Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

The fact that someone sat down and came up with a way to make this game run and then made a 40 min video to share with the world, speaks volumes of the quality of that game.
Watched 2.5k times, too.

Man, back when Microprose was still around and made good games.

Though, in hindsight, kinda weird, the first mechs you fight are Owens Omnis employed by Smoked Jaguars...
 
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RomanesEuntDomus said:
The fact that someone sat down and came up with a way to make this game run and then made a 40 min video to share with the world, speaks volumes of the quality of that game.
Watched 2.5k times, too.

Man, back when Microprose was still around and made good games.

Though, in hindsight, kinda weird, the first mechs you fight are Owens Omnis employed by Smoked Jaguars...
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They're isorla and you're fighting SECOND-LINE and RESERVES.

I mean, don't get me wrong I think it'd be great to be fighting first-liners but given how bad the AI is/was I don't think they could really swing that feel. As it is the only time the game becomes really challenging is when it does absolute bullshit like throwing entire Stars of Pumas at you.
 
Freebirth Toad said:
They're isorla and you're fighting SECOND-LINE and RESERVES.

I mean, don't get me wrong I think it'd be great to be fighting first-liners but given how bad the AI is/was I don't think they could really swing that feel. As it is the only time the game becomes really challenging is when it does absolute bullshit like throwing entire Stars of Pumas at you.
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Yeah, but how did they get an IS OmniMech and why do they use that one instead of their own designs?
 
RomanesEuntDomus said:
Yeah, but how did they get an IS OmniMech and why do they use that one instead of their own designs?
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They probably took it from one of the other IS invasion forces that were part of Op Bulldog and promptly handed it to someone from a third-rate sibko because they don't like wasting things.
 
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Yep, the Clans are very much waste-not-want-not. IS Omnis would be prized salvage for the Clans, since they can just slot in their own gear into them. Sure, they're nowhere as good as their actual OmniMechs, but second-line units would definitely not be skipping on those.
 
Corn Flakes said:
Yep, the Clans are very much waste-not-want-not. IS Omnis would be prized salvage for the Clans, since they can just slot in their own gear into them. Sure, they're nowhere as good as their actual OmniMechs, but second-line units would definitely not be skipping on those.
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I dunno about prized, but a Mech is a Mech and they'd probably appreciate the chance to eyeball whatever new tricks and toys the Spheroids have come up with.

(As Tex noted, the UrbanMech with an MRM-30 really was an unpleasant surprise for the Ghost Bears.)
 
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Capsaicin Addict said:
I dunno about prized, but a Mech is a Mech and they'd probably appreciate the chance to eyeball whatever new tricks and toys the Spheroids have come up with.

(As Tex noted, the UrbanMech with an MRM-30 really was an unpleasant surprise for the Ghost Bears.)
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"Oh look at that freebirth little Urbie with his freebirth little Autoc- KERENSKY'S BALLS WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
And then some sucker in his Black Lanner gets the MRM blanket.
 
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Capsaicin Addict said:
I dunno about prized, but a Mech is a Mech and they'd probably appreciate the chance to eyeball whatever new tricks and toys the Spheroids have come up with.

(As Tex noted, the UrbanMech with an MRM-30 really was an unpleasant surprise for the Ghost Bears.)
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Hey, if I'm a Freeborn pilot in a second-line unit being given the option of driving a Star League-built Firefly that spent the past two hundred years mothballed in a Brian Cache somewhere in Huntress, or a compatively freshly-(re)built Owens with Clan modules installed, I know what I'm picking.

(But yes, MRM-30 Urbie is wonderful. For when the Word of The Day is "shotgun!".)
 
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RomanesEuntDomus said:
"Oh look at that freebirth little Urbie with his freebirth little Autoc- KERENSKY'S BALLS WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
And then some sucker in his Black Lanner gets the MRM blanket.
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Yeah. The numbers are nasty. The MRM-30 has about the same range (1-3/4-8/9-15), but WAY better damage output even with the 1 point penalty to hit. The minimum damage on an MRM-30 is ten points. Rolling a 7 (most common result with 2d6) deals 18. Ouch.
 
