Recent Posts

1

Aerospace Combat / Re: FC Naval Command Decision

« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 10:00:34 »

Per the canon fluff,  I know the Mjolnir shipyard was originally a Fox shipyard that got upgraded.
IIRC this might also be the case for the Avalon.

They started out by upgrading yards as Fox construction & once they did some runs, they upgraded the existing yards for bigger ships & then built added yards to keep Fox production going, or something like that.

In a long term plan for the FC, I would probably do a bit more of that.

The Fox was produced at 2-4? total worlds at one point or another across the FC.

Avalon & Mjolnir are just 1 each IIRC.

I'd probably get those spread around to be 2 each, for 1 per half of the nation.

And then bring on Durendal production in the FS half at least since you have 3x the # of worlds w/ shipyards.

Not counting the "Light-Mjolnir" plans that we've never seen and just guessing that the Durendal would be some sort of Davion-II + Monolith crossbreed (faster baby Dart) given how many collars the other FC ships have.......... the FC taskforces could have been truly massive if they ever ramped up production to a level that allowed them to be deployed en-masse.

Even if you leave off the Foxes as "Army Escorts" and just organized "Naval" Squadrons as something like  Mjolnir + Avalon + 2* Durendal, your looking at 20+ Dropships w/o a single LFB-JS being counted yet & we know the FC used those per doctrine in the FMs.
Big ole gunship tank, taskforce fuel ship (Cap Missile Nuker), and some screen ships, supported by an Aero Fighter Brigade, yeah, that is at least going to make a clan taskforce pause for a moment (or DC or FWL).

The FC had a solid (if not optimized) set up of starting ships that showed the potential for mass production in the Fox that no other ship class has had since the SL era.
I'd have loved to see that continue to "ramp up" the way a lot of the other nations seemed to continue to do (looking at you FWL)

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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Help finding Retrotech produced in the Jihad?

« Last post by Weirdo on Today at 09:55:33 »

For some reason I thought there was some fluff somewhere in a Republic product that did say a lot of the Retro did go away post Jihad when it was no longer "needed".

It's in the Objectives series, which I'll again say answers just about every question this thread asks. I don't remember how detailed they get on this front but they do discuss the shutting down and/or retooling of RetroTech factories.

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Fan Articles / Re: Mech of the Week: Deimos

« Last post by BATTLEMASTER on Today at 09:49:32 »

I have that TRO. Here's the spread:
Gauss Rifle & ERLL in each arm
Heavy Large Laser in the LT
4x tons of Gauss ammo
3x Jump Jets

Just enough jumping to avoid some terrain issues, enough heat sinks to be a boring long-range sniper, and enough armament to make things interesting up close. Kind of uninspired to me as a Clan Assault Omni (it feels like something I've seen before), but I wouldn't turn one down.

It is something you've seen before - pretty much anything related to the Marauder II or Nightstar 

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General BattleTech Discussion / Re: Help finding Retrotech produced in the Jihad?

« Last post by MadCapellan on Today at 09:47:06 »

I'm not sure, but when I followed MadCap's advice I got the longer list and this looks exactly like it.

Mind, I'm sure I did it the hard way, but I wanted the company/world/affiliation as well.  I think I can work it in, but I'll have to see.

The MUL does not provide factory data. That's what the Objectives series is for.

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BattleMechs / Re: 'Warcriming the Militia' - Battlemechs of the WoB

« Last post by namar13766 on Today at 09:45:31 »

So has Ghosts of Obeedah proved useful for your efforts?

I’m looking forward to the revamped rules for Cassette Missiles Launchers, Fighterships, and Portable Turrets, not to mention the expanded drones of your Legacy Cluster.

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Fan Articles / Re: Mech of the Week: Deimos

« Last post by wantec on Today at 09:41:33 »

Thanks for taking the request!  (I should also note that Sarna shows there being a H model as well, apparently from TRO: Jihad.  I don't have it so I can't check.)

I have that TRO. Here's the spread:
Gauss Rifle & ERLL in each arm
Heavy Large Laser in the LT
4x tons of Gauss ammo
3x Jump Jets

Just enough jumping to avoid some terrain issues, enough heat sinks to be a boring long-range sniper, and enough armament to make things interesting up close. Kind of uninspired to me as a Clan Assault Omni (it feels like something I've seen before), but I wouldn't turn one down.

