Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

The biggest problem I can see with the game is that Kiva seems to have funnelled a lot of resources into shit that didn’t matter while shit that did went begging.
The problem is that the people modeling the maps aren't the same people writing the text. It's the reason why woke "visual novels" are a dime a dozen: text is cheap. Text over static images is only slightly less cheap. Once the underlying engine is working, adding whatever text you want to the game only costs as much as the intern you assigned to write it. Meanwhile, a fully-modeled 3D map with pathing information, map variants, spawn areas, etc., is expensive, both in terms of money and time. So Kiva didn't even funnel a lot of resources into that shit. Any content in the game that didn't require professional voice-acting or 3D modeling (non-story mission briefings and side-quests) could likely be done with scraps of funding left from their Sensitivity Training budget.

If they release the map kit, paradox can't justify another dlc for $30 with barely anything in it.
And here we are. Ever wondered why only indie games seem to come out with dev/modding tools these days? It's that. Why give away for free what you can charge full price for?
 
Yeah, you were doing okay until you said HBS 'failed'. The game runs (granted, its optimization is garbage, but it DOES run, which is more than I can fuckin' say for some AAA turds).

I agree that Kiva chose their words very poorly -- they should've said 'We use something like procedural generation, except it picks from lists and tweaks to avoid certain traps so we don't have goofy shit like MW5 has where atmospheric craft are zooming around an airless asteroid'. It's like how F.E.A.R. didn't actually have full enemy AI but a fairly clever scripting system that simulated it with 90 percent effectiveness (the other ten percent was when you did something unexpected and the clone troopers went full retard and tried to hide on the wrong side of a wall. Oh well).

Some of the commentary here reminds me of that one faggot I used to run across who kept insisting that Darkest Dungeon was a walking simulator.
Did you Batchall his ass and claim his mom as a bondsman?
 
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And the actual programmers and techies to make the game run properly on modern computers. Hell, this game would have been better if it had been handled by anyone except Harebrained Schemes.
I would have liked to see what would happen if Obsidian had gotten the job instead. It would probably be a mess (Obsidian seems to have the worst luck with contractor jobs), but it would be entertaining.
 
Someone linked me this on Discord. If I have to suffer through it, so do you.

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Title: "Notices yur batchall"
 
I would like to have word with the IS moron who thought "Yeah, storing ammo in the center torso is the best idea ever."
 

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I would like to have word with the IS moron who thought "Yeah, storing ammo in the center torso is the best idea ever."
You think that is bad? Check out this genius design that has it's ammo right next to the cockpit

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I would like to have word with the IS moron who thought "Yeah, storing ammo in the center torso is the best idea ever."
May I suggest you go play the lottery? After that one, I think the universe owes you some luck.

What did you in? Was it an AC/2 shot from across the map or something humiliating like that?
 
I would like to have word with the IS moron who thought "Yeah, storing ammo in the center torso is the best idea ever."
Well... unless you get critted in the center torso by a MedLaser and then end up with a hit directly in the ammo bin, it's not that bad of an idea.
I mean, without CASE, this way no damage spreads to the side torsos (saving at least some components) and your Mech is toast anyway. Meanwhile the center torso has enough other crits to reduce probability of an ammo-hit. So, chances are, unless you're really unlucky, your Mech is going to be disabled by engine/gyro-hits long before the ammo gets hit and explodes...

But the moment CASE becomes available, it's a really terrible idea to put any ammo into the CT.
 
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Well... unless you get critted in the center torso by a MedLaser and then end up with a hit directly in the ammo bin, it's not that bad of an idea.
I mean, without CASE, this way no damage spreads to the side torsos (saving at least some components) and your Mech is toast anyway. Meanwhile the center torso has enough other crits to reduce probability of an ammo-hit. So, chances are, unless you're really unlucky, your Mech is going to be disabled by engine/gyro-hits long before the ammo gets hit and explodes...

But the moment CASE becomes available, it's a really terrible idea to put any ammo into the CT.
Exactly. If you don't have CASE (either because it's not available or you don't want to dedicate the spare tonnage because you don't have a lot of ammo on the 'Mech to begin with), you need to pad the location the ammo is stored in otherwise it's even easier for it to go off. And on most 'Mechs the Center Torso is the best place to store that ammo. It's got 10 out of 12 slots already taken up, and while a critical hit to the engine or the gyro sucks, it sucks a lot less than an ammo explosion.

