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William Henry Hairytaint posted:The reason I think conventional navy is silly is because of aerospace fighters. Real world navies have diminished in importance except for their ability to project air power. There's no need for them when you can launch fighters from orbit and the fighters don't need fuel. I can imagine a water-navy carrier is cheaper to buy/operate than an orbital platform (and probably also the fighters too) though. Given Battletech is originally at least all about everyone being Very Much On A Budget because of all the horrible wars...
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Jan 15, 2024 17:52
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Yeah the vibe I got from early battletech is there were probably planets where people were fighting wars or garrisoning with anything from early modern shotte and pike to WWII/Cold War technology and the once-a-generation dropship visit was a quasi-religious event.
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Jan 15, 2024 17:56
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feedmegin posted:I can imagine a water-navy carrier is cheaper to buy/operate than an orbital platform (and probably also the fighters too) though. Given Battletech is originally at least all about everyone being Very Much On A Budget because of all the horrible wars... I'd say it's a cheaper way to feel very important. Yeah, you can't blast a Luftenburg off into space, but it still lets you have some dude you call an Admiral. You have a navy, and that means you're a big deal! Also, if you're in a government with conscription, operating a blue water navy gives you thousands of do-nothing positions on the homeworld for well-connected people.
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Jan 15, 2024 18:15
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William Henry Hairytaint posted:The reason I think conventional navy is silly is because of aerospace fighters. Real world navies have diminished in importance except for their ability to project air power. There's no need for them when you can launch fighters from orbit and the fighters don't need fuel. Not having to burn fuel to re-enter and leave atmosphere is no small consideration though, plus you don’t have orbital mechanics complicating where the base is at any time. I always understood though part of it was having surface fighter bases that could move to avoid at least long range orbital bombardment (and the sub carriers in particular could remain a thorn in an invader’s side for a while) or to cover lots of islands/coastlines by moving the airpower where needed. Most other navy vessels I can think of in-game are either brown water vessels or subs to support underwater colonies/command centers.
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Jan 15, 2024 18:26
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Are Battlemechs able to just go underwater and walk along the bottom?
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Jan 15, 2024 20:56
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Until you reach a certain depth, yes. But they are not very good at doing it.
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Jan 15, 2024 20:59
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flashbacks of that Ghost Bears Legacy mission
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Jan 15, 2024 21:27
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Defiance Industries posted:Until you reach a certain depth, yes. But they are not very good at doing it. Also if their armor gets penetrated the section floods and you lose everything in it. Add in only energy weapons and torpedos work underwater (and usually only specially prepared Omnimechs will have access to the latter) and it’s actually worth it to have dedicated subs for the job. Think the write-up for the Neptune sub went into the whole thing.
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Jan 15, 2024 22:06
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Owlbear Camus posted:Yeah the vibe I got from early battletech is there were probably planets where people were fighting wars or garrisoning with anything from early modern shotte and pike to WWII/Cold War technology and the once-a-generation dropship visit was a quasi-religious event. This is the impression I got too. After the early succession wars planets regressed to pretty much random whatever tech levels, with comstar somehow being able to communicate
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Jan 15, 2024 23:27
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Owlbear Camus posted:Yeah the vibe I got from early battletech is there were probably planets where people were fighting wars or garrisoning with anything from early modern shotte and pike to WWII/Cold War technology and the once-a-generation dropship visit was a quasi-religious event. There ARE some planets like that in BattleTech still, both in the Great Houses and moreso in the Periphery. I think it would've been cooler if BT had stuck with this interpretation because it would have made the whole the space feudalism/rule a planet with a company of 'mechs much more believable. Shrapnel #3 had just such a story actually.
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Jan 16, 2024 02:36
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I wanna say in one of the Aidan Pryde books (Tukayyid IIRC) there's some underwater mech action. They cant see poo poo and their sensors dont work. Also how fast do Aerotech fighters go? A Dropship in a polar LEO (or whatever planet) is going to circle the globe in about 90 minutes. It will track across the entire planet in a little over 13 orbits. Could an Aerotech fighter fly anywhere on the planet in under 20 hours?
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Jan 16, 2024 04:56
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Well they can operate in space, so their top speed is basically just a function of how long you can burn under thrust.
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Jan 16, 2024 05:22
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I wanna punch a submarine in my battlemech
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Jan 16, 2024 05:38
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If a submarine puts itself in the position to be punched I feel like the entire crew is suicidal. All they got to do is not be sitting literally on the bottom of the seabed.
