Author Topic: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth  (Read 31413 times)

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #30 on: 31 October 2011, 00:13:13 »
I'd still like to see 'em used as SUVs - Sloth Utility Vehicles.
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worktroll

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #31 on: 01 November 2011, 00:03:38 »
This I agree with.

I did have a mad image of a pintle-mounted weapon up on the Sloth's back, with an infantryman up there operating it ... but that was getting silly. Surely it would be possible to mount armoured sponsons?

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sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #32 on: 01 November 2011, 00:58:18 »
'Mech foot stools, I tell you, foot stools!

It is a pity that the rules don't allow Battle Armor to carry a passenger or two, whether for medevac or gunners, but by using Mission Equipment bays it's possible to give them a large cargo capacity. I did have an Assault quad called the Infantry Support Walker (or something like that; it was on the forum archive, so I presume it's lost now) that carried half a ton of supplies plus a variety of heavy support weapons, to allow each infantry platoon to effectively have its own fire support "squad" and supply "truck", all in one suit. A similar concept could work for the Sloth, although the rules obviously don't support the concept of mixing single Battle Armor directly into a conventional infantry platoon.

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #33 on: 01 November 2011, 14:34:19 »
I likethem for RPG value.  They're the sort of suit (along with, maybe, IS Standard) that I could see a noncanon merc group swing more than a squad of.  Since suits, not bodies is the limiting factor, I'd rather have a platoon of Sloths than a platoon of PBIs.  Of course, I'd really like to see a version that ups the armor and replaces the mine with LRMs.


Also, does anyone else recall the cameo some sloths had in Prince of Havoc?  IIRC in one of the early fights a squad or so hunkered down in a depression and blew th crotch (and gyro) out of a mech that walked over them.
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sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #34 on: 01 November 2011, 14:50:12 »
Are you sure it was Prince of Havoc? I admit it's been a while since I read it, but I don't recall any Sloths being in that novel.

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #35 on: 01 November 2011, 16:39:29 »
Yeah, the Jaguars were the only ones I remember as having BAs in that book.  I can't actually recall any appearances by the Sloth in a novel.
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worktroll

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #36 on: 01 November 2011, 17:49:41 »
Are you sure it was Prince of Havoc? I admit it's been a while since I read it, but I don't recall any Sloths being in that novel.

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The only advantages were in the shallow depressions or the occasional low rise where squads of battle-suited infantry could hide. And what Victor had, he used. Already a pair of Sloth suits had sneaked under a Caesar's sensor net, planting their anti-Mech mines in its crotch as it strode over them.
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Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #37 on: 01 November 2011, 21:35:25 »
That's the one, I just messed the name up.  I knew it was in the Civil War.
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Grantwhy

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #38 on: 02 November 2011, 04:26:17 »
*disclaimer*: the following post is made with half-remember rules, assumptions, and not a lot of fact checking  :D


re: the ECM version, I don't think people are being sneaky/evil enough when coming up with possible uses for BA with ECM.

1) The BA ECM has a 0 hex radius, and thus not only 'hides' the BA it it carrying, but any other Unit in that hex, yes?  Even if that unit weighs 100 tons, is powered by an XL engine and is carrying multiple Ultra AC 20's (or other short range-high pain weapons) >:/!

2) without a Active Probe (or similar equipment), the way to detect a ECM field is to enter it's affect radius, yes?  So, against a unit that is concealing itself with a Guardian ECM or Clan ECM you can be up to 6 hexes away and know that "something" is out there, somewhere.  Against a Hidden Unit that is in the same hex as BA ECM, you can be 1 hex away and NOT be aware there is an active ECM field and NOT detect that Unit  :o

to heck with using the Sloth Interdictor to break up enemy C3/C3i .... I'd be using it to conceal my Units (especially in Urban / double blind games) 8) 


hehe - this tactic (using BA ECM  to conceal fun/evil units in hidden/double blind games) is a good reason for putting Active Probes on Units  :D
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #39 on: 03 November 2011, 16:15:16 »
I think they are great defensive units  8)

Let's say, you've got a raging battle in the middle of New Avelon's city. Enemy Mechs are fighting street to street, mayhem, fire, etc. What do you do?

