Lets All Play Battletech and rewrite Inner Sphere history

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Games > Let's Play! > Lets All Play Battletech and rewrite Inner Sphere history

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Another huge battletech nerd for the pile.

I just finished a really fun campaign as House Marik so throw me in as a pilot for the FWL, preferably in an Awesome.

I've got PMs so it would be best to use those.

If we're still voting I'll vote 17th Recon.

Xmas Future fucked around with this message at Jan 22, 2011 around 02:15

# ¿ Jan 22, 2011 02:01

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# ¿ May 25, 2013 19:41

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Pladdicus posted:

What are the rules on backing up?

You can back up as much as far as yor walking speed, and is treated as a walk for the movement accuracy penalty. I'm not sure what kind of rules are in play, but there are optional rules that require a piloting skill roll when backing up over an elevation change.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2011 03:25

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Canopus250 posted:

Edit: I also just watched the first ep of the cartoon. I never saw that when I was a kid and good christ is it terrible.

The best part about the cartoon is that it's canonized as a poorly reviewed propaganda cartoon series.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2011 17:08

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Mukaikubo posted:

Did I mention only a single ton of autocannon armor for the autocannons?

Hey now, don't pretend that thing is going to be alive for 22 turns to use it all.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2011 01:19

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Axe-man posted:

Yupe, good idea but the jamming aspect makes it really risky, at 10 tons you start wondering if you might be better just having a PPC or light gauss isntead of taking the reduced range.

Nowhere near as risky as UACs though, RACs can be unjammed and UACs can't. I'd have a tough time choosing between a well-designed RAC-user versus a UAC-user.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2011 02:44

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Tempest_56 posted:

RACs are much more awesome. The dual RAC Jagermech is pure concentrated dakka.

Definitely, but sometimes it's hard to pass up 40 potential damage to a single spot.

Speaking of dakka, HAGs own, gently caress the haters.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2011 02:58

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Arquinsiel posted:

UAC don't work that way.

You roll twice to determine hit locations for each shot if you fire on ultra mode. You have a much better chance of hitting the same spot twice than hitting it with all 6 shots of a RAC

# ¿ Jan 27, 2011 03:22

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Arquinsiel posted:

You roll first on the 2 column of the cluster table to determine how many of your shots hit. The UAC is about as accurate as a RAC firing two shots. The RAC is substantially more damaging on average and has much better range.

I know, I'm saying it doesn't have the single-location damage potential as a UAC

# ¿ Jan 27, 2011 03:41

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Agent Interrobang posted:

* THG-11E Thug: The Warhammer, but better in every conceivable respect. My all-time favorite Assault-class mech, even though it's on the low end of the weight-spectrum.

Whaaaaat

Maybe that holds true in 3025, but for tech 2 the Warhammer 8D is one of the best-designed mechs you can get.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2011 00:36

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Agent Interrobang posted:

Well, I was presuming a stock Warhammer. The 8D is definitely a beast, but I have an inexplicable love for the Thug.

Ah, fair enough, I played a Comstar campaign on a megamek server so I can sympathize it's a pretty sweet ride.

THUG LYFE

Also, gently caress that dragon up.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2011 00:40

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

I dunno, I actually kinda like the Jihad, it shook things up a bit, the Wobbies get hosed up in the end, and a lot of the tech 3 stuff that it introduces is really awesome.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2011 14:58

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

The Merry Marauder posted:

You want scenario books where the major figures appear. The Great Refusal scenario has stats for KAL and VSD. Off the top of my head, I think 0/0 and 3/3 respectively. Phelan was, I think, a 1/2.

VSD is a 4/2

# ¿ Jan 31, 2011 21:41

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Voting 17th Recon

# ¿ Feb 1, 2011 21:28

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

KnoxZone posted:

Also, if/when the Eridani Light Horse becomes available, I fully expect a unanimous vote for them. I will accept no debate on this matter.

