How long will the 3rd Star League last?

File: IMG_1680.jpg (3.2 MB, 3918x2941)

3.2 MB JPG

Anybody else do any Friday night painting yesterday? Just finished up this crew last night. Pretty happy with how they turned out.

File: spanish-inquisition.png (742 KB, 1024x682)

742 KB PNG

>>93135328
>Energy zombie Kraken
What is this heresy against king and country?

>>93135359
We'll have to ask that once one is actually formed.

>>93135428
What does energy zombie mean?

>>93135359
10 minutes using the previous one as an example.

>>93135359
My hope is the great houses declare their own third star league (much like the kapteyn accords it's an on-paper alliance and nobody actually helps eachother) and we have two groups of retards fighting over who's totally going to bring back star league and enter a new golden age, for real this time guys I promise.

>>93135518
>Zombie 'Mech
>A design philosophy in BattleTech gameplay that emphasizes survivability for the BattleMech. A typical Zombie 'Mech can endure a great deal of damage without taking crippling critical hits or losing major weapon systems.
>Compare to Flashbulb 'Mech, a concept aiming for heavy energy-based firepower and the heat sinks to use it; there is much overlap between these concepts.

>>93135586
So what would the opposite of that concept be? How do you avoid taking damage to your critical components/weapons?

File: Kraken Tisiphone.png (33 KB, 500x1278)

33 KB PNG

>>93135428
custom design for urban defence

>>93135398
3rd Canopian Fusiliers?

>>93135628
The opposite would be mechs with ammo bombs - ammunition located in a way that easily explodes or explodes in a way that ruins things. Stuff like CT ammo, side-torso ammo with no crit packing, or in one infamous case leg ammo and MASC.

Ammo bin in head yay or nay?

>>93135750
Not by design, just thought SLDF green was a nice green but just too plain. I thought just a touch of gold looked good here, so that’s what I went with.

>>93135938
Yay, why die by six degrees when you can die instantly?

>>93135690
>Not stuffing it full of M- and B-Pods
Like for real.

>>93135938
if you've got a torso-mounted cockpit, the ammo explosion doesn't transfer down, it just blows off your head.

Ammo bin in arm yay or nay?

>>93136040
Depends on a lot of things. Pre CASE, on a mech with enough structure or little enough ammo that it won't eat through to the CT? Sure. Arms have enough built in crit padding to offset the thinner armor compared to Torsos.

>>93136040
Only for the arm mounted weapons it's feeding, and preferably only if CASE hasn't been invented yet. Also acceptable for non-explosive ammo like gauss or plasma.

>>93135328
I only now realize that the medium mech I've spent the past week modeling shares a lot of general shapes with the bane, including digitigrade legs, four toes in a cross for feet, and no arms.

>>93135628
Walking bombs, as the other anon said, or heavies with an XL engine. Both of those tend to go out of the fight sooner because of ammo explosions or side torso crits. With a zombie you don't avoid crits to weapons per se. It's just that with no ammo bins and energy weapons in multiple locations means crits on weapons and heatsinks or losing limbs doesn't really stop them, it just reduces their firepower. They only go down when you take out the engine or gyro.

Utah anon, you ready to rumble tonight?


Also just a heads up I was informed that it was Free RPG night but tables for miniatures should be available before 6pm as the event ends at 5 today.

File: Ghetto Marauder.jpg (218 KB, 912x684)

218 KB JPG

>>93134757
The Hunter explicitly goes looking for anyone trying to trade on his reputation and either kills them or Dread Pirate Robertses them.
>Paint him off-green
>All of the money symbols are for the Yuan, Hong Kong Dollar, and dozens of badly-mangled currency symbols from places where the currency is worth like 0.04 cents. The old Peseta. Yen with four bars. Won. Three-bar dollars. Really lean into the counterfeit part.
Bonus points for using a Catapult mini with intakes over the missile boxes, a Shadow Hawk AC, and Marauder arms crudely attached.


Yes, those are the original missile boxes turned into the hand PPCs on this. I was poor and Marauder-deprived. Now I use it as a Greenberg's Godzillas prop along with some other ersatz mech conversions.

If a mech has toes that can be curled, I should be able to argue that a "closed toe" kick should count as a punch.

File: Ian McKinnon.jpg (53 KB, 272x477)

53 KB JPG

>>93135518
>>93135628
>What does energy zombie mean?
An Energy zombie eschews almost all explosive weaponry, places at least one heavy weapon in the CT to shield the engine and one in the head if possible, critpacks every location with destructible lightweight items (DHS happen to soak two or three crits) to avoid re-rolls, maxes armor, and usually have more weapons than they can sink to keep fighting at. Black Knight is an example.
Standard Zombiemechs will still often have one or two ammo-dependent weapons, like the Awesome or Grasshopper, and don't focus quite so much on specifically padding the engine and torsos for maximum freem.
This contrasts with a Suicide Zombie - an almost exclusively Clanner concept - where you take a huge array of weapons you can't possibly sink but arrange the mech so that it can still fight at full damage capacity with most of the mech shot off. The Mad Dog and Masakari Primes are a classic example, as is the Nova and Supernova. It's not exactly the opposite of a zombie, more of another take on "how can I keep fighting as long as possible". It's just that it's a Clanner idea and they're horribly wasteful and hypocritical.

The UTTER opposite of a zombie is a Suicide Sled design like the Hunchback IIC, that Rocket Charger I posted last thread, or the Hussar and Blitzkrieg. All of them are designed to put maximum quantities of "Fuck You Personally" on a target and damn the consequences. Hell with balanced design, hell with little things like "going home", this is there to piss on your grave and the instant something hits it you go down like a drunk fratboy with a standing bet that you can't get gonorrhea in the mouth.
you can.

>>93136283
I'm all ready to go for tonight. Just finished painting my lance this morning. Thanks for the heads up. I'll see you at 6 if you're still ready to rumble.

>>93135398
Those are really nice. I was doing some painting last night and this morning, though mine are not that nice.

>>93136774
Aye, good to go.

What miniatures do people use for their infantry? Specifically non-BA, non-jump mooks, from the rifle-armed to the LRM-armed.

>>93137465
Green Army men.

>>93137465
I use counters for things that stack.

File: battletech_hm.jpg (244 KB, 1400x1050)

244 KB JPG

Where do mercenaries and pirates in the setting even come from? Battlemechs are a luxury military item, it's like seeing a Somalian pirate with an F-22 Raptor.

>>93137482
You can just take one or twelve from the brian cache in the hills. They're free.

>>93135938
Basically no downsides to doing it. Every crit slot in the head is either a kill or mission kill (good luck fighting with crit sensors). The damage doesn't overflow either. Filling that one empty slot with ammo is a negligible decrease in survivability. I've never once seen head weapons being critted (I played an unhealthy amount on MM recently which a lot of games in a short time).
And if you do lose your mech to that one in a million head ammo explosion, well, it's one in a million. Won't happen next time

File: 1641422314.28619.56010.jpg (1.28 MB, 1440x1874)

1.28 MB JPG

>>93137482
You either find giant robots in the ground or they drop in as future salvage from space.

>>93137482
Feudal systems lead to lots of high end military hardware accumulating in the hands of people who don't actually have day jobs, and centuries of war leads to lots of deserters and remnants of shattered units that missed the last boat home.

>>93137482
Mercs in BT are more like private military companies than modern-day mercenaries.

>>93137482
The question isn't really how you get your hands on one, but how you maintain it once you have it, or how you secret it away to a pirate freeport without people asking inconvenient questions.

>>93137623
A PMC is the modern equivalent of a mercenary, and they are NOT equipped with high end military equipment like F-22 Raptors and Aircraft Carriers. Quite the opposite, they're usually rolling around with nothing more than rifles and the trucks and light helicopters to carry them.

>>93137623
The ones used by the US and Russia are state milita/reserve force-equivalents that get paid out of separate budgets and whose deployment isn't limited by any of the laws regulating regular milita and reserves.

>>93137465
I use little tiny d6

>>93137465
I got a bunch of 6mm minis from miscellaneous online shops.

>>93137482
Just rebuild them from demilled parts kits.

File: Archer with Scissor Lift.gif (38 KB, 256x478)

38 KB GIF

>>93137652
>>93137482
>an F-22 Raptor
See, this is the false premise you're operating off of. That's shit like Exterminators and Clantech frontline Omnis. In-universe, you can build an Assault mech in a garage. It's a huge pain in the ass, but it'll work fine. They're more like a mix of technicals, M113s, and kit helicopters than bleeding-edge specialty tech. Keep in mind that to the people in the Battletech universe mech technology technology is not only older than the steam engine is to us right now, but older than *guns*.

File: WoB 52nd Shadow Division.jpg (1.98 MB, 5062x1142)

1.98 MB JPG

Got back to painting up my 52nd Shadow Division for my WoB force. Fuck I love these models. Vehicles up next!

>>93137623
PMCs don't have main battle tanks while mercs are strolling around in Battlemechs.

File: Screenshot 2024-06-22 at (...).png (907 KB, 795x692)

907 KB PNG

>>93137794
Industrymechs are rarer than cars though, and they usually lack fusion engines and neuro controls. There also are far fewer serial Frankenmech productions than there should be, so folks with the skills to build and modify mechs should theoretically be few and far between.

Mind you, it'd be cool if many systems had a local line of Frankenmechs built from whatever salvage or parts purchase available.

>>93137801
Minotaurs?

>>93137794
>In-universe, you can build an Assault mech in a garage
Myomer is a specialized nanotech supertech, you're not building it in a fucking garage.

>>93137873
The lack of production has always been the biggest issue I have with Battletech. The military industrial complexes, or lack thereof, of the successor states make no fucking sense. There really should be so much more production. If nothing else there should be massive production of second line units for militia use. If they just had actual military industrial complexes fasanomics wouldn't be such a fucking issue and the lore would be a lot less retarded.

>>93137898
It's also widely available and easily worked. If mercenaries can get it to fix their mechs, then fabricators should be able to as well.

>>93137898
nta, but I think they mean "build from parts" rather than manufacture

File: death_commandos.png (11 KB, 200x200)

11 KB PNG

>>93137906
The Battletech writers wanted to have a game about feudal mechs fighting in small numbers over worlds like knights of yore. Such a premise doesn't work if there's a lot of production to go around, because then you wouldn't be building mechs in the first place, you would be building warships and a shit ton of ASF's.

