Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

[Snekposter]

Hey, the Kuritans have come up with some good designs. The Grand Dragon is perfectly serviceable, the Panther is a very fun meme, and I'm a sucker for the Akuma's "everything but the kitchen sink!" design philosophy. Plus, they came up with MRMs and anything that makes Clanners go "hang on, how many missile tubes?" is good in my book.

And the Dragon wasn't even made for the Kuritans. It was meant for the SLDF (read: the Terran Hegemony Royal Battalions), but once it was turned down the Kuritans decided to run with it because it was called Dragon so of course the Draconis Combine couldn't turn it down.

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/MechBuster

 

[Corn Flakes]

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/MechBuster

And yet somehow the guys in Rasalhague like it. Anyway, the MechBuster is decidedly non-Kurita in design. Why?

 

[Snekposter]

And yet somehow the guys in Rasalhague like it. Anyway, the MechBuster is decidedly non-Kurita in design. Why?

View attachment 2661097

Considering that the Kungsarmee was built with nothing but the castoffs of the Kuritans and Steiners they don't really have a choice in the matter. Even less than your typical successor state.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

KungsArmé best Armé.

And yet somehow the guys in Rasalhague like it. Anyway, the MechBuster is decidedly non-Kurita in design. Why?

View attachment 2661097

So, what would be a good aircraft (either conventional or AeroSpace) to boost up the more dickish parts of my army?
Say, Lyrans, Combine or Rasalhague up to the FedCom Civil war.

 

[Snekposter]

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Stuka
Mostly Davion, but given the existence of the FedCom and salvage no reason the Lyrans and Kuritans wouldn't have some. 15 tons of armor, and apparently speedy, if poorly-armed. Except for the -D6. That one is not poorly armed, and is an explicit FedCom design.

Personally I find it ironic that the Stuka is a Davion design and the Typhoon a Lyran one. Especially given how autistic the current-day Germans are about calling the Typhoon the Eurofighter as a result of WW2 butthurt persisting onwards.

 

[Corn Flakes]

So, what would be a good aircraft (either conventional or AeroSpace) to boost up the more dickish parts of my army?
Say, Lyrans, Combine or Rasalhague up to the FedCom Civil war.

I'll never pass up on the good ol' Yellow Jacket.

Sure, it's just a flying Gauss Rifle and the very definition of a glass cannon but there's something wonderful about bringing a whole swarm of the damn things and just pelting enemies at long range while retaining a sweet +3 to +4 movement modifier (remember: VTOLs in flight have a +1 movement mod by default). And I say "swarm" for a reason, the things are damn cheap C-billwise, and also cheaper than its memetic partner the Hollander in terms of BV.

And if you're playing 3060 and beyond, there's always the Yellow Jacket's little brother: the Hawk Moth. Sure, Light Gauss Rifles don't hit as hard, but the damn thing is even harder to hit and has more range and ammunition than the OG Flying Gauss. And it's cheaper, so it has even better swarming potential.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Stuka
Mostly Davion, but given the existence of the FedCom and salvage no reason the Lyrans and Kuritans wouldn't have some. 15 tons of armor, and apparently speedy, if poorly-armed. Except for the -D6. That one is not poorly armed, and is an explicit FedCom design.

Personally I find it ironic that the Stuka is a Davion design and the Typhoon a Lyran one. Especially given how autistic the current-day Germans are about calling the Typhoon the Eurofighter as a result of WW2 butthurt persisting onwards.

Thanks. The Stuka is almost worth it for the name alone.

I'll never pass up on the good ol' Yellow Jacket.

Sure, it's just a flying Gauss Rifle and the very definition of a glass cannon but there's something wonderful about bringing a whole swarm of the damn things and just pelting enemies at long range while retaining a sweet +3 to +4 movement modifier (remember: VTOLs in flight have a +1 movement mod by default). And I say "swarm" for a reason, the things are damn cheap C-billwise, and also cheaper than its memetic partner the Hollander in terms of BV.

And if you're playing 3060 and beyond, there's always the Yellow Jacket's little brother: the Hawk Moth. Sure, Light Gauss Rifles don't hit as hard, but the damn thing is even harder to hit and has more range and ammunition than the OG Flying Gauss. And it's cheaper, so it has even better swarming potential.

Yeah the Yellow Jacket is just a bitch, so of course I bought one a few months ago (that and a Sprint for that sweet sweet guided LRM fire). I also got a Karnov as part of a collection that I bought from someone else and almost fell out my chair when I saw that it has a variant with a thumper artillery piece. Now that's just messed up.

