What's your favourite mercenary unit?

>>93738662
Actually its the opposite and the anon was mistaken Canopus is having a major boon during the Ilclan because they allied with the Cappy's. Marian is actually dying.

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>>93738642
They may not be exactly everyone's first choice, but these guys will always have a nostalgic hit for me from my younger self during clicky tech

>>93738642
Mercenaries are probably the worst part of the setting.

As much as people bitch and moan about everything being about Clanners, everything pre-3050 is about some fucking mercenary company doing the most incredible, unrealistic shit possible. They're practically space marine chapters. It's exhausting and not the least bit interesting.

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Is the Marian Hegemony an actually interesting faction or something they made for the 40k refugees? Now, I know we already the Dracs which are a similar level of LARP but something about the hegemony screams 40k space marine chapter for some reason while Dracs are just Japs in space.

>>93738689
I was talking about the big succ. Dark Age into Ilclan isn't anywhere near as destructive.

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>>93738692
Steel Wolves aren't mercs. It's only when they became the Wolf Hunters which has the red pawprint on the black background as their symbol.

I hate that I know that. The ones that broke off from Annie and hired under that one merc Juggernaut dude were the best part of them. That waifumental entrapment she pulled on the commander was the best I've seen in battletech fiction. Tricking him into a picnic date under the guise of a spy mission was just chef's kiss.

>>93738755
Why would space irish pretending to be space romans while selling mcguffin powder by the ton remind you of space marines? Is it the laurel wreath on Caesar O'Reilly? Or the little togas on the whiskey bottles?

>>93738642
I'd say the MAC if they didn't get statified. I'd say Wilson's Hussars if they weren't dead. Fuck.

I think Able's Aces are still around?

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>>93738755

You may want to get yourself checked out for being legitimately retarded. At the very least, get off the internet for a bit. Marians are much older than any need for 40k kiddies to become "refugees".

>>93738803
>Space pirates that happen to be space Irish that are prending to be space Romans.

FTFY. That reminds me. You guys remember where to find the OG symbol? I swear I saw it somewhere but I've never been able to find it again. Instead of the 3050's zombie, it was a regular skeleton in the armor and B&W. It was so much more badass.

>>93738755
I wouldn't say they are particularly 40k but it is really goofy that they have lasted as long as they have. Obviously all the "evil" factions have plot armor so that they can continue to be evil but it really stand out that the marians are both huge shitheads to everyone and relatively weak but keep trucking along because they have sourcebook entries. Also some bits of lore inexplicably treat them as a normal nation that has ambassadors and trade agreements and so on.

>>93738746
of the 40 years of this franchise how long did that pre-3050 take?

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Spheroid here, finally decided on a clan faction to build.

Rate my Nova Cats:
Assaults
- Turkina
- Huntsman
- Supernova

Heavy
- Timber Wolf
- Ebon Jaguar
- Nova Cat

Medium
- Nova
- Shadow Cat
- Battle Cobra
- Stormcrow
- Pouncer
- Griffin IIC

Light
- Arctic Cheetah
- Fire Moth
- Mist Lynx

I have most of these, except the Nova Cat and the Griffin IIC. Seems like a decent spread that works in all eras until they're annihilated and I can still use Spirit Cats.

I'm not 100% on the Griffin IIC though. Any other mechs I should consider or any I should swap for something else? Mostly sticking to CGL plastics.

>>93738845

Really? The Marians seem to be shit on as regularly as the Taurians, constantly stuck with internal division that prevents them from actually doing anything. Like, they can't even hold the massively weaker militarily Lothian League. That's hardly plot armour.

It would have been nicer to see the Marians serve as a way to merge all the minor literally-who states in their area in to some sort of federation, to provide an actual threat to the MoC.

>>93738878
>of the 40 years of this franchise how long did that pre-3050 take?

Not him but 5 years. 1984-1989.

So the Scorpion Empire are definitely trading with the Wobbies in the Deep Periphery right?

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Star_Crusader
>"The Star Crusader is an assault OmniMech developed by the Scorpion Empire based off of Blakist Grand Crusader schematics found on the world Braunschweig."

This story doesn't stand up to scrutiny whatsoever. Braunschweig has never been Blakist controlled in it's entire history. You don't just find plans for an experimental Omnimech version of a Blakist mech developed in the WOB protectorate on some backwater planet that the Scorps took off the Hanseatic League in 3140.

They bought this shit from the Deep Space Wobbies for sure. Same with the Nexus.

It even makes sense too, the Scorpion Empire is barely even a clan anymore, and the Wobbies and Scorpions weren't enemies during the Jihad. If I were the Scorps and worried about the Homeworld clans invading me, I'd probably by assault mechs from the Wobbies too.

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>>93739002
Forgot Pic.

It's literally the same mech as the WOB Grand Crusader.

>>93739002
Why do the Scorpions and the Wolfs call themselves Empire?

>>93738776
Which book?

>>93739017
Because they're not just a holding for the clans as a whole, they're independent and also control places that used to be multiple other nations, which is the least you need to be an empire.

>>93739017
Well with the Scorps it's because they're not really clan Goliath Scorpion anymore. They've become culturally Spanish after eating a periphery nation bigger than their head and then proceeding to eat yet another nation bigger than themselves in the Hanseatic League. The modern Scorpion Empire is only barely a clan faction because they have clantech, but they're dominated politically and economically by freebirth peripherats.

The wolves still try to be clanny.