File: Marian Force.jpg (900 KB, 2048x1152)

900 KB JPG

>>93137801
They're going to be going up against the Marian Hegemony force I painted for my brother recently. A full Maniple from the 1st Legio, along with a Century formed from some... volunteers from the Cohors Morituri, all being led by Principes Lucius Gallus in his 'Mech, Mors Fidei.

>>93137890
Yup. Word of Blake experimented with using crippled Manei Domini as Protomech pilots so I used that as an excuse to have Protomechs in my Shadow Division force since I love those things so much.

>>93137930
Its not that hard to say that its easier to put together a mech than an airframe, or that orbitals get pasted too easily so you don't have the facilities to make warships, but you can have mech production.

>>93137945
>but you can have mech production.
The problem with that is...how do you get the mechs to other planets without the aforementioned facilities to make ships?

>>93137801
>shadow division
Anon, that's two stars of clanners.

>>93137958
International agreement not to paste facilities that are only producing jump ships and to turbofuck anyone that used a shipyard to make warships. They all know that they can't take out all of their rivals jumpship production cause they'll suffer in turn and everyone needs them for their economies to function, but everyone knows that as soon as someone starts making warships that yard is fair game and orbitals aren't hard to bring down.

>>93137906
I don't think so. What people don't realize is most of Battletech is a frontier. Think of what the American West looked like in 1850. Civilization is thin on the ground and struggles to survive against alien fauna, dying terraforming, raiding and aftereffects of the Succession Wars. Plus Comstar pulling a Walmart on every small world that tries new startups.

I think people also vastly underestimate how afraid the average person is of Battlemechs as combat units. They especially look at modern boosted infantry rules and assume you could just find a thousand people to die like dogs at a spaceport or that digging in with militia in cities doesn't get you wiped from the map. These are people who have holovids of the last guys who tried that and their grandparents going. "You really think that's a good idea? The people in Laslo did too. Wanna see what the Dracs did to them when I was your age?"

>>93137945
They already say that though...ASF's are actually fancier tech than mechs and it's why they're rarer 1/5 ratio. Warships require planetary drives so big it's basically impossible to make modern tech ones without knowledge of mega scale terraforming manufacture which is largely lost.

>>93137981
Which is why warfare in the future is essentially just >>93137033

>>93137979
>Anon, that's two stars of clanners.

Nope.
Word of Blake had access to a LOT of Clan Tech. It's a Shadow Division force.
My Word of Blake Militia is going to be using Inner Sphere tech.

>>93137986
My issue is that the numbers don't add up. Where the fuck do the regiments of mechs come from if fucking nothing is in production. Salvage does not fucking explain that shit you can't just cobble together blown up parts indefinitely.

>>93138010
>Where the fuck do the regiments of mechs come from if fucking nothing is in production
Salvage. Mechs are much easier to salvage from battle ruins than ASFs.

>>93138010
>Where the fuck do the regiments of mechs come from if fucking nothing is in production.

It is in production. States in 3025 each make about 5 regiments in mechs a year. A major planetary raid costs about 1 regiment. This is the tiny excess in forces you usually see played with. It's why Galtor was such a major shitshow. That was an entire year of production tossed into the grinder on one fight.

After Lostech recovery, production gets better, but still varies crazily depending on faction fiat.

>>93137930
It's not exactly breaking down if maintaining between a mech and a half to a lance is all most planetary government can do on their own while the majority rely on landed nobles or mercs that get at least half of their payday from the interestellar government or something.

Like on a normal planet, the one intact and 100% maintained Wasp that's getting a reliable stream of spare parts from somewhere offplanet should be the trainer and whatever Frankenmechs they have clobbered together locally are what they roll out in whenever the shit hits the fan.

Which reminds me, actual pure training machines are rare. There should be a lot more secmechs going 'round that act as trainers, because the Chameleon's a perfectly fine machine and really wasted on trainees.

>>93137958
Jumpships follow regular routes, so as long as you have dropper or you can pay a dropper flying with a jumship enough for it to not just haul grain or water or pretty, locally mined rocks, you can travel with your mech.

>>93138032
Myomer has never been a bottleneck. People use it to make self-tuning electric guitars. It's fusion and electronics.

Indymech problems are the electronics. Electronics manufacture was so bad in the Succession Wars, they were finding ways to reprogram children's learning computers into weapon targeting control modules.

>>93138055
I always like to picture that when my mechs shut down in a succwars game, the pilot has to pop out the magnetic tape that stores the OS and do the thing where you manually rewind it with a pencil eraser

Also, HPGs make dial up noises when you turn them on

>>93137940
Holy shit another Marian player!
And he plays a fluffy list including the Cohors Morituri!
Based, anon, fucking based.

>>93137482
You start with an LM1/A and go from there.

>>93138055
>Indymech problems are the electronics. Electronics manufacture was so bad in the Succession Wars, they were finding ways to reprogram children's learning computers into weapon targeting control modules.

I will never forget Phelan Kell knowing the lost art of burning EPROMs in Lethal Heritage.

Not even EEPROMs, EPROMs (any other Electrical Engineers in the audience will understand how ridiculous that is).

For those two don't understand, this is a technology that was almost entirely supplanted in the late 1970s.

>>93138105
So it's the equivalent of a Somalian Pirate getting their hands on a Bagger 288

>>93138117
>The Bagger 288 wreaks total, utter devastation.

>>93138122
I wonder how much shooting it would take to kill one.

>>93138103
What was that old story about some organization using PS2's for guidance computers on missiles like twenty years ago?

>>93138113
Tickles me to death every time too.

>>93137652
Modern PMC’s would quite happily be operating helicopter gunships, APC’s and light COIN aircraft, but governments of our time like to preserve their monopoly on the use of force and are happy to use sanctions to stop them.
In the Battletech future, various governments still loathe mercenaries but also rely on them for deniability, flexibility, affordability disposability and efficiency.

File: IMG_0179.jpg (582 KB, 1409x843)

582 KB JPG

>>93137898
>Myomer is a specialized nanotech supertech
A cynical man might point out that military grade fusion cores are likely even less easy to maintain.

File: __original_drawn_by_erica(...).png (956 KB, 1000x1414)

956 KB PNG

>>93138154
>but governments of our time like to preserve their monopoly on the use of force and are happy to use sanctions to stop them
That's not the reason at all.

It's because all that shit is EXPENSIVE and PMCs are there to make money, and you don't make money by expending millions of dollars shooting a single missile.

Realistically Battletech PMC's should consist solely of conventional forces used to guard locations, and having to be transported around on their client's dime.

>>93138193
stop that

>Canopians and Capellans don't get any official infantry minis
>Marians get two
What did IronWindMetals mean by this?

>>93138223
IWM does absolutely everything at a glacial pace. They'll release some official infantry by 2045, probably.

File: IMG_20240622_183703933.jpg (3.8 MB, 4000x3000)

3.8 MB JPG

I'm doing some salvage box models up in a different paint scheme than my usual forces just to get a break from Rasalhague blues and framing them as some sort of loner mercs brought on for weird jobs. Should I make the effort to go in and paint black over the stray green that got on the legs and far arms? Also generally looking for any suggestions on how to paint these, I want them to stand out with higher quality since they'll be so different from the majority of my models.

>>93138146
>>93138103
>Eh, this is another one of those cases where I think they went too far with the Tech-base Degradation, I know modern Chip production is a huge bottleneck, but hitting that at all is usually an early sign things aren't going great.

>>93138223
It means that you literally can't see a difference because they are so small

>>93137482
They all did that Craigslist thing where you start with a paperclip and trade for something a little better

>>93137482
Because the economic and political context is vastly different from the modern one.

>>93138757
So the economy is worse and less industrialized in the future, and that's why you see Somalian pirates running around with Aircraft Carriers and F22 Raptors

>>93138223
>>93138352

Infantry have never been big sellers. The ones outside the Davion/Kurita generics only exist because of the fansculpt program. So if you want something, pay for them to sculpt it and they'll return your investment in store credit. Only like $50 to make an infantry mini back in the day IIRC.

>>93138765
as a precious anon said Aircraft carriers do not exist anymore. they got bombed out of existance, and the last remnant certainly does not have a boneyard with some reactivated ones.

Also no f22s either in storage. but plenty of mig21s, F4s, etc. Considering the latter items where built in production runs of tens of thousands and had fuck to of models and competitors, you have an overabundance of reaction fightercraft. Stealth technology obviously does not exist and again the last legitimate remant most certainly does not have the ability to restudy and restart production in a generation or two . that would be just silly.

but then again you are a disingenuous fuck aiming those two exclusive item instead of the vast generic equipment list and this has happened after most nuclear power civilizations with global projection power have fallen.

>>93138765
the economy vastly outmatches current irl. its just not what it was during the SL

and it is not somalian pirates but mr Mbeke from Congo hiring veterans from ww2 or serbia who kept their kit as severance packages since no one has paid them in a decade or so to fight the Bantu

File: 20240619_111620.png (903 KB, 809x578)

903 KB PNG

>>93138522
could be funny and paint a white line over the place where the black and green meet

>>93138838
tradition also plays a part. successor lord under the SL signed a treaty that they will not have a combined standing army larger than the SLDF... Mercenaries are not a standing army.

So, you know mercs as an institution running around in full armored columns or jet fighter squadrons have a tradition of existing for centuries. at this point it is a pillar of society, and when you do not pay them, well they own their kit and if you want to take it they might give it to you one bullet at a time. In fact some tried to do this and the mercs beat the army units sent to relieve them of their rightful gear and salvage.

>>93137801
>>93137940
>WoB Cyborgs
>Marian Hegemony
What an odd mix to play. I know they fought during the Jihad, but still strange. Whatever. I'm always happy to see someone play the smaller, more obscure/under-represented factions so I think it's cool.

>>93138838
>the economy vastly outmatches current irl.
In size, yes. In industrialization, no. They're bigger, but far less industrialized across their territory.

>>93137482
the real answer is because you and four buddies becoming knights errant/privateers with giant robots is a romantic ideal that attracts a lot of players to the setting

File: Rick Harris - SHD maint bay 1.png (449 KB, 1078x1920)

449 KB PNG

>>93137898
>Myomer is a specialized nanotech supertech, you're not building it in a fucking garage.
Myomer is commonly available by the literal ton on the open market. It may not be something you can synthesize safely or easily in your backyard, but it's no more supertech than nitrocellulose or azide primers. We have outright statements in TRO entries, the XTROs, multiple game supplements, and scenario packs that people literally do make and refit mechs in their garages. That's how Bander Battlemechs got started. Same with the Cronus guys. There are bush NASCAR-style racing leagues for Fireballs and Locusts all over the IS.

