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Fan Articles / Re: Mech of the Week: HEL Helios
« Last post by Fat Guy on Today at 14:04:01 »I've used the 4A. It's good but not great. I want to take the 7L out for a spin.
Recent Posts
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BattleTech Miniatures / Re: Clan Hell's Horses Alpha Galaxy painting log.
« Last post by God and Davion on Today at 14:03:45 »It is nice to see how you are slightly improving with each one. The shadows and panel lines look better now and the paint is more even now. Well done. Not much to add to improve. The basing is good, but some acrylic paste and flocking would help a lot. Keep them going! Might before metal!
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Off Topic / Re: What movies/tv are we watching part XXX, Back into the fray!
« Last post by elf25s on Today at 13:58:25 »ok watched the fan edit of star wars 4k77
its upscaled version of original 1977 print to 4k nothing added or subtracted its just cleaned up and upscaled....
is it my imagination the original 1977 edit had more tension and exitement? i mean its like re edits and special edition edits are like here is a puppy go ahead pet it you will feel great compared to original cut?
its upscaled version of original 1977 print to 4k nothing added or subtracted its just cleaned up and upscaled....
is it my imagination the original 1977 edit had more tension and exitement? i mean its like re edits and special edition edits are like here is a puppy go ahead pet it you will feel great compared to original cut?
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Aerospace Combat / Re: FC Naval Command Decision
« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 13:44:36 »Mechanically, it's an armed transport for ground forces. To me, this FITS a doctrinal hole, and fits it rather well.Agreed.
Which is why I can see it being the most common warship type in a revitalized FSN.
Thus, in an FSN with a real budget, I can see the Fox being potentially in continuous production and use for decades, possibly outliving successors who had theoretically better weapons fit, thrust curve, etc.
because it's a remarkably good transport for ground forces.
To my mind, a revitalized FSN has to cope with that bureaucratic flack, and one way to do that, is to have lots of Foxes in the pipeline and in service-this also serves to build up your basics with regards to warship officers who actually know how to Navy as a verb.
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.
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1. Glorious Wall of Battle Cadillacs. We see a LOT of these in the canon. They're expensive, hard to crew up, easy to screw up, and consume vast quantities of resources for very little day-to-day utility.1. LOL, Love #1 Hilarious & dead on.
2. Patrol Service Navy.....
So I favor looking at it step-by-step, from planning to live within limits, to finding ways to make those limits no longer limiting, to finally exceeding those limits into an adult form, rather than hoping you can spring a fully formed Navy like Athena from the brow of a godlike planner in the Foxes Den.
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.
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Off Topic / Re: What are we Reading Now: Conan the Librarian
« Last post by Triptych on Today at 13:08:28 »Claiming that both Wells and PKD are the same because they're both atheists (PKD was more of an agnostic) is just silly, and I'll leave it at that.
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Off Topic / Re: What are we Reading Now: Conan the Librarian
« Last post by Zematus737 on Today at 12:52:37 »A excerpt from his Exegesis: 'My novels, for example. They are said by readers to depict the same world again and again, a recognizable world. Where is that world? In my head? Is it what I see in my own life and inadvertently transfer into my novels and to the reader? At least I’m consistent, since it is all one novel. I have my own special world. I guess they are in my head, in which case they are a good clue to my identity and to what is happening inside me: they are brain prints. This brings me to my frightening premise. I seem to be living in my own novels more and more. I can’t figure out why. Am I losing touch with reality?'
These are his own words. As for being a futurist, the book is not so much about apprehension of the future as it is about struggling to interpret an abnormal experience that revealed to him the health condition of his daughter through a vision. Like HG Wells, Dick was also militantly atheist and mocked religion in many of his works. In this, and in my opinion, they are the same. Except that it is worse for Dick, as he had an authentic experience that he did his best to say was a localized unconscious self inflection of presentiment or inspiration. Rather than just accept the gift for what it was, he did his utter most to write what is possibly his largest labor, to disavow that it could have been received from a higher, separate, intellect. As separate as God can be from the work of His hands is another matter for discussion entirely. Carl Jung (if you read his Red Book, the translations of which have made an enormous impact on the world) made the same mistakes and attributed inspiration to a universal shared unconsciousness. It was a cheap move and it was very sad to see how he misinterpreted almost every "dream" he had experienced. Just as sad that he (Jung) did not have the guts to admit he was experimenting himself with psychedelics to achieve these altered states.
