Battletech BattleTech discussion thread: May the light of Hanse Davion guide us

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
d26e4au-c65702e5-f2e5-4bc8-b01e-f31ae93aa43e.jpg


The good old days before the Jihad and Dark Ages.

Now the matter that made me start this thread is that it came to my attention that Solaris Skunk Werks isn't supported anymore, so while it works well for now, I still decided to look up the MegaMekLab. Now while MML interface is quite similar to SSW, there are also several mayor differences that will take time to get used to. The biggest advantage MML has, is it's database, so you can pull any known unit and make a variant of it. So I think for now I'll stick to SSW for creating units from scratch and use MML for variants of existing unit.

EDIT

Back when I started this thread I didn't think that people not knowing about the game might enter the tread. My chronic shortsightedness aside, here are some helpful links to those new to game.

New To BattleTech? Free PDFs on official site, giving basics of universe and game rules

Main Page BattleTech Wiki, nuff said

Home MegaMek is fan made electronic version of the tabletop game, also on the site are unit builder program MegaMekLab and campaign builder MekHQ

Releases · Solaris-Skunk-Werks/solarisskunkwerks best mech and vehicle builder

https://www.youtube.com/user/BlackPantsLegion home of Tex Talks and Steiner Scout Squad

TCS - Inner Sphere Cartography Society Archive game universe maps

https://www.deviantart.com/lazurez/gallery/86061274/battletech-maps-of-the-inner-sphere more maps
 
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CurtisLemay

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Ah those were the days.

And yes, SSW to me is the superior program. I just don't get some of what MML does. What I'd really like to see is a SSW like program that does a one stop job in creating good looking AS cards. Yes, the MUL allows you to put the stats into a blank card...but honestly? I want something that does all the math for me. I know about Army Builder, but its PVs are WAY off from canon numbers.

Though I suspect, with the release of Commander's Edition, the PVs and other factors have changed.
 

LordSunhawk

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I miss Heavy Metal, can't get it to run on my PC and it's no longer supported, but damn I loved being able to mess around with building any type of unit in game, and even customizing build rules for fanfic purposes.
 

prinCZess

Warrior, Writer, Performer, Perv
The good old days before the Jihad and Dark Ages.
'It's your father's 'Mech. The weapon of a Mechwarrior. Not as clumsy or as random as the weapons of the Jihad. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age. For a great number of years House Davion were the defenders of Truth and Justice in the Inner Sphere. Before the Dark Times. Before the Empire Word of Blake."
😝...🤔
...Dammit, now I wanna do 'A New Hope' adapted as a Battletech story. Farmboy with aspirations, smuggler with a heart of gold, the wisened teacher with mystical mumbo-jumbo, a princess that needs rescuing, a superweapon that needs defeated, Big Bad from ComStar choking some guy because his lack of faith is disturbing...Everything you need is there already, why did I never see it sooner!

Can't say I know much of how to use the building programs--my knowledge of the hard numbers has always been essentially nonexistent because focusing on the soap-opera in space absorbed more of my time. But I do enjoy me some Battletech.
 

Battlegrinder

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Obozny
Well, if we're comparing building programs, I've found mechfactory and it's app to be pretty good, with the only real flaw being it's lack of support for superheavy and tripod mechs (which is only a issue in the first place because I want to mount a long tom on a orca and start blasting people with it).
 

Battlegrinder

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Canon or artillery? Because canon works perfectly fun on assault mechs.

Artillery. Have toyed with the idea of getting a cannon on one of the other assault mechs, ended up deciding against it.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
I prefer to keep artillery on lightly armed and armored vehicles, afterall they are supposed to rain their blessings from several mapsheets away.
 

Battlegrinder

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Just got back from a game. I had a Fafnir with two improved heavy gauss rifles, a Mad Cat MKII with twin PPCs and sLRM 15s, and a Dire Wolf with twin PPCs and a HAG 40, and all of them had C3i. Vs an opposing list of two marauders, a warhammer, a charger, a crusader, a helicopter of some kind, and another mech (don't recall exactly what, it was medium and had a bunch of LRMs on it).