>>93138016
>>93138010
We sat down and did the math around 2015. According to a canon numbers before FASA stopped publishing them, the number of factory lines, and a little basic extrapolation there are at LEAST 5,000 mechs produced every year in the 3010s, and that's assuming every Assault line is producing on the order of one mech a month. The FedSuns is on the weaker end of the production scale and they're still making at least 1500 a year on their own, the Dracs and Steiners are doing a shitload more. Attrition is just horrifying and they're not quite keeping up

>>93138929
>Attrition is just horrifying and they're not quite keeping up
Them succwars ammo explosions

>>93138929
Your numbers are too high man, like 300%. We can literally add all the production together from House Marik where we do have the actual numbers and it's like 500 mechs.

File: IMG_2828.jpg (156 KB, 800x691)

156 KB JPG

>>93138193
Yeah nah, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union, lots of very cheap military tech hit the market, fuelling things like the wars in Chechnya and the Balkans.

Here, have some footage of mercs operating a Hind in Sierra Leone in 2000: https://youtu.be/wsFyCZ-ewgk?si=iscGcKnQv0pS8Vhl
There’s also a full length version of this by ‘Journeyman Pictures’ on YouTube that’s pretty graphic and that I can’t link here. Other docos on YouTube show mercs operating things like BMP2s.

Basically mercs will happily operate anything that helps them get the job done and make it home to spend their money, and you’re full of shit.

>>93139002
>especially after the fall of the Soviet Union, lots of very cheap military tech hit the market
Soviet shit, not high end stuff like battlemechs.

>>93139007
the SL was a utopic one world government and a massive army. they had the numbers of shit to make the soviets weep.

>>93139007
>>93139032
>>93138859
Also merc mech formations were around the times of the SL, and have survived through the succession wars.

tl;dr get fucked your points are bunk and ignoring context to push your square peg into the not fitting round hole

>>93139007
there is a massive merc market since the age of the SL that manufacturers cater too as well in their market strategy, and is tollerated and sometimes encouraged by governments to keep their strategic industry solvent since sometimes they lack the money to constantly buy their output.

>>93139007
>It’s not government sanctions, contemporary mercenaries just don’t want to spend money on expensive equipment!
Okay here’s an example of contemporary mercenaries using expensive equipment
>Yeah but how does this apply to battletech

Holy fucking goalpost moving Batman. What a faggot you are.

>>93138522
That looks pretty cool, I like that color gradient you’ve got goin there. Do you use an airbrush for that? Based on my paint experience I would think it’s a difficult thing to replicate with a brush.

>>93138143
Like one single small laser hit in the right spot. They're huge and powerful machines but the forces that keep them intact and functional are a careful balancing act. It's a digging machine, not a battlemech.

File: Blues.jpg (675 KB, 1708x824)

675 KB JPG

Finished some blue boys to go with my green boys, I'm calling it a special weapons division, but really I just wanted the colour contrast for that force and an excuse to print off these mechs, mostly the spider and champion, less so the toro and blackjack.

How many of you guys like stuff like world building for your mechs/merc groups/what have you? Do you keep try of pilots experiences, make up backstories and things? I always try to make up a working and upgrade history for the mechs I make starting with a basic version and then adding progressively higher tech levels, along with reasons those changes were made.

>>93139697
I like daydreaming/brainstorming a backstory for my entire Merc force, which has constantly growing and refining details, but not much on the level of individual pilots.

>>93139697
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16uyoAooOCpPYSSyhOeKPrLa0w5ffoxm6LwLaSqivuYI/edit?usp=sharing

Eventually you get to the point of having a TO&E for your forces that includes their noncombat and auxiliary units.

File: IMG_0180.jpg (108 KB, 1302x186)

108 KB JPG

>>93139722

>>93139697
Yes in a campaign. No for just some random dudes. I play actual units in pickup so all that history is already there for me.

>>93139827
Is it cheating if I activate my autism powers before a game?

What color are the tips of LRMs?

>>93140014
It's required. I literally once told a therapist who specializes in autism about "a giant robot tabletop game" and she immediately asked "is it battletech?"

>>93140039
Red and yellow are the most common.

>>93140014
no, but doing so violates the non-aggression pact all autists implicitly know and starts an autism battle
it's like that one pic of two autists firing a beam at each other after entering a thread they dont like, but in real life

File: RMP_2G_Merc_.png (1.13 MB, 1139x1366)

1.13 MB PNG

>>93135628
The Rampage

>>93140061
like mentioning capellans

>>93140090
that's just a Zeus with autism

File: Mortar Carrier.jpg (207 KB, 793x532)

207 KB JPG

>>93140039
I always liked the black and white quartered look.
And before someone gets all smart, yes, these are mortar tubes and not missiles. The design is the same though.

>>93138193
You know munitions costs get billed to the client, right?

>>93139149
>Okay here’s an example of contemporary mercenaries using expensive equipment
Russian equipment isn't expensive you doofus

>>93140039
Not canonized afaik. There might be some real world examples you can draw from but I usually go with whatever complements the paint job the best.

>>93137482
I thought the conversation point would have dried up by now but I'll offer what I can.
First, before going on /btg/'s advice alone, there's a sizable chunk of the BT sourcebooks that are dedicated to all things mercenary, going all the way back to Mechwarrior 1st edition and Mercenaries Handbook, plus the old scenario packs for Wolfs Dragoons, Kell Hounds, GDL, etc. There have been updates and repeats that provide all sorts of recaps and advice on merc units. If anything, it's probably the best documented example of how things are run in BT.

The largest and oldest merc units are often former house units that deserted for one reason or another, be it being mistreated, or taking the wrong side in a civil war. There are also a number that go all the way back to the Star League, those that didn't follow Kerensky but didn't get absorbed into a successor state army. Smaller merc units can be a bit of the same, but you can also find instances of mercs that were funded from the ground up by benefactors or are even instances of pure adventurism from low ranking nobles.

Mercs that breach contracts or go rogue are how many pirates come into being, but there are also instances of people that are desperate enough to resort to piracy, especially in the periphery. Some periphery states like the Marian Hegemony and former Oberon Confederation were cited as being "Pirate kingdoms large enough to have a semblance of legitimacy". Depending on their background and success rates, they can be better or worse equipped, but in general house regiments are better equipped than mercs, which are better equipped than planetary militias and pirate bands.

File: IMG_1998.jpg (11 KB, 240x196)

11 KB JPG

>>93140043
>I literally once told a therapist who specializes in autism about "a giant robot tabletop game" and she immediately asked "is it battletech?"
Epic kek, nice one.

First /btg/ game in Utah was done. Gonna grab some food and then I'll post some pics and give a general post about stuff.

Dumbass questions here from somebody who hasn't played Battletech since the early 2000's at a friends place, where frankly he was less interested in making it fun than just wrecking me. My oldass impression of the game is that it's more grindy than tactical, and classic battletech really hasn't changed much in terms of rules since I last played it. There's Alphastrike, which is more a different game entirely than a quicker rules-light Battletech if I understood. My scale of reference for "grindy" is WHFB at the high end, where a meta army list just grinds itself out on the field, or something like the lighter /awg/ that replaced it when GW killed it off IE Kings of War and such with a heavier emphasis on using a mixed army list well with tactical flanking bonuses.

Is it at least less grindy than WHFB? Is Alphastrike better for newer players used to modern stuff like X-Wing?

BT had a resurgence of sorts since Catalyst took over. I remember my friend buying a literal bucket of BT models for cheap in the early 2000's.

>>93138113
>>93138146
I have always been under the impression that electronics in Battletech simply didn't go the same way they did in real life, like they never quite had "micro" chips, or like cassette punk.

File: 20240622_211517.jpg (3.32 MB, 4032x3024)

3.32 MB JPG

remenber we had a discussion about the gunslinger program few threads ago? well, here's some new info

>Jenner JR7-D
>Panther PNT-9R
>Phoenix Hawk PXH-1K
>Warhammer WHM-6K
4,022BV but I have 4.3k to play with. What do I do with the remaining BV?

>>93140618
>electronics in Battletech simply didn't go the same way they did in real life
Real life had a lot of "alternative realities" for electronics that almost happened.

There were modern-ish fighter jets with Vacuum Tube tech, and the navy built targeting computers with them, and Vacuum Tubes were pretty steampunk tech level manufactuing. They could have been developed a lot earlier, but are completely divorced from modern silicone chip electronics. We probably would have made some weird shit with them if silicone chip transistors didn't explode in developmental progress like they did.

Silicone chip transistors only happened after Lasers and specific chemistry research, and that still took awhile, you'd never develop them without advanced Lithography, and there's specific advancements within that which allowed a lot of features we take for granted like making a chip "reprogrammable".

Trinary (instead of binary) Optical computers were a viable tech that silicone lithography semiconductor gate development overtook, development stopped and they're just sort of interesting toys now.

>>93140463
>Russian equipment isn't expensive you doofus

Cheap for a helicopter gunship is still going to cost millions. Kinda like a mech.

Do cell phones exist in battletech?

>>93140703
Small personal communicators do, but I don't remember any cases of them being tied into telephone networks on most planets. They probably work on a P2P architecture instead.

>>93140617
basically, it's "grindy" in that it takes a rather long time for most people to play a game of 4 units vs 4 units, 2-3 hours is my experience, which nowadays is kind of unheard of in modern wargaming - there's games that take a long time with a huge pile of mdels, and games with small model count you can do in an hour or less, but not both small model count and decently long
but at the same time, the locational hit and critical hit subsystem means that a unit can be blown up in a single turn if lucky/unlucky, and games have the potential to swing in one's favor like that (though not every match)

classic battletech is virtually the same since its inception in the 1980s; the only changes are from new equipment types and a couple pieces of minutiae

alpha strike really is a different sort of game, it's too simplified to really have much in common with its predecessor besides the concept of critical hits existing - i think alpha strike is simpler than pretty much any other game on the market honestly, at least from my limited knowledge, and doesn't really fit into any neat recommendations (but honestly i just dislike it so take it with a grain of salt)

i think it's probably less grindy than WHFB, yeah

>>93135328
How common is making MG ammo not explode? It upsets my autism because ammo doesn't do that. However, if it's serving as an important balance factor I'll leave it in.

