StevieLasVegas
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
Battletech - Also known as Trannytech
- Thread starter Frosted Snowflakes
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2021
As a semi-newbie I'm getting the vibe that I can't ever expect the heights of quality and or fun from older Battletech storytelling in Catalyst Game Lab's brave new world. I thoroughly enjoy the surface level stuff I'm interacting with of the extremely intricate and thought out pre Jihad Era overarching story in Battletech.
I also really like the unit rosters in IlClan and the political/military situation going on with the Raven Alliance, Draconis Combine, and Federated Suns. On top of this, the Pulverizer is my favorite mech style wise and IlClan is the only official era where I can use it that I'm not turned off by or isn't just playing out Clan Wolverine's deletion from Clan Space.
Unfortunately, IlClan story and setting wise seems to be going the way of writing that is either just okay or bad, not even so bad its funny just 'meh' bad. At least from my perspective of an outsider looking in.
Should I just suck it up and start focusing on earlier eras or is there some hope for the officially published future here?
I also really like the unit rosters in IlClan and the political/military situation going on with the Raven Alliance, Draconis Combine, and Federated Suns. On top of this, the Pulverizer is my favorite mech style wise and IlClan is the only official era where I can use it that I'm not turned off by or isn't just playing out Clan Wolverine's deletion from Clan Space.
Unfortunately, IlClan story and setting wise seems to be going the way of writing that is either just okay or bad, not even so bad its funny just 'meh' bad. At least from my perspective of an outsider looking in.
Should I just suck it up and start focusing on earlier eras or is there some hope for the officially published future here?
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2020
I personally only enjoy Classic Battletech gameplay wise. I really think the Clans ruined things. Keep in mind this is a minority opinion.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2021
I've heard as much from a few other people as well. Clan Tech being just flat out better has always irked me, and as a writer it isn't just the tabletop rules that mess with me.
The Clans as they are depicted in canon typically don't live up to their potential in my opinion. Hell, half the reason I like Clan Snow Raven as much as I do is because they're the, "We never forgot that warships plus aerospace superiority is the win button," Clan, but they've got only a handful of specialized units to represent that. Same for Hell's Horses with lore about their ground warfare being combat vehicle centric due to losing infrastructure for mech production.
The only reason I'm not writing my own AU to fuck around in is because I have too many projects already, which is why I'm trying to find which canon era I fit in best. I'm starting to look at the Age of War and Amaris Civil War eras a bit now too, if I can't have a Pulverizer I can always go for a Rampage. Heh, or a Mackie.
StevieLasVegas
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
I say I'm still relatively fresh to Battletech despite getting into it over a year ago, but I would say I'm okay with the Clans introduction being stronger, but now that they're regular fixtures within the Inner Sphere, there's no reason for their stuff still being stronger by this point in the setting. Even my suspension of disbelief falls knowing that it has been a century since their arrival and the vast & reinvigorated industrial complexes of the Inner Sphere haven't been able to copy Clan tech with how abundant it has become.
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2021
Its the minority opinion but also the right one, Clan tech is intentionally busted and you can build some absurdly OP stuff and still have a reasonable BV.
The only problem with going for campaigns set pre-SuccWars is that loads of staple mechs don't exist yet.
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2020
They have. ClanTech by the IlKhan era is essentially just a higher grade of tech, available fairly openly in the Inner Sphere, at a huge premium. And yeah, prices never go down in BT. They never go down either. The joys of fixed price tables.
Anyway, the problem is that it's just not competitive to set up whole new factories when 1 - the Sea Foxes will sell to everyone, 2 - everybody and their dog has tons of Clan-spec salvage/contraband from a century of Clanners being Clanners, and 3 - this shit is fucking expensive so mixed-tech Mechs tend to come out in small batches instead of equipping whole armies, and even then they rarely have all-Clan weapons. But there is Inner Sphere manufacture of Clan-spec gear. It's just still referred to as Clan gear because it's a step above normal Inner Sphere gear.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2018
One of the more interesting ideas I've seen is that manufacturing Clan-grade tech requires certain rare earth elements that are hard to refine. Explains why after a century the stuff isn't as common as autopistols.
