Crazy idea: Mech Racing

[pfarland]

Back a ways, I designed a mech in Mechwarrior 5 w/ YAML (if you know it). Anyways, this particular mech would pass mach 1. Theoretically at least, terrain is an extreme issue at that speed. This brings me to the point. We now have quite a bit of equipment in Battletech that can result in high speeds. What if civilians could get hold of mechs, and soup them up for racing? Back in the day there were the Solaris VII rules that would be more appropriate for both action and construction. Just my two cursed coppers.

[ANS Kamas P81]

IIRC there's races at the Noisiel games, among other things. 

[Aresneo]

What if civilians could get hold of mechs, and soup them up for racing?

The Fireball XF is what happens, its a canonical mech that was explicitly built for racing and can reach a maximum speed of 259.2 KM/h.

[GRUD]

Several years back (Probably closer to 2 DECADES ago!), someone over on Lords of the Battlefield came up with some kind of 'Mech Deathrace Scenario.  I only heard about it, so I might be getting some details wrong.

The person that thought it up also hosted the Event, and they played via PM or Email (I think).  The Objective was to simply make it through the gauntlet, as you not only had to worry about your fellow Racers, but there were apparently pop up turrets to deal with.  Or not.  The GOAL was to be the first across the finish line, Period.  Maybe you got Extra Points for any kills you scored along the way?

NO idea what the Distance involved was, and I Think there was no limit on what 'Mech you could use.  Seems like I heard there was at least 1 LAM involved?

[DevianID]

I have done hovercraft races and urbanmech races.  I think a solaris style multiplayer race 100% works, heck there is a board game called Heat about racing already.  Skidding rules in btech are great at making the track come alive, where different turns have different optimal strats, and someone running around a corner to perform an overtake comes with enough drama and excitement that weapons are not needed to see mechs die/explode.

You would need a comeback mechanic, such as the lead car may not use running MP, or when there is a fall a pace car comes out and slows all racers while a mech is down and prevents The person who fell from instantly losing.  Any of the stuff in Heat would likely work.

[elf25s]

isnt the urbie derby a thing still already?

[DevianID]

isnt the urbie derby a thing still already?

Maybe?  I just have the dozen urbanmech pack painted up and pit them against each other in a demolition derby, with each person having 2 urbanmechs.

[Iceweb]

I'm liking the idea the idea of turrets raining down death in marked kill zones, where you can go around or through depending on how much risk you want to take.  I also like the idea of there being non threatening  targets (stationary or on rails to move) that you can shoot for points.  I kinda like the points targets should count as (mechanized?) infantry maybe or something.  Like you shouldn't get 10 points for nailing one bonus target with a PPC but LBX clusters, missile spam, and anti infantry weapons like machine guns should be able to get multiple points.   

I also like the idea that various bonus targets can be protected by ecm fields or anti missile systems to encourage other weapons for those targets.  Or some targets in protected bunkers that can only be scored on with A-Pods or the like.  Debating that maybe some of the targets are protected by Ferro-Lam armor so lbx clusters or silver bullets can't score those targets.   

One other thing is that since you are racing instead being a full war machine, you don't necessarily need an expensive fusion engine (are we still going with fusion engines are expensive these days) to build a racer.  I can see the rookie leagues with ICE or Fuel Cells in industrial mechs trying to zip around.  And you know that one weirdo that built his racer with a fission engine...

[Mechman08]

One idea for a comeback mechanic:
Restrict the game to a custom mech mounting only the standard 10 single heat sinks and a pair of Plasma Cannons.  Then make sure your track has plenty of hairpin turns and the like for trailing players to get LoS on the leader.

Edit: Isn’t there some kind of ridiculous mech-scale bola munition you can load into missile launchers too?

[Red Pins]

I had an idea for a introduction game for beginners; called it 'Duck!  Duck!  Goose!'  Basically learn to count movement and Turns, no Initiative or anything to speed things up.

[The Brant]

isnt the urbie derby a thing still already?

Yes
https://youtu.be/4v21vRfsUL8?si=nvZJjTz3-Epj-CX8

[GRUD]

Edit: Isn’t there some kind of ridiculous mech-scale bola munition you can load into missile launchers too?

I'm not sure about any actual Rules for it, but one of Jennifer Brozek's Rogue Academy Trilogy novels had a vehicle that used a weapon that fired 'Mech-scale Bolas.  I want to say it was the 2nd book, Ghost Hour?  Might have been in the 1st book though, Iron Dawn.

They remarked it probably wouldn't work again, but they also never tried it again.

[Mendrugo]

isnt the urbie derby a thing still already?

In canon, the Urbie Derby is the name for an all-UrbanMech Solaris VII duelist collective.

[Iceweb]

One idea for a comeback mechanic:
Restrict the game to a custom mech mounting only the standard 10 single heat sinks and a pair of Plasma Cannons.  Then make sure your track has plenty of hairpin turns and the like for trailing players to get LoS on the leader.

Edit: Isn’t there some kind of ridiculous mech-scale bola munition you can load into missile launchers too?

There is a bola for Narc pods (does it work in iNarc also I forget, no reason it shouldn't but since its an almost unuseable weapon probably no one tried)  It basically only works if it hits a mech's arms or legs and doesn't effect any other types of units. 

Its a bad ammo on a very niche system. 

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Bola_Pod 

Now you could require that every mech in a certain race had a launcher and X tons of bolo ammo, that would be pretty funny. 

[Mendrugo]

Another option would be that there are obstacles in the way that require frontrunners to use weapons fire to carve paths through.  Trailing runners would be able to use Sprint mode, something unavailable to the frontrunners, who'd need to be using their guns.