>>93739002
The alternative is that they're heavily compromised by wobbies. We know clan science castes are pretty vulnerable to infiltration. Even beyond the Society, there have been other situations where outsiders got in with the scientists. Stuff like the Wolverines getting their genes into the Bears. Wobbies could have gotten into the Scorpions.

Is it better to have 4 ER Medium Lasers, or 2 ERs and 2 Medium Pulse Lasers?

>>93739066
It's better to have 4 standard IS Medium Lasers than 4 IS ER Medium Lasers.

If you're asking Clan the pulses are always better.

>>93739072
Yea I forgot to specify clan weaponry. Thanks though.

>>93739066
its better to have them all of the same kind

>>93739024
The Dark Age novel Wolf Hunters unironically. It follows all the splinters of the Steel Wolves in an anthology kind of thing.

>>93738880
The Huntsman is a Medium but looks good. Based on this you probably have the Alpha Strike starter so you own a Warhawk C? That's a good if not downright evil mech to use.

You probably also want some Elementals if you dont already have them in mind. Good fillers in any list

>>93739002
>>93739039
>>93739047
This actually sounds pretty interesting. Is the good stuff in Ilclan era all happening nowhere near terra?

>>93739141
won't know for a while. and there's a chance that instead of a book advancing the setting we get something about a diverse nonbinary clan sea fox mechwarrior / brothel worker instead.

Playing the Battletech turn based video game that's loosely based on a simplified version of the tabletop has me thinking a gang of light mechs punching, headbutting, and flying stomping a bigger mech into the ground then repeatedly curb stomping them to death is a completely viable tactic in the tabletop
Is overwhelming a larger mech with more melee viable?

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>>93738633
Finally got around to emailing them; QML told me to kick fucking rocks. All I wanted to know was if I was in wave 1 or 2. This shit is unbearable.

The Tuesday news-day was a farce as well. I saw mods actively deleting comments of upset backers. Rightly so there are distraught people, especially after what has come to light.

Apparently CAT's answer was that they are mobilizing their warehouses to restore the correct inventory to QML in order to finish fulfilling orders. We don't know how long that will take, they seem to think it's no biggie. It'll be over soon and then once that's verified they will begin international shipping.

If I am in wave 2, like I suspect; I don't anticipate I'll be getting shipping notification any time this or next month. Folks across the waters possibly won't either. A right mess this is.

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What kind of scenarios or missions can you guys think of for a merc band bodyguarding a faction (or even the IS) wide famous idol group touring across the stars?

>>93738827
By The Periphery 2e it's already the modern one. I figure it would be in The Periphery 1e, but couldnt' find it in a quick look-through. They only seem to have the flag of Alphard, which is a [live] roman-ass dude.

>>93739141
Enough's been going on that they've got what, three, four sourcebooks about it? Empire Alone has the FWL actually doing stuff for once, and it brought back not just the Marik Militia, but the specific regiment of Marik Militia that I've been repping since before Jihad, the 18th. That one paragraph blurb alone makes me like Ilclan.

>>93739141
I honestly kind of feel like The Ilkhan is the most boring part of the Ilkhanate, unless the Cappies go ahead and bump them off Terra or something.

The fun parts of the time period so far have been happening in the Davion/Kurita war and the Periphery.

>>93739176
>QML told me to kick fucking rocks. All I wanted to know was if I was in wave 1 or 2.
Since you bothered them, now you're in Wave 213. You'll be dead last, after the Australians get theirs for retail sale.

>>93736541
>>93736547
>>93736556
So was this just CGL demanding that stores wait longer to sell their stuff? I get why they're doing that legally, but are they really so clueless as to think the people that want this stuff would be happy about hearing that?

>>93739245
what will end up happening is the stores just say 'sure buddy' and keep selling shit anyways.

>>93739245
People whine when stuff they bought though a kickstarter goes to retail before they get their order, and other people whine when stuff isn't in retail by the date they first said. It makes more sense to try to please the kickstarter people, even if they do a bad job of that.

I kinda feel bad seeing all the people stressing about their KS fulfillment while mine showed up a month ago and I have neither played a game with or painted a single one of them.

>>93739129
Doh, I must have just thought it was an assault because it was in the heavy battle star box. And yeah I do have the AS boxset, so I'll add in the Warhawk and swap out the Griffin IIC.

Works out because I was originally eyeballing the Griffin IIC for my merc unit. Thanks!

>>93739367
I'm bringing the Long Tom I picked up in mine to the Northern Assault Tournament this weekend.

>>93739367
Fortunately, there's an easy remedy for that feel: Paint one up and post pics, so that your soul may earn the forgiveness of blessed Blake.

>>93739367
I made sure to paint a handful of mine and placed them in a pentagram on my porch. I'm not entirely sure which sort of eldritch energy I'm amassing, but it's probably doing something to everyone else's fulfillment times.

>>93738642
Except for the (kinda boring) big 5, All the best merc groups either get destroyed or absorbed.
Probably the Blue Star Irregulars overall.

>>93738809

What made the Big Mac so cool before Xin Sheng?

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>>93739412

If you had to rate the Big 5 from most to least lame, how would it look?

>>93739420
Dragoons
Northwind Highlanders
Kell Hounds
GDL
ELH

What's "the" aerospace fighter? The one everyone loves and uses? I have a dropship with a couple asf bays and no idea what to put in them

>>93739444
Corsair?