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Capsaicin Addict said:
Yeah. The numbers are nasty. The MRM-30 has about the same range (1-3/4-8/9-15), but WAY better damage output even with the 1 point penalty to hit. The minimum damage on an MRM-30 is ten points. Rolling a 7 (most common result with 2d6) deals 18. Ouch.
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It's also nice that potentially every cluster can crit or hit the head. Only downside to the AC/10 is that you spread out your damage a lot more, but reducing a mech's armor on all locations isn't bad either. It would take forever to sandpaper down the entire mech, but the moment you get a buddy to fire his PPC or Gauss rifle, the weakened state will start to pay off... or when the armor has already been breached.

Speaking of which, is there a convenient way to handle large numbers of clusters? LB-X guns and MRMs with their 1-point clusters are a pain to roll. Almost feels like something you don't wanna roll with physical dice and use some software instead.
 
RomanesEuntDomus said:
Speaking of which, is there a convenient way to handle large numbers of clusters? LB-X guns and MRMs with their 1-point clusters are a pain to roll. Almost feels like something you don't wanna roll with physical dice and use some software instead.
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I've seen people recommending a Box-o'-Death for that: buy a brick of D6, put them two-per-slot in a compartmentalized box (like a tackle box for fishing), close the lid, shake, then open the lid again. Personally, I've had good success with those really tiny d6's (Google "5mm d6", or maybe even 8mm) inside a clear pill organizer.

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One of these babies is still reasonably compact and sturdy and will roll you cluster hits for days, and you don't even have to open the lid (although you may have to squint a bit, make sure you have very easily readable dice). And if a normie asks why do you have dice inside a pill box, you tell them you have a gambling addiction these are your daily meds.
 
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Corn Flakes said:
I've seen people recommending a Box-o'-Death for that: buy a brick of D6, put them two-per-slot in a compartmentalized box (like a tackle box for fishing), close the lid, shake, then open the lid again. Personally, I've had good success with those really tiny d6's (Google "5mm d6", or maybe even 8mm) inside a clear pill organizer.

View attachment 1865763

One of these babies is still reasonably compact and sturdy and will roll you cluster hits for days, and you don't even have to open the lid (although you may have to squint a bit, make sure you have very easily readable dice). And if a normie asks why do you have dice inside a pill box, you tell them you have a gambling addiction these are your daily meds.
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This is also literally the only way to play tabletop Shadowrun.
 
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Capsaicin Addict said:
I dunno about prized, but a Mech is a Mech and they'd probably appreciate the chance to eyeball whatever new tricks and toys the Spheroids have come up with.

(As Tex noted, the UrbanMech with an MRM-30 really was an unpleasant surprise for the Ghost Bears.)
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UM-R68 is one of the most fun mechs in any game ever.
 
RomanesEuntDomus said:
It's also nice that potentially every cluster can crit or hit the head. Only downside to the AC/10 is that you spread out your damage a lot more, but reducing a mech's armor on all locations isn't bad either. It would take forever to sandpaper down the entire mech, but the moment you get a buddy to fire his PPC or Gauss rifle, the weakened state will start to pay off... or when the armor has already been breached.

Speaking of which, is there a convenient way to handle large numbers of clusters? LB-X guns and MRMs with their 1-point clusters are a pain to roll. Almost feels like something you don't wanna roll with physical dice and use some software instead.
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MRMs are like LRMs. They hit in five point clusters, not single point like LBX shotgun rounds (reference: p122 Battletech Manual).

That being said, LBX cluster rounds can be game breaking since you get to make multiple location rolls, sometimes more than you'd get even with a full LRM or MRM barrage.
 
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Corn Flakes said:
And then there are HAGs.
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HAGs use five-point cluster rules, so there's that. But yeah, the HAG gauss shotgun is still horrific. At least you get penalties to your cluster shot check at long range.

It's interesting that despite so many years (35+), Battletech still plays pretty much the same as it always has. Oh sure, there's new toys, and a couple of equipment pieces have been changed slightly (anti-missile systems got some revisions), but the differences from the original box set really aren't that profound if there's any at all.
 
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That's true, Comstar Acolytes were the tech priests of Battletech. I wonder what that makes ROM agents? Inquisitors?
 
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