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Baron Porkface posted:But both books have the same price. One has more stuff. BattleMech Manual doesn't have the rules for non-mech units but it has a bunch of stuff from Tactical Operations. Essentially if you only care about mechs you get the full experience with the BattleMech Manual, but if you want combined arms gameplay you need Total Warfare and Tactical Operations for everything. (plus Strategic Operations if you want warships.) I use helicopters and infantry (and specifically infantry jumpjetting or fastroping out of helicopters) too much to not go for the full Total Warfare+Tactical Operations set, but the BattleMech Manual is the clear winner if you were travelling somewhere to play a mech-only game.
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Jul 1, 2020 20:25
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Interstellar Operations to turn battletech into a 4x
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Jul 2, 2020 00:16
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PoptartsNinja posted:Skid into building, building has a basement, skidding damage was enough to collapse the building hex, 'Mech in basement instantly killed by collapsing building? We used modified skid rules for any hovercraft that lost its motive system. They'd be forced to move half of their speed the next turn as a tumble before stopping.
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Jul 2, 2020 02:06
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Skidding rules are the only rule section that I metaphorically rip out of the book whenever possible, they're awful. Sideslipping hovers? That's fine, sure, by itself. But we don't pave streets to offer less traction.
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Jul 2, 2020 02:13
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Yeah it's not like they needed to incentivize having JJs in an urban battle MORE or something
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Jul 2, 2020 02:29
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Nevermind that most 'Mechs pulverize concrete. I always assume "pavement" means "ferrocrete" which means it's only a concern if you're playing in a spaceport (which are big and open and I could see skidding making those maps slightly more interesting).
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Jul 2, 2020 02:50
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Baron Porkface posted:Are there any other basic combat rules changes between Armored Combat and BMM/Total Warfare I should know about when playing Megamek or reading Poptarts LP? Can't speak for Poptart's LP, but just to be clear: the 20+ damage rule isn't a change. It's in every edition of the core rules back to 2nd edition (which is generally considered the birth of the modern game). The stacking part (40+ = +2; 60+ = +3, etc) is the optional rule. In the box set, it's on p. 41. In the BMM, it's on pp. 53-54. In TW it's on pp. 59-60. As for your posts as to why anyone would want the BMM, I wrote a blog post on this explaining it: https://bg.battletech.com/news/news-and-announcements/what-is-the-battlemech-manual/ But outside of that post, the two essential answers are 1) a lot of people don't care about anything outside mechs, so "all that extra TW material" winds up really being "all that extra material that just annoyingly gets in my way when I want to find a mech rule at the table", and 2) TW is really terribly organized, I mean terribly, and this only stacks with the fact that it tried to contain everything besides construction in one book. It's been a complaint about the book since almost day 1. The BMM was expressly written to fix this. Xotl fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Jul 2, 2020 |
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Jul 2, 2020 03:40
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PoptartsNinja posted:Page 53 explains that most every entry on that table causes a PSR (I actually consider it an editing failure that they don't clearly make the few that don't). That's actually a really good point and I'm going to note this for addressing in a future reprint.
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Jul 2, 2020 03:45
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The PSR in 20+ damage was a core rule for as long as I've played which is over three decades now. The +1 per 20 damage is a newer variant though. Also the PSR roll is what made the AC/20 even more dangerous in P5/G4 play. A 6+ is just enough to not be comfortable.
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Jul 2, 2020 03:54
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If an Onmimech is a bunch of modules that can be reassigned on the whim of the warrior, what exactly constitutes an omnimech chassis/class?