>>93739444
Don't do it, it's a fucking trap bro.

The minute you start running Aerospace, the Opfor is going to start running Aerospace too, and things will get a whole lot harder for your mechs.

Just convert them to mechbays instead.

Cant decide if I want to paint stuff up for a mian faction, or (your dudes) a merch company.

>>93739414
Mostly their OG scenario book. It's one of the best unit books ever. Barton was a fucking beast.

>>93739444
What era?

>>93739206
>You'll be dead last,
Great, that's what CGL told me.

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>>93738642
My dudes.

>>93739438
>ELH
How is this the least lame. It's literally run by a Strong Independent Black Woman who Don't Need No Man. Ariana Winston is literally a diversity hire, and she basically gets the ELH wiped out. Plus, the ELH tolerates furfaggotry in a way that even the Clans don't.

At least all the other units you listed are commanded by European white men.

So I'm creating a character who is less of a character, and more of a title, similar to the Bounty Hunter. So the "character" will have existed across multiple eras and piloted different mechs as a result.
So far his mechs are a Blackjack, Rifleman, and an Ebon Jaguar. The theme is definitely that the mechs have dual gun arms. I feel like I need at least 1 more mech to cover the ages though. Aside from a Jagermech, what would be a good fit?

>>93739522
They have the least protagonist power.

>>93739520
congrats on doing a bunch of models

do you plan to revisit the scheme and improve on it or is this a one time gig?

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>>93739572
The Penetrator comes to mind. Symmetrical laser boat with the main weapons in the arms, that doesn't get nearly enough attention.

>>93739572
Emperor

>>93739175
If you surround a mech on all 6 sides, you can pretty easily kick it till it either falls or loses a leg.

>>93739590
>>93739595
Both of those have lower arm actuators. The three he mentioned only have upper arm actuators.

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So, not every joint fits nicely, but...

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>>93739590
not him but seems pretty solid to me

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>>93739609
You can do some really amusing shit with the Goliath's turret lol.

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>>93739605
If you insist on the arm weapons attaching directly to the torso, there's always the Lancelot.

>>93739520
I can hear the theme

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>>93739414
They fought and worked for everyone at some point or another. Started off as Davion mercs, stole a bunch of mechs and dropships when the check bounced. Worked for Kurita, Steiner, FWL, and finally the Cappies. Then they took on the best that the FedSuns had to offer and crushed them. Look up their scenario pack and you'll see just how much the deck was stacked against them at Marlette. You have a Davion commander with a DVS-2 in the 3040s, a fully operational Star League fortress, and scores of crack troops against the 2nd MAC. Barton and his boys whipped them good and stole their prototype Devastator.

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>>93739577
One and done. 16 mechs for a single theme is definitely my limit.
>>93739633
They do have a rival counterpart to them. They have a lot of jobber mechs, but then also some that would make one question how they came to be in possession of such a machine.
If I ever decide to learn alpha strikes rules, it will be so that I can do a 16v16 battle of these guys.

>>93739626
I think we may have a winner here. Go figure, I don't actually own a Lancelot miniature. I suppose it gives me an excuse to get one though.

>>93739572
Champion is the only other one off the top of my head, aside from pods like the Stalker.

>>93739572
uh, the crabs? at least the medium/assault ones are in every era iirc. can't recall when the light one came out at the moment

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>>93738642
Like >>93739520 said, my dudes, when the magnets are not trying to fall out of their bases.

I organized them by lance this time, except for the Sentinel who is an odd man out and the Wolfhound standing in for the Scarabus.

>>93739683
>>93739717
I appreciate the ideas, but this anon >>93739605 knew what I was looking for and was even able to pin down what that was when I wasn't. Only upper arm actuators.
I liked that picture of the Lancelot too, so it's going to be the 4th.
I suppose if I really want to go with even more akin to the Bounty Hunter, than the Jagermech and Rifleman IIC are standing by as options as well.

>>93739731
So are your dudes good dudes or bad dudes?

>>93739572
what is his title and profession?

>>93739399
>>93739409
I'm gonna do both of these things but it's gonna take me a while so everyone will (hopefully) have their stuff by then. I got one primed this morning at least. I'm just anal about mold lines and these are sadly the same quality as all of my other CGL minis.

>>93739609
>>93739617
wish they posed the goliath 'stomping' with one of his front legs raised or something. right now it looks too stiff imo

>>93739771
I like to think of them as good dudes; but it's not really that simple. I like to think of them as the FCCW equivalent of the A-team, but they're also defectors, some of them AWOL from the 5th Donegal, blasting their former comrades.

That said if Katherine Steiner is sending big metal dudes to stomp on your puppy orphanages and the fluffy kitten factory in your major population centers and you have like a C-bill and three nickels, you can hire the Snow Rats.

They might show up with a Stinger, A Commando, two squads of Jump infantry (and a dream), but they WILL show up.

>>93739799
I don't really like how it looks like a Highlander quad.

>>93739572
Warhammer, Marauder, Awesome, Enforcer, Lancelot, Flashman and Gunslinger all have two gun arms.

