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1

The Inner Sphere / Re: Should MechWarrior be an officer rank?

« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 13:02:48 »

Yes. All sovereign nations on Terra came to an end before or when the Terran Hegemony was established (confirmed in JHS:Terra) ,

1.  Thanks for the quote.
2.  That said, TH was long after colonization.

It's hard to tell from early fluff what exactly stuff like the "Western Alliance" was.
It talks about Member Countries so it seems more like "Nato-on-steroids" than any sort of "We are all 1 new country".

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Off Topic / Re: Naval Pictures X: Underway on Nuclear Power

« Last post by CrossfirePilot on Today at 12:56:46 »

Just a pic from my visit to Norfolk last week.

3

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Warships

« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 12:54:42 »

Why must all warships have max armor? They don't now. They didn't in the past. Why must they in the future. Not every mech is designed to stand and slug it out. Why should warships? Now, it it's supposed to and can't either it's a design flaw or something is wrong with the construction rules. 

IMO....  Yes, its a construction flaw.  The reality is the canon ships can be popped open very quickly when exposed to their own degree of firepower.
How often can you say that for a mech?

A simple 40/60 point bay will crit most any canon ship & will STRIP half of them in a single salvo.
Got forbid they take a broadside that includes 2-4 such bays.

Very rarely does a mech mount multiple weapons that can strip or penetrate most every location on the mech in a single salvo.

The NCSS is just a really big active probe, right? So why shouldn't it have a BV? The increased detection range and modifier to detection. If you know where the enemy is and their heading, you can launch missiles and/or mines for them to fly into, right? You can also avoid them to get into a more advantageous position, where they can't get to you or for you to trap them. All that can be done on a map sheet.

I didn't say it shouldn't have BV.
I said, if it doesn't affect the mapsheet then it doesn't need to be included in BV.
The statement was that it decided IF combat would even happen, which has nothing to do with actually being in combat & on the mapsheet.
The implication of that statement, TO ME, was saying that the NCSS has the ability to sense Warships from outside "regular" Sensor Range & then allow you to go in another direction to avoid having an ON MAP combat.
The NCSS DOES affect the mapsheet as noted via Initiative.  So it needs BV.
But some "pre-game" ability to say, "well we just won't play today" isn't a BATTLEvalue item.

While that does happen in play, it's an improvised thing. Actually forming and reforming squadrons should happen after/between battles.

I'm not sure why you mentioned it then.
You can already form a Squadron from any existing fighters, there are rules for that.
What I was talking about was deciding ahead of time if your playing your fighters as Singles or Squadrons, which I said several times.
Specifically I was pointing out that you need to set your game to the size that is playable.

IE.  6v6 Fighters can easily be SINGLES.
v/s
McKENNA Wing of 50 + 6 DS is going to need to be as SQUADRONS.




I'm not sure why all that wasn't clear if you've been following the entire thread.

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The Inner Sphere / Re: Should MechWarrior be an officer rank?

« Last post by tassa_kay on Today at 12:50:56 »

Random............. Has it really?

I'm just curious if it actually WAS dead.

Yes. All sovereign nations on Terra came to an end when the Terran Hegemony was established (confirmed in JHS:Terra), and the United States specifically came to a bad end via an insurrection against its leadership, with the last sitting president and several Senators lynched at the White House (which became a memorial).

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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Battle Value: The Best and Worst Mech Picks

« Last post by wundergoat on Today at 12:49:19 »

Agreed, for all the "54 points of backstabbing!" that people claim......  I don't think I've ever landed more than 2 shots on the Rear Arc.
Reality is Misses & Arms/Legs Hits will more often than not leave you with a Dead Dasher that didn't take out even it's own tiny BV.

It’s basically the same BV as a Mongoose and nearly 100BV cheaper than a classic Jenner.  Having 2-3 times the punch and basically twice the speed easily makes up for the armor, especially considering it should be up +1TMM vs the other two so that armor goes further. Range is worse, but isn’t a practical concern.

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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Battle Value: The Best and Worst Mech Picks

« Last post by TimberwolfD on Today at 12:46:20 »

I think one of the missing pieces is what the evaluation conditions are for BV. An open field with no trees, cover, water, or pavement will yield different values than a crowded map with lots of terrain.