That being said, 3025-era BT is in my opinion better and more challenging, due to heat being much more of an issue than 3050 onward. Double heat sinks severely reduced the heat bottleneck on so many designs.
That being said, 3025-era BT is in my opinion better and more challenging, due to heat being much more of an issue than 3050 onward. Double heat sinks severely reduced the heat bottleneck on so many designs.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2021
My conclusion balance wise for Clan Tech thus far is if you do play with it how expensive and hard to maintain it is must be taken into account. It should be used sparingly in custom builds and list building because whatever you put on the battlefield, no matter how turbo munchkin murder of a war machine it is, can in fact blow up and then leave you with a problem equally as expensive as the unit was effective prior to getting smoked. Correct me if I'm wrong here.
As for the pre Succession Wars eras lacking Battlemechs, what are the most important staple mechs that are missing, and which ones are available? I just assumed a lot of Star League era mech designs that became lost or rare due to the 200+ year nuclear game of magical chairs could fill the gap. The Age of War gets a pass here because that's when mechs were a young concept, but the Star League and Amaris Civil War eras need mechs to make sense.
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2020
Yeah, what fucked things up wasn't necessarily Clan gear being outright better than IS gear (it didn't help), it was that everybody got access to Double Heat Sinks. More specifically, engine-mounted DHS. Every mech went from having 10 base cooling rate to 20. If you tweak the rules to make it so Engine-mounted Double Heat-Sinks only cool 1 heat instead of 2, a lot of stupid laser vomit builds become more reasonable.
Honestly? If you're going for a late Star League/Amaris Civil War campaign just stick with the 'Mechs in Technical Readout: 3025, and Technical Readout: 3039. TRO3025 because nobody had really come up with anything new 'Mech wise during the first three Succession Wars, and TRO3039 because like 90% of the 'Mechs there are "rediscovered" Star League designs, or LosTech upgrades to 3025 designs that give them some Star League gear.
Hatchetman
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2022
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2020
Yes. There are a few new designs. So, something like this:
(Use the Project Phoenix section of TRO3039 if your TRO3025 is missing those 'Mechs.)
(And yes, I'm bored at work. How could you tell?)
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Hatchetman
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2022
Why avoid the Phoenix mechs? Almost all of them are Star League era. Just avoid the Marauder II.
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2020
Because I've got the OG TRO3025 and forgot the Project Phoenix 'Mechs were left out of the revised TRO3025. Brainfart, basically. Let me edit the post.
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2021
Only things I'd point out is that the Centurion, Vindicator, Valkyrie are SuccWar mechs and only the 50t Rifleman is Star League era.
Hatchetman
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2022
Is the Amaris Coup still considered part of the Star League era? Reason I am asking is because the 3N Rifleman came out in the middle of that.
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2019
The 'Mechs formerly known as the Unseen, you mean? PP was a change in art to get them back in the game.
Snord's Store and Hoard: Formerly Jaime's.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2019
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2020
A good chunk of Star League Mechs are available (and even in production) but not in their glory form. The majority had to be downgraded to fit the tech that was still available. Which for example turns the Lancelot into "the Coffin" as it's downgrades make it easier to kill.
Also there is a bit of lore in the Operation Klondike book that stated that the IS could have had the ability to build Clan spec equpiment by the 3080's had the Jihad not happened (how convenient right?) This was in a note to the fact that Clan society never really progressed except for weapons tech and genetics and even that tech race stopped during the so called Golden Century leaving the Clans complacent.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2017
A stupid attempt at handwaving. Also stupid because the Jihad marked the point where Comstar basically ceased to function as an organization and could no longer enforce technological stasis on the rest of IS society. If anything, tech advancement should have accelerated.