I won by a fairly solid margin. The chopper was shot down on round one by the fafnir, and headshots took out a marauder and a warhammer, while the other marauder just got mauled to deal by the Dire Wolf, and the MKII crippled both the crusader and the charger. That's not to say I had it all my way, the Dire Wolf was on it's last legs by game end (which is the first time it's actually lived to see the end of the game, that HAG makes it a priority target most of the time), but the other two were largely unscathed due to heavy use of cover and LOS blocking terrain, luck, and the Dire Wolf's bullet magnet routine. In fact, I think the fafnir took more damage due to falling after a failed piloting skill roll than to enemy fire.

Speaking of which, There were a lot of failed PSRs this game, I think 2 of my mechs and 3 or so of the enemy's failed one at one point. It was mostly hilarous, until my Dire Wolf Pilot knocked himself out as a result.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
So which of the mechs did you push forth to act as spotter? Fafnir would be my choice due iHGR range.
 

Battlegrinder

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So which of the mechs did you push forth to act as spotter? Fafnir would be my choice due iHGR range.

I think the Dire Wolf ended up doing most of the spotting, actually, though for this battle C3i didn't do much, most mechs ended up dueling with other mechs at close range.

Though I'm not sure why the fafnir would be a good spotter, since it's fairly slow and iHGRs are long range weapons, not short range (if it still had the stock rifles, then yes I'd want it up close).
 

bullethead

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For anyone playing the Harebrained Schemes game, they finally announced what's in the next DLC pack:

  • One Original and Seven Classic BattleMechs: Seven classic ‘Mechs from BATTLETECH’s 35-year legacy make their triumphant return along with the first completely new ‘Mech designed exclusively for this expansion. Each classic ‘Mech comes with unique equipment that reflects the flavor and lore of the original board game.
  • Eight Game-changing New Weapon Systems: Eight all-new weapon systems can be utilized to destroy even the most formidable opponents in a wide variety of unique ways.
  • New Flashpoint Mini-Campaign: Come face-to-face with two legendary characters from BATTLETECH lore - the Bounty Hunter and the Black Widow of Wolf’s Dragoons. A derelict cargo ship has drifted into the Periphery from deep space; what secrets does it contain, and who will ultimately control its mysterious payload?
Also Warhammer and Marauder are coming in a free update.
 

Battlegrinder

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So, I'm working on a new custom mech design, based on the GDI Juggernaut artillery walker, and I need some help. Not on stats, that I've got handled (turns out, you can fit three sniper cannons and enough heat sinks to fire them on an assault mech, so long as you have no other weapons and don't mind a 2/3 movement speed). What I need are the parts to build it, specifically the legs:
latest



I'm not sure what mechs, if any, have legs like this, and I'm hoping someone here does. The guns and cockpit shouldn't be an issue, I have several ideas for both, and the torso shouldn't too hard. It's just the legs that I'm stuck on.
 

Battlegrinder

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The marauder looks pretty close, yeah. Feet are bit off, but the tomahawk II has a pair that should work. I kinda wish Iron Wind was like GW and had photos of the unassembled model, so I could see how the leg assembly on those two mechs works and if it's possible to kitbash them.
 

Battlegrinder

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Obozny
So, I've got a fairly massive mech shopping list of all the designs I'm looking to get, and could use some help paring it down a bit more.

I've graded all the mechs on a scale of 1-4 in a few relevant categories, 1 being the worst and 4 being the best. For example of what I'm thinking of when grading, here's a current mech:

Mad Cat MK II PPC
Looks: 4. It's basically a bigger, better looking mad cat, that fixes the few issues I had with the MK 1's design.
Firepower: 4. Two ER PPCs with capacitors, back up with some LRMs. It doesn't have the sinks to alpha indefinitely, which is by design, since when it stops firing the PPCs to cool off, that's when it recharges the capacitors.
Gear: 4. In addition to C3i and a targeting computer, it carries a radical heat sink, which lets it fire the PPCs at full power without building up too much heat, and can be used to negate the need to hold fire and cool if absolutely needed.