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Jul 2, 2020 12:50
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Baron Porkface posted:If an Onmimech is a bunch of modules that can be reassigned on the whim of the warrior, what exactly constitutes an omnimech chassis/class? The 'mech itself isn't a collection of modules, it's a platform with modules plugged into it. The base platform is the frame everything is mounted on, the armour (except for those plates that cover empty module slots), and all the integral components in between that can't easily be removed or altered like the myomer musculature, the engine, cockpit, sensors, life support, all the actuators except the lower arm and hand, and any integral heat sinks or weapons. So your Timber Wolf is a specific model of 75 ton-rated endo steel chassis with a specific model of 375 XL engine, a specific configuration of a specific formulation of ferro fibrous plates, a specific suite of cockpit, life support, sensors, and avionics (or whatever you call it on a 'mech), a specific myomer and actuator configuration, and a bunch of mounting points for omnipods. While swapping out omnipods takes minutes and mostly just consists of hoisting the module into place, locking it to the mech, and connecting coolant hoses, communications and power connectors, ammo feeds, etc., replacing most integral components can take hours per part. Replacement with the same kind of part is routine in the case of repairing the 'mech if it sustains damage, but replacement with different types of components is a serious job that requires varying amounts of rework, rebalancing, and has risk of permanent damage if botched. Also, modding an omnimech removes its omnimech capabilities for some reason I don't think they explain outside of rules text. Replacing the engine or swapping in a new type of internal structure is so extreme that it's essentially a complete rebuild of the 'mech. At that point you're building a new skeleton in the cubicle next to the old 'mech and pulling off parts one at a time to install in the new skeleton until everything is moved over. You also need to do a rebuild or suck it up if the CT structure is permanently damaged. And if a 'mech is cored out the only option is to rebuild it or scrap the rest for parts. BattleMaster fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Jul 2, 2020 |
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Jul 2, 2020 13:09
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Baron Porkface posted:If an Onmimech is a bunch of modules that can be reassigned on the whim of the warrior, what exactly constitutes an omnimech chassis/class? In addition to the above, what allows an Omnimech to be an Omnimech is that the computer driving balance, power allocation and all the other fiddly bits is programmed to accept reconfigured weapons pods. If you swap out a gauss rifle in the right arm for a PPC that weighs many fewer tons, that dramatically changes the machine’s balance and gait. For non-Omnis, making that kind of change would require weeks or months of trouble shooting and maybe even rebuilding part of the ‘mech’s internals, basically a full refit. Omnis can do it on the fly. However, if you changed something like the internal structure or the engine, the computer isn’t programmed to deal with those changes as you’re basically turning it into a whole new chassis...so you’re back to weeks of trouble-shooting. Best analogy I can think of is you can give a soldier a rifle or a machine gun, and he’ll deal, but replace his leg with a prosthetic, and he’ll have months of physio. Non-omnis come into the world with their rifle growing out of their arm, so replacing that with a machine gun would require physio too.
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Jul 2, 2020 19:18
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Also, while it becomes less of an issue after the recovery of the Helm memory core, reconfiguring a 'mech's firmware could be made extra difficult when the team who wrote the code died in the 27th century, the last copy of the manual was burned in a nuclear fireball in the First Succession War, and the tech teams of the last several of your 'mech's owners made undocumented patches to it.
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Jul 2, 2020 19:52
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LeschNyhan posted:In addition to the above, what allows an Omnimech to be an Omnimech is that the computer driving balance, power allocation and all the other fiddly bits is programmed to accept reconfigured weapons pods. If you swap out a gauss rifle in the right arm for a PPC that weighs many fewer tons, that dramatically changes the machine’s balance and gait. Additionally, while it's faster to make a custom OmniMech config than it is to do a custom mech, it still requires you to redesign a loadout and figure out where all the cables and poo poo go by yourself, so most use the canon configs because someone already did all that and wrote instructions for it.
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Jul 2, 2020 20:56
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New Tac-Ops should finally go out to backers this weekend. Been waiting a very long time for this one.
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Jul 4, 2020 11:22
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Who knew the Mongoose could actually look pretty good? Phi230 posted:Interstellar Operations to turn battletech into a 4x I've always had a soft spot for Inner Sphere in Flames / Inner Sphere at War. Pussy Cartel fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Jul 4, 2020 |
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Jul 4, 2020 16:09
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I'm not sold on the new Flashman, but I really dig the new Guillotine and Lancelot. They all look great with the extra bulk, something about the Flashman just feels a little off. I'm not sure if the big cockpit and extra bulk make it look smaller than it is, or if it's something else that's throwing me. Either way, it looks like it's going to be a joy to paint.