>>93739784
The Hitman. He's an ace sharpshooter that tends to hire himself out for mercenary work, but isn't actually a part of any mercenary company. He's also known for doing assassination work from the cockpit of his mech and said to have an uncanny ability to land shots that should theoretically be out of his weapons' maximum ranges.
His reputation is well known amongst the inner sphere, with many citing him to be the 2nd best Mechwarrior there is, right behind the Bounty Hunter himself.
2nd best tends to be used as a term of derision however as many Mechwarriors have the mindset of if you're not first you're last. This has led to many a Mechwarrior mocking him and underestimating him on the battlefield. The thing they often forget however about being 2nd best, is that it means you know there's really only 1 guy you need to look out for. Everyone else is just a target at that point. Of course there are equally as many Mechwarriors who understand that being 2nd best makes you a very dangerous man.
The Hitman himself is aware of his reputation, and much like the Bounty Hunter, uses it to his advantage. He doesn't let that thought of being "2nd best" get to him. Afterall, there's dozens of possible contenders for who the actual best Mechwarrior is. One's reputation is just another weapon to use on the battlefield. Besides, the Hitman knows that he is the best and he has the skills to back it up.

The lore is still a work in progress, but that's a working description I've got of him so far.

>>93739851
Only the flashman has two gun arms in the way that a rifleman or blackjack has two gun arms.

>>93739823
Ahh, similar to my turtle power merc company. Yeah, they're looking to make a buck, what merc isn't? But they've been known to turn down shady contracts and what's more, they've accepted contracts from those that are desperate and too poor to hire other mercenaries.
It's said that there was once a time in which an outlying settlement was in desperate need of some mercenaries to defend them from some pirate raiders. The settlement offered all they could, but it was a paltry sum that no merc outfit would take. The Turtle Power mercenary company abruptly showed up to fight the pirates and upon defeating them, accepted only one thing as payment (aside from enemy salvage rights of course). That thing, was a pizza party. Turns out a good slice of pizza is a great motivator for those guys.

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>>93738755
The Hegemony is very nearly older than 40k itself. Like, before the switch from Rogue Trader branding. They only got their first big fluff update in '88 though.

>>93739175
If you can get lucky on knockdown and initiative rolls, then race down the opponent while losing 1-2 mechs a turn? It's theoretically possible. Thing is a Stinger still only has a 4-point kick and 2-point punches. To keep an enemy pinned in place while swarming it you have to accept small or nonexistent TMMs on your own stuff. Meanwhile a stock Atlas or even a Cyclops can straight-up delete 1-2 Light mechs a turn if it connects with punches, kicks, or the AC, and then the lasers are going to seriously threaten another. Against something like a Longbow or Bombardier you can definitely bully it to death with a lance of bugmechs but it's not going to be pretty for you. Also, this playstyle is boring as fuck and likely to drive away opponents until you have to spend your BT time alone in your room crying and getting anally molested by Princess because even the most tryhard MegaMek servers have banned you.
In later eras it becomes much more viable to swarm something heavy with slashing attacks and the odd melee attack, especially with things like the Scarabus that get genuinely damaging melee weapons and the speed to use them. At the same time pulses proliferate and players at higher tech levels are usually experienced enough to manage a swarm.

>>93739731
nice pattern. makes me want to take a stab at winter camo

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Does anybody have any experience using an Executioner very much? It looks great, but 14 tons of armor isn't very much for a 95 ton mech, and I'm worried that a PPC boat will shread it. Do you normally just use it's speed to defend against damage?

>>93740036
Here we see a clan minmaxer encountering a mech that doesn't have the absolute maximum possible armor for the first time. See how it confuses and frightens him. Perhaps he will understand the mystery later, but that day is not today.

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battletech is about mechs and, to a lesser extent, all the other military equipment, nations, people and mercenaries come after that, then everything else
I couldn't give less of a shit about mercenaries

>>93738809
If they were statified why is there new art of them meeting with a drac bitch?

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>>93740036
Certain configs are better at straight up fights than others, but the Prime and several other Executioners are primarily snipers/fire support mechs. It can use it's size and speed to bully lighter mechs, but against similar size foes it wants to pound away at them from range, preferably from some woods and/or ontop of a hill.

>>93740061
More like an IS kiddie that isn't used to an assault that isn't an Atlas.

>>93740036

14 tons of Clan F/F is basically equivalent to 17 tons of standard armor. 17 tons of standard armor on a 95 ton Mech is fine. Not optimal, but fine. Add to that the ability to jump so as to put LOF-blocking terrain between you and what you don't want to shoot at you, and defensively the Executioner is perfectly acceptable. The issue comes from its armor *layout*. The side torsos are particularly under armored, and losing a torso and the associated arm is the Executioners major problem.

Even though the prime config mounts ERLLs and a Gauss, I have found the best success with an Executioner is in fairly close. Use bursts of MASC to close the distance and dash from cover to cove on your way in, and then once you're up close abuse your jump jets. If you have a particularly bad initiative result, reserve your MASC to dash behind nearby terrain, or to move so jumpy pulse boats can't jump far enough to get behind you.

Basically, the Executioner isn't optimal - and it's arguable that no 4/6/x 95 ton Mech can *ever* be optimal - but it's not a gameplay joke the way that a Hellbringer is. Even against someone driving a Warhawk, you can generally take a hit. Remember, it doesn't matter how accurate they are if you're on the other side of a 3 level tall hill, so use the jets.

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Is the Clan Invasion box set any better than the Game of Armored Combat? They must go over the rules for omnimechs, but do they recover old topics or expand on tactics and such? Or is all that crammed into the other print products?

>>93740036
Work on your painting

>>93740061
There's no acceptable reason for ANY mech to ever have less than max armor, unless that lest half ton of armor only gets you 1 point. That's not minmaxing, thats basic common sense.