Grand Crusader II GRN 4
Looks: 3. It kinda looks a fat Nod Avatar walker. Not great, but decent.
Firepower: 2. An ER PPC is a good starting point, but the light guass rifle is a bit weak, and the streak 6 and ERML combos is a bit dubious on a mech who's main weapons are designed for long range, doubly so since it can't alpha without building up significant heat.
Gear: 3. C3i stock is handy, and it's one of the few mechs on the list that can jump. But it also has TSM, which on a sniper mech is....odd.
Notes: This feels lightly armed, particularly for an assault mech. But I do like the look, and not having to find a way to cram C3i into it for once is nice.


Sunder Prime
Looks: 4. It's a big, mean, angular design. Everything I like in a mech.
Firepower: 3. An AC 20 and twin large lasers make it pretty nasty up close, and medium lasers are a decent backup. I'm not sold on having 3 SRM4s, but they're not exactly horrible. It can at least fire the main guns and some of the secondaries without heat issues.
Gear: 1. Dirt cheap and simple, it mounts no equipment or gear aside from it's weapons. Which means I'll have to rip stuff out in order to fit C3i in it.
Notes: Everything I run has C3i, no exceptions. Given the wide varity of designs and origins they come from, having a unifing element outside of paint jobs makes it feel more like one army.

Doloire Prime:
Looks: 3. It has the generally look I like, but there's something off about it that I can't quite put my finger on.
Firepower: 3. Two clan large pulses and a Gauss rifle give it plenty of punch, and a highly accurate one as well. plus medium lasers as a backup. Again.
Gear: 2. AES in the arms means the pulse lasers actually have a -3 modifier, instead of -2, and angel ECM is alright if not that useful in my local meta. However, it lacks C3i.


Dolorie B
Looks: 3. See above
Firepower: 4. Keep the mediums, but swaps out the other gear for Clan ERPPCs and a RAC/5.
Gear: 2. The AES stays, making the guns all the more meaner. No ECM, but that's no great lose. Still no C3i.

Tenshi:
Looks: 4
Firepower: 2. Guass rifles are nice, as are light PPCs, and this mech has 5 of the latter. However, it lacks the sinks to fire all 5, and using 2 rocket launchers as a backup weapons is an odd move.
Gear: 3. A targeting computer at least makes whatever PPCs you can fire a bit more dangerous, and a supercharger is another rare bit of gear in my mech list. However, no C3i.
Notes: In theory, I get the idea behind mounting more weapons than you can shoot, since you either bracket fire or have spares. I really don't like the latter, since a weapon you can't shoot is just dead weight, and spending mass on stuff to let you withstand severe damage instead of inflicting damage bugs me. I'm also not a huge fan of single shot weapons, if you don't have a plan to use a given weapon or item, why is it on the mech?

Highlander 734
Looks: 4.
Firepower 3. An LBX 20 and ER LL make up the main weapons, with a mix of streaks, MPLs, and ERMLs for backup, and it can fire almost everything without heat buildup.
Gear: 2. Jump jets are nice, but that's all it has.


Osteon Prime
Looks. 2. Like the Dolorie, but even more uncanny and less explainable.
Firepower: 3. It's the only iATM mech on the roster, so gets points just for the uniqueness. A bit under sinked, but not horribly so.
Gear: 3. It's got a NOVA CEWS, a system nothing else I want uses, but at least that's easy to rip out and replace with C3i.

Deimos
Looks. 3.
Firepower. ? It's got a half dozen U/AC2s and two LRM 15s, plus the usual ERMLs for backup. I've never used a mech like this and I'm not sure how useful that many AC2s are.
Gear: 1. AMS is alright, if not for the fact the ammo for it is in the CT.
Notes: You only have to have a TAC hit ammo in your CT once to decide to never, ever put ammo there ever again (or mount CASE II in everything, but CT crit slots aren't always available).