>>93140730
I've heard of groups that compromise by having MG ammo explosions divide their damage by 20, so that a full ton is only 20 damage instead of 400.

File: CjlqK.jpg (74 KB, 670x525)

74 KB JPG

>>93140666
>Trinary (instead of binary) Optical computers
How'd you program the RGB colors though? And what medium you use to code and conduct on and through? Not fiber optic cable material as that is still silicate based right? Would Ternary retrofutrism be still have big computers like in older BT art and alien's cassette futurism or could Ternary pcs be small scale like microprocessors?

>>93140712
>how do communicate on a backwater planet w/o cell towers or sat coverage?
>Torrenting

FM/AM radio not an option?

>>93140649
Replace the jenner with a JR7-F. No ammo to exode, and 7t armor makes it a tough nut to crack, especially with that movement, and 4ML is plenty with only 10 shs.

File: hms barham ammo cookoff.gif (2.68 MB, 638x354)

2.68 MB GIF

>>93140730
Sure it does. Everyone knows that the biggest explosion in history up until the invention of nukes were when the machine gun ammo lockers on a major warship cooked off.

>>93140463
>Russian equipment isn't expensive you doofus
How would you know, you desperately groping retard?
Would you not concede that it’s more expensive than just small arms and technicals?
Just shut up. You fucked up, take the L and move along.

File: 255db_3_53.jpg (348 KB, 4134x2756)

348 KB JPG

>>93140738
Still way too much desu. I've dealt with entire cans of 30mm, non-HE cannon ammo that cooked off and it's ammo can was enough to contain it. Battletech MGs only go up to 20mm. It should just break the feed and render the gun inoperable.

>>93140673
A Hind is going to cost a couple of million baseline and you can probably double the cost to have all the weaponry reinstalled after buying it from a sanction busting arms dealer.

>>93140703
They would, communication on-world is at least on par to what you'd have in the 1980s, so they'd have cell phones if more the bricks or invincible nokias, and not the flappybird kind. They've probably got an internet on most worlds too, though for retrofuturism's sake I'd imagine something more like an 80s BBS than social media. In many worlds in Battletech, much of the population ends up concentrated in a single place usually near the starport, with only a handful populating the wilds for agriculture or resource extraction. Cellphones might be more of a 'big city' gadget while vidscreens and other landlines are for the more common folk. It's off-world communications that will be most restrictive though. HPG is hugely expensive so if there's any inter-planetary communications they'd probably use radio/laser based communications or maybe even courier ship, but sending even a text HPG would be prohibitive for the layman outside of special occasions or emergencies (Think willingly paying international roaming charges on your cellphone), though still more convenient than something like a courier ship.

For the average wagie in Battletech, there's not a whole lot of planet-hopping going on.

>>93140806
>HPG is hugely expensive so if there's any inter-planetary communications they'd probably use radio/laser based communications or maybe even courier ship, but sending even a text HPG would be prohibitive for the layman outside of special occasions or emergencies (Think willingly paying international roaming charges on your cellphone), though still more convenient than something like a courier ship.
It's expensive enough that you're not going to fool around with it casually, but if you want to send a letter by HPG, it's comparable to buying a whole book of stamps for one letter. Expensive in the sense that you might not make much more than that per hour, but not out of reach for most people if they had a reason to do it.

File: standard nuclear weapon table.png (100 KB, 856x330)

100 KB PNG

>>93140787
Gotta remember that modern machine guns and autocannons are all "primitive" and not enough to reliably crack BAR10 armor. Battletech MGs use sci fi materials and sci fi propellants.

That said, it is incredibly stupid, because if you compare MG ammo to the results on this handy table, it turns out that battletech machine gun ammo is twice as energetic per ton as TNT.

If you can talk your group into machine gun ammo not exploding, try it out.

>>93140806
wonder the text limit on bt's tweeter. 20 words?
>onlyfans, fanbox etc can't exist
>comiket would be held once in every 5 years or so due to travel cost and time

File: chatterweb.png (774 KB, 1061x836)

774 KB PNG

>>93140846
They're literally using Space IRC

>>93140825
For "local" space that is. Every 50~ light-years adds the cost on again since it's per HPG.

>>93138146
>What was that old story about some organization using PS2's for guidance computers on missiles like twenty years ago?
Chips out of washing machines are apparently used on Russian/Iranian drones right now.

File: 3rd Round after moving..jpg (944 KB, 4000x3000)

944 KB JPG

>>93140597
This was taken after several turns, both of our forces where pushing hard and I was able to puncture line with my Gladiator with his Grasshopper trying to nail him from behind.

Miraculously the Gladiator survived this round and would cause so much chaos in the backlines.

>>93140878
damn, looks like real mapsheets have way less woods than megamek random gen

File: 3rd round after physicals..jpg (904 KB, 4000x3000)

904 KB JPG

>>93140878
Though the Battlemaster would take a tumble after being kicked in the back of the knee by the Gladiator.

File: 0176.jpg (484 KB, 1042x701)

484 KB JPG

>>93136730
>or the Hussar
Except for the Db, that is. The Db says, "Fuck you personally, and your MPLs won't autokill me while I harass the shit out of you," at least during the Clan Invasion period when this would be making an appearance in most games. That thing is criminally underused by Clan players on a budget, but that's an issue with 2nd line Clan mechs in general. Some of those SL mechs are absolute gems in 3050 when you're trying to balance BV without using retarded pilots.

>>93140617
It's both grindy and tactical, anon. The usual analogy is two squadrons of WWII era warships duking it out. Aside from the occasional fluke magazine hit, it's going to be a slugging match. Positioning and movement matter. Force concentration matters. Beyond keeping your units where they can support one another and getting the hang of initiative sinking, it's going to take a few games before the real tactical aspects of it (and a lot of that is continuously doing math in your head) become apparent. Some people would say that for a game this old, it's incredibly deep. I'd say that it's just incredibly deep, regardless of its age, and there are headgames that come with it. Chess is quick to learn and takes a while to master. Btech takes a while to learn and then takes a while more to master.

If you're playing a good game, your opponent should be struggling with difficult decisions basically every turn. When you're playing someone better than you, you'll find yourself struggling with difficult decisions basically every turn.

File: 4th Round after moving.jpg (958 KB, 4000x3000)

958 KB JPG

>>93140887
Blue forces strategy was to utilize the Zeus to lay out suppressing fire while the Thunderbolt would try and knife fight the Crusader in hopes to limiting its LRM fire into friendly forces.

The Gladiator and Vindictor would try to harass the Warhammer laying out some pretty good hits.

Greens forces would try to use its weight and firepower to oppress blues forces but that majority of firepower would not hit its targets.

>>93140617
Battletech is granular. If you play 40K and kill team and think that they lack detail, that's the kind of market that Battletech best addresses. If you want that extra level of detail then yes I think Battletech is a good thing for you to at least try out, but if not don't buy in without knowing what you're getting into. Games play slower, but not because of there being too many rules, but because that granularity means that your decisions and placement has more impact. If you aren't careful I've seen players chew up ten minutes or more on their turn trying to find the 'perfect spot'. The math is only an issue the first couple of rounds.

It sucks to have 'friends' who like punching down on newbies, but a half decent player would have given you some degree of handicap if he had any intention of keeping you on board.

I don't support alpha strike in any way. Battletech's main appeal as a game system is its granularity. Scrap that and it's just one more bland rules light game in a sea of other fly-by-night rules light games that will be forgotten by decades' end. If you don't like Battletech proper, try Infinity or Heavy Gear or something. They've both got a dedicated following and are designed to be rules light from the start.

File: 5th round shooting phase.jpg (1.02 MB, 4000x3000)

1.02 MB JPG

>>93140907
Green Forces Battlemaster realizing what the Zeus is doing starts closing distance with the Zeus to lay out as much firepower into it. While getting a few shots in the mech lays out twice as much damage into the charging Battlemaster.

The Gladiator would go on to harass the Grasshoper with its movement while the Vindicator would trade firepower with the Warhammer. In a fit the Warhammer beared all of its weapons nearly shutting it down the mech in an attempt to quash the little bugger but would fail.

The Crud on Thud action continues as the Crud would split its LRM fire onto the Gladiator and launch a spray of SRM fire into the charging heavy. (Its torso twising its original position facing the Thud)

>>93140885
depends on the map in question. Play on Heavy Forest #2 and Megamek's placement will seem like savannahmaster territory.

>>93140885
Yes and no. MM tends to make very broken terrain that punishes anything without jump jets, while official mapsheets frequently allow for some lanes that ground-bound units can take advantage of. It also depends on the sheet. Some maps depict plains, while others are more dense hills and forests. The earliest 'city' maps didn't even print buildings on them, but instead citytech had building chits you'd place on the mapsheets yourself. Without building chits the old city maps were just roads on a mostly flat map.

Some of the new maps are just old maps with a facelift. "Woodland" I think was one that notoriously was hard to read and sorely needed a revision.

The official maps are all loaded into Megamek too, You can try using them sometime. Unfortunately there's a lot of non-standard maps in there too that you can't filter out without deleting them if you select 'random map'. If you have TW open though you can always select and tile the mapsheets manually.

>>93140885
Recent mapsheets have a lot more even terrain distribution focused on looking good in gameplay.

>>93140945
>Some of the new maps are just old maps with a facelift
A lot of the Map Pack: Savannahs stuff coming in the kickstarter is revisions of classic maps, including the very first "Battletech" mapsheet

>>93140787
>seen cans of .50 in a fire
>seen cans of 20mm in a fire

If by "contain," you mean that the lid blew off and the can didn't grenade, then yeah, they're designed to do that. I hope that you didn't mean that it actually contained everything. Those cans are designed to fail in a certain way. You'd think that mechs would also be designed to fail in a certain way if the ammo cooked off.
>what is case

You're right about MG ammo explosions in Btech being illogical though. My counterpoint would be, it's a science fiction game. I personally think that an AC/20 should be able to shoot a bit further than several city blocks, but here we are. It's Battletech. There are other games with other rules for people that don't like it. Giant robots are a ridiculous idea for warfare, but it's an idea that we like for a game, so this is what we do.

>bonus points for anyone that has tossed a fireworks mortar shell into an ammo can and dogged the lid down
>fucking spectacular, did not repeat

File: 1874e64cdc85015b55bdc1c77(...).jpg (60 KB, 670x898)

60 KB JPG

>>93139827
>>93140014
Nigs, this isn't even my final form.