[DevianID]

Another option would be that there are obstacles in the way that require frontrunners to use weapons fire to carve paths through.  Trailing runners would be able to use Sprint mode, something unavailable to the frontrunners, who'd need to be using their guns.

That is a very clever way to implement 'drafting' behind someone.

[glitterboy2098]

I'm not sure about any actual Rules for it, but one of Jennifer Brozek's Rogue Academy Trilogy novels had a vehicle that used a weapon that fired 'Mech-scale Bolas.  I want to say it was the 2nd book, Ghost Hour?  Might have been in the 1st book though, Iron Dawn.

They remarked it probably wouldn't work again, but they also never tried it again.

Bola's are Narc special ammo. though the one from the book does not fit any official rule. (a common trait with stuff in that novel series, is my understanding)


my own suggestion would be to zero out the speed differential issue by making it more of a rally race, and one where you have to locate the checkpoints rather than know them in advance, though you'd be given the general area in which to search. this would make speed less a dominating factor, and pilot skill and intelligence take a bigger role.

[Mechman08]

One other thought has been tooling around in my brain.  Handheld weapon pods (see AXM-6X) could be scattered around the course for a little Mario Kart style power-up action.

[RifleMech]

I would imagine there'd be as many races for mechs as we have for vehicles and as in as many classes.

[Cylence]

I'm going to be a bit of a naysayer here and lay out some reasons 'mech racing probably isn't much of  a thing.

First, let's just start with the military aspect - how often do we have any type of races using military equipment?  I'm sure there is the occasional non-combat private situation used as part of a training exercise or to let the troops burn off steam / boost morale, but it's not like we have Formula M1.

So in universe, where are 'mechs used for entertainment?  We have Solaris, and the odd example of other arenas generally on mercenary heavy or pirate worlds, but  considering the large populations of many planets in the IS, we don't see 'mech battle arenas as part of the on-world offerings in many places, which is part of why the Solaris matches are so heavily distributed across the IS.  This probably means it's a safe guess to think 'mech based entertainment is actually pretty rare for whatever "reasons".

Also from the entertainment aspect, the general audience (and therefore money) obviously is there for the 'mech battles, but since we don't really have much on racing, it's another safe guess to say the people want to see them fight, not race.

Which brings us to the logistics of 'mech racing.  One of the inherent weakness of all 'mechs is that they have a major weak spot in the rear, with various venting, access hatches, and other components minimizing the amount of armor that can be applied.  So if we want weaponized racing, the obvious strategy is to be last, not first, so you can shoot everyone else in the back.  Of course, everyone would aim for this strategy, and you now have a sluggish melee as everyone maneuvers to slow down and get behind the other racers (except for the odd occasion where a racer realizes everyone else is focused on that and takes off hoping to get away before anyone realizes what is happening).

So what could make 'mech racing interesting?  Melee weapons/attacks only, so now  you have a reason to get away from everyone else, and a reason to catch up to your opponents.  This is potentially more expensive as you have your racing equipment literally ripping each other apart, but once we move into eras where 'mech production is ramped up, or the disarmament period of the RotS this would be a good place for industrialmechs or scrap battlemechs, and since we don't have to worry about stray weapons shots, this "safer" entertainment might actually be more prevalent then battle arenas in the right time perioda / planets.

But the audience really wants to see the guns... so how do we get around the rear armor issue?  Can a race track / arena be designed in such a way to minimize line of sight such that a racer wants to get out ahead in order to prevent the opponents from having a shot?  It would require lots of cover, few straight stretches, and you'd probably need to restrict jump jets.  Limiting weapon choices to short or medium range weapons would also help, but then you lose the excitement of the big guns (except for the racer who somehow packs in an ac20...). 

So, there are probably some races out there, somewhere, but if you're involving the expense of a 'mech, the smart money is in the arena where ultimately the glamour and fame of Solaris flashes C-bill signs in the dreams of the aspiring competitive 'mech jock.

[ANS Kamas P81]

In the real world, to answer your point about military equipment, the Russians have their Tank Biathlon which is a combination of timed course races and shooting scores.  The fact they started doing Tank Biathlons a year after Girls und Panzer first came out has not been considered coincidental.

[RifleMech]

According to Touring the Stars: Noisiel, 

The two-week long spectacle remains a constant draw for tourists and talent scouts alike, and its most dramatic highlights are recorded for rebroadcast to all corners of the Inner Sphere

so I don't think they have trouble finding an audience.

As for racing military equipment, I imagine it's been done during training exercises. Looser buys the beer. Not that it has to be the military doing it. Civilians do own military equipment and there's civilian Mechs. Shooting would make it more interesting though. I would think they'd be like the Deathrace movies, especially the later ones. The guns don't go live right away. If they did, no one would go as they'd get shot in the back. And they can't spend all their time shooting at other racers. They have to avoid mine fields, dodge fire from bunkers, get through/around obstacles, hit targets for bonus points, etc. Although I do think there'd be pure speed races. Got to have something to do with those old Chargers. 

[elf25s]

i seem to recall solaris 7 having such event then i might be misremebering it it was over 35  years

[Mendrugo]

The HBS-game novella set on Solaris VII (written by Stackpole) features a racing arena.  Assorted low-end FrankenMechs run around a figure-eight track in a scrapyard, taking pot shots at each other while running past piles of wreckage.  Some of the piles are actually immobile FrankenMechs, serving as turrets to hammer the racers.  It was a last-man-standing demolition derby, though, rather than a true race.