Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

[TFT-A9]

So the AI improvement mods have done one thing for MW5M that I distinctly appreciate - it's no longer pathetically easy to farm headshots because AIs seem to be a lot less prone to just fucking staring at you like morons. It now feels like much more of an achievement to put that Gauss/PPC salvo into their faces.

 

[Deepthoughts]

 

[Capsaicin Addict]

I picked up and read Hour of the Wolf. Suffice to say that a number of people 'get what they fucking deserve', to quote the Joker. Good times.

What impresses me about the Clan Watch is that they were able to cobble together something resembling an intelligence apparatus when they really hadn't done anything like that in so long. And even then they had problems -- the Society Uprising could've gone a lot worse for the Clans. Although the aftermath, which ended in a number of Clans purging the fuck out of their scientist castes, would hobble them technologically even more.

While it depends on the writer, it's pretty much canon that Terra is considered holy ground by the Clans. Stuff that can be traced back to Terra is highly regarded as well (there's a short story in Shrapnel that has Clanners getting all misty-eyed at a horse farm that's been tracking their equine bloodlines all the way back to original Terran stock). Of course, how far will a Clan go to take Terra? Well, I won't spoil it for you

 

[Bassomatic]

I got it on release

Spoiler: ending

NIGGER HOW DO YOU NAME YOUR ILKHAN IN TITLE

honestly I enjoyed the book and my favs won.

I have some theories on future but I highly suspect we wont see plot advance in a while.

 

[StevieLasVegas]

So while browsing Sarna, noticed an article on the homepage that DrivethruRPG has a site wide sale for the next week with some things cut by 60%, Battletech included. May or may not be browsing it for ideas.

DriveThruRPG.com

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[Balr0g]

I got it on release

Spoiler: ending

NIGGER HOW DO YOU NAME YOUR ILKHAN IN TITLE

honestly I enjoyed the book and my favs won.

I have some theories on future but I highly suspect we wont see plot advance in a while.

Interestingly enough it seems as if we might get a timejump to 3250. At least on the Battletch forum there are mntiosn of some books that have snippets from future characters in 3250. And it seems as if the Reopublic still holds on (in Exile). Makes me wonder what the year 3250 brings. A break of Star League 3.0? Or maybe a visit from the Homeworld Clans

 

[Techpriest]

Interestingly enough it seems as if we might get a timejump to 3250. At least on the Battletch forum there are mntiosn of some books that have snippets from future characters in 3250. And it seems as if the Reopublic still holds on (in Exile). Makes me wonder what the year 3250 brings. A break of Star League 3.0? Or maybe a visit from the Homeworld Clans

While we might, we might also get more of an 80 year jump. Honestly, what Catalyst seems to be aiming for is simply making Clan Tech the IS Standard tech with a full merger, to simplify things from a statistics perspective. It's certainly not the worst of ideas.

 

[Corn Flakes]

While we might, we might also get more of an 80 year jump. Honestly, what Catalyst seems to be aiming for is simply making Clan Tech the IS Standard tech with a full merger, to simplify things from a statistics perspective. It's certainly not the worst of ideas.

I actually agree. The two technology bases being split doesn't make sense 100+ years after the Clan Invasion. All that tech would have been reverse-engineered ages ago. And another skip would take us further away from the lore shadow of the Republic storyline and let the story breathe on its own.

On the other hand, I'm afraid they'll come up with another external-threat-from-nowhere to motivate conflict, when the setting really doesn't need it. Seriously, all we need is another Katrina Steiner instigating shit and we'll have wars for days.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Had a lot of downtime and spent time re-reading some of the old Battletech novels.

I read them like 20ish years ago and given that I wasn't much of a book-person back then, I always assumed that these pulpy books would fare rather poorly compared to the stuff that I read today... and boy was I wrong. Sure, it's not exactly high prose, but the stories have memorable characters, nice plots with a few interesting twists and turns and they are very enjoyable to read.

Amongst the books that I re-read, the ones that really stood out to me (this far) are Illusions of Victory, Prince of Havoc, Test of Vengeance and Falcon Rising.

It's a damn shame we'll never see a TV show that'll bring this universe alive. With the right kind of writers and effects, it would be a big hit, I am sure of it.

Edit:
And I got around to paint a bunch of my miniatures with their bases. I'm pretty happy with the results so far.
The whole process feels like some Zen-thing.

 

[Balr0g]

I actually agree. The two technology bases being split doesn't make sense 100+ years after the Clan Invasion. All that tech would have been reverse-engineered ages ago. And another skip would take us further away from the lore shadow of the Republic storyline and let the story breathe on its own.

On the other hand, I'm afraid they'll come up with another external-threat-from-nowhere to motivate conflict, when the setting really doesn't need it. Seriously, all we need is another Katrina Steiner instigating shit and we'll have wars for days.