File: 6th Round Conga Time..jpg (1016 KB, 4000x3000)

1016 KB JPG

>>93140931
In a desperate attempt to break off and cool down from the near shutdown the Warhammer would try and move into a better position. Realizing the Warhammers back was turn the Vindicator would move itself into the rear arc to lay out some laser fire and maybe get a kick in as well.


The Grasshopper had the same idea for the Vindicator.


As well as the Gladiator as it place itself behind the Grasshopper.

Just a reminder, don't let your Mechwarriors drink and drive during active combat situations.


While this is going on the Battlemaster would continue to move as close as it can to the Zeus with the Zeus itself kiting the massive assault mech knowing it would be bad news if the Assault got to close limiting the mechs firepower against it.

The ThudCrud action continues as both engage into phyiscal combat with a spray of medium laser fire and kicks exchanges.

>>93140951
Regular ammo bins at least figured out how to completely remove any weakness from an ammo hatch. Whether there's ammo there or not, there's no part of the armor that's any weaker than any other, no hinges or latches that could get shot open, no concessions in protection needed for the door or feed lines. CASE figured out how to do all of that without turning the rest of the mech into a grenade case. CASE II figured out how to do that while also including blowout panels that still present no externally exploitable weaknesses. The panels right where the ammo is loaded are just as protective as panels over a structural beam or empty space, and that's not nothing.

File: 6th round after physicals.jpg (997 KB, 4000x3000)

997 KB JPG

>>93140956
Every single Physical kick hit. Every single pilot except the Gladiator had to make sure the kicks didn't knock them over.

But the Thud fell after getting kicked in the shins once.

File: Why battletech games take(...).jpg (115 KB, 600x1000)

115 KB JPG

>>93140617
Very short version:
If inexperienced players try to do a game with the only objective being "kill the enemy" using assault mechs? Yes, it's a slow messy grind that takes ages.
A game with two or three times as many mixed-weight mechs fighting for clear objectives takes about as much time to resolve and is much more satisfying. A lot of the "grind" disappears once you've run a few games through, it becomes almost automatic. In either case there's a lot more actual player skill involved and less list-building doesn't make for an auto-win

>>93140952
Ah shit, he's put on a compression vest. Do not let him bring ear defenders or we're FUCKED.

File: 7thfla.jpg (54 KB, 612x408)

54 KB JPG

>>93140887
>after being kicked in the back of the knee
Dezgra.
>Verification not required.

>>93140916
>If you aren't careful I've seen players chew up ten minutes or more on their turn trying to find the 'perfect spot'
I wasn't clear here, so just in case: Battletech does moves like chess does, with each player moving one unit at a time (assuming equal unit count) until the phase is over. If both sides managed to wrap up their movement in ten minutes that'd be fine. It's that a single player would spend upwards of ten minutes deciding where to put a single mini, keeping the other guy waiting.
Which really isn't necessary in most cases because it's not X-com where a mistake takes you from full health to dead in a single turn. Granted there are flukes like through-armor crits finding gyros or ammo early game, but time to kill in Battletech is much longer than in many games. Unless you get focus-fired by the whole opfor with easy to-hits of 6 or better, you'll walk away from a few mistakes.

File: 7th and final round after(...).jpg (1009 KB, 4000x3000)

1009 KB JPG

>>93140972
The Vindicator after having his life flash before his eyes he would try to jump into a nearby forest to help the Zeus and take some pot shots against the Battlemaster as it charged the Zeus.

The Battlemaster not having it changed directions charging directly after the Vindicator with the Gladiator jumping behind laying out some firepower into the assault mech with help with the Zeus with an AC landing a critical hit knocking out several heat sinks in its left torso. But with the combined firepower from all three mechs the Vindicator couldn't keep the mech standing after a few shots blows the mechs leg off causing it to fall.

The Crud on Thud action continues as both exchange srm and medium laser fire with the Thud landing a few critical hits.

The Battlemaster utilizing its new position would proceed to bury its foot into the Vindicators chest blowing the left side out completely. As the Gladiator valiantly smashing its foot into the mechs knees completely destroying the Mech's left hip.

In a fit both Commanders would come to talks and would agree to a cease fire and both agreed to let both sides walk away with there mechs ending combat.

Overall Blue Forces where ahead in damage with Greens missing a majority of the shots by near misses (I mean it, majority of his shots missed only 1)

>>93140969
I get all that. Modern nations in the latter half of the 20th century were producing tanks with better ammo containment than what is available in BT. It's BT. I wish that people stopped trying to make sense of it.

Are you the same anon that posted that bullshit about ammo cans containing a cookoff? I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but if that's you and you actually witnessed that, you and I both know what happened.

>dropped new phx's handheld gun on the floor
>can't find it anywhere
i swear to god, there's some kind of the warp portal or misjunp zone under my desk
also, why the hell wasn't it glued?

>>93141013
Get your phone out, turn on the flashlight, hold it against the ground, and move it until the part casts a shadow.

why is the thug's ppcs waaaaay fatter than ones on like the warhammer and stuff?

>>93141024
Different manufacturers. Weapons can kinda look like whatever.

>>93140858
Yes, but I'd vouch that's a local planetary network rather than anything sent by HPG. Looking at maps of the sphere, it's easy for people to imagine planets as cities in some state, but they're divided by lightyears. It's hard for people to imagine in this age of near instant communication worldwide, so the idea of not being able to casually text 'butts lol' from your pocket phone to someone 300 lightyears away seems to be something modern readers struggle with.

>>93140973
I made that image a long while back, but after an additional ten-some years experience, it really does seem that most of what chews up time is indecision rather than not knowing the rules. Much of that still applies, but only really for players that have never played before without any guidance from someone more experienced.

Even with experienced players games can slow down. Hell, I got to play a big game for the first time in a while, and was still thinking in the context of declaring individual shots and writing down my TNs in advance, but I think the opfor was just declaring targets and figuring his numbers out on the spot, whether or not he had adequate TN. So yes, I slowed the game down as a result, but normally my opponents are much slower to make their decisions than I am.
In your run of the mill game though, it does seem to be far less about rules and math, far more about players over-analyzing before making a decision.

>>93141050
>It's hard for people to imagine in this age of near instant communication worldwide, so the idea of not being able to casually text 'butts lol' from your pocket phone to someone 300 lightyears away seems to be something modern readers struggle with.
Use to be that you'd have to travel to a regional capital to get some major international newspapers...days after their release.

multiple (small) factions/nations in a single planet fighting against each other is uncommon in bt?

>>93141050
Yeah, there's no interstellar internet. HPG transmissions are too expensive for anything casual. Up until 3136, ComStar could do transmission, but the cost of1 C-Bill(approx $13) for a single page .rtf file meant it was only used for stuff that was actually important.

More important, there's no interstellar DNS and no servers, and HPGs aren't two way, so there's no way to request "I need a copy of Huckleberry Finn" and just have it appear, someone has to be on the other end and send to you, which will cost a few hundred C-Bills

>>93141075
Uncommon but not unprecedented.

File: Walkure-Macross-Delta-Mac(...).jpg (151 KB, 960x958)

151 KB JPG

so, there is no way to make interstella idol group possible under the limitation of hpg?

>>93141075
Depends on the planet - anywhere listed as Independent Periphery/Chaos March is quite plausibly actually several factions.

>>93141113
Doable, you just wouldn't be broadcasting shit live. It'd be like Solaris games, recordings are distributed by jumpship.

>>93141086
I could have sworn there was fluff about jump ships carrying storage drives to "update" the local internet as a service. I could be losing my mind though.

>>93141113
Totally possible - your business model is roughly as follows: produce music/associated media, transport said music/media (via HPG for high-popularity stuff or as a secondary cargo on jumpships for stuff with a small market), have someone on Planet X distribute said media and send you back a portion of the profits.

>>93141113
On the contrary - the business model is the only way to do it.
Idol groups as investment vehicles that combine the money and competences of multiple companies across the distance of three or four jumps seems like the only way to do it.
Turning a Dropship into an "Idol Academy"/Big Brother Box and sending a buncha fresh meat touring for a couple years, with local investors organizing concert venues seems like the only way to pull it off at a limited interstellar scale.

>>93141018
+1, best trick in the book.

>>93141075
It's the Clan's way. But many planets do have some sort of ongoing unrest and local big names having beef with each other shouldn't be too uncommon either.

File: Crazy Canopian Bitches.jpg (56 KB, 1022x765)

56 KB JPG

>>93141113
>>93141161

Boys, you're thinking small. You need to look to the people already spending a shit ton on entertainment and going on huge sphere-wide tours who set up the venue anyway. We just need to hit up some yak contacts on Corsica Nueva for prospects.

>>93141140
Libraries that'd make sense for, or even software.
While communications were limited, stuff like e-readers and computers were pretty common place, and printed paper was considered an anachronism in some parts of the sphere.

Bringing over a library of epub materials and trivid broadcasts on some kind of data cube via jumpship as an aside between shipments of germanium and FWL ouzo is not far fetched.

>>93141113
There are a few instances of the HPG network being pushed to near-live simultaneous broadcasts, but these are major declarations of war by the head of a successor state, not pop stars.

>>93140858
>>93141086
Could close by planets do ftl irc? Kinda like the blackboard technology, except pentagon system size region? How about message board or old news group style? Is even that still to expensive?


>>93141215
>planetary internet updated with jumpships

Yah wasn't that jumpship pony express/courier ala dark age and/or non-hpg planets like in bumbfuck periphery?

>>93141215
>There are a few instances of the HPG network being pushed to near-live simultaneous broadcasts, but these are major declarations of war by the head of a successor state, not pop stars.

Honestly, one of the few places where QoL is genuinely better for the Clans. Relatively few, close worlds and an HPG network that isn't run by the Templars means that real-time communication seems to be taken for granted (several Chatterweb chats seem to be in real-time). Also, Khans regularly engage in virtual Grand Council meetings without thinking twice about it, while KSD needs to disrupt communication on every planet between Tharkad and New Avalon to do it.

>>93140858
Imagine how many of them would fall for the hunter7 thing.

>>93141215
>some kind of data cube

We use data crystals in Battletech, Stargate-style. Data chits sometimes used for smaller stuff.