Omen
Looks: 4
Firepower: 2. It's armed with an LBX10, ATM12, LPL, and various medium lasers. It feels like a really odd mix that's not focused enough to fill a specific role, but a bit too widespread to be a proper generalist design.
Gear: 2. Another AMS torso bomb, but it's at least got jump jets. Probably won't keep either, since it needs to have C3i fitted.
Notes: This reminds me a lot of the Bruin, but the Bruin felt a bit more focused. Also, I seriously wish there was a common backup weapon aside from medium lasers, I'm really tired of seeing them on everything.

Awesome AWS-9Q
This is just here for if I want to shoot 4 PPCs at people, but feel like using the hellstar would be too mean. I'm not sure if it's worth buying just for that, though.

Cygnus
Looks: 2. It's ok from the waist down, but the oversized guns, ammo feeds, and cockpit design isn't great.
Firepower: 3. Twin U/AC10s are decent, with 4 medium pulses for backup.
Gear: 2. No C3i, but it does have a targeting computer to enhance the other weapons.
Notes: This is one of the clickytech mechs that's dancing on the line between being silly and being cool.

Thunder Stallion
1. This just looks ridiculous, between the comically huge gun, mismatched legs, and brick-like design.
Firepower: 2. Huge though it is, an LBX 20 is nothing to sneeze at, 4 LRM 15s provide plenty of backup. I'm just not sure the mix of a heavy, short range gun and a bunch of long range missiles is advisable, and since I already have a viking it's not like I need more missile support.
Gear: 1. It has nothing.

Trebaruna
Looks: 4. I've previously joked that it's clearly just something stolen from zoids, but humor aside it does look cool.
Firepower: 2. A gauss rifle is always fun, but its range syncs poorly with a trio of light PPCs.
Gear: 2. No C3i, bizarre for a design that originated with WoB. But the 16 tons of jump jets, while baffling, will at least free up enough mass to fit one and some other gear once stripped out.
Notes: They make a model of this mech using the jump jets. It's just as absurd looking as it sounds.

Götterdämmerung:

Looks: 4.
Firepower: 2. I'm pretty sure this things main weapon is it's 5 ERMLs, with the PPC and LRM 15 as backup. However, it doesn't have enough heat sink to fire more than half it's weapons at once.
Gear: 1. Still no C3i. Liking blake tech and hating blake designs sucks.
Seriously, like every other mech has a version with C3 or a clantech retrofit or something, why wouldn't the IS start upgrading to C3i as the tech became available?

Loki II Prime
Looks: 4
Firepower: 3. Two gauss rifles and two ERLLs, with a streak 4 as back. Lacks the sinks to alpha strike the main guns, which is annoying.
Gear: 1. It's clan, so it has nothing.
Notes: I don't mind heat issues when they're used for something (like my PPC mechs that use the time spent cooling off and not shooting to recharge their capacitors), or are a consequnce of reckless alpha sticking on a mech with loads of guns, I cannot fathom why you'd design a mech that has two sets of paired guns, why you'd only be able to fire 3/4 of them. Maybe it's a clickytech thing, but most MWDA designs don't have that issue.

Loki II A
Looks: 4
Firepower: 2. Same deal with the Prime, but worse. Lots of guns (ER PPCs, improved heavy lasers, LBX10, etc), too few sinks.
Gear: 2. Angel ECM.

Burrock
Looks: 3.
Firepower: 2. An ultra AC20 is a good start, but I hate standard heavy lasers and their targeting penalty. though it's at least got enough sinks to fire most of it's guns at once.
Gear: 1.
Notes: The comically oversized gatling cannons on mech that don't use them as RACs is one of the things that really bugs me about battletech designs.