A depth 1 river through a map represents a deadly threat to a Fire Moth. It will have to stay on one side of the map or walk through the water with the lowest modifier it will likely have all game. It may even fall and kill itself with breech checks and falling damage.

The same question comes up for jumping where maps like Scattered Woods allow jumpers to have much more relative mobility and choose the moment when they engage. Even Grassland 1 has a number of heavy woods hexes where J5 is enough to keep up a near constant +3M +2W forever.

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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Battle Value: The Best and Worst Mech Picks

« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 12:41:15 »

This is really tough to answer, because it's the Aerospace Bomber problem.  The Fire Moth can be played in such a way that it avoids taking great risk until the "go" turn and does potentially a lot of damage, but its durability is essentially a non-thing.  Gauging high offensive output (and the ability to put it anywhere) against no durability is a nightmare.  There's no way to prevent this damage in any practical sense, you can only weather it once and hope you kill the thing doing it so you don't have to weather it twice.

Hmm, Map Terrain, Initiative, Accuracy, Skill, & Luck are all going to come into play there.

I get what your saying.  I'm just not sure I've ever in 40 years had the FM:H actually do what everyone FEARS it can do.

It's largely been relegated to being my Cheap BA Taxi model v/s actually pulling off Backstabs w/ it.

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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Battle Value: The Best and Worst Mech Picks

« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 12:36:14 »

I disagree. The official maps represent a baseline case for BV evaluation. Also, there is an interest in higher BV for such Mechs to maintain viability for other Mechs on official maps. If J7+ mechs remain undercosted on official maps, the pressure is to reduce map terrain density to avoid J7+ Mechs having an unfair advantage. So you create a downward pressure on map terrain density and render other mechs less effective than their BV should represent.

Define "Official" maps & Baseline?

Because there is a Hella difference between the Boxed Set Map, v/s, Woods & Canyons mapsets,  v/s,  Lakes & Rivers,  v/s  Grasslands  v/s  Deserts  etc etc.

I would also point out that I disagree you saying JJ's are UNDER costed on those maps.

The reality IMO, is that they are OVER costed in Clear terrain.   And its ONLY on a more cluttered battlefield that their BV begins to be worth it.

For example....... your going to need to be on a pretty Dense map before I ever take a Stinger over a Locust,  OR,  a Javelin over a Commando.

The lower BV &/or Greater MP is more valuable than the JJ's in "most" cases.

9

General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Warships

« Last post by RifleMech on Today at 12:30:38 »

As I said above, I'm not talking 100+ SI & nothing but Lamellor armor.  Just make it so they are "close to" max for the existing stats.
Far too many ships are armored like Riflemen/Jagermechs instead of Archers/Battlemasters in terms of % of Max.
Maybe that means your not supposed to play with an Umpteen-billion $ asset till its wiped out & "Forced Withdrawal" play should be used.
OR, at the least, change the crit table a bit v/s redo the entire rules system.   Just a thought.

Why must all warships have max armor? They don't now. They didn't in the past. Why must they in the future. Not every mech is designed to stand and slug it out. Why should warships? Now, it it's supposed to and can't either it's a design flaw or something is wrong with the construction rules.

2.  Deciding if the battle takes place is entirely out of combat, purely RPG, Fluff, Campaign based item that has nothing to do w/ BV on the Map.

The NCSS is just a really big active probe, right? So why shouldn't it have a BV? The increased detection range and modifier to detection. If you know where the enemy is and their heading, you can launch missiles and/or mines for them to fly into, right? You can also avoid them to get into a more advantageous position, where they can't get to you or for you to trap them. All that can be done on a map sheet.

You start small.  In this case two individual fighters merge into a squadron, and the resulting squadron has attributes of both.  Details of this would be in Fan Rules.  Fighters joining existing squadrons would follow similar (fan) rules.

While that does happen in play, it's an improvised thing. Actually forming and reforming squadrons should happen after/between battles.

