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I think I like the sound of D very much.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:19
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Polaron posted:I'm not sure you can count murdered children as a contribution as such, Zaodai I'm pretty sure those children were all those super-babies from Brazil that turned out to be clones of Hitler. I saved you all! Actually, the funny part of all that is that I voted against the Caballeros, so it's not actually my fault the children died. I just cackled madly twirling my outlandish fu manchu mustache as they burned. There's a significant difference between causing the death of children and enjoying watching them die. 
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Apr 21, 2011 05:19
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Terrorists really should be to your liking Zao.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:24
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Zaodai posted:Oh, I know. I don't mind the thread hating on me. I get to be a dick and everybody else gets to be a dick back. It works out fine. At least you can always count on there being one dissenting opinion. The twelve Armies are those garrison forces, though. Each HPG is garrisoned by one Level II formation or so, and when you strip ALL those planets then you get Tukayyid and Focht's 72 Divisions.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:25
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Man, we have an opportunity to take a fresh ComGuard out to fight the Clans, to get revenge for the Second Donegal, and people are voting to go right off and play terrorist with beaten-up light mechs and infantry? I'm shocked. When the ComGuard show up again, as shadows of their former selves, because the goons didn't heed the call to lead them to victory, I'm going to laugh at how you doomed the Inner Sphere with your temerity, playing Space-IRA while the Inner Sphere burns, rather than leading the one force which might be able to turn the war around.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:26
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Zaodai posted:Oh, I know. I don't mind the thread hating on me. I get to be a dick and everybody else gets to be a dick back. It works out fine. At least you can always count on there being one dissenting opinion. If it makes you feel better (or even if it doesn't!), I like you a lot more now that our enemy isn't literally (imaginary) child-murderers. And I have a soft spot for the CapCon, so there's that. edit: I like the assumption everyone's making that the ComGuard will do better with the thread in charge of them. Notgothic fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 05:29
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Felime posted:Terrorists really should be to your liking Zao. Apparently they're more Robin Hood style outlaws than actual terrorists. Stealing information for the good of humanity, etc. It's not actually terrorism if your goal is theft, rather than to inspire terror. Defiance Industries posted:The twelve Armies are those garrison forces, though. Each HPG is garrisoned by one Level II formation or so, and when you strip ALL those planets then you get Tukayyid and Focht's 72 Divisions. Oh, I know. But there's a big difference between fighting as one of the Armies and fighting as a 6 mech Level II formation against a Trinary or a Cluster. The longer they stall, the more ComStar is going to get hit with it's pants down when they finally get around to voting that way. ComGuards came in second last time with a lot of the voters there saying "hey, at least they'll win for sure next time". It's going to be a little funny and a little sad to see the ComGuard get absolutely bitch slapped by procrastination because of it. They're not invincible. They only won at Tukayyid because the Clans underestimated them and the ComGuard went balls out to win.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:31
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MJ12 posted:Man, we have an opportunity to take a fresh ComGuard out to fight the Clans, to get revenge for the Second Donegal, and people are voting to go right off and play terrorist with beaten-up light mechs and infantry? Yes, but it's the mysterious option. It's like PTN's practically prodding us to pick it. And I'm not one to deny the GM his Subtle Nudging Wink Wink Nod.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:31
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T.G. Xarbala posted:Yes, but it's the mysterious option. It's like PTN's practically prodding us to pick it. And I'm not one to deny the GM his Subtle Nudging Wink Wink Nod. Actually, the sudden upset has me scrambling to make a new map. I wasn't expecting anyone to be interested in Heimdall at all, since they kinda just... vanish after 3030. Voting is now closed so I can start writing, since things have been too close for me to make any early predictions. We had well over 100 votes, too; a first for me! PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 05:40
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T.G. Xarbala posted:Yes, but it's the mysterious option. It's like PTN's practically prodding us to pick it. And I'm not one to deny the GM his Subtle Nudging Wink Wink Nod. As a GM myself of an IRC game, and a player in another IRC game, I can say it's most fun when players go completely off the rails. And PTN practically prodding us to pick it means we have to go ComGuard. Again, the longer we wait, the more stressed the ComGuard are. Right now, they have a handful of good pilots IIRC because their VR training is very good and they have nothing to do besides VR train all day, they have fresh equipment, they're coordinated, and they know what they're doing. As more and more of the Sphere falls and the Clans become more used to IS ops, they're going to get ever-more short on gear and goodies and trained pilots who know how to make use of LosTech due to strained logistics tails.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:40
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PoptartsNinja posted:Actually, the sudden upset has me scrambling to make a new map. I wasn't expecting anyone to be interested in Heimdall at all, since they kinda just... vanish after 3030. Do you see what you all have wrought? Do you?! v v v I assume you dance in the pale moonlight with the devil.... landcollector fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 05:42
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PoptartsNinja posted:Actually, the sudden upset has me scrambling to make a new map. I wasn't expecting anyone to be interested in Heimdall at all, since they kinda just... vanish after 3030. But Heimdall does feature heavily in the Warrior trilogy. Which is pretty neat. and a Commonwealth where Aldo Lestrade has even more sway than he did in canon... well, that is a timeline where Heimdall is needed most strongly. Also, I delight in spreading chaos and confusion with my votes. You might call me a joker. Who dances. 