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Soon

>>93740171
That's a pretty stupid kind of generalization. I'm confident there are variants (probably especially in clans) that are strictly much nicer on account of trimming marginal armor to carry a heavier long-range armament.

Even from a meta standpoint I'm sure there are breakpoints that aren't worthwhile exceeding at certain range-bands especially with big chunky ballistic hits.

>>93740284
While the person you are responding to is obviously trolling it is straightforward to say that armor is one of the most weight efficient things that increase a mech's utility, and with weight saving stuff like XL engines, FF and endo, you don't have to sacrifice that much to maximize it.

>mechs with 4 or leas rear armor
any tips on using them? geek the lighta first? always activate last? move along the edge of the mapsheet?

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>>93738642
Grey Death Legion. Price of Glory was the first book I read and I liked how combined arms was their schtick. Fucking annoying how every single plot is them getting betrayed at some point and Dying Time is a shit novel.

>>93740174
Since all of the pictures you posted have already appeared in the archive, I assume you're not the real twink.
If you'd like to post your own Butte with a time stamp however, I'm sure /btg/ would be happy to Hold it for you.

>>93739011
you guys ever look at a mech and just dread its mini getting released because its gonna start showing up in new players' /yourdudues/? im not a bugs and shads only purist but once that celestial pack drops were going to be seeing a bunch of them showing up in merc units despite being taboo for even dingy mercs to use.

>>93740420
>cries in tripods

I still don't understand why CGL chose to go all-in on supporting the tripods. Also, the ones we've met are just bad.

>>93740229
>clanners
>calling other people fanatics

>>93740127
Executioner definitely shines up-close like you say. It's a great urban Mech, too. Use your speed to close, preferably in cover, then hit 'em hard. Executioner B is by far the best of the canon configs.

>>93740420
im sure it will be fine but my lgs does have a guy with celestials and an omega that he insists his mercs have we dont really play with them much bu they fortunately switch to much more appropriate mechs for pickup games

>>93740487
I run an Omega sometimes but it's the 5R variant to go with my Hastati Sentinels, not some "We totally found it in a cache" nonsense

>>93740420
my wob remnant dudes found some sldf magic scroll that make them immune to the vdni attrition so they fight guerilla well after the jihad. suck it

>>93740420
That's me with the Devastator and Thunderhawk. Some bozo in our group is just jerking it over running a Thunderhawk, Nightstar, and Devastator together with a token light for a lance. Unfortunately for him, I know how Smoke LRMs and Arrow IV work, along with battle armor. He's in for a rough time.

>>93739617
>>93739609

I have a spare Goliath and more tanks than I could ever use. I might do something goofy like that.

>>93740401
He's just trying to 1up the anon with the estrogen from the other day.

>>93740450
I just want them to make a record sheet for the Hedgehog.

>>93740544
bring the arrow iv thunderhawk and a scarabus and give him a nasty surprise

>>93740551
The other guy with no timestamp? Okay.

>>93740561
dont they have to make PSR when they fire

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how different in general quality of the minis between printed and the ones that are sold?
im looking at the ctalog of the local printer guy and some look alright and some look melted
also i never painted anything like that is there like yt video of how to do it?

>>93740579
that's only heavy gauss, hollander just has an regular gauss.

Diverging piloting and gunnery so much is generally seen a pretty unrealistic and cheesy thuogh

>>93740579
No unless its using a Heavy Gauss.

>>93740544
He can always field a King Crab-001.

>>93740581
depends on the stl file and the quality of the print job which can vary wildly. CGL minis can vary wildly as well, I have a couple with ugly mold lines and a Thug with a warped cockpit constantly doing the dreamworks face.

Printed minis unless they use resin, which costs more, are much more prone to breaking if mishandled or dropped.

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What would be an adequate matchup for a full star? 2 lances? 2 reinforced lances? What about a nova?

>>93740627
Stars are supposed to engage and destroy companies of IS mechs.

>>93740581
if you want to take a star vs two lances i recommend some elementals just to keep the initiative disparity in check you can quickly get out maneuvered if you lose initiative with 3 mechs to your own

>>93740632
And I'll bet you're stupid enough to think that 1 Clan mech can kill a lance of IS mechs like they do in the novels too, right? It's bullshit. A star can't fight a company, and Vlads Mad Cat could have never beaten an IS kelp hounds lance if weren't for author fiat.

>>93740632
And the Clans never change that scale? That makes sense for 3050 when everything they have is still like a century ahead of anything in the entire Inner Sphere. But even by the beginning of the Jihad just 20 years later the 'roids have made great strides in reverse engineering and even surpassing some Clan tech, and by IlClan they're almost comparable.

>>93740658
You may not like it, but remember you're supposed to be fielding at least a full lance of bugs anyhow. That's just what it means to play Inner Sphere.

>>93740665
You didn't state an era so I have to assume the worst and cite early Invasion when frontline stars of pure omnimechs are engaging against pre-helm machines.

why can't mechs walk backward? balance reason?

>>93740675
If you could walk backwards there'd be no benefit to jumpjets giving you free rotation.

>>93740675
they can walk just cant run

>>93738642
/Mydudes/, obviously.

>>93738746
Everything should be about mercenaries. The big picture stuff can be in the lore, sure, but playing your own games about pointless conflictsthat don't affect the big picture is what wargaming is about.

>>93740665
A clan commander that ensures they only ever fight at even odds or better will be regarded as a massive coward and may well be killed by an ambitious subordinate.