This is correct. The ELH are the coolest, baddest-rear end motherfuckers in known space.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2011 23:18

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Mukaikubo posted:

And yet another awesome thing the Word of Blake books annihilated like they didn't even matter. Because RARGH WE ARE SO BADASSED IGNORE ALL OTHER ENEMIES WE ARE THE COOLEST *nukes every unit fans might ever have loved to prove they are the coolest*

I was fine with the Jihad, even though they mostly got wiped out. I think at least a company survived since they show up in Dark Age, and at least a lance escorts Hohiro Kurita off of Deiron.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2011 23:47

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

WarLocke posted:

The wobblies really are like that one time you let one of your players bring their little cousin to the game because they were stuck with them for the night, and you tried to fit them in so they wouldn't run around loving up your ~~doll~~action figure displays, and they're all "I WANNA BE A ROBOT NINJA WITH A LASER SWORD AND A GUN THAT SHOOTS BEARS OUT THE END"

Man, people really overreact about the Jihad.

It's really not as ridiculous as you describe it. The reason they were so successful initially is because they used nukes, biological weapons, and orbital bombardments, things that had been banned for centuries in the Inner Sphere. If the IS wasn't prepared for that, it's no wonder they got swept over so easily. Their mechwarriors aren't any better on average than any of the great houses, or at least the clans in the case of the manei dominei, and it shows in the writing and in gameplay.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 00:03

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

WarLocke posted:

My main issue with the WoB is that they basically come out of nowhere and somehow have been building up forces for years and just take out everyone in true deus ex machina fashion.

The WoB had existed since the early 3052s, had the secret backing of a great house, and conquered Terra in 3058. They'd been building up for war for at least 25 years when they started the Jihad. and they didn't start from scratch.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 00:51

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

WarLocke posted:

And totally new mech designs nobody has ever seen before,

You know what else has those...

every new TRO.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 01:02

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

WarLocke posted:

What's your point? When Defiance Industries comes up with a new mech design, people know about it. How the hell are the wobblies supposed to have designed all these special mechs of theirs and manufactured however many regiments of them without anyone noticing?

The WoB are a break-off of Comstar, information suppression and manipulation is practically their job description.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 01:12

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Enhanced imaging is in Total Warfare and TRO: 3060, a modified version is used by protomechs in order to save weight on a gyro system (which is actually a really neat application). It also makes it's user go crazy after a while, the Manei Domini have a similar version which improves it's performance to 10 years before terminal brain damage.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 01:26

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Guy 1: "Now that Liao and Kurita are all punked out we need some sort of new threat. An even worse one!"
Guy 2: "I know, let's have the old SLDF go all Invasion on everyone!"
Guy 1: "The SLDF? The Exodus guys? What are they going to Invade with?"
Guy 2: "Uh, they have a bunch of old Star League era warships. Oh and they have their own mechs they designed and built in secret!"
Guy 1: "Where did they build these mechs that nobody knows about them?"
Guy 2: "Well duh, they have a bunch of planets hidden away that nobody knows about!"

Catalyst is not trying to get rid of everything you loved, they've even been releasing new scenario books and scourcebooks focused on all sorts of historical events in the universe, they're focusing heavily on the creation of the clans now, too.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 01:41

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

I really like Riflemen in spite of all the reasons I shouldn't.
During my FWL campaign I regularly used Rifleman 7M to great effect as a sniper. 2 light gauss rifles sniping at you from ~25 hexes really adds up after a while.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2011 16:27

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Defiance Industries posted:

When they're doing it in a Commando? Holy poo poo that means they basically sandblasted every scrap of armor off each kill.

Critseekers, mang.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2011 18:21

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Bobbin Threadbare posted:

"Joe [Red_Mage], you're better at bullshit. Challenge their leader to a duel, see if he's dumb enough to answer. I wanna know who to alpha strike."

These are the Death Commandos, they're currently executing women and children, honourable combat is not their MO.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2011 01:57

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

DatonKallandor posted:

Are NARCs reinvented at this point? Because the NARC mechanics are hilarious, with the whole "my missiles hit you automatically because they follow NARC! Now my missiles hit me because he counter-NARCed me!"

NARCs aren't invented yet, but one of the coolest pieces of new civil war-era tech is the iNARC. It can function like a normal narc beacon, but it can also use specialized pods that can create a localized ECM field on its target, or disrupt its targeting systems, giving it an accuracy penalty and the inability to spot for indirect fire. It's extremely tactically useful, especially on C3 or C3i nets, nail a spotter with an ecm pod or hit the c3 master, and you're ripped a huge hole in your enemy's offensive capabilities.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2011 05:42

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

My money's on a hip TAC. gently caress hip TACs.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2011 18:11

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

The Blazer cannon does 12 damage with no accuracy penalty, enough for a headcap.