Lao_Hu
Looks: 3
Firepower: 3. 3 of big guns, and enough sinks to fire 2 of them at once. I prefer being able to alpha strike, but for a heavy mech this isn't bad.
Gear: 1. Nothing
Notes: I think this one of the very few capallen mechs to make the roster. Most of my stuff is ROS or Clan, with a few house designs here and there. But I've got very things from the the cappies, and nothing from house weeaboo.

Anzu J70
Looks: 3. Reminds me of the Loki for some reason
Firepower: 3, A RAC/5 and MML-7 make up the main weapons, both of which are fairly rare as far as this list goes. It's also got a snubnose PPC, a weapon I'm not a huge fan of but that does at least match up well with the RAC's range brackets.
Gear: 1
Notes: Ironwind sells this one as a blister pack with the parts for both variants of the mech in it. I wonder why that's not more common with other mechs that only have 2 or 3 alternative configs.

Bowman
Looks: 2
Firepower: 3. I'll probably yank out the arrowIV and fit something else like a thunderbolt 15 (as I have no TAG spotters or anything else with an Arrow IV), but otherwise it's got a decent payload for a missile mech.
Gear: 1.

Note: I own zero medium mechs, so I'm not as clear on what makes a good medium mech or what the norm for them is.

Shockwave
Looks: 4
Firepower: 3. Another RAC/5 and large laser mech, with some missiles as backup.
Gear: 1

Rook
Looks: 4
Firepower: 3. A PPC and 4 medium lasers seems like a pretty decent payload, plus enough sinks to fire most of them.
Gear: 2. It's got jump jets, and not much else.
Notes: For some reason, this one reminds me of an urbanmech built to oversized proportions.

Marshall
Looks: 3
Firepower: 2. A larger laser and LRM 5 are the main weapons, with the usual handful of medium lasers as backups.
Gear: 2. More jump jets.
Notes: Is it just me, or does every single medium mech have jump jets? Or just the ones I picked?

Avalanche
Looks: 3
Firepower: 4. A bunch of ERMLs, with an LRM as backup.
Gear: 2. Another jumper.


Uziel
Looks. 2
Firepower: 3. Twin PPCs and some missiles as backup.
Gear: 2. lots of jump jets.
Notes: There's also one of those wonky version that has 6 different guns, but I feel like trying to be a generalist as a medium mech is a bad idea, you don't have the mass to mount the firepower and gear needed for that. Shooting to do one or two roles decently seems like a better plan.

Raptor II
Looks: 2
Firepower: 1. It's mostly designed around the mech taser, a weapon that seems unreliable at best. And also VSPLs, which seem really iffy compared to alternatives.
Gear: 3. While it doesn't and cannot mount C3, it's got a cutting edge stealth system, high power ECM, and MASC. The void signature actually seems to be the most dubious of the lot, as you've got to move either very slowly or not at all to get the most use out of it.
Notes: I take that thing about wanting backup weapons other than medium lasers back, because the VSPL is just awful in comparison to the weapon it's supposed to replace/supplement.


Osprey
Looks: 3
Firepower: 3. A gauss rifle, MML-7, and ERMLs give it what looks to be fairly heavy punch, and MMLs are pretty rare in my roster.
Gear. 2. Another jumper, plus an active probe (which is, as far as I can tell, kinda useless).


Gestalt
Looks: 2
Firepower: 2. A heavy PPC (which is crap) and some medium lasers. I really don't like heavy PPCs, they weight too much for not enough punch, and still have a minimum range.
Gear: 3. Same stealth gear as the Rator, but no MASC.
Notes: Heavy PPCs are just the worst. They're absurdly heavy compared to other IS PPCs, with no improvement to range, and match the damage and heat of a clan ERPPC (the clan's enhanced ER PPC, the direct predecessor to the modern ERPPC, is signifcantly better in nearly ever regard. Nice work, Kurita). And these things are everywhere in jihad/dark age mechs for some reason. If they just had them do more than 15 damage, there might actually be some reason to take them, right now they're just junk.