 

[Snekposter]

@RomanesEuntDomus
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Killer_Bees
Feel free to paint your flying dickbag units in their colors. Could say you've hired some of them because *reasons*. That said, given their rules and background they'd be a neat little unit to paint in Sicario colors, complete with a crown on the plane of any top ace pilot you have.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

@RomanesEuntDomus
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Killer_Bees
Feel free to paint your flying dickbag units in their colors. Could say you've hired some of them because *reasons*. That said, given their rules and background they'd be a neat little unit to paint in Sicario colors, complete with a crown on the plane of any top ace pilot you have.

Now that looks like something that just needs to happen.

I wanted to paint a few mercenary units, specifically the Kell Hounds and the Eridani Light Horse, and was thinking about painting the VTOLS in the ELH colors, since they use combined arms and them being a merc unit would mean that the VTOLs can just be part of any other army... but the ELH frankly has a rather boring paintjob that doesn't stand out as much. Panting the VTOLs in black and yellow stripes will make them look pretty rad and make them visually "pop" more on the battlefield.
Are VTOLs canonically in their own lances (ie: a full lance of VTOLs) or get they just mixed in with regular ground vehicles?

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Stuka
Mostly Davion, but given the existence of the FedCom and salvage no reason the Lyrans and Kuritans wouldn't have some. 15 tons of armor, and apparently speedy, if poorly-armed. Except for the -D6. That one is not poorly armed, and is an explicit FedCom design.

Personally I find it ironic that the Stuka is a Davion design and the Typhoon a Lyran one. Especially given how autistic the current-day Germans are about calling the Typhoon the Eurofighter as a result of WW2 butthurt persisting onwards.

>poorly armed
The Stuka isn't for strafing, it's for dropping 20 cluster bombs in a single dive attack and wrecking an entire armored company in one go.

 

[Snekposter]

>poorly armed
The Stuka isn't for strafing, it's for dropping 20 cluster bombs in a single dive attack and wrecking an entire armored company in one go.

Look, I don't know the Aerotech rules on underwing ordnance, so I'm just going by Sarna. But that just makes it the perfect choice for either Monarch or Trigger to pilot. And hey, you can't get anymore dickish than one plane wiping out a company of tanks in a single run.

 

[Techpriest]

>poorly armed
The Stuka isn't for strafing, it's for dropping 20 cluster bombs in a single dive attack and wrecking an entire armored company in one go.

Four homing Arrow-IV’s also work pretty well for murdering shit. It can drop all those on a single target too, as long as it’s tagged I’m pretty sure. Very fun for whatever poor fucker got tagged.

Now that looks like something that just needs to happen.

I wanted to paint a few mercenary units, specifically the Kell Hounds and the Eridani Light Horse, and was thinking about painting the VTOLS in the ELH colors, since they use combined arms and them being a merc unit would mean that the VTOLs can just be part of any other army... but the ELH frankly has a rather boring paintjob that doesn't stand out as much. Panting the VTOLs in black and yellow stripes will make them look pretty rad and make them visually "pop" more on the battlefield.
Are VTOLs canonically in their own lances (ie: a full lance of VTOLs) or get they just mixed in with regular ground vehicles?

Adding hazard stripes to green looks pretty rad, I’d also look at invasion stripes.

 

[Corn Flakes]

Four homing Arrow-IV’s also work pretty well for murdering shit. It can drop all those on a single target too, as long as it’s tagged I’m pretty sure. Very fun for whatever poor fucker got tagged.

We played the Battle of Tukayyid scenario years ago. Two guys as ComStar versus myself and a friend playing the Clanners. We got slammed with multiple Arrow IVs on so many turns to this day my friend calls that weapon the Tukayyid Love Letter.

Adding hazard stripes to green looks pretty rad, I’d also look at invasion stripes.

I've never heard of those before. What are invasion stripes?

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

I've never heard of those before. What are invasion stripes?

Had to look it up, too.
It's the name of the black and white stripes on the wings and fuselage of aircraft to mark them as allied forces:


And depending on the craft, they most likely look really sexy.
I guess when I eventually buy some Fighters, they'll get the ELH colors with invasion stripes. The VTOLs will be painted in the Killer Bees colors with a set of light Mechs to act as supporting troops.

We played the Battle of Tukayyid scenario years ago. Two guys as ComStar versus myself and a friend playing the Clanners. We got slammed with multiple Arrow IVs on so many turns to this day my friend calls that weapon the Tukayyid Love Letter.

Really makes me wonder, with Arrow IV or Semi-Guided LRM fire, is TAGging as strong a meta as I'd expect? After all, an LRM Carrier with one ton of Semi-Guided ammo could very effectively screw over even a heavy mech I guess.

Very fun for whatever poor fucker got tagged.