>>93740658
>And I'll bet you're stupid enough to think that 1 Clan mech can kill a lance of IS mechs like they do in the novels too, right? It's bullshit

Some time, play a game: a really big map (at least 2x3, 3x3 or larger is better), and put a Timber Wolf or Stormcrow at 1/2 (a typical member of a Clan Alpha or Beta Galaxy) against a medium/heavy intro tech lance at 4/5. If you're not a retard, the Clanner will win handily by exploiting range and mobility.

Put a 1/2 Warhawk against a lance of assaults and see the same.

>>93740751
Warhawk dies.

>>93740751
Everything we know about clan trueborn pilots suggests most would not be willing to give ground and exploit cover in that way, even if zell wasn't in effect.

>>93740776
Many novels contradict this. Clanners may choose to neglect cover if they believe they're fighting an equal. Inner Sphere pilots are not their equal.

>>93740785
Yes but their entire schtick is ride or die blaze of glory stuff. If they were emotionally capable of thinking "I might get overwhelmed here, better carefully pick off my opponents one by one at maximum range to preserve myself" the invasion would look very different.

Rolled 376 (1d1000)

>>93740751
>Put a 1/2 Warhawk against a lance of assaults and see the same.
I am highly skeptical of this but sure, let's build a scenario to playtest.
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,1219.0.html
I'm pulling a RAT from the community pdf linked here, page 60 is the Draconis Combine in 3050. Four d1000 rolls to determine mechs, all pilots will be 4/5.
also goddamn it, the mod mistake a few days ago purged the sticky. we'd had that since 2011. this is history, lost
Against them we bid a single 1/2 Warhawk Prime.

Map selection is between you and your opponent. I suggest playing on two map sheets minimum, laid long edge to long edge. I'm not aware of any tool that can pick two mapsheets randomly for you, nor does everyone necessarily have access to all mapsheets, but good luck all the same. Post batrep and the mapsheets you used please.

>>93740658
>>93740632
Its not bullshit when these are IS companies with most of the guys 4/5 skill and the entire company is something like below, all introtech variants

Lance 1
Phoenix hawk
Locust
Wasp
Stinger

Lance 2
Phoenix hawk
Enforcer
Panther
Valkyrie

Lance 3
Blackjack
Jagermech
Whitworth
Enforcer

Vs clan warriors who are at least 3/4 (and probably better if they are in a frontline of an invasion force. A star of clan mechs probably costs more BV even.

>>93740751
>>93740776
>>93740785
And all of this can be embraced or neglected based on whatever story the author is trying to tell. If the author is trying to show Clanners as narrowminded and hopelessly bound by their confusing and obtuse culture, they'll observe zellbrigen at all times and pilot lioe an idiot. If the story is trying to show them as ruthless and cunning and incredibly skilled, they'll say they're ignoring zellbrigen but then ignore it anyway. And if the story is trying to make their mary sue merc company lead seem really cool and sick, they'll have the Clanners observe zellbrigen as a sign of respect, showing that even incredibly skilled and foreign Clanners recognize the sheer skill and talent of <insert merc character name here>

That's how it works. Taking anything as absolute when you have so many people writing so many different types of stories is stupid.

Rolled 888, 877, 60 = 1825 (3d1000)

>>93740809
First result is a Charger 1A9
Rolling for the other 3 mechs. 3d1000 this time

I picked the Drac RAT because they did lots of fighting against the clans, naturally. If you'd rather pull from a Davion or Liao RAT, go for it.

>>93740597
He's the kind of guy that goes by consensus about which mechs are "bad" or "good". He doesn't like the King Crab because Goonhammer said it was bad.

I don't care because good luck hitting my Arrow IV Demolisher behind a hill while my Raven TAGs you every turn and my Amazons are fucking up your legs.

Rolled 189 (1d1000)

>>93740809
>>93740817
Victor 9B, Crockett 5003-0, Crockett 5003-2 Katana, and something from the Steiner 3028 chart.

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>>93740809
>>93740817
>>93740827
....and a Zeus 6S from pp. 14. Wondeful.
All at 4/5 against the aforementioned 1/2 Warhawk Prime.
The Clans bring 6452 BV against the Inner Sphere's 6059.

Good luck and good hunting. I'll post a batrep if I can line up a game this weekend.

You think using an LRM 5 with Frag ammo would be worth it for anti infantry capabilities? 10 dudes in the open isn't half bad.

>>93740838
No need for a batrep.

It fucking dies.

On the subject of clantech: why are clanner ballistic weapons so close to their IS counterparts? Clan-tech ER LL and LRM 20 are huge upgrades over the star league era, clan autocannons are only marginally smaller and lighter.

>>93740856
Probably, but more due to heat management reasons than anything else. There's nothing to screen for it so you can't really do the funny trick where you shutdown behind partial cover to cool off.

>>93740865
>Shutdown behind partial cover.

Yeah I wouldn't even do that. Getting aimed shots is bad.

>>93740838
Just make Princess do it

>>93740860
>why are clanner ballistic weapons so close to their IS counterparts?
>clan autocannons are only marginally smaller and lighter.

>why is the HK416 so close to the OG Colt AR-15?
Ballistics technology plateaus fast.