Crimson langur:
Looks: 2
Firepower: 3. A large laser and 2 heavy medium lasers seems pretty mean by medium standards.
Gear: 3. Jump jets and an active probe, but most importantly a targeting computer to cancel out the targeting issues on the heavy lasers.

Same lack of experience applies when it comes to light mechs.

Tiburon
Looks: 4
Firepower: 4. 4 CERMLs seems pretty heavy for a light mech, plus small lasers and SRM2s for backup.
Gear: 3. Has ECM and a targeting computer.

Bear Cub
Looks: 2
Firepower: 2. Seems like a bit too much of a mix for a mech this small, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to split design focus on something that's already not a great combatant.
Gear. 1.
Notes: This is more as a baseline to compare other lights to, since it's ghost bear I pretty much have to get it.

Arctic Fox
Looks: 4
Firepower: 3. ER PPC, two medium lasers, and two SRM 4s seems pretty solid.
Gear: 1
Notes: For some reason, most of the light mechs I really like are just boxes with legs.

Cephalus
Looks: 3
Firepower: 2 most versions don't even mount weapons, and those that do mount either dubious stuff like tasers, or in one case, an inproved heavy large laser (which on a mech this fragile, seems like too much of a bullet magnet).
Gear: 3. While it's stock configurations are mostly loaded with stuff I can't or don't use, it does at least have plenty of space for C3i or anything else I'd care to mount.

Strider
Looks: 4
Firepower: 3. Usually packs a pair of missile racks, seems solid enough.
Gear: 2. Doesn't mount C3i, but has the space to if it's other EW gear is removed.

Stiletto
Looks: 2
Firepower: 3. Again, seems about average, but nothing really interesting.
Gear: 2. See above.

Stiletto 6S
Looks: 1. This isn't the most hidous mech I've ever seem, but it's up there.
Firepower: 4. 4 ERMLs seems heavy for a light mech, and these are even turreted.....for some reason.
Gear. 2. Mounts ECM, could probably fit C3i.
Notes: This thing's arms look like they belong on one of those "has science gone too far/" bird with arms memes. As nice as a quartet of 4 ERMLs is, I'd have to kitbash this thing with the other stiletto before putting it on the standards.

Peacemaker
Looks: 2
Firepower: 2. The SRM2 is the biggest gun this thing has, with the rest being machine guns and a taser.
Gear: 1.
Notes: I actually like this one a lot, for some reason. Kinda tempted to buy a whole lance of them and paint them up like cop cars. I'm also amused that the go to riot control unit in BT is a giant robot with rubber bullet machine guns and whatever LTL missiles it's supposed to fire. A pity the Arbiter doesn't have a model, that's the industrial mech I really want.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
Use of mediums and lights varies. I use the mediums in the similar way as heavies, line troops, but faster can be used as flankers. Lights are best used as backstabbers, using their speed to gain enemy rear and survive, or fast snipers. ECM equipped lights are also good at disrupting C3 networks.

Clans don't use C3 and only Comstara/WoB use C3i, so there is no point lamenting it's lack in canon designs. It also mirrors the attitude of the players, who for most part don't consider C3(i) network being worth the BV.
 

Battlegrinder

Someday we will win, no matter what it takes.
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Obozny
Use of mediums and lights varies. I use the mediums in the similar way as heavies, line troops, but faster can be used as flankers. Lights are best used as backstabbers, using their speed to gain enemy rear and survive, or fast snipers. ECM equipped lights are also good at disrupting C3 networks.

Alright, makes sense.

Clans don't use C3 and only Comstara/WoB use C3i, so there is no point lamenting it's lack in canon designs. It also mirrors the attitude of the players, who for most part don't consider C3(i) network being worth the BV.

I know the clans don't (mostly, the society had thier nova CWES which included C3), but the houses do use C3, they should at least have some stuff with C3i as well.
 

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