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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Colonizing Large Moons
« Last post by Natasha Kerensky on Today at 17:07:50 »

So far in the real-world/universe, our solar system’s neatly ordered arrangement of small rocky planets towards the parent star and gas/ice giants away from the parent star seems to be the odd-duck.  Although this may be an artifact of the search techniques we’ve used so far, we’re finding lots of gas giants close to stars in exoplanet systems so far.

I don’t know if the BT planetary system generator is based on our solar system, the actual exoplanet population so far, or something else.  But if it’s based on our solar system, then the killer would be that most gas giant moons would be too far from their parent stars to get much solar flux.  For example, with a 1.5 bar atmosphere, Titan is probably the most habitable of our outer moons, but with surface temps under 100K, even methane exists as an ice on Titan — not very Earth-like.  Ideally you’d still want gas giants in the parent star’s habitable zone (between Venus and Mars for our Sun) to make gas giant moons competitive for settlement against other planets in the BT universe.  (Weird exceptions for story-telling purposes, notwithstanding.)

Based on space station research so far, the low gravities of the moons in our solar system is probably also a dead-end for mammalian gestation and development in the real world/universe — no one will probably ever have or raise families in these environments.  But that could be sidestepped in BT with a big enough moon and/or handwaving about germline alterations.

FWIW...
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Who made you the lord high decider of how everyone should play BattleTech?

Who said I was?  Did you bother reading the second sentence prior to what you quoted?

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.

People will only buy what they know of or have access to.  With Mechs being the only thing most LGS stock up until the Battlefield Support Packs become available for retail, that would be the nature of things. 

I've only known 3 locations in the Phoenix Valley to hold IWM skus.  One is out of business (for other reasons), one retired and sold it to another group (and I haven't checked on them since), and the third has let it drop off as they aren't having competition in that area any more.  There could be more (there's a fair few LGS across the Phoenix Metro), but most are so small or far away from the third, that I just don't see it happening a lot.  Since IWM has been the only way to have access to those skus (aside from 3D printing), why would people look to getting them when just browsing?

In other words, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy as much as no one wanted to buy Sisters of Battle because no one carried those expensive boxes of metal.

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

We'll see as the Battlefield Support and Mercenary Boxes come in to play.

At no point have I suggested people are wrong to add vehicles, infantry, or aero to their games.  Just that most people aren't going to.  And that as forum goers we do skew towards the end of the spectrum of those who do add such things to our games.

Someone referencing them as the equivalent of representing latrine duty (along with someone agreeing with it) is what set me off on this.

And in the case of Aero there's an extra hurdle for a lot of people: It's only good if overly abstracted.

Combining it with the ground game is only good if it is somewhat abstracted (i.e. the offboard movement is abstracted).  It's overly abstracted in the Battlefield Support Rules, and those might as well be minefields or artillery for all the representation they actually provide.  That's not good.

For those of us who want something more to sink our teeth into, that's just not going to cut it.  I just don't know how to save Aero without completely re-doing it.

That's why I posted the idea of restarting Crimson Skies as a way to look at the High Altitude side of the game on the side.  Use that to work out the kinks before applying it to the much higher speed of fusion rockets that Battletech commonly use.  Of course, that assumes Topps/CGL has access to the tabletop side of Crimson Skies...
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Not to mention that he ran a Prefecture in the Republic for almost 20 years while still maintaining his edge. 

It's surprisingly balanced out by giants killing the little ones too. 

Star League vs the Periphery.

Star Adders and the Blood Spirts come to mind.

Hanse vs Max and Max Liao has hellbie dice on top of a fraction of the military might of the FedSuns.
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Griffin -1E “Sparky”, 1449

Not sure, but I would guess the jump jets.  They tend to be BV-expensive, IIRC.

1.  How do you know your force is cheesy?    You've gone so far as to have 4 copies of a Unique mech, LOL

2.  Yep, the JJ's are why.
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Fan Fiction / Re: Guided by the light of a (Red) Cameron Star
« Last post by Wrangler on Today at 16:48:06 »
I'm curious what their going to do with them if they do hire them.  Just because their fellow SLDF doesn't mean they have any work to do.
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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Best Era
« Last post by tassa_kay on Today at 16:46:17 »
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.

Given how often BattleTech writers recycle the same story framework over and over and over again (little guy and/or merc unit on Planet X defeats bigger guy, seasoned with generic man-pain for flavor), this feels so sadly true.
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My choice just happened according to MUL at that time, didnt think too much about faction flavor, buuut thats another thought and the list / Strategy sounds quiet nice.

Yeah, the MUL is pretty forgiving in terms of what factions have access to what designs in the Late Succession Wars.  My company above is a stab at doing it with nothing but obviously Cappie designs.  But most Late Succession War companies would be a mix of House-specific designs, salvage from neighboring Houses, and just long-term survivors, some going all the way back to the Star League Era.

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Im surprised about the Medium vindi choice there, Expected hunchs or crab for sure, otherwise treb 5Ns for the ravens

I’d definitely take the survivability (no ammo) of the Crab-20 over the Vindies.  It's possible that the Cappies have access to Crab production or refits on Northwind if Cosara Weaponries has not been totally wiped out, at least before the Cappies lose Northwind in the 4th Succession WR.  But the Vindies are obviously in production in Cappie space throughout this period and beyond so I stuck with the Vindis for the sake of the Cappie purity that I was going for.