10

Fan Fiction / Re: OPERATION:RATNIK (Retro-Golden Lion AU)

« Last post by AlphaMirage on Today at 12:30:12 »

Chapter 40 – Foxes in the Henhouse
4 March 3026 (Day 237)
Tian-Tan was a welcoming place for migrant workers from the former Sian Reaches that were now beginning to stream into the newly expanded St. Ives Compact. Mr. White watched them roam through its streets while eating his ice cream bar. Both the streets and migrants had become quite familiar to him since DMI dropped him off two years ago; trusting his Hafu appearance, intimate cultural knowledge, and countless nights in the Jungles of Spica would throw the Maskirovka off. They had almost nabbed him a few times because he was doing the same thing as Justin Xiang-Allard’s assassin was, trying to follow him and get a shot in; but not at the MIIO Director’s son.

Scarlet brushed against him in her crimson and gold qipao, black hair still short for her ruse but lengthened over their covert op together with the rest of Rabid Team 78.

“Lonely, stranger? Why don’t you come over tonight. It’ll get hot, so bring protection.”

She walked away from the actual address on the card and their main safe house, attracting the interest of, catcalls, and wolf whistles from nomad construction workers. When they looked away Mr. White was on his motorbike and heading out of town to their storage locker which he arrived at shortly after Green, Peach, and their car. “Scarlet told you, first? I’m jealous.”
“Well, we do have the car. She will join us after she changes.”

Rabid Team was in full SIMC MP battle rattle (‘Mauser and Gray, all the way, as the Foxes say’). All imported Lyran manufacture, matching newer spec gear used by the St. Ives Armored Cavalry rather than the Ceres Arms junk CCAF regulars carried. Scarlet joined them after shedding the qipao and pinned her longer than regulation length hair behind her.

Mr. White drew on the sand table in the dim light from their disguised CCAF staff car light glinting off his Sao-Wei’s bronze bars. “Scarlet has done superb work; she has identified our suspected assassin through her contacts while you two have found his target.”

The Diem of St. Ives’ house was modeled in exquisite detail at the center of the table, as Candace Liao’s deputy he maintained a lower profile, but security had been heightened. “Our suspect has canceled his regular ‘massage’ for this evening, our objective is to intercept him before he attempts to infiltrate the Diem’s compound. I will be infiltrate ahead on the inside with Peach. Scarlet, Green, you will be outside with the mortar and car for overwatch and exfil.

Captain Allard may have resigned his position but that doesn’t mean he still can’t be brought back into the fold. He is still useful to the Federated Suns, and we won’t let this assassin succeed.”

-
 
Sounds of struggle came from the gym as Justin Xiang withstood hard blows and gave them in return within the ring. A bell rang then Justin and Mathus touched gloves to one another. The older, larger man still had good fitness and only the slightest hint of slowing down in his 40s. “For a former Sanda boxer, you still have mean right hook Mathus”
“I’m used to fighting bigger guys than you Mandrinn Xiang.
Your uppercuts are lighting fast and powerful enough to make me feel them.”
“Thank you for noticing and making my house arrest as pleasant as possible Diem Overton.
I’m used to fighting larger opponents in the ring and Solaris’ Arena.” Justin crouched down in horse stance rising to demonstrate his core and leg power, “and fighting upward.”

Mathus looked down at his bruises for such a lightweight Justin Xiang had incredible power and skill, “I am glad to provide you with an training partner, while we figure out who is trying to kill you so you can get back to your life.”

They bowed to another then headed to their sections of Diem Overton’s house. SIMC Military Police patrolled the interior on foot. Around the compound whisper quiet motorbikes roamed the perimeter wary of any signs of infiltration through the fences. He passed the security room while a Military Policewoman checked in with security at the front gate for rotation. Above the gate counter-snipers watched surrounding terrain through predator’s eyes. Diem Overton’s manor in the hills outside Tian-Tan was chosen specifically to make such an endeavor difficult but not impossible.

Not that he was allowed outside, but there were rumors in the AFFS that the Maskirovka had a sniper system capable of delivering a pellet of polonium to their target from a distance. Once injected it would grant its target a slow painful death rather than a swift painless end. Given the option he’d rather face a King Crab in the Arena again, rather than suffer that anguish.