>>93740860
On release the IS only had LBX-10 and UAC-5s. An Ultra or LBX 20 is not quite as good as clan energy weapons but still a huge upgrade over an AC-20

What makes the Stormcrow so good? I always see it recommended when somebody asks for a good Clan medium, but just looking at it, it seems average. Is there a specific load out that makes it so good?

>>93739852
I want to say edgy Mary Sue but then again the Bouty Hunter exists, so this is pretty decent.

>>93740893
Heat neutral 41 damage alpha and can generate +3 TMM very reliably. Armor is 98.3% of max and although it isn't AC/20 proof, you shouldn't be in AC/20 range anyway.
It can even zombie with the head laser.

It's just a nasty little machine that can go toe-to-toe with anything in the same role and win.
>recommending the stormcrow as a good clan medium
That part is silly. It's like recommending a Mclaren as a daily drive. Yes it's faster and better handling than a Toyota Corolla. That doesn't make it a good daily drive that everyone should own.

>>93740581
>also i never painted anything like that is there like yt video of how to do it?
Step one: go to the /wip/ thread.
Step two: Look at the OP for videos on basic techniques. Metal and resin mech models respond very well to panel lining, inking, and/or drybrushing techniques, and jeweling is a relatively easy way to add spice. The CGL plastics are a bit harder to paint well because they have soft edges on the panels and are made from an inferior material.
In either case, edge-highlighting looks like absolute shit on mechs and you should avoid it.

Step three: Do not read the /wip/ thread unless you want turbocancer.

>printed, plastic, metal
Printed models have wildly varying quality, and many of them are low-effort rips of the Mechwarrior Online models. Resin is generally a better material to work with and paint than the vinyl mix CGL uses for plastics. Resin dust is mildly toxic and you need to wear a mask and preferably gloves when sawing and sanding it, then clean up carefully afterwards.
CGL's plastic is a soft vinyl mix. You will need to cut mold lines away rather than scraping them. They may also require heating and bending into shape, and CGL persistently packages all of their models in groups belonging to multiple factions, with strange and rare designs in the same box as the most commonly-used ones.
Metal models from IWM are expensive and some are very fiddly to put together. They also largely use older sculpts and are in a slightly smaller scale, which you may find appealing or not. On the other hand IWM has extremely good customer service (CGL very infamously does not) as well as a pick-a-part service for conversions.

>>93740893
Most of its loadouts mirror IS mediums, but it's faster and often better armored. Prime is a Crab, B is a hunchback, C is an enforcer, D is a trebuchet.

Lore wise can Clan missile launchers use IS missiles as ammo?

>>93740955
Nope

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Which class will AS7-D to -WGS refit be?

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huh, they were worse mechwarriors than i expected
>why the fuck the cjf accepted ciro at all

>>93740982
he had that sldf medal didntt he

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>>93740975
Class C. Doable in any military dropship

>>93741016
so upgrading to endo is class f? bnc-3e to 3s and/or cgr-1a1 to 1a5 is class e?

>>93740925
>That part is silly. It's like recommending a Mclaren as a daily drive. Yes it's faster and better handling than a Toyota Corolla. That doesn't make it a good daily drive that everyone should own

It's one of the most common Clan mediums by RATs, though. Per the ER3052 RATs, fully half of Jag mediums are Stormcrows. Xotl tables show n significant numbers in all Clans.

>>93741053
Neither the Wolves or Jade Falcons have very many of them.

>>93741061
And there's not a lot of American cars in Japan.

But any Mech that is found in some numbers across all Clans and is the single most common medium in one of the largest cannot be compared to a sports car like that. The Stormcrow is, if not a Corolla, an F150.

>>93740658
>Mad Cat could have never beaten an IS kelp hounds lance
Didn't we literally do this like 6 months ago? A veteran Mad Cat against a veteran introtech Warhammer and 3 regular introtech lancemates? And the Clanner won every time?

>>93740174
Good girl. Go deeper.

>>93741296
As I recall the "regular lancemates" were several deliberately bad choices like a shadow hawk and a stinger.

>>93741411
Those are very common mechs. The average inner sphere lance is like 4 shitty light mechs. Wasps, stingers and locusts are everywhere

>>93741452
Just because they don't have the luxury of only using good mechs doesn't mean they don't understand what is effective in a pitched battle.

>>93741411
They weren't deliberately bad. They were deliberately <common>. I do remember what was in there, and a Warhammer, Shadow Hawk, Phoenix Hawk, and a Wasp is basically <the> quintessential average lance. It can fit into literally any formation of any faction anywhere. That's exactly why it was used, because it's always a relevant formation.

What would you have preferred? A MAD-3D, Wolverine 6M, Shadow Hawk K, and a WLF-2 Wolfhound, no doubt. Or four Thud 5SEs?

>>93741485
>What would you have preferred
4 DVS-2 Devastators, since they're introduced in 3048 and can therefore fight the Clans. There's no reason to hold up a flawed test using deliberately shit Mechs and claim it proves something. If you're fighting the Clans, you don't field shitty units.

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>>93741485
Here's a list of typical heavy lances according to the fourth succession war handbook(1988).

You'll also notice in this format that heavy combat lances are not saddled with the lightest of light scout platforms.

>>93741541
holy blake they looove rifleman

anybody going pax west by any chance?

How common was the Ha Otoko among capellens during the fedcom civil war? i kinda want to use one in a lance

>>93741526
>If you're fighting the Clans, you don't field shitty units.

