Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

[Phillip Green]

I had a BTAU map where some fucking light did that with an infinite number of inferno rockets. I thought the game bugged out cause the animation of rockets going out went for like 2 minutes, and it was the ground all around my mechs not on my mechs. Just an absolute sea of fire afterwards. And yeah, lost one mech to overheating and reloaded the game after I lost a second mech + the pilot to ammo cooking off.

Those Rocket Launcher armed periphery shit buckets will absolutely fuck you up if they get in range. There's also a Capellan Urbie in-game with 6xRL20 as well. Worst of all is the carrier vehicle with 6x Inferno 20s and 6x Reloading RL40s.

Point is, if the missile animation is going for more than a 5 mississipi, you're going to have a bad time. At least it's not like Roguetech where the mission will randomly span an Urbie armed with a map obliterating tactical nuke.

One thing I like about BTAU is that it really forces you to field scout mechs with pilots using the Sensor Lock skill, so you can shoot them before they shoot you.

 

[Abella]

Those Rocket Launcher armed periphery shit buckets will absolutely fuck you up if they get in range.

There’s an archer in the periphery that fits that bill. I think the ARC-6W, that can just go full retard and focus all of its missiles on fucking up whatever assault or heavy you want it to take out.

 

[Phillip Green]

"The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long... and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy ARC-6W."

Not a design that I'd ever want to field, but a serious pain in the ass for missions where the AI gets to just swarm you with mechs.

 

[Gimmick Account]

One thing I like about BTAU is that it really forces you to field scout mechs with pilots using the Sensor Lock skill, so you can shoot them before they shoot you.

That and the sheer amount of shit they can actually do to be useful out ahead. Locks, probe pings, jamming, boosted sensors and C3, or just kicking dudes in the ankles while firing a bunch of acid/TAG/NARC/high impact shit up their ass while all your shit that can shoot way further than it can see is still crawling across the map. "Forced" sounds rough but I genuinely love how half the tech in the game doesn't become obsolete the moment you have access to something bigger for once.
Which is good because it also adds a bunch of superheavy nonsense and I can't resist it even if it means a third of my dudes are walking like two hexes a turn.

 

[Snekposter]

That and the sheer amount of shit they can actually do to be useful out ahead. Locks, probe pings, jamming, boosted sensors and C3, or just kicking dudes in the ankles while firing a bunch of acid/TAG/NARC/high impact shit up their ass while all your shit that can shoot way further than it can see is still crawling across the map. "Forced" sounds rough but I genuinely love how half the tech in the game doesn't become obsolete the moment you have access to something bigger for once.
Which is good because it also adds a bunch of superheavy nonsense and I can't resist it even if it means a third of my dudes are walking like two hexes a turn.

There's one big superheavy mod for MW5 and those are easy to pass up because you're as slow as an Annihilator and turn even worse. They also don't get jump jets and considering how many maps in MW5 have intervening terrain I consider them vital. I have no idea what could possibly compel someone to need a 200 ton Rifleman in their life, but you can have the option at least.

 

[Gimmick Account]

Yeah never ever in the action games. I will happily put half my shit into the engine in order to stay above 75km/h if I'm the one who has to control the thing.

What would you do with superheavy tonnage in those anyway, boat yet more pulse lasers?

 

[Snekposter]

Yeah never ever in the action games. I will happily put half my shit into the engine in order to stay above 75km/h if I'm the one who has to control the thing.

What would you do with superheavy tonnage in those anyway, boat yet more pulse lasers?

Heavy Gauss, Improved Heavy Gauss, and HAG's. Due to how the superheavy rules work for structure slots IIRC you can fit a pair of IHGR in a single side torso to take advantage of the Marauder RoF quirks for the RT.

 

[Abella]

I don’t like CGL’s penchant for placing mechs exclusively in products where you have to pay a lot of money and get a lot of stuff you don’t really want like how the plastic pouncer is hidden behind the alpha strike box.

 

[HTTP Error 404]

Huh. Mechwarrior 5 Mercs is getting another DLC. It was stealth announced in the latest Mechwarrior 5 Clans patch notes. More information by April.

Reddit thinks it's going to involve "Operation Bulldog," which apparently was the first major successful IS counterattack against the clans, and the start of Clan Smoke Jaguar's long bad day.

So, what's the play here for them I wonder? Was 5 Clans not meeting expectations? Are these 5 Mercs DLCs good ROI / cheap to put together?

 

[Grayson Death Carlyle]

I don’t like CGL’s penchant for placing mechs exclusively in products where you have to pay a lot of money and get a lot of stuff you don’t really want like how the plastic pouncer is hidden behind the alpha strike box.

View attachment 8547452

I remember seeing this in that box set, I had no idea what it even was or why it was in the box. I assumed it was some later era bullshit, but Sarna says it is from the Clan Invasion Era. The prime configuration seems like a slightly better/more expensive Adder to me, about 1 million C-Bills or 400 BV so. It jumps, too.

 

[Tactical Wizard]

I remember seeing this in that box set, I had no idea what it even was or why it was in the box. I assumed it was some later era bullshit, but Sarna says it is from the Clan Invasion Era. The prime configuration seems like a slightly better/more expensive Adder to me, about 1 million C-Bills or 400 BV so. It jumps, too.
View attachment 8549019

The pouncer first appeared in TRO:3055. It was one of the "Lessons Learned" new designs after the battle of Tukkayid.