An unfamiliar MP caught his attention, something was off about the way he moved. Justin stopped him keeping a wary eye on the man’s sidearm while keeping his hand on the M&G Service Auto hidden in his gym bag. “I haven’t seen you here before.”
“Apologies Mandrinn, Duchess Liao just reassigned me here.” Despite his perfect pronunciation there was a certain hesitancy in the man’s use of Cantonese.
“No, she didn’t. I vetted everyone personally.”

Fake MP struck first kicking the bag out of Justin’s hand sending the pistol skidding across the stone floor. Justin was quick behind unleashing a flurry of punches aimed at the man’s head. He ducked and wove through them with the practiced ease of a champion boxer; shielding himself from the Mandrinn’s blows or taking it on the soft body armor the blunted the impact. Executing only offensive actions necessary to prevent Justin from recovering the pistol or distracting him from the undrawn one on the stranger’s belt.

This late at night there were no staff awake so their fight went on for a time until both were winded. Yet Fake MP still refused to draw his pistol and finish him. “If you’re not my assassin. Who are you?”

The other man remained silent then tackled Justin to the stone floor as a silenced but audible gunshot rang out in the corridor. Fake MP rolled of Justin and drew his pistol. In the same motion he fired two deafening shots from the weapon before standing up and delivering a coup de grace to another man in some kind of sneak suit.

Justin rolled over to recover his pistol and turn toward the man only to find himself in the sights of an MP who already had her very non-regulation silencer screwed onto her M&G Service Pistol. They spoke plainly in Standard dropping any pretext of disguise, “Just leave it alone Justin Allard. We aren’t here to kill you, but we have delivered our message.”

Content that the assassin was dead and hearing the cries of alarm Fake MP came back,
“I’ll take three shells for the kill Captain.”

Confused for a moment Justin looked at the dead man in front of him and three shell casings on the floor. He worked the slide three times ejected a trio of shells that were passed to the man who disappeared into the team of SIMC MPs coming to his ‘rescue.’

8 March 3025 (Day 241)
Candace Liao stormed through her offices within the SIMA Tower and Justin Xiang(-Allard) followed. “Mandrinn Xiang, You mean to tell me that; not only has your father, Hanse Davion’s personal spymaster, covertly deployed commandos within my…Duchy!
But that they succeeded in finding Romano’s assassin where my operatives failed!”

She sat down abruptly and breathed deep as Justin stood firmly in his dress uniform very much at ease for the first time in months now that an Imarra House Warrior wasn’t hunting him. “That seems to be the case, Candace.”

“Don’t Candace me, Justin!” She pulled the Star Flash from her belt and leveled it at him, “How do I know that isn’t just some big con? That you aren’t a MIIO double agent yourself?”

Despite having a pistol pointed at him Justin remained calm. It wasn’t the first time a woman had pointed a pistol his direction, honestly it had seem to be his type. “It is hard to prove a negative Lady Liao, that is quite the fallacy.

Do you think that the Rabid Foxes or whomever they were are aiming for you?”

“I certainly cannot dismiss it, Justin Allard. Particularly after I find myself with a lack of eyes and ears because of the purges and a potential enemy agent sleeping in my bed again.”

“Well now that would be quite the scandal Your Grace.

One would think or could be convinced that I had seduced you into forming the St. Ives Compact, ripping out the vibrant heart of the Capellan Confederation, longtime foe of the Federated Suns, from its greater part. Personally, I don’t find that offensive; surely Romano and Master Yadi disagree.

Was it not the case that you invited me to secure your throne and save your life from Romano?
 
It could easily be interpreted as your willing defection to New Avalon from Sian. Rather than any seduction on my part; despite my impressive physique and skills in the matter.”

“Your good Justin,” she kept the pistol leveled toward him, “I’m not convinced you are that good.

Regardless you are correct.” Candace returned the pistol to its holster, “if I revealed the fact that there are FedSuns Commandos and Covert Operatives operating freely within the Compact; on its throne world no less! And that I could not do anything about it. Difficult questions might arise that I am unable to answer.

I don’t like it though. If these Commandos find you again or contact me.
I will clearly express my displeasure, and I expect the same from you Mandrinn Xiang.”