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Apr 21, 2011 05:42
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Comstar getting bitchslapped would be good though, as the 'We are the rightful rulers of humanity by divine right' and not the 'We are the sacred guardians of humanity by divine sanction' faction. The first ones need to go down, and a major external shock is the push we might need!
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Apr 21, 2011 05:43
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MJ12 posted:As a GM myself of an IRC game, and a player in another IRC game, I can say it's most fun when players go completely off the rails. And PTN practically prodding us to pick it means we have to go ComGuard. Again, the longer we wait, the more stressed the ComGuard are. Okay, okay, I'll vote Comguard next time. And then Bobbin's.
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Apr 21, 2011 05:44
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Zaodai: I guess I just misunderstood what you were saying, then. PoptartsNinja posted:Actually, the sudden upset has me scrambling to make a new map. I wasn't expecting anyone to be interested in Heimdall at all, since they kinda just... vanish after 3030. They make a comeback in the 3060s as Morgan Kell's personal intelligence network. They got Morgan the intel he needed for the Tharkad assault. I've also got a pet theory they were involved in the very surprising chain of events that culminated in Free Skye surrendering to the Unwearied Second at Hesperus. Defiance Industries fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 05:47
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:Comstar getting bitchslapped would be good though, as the 'We are the rightful rulers of humanity by divine right' and not the 'We are the sacred guardians of humanity by divine sanction' faction. The first ones need to go down, and a major external shock is the push we might need! The masses get too distracted by shiny objects and umlauts for any amount of shock to bring them to reason. You've doomed us all to be slaves of the Clan menace. Doomed I say! (Which I suppose wouldn't be that bad storywise, it'd just make the missions kind of boring as it degrades to "Random L1 IS faction gets curbstomped by Clans" every time.)
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Apr 21, 2011 05:55
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I have to know: did the 2nd manage to smuggle Knox's arm offworld during the commotion?
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Apr 21, 2011 06:00
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Zaodai posted:The masses get too distracted by shiny objects and umlauts for any amount of shock to bring them to reason. You've doomed us all to be slaves of the Clan menace. Altenatively, Comstar might go 'Ohhhhh sshhhiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt' notice that they are in over their heads and pass out a Star League era memory core. On every planet with a HPG station. At once. Then you'll get Random L1 IS faction with hastily retrofitted L2 gear bolted hapazardly onto their mechs. That my friends, can only be awesome, mostly for the truely bizarre mech designs I have no doubt that would be vomited up in that circumstance.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:05
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:mostly for the truely bizarre mech designs I have no doubt that would be vomited up in that circumstance. Like a Hunchback with a Gauss Rifle?
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Apr 21, 2011 06:11
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Defiance Industries posted:I have to know: did the 2nd manage to smuggle Knox's arm offworld during the commotion? Given that the Vipers held the field, and the only survivors of the 2nd's Command Lance who knew about the arm that weren't captured or unconscious fled into the woods without anything like the salvage truck that would be necessary to haul the 10 or so tons of structure, armour, and ER medium lasers from right under the noses of the two remaining members of Krait Beta to a safe place much less aboard the nearest drop-ships being watched by an assault weight Command Star... I'd say no.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:12
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PoptartsNinja posted:Like a Hunchback with a Gauss Rifle? Didn't they call that a Hollander?