Specifically, it was Clan Wolf going "Okay, maybe we shouldn't autistically hate jump jets so much." It seems like a replacement for the adder as the prime config is basically a 40 ton adder.

 

[Grayson Death Carlyle]

The pouncer first appeared in TRO:3055. It was one of the "Lessons Learned" new designs after the battle of Tukkayid.

TRO:3055 (upgrade) claims it was made in 3050, two years before Tukkayid, but I would assume it would be lessons learned from contact with Spheroid combat. The lesson they learned seems to be that two headcapping weapons with jumps is better than two without jumps when wielded by a test-tube born maniac.


Also does anyone know where I could download the older TRO's from (without buying products from Catalyst made by people more talented than Catalyst like 3 decades ago)?
I checked Anna's Archive nevermind

 

[Snekposter]

So, what's the play here for them I wonder? Was 5 Clans not meeting expectations? Are these 5 Mercs DLCs good ROI / cheap to put together?

MW5 Clans is definitely not meeting expectations from everything I've heard about it. It stars the Jaguars, who are up there with the Capellans and Wobblies for "most hated assholes in the galaxy", offers zero gameplay improvements over MW5 Mercs despite the linear campaign, and IIRC it isn't even moddable.

 

[Phillip Green]

MW5 Clans is definitely not meeting expectations from everything I've heard about it. It stars the Jaguars, who are up there with the Capellans and Wobblies for "most hated assholes in the galaxy", offers zero gameplay improvements over MW5 Mercs despite the linear campaign, and IIRC it isn't even moddable.

MW5 Mercs has become one of my comfort games and I've got a couple hundred hours into it (although I haven't played the latest DLC yet).

I got about 15 hours into MW5 Clans and then just stopped playing. The missions are long, tedious, and boring. The mech lab system is not good. I hate the Clans in general and the Jaguars in particular. I really hate all of the bratty test tube baby Clanner scum characters you're supposed to identify with.

Maybe it gets better in the late game, but who knows when I'll force myself to try and finish it. In the meantime I'll probably start a new Mercs campaign.

 

[regalterry]

I really hate all of the bratty test tube baby Clanner scum characters you're supposed to identify with.

The devs do realize the Clanners exist to be bullied by IS chads, right?

What I really want from Mercs, besides more handcrafted campaigns and more equipment and mechs is really two things.

One would be a meaningful "retirement" endgame, kinda like how in MW4: Mercs you get to take over a whole planet for yourself, or how in MW2: Mercs you get to retire on some luxurious pleasure planet and sip a martini on your megayacht.

Even something as simple as Sid Meyer's Pirates! end screen would be great.

Second thing is an overhaul of the pilot system to give them a bit more personality, so they're not just a bot with a shitty portrait.

But yeah, in general I'm happy they keep supporting MW5 with additional DLC.

 

[AbduluCthuluZulu]

So, what's the play here for them I wonder? Was 5 Clans not meeting expectations? Are these 5 Mercs DLCs good ROI / cheap to put together?

They appear to be releasing DLCs in an alternating schedule for both games. First it was Ghost Bear for clans, then it was Shadow of Kerensky for mercs, then Wolves of Tukayyid for clans, and now the next DLC is going to be for mercs. It doesn't look like they're favoring one game over the other.

and IIRC it isn't even moddable.

Clans has had workshop and nexus support for a long time now. It was added in an update pretty early in, but I can't remember the date off the top of my head.

 

[Moja Zemlja]

Reddit thinks it's going to involve "Operation Bulldog," which apparently was the first major successful IS counterattack against the clans, and the start of Clan Smoke Jaguar's long bad day.

I imagine they'll stick during REVIVAL for at least two DLC since you wouldn't need a lot of new assets to be made for narrative campaigns.

 

[Gimmick Account]

PGI's whole thing is you make the robutts for one game and you can use them in another, I think? MWO just turned into a quagmire so it didn't work out like that right away. Makes sense to double up as long as people are still playing Mercs if they're making the assets anyway.

MW5 Clans is definitely not meeting expectations from everything I've heard about it. It stars the Jaguars, who are up there with the Capellans and Wobblies for "most hated assholes in the galaxy"

Yeah but it does it kinda like Starship Troopers. You play as some goofy kids who see it from the inside. It's sorta cute.

Clans is alright. It's not autismaxxed Mercs with all of the mechlab mods (PS I have no idea why devs seem to think that anyone playing stompy robot games wants them to simplify the fucking mechlabs) but it's standard disposable linear shooter fun like all linear shooters.
The Bears campaign adds a bit more character and variety, kinda. I haven't played whatever the third one is yet, but I'll come back at some point since if it's actually Mechwarrior: Episodes they can all be a little different.

 

[Abella]

I remember seeing this in that box set, I had no idea what it even was or why it was in the box. I assumed it was some later era bullshit, but Sarna says it is from the Clan Invasion Era. The prime configuration seems like a slightly better/more expensive Adder to me, about 1 million C-Bills or 400 BV so. It jumps, too.
View attachment 8549019

prime clan mechs usually are just some kind of baseline unit. it's essentially an adder that jumps, but I've always liked that quality with maps and tables where there's a lot of short buildings. I love the metal version and don't want to pay $70 for a box set where I either already own the miniatures in metal like the timber wolf and pouncer, or I have no desire to use them like the wasp and masakari

 

[Snekposter]

no desire to use them like the wasp

Just channel your inner Mercer Ravannion there and start throwing them at those Davion assholes by the dozen.