You gear up in your Sloth squad and play Ants. Enter the suburban defense tunnels / sewer tunnels and head to that corner the enemy Battlemaster is holding firm. Plant your limpet mines in the sewer tunnel's ceiling which is under enemy foot, step back and blow it. If you're good, enemy mech stumbles from a fall into a lv-1 basement as the road collapses, then shoot her up with the lasers. If you're not, at least it throws the enemy position into chaos as they have to deal with units underfoot.

I particularly think they would be good to provide low-key defense for cities against pirate invasion. That pirate battalion might have a harder time facing the militia mech company if there's also 2-3 companies of battlearmor to deal with.

If they restart production, they should keep the Limpet mine version... just add ammo and speed. 3 standards + 1 ECM version make a useful "anthill" squad. I'm also thinking the kind of defenses on Von Strang's world, but in close quarters of a tunnel-fight... two for-facing SL's are not bad.

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Isanova

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #40 on: 03 November 2011, 16:17:35 »
They are one of the few units that make a good infantry support role. A company of these heading a battalion of foot infantry could be pretty.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #41 on: 03 November 2011, 17:20:48 »
They are one of the few units that make a good infantry support role. A company of these heading a battalion of foot infantry could be pretty.

The Fenrir and Rottweiler can both do that same job a lot better- they're both faster and better armed, and the Rot is also tougher and has Stealth armor, as well.
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sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #42 on: 03 November 2011, 17:35:31 »
I'd say that any design can support at least some infantry types.

All suits can keep up with foot infantry, while most can exceed their speed; obviously ground-only designs like the Sloth aren't well suited to support jump infantry, with that best left to the jumping or VTOL bipedal Battle Armor; and all but the slowest suits can operate well with motorized infantry. Most Light and Medium, and some Heavy bipedals can also keep pace with tracked mechanized infantry and the more heavily armed wheeled mech infantry, while the faster wheeled infantry and the hover infantry can be accompanied by few suits, that number not including the Sloth, and the hover troops ability to navigate water as well as land at high speeds could perhaps restrict their Battle Armor partners to just the Sylph.


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SCC

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #44 on: 24 July 2013, 03:29:29 »
Between the free weight  and the weight that will be freed up there's almost enough to convert it over to a medium suit.

There's also enough free weight to mount a pair of Heavy Mortars with room for multiple ammo clips (Keep away from weirdo) and if my suspicions are correct default ammo for BA Mortars is AP, which is AE, giving a squad of Sloth enough firepower to wipe out even the toughest BA Squads/points with left overs

sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #45 on: 24 July 2013, 11:47:16 »
BA mortars aren't AE, at least not on the BattleTech scale. BA mortars can shoot armor-piercing, flare and smoke rounds, and while the latter pair technically effect a hex, they're not the juicy damage-dealing kind.

SCC

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #46 on: 24 July 2013, 23:13:21 »
Actually the latest TacOps errata and Total Warfare page 140 (About half way down the page, left hand side under a heading of infantry) specifically (but not explicitly) prohibits BA Mortars from using Armor-Piercing Ammo, Anti-Personal exists in a sort of limbo at the moment and given that BA Mortars get a bonus to damage conventional infantry I'm guessing that's their (BA Mortars) Defualt load-out.

Link to Errata thread post point this out: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,18161.msg730785.html#msg730785

sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #47 on: 24 July 2013, 23:39:41 »
A valid point, however the default round for the BA Mortar, whatever it may be called, is not the Anti-Personnel round. The latter is area effect, but the BA Mortar stats given in TW lack the AE indicator.