I’m not a fan of the Treb generally, and especially in this campaign.  Armor is only as good as a high-end light (and definitely thinner than the Crab or Vindi) and has a couple ammo bombs (versus one on the Vindi and none on the Crab).  Also, in my Cappie company, fire support is amply covered by the four Catapults.  Don’t need more from Trebs, but the hole-punching of the PPCs and large lasers on the Crab and Vindies are useful and complementary.

I like the Laserback -4P, but it just didn’t pass my Cappie purity test, and at 4/6/0, it might have trouble keeping up with and bodyguarding the 5/8 Ravens.  The Vindies can at least jump 4 and the Crab would match the Ravens’ 5/8 speed.  Also, there’s a personal Griffin variant below that basically does what the Laserback does but on a more mobile platform and with a peeper to boot.

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And i notice u dont aim to get better pilots apart from the 4/5 standart ones, where i aim to get at least 3/5 in the bigger armed ones

Just lazy.  I left the P/G skill tweaking to you.

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Id be curious what List ud take without much faction Flavor sticking and better pilots.

If I cared nothing about faction flavor or being called a munchkin and I knew that I was only facing mechs, then this is what I would take for your campaign:

Assault Lance
Marauder II -4A, 2073
Marauder II -4A, 2073
Grasshopper -5N, 1511
Grasshopper -5N, 1511

Battle Lance
Griffin -1E “Sparky”, 1449
Griffin -1E “Sparky”, 1449
Griffin -1E “Sparky”, 1449
Griffin -1E “Sparky”, 1449

Strike Section
Jenner -F, 1011
Jenner -F, 1011

Total BV2:  14986

These are all maximally/thickly armored designs with no ammo/all energy weapons.  (And the Assault Lance is crit-packed with heat sinks.)  They’re as good as you can get for surviving multiple games against other mechs in a Late Succession Wars Era campaign.  At range, they throw 10 PPC and 2 large laser shots per turn — that’s 116 points of damage divided into 10- and 8-point hits, which will leave a lot of holes in a lot of enemy mechs.  When combat closes, they take advantage of the most efficient weapon in the game and throw 42 medium laser shots per turn for 210 points of damage.  (And the Assault Lance will add 6 PPC shots to its medium laser fire thanks to all the heat sinks on those designs.). And every single design is jump-capable and more than half are 5/8 or above, so they can close.

Against other Succession Wars mechs, this company is like a Roman Legion, just inexorable.  Highly survivable (armor, no ammo, heat sinks), mostly inescapable (jump jets), puts big holes in enemy armor at range with pilums (PPCs), and then cuts the survivors down in close combat with an overwhelming number of gladii (medium lasers).  It should beat almost any other mech unit of roughly equivalent numbers and BV in the Late Succession Wars.

But there’s nothing Capellan about this company, and it’s a weird, utterly munchkin mix of merc, personal, and Combine designs, to boot.  And although I think it could handle about any Succession Wars enemy unit and terrain through sheer survivability, volume of fire, and jump jets, I’d want to mix in some other weapons if I was expecting enemy infantry and maybe even against enemy tanks and fighters.

So here’s a company that mixes in some also-rans for variety and for alternate ammo use against infantry/tanks/fighters.  Again, nothing particularly Capellan, but this company might pass as a high-end FedCom merc company without being totally munchkin like the one above.

Assault Lance
Marauder II -4A, 2073
Atlas -RS, 1849
Banshee -3S, 1751
Grasshopper -5N, 1511

Battle Lance
Battlemaster -1D, 1522
Warhammer -6D, 1471
Griffin -1E “Sparky”, 1449
Wolverine -6M, 1291

Strike Section
Wolfhound -1B, 967
Jenner -F, 1011

Total BV2: 14895

This company is less mobile and more explody than the one above.  Still dangerous but less so against mechs.  But there are no Uber-munchkin twins or quadruplets and there’s some MGs and SRMs on a few units for mowing down/napalming infantry and pillboxing tanks, and some AC/10s on a couple units for flakking fighters out of the sky.

Some alternate mechs for this company:

Devastator -1D, 1858
Awesome -8Q, 1605
Marauder -3D, 1470
Guillotine -4L, 1400
Javelin -10F “Fire Javelin”, 835

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Btw, a 3/5 highlander is Almost same BV as an atlas, i wonder why/being 10t lighter

Not sure, but I would guess the jump jets.  They tend to be BV-expensive, IIRC.

Hope this helps.
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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Best Era
« Last post by rebs on Today at 16:34:20 »
But narratively, there really isn’t much to do beyond “plucky lance raids/conquers planet Pig’s Knuckle” with 2900 to 3000 that 3000 to 3048 doesn’t already give us. It’s the prequel problem. We know the result, and we know there wasn’t anything of note. So either break canon, or write the same low key stories.

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.
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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.

At no point have I suggested people are wrong to add vehicles, infantry, or aero to their games.  Just that most people aren't going to.  And that as forum goers we do skew towards the end of the spectrum of those who do add such things to our games.

And in the case of Aero there's an extra hurdle for a lot of people: It's only good if overly abstracted.

For those of us who want something more to sink our teeth into, that's just not going to cut it.  I just don't know how to save Aero without completely re-doing it.
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MechWarrior Hall / Re: Word Association 36: SAY WHAT AGAIN!!!
« Last post by rebs on Today at 16:19:38 »
Struggle
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