, by the time you're READY to build A Flagship, your navy is older than the average Ground forces in the officer corps.  this isn't a defect, age teaches a lot of things, like patience, diligence, and raw cunning.

It also filters out the Glory boyz who think billions of c-bills (D-bills) worth of public property is appropriately used as a semiguided kinetic missile., or who think that it's a good idea to pretend your million tons of non-aerodynamic warship is suitable for soloing as if it were an A-10 or AC-130 without adequate top cover.

Aka avoiding stupid errors caused by not grasping both the capability, and limitations, of a given platform you're in command of.