Recent Posts

11

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: What is the issue with Aerospace? Why is it supposedly "unpopular" with players?

« Last post by butchbird on Today at 19:11:22 »

The plain simple fact is the majority of people who play Battletech will only ever play with mechs.  It is the simple law of consumerism.

Most customers will only buy the basic product.  In this case either the introbox or the A Game of Armored Combat boxes.  The next drop off point will be the Battlemech Manual.  And these are not small drop off points either when looking at how pretty much any business operates and studies in marketing tend to confirm.

Now I will grant Battletech is likely to buck certain trends and skew the odds.  But not outright break them.

Now, I know I'm weird and I guess I deal with weird people, but the possibility of combined arms has always been a big selling point of CBT (and AS, but that's another story) with everyone I've played with.

The last two major "complete rulebooks" (by this I mean BMR and TW) had all the infantry and vehicle rules included. I've gotten there before (happy days), and I always get pressure to include them. Heck, when we were regular enough to use vees and PBI, we used hand made cardboard cutouts (praise the merc KS). The battletech franchise having that whole "use whatever you want to represent a unit" thing going on and that we are all awkwardly proud of, I've always felt that expresses itself to its fullest with the "non-mech units".

Now I know we're here for the 'mechs first and foremost, but the very possibility of including combined arms (and with quite the variety too) is a big thing, isn't it?

And since this thread is supposed to be about aerotech...while I'll never use it, I'd be very interested to try if only that was possible.
But looking forward, I can't help but think that something more along the lines of AS in terms of "simplicity per unit" would be more accessible to he-who-lacks-the-time-to-invest-in-yet-another-wargame.

Never tried battlespace but something like that might be a reasonable ticket. Its been talked before, but a "battlespace 2.0" with cardboard counters and other cheaper materials to make a trifty priced boxed-game could very well be a good way to promote the aerospace aspect of the BTU. Pure Aerotech should stay..really, there'd be something rather big missing without it...but time is scarce and the BTU is about big clumsy bipedal warmachines above all.

12

A Time of War / Re: How do the editions of AToW differ

« Last post by Paul on Today at 19:07:30 »

This also blew my mind.

Several of those names still come to the forums.
But so many don't anymore. I kept seeing nicks in there "Oh yeah! I miss that guy...!"

13

Fan Fiction / Re: Guided by the light of a (Red) Cameron Star

« Last post by Giovanni Blasini on Today at 18:55:54 »

This meeting would be a good time to come up with a standard "mercs who are former SLDF want to join us" policy.  Raising their profile on Terra and declaring you never stopped being the SLDF will be having groups come out of the woodwork.  Not just the big guys but the small ones too.

Land Grants for everybody!  Niops creates a merc contract approval board where you can take external contracts but only if Niops Central Command says it's OK.  Oh, and that lostec you need to maintain your mechs is available at reasonable prices.  Caught selling it on the black market to others has bad penalties.

Are there any other known scientific colonies like Niops or Frobisher besides the Folly?  Might make sense to contact them and see if they want in or at least troll their database.

Not necessarily nearby.  According to Interstaller Players 3 - Interstellar Expeditions, there are:

Spinward - ie. out past the Outworlds Alliance and Tortuga Dominions

• The Rover system, where someone set up a metric buttload of automated probes, made from modified Kanga main computers, to monitor absolutely everything in the system, eagerly awaiting someone to report their data to.
• Shady Palms, a modified Alliance class station out past Tortuga, that was originally set up for astronomical observations, but while partially self-sufficient, originally needed some degree of resupply to support the astronomy team there.  They died off some time after the fall of the Star League, and the station, its life support and hydroponics were still working on automatic when Outworlds refugees find the station in 3010.  In 2842, some of the original astronomers or their descendants may still be alive, but they're a long, long way from Niops.

Rimward

• Skyfog is out in the Canopian ruins, and was another astronomical colony like Niops, but one dedicated to studying gas giants and their moons.  They were abandoned in 2769, but the infrastructure was still intact in 3003.  They're a bit farther away from Frobisher, but would definitely be of interest.
• Of course, even further away, is the California Nebula...

14

Off Topic / Re: Fallout: Exploding onto your screen April 2024

« Last post by MoneyLovinOgre4Hire on Today at 18:40:44 »

I've been thinking about possibilities for season 2 and there's one thing I'd love to see.  Don't think it would happen, but there should be a point where Lucy is in a fight that goes horribly against her: she's just run out of bullets and the enemy's about to get her when suddenly, a man in a trench coat and fedora appears from seemingly nowhere and shoots the enemy dead.

15

Ground Combat / Re: Best dropship for airborne deployment

« Last post by Paul on Today at 18:33:04 »

How I define an airborne drop is when you have your forces, in this case a battalion of of forces, in this case 36 Battlemechs, dropping from say 500 meters directly into a hot LZ.

Gotcha.
Those exact circumstances will cause the DropShip to crash and be completely destroyed the second it loses 1 control roll.
So follow up question:
- Is it important to you to hotdrop 36 Mechs
Or
- Is it important to you to drop those *while* the DropShip is something that can be shot at?

If the former, then the altitude should be raised until ground fire is no longer an option.
If the latter, then you should consider a contingency in case the DropShip crashes faster than expected.

You are 4th Battalion commander of the Warren PMM. You were late to the party due to Jumpship malfunction.

I like the premise. So they're cavalry by dint of only just now showing up.

Your battalion is composed of mainly heavy and medium designs, but the battalion does have a lance of light recon Battlemechs and a lance of Assaults.

Those recon guys should drop last, assuming they're not among dropship debris.

