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- Jun 25, 2020
I wish you could fire Stackpoling Urbies out of an Arrow IV.
Battletech - Also known as Trannytech
- Thread starter Frosted Snowflakes
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2020
I think you mean "remove planet from star map", considering how nuclear escalation seems to work in Battletech.
Can you say "violation of the Ares Conventions?", kids?
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- Mar 23, 2016
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- Apr 25, 2020
The Ares Conventions live on in our hearts.
And in our crippled infrastructure and technology base.
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- Jun 25, 2020
The Ares Conventions were about the friends we nuked along the way.
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- Apr 25, 2020
I've been thinking about Battletech over the holidays and came to the conclusion that I actually like the Dark Age Era. Yeah, the HeroClix game resulted in some really weird shit happening, but once things settled down in the late Dark Age period (read: post 'clix fluff) the setting had more of that "humanity hanging on by a thread" feel from the 3025-era books that I liked. Plus IndustrialMechs are just goofy and I love them. Nothing against the other eras, and I'm still a huge fan of playing in the FedCom Civil War, but I don't get the irrational hatred some people have for that era. And I'm a Leaguer, too!
By that definition the Amaris Civil War was one hell of a long day.
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- Mar 23, 2016
I guess it represents the transition from one IP owner to the other and the terrible choices they made (ClickyMechs and axing all former plotlines to be specific). There had been things working towards the Jihad for a long time in the lore, the whole existence of the WoB is just that, it simply can't be denied, but it seems that the new owners didn't just go along with it, they put the pedal to the metal and slammed right into it, which meant that many things got under the tyres along the ride.
The idea for a Jihad isn't that bad either, I guess. It was just handled poorly and too quickly rushed through the Jihad to get to the Dark Ages (and thus ClickyTech) stuff.
Admittedly, I wouldn't have known what other path to take after the FedCom Civil war. An outside threat akin to the clans would have been a retread, a long period of peace through the new Star League would not really have offered much to do in a setting about a wargame, so something would have had to happen to bring in conflict. Making it a threat at the heart of the very thing that keeps everyhing halfway together Ie: FTL communication) isn't that bad a route to take.
In regards to the Tripitz Incident, there is a bit of a hint that there might be Cameron-heirs out there somewhere and I wonder, could that be turned into an interesting plot?
Someone pops up with (maybe even legitimate) claims of being the true heir to the Star League and some Great Houses join their side, starting a new conflict?
I have a hunch that it's better to keep the whole "Camerons that escaped Unity City" thing a mystery, though. Sometimes, settings are better off leaving things open.
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- Apr 25, 2020
Oh, yeah. I agree with you 100%. The path the story took to get to the post-clix era is as dumb as a box of rocks, but I like the state the setting was just leading up to 3150. Yes, huge wars between Great Houses are epic, but BattleTech as a game is and has always been a skirmish game, limited by factors of time, space and autism. It's just fucking hard to get a big game with lots of lances going. So the conflicts in the background don't need to be huge in scope either.
The Inner Sphere being fractured and balkanized as it is by the late Dark Ages gives you a lot more space for conflicts than just the old standards like FedSuns vs. Dracs/Capellans. The Successor States being hamstrung by their own size due to a lack of communications also helps, because they have to spread their forces a lot more evenly so even Periphery and minor powers can get in on the action without fear of their offensives being instantly crushed. Likewise, attacks into those minor powers aren't existential threats deserving of Scorched Earth tactics like they were in the pre-Jihad era.
Plus, I like the cobbled-together aesthetic that the map of the Inner Sphere has now. It looks a lot less "gamey" and more organic than the old pie chart.
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When you put it like that, the Dark Age setting and what came after sounds pretty alright, tbh.
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I still want to know what happened to the Minnesotans.
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Minnesota Tribe in official canon was Clan Wolverine's second-liners/reserves who escaped Kerensky's bitchfit, came back to the Inner Sphere to raid a bit and then fucked off to parts unknown I believe through the Kurita/Outworlds direction. People keep saying they stuck around and eventually became part of the new Republic of the Sphere, this is unlikely and frankly fucking retarded. Smoke Jaguar leftovers however DID show up in RotS forces.
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That's one of the reasons I like the setting.
There is an ungodly amount of space beyond the Inner Sphere that has never been explored in Battletech. Operation Exodus wasn't the first or the last large movement of people into the Deep Periphery, although it was probably the largest. Either way, there are bound to be entire empires lost in the space beyond the borders of the known map, set up by people fleeing the First Succession War or the Amaris Civil War. The Minnesota Tribe could well have settled somewhere in there.
Or they could have just misjumped into a star. Whoops.