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Apr 21, 2011 06:15
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PoptartsNinja posted:Like a Hunchback with a Gauss Rifle? Yeah, that would be a great start, as would Riflemen with dual Guass rifles. But the real hilarity would start when people are trying to upgun recon mechs and the like.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:20
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:Altenatively, Comstar might go 'Ohhhhh sshhhiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt' notice that they are in over their heads and pass out a Star League era memory core. On every planet with a HPG station. At once. Possibly, but ComStar tends to operate under the Blood Raven creedo "Knowledge is power, guard it well." They're unlikely to just start handing out Lostech schematics unless they were truly getting their poo poo wrecked and were convinced that the IS houses would be better overall leaders than the Clans. By the point ComStar is that desperate, there's no real point in playing them anymore and everybody is hosed. It'd take time to produce and distribute all that tech around the sphere, even if ComStar could use it's HPG network to just do a massive infodump to all the houses.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:21
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LeschNyhan posted:Given that the Vipers held the field, and the only survivors of the 2nd's Command Lance who knew about the arm that weren't captured or unconscious fled into the woods without anything like the salvage truck that would be necessary to haul the 10 or so tons of structure, armour, and ER medium lasers from right under the noses of the two remaining members of Krait Beta to a safe place much less aboard the nearest drop-ships being watched by an assault weight Command Star... Well poo poo. With an arm and a computer chip you can reverse engineer anything.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:22
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Zaodai posted:Possibly, but ComStar tends to operate under the Blood Raven creedo "Knowledge is power, guard it well." They're unlikely to just start handing out Lostech schematics unless they were truly getting their poo poo wrecked and were convinced that the IS houses would be better overall leaders than the Clans. Comstar doesn't even have to get that desperate - the clans want to invade Terra, and if that happens Comstar ceases to exist because they lose their seat of military power and the HPG network, their entire raison d'être, in one fell swoop. They merely have to be convienced that, unless they change the status quo, Terra will be attacked by the clans. Not that even that the clans will successfully take it, just that it will be attacked. Getting their poo poo wrecked in a border conflict that simultaneously jettisons the most evil member of Comstar's leadership is a win/win for the probability of Comstar saying 'gently caress you guys' and passing out the heavy weapons. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 06:26
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Defiance Industries posted:I have to know: did the 2nd manage to smuggle Knox's arm offworld during the commotion? I was also hoping that it would become the crux of the deal between Dusk and Caesar Steiner in some kind of ridiculous joke, but I liked the actual outcome much better. Voting sure was close... maybe if we're lucky, A'll come up again too next time around; after all, I guess there already might be a map for it... although I guess to keep things moving, time has got to advance. I think a lot of people would love it to come back up though, along with C, as I think it's been the most compelling of the comguard options to date. Maybe it'll be even better next time, though... Maaan, I hope we made the right choice supporting Operation Umlaut...
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Apr 21, 2011 06:37
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:Comstar doesn't even have to get that desperate - the clans want to invade Terra, and if that happens Comstar ceases to exist because they lose their seat of military power and the HPG network, their entire raison d'être, in one fell swoop. In the canon timeline, ComStar's solution was simply to fight an all or nothing battle away from Terra. They were ready to willingly surrender to the Clans if they lost that fight, and were supporting both the Clans and the Great Houses prior to that. ComStar knows the clans fight via Trials and bid forces, and probably aren't worried about a Clan fleet showing up in orbit above Terra and glassing it. It seems unlikely they're suddenly going to start passing out goodies instead of fighting another ToP. You know why? Because if ComStar passes out their tech, they suddenly don't have any upper hand against the Great Houses once the Clans are beaten. And the Great Houses are much more likely to attack Terra and cause massive collateral damage when they all start up another Succession War.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:47
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Why I voted for Operation Umlaut: Because with Caesar currently out of the picture and something chaotic happening inside the LC, the odds are non-zero that the LC will be dramatically different than we've seen before in just a few years, and that's interesting. I'm okay with Interesting Things happening, 'cause I wanna see what PTN comes up with.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:54
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drat. I wanted to see some Comstar action. Though I suppose with our record of doing decently well when outgunned the goonpilots could have a chance of pulling something off decently epic. Good luck, ladies and gentlemen, start your reactors.