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Jul 4, 2020 16:33
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Idle curiosity - how many different Battletech units become statistically identical in Alpha Strike?
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Jul 4, 2020 18:07
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Surprisingly few. Even if you take 'Mechs that are nearly identical in terms of performance they usually have something that sets them apart from one another, even if that something isn't very useful. Like the SHD-2H (30 points, Skirmisher), GRF-1N (31 points, Sniper), and WVR-6R (30 points, Skirmisher). Identical ground performance, but the Wolverine and Shadow Hawk are S2M2L1 while the Griffin's S1M2L2. The Wolverine and Griffin both out-jump the Shadow Hawk, but the Shadow Hawk's got 0* indirect fire capability that gives it an option the Wolverine doesn't and it outperforms the Griffin at short range. Sure, a 0* indirect attack isn't likely to do anything, but it's worth rolling dice on if the Shadow Hawk doesn't have line of sight to anything. It's also notable that the Griffin costs more than the other two even though it's appreciably worse outside of specialist sniper lance or with a skilled pilot. Then you compare all three of them all to the KTO-20 (40 points, Skirmisher) and you'll understand the reason for the Kintaro Swagger.  Edit: Alpha Strike does a lot to make 'Mechs that are flat-out bad in standard play pretty usable. Even the WSP-1 Wasp is surprisingly ok. Yeah, it's a 1/1/0 with only 10"j, but it's 11 points. Compared to the Ice Ferret Prime (44 points) and (assuming short range and all shots hit) yes, the Ice Ferret will paste a Wasp every turn, but four Wasps will still kill the Ice Ferret in 2 turns. Double Edit: The WSP-1 is the primitive Wasp, my bad. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Jul 4, 2020 |
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Jul 4, 2020 18:26
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Local guy is selling these for $10 /ea. Anything worth jumping on?
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Jul 6, 2020 20:16
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Just grab whatever looks cool? I can barely tell because it looks like they dipped their camera in lube. A lot of the old minis really didn’t age well.
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Jul 6, 2020 20:57
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I think I see a pair of unseen LAMs in the back which might be neat if only for how rare they are.
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Jul 6, 2020 22:26
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I marked the ones I would buy but this is a really lovely photo 
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Jul 6, 2020 22:34
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Yeah, I'm going to ask him to take another pic. Mostly to make the meetup worth it in this COVID-19 riddled country.
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Jul 7, 2020 00:43
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$10/pop for used (metal, at least?) minis isn't a great deal, especially if it's Iron Wind. And be sure to keep at least 6 hexes apart, lest you risk coming into DFC range.
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Jul 7, 2020 01:48
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The only thing I see in that picture that isn't getting a mini that's a thousand times better in plastic in the next year or sooner is the LAMs.
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Jul 7, 2020 01:51
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There's one left of the double bird Archer variant left on Etsy. Not sure if I can link it but here's a pic:
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Jul 7, 2020 01:54
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lol, the dude actually wants $75 /ea for the LAMs and Phoenix Hawk. gently caress that.
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Jul 7, 2020 02:58
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Next you’ll tell me he only plays 3025 edit: Tac Ops is out for those who backed the Kickstarter, check your email Taintrunner fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jul 7, 2020 |
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Jul 7, 2020 03:17
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After doing the 3 Armored Combat rulebook scenarios, the Arano book (which is apparently core set friendly) and a succession wars chaos campaign, what scenario back or chaos campaign is recommended?
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Jul 8, 2020 13:51
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If you're looking just for scenarios you could browse through the Turning Points series to see if there's something that catches your fancy. I think the next one chronologically is Misery.
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Jul 8, 2020 20:19
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This came in the mail today  
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Jul 8, 2020 20:23
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I was wondering if anyone else is familiar with this site https://sheets.flechs.net/ it lets you generate record sheets for all possible mechs in the game, and will help you automate a lot of the game, and keep track of damage, heat, weapons, etc. It seems incredibly helpful.
