Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

Snekposter said:
This of course is the most dubious part.
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I have been told that "if" is extremely load-bearing, yes.

But there's precedent for it in wargames. When deploying new Warhammer 40,000 editions Games Workshop will put out a free .pdf with statblocks to tide players over until the new faction splats are released. No reason why Catalyst couldn't do it in reverse: release a new edition with rebalanced/reworked equipment, and then have a free file with the stat blocks for the older equipment. That way everybody knows the Medium Laser on their 3025-era Locust is an Obsolete Medium Laser with 5 damage, 3 heat, and not a fancy modern Medium Laser with 7 damage, 5 heat.

(Or, you know, just say "fuck it" and play old 'Mechs with the new gear. Clan specs for everyone, why the fuck not?)

Either way, as much as I don't trust them to get it right, BattleTech is kind of cartoony in how nothing ever becomes outdated unless it's been meant to be outdated from the start, like Rifled Cannons. The manufacturers might change, but a Medium Laser from 2750 still has the exact same stats as a Medium Laser from 3150, even though there are enough variants out there that the baseline Medium Laser should have been phased out of common use a long time ago (and a lot of IlClan recognition guide designs follow that reasoning, refraining from using "baseline" variants of weapons in favor of more modern shit). Autocannons are even worse: there's zero reason to use a bog-standard Autocannon once Ultras and LB/Xs come into the field. Special ammunition is a fun meme, but they all come with substantial downsides that don't compensate for literally dealing half the potential damage of an Ultra, or being able to critseek/headhunt like an LB/X.

Technology (and powercreep) does march on, so I'd like to see what would come out of a game-wide rework like that.
 
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Corn Flakes said:
The manufacturers might change, but a Medium Laser from 2750 still has the exact same stats as a Medium Laser from 3150, even though there are enough variants out there that the baseline Medium Laser should have been phased out of common use a long time ago.
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Medium Lasers in BT are like iron daggers in the province of Skyrim: the de facto medium of exchange. You are dead on with special ammo though. That's honestly the worst thing they could have done for AC's in the eras of Ultras and LBX's. Christ, even without the critseeking and headshot potential the LBX is straight up better than the basic AC/10 thanks to more range for less weight, crits, and heat. To be fair they realized they goofed hard with that and gave the rest of the LBX's some drawbacks over the basic model for their range, but damn... talk about a ringing indictment of the basic AC/10 if it needs those buffs to be considered competitive.
 
Snekposter said:
Fire 3 PPC's one turn, two the next to let a capacitor charge, fire all three again including the one with the charge, repeat. Or you could just fire all three non-stop like a worse Hellstar, but at least you have the TC to aim for you.
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I meant, 3-2-3-2, hmmm.

And it makes perfect sense for the Popemobile to dispense God's Holy and Merciful Judgments in such a way.

"You say three Hail Marys for your sins against the Lord God Almighty and the First Prince. Your friend over there crewing the field gun should say two Hail Marys. Those guys in the pillbox behind you get to say three Hail Marys. The crew of that VTOL should say two Hail Marys in atonement. It hurts, don't it? Sin should hurt you filthy Dracs!"

I love that there's a song to go along with the Popemobile:

 
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So how would the setting be like if things turned out differently for
315px-i5mrw8lrgy0ojx3253v7dqkmveztkk2.jpg Hanse or if he didn't make the plan
315px-2vxmlnbxswn89c8gk9208bvzin0ty4p.jpg Victor used that set up the whole chain of events that led to Alaric?
 
While one of the silliest things I've ever seen was a Battletech/Frozen crossover fanfic, there was an intriguing premise in it.

The point of deviation is just after Justin Allard is assassinated. In the original timeline, Hanse visits Candace while she's recuperating, and she convinces him to let her deal with Romano Liao. In the new timeline, Hanse refuses. He's just done with House Liao's bullshit. He scrapes together everything he's got left, assembles it into ad-hoc RCTs, and launches it into the teeth of the Capellans, pulverizing them. House Marik doesn't move to assist because at the time, Hanse has Joshua Marik at the NAIS for cancer treatment, and House Kurita really doesn't give a shit (they're kinda busy).

House Liao, and the Capellan Confederation, cease to exist. Romano Liao, Tsen Shang, Sun-Tzu, and Kali are all killed. The Capellans exist as a protectorate under Candace, retaining most of their culture, but their days as a Successor State are done.

Unsurprisingly, this has some interesting repercussions down the line. Because Sun-Tzu isn't in a position to propose to Isis Marik, he can't send Hanse Davion the bragging HPG message that causes his fatal heart attack. Hanse does suffer a nonfatal heart attack, which forces him to scale back his responsibilities. He pulls Victor back from the Clan front, and makes him Lord of the Crucis March -- a position mostly used for 'Princes In Training'. I don't recall if the fanfic explored the ramifications of Hanse still being around to (possibly) thwart Katherine's shenanigans, but having Hanse still alive and in a position to give Victor good advice does bode well for the Federated Commonwealth.
 
Capsaicin Addict said:
The point of deviation is just after Justin Allard is assassinated. In the original timeline, Hanse visits Candace while she's recuperating, and she convinces him to let her deal with Romano Liao. In the new timeline, Hanse refuses. He's just done with House Liao's bullshit. He scrapes together everything he's got left, assembles it into ad-hoc RCTs, and launches it into the teeth of the Capellans, pulverizing them. House Marik doesn't move to assist because at the time, Hanse has Joshua Marik at the NAIS for cancer treatment, and House Kurita really doesn't give a shit (they're kinda busy).