>>93141191
>You need to look to the people already spending a shit ton on entertainment and going on huge sphere-wide tours who set up the venue anyway.
Travel times are the issue. Like your regular, current tour contains approximately a hundred shows a year, which is approximately a concert every three days for 365 day. But an interstellar tour, even if it's one with a residency in the Canopian Travelling Space Vegas, will have downtimes of two to four weeks for transfer.
But, if you're performing planetside, most planets won't be able to offer more than three or four profitable venues anyway, so you got two weeks to get planetside, then you're doing a week of work followed by (hopefully) two weeks of trave back to the jump point to get to the next planet. That's four weeks of nothing vs one week of earning.
Idols more or less picking the Spacer lifestlye and everything they do en route being monetized seems to be the only way to make good of your investment here. Heck, Spacers themselves running the industry would make the most sense as space travel is the largest cost point here.

>Alpha Strike box novel
>Northwind Highlanders still using exclusively Inner Sphere mechs
>2 lances jobbs against 1 garrison star

>>93141285
Good news! Some of the circuses are space-based with JS gravdecks or semi-mobile Goon-style stations. Danai lives on one in one of the DA novels for awhile.

>>93141239
>Also, Khans regularly engage in virtual Grand Council meetings without thinking twice about it, while KSD needs to disrupt communication on every planet between Tharkad and New Avalon to do it.
I don't recall anything that says Grand Council teleconferencing doesn't monopolize the HPG net either, but that's also the top business of the top people of the ruling caste, so it would be considered worth it. And having khans travel all the way from the IS to the Homeworlds and vice versa for the Grand Councils would be even more troublesome.

>>93141319
Still means you need to haul people to space from a planet.

so how bullshit was joint-factions orchestrating and maneuvering massive invasion through the jumpship express with the blackout in effect?

>>93141285
And that's probably why most Canopian Idols moonlight as spies.

File: Olympus cut away view.png (1.97 MB, 1694x2027)

1.97 MB PNG

>>93141336
I wonder if you could generate enough cash just based on the system traffic around a Zenith or Nadir station?

>>93141361
I bet you could in a major system. You'd get a constant parade of new audience.

>>93141361
You're limited to systems that can be chained in single jumps, that have space stations and that have space stations that contain entertainment venues of sufficient volume then. And your customers will - most likely - still have to take a plane or a long bus ride followed by a dropper ride to get to you.

File: __ranka_lee_saotome_alto_(...).jpg (493 KB, 2560x1564)

493 KB JPG

>>93141113
wonder what kind of bodyguard mercs they would require. guarding against spaceship boarding abduction? lam stunt team?

>>93140806
>>93140703
I know this sounds like a cop out answer, but I genuinely do believe it would be a case by case basis from planet to planet. The 80s retrotech aesthetic is probably what the majority of the highly developed planets use, with a handful of planets with notably more streamlined internet/phones/computers one planet has big block phones, another has noteputers, another smartphones comparable to real life, etc. advanced enough to be convenient for the worlds that develop it, not making enough of a splash or threatening the balance between world powers for Comstar to bother snuffing out.

>>93141215
>printed paper was considered an anachronism in some parts of the sphere.
Almost all of it, really, local pulp mills were considered a massive waste of resources and bulk shipping paper a catastrophic waste of jump tonnage compared to a crate of 100 one-gig note-puters. With the slight problem that a lot of the 'trons got wiped by nukes, not to mention "friendly neighborhood technicians" servicing them. Which is why the obsolete Star League-era paper library/museum on Galtor was such a big fucking deal.

>>93141238
>How about message board or old news group style? Is even that still to expensive?
It'd work most like an old-school email listserv hooked into a remote BBS; ComStar has a bunch of "free" data that they beam out as part of their news service. You log in and see what's on their BBS, any outstanding messages, and check your bank/stocks/Solaris Bets. Then you spend an hour playing Food Fight and Drug Lord with your daily turns and cough up twenty bucks a month to get the turn results emailed to the central server at the Class-A once a month.

>>93141431
LAMs or the old classic standby of space marines with flechette rifles.

File: Space_thunder_1280x720_01.jpg (251 KB, 1280x720)

251 KB JPG

>>93141431
>>93141463
Pod goes brrt, one would assume.

File: Pleasure circus.png (1.23 MB, 604x822)

1.23 MB PNG

>>93141343
The funny thing is people used to give the Canopian "pillow talk'" spy justifications all kinds of shit, but I've seen enough O'Keefe scoops the last few years to know that shit works way too well in real life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9WTEW2yJlw

>>93141533
There's a sidebar in one of the books that's an internal memo regarding pleasure circuses and "loose lips" which they found out only because they caught a couple of Canopian spies from one who they're trading for their own caught spies.

File: Elemental vs door.png (157 KB, 278x246)

157 KB PNG

>>93137898
>Myomer is a specialized nanotech supertech, you're not building it in a fucking garage.
It's the most common useable salvage from mechs after armour. Really, there should be a lot more soft robotics and exos in use in BT and machines using hydraulics should be in the museum, together with steam engines.

File: auriga.jpg (96 KB, 772x456)

96 KB JPG

wait, so aurigan lasted less than 3 years?

>>93141715
Technically 118 years. They were founded in 2910. The Coalition is dead and gone but the Reach will probably get a small mention since that's what they established the area of space is called

>>93141658
I like to assume that anything that looks like a hydraulic actuator is actually a myomer bundle in a tube.

I suspect Augurians got killed off because Paradox took over ownership of HBS Battletech assets. Same reason they removed minis of Bullshark people posted on reddit.

>>93141893
Even when their pain schemes were added to Camospecs they were already listed as being around only up to Clan invasion, and the sourcebook implied they're teetering on the brink, so it's not too surprising they collapsed. IIRC some of their planets are part of the established Periphery states in later maps.

>>93141950
Froc takes over half of Aurigan space, everything right of Coromodir on the map. Coromodir itself is still independent as of the latest updates. Could still have an Arano in charge.

I always liked to figure my player character married Kamea after the game. Guess I was a lot worse at running an interstellar military than a single lance.

File: WaspBP-TechnicalBlueprint(...).png (3.22 MB, 1980x3060)

3.22 MB PNG

Are there any decent 3D print files of the Raptor II out and about? I've seen a grand total of one print based on the MechAssault version, but the links associated with it seem like they've been dead a while. Looking kind of like if I want one, I'll have to make it myself or just roll with the IWM mini.

>>93141874
Doesn't seem unreasonable given how the 1986 blueprints visualized most myomer bundles as being inside of stereotypically hydraulic-looking shafts.

>>93140770
I was planning to have it do critseeking duty once the PPCs made the holes.

>>93142137
>Raptor II
Funny, I was just talking about that mech with a friend earlier today. It's still funny to me how different the Raptor and the Raptor II are. Goes from a box on chicken legs to a sleek, dangerous looking machine.

File: Tariq-Mounted_Infantry_TRO3085.png (209 KB, 557x662)

209 KB PNG

>>93137482
Other people answered but I'd also like to point out that mechs are relatively rare and that 99% of the battles being fought are with either conventional forces or something wacky like battle armor groups fighting alien dinosaur cavalry and cyborgs that look like they came right out of cyberpunk 2020.
If you're a militia or house troop you're more likely to fight something like this, than ever seeing a battlemech. Industrial mechs maybe, but not battlemechs.
On the other hand, you always see pirates in mechs and battlemech Merc companies in stories is because ultimately most people are here for the mechs. It's actually kind of a shame how the rest of the setting is overshadowed by mechs, considering how weird a lot of it is. Iirc there's a planet with straight up alien dragons.

Often times you hear about Mechs supposedly having advanced communications and target tracking equipment when they were first developed, but by the succession war era they've been replaced with lower quality replacements which form the 'baseline' for 3025 onwards mechs. Is there any mechanical difference between a star league era fire control system and the later ones?

>>93142298
TW isn't granular enough for that.

>>93142373
Are the better Fire Control Systems usually represented by quirks?

File: centutriple.png (3.98 MB, 1920x1080)

3.98 MB PNG

>>93142179
The II strikes me more as a successor to the Raven than the Raptor, especially comparing the 3L to the 3X - if looked at as an evolved Raven, the 3X gives up the scouting and marking gear for double streak-sixes, a bigger engine, MASC, and doubling down on the ECM/stealth angle.

Plus they've both got that sort of sleek airplane look to their bodies, and the Raptor II is a three-toed beast like the Raven - it's a much shorter leap to go from 35 to 40 tons than the otherwise apparent 25 to 40 with the Raptor itself. It really seems a lot more believable that ComStar could have just been dicking around with a modified Raven as a testbed by the 3050s for stealth tech, maybe even as part of their Mimetic Armor research. It could explain why the Raptor IIs the Blakists had were never fielded or designed for their Manei Domini.

Take a Raven, send it to Terra, let ComStar dick around and morph it into a quick MASC-equipped stealth striker - throw in some bird terminology, maybe. Ravens are apparently 'honorary raptors' and are used in the study thereof, therefore you take a Raven, you make it more of a predator, you get the 'stealth raptor' - Raptor II.

I'm kind of just spitballing but that seems as neat an explanation as any, and sounds to me like a fair excuse to field Raptor II prototypes by the 3050s or at least the 3060s.

>>93142376
Probably - I think that's how the Rifleman's is handled since it has a bonus to Anti Air targeting.

>>93142179
The Raptor II was a product of MechAssault games. I didn't play them but I'd hazard a guess that Microsoft had pulled another "Hellhound" and overwrote an existing designs' name due to ignorance or general not giving a shit. Either way, yes, it had effectively nothing to do with the original raptor other than being a chicken-walker design, with any relation probably retconned in via TRO, if any.

>>93142298
In TRO 2750 the LBX 10s extra range over a standard AC/10 is stated to be the result of better fire control systems, and similarly stated as one factor in the additional range of the ERLL and ERPPC.

>>93142520
Very interesting, thanks. It would follow that just slapping a salvaged lostech ERLL onto a random 3025 mech wouldn't allow it to exploit the full potential of the weapon?

>>93141285
They could also just be doing shows in orbit on the jumpship or a dropship and beaming down the results to the planet. Rich folks get to shuttle up for a live viewing. Really rich planets get the live treatment where the idols actually touch grass or the local analogue

>>93142857
And before you know it, you'll have Hatsune Miku spreading Wobbie prop.