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Jan 16, 2024 05:45
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1st Mercenary Campaign Scenario. The company decided their first mission would be a simple Battle Mission for 40 Resource Points. A lance of pirates in ancient BattleMechs have been shaking down farmers. Pirates (Each started with some pips of damage already to represent poor repair) Mackie Gladiator Icarus II Firebee Merc/Militia lance Blackjack BJ-2 Enforcer Sentinel Bushwacker The Mackie was hiding under one of the buildings, players had to roll a certain number for the trap to be sprung. Suffice to say the merc kid got a lot of really good shots and tore up the pirates. They salvaged the Gladiator and the Icarus, but the Firebee retreated. Mackie was destroyed but was unsalvageable because it's such an old machine. Solid first win. Pics for those interested. Can't directly upload images here for some reason. https://imgur.com/gallery/yHB8CFX Told the kid though they have to complete the mercenary packet I made before they get another scenario because without it being done it was really hard for them to update the ledger and keep track of how much they were earning versus spending for each mission. Gonna yell at the other two kids about actually showing up for a campaign they asked to be a part of... sigh. Can't run a campaign if they won't even write down what 'mechs they're going to be using and pilot names. Gotta figure out how to put some pep in these kids' steps. Because they weren't prepared with the packet and able to update the ledger properly they also didn't get to choose the next mission or their special roleplaying scenario. Was going to have them have a situation where several teenagers have snuck aboard their dropship looking to get off-planet. They could accept them and get a discount on tech costs each round + 5 resource points or boot them off. Long-term consequences of accepting the kids is the planet will put a hit on them for 'kidnapping' some farmers' children, but they wouldn't know that yet. I'll let them choose that stuff tomorrow if they're prepared. Crazy Joe Wilson fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Jan 18, 2024 |
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Jan 17, 2024 19:50
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Endman posted:I wanna gently caress a submarine in my battlemech
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Jan 17, 2024 19:59
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https://i.imgur.com/W81Gj0a.mp4
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Jan 17, 2024 20:01
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buddy, they don’t even let me gently caress the submarine
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Jan 17, 2024 21:57
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I want mechs that surf.
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Jan 17, 2024 22:00
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SirPhoebos posted:I want mechs that surf. Charger don’t surf!
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Jan 17, 2024 23:11
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Got the two kids participating to show up today. They finished updating the ledger, ending the session with 131 resource points. Scenario: Some teenagers from the planet they were on snuck aboard and offer to pay passage, and join the technicians to help fix mechs. The group chose to let the teenagers stay (+5 resource points one time, -1 technician cost each session for repairing a single mech). - They chose to let them stay, which will (unknowingly) lead to the previous planet putting a contract out on them for 'kidnapping'. In a future session a random merc group will show up to interrupt a contract and try to wipe them out. Their next mission is: Search and Rescue (1.5 Skull difficulty) Sum: Look for a group of survivors from a recent raid. Time limit before pirates finish them off. Map will have four small settlements, players and pirates will race to find the survivors (an objective token), and mercs will have to get them off the map to succeed. They rolled a 5 for their estimate roll, so the mission is now 2 skull (they get 120 points, opfor gets 130 pts), but rolled a 5 on the enemy pilot skill dice (If they rolled a 6 one OPFOR pilot would be skill 3 instead of 4). Name of the kid's mercenary company is Tungsten Kestrals, founded 3145. Sigil is a Kestral standing wings akimbo, with a 23 upside down beneath it. 
Crazy Joe Wilson fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Jan 18, 2024 |
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Jan 18, 2024 17:35
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That kid's good at drawing birds. Presumably other things, too, but confirmed good at birds.
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Jan 18, 2024 18:18
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Defiance Industries posted:That kid's good at drawing birds. Presumably other things, too, but confirmed good at birds. Introduce an event where some Jade Falcons challenge them to a Trial of Possession and one of the options to counter challenge is to draw a kicking rad Jade Falcon. (I don't know why I'm so invested in this, but here we are.)
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Jan 18, 2024 18:35
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I bid one bored teen boy. The terms of the contest are to draw the best "cool S" on a notebook cover during 3rd period Algebra II.
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Jan 18, 2024 19:03
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Owlbear Camus posted:I bid one bored teen boy. The terms of the contest are to draw the best "cool S" on a notebook cover during 3rd period Algebra II. I think you mean "Lyran Commonwealth flag" 
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Jan 18, 2024 19:22
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     we played Alpha Strike today. it was surprisingly good. it was streamlined and abstracted, but not really by as much as i thought. we played an 8v8 and it went pretty quick but still offered lots of good tactical decisions. think it would be much easier to add tanks and infantry and aerospace and poo poo to this. cbt is already so clunky and cumbersome that its painful to add that stuff, plus we use flechs sheets so that's a nope for that in cbt. admittedly i didn't like the weapon abstraction to the point of them not really being there at all (they kinda are as special abilities), but everything else was good. i especially like how heat is handled tbh. will make some more tiles for a bigger board and play some more i think
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Jan 21, 2024 00:02
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Second session of the Mercenary Campaign for my student club. Merc Force Blackjack BJ-2 Enforcer Hunchback Assassin Pirate Force Locust Pheonix Hawk Shadow Hawk Jenner Here is the AAR, imgur won't accept the photos for some dumb reason. https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/19empke/mercenary_campaign_contract_2_from_my_school_club/ Mercs got lucky and found the civvies early on (They had to put a mech next to a building, roll a 1d6, first time they had to roll a 1, 2nd time, a 1-2, etc.,). Pirates were fast and tried to surround the APC, almost destroyed it and caused a mission fail but after bringing the APC to one point of structure, they couldn't make a final shot to win. Mercs meanwhile picked the lightly armored pirates apart and forced them all into forced withdrawal. Mercs wanted to salvage the pirate Locust but it got away. Campaign Scenario: Merc tech was working on an LRM trying to get it more optimized. Captains decided to try it out. Had a chance to get +1 damage on IF attacks if successful, but the weapon blew up instead. Next scenario they chose was a "Defend the Base" mission, going to give the pirates next mission same point value and have the students roll randomly, on an even the pirates will get an additional light mech.