House Liao, and the Capellan Confederation, cease to exist. Romano Liao, Tsen Shang, Sun-Tzu, and Kali are all killed. The Capellans exist as a protectorate under Candace, retaining most of their culture, but their days as a Successor State are done.
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"I never really liked House Liao anyways." - The entire Inner Sphere.
 
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The Cappies also ended up the clear winner in the Field Manual arms race. Stealth armor, variant Arrow IV loads, variant Thunder LRM loads, and the Fa Shih BA.
 
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Moja Zemlja said:
I like the gimmick behind HVACs.
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They're a very neat gimmick, but they don't actually do anything. The bitch basic HVAC/10 weighs another 2 tons and puts out an absurd (for an autocannon that is) seven heat. While the extra range is nice and the heat is a lot less of an issue in the era of DHS, it just doesn't do a whole lot more. Now I'm going to be autistic and say the thick black smoke they emit when firing is a clear sign of an oxygen-deficient reaction, so you could probably unfuck them just by altering the powder mix to have something with a little more oxygen in it. On the other hand, the LAC/5 is clear proof of House Davion's mastery of ballistic weaponry. Take an AC/5, give it an AC/10's range profile, and make it 5 tons and 2 crits and it can still use special ammo. You can actually double up on them to have an AC/10's damage output and still come out ahead with weight, crits, and heat. Granted in the most likely place I'd use it, MW5, the whole MWO-style hardpoint issue rears its ugly head, but alas...

Random note on the smoke: that's why amatol is so nasty despite the fact ammonium nitrate is a worse explosive than TNT: the extra oxygens it adds to the overall reaction means you get a more faster, bigger boom from the TNT.
William Murderface said:
The Cappies also ended up the clear winner in the Field Manual arms race. Stealth armor, variant Arrow IV loads, variant Thunder LRM loads, and the Fa Shih BA.
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Not the Thunder LRM at all, but I do have a soft spot for the Thunderbolt missile...
 
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Snekposter said:
They're a very neat gimmick, but they don't actually do anything. The bitch basic HVAC/10 weighs another 2 tons and puts out an absurd (for an autocannon that is) seven heat. While the extra range is nice and the heat is a lot less of an issue in the era of DHS, it just doesn't do a whole lot more. Now I'm going to be autistic and say the thick black smoke they emit when firing is a clear sign of an oxygen-deficient reaction, so you could probably unfuck them just by altering the powder mix to have something with a little more oxygen in it. On the other hand, the LAC/5 is clear proof of House Davion's mastery of ballistic weaponry. Take an AC/5, give it an AC/10's range profile, and make it 5 tons and 2 crits and it can still use special ammo. You can actually double up on them to have an AC/10's damage output and still come out ahead with weight, crits, and heat. Granted in the most likely place I'd use it, MW5, the whole MWO-style hardpoint issue rears its ugly head, but alas...

Random note on the smoke: that's why amatol is so nasty despite the fact ammonium nitrate is a worse explosive than TNT: the extra oxygens it adds to the overall reaction means you get a more faster, bigger boom from the TNT.

Not the Thunder LRM at all, but I do have a soft spot for the Thunderbolt missile...
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There were some great weapon systems from the old Tactical Handbook and the Unbound scenario that we ended up using at the regular game I played at the time. The Thunderbolt missile, and Silver Bullet Gauss were nice to see become normal weapons and not just Level 3 (I still think in Level 1, 2, and 3) and we played with the various armors ELRM, HVAC, and caseless AC ammo a bunch at the time.
 
William Murderface said:
There were some great weapon systems from the old Tactical Handbook and the Unbound scenario that we ended up using at the regular game I played at the time. The Thunderbolt missile, and Silver Bullet Gauss were nice to see become normal weapons and not just Level 3 (I still think in Level 1, 2, and 3) and we played with the various armors ELRM, HVAC, and caseless AC ammo a bunch at the time.
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Oh yeah, the SB Gauss is sweet, and while I think the ELRM is a bit of a sidegrade thanks to the crit/tonnage requirements its less of an issue that late in the timeframe.
 
Why did Sarna start using Freestar VRM. Makes looking up mechs a pain in the ass. Any way to circumvent this?
 
Snekposter said:
Oh yeah, the SB Gauss is sweet, and while I think the ELRM is a bit of a sidegrade thanks to the crit/tonnage requirements its less of an issue that late in the timeframe.
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ELRMs are a side grade but useful on bigger maps where you can actually make use of the longer range or to compensate for lower gunnery in the mid range.
 
Moja Zemlja said:
ELRMs are a side grade but useful on bigger maps where you can actually make use of the longer range or to compensate for lower gunnery in the mid range.
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The first time we played on a larger map with Archers and Longbows using ELRMs, the other side just set them up on a hill or ridge and let them start chewing up armor from 35 hexes away. It was brutal.
 
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StevieLasVegas said:
As an Archer lover, this sounds beautiful
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How about a vehicle platoon made up of an ELRM Carrier, two LRM Carriers, and a SRM Carrier sitting someplace with nice, clean lines of sight? Just start scrubbing away armor at 35 hexes, then once they get to 21 hexes the real beating begins, and whatever you have left after that still has to take all those SRMs.
 
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