File: .jpg (121 KB, 720x960)

121 KB JPG

>>93140951
>If by "contain," you mean that the lid blew off and the can didn't grenade
No, just the shipping cans, not actual ammunition stowage in a vehicle. It was 4,800 rounds of 30mm cannon ammunition for Apache helicopters. It was in a field ammunition holding area that, due to fuck ups, burned. The vast majority of the cooked off rounds were contained in their shipping cans and the lids weren't even blown off. Those shipping cans aren't made to contain any sort of energetic mishap, they only serve to keep the ammunition dry and be stack-able. Pic rel are some of the cans after we had opened them looking for live rounds. Battered and bulged, but only a few popped out of the 40+ cans in the fire. A basic, non-CASE magazine in the mech would be more than enough to constrain all the rounds cooking off.

Anyways, the point of my question wasn't realism, but if having the machine gun ammo as an explode-able location served any meaningful balance purpose.

>>93140826
I mean it's still just propellant that is, by design, going to deflagrate under pressure rather than detonate. If it detonated under heat/impact, it would be unfit for purpose as a propellant.

>>93137801
I think you're the first person I've ever seen play the WoB nevermind a "Shadow Divison" lmfao

>>93143012
I mean, they're all clan units and they're sorted into fives, not sixes.

>>93143011
>but if having the machine gun ammo as an explode-able location served any meaningful balance purpose.
No. Machine guns are pretty much useless for anything other than wiping infantry and only become slightly less useless with additional rules and/or fully Solaris.

>>93143051
Rad, thank you.

File: IMG_20240623_095732973_HDR.jpg (4.15 MB, 4000x3000)

4.15 MB JPG

Update on those 3 salvage mechs, I'm really liking the Orion out of these 3 but appreciate feedback. The original greens were done with an airbrush but since then I've layered on oranges / applied white and then hexwraith flame / drybrushed on praexi white. I think of the three the Orion looks best.

>>93143036
>I mean, they're all clan units and they're sorted into fives, not sixes.
Original anon here. They're not all clan units and they're not 'sorted into fives' if you actually read my post, you would realise that I recently painted these models up.
This is not the entire force.
I've got a massive WoB Militia/Shadow Division Force, these are merely the newest additions.

>>93143073
Man, the orion at that angle really does look like it's got a third arm for that AC10

File: 1560607348294.jpg (136 KB, 534x520)

136 KB JPG

>>93137801
>>93137940
Feels like you were really reaching for an excuse to make a clan unit without calling them a clan unit.
I'm pretty sure even shadow divisions weren't comprised mainly of clan mechs, let alone had access to protomechs and the manei domini modified to use them. And not a single celestial?
Five mechs and five protomechs? Those are stars, WoB and comstar didn't use stars, they had their own unit structure.
I don't think they used protomechs enough to settle on how they'd be organized, but I imagine a protomech level II would be six protomechs. So a theoretical choir(with protomechs instead of BA) would be a level II of mechs and a level II of protomechs.

File: 2024-06-23 16_34_32-Window.png (108 KB, 657x738)

108 KB PNG

>>93143154
The only RAT we have for Shadow Divisions, in Turning Points Arcturus, gives a 1-in-36 chance of a Clan 'mech in each weight class.

>>93143186
>only
nah, there's one in Hesperus too, but that one doesn't have any clan kit, and one in AToW, but that one is for Blakist PCs so not really shadow division material

>>93143186
Yeah, thanks.
I saw they could scrounge up a lot of clan weapons and put them on specific variants, usually celestials, but I had never heard someone imply shadow divisions were mostly clan mechs.

File: Full (Current) WoB Army.jpg (1.71 MB, 2560x1440)

1.71 MB JPG

Since I was doing a game today, I decided to get a picture of all the Word of Blake stuff I currently have painted up. There's a lot more to come, mainly WoB Militia vehicles and infantry.

File: Word of Blake Militia Support.jpg (1.36 MB, 2560x1440)

1.36 MB JPG

>>93143245
I'm starting to get quite the collection of Inner Sphere mechs for my WoB Militia force. Really looking forward to expanding them and adding a lot of tanks and such since me and my brother want to experiment with the vehicle side of BattleTech more.

File: WoB Battle Armour.jpg (3.63 MB, 7634x1385)

3.63 MB JPG

>>93143256
There's a decent amount of Battle Armour now as well. Got some Elementals I want to paint up for the 52nd Shadow Division plus some Longinus armour. Need to get some cheaper, basic suits for my WoB Militia.

>>93143245
that mech in the mid-top-left looks like that meme where you throw a slice of american cheese on a cat's head

File: WoB Protomechs.jpg (2.77 MB, 6586x1377)

2.77 MB JPG

>>93143261
And finally, I've fallen completely in love with Protomechs so I need to get more for this army. Hoping to get some Centaurs and Gorgons soon!

File: 1511918212024.jpg (30 KB, 200x200)

30 KB JPG

>>93143245
that "WoB" army looks strangely full of clan mechs and mostly divisible by five

>>93143154
>>93143186
>>93143276
Anon, I don't give a flying fuck. My brother doesn't give a flying fuck. I'm happy with my army. Kindly, go and fuck yourself :)

>>93143276
It's even arrayed into stars! A cunning deception.

>>93143245
>>93143256
>>93143261
>>93143265
Hate the Wobbies and what they did to the setting but well done ppainting your army

>>93143276
eer think he just likes clan mechs ?

>>93143287
All you have to do to make it canon is add 1 more mech to each of the formations, for fuck's sake.

>>93143154
>let alone had access to protomechs and the manei domini modified to use them

NTA but they did.
It's covered in Necromo Nightmare which is and is not canon at the same time.

>>93143324
>MaKe It CaNoN

Don't give a fuck. I'll paint and play what I like, thank you very much.

>>93143287
There is no reason to interpret people pointing out falsehoods as personal attacks against you.
You can just say you didn't know comstar had its own unit structure, and that you wanted to paint a bunch of clan mechs in WoB colors, nobody's going to get mad at you.
People are just going to find it strange when you try to pass off stars of clan mechs and protomechs as a WoB force. They'd probably also say it's weird if I tried to pass off a bunch of lances of inner sphere standards and regular IS mechs as a first line clan unit.

>>93143361
Don't care. WoB had Clan Mechs and Protomechs in the lore, so I added them to my force. I prefer Clan Mechs over Inner Sphere mechs, so I bought and painted more of those.
Fuck I despise this fanbase and I remember now why I didn't interact with it for years.

>>93143330
Yeah, I know what that is, but I didn't really interpret the one off halloween scenario for the RPG as an indication that shadow divisions were full of captured protomechs and the modified manei domini to pilot them.

>>93143380
Ok, Clanner

>>93143380
Alright, maybe you should go back to not interacting with it for years, if your reaction to "this WoB force is just stars of clan mechs" is completely unreasonable, pointless belligerence.
Nobody even attacked you, you didn't need to get this mad.

File: thumbsup.jpg (37 KB, 640x480)

37 KB JPG

>>93143245
>>93143380

The Wobbies don't use Grendels, Mad Dogs, Shadow Cats, Fire Falcons, or Pouncers. They also don't use Vindicators.

But hey, you just keep doing you.

File: 3025 FS lance.png (456 KB, 1568x934)

456 KB PNG

guys
what do you think of my 3025 fedsun lance?

File: Good Cyclops.gif (26 KB, 112x112)

26 KB GIF

>>93143492
0/10 requires more celestials and omnis, maybe a point of battle armor or two, absolutely unfluffy but good try.

>>93143424
>Alright, maybe you should go back to not interacting with it for years

My life and enjoyment of the hobby will likely be improved greatly by doing that, yes.

>>93143412
>>93143424
>>93143476
But go on, anons. Show your fully painted armies with tables full of terrain that are 100% accurate in every single possible way down to the smallest detail.
You do all have two fully painted armies, right?
RIght?!

>>93143492
Looks more like a 3025 FWL lance to me. They did have the most spare parts after the SLDF

>>93143514
If your enjoyment of the hobby is dependant on what is said on a Trinity Worlds myomer weaving board then perhaps you should just stick to your brother blowing smoke up your ass

>>93143492
It's so-so, are those C variants at least?

>>93143514
your enjoyment of the hobby would probably improve if you didn't fly into a rage when people point out minor fluff inconsistencies in your army
this is the kind of psychotic derangement I'd expect from manic

>>93142376
Sometimes they are, and sometimes they're just not represented at all.
The original Hermes fire control system basically has Streak Lasers that only fire when they have an absolute lock on the target and cannot miss, but even if they don't fire, you still have to deal with the waste heat of it charging up a shot. If that were to be represented mechanically, it would make collateral damage impossible (collateral damage rules on single target weapons is something a GM would have to invent from whole cloth in the first place) and make maintenance on those lasers cheaper since their lenses have less wear and tear since they fire less often than regular ones. But maintenance is abstracted to the whole unit and not individual parts, so it's back to the GM making stuff up for what that would mean mechanically.

>>93143558
Wish I could make a screamer C refit that's more substantial than just replacing the ERPPC with a CERPPC

>>93143574
NTA but if you guys are going to ackshually someone over "minor fluff inconsistencies" then you should post your own 100% lore accurate painted armies. Otherwise you're just as bad/insufferable as him.

>>93143630
What if I just don't pretend a clan unit is a shadow division and then blindly attack anyone who says that's a bit strange?

File: blood spirits mech scheme.png (182 KB, 703x1024)

182 KB PNG

>>93143265
>units of 5
>all clan stuff
>red with black legs
Looks like a cluster from the Blood Spirits. Kind of a deepcut faction without a lot of presence in the books/backstory, but it looks good man. Props for picking one of the less popular clan forces, seems like other clan fans just want to pick the popular invading clans, but the homeworld clans, like yours, had a lot of cool stuff going on in them too.

What galaxy are you're saying they're from?

>>93143276
>clan wolverine

>>93143630
I've posted my lances in groups of lore appropriate 4 before. And hey, nobody made any remarks about the number of individual mechs per unit. Funny that.

File: 386594974_176656220375763(...).jpg (212 KB, 1024x768)

212 KB JPG

>>93143644
>What if I just don't pretend a clan unit is a shadow division

Once again, NTA but I do see a lot of non-Clan things in there. Plus, why do you give a shit?
Why do I give a shit?
You're all acting dumb. Can we get back to arguing over something slightly less stupid, for example, why are Space Battles so rare in BT? And is this a good thing in the lore? I say no. I prefer massive void battles in my sci-fi.

>>93143650
Mate, fuck off. I see no one posting their own painted armies, and thus I win.
Thanks for reminding me why the Battletech community is so shite and toxic. Saves me from interacting with you lot in the future.
<3

File: 20240623_115144.jpg (2.78 MB, 4032x2268)

2.78 MB JPG

I'm so glad to be done painting this monstrosity.