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Jan 24, 2024 21:20
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give them another pristine locust if they fail so they can slavage that one or as pristine as the pirates can have
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Jan 24, 2024 21:45
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this started as a fan remake of kestral lancers but then they removed the battletech stuff to avoid future legal issues. still has battletech images in it as placeholders, though. played a bit of it, it's fun https://www.patreon.com/posts/metalmercs-demo-97121112
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Jan 26, 2024 04:42
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Dalaram posted:Charger don’t surf!
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Jan 26, 2024 04:47
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hot cocoa on the couch posted:
Just want to quote on this terrain board, it is very cool. Is it fully modular so you can rotate pieces and still end up with roads working? I haven't gotten to try this in Alpha Strike yet but I really want to do the "pilot die + damage dice" way of calculating damage so that you get some more chance and variety that CBT offers. Death From Above Wargaming has pioneered this where you roll one big die for your pilot skill, and multiple die for each point of damage you're trying to hit with. You combine the pilot die with each of the individual damage dice, and deal a point of damage for each combo that hits your target number. Seems like a good way to make 'mechs last longer.
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Jan 26, 2024 19:25
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thanks! yeah all the roads are on the centerline so they can be placed in any configuration. im planning on making 2 more in the next few months to expand the board to be 66"x44" (each tile is 22" square)
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Jan 27, 2024 02:32
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biosterous posted:this started as a fan remake of kestral lancers but then they removed the battletech stuff to avoid future legal issues. still has battletech images in it as placeholders, though. played a bit of it, it's fun That's giving me strong Crescent Hawk's Revenge vibes, I dig it!
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Jan 27, 2024 05:07
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i meant crescent hawks not kestral lancers lol
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Jan 28, 2024 10:00
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No kids showed up today so no campaign update, had a cool map set up too. The kids all said they'd be there... Tempted to mark it as a mission failure and dock 'em points, that town needed defenders, pirates moved in and completely blew it apart. But that's not really in the spirit of the game, this campaign's not that serious.
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Jan 31, 2024 17:08
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Crazy Joe Wilson posted:No kids showed up today so no campaign update, had a cool map set up too. The kids all said they'd be there... Split the difference. OpFor had a chance to move in reinforcements and stage in greater numbers for the offensive push. Called in accurate fire to take out defense turrets. That kind of thing.
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Jan 31, 2024 17:16
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Man when I was a kid I wouldn't have missed game day for anything. I bet it's this music television thing I keep hearing about that's messing them all up.
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Jan 31, 2024 17:22
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Owlbear Camus posted:Split the difference. OpFor had a chance to move in reinforcements and stage in greater numbers for the offensive push. Called in accurate fire to take out defense turrets. That kind of thing. Yeah, that's one route. Good thinking. One of the kids did show up half-way through club time and was determined to start playing, so we made it through 7 of the 10 rounds. He's gonna see if he can stay after school today too and finish it up. He was able to chase or kill off the first wave (Stinger, Panther, Valkyrie, P-Hawk is still JJ'ing around) but the pirates had heavy reinforcements (Warhammer, Trebuchet, Hunchback). Right now the kid's hanging on by a thread, 2 of the 7 buildings got blown up, several mechs are down to only structure, one more point might make them go into forced withdrawal... Pirates still can't hit for poop though. 3 rounds to go. Got two other kids who watched and want to learn. Told 'em to stop by tomorrow during lunch. Crazy Joe Wilson fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Jan 31, 2024 |
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Jan 31, 2024 18:11
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Here's the AAR, we finished the game after school. Imgur is dumb and won't host my images for the game. https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/1afrmhq/school_board_game_club_3rd_contract_mission/ So the kids' merc company is doing pretty well. Three contracts, three successes. ~ They repaired a Gladiator to a Dark Age Variant ~ They salvaged a Stinger and P-Hawk this mission. Still have an Icarus II in salvage too. ~ They hired a former RAF pilot (Skill 3). ~ The Enforcer pilot is wounded (Must sit out for one session) Next contract is a technology raid on a Jade Falcon base (Clan 'mechs incoming!). My plan is that in the Jade Falcon mission the Clanners will gun for the ex-RAF pilot, possibly making the mission a little easier for the players to win. Clan 'mechs are going to be a challenge for 'em.
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Jan 31, 2024 21:29
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Cross-post from the IlClan thread. Jade Falcon birbs have come to terrorize in the name of Chinggis Khan Malvina (I painted this Trinary based on the Dark Age clix schemes for Jade Falcon, my friend couldn't decide which one he liked better, so he gets both).       
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Feb 2, 2024 14:38
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