SCC

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #48 on: 24 July 2013, 23:58:21 »
Gotcha, just another problem with the expanded alternate ammo rules in TacOps, BA GL's gained some sort of AE with the rules changes (And a similar problem with default ammo)

Gunslinger

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #49 on: 25 July 2013, 00:16:01 »
The Sloth, as others have said, was a "Zero-Generation" suit. If you think of it as a Retro-tech BA suit, it feels alot more sensible.

And as I remember fondly, it had a potential 6 pts of damage per suit (as opposed to the elemental 3) and the mine thingy for a anti-mech attack had it allure back in the day

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #50 on: 25 July 2013, 01:06:08 »
I'd really like to see an upgraded "Sloth II".
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #51 on: 25 July 2013, 01:10:00 »
They can make it a Superheavy Protomech and call it the Giant Ground Sloth. :P
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sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #52 on: 25 July 2013, 02:13:37 »
Gotcha, just another problem with the expanded alternate ammo rules in TacOps, BA GL's gained some sort of AE with the rules changes (And a similar problem with default ammo)

I do agree that it would have fit with the GL changes, but at least they got indirect fire capability, which can make them a powerful weapon in city fights.

SCC

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #53 on: 25 July 2013, 02:41:28 »
This is getting really off-topic, but I'm pretty sure that BA Mortars (And additionally conventional infantry mortars) benefit from the special rules that affect 'MECH Mortars

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #54 on: 25 July 2013, 15:55:12 »
You're right, it is.  Take it to Ground Combat.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #55 on: 25 July 2013, 20:14:57 »
They can make it a Superheavy Protomech and call it the Giant Ground Sloth. :P

I don't even like Protomechs and I want a dozen of them.
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Jellico

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #56 on: 16 December 2013, 03:32:43 »
And here we are again with another RS3145 NTNU update.

Here we continue the never ending struggle to make the Sloth combat worthy.

The Sloth "Huntsman" is one unusual attempt. A refit of surviving Sloths it finally does something with the armour, making it improved stealth. A Mechanical Jump Booster offers a slight mobility improvement while the weapons are anaemic King Davids in a paired mount.

So what do we get. 5 points of armour is still weak, but at least it is hard to hit now. Ground MP of 4 is useful, but not enough for a +2 defensive mod. And in a first for a quad (I think) the Sloth "Huntsman" can jump all of one hex.

We now step back an apply some inside knowledge. The "Huntsman" does not come from a hunter. At least not a human one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider Also known as nightmare fuel. They actively skulk around attacking their prey.
Look at the Sloth again. Notice how stealthy it is. No flamey jump jets here. Low to the ground and fast. And up front low like mandibles, the King Davids. Each of which is able to take 6 point chunks out of BA.
What we have here is a sniper, lurking around to take down battle armour then flee. Very little that can kill it can catch it.

Is this a good use of the Sloth? Who knows? But it is different.

sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #57 on: 16 December 2013, 03:44:48 »
Why won't the Sloth die? Just when I think it might be gone, another variant appears!

Whether fielded by the AFFS, LCAF or both, this could be an unpleasant surprise for DCMS Kishi and Zou units. The King Davids will ignore the reflective properties of the Combine suits' armor, potentially one-salvo killing the lighter Kishis with average damage.


SCC

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #58 on: 16 December 2013, 04:28:13 »
Twin King Davids, nice, but why the Mechanical Jump Booster? A quad doesn't one to move four, in fact the Sloth could get 4 ground MP and almost another 3 points of armor for the same weight as a Mechanical Jump Booster

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Sloth
« Reply #59 on: 16 December 2013, 05:30:14 »
The Sloth is a work of beauty. Well, not actual beauty,  ::) but it's got it's charm.
This was exactly what the Sloth needed, twin KDs fit the aesthetics perfectly and are oh so deadly.
I'd have preferred a 6th point of armour to survive a double tap of APGR, but I suppose you can't have everything.
The Jump boosters are a nice touch, though I agree they are excessively heavy.
Neat work, there.
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