Using Battletechnolgy units

[Starfury]

So for my fellow old and new Battletech players, does anyone have any experience in using units from Battletechnolgy? I once used a Titan 1A to kill a Daishi in urban fighting back in ye olden days.

[trboturtle]

Well, the Rattlesnake and SurburbanMech are now canon (Both were in Shrapnel)

Craig

[Goose]

I'd imagine most people think the Titan is from TRO:'75.

[SteelRaven]

I'd imagine most people think the Titan is from TRO:'75.

The original Titan is reference in the Titan II entry on Sarna.net. Other than that, the only reference to the Battletechnology articles are between existing fans, we are talking about a magazine from the late 80's-early 90's only really known by Battletech fans in the first place.   

[elf25s]

once i used a franken mech torso on tank treads
it did not go well...but hey it was the 80s....we were not sane then

[Mendrugo]

I had fun proxying a Warhammer as a Ventilator in a few games.

[Starfury]

Well, the Rattlesnake and SurburbanMech are now canon (Both were in Shrapnel)

Yup along with the Osprey, the Titan, the Whirlwind, the Templar (Crusader 5 or 6D), and the Shadow Hawk 5S. TRO 3075 or the ilClan guides added them in. I was simply curious if anyone had used them in various roles whether from Battletechnology or their CBT form

Craig

[General308]

So for my fellow old and new Battletech players, does anyone have any experience in using units from Battletechnolgy? I once used a Titan 1A to kill a Daishi in urban fighting back in ye olden days.

Kind of depends on the type of game I am playing and what the reason is for needing it.  But yea I have used stuff from customs to mechs from other sources at one time or another.  On a regular basis no.  But we have found ways to work them in games before

[Fat Guy]

The Wolfhound way back when. It premiered there several months before the Wolf's Dragoons Sourcebook came out.

The Titan and Osprey are a couple others I'm glad made it to TROs.

[Armitage72]

Some of them had rule violations that made them impossible to actually build. I remember seeing Battletechnology units in the various HeavyMetal programs that had custom equipment with negative weight to make them fit in the listed weight while still having everything the articles listed.

[Prospernia]

I'll have to look into Battletechology; I sure I saw it, but didn't think of it back in the day.

I'd imagine most people think the Titan is from TRO:'75.

The Titan from TRO: 2750 was my first thought and yeah, strafing, that could take out an entire star of Clan-Mechs.

[Goose]

Tweet! Forum Foul: Mentioning a DropShip; Five post penalty!

/Tweet!

 

[House Davie Merc]

Well, the Rattlesnake and SurburbanMech are now canon (Both were in Shrapnel)

Craig

Yup.
Still waiting for the Screaming Hawk.... anytime now...

[Starfury]

The Screaming Hawk would be an interesting experiment since it had a primitive MML that could either act as an LRM-5 or SRM 4 depending on how it was configured.

[Hellraiser]

it had a primitive MML that could either act as an LRM-5 or SRM 4

I'm thinking it was more like it had a Primitive OmniPod than an actual MML.

[Hellraiser]

I've used tons of BT Mag units, many of them are Cannon again.

The 3/5 Charger-SB (Challenger)
Banshee-3S  (The Art matching version w/ 2 MLs in the Rear CT like the Atlas and the other pair on the Rt.Arm)
The Wolfman frankenmech hybrid of a Wolverine & Rifleman.
A trio of Wolfhounds early on to "packhunt" an Atlas.
The Ventilator
Titan-1A to test it against an Atlas that it crushed, or maybe that was the Alliance.   One of them.
A pair of the 10-ton Mite
The oversized Flashman known as the "Omega".
Also I think it was from BT but maybe MechForce, a trio of early C3 mechs to use,  Pulsar, Pulse Master, & Ranger?

[Hellraiser]

Some of them had rule violations that made them impossible to actually build. I remember seeing Battletechnology units in the various HeavyMetal programs that had custom equipment with negative weight to make them fit in the listed weight while still having everything the articles listed.

I don't recall that.
Maybe that Huntsman tracked-Artillery-Mech thing.
But most everything else I don't recall having issues with.

[Stormy]

I always enjoyed the fake Alliance ‘mech. Sadly, it’ll probably never be canon but it sparked my interest in the mech creation rules.

[BoyOfSummer]

Wasn't the Mackie first in Battle Technology and didn't it comply with the design rules?
I dimly remember drawing around with a pencil in the relevant Battle Technology to make the Mackie conform to the rules.

[Karasu]

I'm pretty sure I used the Battletechnology Pillager at some point.  It spent a long time getting in range but, when it got there, can't say no to t AC/20s.

Then there was teh Hedgehog tripod, with it's 'kick you in the face' ability.  Only once before being called shenanigans.

[Mendrugo]

Wasn't the Mackie first in Battle Technology and didn't it comply with the design rules?
I dimly remember drawing around with a pencil in the relevant Battle Technology to make the Mackie conform to the rules.

I think the Mackie debuted first in "Tales of the Black Widow," which was so early in the production series that there are still some references to BattleDroids in the text. 

[BoyOfSummer]

Could be.

My memory isn't what it once was...

Kidding - it was never the best.   

[Hellraiser]

Wasn't the Mackie first in Battle Technology and didn't it comply with the design rules?
I dimly remember drawing around with a pencil in the relevant Battle Technology to make the Mackie conform to the rules.

I think the Mackie debuted first in "Tales of the Black Widow," which was so early in the production series that there are still some references to BattleDroids in the text.

That is correct.  TotBW was the Mackie's debut.

Oddly enough, IIRC, it DOES conform to what would one day be the "Age of War/Primitive" era units.
IIRC it had a 360 rated engine which would be 300*1.20.
And the Armor Points didn't match the weight which might be accurate now w/ the primitive armors.

Kind of interesting to think that they had "Primitive" rules that early, &/or, that someone might have used the Mackie to create them later on, not sure how it all worked out.

[ColBosch]

I think the Mackie debuted first in "Tales of the Black Widow," which was so early in the production series that there are still some references to BattleDroids in the text.

Just checked, and yup. Amusing, it also refers to the "Successor Warlords" and the "SLDF supply depot of Hesperus."

[Mendrugo]

If you look at the old Stardate article "Before the Succession Wars," it lays out in great detail the backstory of the BattleDroids setting.  All the odd terms in "Tales of the Black Widow" is consistent with that. 

The opening history section in the first edition of the MechWarrior RPG explicitly says it was excerpted from the Stardate article. 

It's the same in broad strokes, but very different in the details.  BattleDroids fell much further, technologically, and couldn't manufacture anything new by 3025 - no new BattleDroids, no new K-F drives, no new fusion engines.  If you didn't have BattleMechs, you had to go after that oncoming Marauder in a jeep with a MG or SRM-2 stapled to the roll bar.

[Armitage72]

I don't recall that.
Maybe that Huntsman tracked-Artillery-Mech thing.
But most everything else I don't recall having issues with.

Thinking back, I think it was more of an issue with vehicles than `Mechs.
For example, the Wyvern Gunship is 2.25 tons overweight, and the Ki-rin Gunship is 7.5 tons overweight.