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Jul 8, 2020 23:45
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I said come in! posted:I was wondering if anyone else is familiar with this site https://sheets.flechs.net/ it lets you generate record sheets for all possible mechs in the game, and will help you automate a lot of the game, and keep track of damage, heat, weapons, etc. It seems incredibly helpful. I've never seen it before, and it doesn't have every 'Mech (very first thing I searched for was the Carronade and got nothing), but it does look incredibly helpful. A little cludgy on a desktop and it almost certainly looks made for tablets but very nice.
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Jul 9, 2020 00:18
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Still trying to work my way through understanding the basic rules, and something I am confused about is what is the advantage of the lighter mechs? What prevents them from just getting completely steamrolled over by a huge mech with like 12 guns?
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Jul 9, 2020 06:01
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A lot of stuff in this game is just fluff, so light mechs exist because the designers thought like mechs would exist. Additionally, you get poorer factions that can only field the lighter (and lower-tech) units of the game. There's historical games, where X incident in-universe had units with light mechs facing off, as happens all the time in the story. Light mechs make more sense in low-tech games, where it's hard to get to-hit bonuses and the combination of high movement and woods can make them nigh-unhittable. In later-era games, where targeting computers, pulse lasers etc exist, they're harder to justify, though with those new technologies its possible to get even more speed and some other techs that also raise needed to-hit values (like stealth armour). Broadly, the existence of Battle Value should make them worthwhile, though it's certainly not a perfect system. But it aims to cost light mechs according to their contribution to a game, so that they're worth taking in a generic skirmish.
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Jul 9, 2020 06:16
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I said come in! posted:Still trying to work my way through understanding the basic rules, and something I am confused about is what is the advantage of the lighter mechs? What prevents them from just getting completely steamrolled over by a huge mech with like 12 guns? They tend to be faster and jumpier so they have a higher to-hit modifier than bigger and slower things. Also, the speed helps stay out of fire arcs; good maneuvering often means that the only weapons the big guy can bring to bear on the little guy are those in one of its arms, by torso twisting and making use of the wider arm arc. Even if you can't always be behind the target, the speed lets them stay in cover more easily - jumping into heavy woods with a clear shot to the enemy is that one weird trick everyone hates. Also, you can generally bring more of them for the same point cost, which means that one heavily-armed assault will have to deal with several lights. While a lance of lights worth the same points will often not have the same firepower or total hit points as a single assault, the above advantages are multiplied. Plus, if one is crippled from a lucky shot or just a good solid hit, you still have to deal with the other healthy ones. If your big 'mech is destroyed or crippled by a lucky headshot or through-armour critical, you lose more. That said, there are a lot of lights that aren't good enough to really be worth it. Slower lights are often not worth it, except in extreme examples like the Kit Fox being a 30 ton platform that can bring a gauss rifle, uAC/10, or pair of large pulses to the table, or the fact that the UM-AIV Urbanmech is probably the best sub-1000 BV unit in the entire game. But you can take 2 JR7-D Jenners for about the point cost of an AWS-8Q Awesome or the BNC-3S Banshee. The latter two are a couple of the best assaults in the basic rules that can even stand up to higher-tech units, but a good player could probably take them out 2 on 1 with the Jenners - and that's not even the more expensive amazing JR7-F variant. If you want actual specific references to rules I can explain the above that way. (Also it's not a light nor is it cheap, but the TR-1 Wraith is one of the best 'mechs in the whole game and it's only 55 tons)
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Jul 9, 2020 06:29
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BattleMaster posted:Also it's not a light nor is it cheap, but the TR-1 Wraith is one of the best 'mechs in the whole game and it's only 55 tons See Also: the Vapor Eagle.
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Jul 9, 2020 06:33
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The Black Lanner is my favorite mech to actually use in the game and its 55 tons. The D config is probably one of the most cost-effective Mechs in the entire game by BV.
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Jul 9, 2020 06:37
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Light mechs are also good for hiding behind terrain for a few turns then darting out to contest a key objective at the end of the game.
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Jul 9, 2020 06:41
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