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Aerospace Combat / Re: FC Naval Command Decision

« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 09:41:23 »

I think you are underselling the skill of the Clan warship crews. When the Jihad rolls around, and the Clan fleets get involved in the drive on Terra, the skill of their warship crews is commented on by many Spheroid leaders and admirals throughout the final Jihad era books. Particularly as they got closer toward Terra and in the final operations to take the Terran system from the Blakists. The Clan warship crews are talked up as being very skilled and very capable. 

Completely agree, just look at the few Naval Stars that get "Skill" ratings in the FM Series, tons of them are Elite.

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Aerospace Combat / Re: FC Naval Command Decision

« Last post by Hellraiser on Today at 09:34:11 »

I voted to "Upgrade the Fox" because its a solid ship but isn't very "Optimized".

I've posted a "Fox Block-II" in design threads before but it comes down to the following.

The Fox suffers from weapon choices/placements so that is my primary focus.

Swap 10* NAC-10 for 8* NAC-20   (2Ea, For/aft Sides)
Swap 4* MGs for AMS
Swap 8* Barracuda to AR10's  (Nose/Rear)

Upgrade ImpFerro to FerroCarbide

Any small amount of saved tonnage goes into Cargo & Heatsinks.

Relatively small changes for a bit of optimization & trying to get back a bit of cargo.


Now, that said,  in my ideal world, the Durendal program wouldn't have been scrapped, the FC wouldn't split, the Mjolnir would have evolved as it did anyway so we have our Battleship sized vessel & the Avalon would get a similar "Block-II" refit program as the Fox did to just correct some of the flawed weapon choices & placements w/o creating an entirely new ship.
Eventually the Mjolnir would get a Block-II that gave it LFBs too.

My only real debate is how I'd design the Durendal, in some customs I've made it a Davion-II (York/Riga) type vessel, while in others its a cross between the Fox & Avalon w/ lots of Collars to continue to support the transport needs of the nation, a Warship version of the Monolith basically.
I can see the benefits of both routes.

9

Off Topic / Re: What are we Reading Now: Conan the Librarian

« Last post by MoneyLovinOgre4Hire on Today at 09:14:58 »

It and Prince of Havoc were both pretty bad in that regard.

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Aerospace Combat / Re: FC Naval Command Decision

« Last post by AlphaMirage on Today at 09:12:27 »

No that's fair Grant.

I think the Great Refusal in 3060 was probably a catalyst for a lot of strategic planning in the Clans so they might have been better prepared for Spheroid Warships and adjusted accordingly. The loss of the Nova Cats also probably caused them quite a bit of angst in that theater. During the initial invasion there probably might have been slack planning as they did anticipate rolling over the Inner Sphere so didn't need to bring their A-game.

Now the FCF can drill and gain the experience to become as good as the FWLM and approach Clan levels if they have time. I think the problem is that they don't really have time to develop a doctrine if there is to be a Jihad era showdown so you have to go with what you've got which is to switch over Fox production to a proper Space Warship that can complement the Avalon and all you have in the pipeline is the Durendal. Either that or order Impavidos for the Lyran Defensive Fleet from Tamarind or Kirishimas from the DCA by leveraging Theodore's appreciation for Victor (and probable marriage to Omiko despite what the Draconis March thinks).

Although now I kinda want to change my answer to 'Other' in that an 2SLDFleet (or even just FCF/DCA/Nova Cat joint force) that is well-drilled, competently led, and coherent would be the only thing that could prevent a Clan Warship Armada from rolling through FedCom or Combine space. It would make for an interesting potential threat to the FWL Fleet that could lead to some interesting and tense situations if Atreus didn't want to get on board. That said the Fox still has to go in order to make space for a more evolved design to be replaced by the Kyushu if the FedCom Fleet is going to be a real threat in that domain.

Imagine the Yamato Battleships actually getting built and fighting alongside Mjolrnirs against the Bears and Falcons. That would be interesting. Might make for a good AU if Katherine is quietly carted away to an Abbey or Asylum (or just taken by Khan Ward the first time and become a Wolf that didn't return). It would also give some pause for the Snow Ravens if they do move into the Outworlds Alliance as they have powerful Fleets nearby.