Arrow IV-equipped Stukas circling the sky and Ravens, Owens and Striders, as far as the eye can see...

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

Had to look it up, too.
It's the name of the black and white stripes on the wings and fuselage of aircraft to mark them as allied forces:
View attachment 2663602

And depending on the craft, they most likely look really sexy.
I guess when I eventually buy some Fighters, they'll get the ELH colors with invasion stripes. The VTOLs will be painted in the Killer Bees colors with a set of light Mechs to act as supporting troops.

The name comes from the fact that they were first deployed during the Normandy Invasion, and primarily utilized by aircraft assigned to CAS duty. The stripes are a lot more bold than most aircraft markings because infantry tend to be bad at aircraft recognition, so the stripes were a big "don't shoot at me, dumbass, I'm on your side!"

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

The name comes from the fact that they were first deployed during the Normandy Invasion, and primarily utilized by aircraft assigned to CAS duty. The stripes are a lot more bold than most aircraft markings because infantry tend to be bad at aircraft recognition, so the stripes were a big "don't shoot at me, dumbass, I'm on your side!"

It's a classic clash in modern warfare between "not being spotted by the enemy" and "not being confused for the enemy".
The old adage holds true: The only thing worse than incoming fire is incoming friendly fire.

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

It's a classic clash in modern warfare between "not being spotted by the enemy" and "not being confused for the enemy".
The old adage holds true: The only thing worse than incoming fire is incoming friendly fire.

Well, that and the fact that low-flying aircraft aren't exactly subtle anyway. Aircraft of the era actually have some interesting dual camo schemes, such as painting the underside blue to blend in with the sky and the upper half to blend in with the local terrain.

 

[Snekposter]

Well, that and the fact that low-flying aircraft aren't exactly subtle anyway. Aircraft of the era actually have some interesting dual camo schemes, such as painting the underside blue to blend in with the sky and the upper half to blend in with the local terrain.

And then you have the US planes. "Paint? Camouflage? Na, that shit adds weight and drag; just scrape all but the essentials off and polish 'er up nicely."

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Well, that and the fact that low-flying aircraft aren't exactly subtle anyway. Aircraft of the era actually have some interesting dual camo schemes, such as painting the underside blue to blend in with the sky and the upper half to blend in with the local terrain.

Something that kinda blows my mind here: the Germans painted the underside of their aircraft attacks/defense at night in light tan, if it was meant to be close to a city, so it would match the glow of light that would be reflected off the clouds...

Camouflage is a pretty interesting topic and I'd love to paint a Steiner unit in Bundeswehr Flecktarn, though I doubt that would really fit in well with any official unit's color scheme lol.
Then again, Camospecs has so many units that just say "uses this and that for parades, in the field an appropriate camo is used" so you can do pretty much whatever you want.

Edit: Man, those old AeroSpace fighter designs are terrible, only a handful that aren't brick-shaped nonsense. I really hope CGL will redo these designs like they did with the mechs and make them look more streamlined and have them at least vaguely make sense.

And then you have the US planes. "Paint? Camouflage? Na, that shit adds weight and drag; just scrape all but the essentials off and polish 'er up nicely."

Camouflage? You mean hiding like cowards! Polish my plane to the brightest shine, I want to dazzle my enemy with how fabulous I am!

 

[Balr0g]

I'll never pass up on the good ol' Yellow Jacket.

Sure, it's just a flying Gauss Rifle and the very definition of a glass cannon but there's something wonderful about bringing a whole swarm of the damn things and just pelting enemies at long range while retaining a sweet +3 to +4 movement modifier (remember: VTOLs in flight have a +1 movement mod by default). And I say "swarm" for a reason, the things are damn cheap C-billwise, and also cheaper than its memetic partner the Hollander in terms of BV.

And if you're playing 3060 and beyond, there's always the Yellow Jacket's little brother: the Hawk Moth. Sure, Light Gauss Rifles don't hit as hard, but the damn thing is even harder to hit and has more range and ammunition than the OG Flying Gauss. And it's cheaper, so it has even better swarming potential.

If you are playing in the 3080 may I suggest the Yasha? It's a Combine VTOL (though available in the entire IS) and it carries a heavy PPC. Same power as a Gausrifle but no ammo. And the Yasha beats the Yellow Jacket in terms of speed. Or if you are more for a sneaking VTOL the Spectre variant is also nice: a light Gaus rifle plus Stealth armor on a VTOL Oh and if you ever go to the Dark age the Combine have a VTOL with a PPC and 2 Thunderbolt 10 launchers: the Kamakiri. Or it's sub variant, the Shi Kamakiri: a VTOL with a heavy Gaus rifle. Plus it carries reflective armor