Hello all,
Dunno if this would go here or in general discussion.... It a RPG game question combined with in-universe and TT performance... and not really using ATOW since we do not fancy that particular rulebook. Lots of constraints here xp But well, since it is a RPG question let's shot it here :) feel free to move it.
Me and my group are fairly new to the universe. We like the convoluted nature of the IS (even if we consider the clans and WoB less favourably) and the fact that you can pretty much play from exploration to far west along with cyberpunk and medieval knights in (fairly large) shinny steeds on a rampage. Nice :)
Battletech is about mechs. Or not. For us it is more about warfare than mechs really, even if mechs play a dominant role here. It is like a well done (if optimistic) verison fo game of Thrones in space. being a total ripoff of a lot of Western story is nothing new and nothing to complain about. We also like the underdog role and raise from there, so we have decided to play a not-so-successful mercenary command. Oh the breaking idea! Nobody has done that before xD What seems to be weird compared to other games I have researched is that we have decided to
play an armour unit. Now, there are 3 players in the game, so we plan on having them be fairly bad mechwarriors contracted to operate remote controlled tanks. Basically they will be controlling armor with their HUDs, and since armor is much simpler than a mech, they can control several vehicles each. That removes the problem of having A LOT of NPC personnel in the game (no vehicle crew needed), and it seems that radio-control tech is a really proven one in universe (the mackie destroyed radiocontrol merkavas after all). For VTOLs we decided that radio control does not work so well, so you need to pilot the craft.
So, we are here. Now we have 2 doubts:
1. Attrition
2. Armor to be chosen.
The (supposed) advantage of this all is that materiel is way cheaper than mechs, but not so much when you are cramming 15+ vehicles in a Leopard and you start suffering attrition to your assets. We are around 5M c-bills for our starting vehicle selection. We know FASAnomics make no sense, but it is the official price of each vehicle.
Since we are looking at a down on their luck mercenary command we decided to go with the cheap Scorpion as the basic element of our force. Here is the run down
Combat units:6 Scorpion light tanks (25tn, AC5, MG, unreliable)
3 LRM Scorpion light tanks (25tn, LRM10+LRM5, MG, unreliable)
1 Harasser LRM (25tn, LRM10)
2 Harasser minipeggy (25tn, 2 SRM4, sensor dispenser)
Support:
2 Ferret VTOL (5tn, MG, 1 Tn of cargo)
2 Armor Command Vehicles / Small Mobile HQ(same stats as the Swift Wind car; basically wheeled control centers)
2 Trucks (10tn recovery vehicles)
That amounts to 4,95M c-bills (and 4103 per BV2 values) and seems to be able to be fitted in a Leopard with some cargo space available for supplies (around 120 Tons).
Would you consider this to be bad-yet-serviceable as a combat unit? We starter with better units (warrior VTOLs, Saracen and Scimitar hoover tanks...) but downgraded them since we thought it would be too much. The scorpion seems a fairly bad vehicle, so we are happier now. We also tried to stick to A) A low number of weapon systems (LRM, SRM, AC5 & MG ammo) avoiding the more modern laser stuff and B) ICE engines. I suspect that there will be a running joke about or tanks being "Cool" since I already saw 2 of the players do that lame joke... Since we have not decided on a time period yet, all machines are at least available before 2950, except the minipeggy, that is a 3028 vehicle but quite simple as a field retrofit. We do not have the best techies in the galaxy after all, and they will grumble a lot about the quality of the Scorpions.
So, ATTRITION.
We are totally unfamiliar with how armor (or anything, really) plays in game. We are unsure if we will start with our shinny command and be basically armor-less by the third game. We know that commanding armor is a dangerous proposition in the BT tabletop, but are unfamiliar about their replacement ratios. We will have supply & refit missions to equip us again for sure, but to be sure we are not going to be too handicapped here. Any recommendations here?
Thanks a lot for any feedback :)
BTW, we plan to start with the adventure of the Dead Atlas Troupe that can be found in this same forum:
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57579.0I am practicing my techie face scratching the back of my head and saying "but boss, I have no idea on how to repair a mech! those things have myomer, fusion engines and energy weapons, not 8-piston ICE and trusty solid ammo!"Cheers,
Xavi