>>93143669
Bye, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

File: Fatherless Behavior.png (703 KB, 1052x1140)

703 KB PNG

>>93143669
>Here's my Wobbie force anons
>Hey man, that doesn't really look like a Wobbie force
>GET FUCKED YOU TOXIC SHIT

Yeah, alright, they're the toxic ones.

>>93143682
I'm not familiar with the Celestials; which one is that?

Metal or print?

File: 1506162240865.gif (1.92 MB, 500x390)

1.92 MB GIF

>>93143662
Dude, it's almost all clan equipment, even before you start looking at the protomechs.
The main issue at this point isn't even that it's basically a clan force, it's that he's being a massive cunt and attacking anyone that points out it's just a clan army.
Space battles are rare because kerensky took a massive portion of the warships that survived the amaris civil war and fucked off to the deep periphery with them, then almost every warship was destroyed in the succession wars, as were the facilities and knowledge required to produce and maintain them, and the few survivors besides those were kept by comstar in total secret.
>>93143669
Sure, man, have a good one.

File: Screenshot 2024-06-23 120202.png (126 KB, 382x590)

126 KB PNG

Whats the use of having firefighters in your military forces? Is this a thing that happens in real life?

>>93143705
Metal, it's the bigliest boy, the Archangel.

File: IMG_20240623_114927385_HDR.jpg (663 KB, 4000x3000)

663 KB JPG

Yeah I feel like this orange was a mistake. Tried adding tiger stripes but it just doesn't work, going to strip and re-do all three with the Orions drybrush styling.

>>93143733
There's an increasingly large number of incendiary weapons as time goes on and a lot of things your enemies might use them on that you don't really want to be on fire.

File: Battle_of_Seelow_Heights_(...).jpg (218 KB, 652x471)

218 KB JPG

>>93143669
>Hey guys! Just got done painting some minis of the British 7th Armoured Division. What do you guys think?
>they look russian
>NO THEY'RE BRITISH AND YOU'RE BEING TOXIC.
lmao ok. you're getting a little too emotionally invested in this, clanner anon.

>>93143737
Ah, the big bastard. Nice paintjob too.

>>93143747
That's fuckin sick.

>>93143759
Thank you, the greens are vallejo jade green and army painter orc green airbrushed on. I then went back and touched over stray spray with black/dark grey and then drybrushed on white. I'd like to add some detailing for weapons and 'metal' bits but unsure what colour to use for that...maybe a tin or a goldy-brass?

>>93143798
I'd probably go for something more subdued, like a dark steel. With the main paint being that colorful, adding on more "look at me" bits might get busy.

>>93143733
Installations and aircraft carriers generally have their own firefighting forces, yes.

Those guys are apparently milita though.

>>93143747
Honestly the orange looks fucking sweet. Sure the coverage isn't good, but it looks great next to the teal

>>93140787
Battletech machineguns are roughly the equivalent of a GAU autocannon. And that ammobin is roughly several thousand rounds contained in an armoured magazine in the guts of the machine, there is nowhere for the pressure to vent, unlike in your can where it goes out the top.
>>93140772
Is a pretty good example of a major ammo cookoff on a warship, now imagine instead of a 200 - 300 metre long ship its a 12 metre mech.

>>93144063
One would assume that mechs would come with an anus to safely vent overpressure. It's not like mechs or ammo explosions are new technology.

File: IMG_20240623_124213127_HDR.jpg (3.74 MB, 4000x3000)

3.74 MB JPG

>>93143747
For the record this is what most of my company looks like. Red weapons and highlights with a gradient of blue for the base armor.

>>93142432
Mechassault called it the Stiletto. Clcktech called it the Raptor. It was CGL that canonized the design as the Raptor II.

>>93144110
Tbh CASE being lostech is one of those things that never really made sense (obviously I know out of universe it is because the writers hadn't come up with it yet when they launched the game, so they had to add it later as rediscovered lostech). Not only are blow-out panels pretty basic technology, but given that the amount of mechs being actually produced by 3025 was pretty small and a lost of mechs were these family heirlooms that had been passed down over generations, one would think most surviving mechs would either be equipped with CASE or have only energy weapons, because sooner or later you get that ammo crit which renders you mechs into an unsalvageable pile of scrap if you lack CASE.

>>93144152
Clicktech used a lot of old mech names for completely different looking designs, many of which were later incorporated into BT as [mechname] II. Raptor II is extra weird, though, since it was clearly supposed to be the clicktech version of the Mech Assault mech, not the original Raptor.

>>93144201
An alternative would've been a SW-era switch to arm-mounted, external mag systems that just blow out and only - at most - mangle up your autocannon's feed mechanism.

>>93144063
>there is nowhere for the pressure to vent
There's plenty of internal volume inside the mech, and a vent isn't hard. It wouldn't even have to qualify as CASE, just a literally hole going out somewhere.
>>93144063
>roughly the equivalent of a GAU autocannon
That's a meaningless phrase, like saying an "M rifle." In any case, BT machine guns only go up to 20mm and most are smaller. I'm not aware of any lore that portrays MGs as firing explosive rounds. That seems to be the differentiator between an MG and AC2. All that leaves is burning propellant, which is ezypzy to vent. Even if you couldn't vent it literally anywhere, it's not going to detonate in a huge explosion. It's just going to burn.

>>93144201
It's because CASE ammo bins were made with ferro-fibrous components and ferro-fibrous armor became LosTech

>>93144220
Weisman had a thing about throwing a ton of videogame mechs in clicktech. MW4 Vulture, Black Knight, MA Stiletto...

>>93144220
It also had a weird habit of using new names for what could have just been variants of old mechs. Stuff like the Havoc and Quasimodo. The MWDA fluff was light enough that it could have just said the new variants had nicknames, but it made them whole new mechs instead.

>>93144201
CASE is lostech because the vents and panels are all made out of Ferro Fiberous. Once they lost the technology to make that kind of armor, no more CASE.

>>93144508
>Quasimodo
That's pure CGL TRO:3145, not Clicktech. Same with the Stalker II, Chinese Not-Victor and some others.

File: 1716764741886744.jpg (336 KB, 2059x1645)

336 KB JPG

So the main point of having conventional vehicles is they're cheap, but there are a ton of mechs out there that are designed to be just as cheap if not cheaper than most conventional vehicles, and a mech can run on an ICE engine just fine, so what's the point of a convee?

>>93143287
>>93143338
>>93143380
>>93143514

There is a huge gap between not caring about "muh established canon" and just being a cunt, but you managed to clear it at relativistic speed. Congratulations, now please go and eat a heaping plate od steaming shit.

>>93144911
>so what's the point of a convee
Variety. Meat loses its appeal if it's all you have to eat, and mechs look better if they're the centerpiece and the armored fist, not doing every last job under the local star, even if there *are* mechs that could do it.

>>93144911
>and a mech can run on an ICE engine just fine
No, not really. Mechs with fusion engines have a buffer for overheating and can slap in energy weapons willy-nilly, ICE mechs do not.

>so what's the point of a convee?
No limitations on how much armour you can put on any facing, cheap, easy to maintain, can achieve stable flight, can be specialized according to the predominant local terrain types to a much greater extend.

>>93145031
>Mechs with fusion engines have a buffer for overheating and can slap in energy weapons willy-nilly, ICE mechs do not.
They're no worse than convees in that regard then, who also have trouble mounting energy weapons because of the heat.

>No limitations on how much armour you can put on any facing
Rendered irrelevant in the face of TAC's that will instakill them regardless of how much armor they have.

>cheap
>easy to maintain
So are a lot of mechs

>can be specialized according to the predominant local terrain types to a much greater extend.
The only time this comes into play is with hovercraft and those have a myriad of other problems accompanying them.

>>93145054
They also can transport infantry and BA and can haul field guns, artillery and gun trailers.

>The only time this comes into play is with hovercraft and those have a myriad of other problems accompanying them.
Ships, submersiles and hovercrafts, choppers and wheeled vehicles.
Covering surface, submarine and any type of level terrain, utterly impassable stretches and city terrain respectively.

Tanks only stand out because they can occupy forest cover and are a bit harder to park.

File: FH3FvUVVkAArPr_.jpg (394 KB, 1586x2048)

394 KB JPG

>>93145088
>Ships, submersiles
Battlemechs can fight underwater as well.

>wheeled vehicles.
Handle far less terrain than mechs do.

>>93145102
>Battlemechs can fight underwater as well.
Zero gravity and under water are the two terrains where Mechs should not be forced to operate.

>>93145124
Battlemechs are able to fight in zero gravity as well. They have pressurized sealed cockpits.

>>93145102
>Battlemechs can fight underwater as well.
And the second you have an armor breach the entire limb is destroyed by the water rushing in. At least the submarine's harder to hit.

>>93145102
Flooding makes 'Mechs unusually fragile underwater. Submersibles are dramatically cheaper and more expendable for those kinds of missions.
>>93145141
They can, but they're dogshit at it unless they're LAMs, because jump jets need reaction mass in to operate in space (unlike in atmo), and 'Mechs have a severely limited supply.

>>93144911
Putting an ICE engine on a battlemech is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.


ICE engines are extremely heavy, can explode if shot and you can't mount energy weapons without a conversion kit.


Your gimpiglng your mech by doing this.

>>93145172
Addendum: 'Mechs with jump jets also have the critical weakness that they can only jump in a straight line, and unlike ASFs or LAMs, they don't have maneuvering thrusters. One mis-jump is all you need for your several million-dollar mech to get lost in space.
>>93145174
My understanding is 'Mechs CAN run ICEs, but it's a desperation measure for emergency repairs, pirates, planetary militias, and impoverished periphery worlds. Topically:
>>93144911
>>93145102
ICEs are also incompatible with space- and underwater-based 'Mech operations, since the engine needs an atmosphere to breathe.

>>93145164
>At least the submarine's harder to hit.
A bigass submarine is going to be way easier to hit than a tiny battlemech

>>93145214
If you need to replace a fusion engine with an ICE engine on your battlemech your already in dire straights as your typic engine ways as twice as much as a fusion engine forcing you to either downgrade the engine considerable turning your Heavy battlemech into a crawler or downgrade your weapons and armor.

>>93145260
Submarines don't suffer a movement penalty for moving in water and can actually hit cruising speeds.

Battlemechs can only walk in water and are considerably slower.