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- Sep 7, 2019
Pretty much any part of the Deep Periphery that isn't between the Pentagon Worlds/Clan Homeworlds and the Inner Sphere has been fucking ignored by the material. Battletech is easily the posterboy for squandered potential.
And there are certainly worse misjumps to take than into a star, like one that takes you to a world full of fucking bird furry aliens.
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We don't talk that adventure.
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- Dec 17, 2019
The nice thing about Battletech is that it might be true, or it might just be more unreliable narration from in universe sources and crazies. You never quite know under they turn up. Like Arthur Steiner-Davion. I also appreciate post Jihad Victor getting up to the one thing he's good at, knocking up the daughters of Succession Lords. That manlet fuck could have had kids on the thrones of four successor states legitimately.
I mean, I don't like the Wolf Empire just because they have the smell of Fiat about them, just so the Clan of Kerensky can be the ilClan. The rest of the 3145-3150 setting though? It's fucking madness and lots of regional fighting. The FWL getting the band back together, just with Pet Clanners, and then the Regulans murdering the Captain-General leading to them finally getting the shit kicked out of them. Remember that whole nuke thing? The Regulans dropped thousands of cobalt laced nukes on planets dealing with Blakists. I think they made four radioactive wastelands nothing can live on.
Also, there was a nuke launching Urbie at a Con once that did fire from offboard at an official game. It was on a mapsheet on another table, I think it may actually be a canon in universe event.
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I think the nicest thing I can say about Dark Age is ComStar has had its shit thoroughly pushed in by then. That and some of the tech is pretty awesome.
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Well, the Post Dark Age was kind to us Leaguers. TRO 3145: FWL was the first TRO that was kind to the League since 3055. The Anzu and Carronade are the solid heavy troopers we needed and the Juliano, especially the -5C, is the 4/6 assault the League's always wanted. And the Quasimodo is a Hunchback built around dealing with PPCs.
I'll admit, the TSEMPs amuse the hell out of me and make me want a Nova Cat I. Paired mech tasers and large heavy lasers is the kind of madness I endorse.
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- Mar 23, 2016
Might be mistaken, but I think that Nuke-launching Urbie at that con was the reason why that variant was canonized.
I guess my attitude towards this new tech is similar to that of the long time players towards Clan-Bullshit-Weapons (like the C LPL), something about it just doesn't sit right with me...
But I have to admit, whoever's tasked with designing mechs nowadays has a really nice aesthetic to his work. There are many old mechs that look rather wonky and awkward, the new designs really look the part when it comes to "giant stompy robots".
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- Apr 25, 2020
They got a lot better at balancing new equipment post-Clan Invasion. Clan gear is just flat-out better in every way (weight, volume, range, heat) since they were meant to be balanced by having lower numbers and fighting "fair". We all know how that worked.
Later new equipment, even Clan equipment, works far more like either a sidegrade, or a very specialized upgrade with a hefty drawback that helps fill out the gaps in the equipment options. Take the Medium Variable-Speed Pulse Lasers, for example. They're twice the mass, twice the crit slots, and almost twice the heat, for 50% more damage at close range and 50% more range in total (and less damage at long range). Looking at them at face value, as Medium Lasers there's just no reason to take them over normal Medium Pulse Lasers (lighter, cooler), or even just four Medium Lasers (same range, way better damage/heat and damage/tonnage ratios). But if you're thinking of a 'mech that is heavily specced-out for point-blank knife-fighting, you could do a lot worse than mounting Medium VSPLs: they're lighter, cooler, slightly more damaging Large Lasers with a -2 bonus to hit at the 0-2 range bracket. Even out to 5 hexes they're still decent.
Even the more esoteric stuff like the TSEMP comes with a lot of strings attached. That's a 6-ton, 5-crit, 10-heat weapon that does zero damage, can only be fired every other turn, and only has a ~55% chance to do anything to a 'Mech (with a 35% chance to cause a shutdown, 20% on a 100-tonner). And that's assuming you hit the target the first place. After you fire, the firing unit takes a +2 penalty to-hit for a turn. Oh, and it pops like a Gauss Rifle for 10 damage when hit. You can't even mount it on non-Fusion vehicles for the mass TSEMP memes. It's a neat gap-filler with interesting mechanics, something to play with that can certainly change the course of a battle if the stars align, but it's too unreliable to be overpowered.
All that's to say, give that stuff a look. If you're not looking for 100% efficiency at all costs (in which case you just mount all the Medium Lasers you can fit in your tonnage, paint your 'Mech flat grey and bore your enemies to death), there's a lot of cool, fluffy and mechanically interesting new equipment to play with in 3150.