These are his own words. As for being a futurist, the book is not so much about apprehension of the future as it is about struggling to interpret an abnormal experience that revealed to him the health condition of his daughter through a vision. Like HG Wells, Dick was also militantly atheist and mocked religion in many of his works. In this, and in my opinion, they are the same. Except that it is worse for Dick, as he had an authentic experience that he did his best to say was a localized unconscious self inflection of presentiment or inspiration. Rather than just accept the gift for what it was, he did his utter most to write what is possibly his largest labor, to disavow that it could have been received from a higher, separate, intellect. As separate as God can be from the work of His hands is another matter for discussion entirely. Carl Jung (if you read his Red Book, the translations of which have made an enormous impact on the world) made the same mistakes and attributed inspiration to a universal shared unconsciousness. It was a cheap move and it was very sad to see how he misinterpreted almost every "dream" he had experienced. Just as sad that he (Jung) did not have the guts to admit he was experimenting himself with psychedelics to achieve these altered states.
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Fan Articles / Re: Mech of the Week: HEL Helios
« Last post by SteelRaven on Today at 12:29:08 »Fasa needed to fill those TRO pages with something.
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Off Topic / Re: NHL 2023-2024 Vegas Edition: Mojave, Mo' Problems
« Last post by rebs on Today at 12:07:22 »Yzerman was a #4 pick as well. In his year the #1 was Matt Lawton, "THE LAW". No one has even heard of him and I only remember because comedy value.
I would already agree Makar was the steal of the draft, even at #4.
I would already agree Makar was the steal of the draft, even at #4.
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Novel and Sourcebook Reviews / Re: Without Question
« Last post by Swankmotron on Today at 12:03:18 »Got it this morning, finished it. Thought it was a lot better than A Question of Survival, which was really brought down by both Star Colonel Hall (who, quite frankly, came across as being heavily incompetent at nearly everything thanks to his massive losing streak and really not having a valid reason to accept Jiyi's batchall). And also because Without Question moved out to where it was establishing new events rather than just telling the story of things that had already been printed in Tamar Rising.
I can't tell you how freeing and exciting it was to write events beyond the sourcebooks again.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
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Ask the Writers / Re: Shrapnel Submission Cover Letter
« Last post by Swankmotron on Today at 11:59:30 »Hello!
In general, cover letters for short stories are short and sweet. They might relay a little bit of information about why you are submitting or love the property, but should be no longer than a paragraph or two.
Here's an example of one I tend to use:
We asked Phil about this, too, who is the editor of Shrapnel and he said that sometimes he likes to see why people love BattleTech or how they got into it or that personal connection to the universe, but a bad cover letter isn't going to get a good story rejected any more than a good cover letter is going to get a bad story accepted.
So, make sure it has relevant information to the editor so they know who you are and which story is yours and then really focus on making the writing shine.
In general, cover letters for short stories are short and sweet. They might relay a little bit of information about why you are submitting or love the property, but should be no longer than a paragraph or two.
Here's an example of one I tend to use:
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Hello,
My name is Bryan Young and I've been publishing stories professionally for the last two decades. My last novel is BattleTech: Without Question, an important novel in a licensed universe. I'm pleased to submit "STORY NAME" to you. It's about 5k words long and tells the story of QUICK ONE SENTENCE EXPLANATION. It involves X FACTION, as they navigate X REGION, in the X ERA.
I have revelant personal experience with the subject <insert the experience>. I'm looking forward to your response to the story!
Thanks so much!
Bryan
We asked Phil about this, too, who is the editor of Shrapnel and he said that sometimes he likes to see why people love BattleTech or how they got into it or that personal connection to the universe, but a bad cover letter isn't going to get a good story rejected any more than a good cover letter is going to get a bad story accepted.
So, make sure it has relevant information to the editor so they know who you are and which story is yours and then really focus on making the writing shine.