EDIT: Just looked up the damage again, it's 16 heat actually for 12 damage, not the hole puncher I thought.

Xmas Future fucked around with this message at Feb 12, 2011 around 20:23

# ¿ Feb 12, 2011 20:20

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

The Merry Marauder posted:

What sort of games are you in where Arrow IV batteries are common occurrences?

I can think of a few mechs and vehicles with two arrow IV systems, you'd just need two.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2011 00:42

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

PoptartsNinja posted:

I consider the Naga to be a totem 'Mech for the Steel Vipers. They loooove their stupidly over-specialized 'mechs. An artillery 'Mech for clanners who don't use artillery? YES PLEASE!

Ah, but you can direct-fire artillery, which had been pretty effective for me in the past, especially with two of the mech you mentioned.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2011 17:53

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Zaodai posted:

Wow, a PPC hit to the cockpit that didn't kill him. That's kind of surprising. What's the effect of loss of life support in this situation? I assume it's gonna be something bad (or good, from my perspective).

With the life support out, if the catapult gets too hot without the ammo cooking off, the pilot can bake to death.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2011 05:41

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Tempest_56 posted:

The pilot takes 1 damage for each turn the mech's excess heat is 15+. CPLT-C1 has 15 HS, 4/6/4 and can generate a max of 22 heat from weapons a turn. So it's two turns of alpha striking and movement before you reach that point - and six turns before it matters. Baking to death is a pretty outside possibility.

I mainly play Tech 2/3, so I usually see that after an inferno explosion, which are hilarious(ly brutal).

# ¿ Feb 20, 2011 07:02

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Defiance Industries posted:

TRO:3060 gave us the Thunder Stallion, an Ill-fated attempt at a Hell's Horses totem mech with ammo in the head. It's pilots call it "the Coffin."

Ammo in the head isn't necessarily a terrible idea, if someone scores a critical hit there's a good chance you're screwed anyway.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2011 17:11

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

WarLocke posted:

One of the infantry SRMs hit the head and destroyed the last 2 points of internal structure. That's an automatic pilot kill (unless you're using ejection rules I guess, but the fluff updates indicate he didn't eject).

I think head destruction is an automatic pilot kill, same with a cockpit TAC (which I'm pretty sure is the pilot himself getting hit by the weapon). Ejection only applies to CT destruction or weapon/ammo explosions.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2011 19:06

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Mukaikubo posted:

No, I am making fun of the odd cadence/accent used for that line in Mechwarrior 4. :p

Mechwarrior 3

# ¿ Mar 6, 2011 04:20

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

It may be worthwile switching to megamek earlier. In my experience, doing something similar to this with friends, it works quite well with each player controlling their dedicated mech and assigned support units, all the logs are saved for cutting and pasting into LP format, too. Might save some hassle and help keep things moving faster.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2011 16:49

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Voting 2nd Donegal and Knight Lights. I love the thunderbolt.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2011 05:45

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

ShadowDragon8685 posted:

Sounds more like prophecy to me.

ERPPC to the face, you watch.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2011 23:18

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

I have to wonder why the clanners haven't vapourized the tank. It was a valid target from the start and now it's running around blasting dueling mechs.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2011 06:02

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

ShadowDragon8685 posted:

It's more acceptably useful for the setting than the nonsense painted in the 1980s, and breaks far less suspension of disbelief.

Except for pretty much everyone that isn't you. Ignore the fluff if it really keeps you up at night or whatever, I guess. Unless you want the gameplay changed so that every shot hits as long as it's in weapon range or something, which is retarded.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2011 16:53

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# ¿ May 25, 2013 19:41

Xmas Future: Aug 27, 2005; pop it and lock it

Trast posted:

-Said while wearing a fursuit inside a giant robot-

Uhh, they don't wear ceremonial headgear in mechs.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2011 21:00

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Games > Let's Play! > Lets All Play Battletech and rewrite Inner Sphere history