Well the lore gives at least a reason why the IS didn't catch up to the Clans until the Dark age: the Jihad broke the research race. It was speculated that the Is might have closed the gap between the weapon systems in the 3070's

And hey there is one "out-of-nowhere" threat we all know about: the Homeworld Clans. That would be fun to watch when Clanner bashes Clanner while the remaining Great Houses sit on the sidelines munching popcorn.
As long as the writers don't break out a revival of the Word of Blake / Wolverines from their bag od ideas. The IE3 source book hinted that there are still WoB units out there preventing exploration teams from finding Wolverine traces.

 

[Snekposter]

It's a damn shame we'll never see a TV show that'll bring this universe alive. With the right kind of writers and effects, it would be a big hit, I am sure of it.

YOU DARE REFUSE HIS BATCHALL? Yeah, on second thought, its best we make sure that which never existed continues to have never existed.

 

[Capsaicin Addict]

It's hard to say what kind of policy the Homeworld Clans will pursue against the Invading Clans. I mean, the Wars of Reaving left a huge mess to clean up, and Abjuration or not, I can't see any Khans wanting to follow in Brett Andrews's footsteps. That doesn't even get into the question of Terra.

Meanwhile, I remember reading somewhere that the Wolf Empire was letting freeborn warriors of sufficient valor challenge for the opportunity to establish a Bloodname house. This is a bit of a shift in Clan thinking, but it opens up the prospect of upward mobility for spheroid freeborns in the Clan warrior castes as well as the prospect of genetic diamonds in the rough to be gained.

Yeah, I don't think the Homeworld Clans are gonna be the boogieman. Expect something new.

 

[Wallace]

Any recommendations for someone who wanted to get started reading the Battletech novels?

 

[StevieLasVegas]

It's hard to say what kind of policy the Homeworld Clans will pursue against the Invading Clans. I mean, the Wars of Reaving left a huge mess to clean up, and Abjuration or not, I can't see any Khans wanting to follow in Brett Andrews's footsteps. That doesn't even get into the question of Terra.

Meanwhile, I remember reading somewhere that the Wolf Empire was letting freeborn warriors of sufficient valor challenge for the opportunity to establish a Bloodname house. This is a bit of a shift in Clan thinking, but it opens up the prospect of upward mobility for spheroid freeborns in the Clan warrior castes as well as the prospect of genetic diamonds in the rough to be gained.

Yeah, I don't think the Homeworld Clans are gonna be the boogieman. Expect something new.

BEWARE THE RISE OF THE JÄRNFOLK! THE DEEP PERIPHERY IS GONNA GO DEEP IN YOUR ÄSS!

 

[White Devil]

Any recommendations for someone who wanted to get started reading the Battletech novels?

Start chronologically in the timeline is my opinion. Here is a decent list of stuff that happens chronologically.

 

[Deepthoughts]

Recently put this together and have fallen in love with it. So far it works with my play style and as long as I don't go up against short range pulse lasers I have a chance.

 

[TFT-A9]

Recently put this together and have fallen in love with it. So far it works with my play style and as long as I don't go up against short range pulse lasers I have a chance.
View attachment 1983670

Suicide sled right there, a TAC to CT is gonna instantly ruin your day

 

[Techpriest]

Recently put this together and have fallen in love with it. So far it works with my play style and as long as I don't go up against short range pulse lasers I have a chance.
View attachment 1983670

Or you run into a laser Swayback Hunchback. Or a Wolverine WVR-6M, which is almost as fast and maneuverable and can carve you up like a turkey. Hell, this is basically a slightly faster and lighter Griffin GRF-1S with less armor and punch. I’d honestly also see you running into problems with Jenners in this thing.

 

[FunPosting101]

I bought the Battletech computer game when it was on sale a while back. I've been thinking of finally giving it a try at some point since I've been playing through some of the games in my backlog recently, any tips for someone who's a bit of a casual at turn-based squad management & tactics games?

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Well the lore gives at least a reason why the IS didn't catch up to the Clans until the Dark age: the Jihad broke the research race. It was speculated that the Is might have closed the gap between the weapon systems in the 3070's

And hey there is one "out-of-nowhere" threat we all know about: the Homeworld Clans. That would be fun to watch when Clanner bashes Clanner while the remaining Great Houses sit on the sidelines munching popcorn.
As long as the writers don't break out a revival of the Word of Blake / Wolverines from their bag od ideas. The IE3 source book hinted that there are still WoB units out there preventing exploration teams from finding Wolverine traces.

The only thing that would truly suck would be a sci-fi bog-standard alien invasion. Well, that and a clone of Stefan Amaris claiming his birthright to rule over all Golden Corals of the Inner Sphere.

I bought the Battletech computer game when it was on sale a while back. I've been thinking of finally giving it a try at some point since I've been playing through some of the games in my backlog recently, any tips for someone who's a bit of a casual at turn-based squad management & tactics games?

I think the game does a pretty solid job to explain stuff to the player. Some shit you need to find out on your own, but it's not hard.
My best suggestion: Jumpjets. The maps oftentimes have ridges and boulders blocking the way, being able to jump really helps a lot with beating up enemies.