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Apr 21, 2011 06:58
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Zaodai posted:In the canon timeline, ComStar's solution was simply to fight an all or nothing battle away from Terra. They were ready to willingly surrender to the Clans if they lost that fight, and were supporting both the Clans and the Great Houses prior to that. ComStar knows the clans fight via Trials and bid forces, and probably aren't worried about a Clan fleet showing up in orbit above Terra and glassing it. Well, they still control the HPG network. Also they have 40 WarShips up their sleeve. If ComStar wants it can end anyone at whim. Interdict a system, jump in a WarShip, destroy every JumpShip they see, hit their LF battery and jump out.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:04
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Zaodai posted:In the canon timeline, ComStar's solution was simply to fight an all or nothing battle away from Terra. They were ready to willingly surrender to the Clans if they lost that fight, and were supporting both the Clans and the Great Houses prior to that. ComStar knows the clans fight via Trials and bid forces, and probably aren't worried about a Clan fleet showing up in orbit above Terra and glassing it. That Comstar is a very different organisation - the military wing lead by everyone's favourite Marshal had come to be accendant with the organisation, and commenced a massive militarisation program. Also, I doubt Comstar would have actually surrendered Terra if they had of lost.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:27
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Mukaikubo posted:But Heimdall does feature heavily in the Warrior trilogy. Which is pretty neat. and a Commonwealth where Aldo Lestrade has even more sway than he did in canon... well, that is a timeline where Heimdall is needed most strongly. It's Heimdall, not LOKI. Zaodai posted:In the canon timeline, ComStar's solution was simply to fight an all or nothing battle away from Terra. They were ready to willingly surrender to the Clans if they lost that fight, and were supporting both the Clans and the Great Houses prior to that. ComStar knows the clans fight via Trials and bid forces, and probably aren't worried about a Clan fleet showing up in orbit above Terra and glassing it. Yeah, but in the canon timeline, the ComGuard was an outright non-factor until right before Tukayyid. They slowrolled for nearly two years. This time around, they are very clearly more involved, and with more speed. This isn't Kansas anymore; the ComGuard here is very clearly scared shitless that their ship was found, and doubly scared shitless that their ship was the catalyst for the return for a vengeance-filled, Golden Horde-ified SLDF. In the original timeline you'd probably be right, as ComStar was confident of their superiority and additionally they were still, at that time, concerned with maintaining their position at the top of the Inner Sphere balance of power. But right now things feel very different.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:30
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:That Comstar is a very different organisation - the military wing lead by everyone's favourite Marshal had come to be accendant with the organisation, and commenced a massive militarisation program. They would have acted like they would so all the Clans got together and then on the way in, revealed that not only did they have a 40 WarShip navy and hundreds of fighters, but they repaired the SDS system that almost stopped Kerensky before he could even land. Old ComStar would rather see the sector wiped clean than hand it over.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:35
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Say, PTN. The First Post link says it's for the political vote results and theater vote - where're the political vote results?