Gezkill's crit was a... I was going to say "one in a million" shot, but let's calculate the actual probabilities. Let's be incredibly average and assume it was a medium-range shot with an average pilot, on the move, against a walking Warhammer. That would be 4 (gunnery skill) + 2 (range) + 1 (target moved 4 Hexes) + 1 (attacker walked). That's a to-hit number of 8+, or a 41.66% chance to hit.

Once hit, you'd need a 2 to get a through armor CT critical. That's a 2.77% chance, on top of the original 41.66%. You then need to confirm at least one critical on a 8+ (another 41,66% for one crit, 2.77% for 3 crits). Then you need to roll 4-6 (50%) to hit the second block of criticals. And then an exact 5 on 1d6 (rerolling 6s, so effectively a 20% chance). If I have my numbers right, that's a total 0.07% chance at least one critical hitting the CT MG ammo bin. That's 1 in ~1400 shots. So, in the vast majority of situations, you're far more likely to have had the 'Mech shot out from under you than you are to actually be blown up by a CT ammo bin.

But just in case you want to be safe and want to disable the Fusion Engine Ejection System on your Warhammer, you can always dump ammo on your first turn.
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Total Warfare, p.104

Or, if you're playing with friends who aren't rules-lawyering jerks, you can just say your Warhammer is coming into the field with an empty MG ammo bin. Or with X amount of ammo. Partially loading ammo is a time-honored tradition in armored combat.
 
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Exactly. If you don't have CASE (either because it's not available or you don't want to dedicate the spare tonnage because you don't have a lot of ammo on the 'Mech to begin with), you need to pad the location the ammo is stored in otherwise it's even easier for it to go off. And on most 'Mechs the Center Torso is the best place to store that ammo. It's got 10 out of 12 slots already taken up, and while a critical hit to the engine or the gyro sucks, it sucks a lot less than an ammo explosion.

Gezkill's crit was a... I was going to say "one in a million" shot, but let's calculate the actual probabilities. Let's be incredibly average and assume it was a medium-range shot with an average pilot, on the move, against a walking Warhammer. That would be 4 (gunnery skill) + 2 (range) + 1 (target moved 4 Hexes) + 1 (attacker walked). That's a to-hit number of 8+, or a 41.66% chance to hit.

Once hit, you'd need a 2 to get a through armor CT critical. That's a 2.77% chance, on top of the original 41.66%. Then you need to roll 4-6 (50%) to hit the second block of criticals. And then an exact 5 on 1d6 (rerolling 6s, so effectively a 20% chance). If I have my numbers right, that's a 0.11% chance of that shot hitting MG ammo bin and wrecking the 'Mech. That's about 1 shot in 800. The first variable (the to-hit number) may change, but the other probabilities (2.77% CT through armor crit, 50% section, 20% location) don't change. So, in the vast majority of situations, you're far more likely to have had the 'Mech shot out from under you than you are to actually be blown up by a CT ammo bin.

(For the record, the chance of the same shot blowing up the ammo on the right torso (assuming a right-side shot) is 0.23%.)

But just in case you want to be safe and want to disable the Fusion Engine Ejection System on your Warhammer, you can always dump ammo on your first turn.
View attachment 2396751View attachment 2396752
Total Warfare, p.104

Or, if you're playing with friends who aren't rules-lawyering jerks, you can just say your Warhammer is coming into the field with an empty MG ammo bin. Or with X amount of ammo. Partially loading ammo is a time-honored tradition in armored combat.
You forgot the roll to confirm the crit.
 
You forgot the roll to confirm the crit.
I knew I was missing something. I'll correct that on the post.

Anyway, that brings the chances to between ~0.15% (really can't be assed calculating the exact number) and 0.04%, depending on how many crits the roll earns (1, 2 or 3) 0.07% of at least one crit landing on the MG ammo bin (I did the math anyway). You were still horribly unlucky. When in doubt, just dump the ammo.
 
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When I teach someone first time I always do basic box games, I inform them how ammo works and am flexible if they want "free" CASE. It does slow game down because a lot of starter box mechs are really able to blow up good fast bad luck and good rolls I've seen meds off the table in first round of firing by other meds.
 
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Yeah, with a 3025 design, just about any ammo hit is going to ruin your whole day. And MG ammo is just the worst. That bin of SRM-6 racks will do less damage to the Mech than the box of MG ammo (200 rounds of MG ammo deals 400 points, versus 180 points from the SRM racks assuming you didn't fire any). Might as well put it in the most heavily-armored spot (CT) and pray you don't get nailed on a through armor crit.

If there's one weapon I'd like to see completely reworked in a future edition of BT, it's machine guns.
 
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