Author Topic: Trailers in .46  (Read 2405 times)

Crkenoch

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Trailers in .46
« on: 21 August 2019, 19:13:12 »
First and foremost I want to thank the dev team for their excellent work! Megamek is amazing!

I have two quick questions.

I see that we can use trailers now. How does this work? Do I need to "load" a trailer onto a vehicle with a hitch before the game, similar to loading infantry into an APC? Or is it done in game? Or am I missing something?

Second, are there any plans to allow design of trailers in MegaMekLab? It'd be fun to design a bunch of trailers to serve as field guns. I'm imagining an AC/5 strapped to a flatbed trailer getting towed onto the battlefield by an old Jeep  ;D


Thanks again for all the hard work!

Colt Ward

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #1 on: 21 August 2019, 21:34:32 »
Trailers are awesome!  Think, slightly mobile pillboxes . . . I am not sure you can tow them yet, but its basically a easy to put together artillery or fire support set up.
Colt Ward
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Hammer

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #2 on: 21 August 2019, 21:38:51 »
I see that we can use trailers now. How does this work? Do I need to "load" a trailer onto a vehicle with a hitch before the game, similar to loading infantry into an APC? Or is it done in game? Or am I missing something?
Thanks again for all the hard work!

Trailers are added in the lounge but "hooked up" in the deployment phase. You can then drive around tow them, drop them, pick them up.

Second, are there any plans to allow design of trailers in MegaMekLab? It'd be fun to design a bunch of trailers to serve as field guns. I'm imagining an AC/5 strapped to a flatbed trailer getting towed onto the battlefield by an old Jeep  ;D

You can build Combat style trailers in MegaMekLab and later this year we'll have Support Vee construction and between the two you'll be able to make almost all trailer types.
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magnusmd

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #3 on: 22 August 2019, 07:53:24 »
At present you can only connect trailers one at a time during the movement phase, though improvements are planned.

During the move phase, you have to back up a tractor to the trailer you want to tow (they follow stacking limits, so medium/small tractors can tow one medium/small trailer in the hex and more stringing out behind that).

The Tow button will illuminate when you have a valid tow option.  Tow does have to be the tractor's first and only action of the round, so it will take several rounds to set up a long road train and you can't tow and drive off like you can when loading infantry.

Colt Ward

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #4 on: 22 August 2019, 09:57:16 »
Just tractors?  We do have some armored vehicles that have tow hitches.  In fact, most should be retcon'd to have them- its standard for a reason but some vehicles predate the rules.
Colt Ward
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neoancient

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #5 on: 22 August 2019, 14:04:04 »
MM assumes that all combat vehicles can function as tractors. We're now into the testing stages of support vehicle construction in MML. There are special consideration to allow them to be built without engines or with a minimal engine but no MP to allow them to function independently. Once we finish testing I'll be adding the full range of trailer options to combat vehicles (along with easier-to-use sponson turret controls).

Trailer functionality in MM will get more improvements, including the ability to deploy them already connected, when we implement rail advanced support vehicles, which should be before the end of the year. They're currently buildable in the SV test branch but since the movement rules aren't implemented they work like all-terrain land trains.

Colt Ward

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #6 on: 22 August 2019, 15:12:47 »
MM assumes that all combat vehicles can function as tractors.

I like that, please leave it in . . . IMO the reason combat vehicles did not get retcon'd for hitches is b/c it would interest a so small amount of players as to be useless.
Colt Ward
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"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Hammer

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #7 on: 22 August 2019, 15:25:43 »
IMO the reason combat vehicles did not get retcon'd for hitches is b/c it would interest a so small amount of players as to be useless.

Nope, more like how many units would need tweaks and the impact to TRO's and Record Sheets. But lets just say Megamek is doing it right with CV's getting hitches for free.  ^-^
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Colt Ward

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #8 on: 22 August 2019, 15:45:59 »
Perhaps not phrased the best way- amount of work compared to how small of a impact it would make for the game as a whole due to usage.  For instance, I had houseruled/headcanon'd that every vehicle had one for moving any of them around strategically.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

SteveRestless

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Re: Trailers in .46
« Reply #9 on: 22 August 2019, 19:39:46 »
I had been under the impression that the Implied Trailer Hitch was a thing across combat vehicles already
Шонхорын хурдаар хурцлан давшъя, Чонын зоригоор асан дүрэлзэье, Тэнхээт морьдын туурайгаар нүргэе, Тамгат Чингисийн ухаанаар даръя | Let’s go faster than a falcon, Let’s burn with the wolf’s courage, Let’s roar with the hooves of strong horses, Let’s go with the wisdom of Tamgat Genghis - The Hu, Wolf Totem