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Apr 21, 2011 07:36
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Fraction Jackson posted:Yeah, but in the canon timeline, the ComGuard was an outright non-factor until right before Tukayyid. They slowrolled for nearly two years. This time around, they are very clearly more involved, and with more speed. This isn't Kansas anymore; the ComGuard here is very clearly scared shitless that their ship was found, and doubly scared shitless that their ship was the catalyst for the return for a vengeance-filled, Golden Horde-ified SLDF. Unfortunately for the Com Gaurds, they don't have a Zen infused former general to create, introduce and lead them in large scale military doctrines. That was the whole point of having a Precentor Martial.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:37
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Say, PTN. The First Post link says it's for the political vote results and theater vote - where're the political vote results? I'm not showing them. Needless to say, 'results' are happening. You just don't get to know what they are just yet. VVVVV They've got someone. You just chose not to learn who. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 07:38
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Bad Moon posted:Unfortunately for the Com Gaurds, they don't have a Zen infused former general to create, introduce and lead them in large scale military doctrines. That was the whole point of having a Precentor Martial. Clearly ROM needs to rescue Samantha Clover and get her to do it. Worst case for ComStar is that she, a low-ranking officer from a second-rate academy, is only as competent as Victor Davion.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:40
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PoptartsNinja posted:I'm not showing them. Needless to say, 'results' are happening. You just don't get to know what they are just yet. Hey, since I voted ComStar I am taking that as my cue to start guessing.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:46
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Combat Theater Vote 4 Results: Heimdall’s Operation Himinbjörg wins with 42 votes! The ComGuards decide to wait for a more auspicious sign than a mere 40 votes! The Goliath Scorpions thought they detected an Inner Sphere jumpship, but detected only 20 votes instead! The Northwind Highlanders call for a Great Moot, but only 3 warriors remembered to bring their cabers! Snow cracked his eyes open. He found the soft drumbeat of the flatbed train car beneath him almost hypnotic. Peaceful. The world passed by in a dreamlike quality. He stretched uncomfortably, unable to bring his arms to full-extension. He had to be careful not to press any buttons, so quietly settled back in to his command chair. He felt only a brief spark of resentment for his lancemates—he didn’t know any of them, by name or face; and they didn’t know him. It was unprofessional, perhaps, but he envied them. Gulltoppr Lance was secreted in plain sight, on a quartet of flatbed railcars. They’d been bottled up for over forty hours now—an uncomfortable situation for any ‘Mechwarrior; but doubly so for Snow. His Assassin was the largest ‘Mech capable of making the journey. Another ‘Mech of the same tonnage would’ve been too large to disguise with a simple tarp—a small, humanoid Battlemech looked little different from an Industrial-, mining-, or Agromech. A big humanoid Battlemech was unmistakable, however—and his Assassin was already pushing the train’s tolerances. It was also, he lamented quietly, horrifically uncomfortable. The Assassin was probably the most hated Battlemech in the Inner Sphere, and with good reason—the Cockpit was tiny and sat directly above the engine. Fighting in an Assassin for an extended period was, for most pilots, an impossibility. Dehydration alone could kill an Assassin’s pilot before a single weapon could be fired. Snow ran his fingers through his hair, felt the weight of the neurohelmet sitting on his chest. It’d be a bear just to get it back on without popping the Assassin’s front hatch; but he’d manage. He’d gotten it off, he’d get it back on. Silently, he checked his countdown timer as the train chugged away. Two hours to Tharkad City. Two hours and, one way or another, his discomfort would be a memory. Gulltoppr Lance: Rain – VLK-QA Valkyrie (g4 p4) (Dominus Caedis) Sleet – COM-2D Commando (g4 p4) (Agent Interrobang) Snow – ASN-21 Assassin (g4 p4) (wargames) Hail – JVN-10N Javelin (g4 p4) (TildeATH) Mission Objectives 1) [Unknown Target] Must Survive! 2) Avoid Unnecessary Collateral Damage! 3) Before [Unknown Time Limit], destroy [Unknown Objective] to draw out [Enemy Forces]! 4) Await Further Objectives! New House Rules: Death Before Capture: A player ‘Mech destroyed by any means other than a direct headshot will explode, dealing 20 damage to all adjacent hexes.
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Apr 21, 2011 07:53
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Can someone enlighten me about what, exactly, is so special about Comstar's mechs/lostech? My Battletech experience is fairly limited - most of it has been the PC Mechwarrior games, and that was mostly MW3. I'm given to understand so far that the mech lab customization in the PC games is NOT how it works on tabletop - in fact, customization is more or less limited to special cases and omnimechs, who are themselves limited in arcane ways. Near as I can tell, Comstar's Star League-era mechs are just Inner Sphere mechs like the rest. IS technology is still worse than Clan stuff across the board. Is it just that the Comstar designs are more optimized or something?
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Apr 21, 2011 07:55
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