Command wants a airborne drop directly on top of the HQ element of the I Corps to disrupt command and control as the Warren PMM breaks out. You have a escort of 8 aerospace fighters, 8 Corsairs, for CAP and strafing runs as needed.

How likely are 8 fighters to be confronted by the Taurians?

Now what Dropship(s) are you choosing?

Ah, if we can have multiple, then several of the suggestions in this thread are solid. Any permutation of "as many as you'll let me" will significantly reduce the odds of a single crash removing a significant portion of the incoming force. Leopards for example can drop all 4 of their 'Mechs in 1 pass. (and also can bring 2 of the 8 fighters you have, each)
Unions need several turns because of their doors.

Bonus: When the door open and the first Battlemechs drop this is playing over the I Corp comm frequencies for psy-ops.

Funny!

I think it's the FS dropping into the Taurian HQ, not the other way around.  Given the superior FS position, my only question is "Why??"  Land the battalion and reinforce the forces encircling the Taurians without risking losses to a combat drop.

Well, the starting premise is: combat drop on the HQ, so the supporting narrative needs reasons for that to happen, not reasons why it wouldn't happen. Maybe their commander made a booboo. Maybe their commander wants the 4th battalion dead. Or at least humiliated. And he can break out regardless of what happens in the HQ fight. Maybe the MIIO handed him a napkin with a strange suggestion on it.

I would say that if I'm breaking out of an encirclement, having the opposition lack the kind of cohesion to both realize what's up, and then have a reduced ability to coordinate a response is pretty attractive. I'd likely choose as you did myself, and have them hit the encirclement from the outside, though one downside is that the move will be telegraphed. And one advantage of a wacky plan like combat dropping the hostile HQ is that they'll think you're setting up for a ground attack for quite a while on your way down to the surface, since that'd be the logical thing to do.
Now sometimes doing the unexpected is how legendary victories are achieved. Sometimes that's how you snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But for our purposes, OP needs that combat drop.

16

Fan Fiction / Re: It's a family curse.

« Last post by Daryk on Today at 18:30:57 »

Hmmm... trying to figure out the designs myself...

Fusion engines don't need power amplifiers, so that should save a little weight.

Extra Communications Equipment should either be three tons (for 4 total with +1 Initiative and SatCom) or 6 tons (for 7 total with +2 initiative instead).  Five extra tons only get you 6 total, with the same bonuses as 4, but with 2 extra crew.

The XL engine in the Enfield is the real problem with that design.  The Watchman idea mentioned earlier would have been cheaper.

7/11 Armored Cars with fusion engines are the best part of the force!  A turret mounted PPC and front mounted Small Pulse nets you 7 tons of armor for just 1,130,200... :)

17

Ground Combat / Re: Best dropship for airborne deployment

« Last post by Daryk on Today at 18:14:54 »

I think it's the FS dropping into the Taurian HQ, not the other way around.  Given the superior FS position, my only question is "Why??"  Land the battalion and reinforce the forces encircling the Taurians without risking losses to a combat drop.

18

Fan Articles / Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium

« Last post by Natasha Kerensky on Today at 18:09:06 »

Thirded.  I’ve come back to this thread multiple times but have to seek it out each time.

19

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Best Era

« Last post by Scuttlefish on Today at 18:03:13 »

Survival is a struggle that creates its own tension.  The stories one can create are limited more by the individual imagination than the framework of BattleTech's various stories, novels, and other lore surrounding the timeline.

Isn’t this true of pretty much every era though? You can always come ups with something new, the point of existing settings is to have stuff you can use as-is.

20

Ground Combat / Re: Best dropship for airborne deployment

« Last post by Natasha Kerensky on Today at 18:03:04 »

If the Taurians can get 8 Corsairs over the top of the FedRat HQ, then the Taurians should just drop bombs on the FedRat HQ.  Forget strafing or dropping mechs.  That’s needlessly risking fighter or mech assets to do something that can be done more safely with simple, higher-altitude bombing runs.

To help the Taurians breakout, I’d drop the battalion of friendly mechs behind the FedRat line where the Taurians salient is trying to breakout.  (Not right behind but somewhere behind.)  Force the FedRats to choose between preventing the breakout or getting hit in their rear.  Numbers are always important, but setting the numbers, a battalion of mechs advancing on their rear flank instantly creates a no-win dilemma for the FedRats.

It’s a staple of BT fiction, but drops right on top of HQs make no sense.  Unless the guys in the HQ are idiots, they’ll always be well-defended by nearby air cover, AA, and a security force (and maybe fortifications).

In the real-world, air drops are done against targets behind enemy lines with limited or no defenses — think capturing bridges slightly inland in Normandy to facilitate allied movement over waterways after D-Day.  Units are incredibly vulnerable when they’re being airdropped, so they’re not dropped on top of well-defended or hardened targets.

In this case, the Taurians would pick a lightly defended area behind the FedRat line — a safe distance from that line but near the salient — ideally one away from air cover, without organic AA, with limited ground units, and with rapid access to the front.  Like a crossroads.  Maybe the Taurians have to kill off the APCs and light tanks guarding the crossroads, but they don’t have to deal with local AA, fighters scrambling from a nearby airfield, and or a major force of mechs.

Honestly, the ICBM-like ability to repeatedly project force anywhere on a planet within tens of minutes from dropships and aerospace fighters makes the whole idea of frontlines or battle lines somewhat obsolete.  But assuming those lines exist, that incredible capability should be used to project force where the enemy is weakest and friendliest are strongest.  That won’t be on top of an HQ.  But behind the enemy facing a salient from friendly forces is that kind of spot.

FWIW...