Except that the first Clan attacks were on the Periphery near not-particularly-active borders. VSD was with the 12 Donegal. Not a shit unit, but not particularly exceptional. Looking through the Clan books, they faced a lot of average units and even militias. They only faced elite formations a handful of times.

>>93741541
Nobody said that the IS lance was a heavy lance. You're assuming facts not in evidence so you have something to be mad about.

Stop.

>>93741661
Not. The Sharks sold them almost exclusively to the Dracs, starting in 3061. It works take an impressive story to get one to the CapCin.

...But you do you.

>>93741710
You do want units somewhat equal otherwise it's the same as putting an assault against a lance of bugs.

>>93741739
IIRC it was BV balanced.

>>93741746
That's not an excuse.

>>93741771
What's a better way of making an intentionally asymmetrical match fair?

>>93741815
Make the IS lance not shit on purpose. 4 good heavies, including at least 1 energy zombie, and with 3/4 pilots at a minimum.
>TDR-5SE (3/4)
>GHR-5N (4/2)
>WHM-6D (2/4)
>ARC-2W (3/4)
There. That's a reasonable intro IS lance that the Clanners would have fought. Let's see the Mad Cat fight that 4 on 1.

>>93741863
>reasonable Intro Lance
>Elites specifically from Wolf's Dragoons
Come on man

>>93740982
I figured it was semi-nepotism, eg his family's SLDF medal mixed with Ciro getting captured because he tried to go out in a blaze of glory. Promising heritage plus vaguely honorable conduct in the fight he got captured in. I think the novella in the Clan Invasion box had roughly the same thing - a Drac MechWarrior stood his ground and tried to buy the others time to retreat, and because of that he's taken as a Ghost Bear bondsman.

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>>93740896
Edgy? Nah. Just the only guy who has ever looked cool in pink. Hence why all his mechs will be pink and black.

>>93740586
Rule of thumb, if the stats are more than 2 points apart, they're cheesing it.

Does anyone here have any strong opinions on contrast paints?

>>93742256
I think they work pretty well but im a painting noob

>>93742287
>>93742256
+ even great painters use them I'm pretty sure, just in different ways, there are a lot of different ways you can use contrast and similar types of paints

>>93739852
I like it

>>93740982
Honestly, those stats are better than they deserve. Re-watch the series. The 1st Somerset Strikers do a lot of losing. They're the protagonists, but they're not particularly talented Mechwarriors. Their stats should all probably be 1 higher than what they made them.

>>93742256
They're handy, and enough contrast/speedpaint medium can help get you similar results out of your non-speed paints.

>>93742256
They're expensive and you don't learn anything by using them. But we live in an era that's all about de-skilling the population as much as possible so hey, if you want to then go for it.

>>93742244
How else am I supposed to run my charger?

>>93742639
?
Just make him a 1/2. What's the problem?

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>>93742639
BV increases for skills are based off various things like firepower and melee damage, increasing gunnery on the charger is actually quite cheap, cheaper than piloting which is rare

>>93742794
wait nvm i might be retarded

>>93742256
I like them as a time saving tool. If you want to get a bunch of painted models out quickly, they look presentable with just a quick coat+details. What I really like about them though is how they quickly get you to an intermediate stage in place of a base coat and wash. I still do a good amount of painting after I use them but having to do one coat instead of 3 is nice.

>>93742176
>Just the only guy who has ever looked cool in pink
So you mean Ace Darwin, actually. He doesn't live on by passing on some edgy title, but by banging your mom. And dad.

>>93742980
>Ace Darwin
Annoying twit even putting aside the IRL drama.

>>93743069
how can there possibly be drama about ace darwin

I just don't like how the Jaegermech looks.

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Okay! Today I have finished some mechs! There's a bunch more on the verge of being finished, but in light of recent talks here, I pushed these to the front of the line. I present to you all, the Hitman.

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More important than closeups that reveal all the flaws and imperfections is the 3 feet test. How do they look from 3 feet away? Looks like they've passed this inspection to me. Hobby however seems to be concerned about the quality of the Rifleman.

>>93743448
> Woah! Put her back in, she's not done yet!

>>93743611
Paint snob, how ya been? Still no games?

>>93743448
have you looked into washes or otherwise darkening the recesses?
might help the panels stand out more

>>93743448
Anon while I appreciate the effort I think you should thin your paints, give your metallics a wash and make the cockpits pop a bit more.

>>93743448
Color choices and color blocking aside, if you just thin your paints, keep the edges between colors as clean as possible, and add a wash, it would look 2 or 3 times better without much more effort. Your taste in color might be questionable but you can at least work on making the execution look better.

>>93743763
>>93743700

There should be a bot on this board that detected when people ask for painting advice and says "thin your paints".

It's definitely true here too, but I think it's funny how often it's [correctly] the answer.

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>>93743632
>the paint snob probably gets more games than you anyway

>>93743448
Thin yer paintz

>>93740137
Just buy the Total Warfare book if you're looking for the complete core rules.

>>93740137
Omnimechs don’t really have any different gameplay rules, and I'm fairly certain the Clan Invasion rulebook just has a small section for Elementals and rules on Omnimech construction. I don’t think you get a full ruleset with that box.

Either get AGoAC for introtech mechs and rules, or just any mechs you want and either the BMM if you just want mechs, or Total Warfare if you want combined arms.

>>93743448
hey bro i think there's still parts with some detail left, should go over them again with half the pot of paint

Is there a point in taking two banshees in CI as Lyran? What could compliment them, for BV 6k?

>>93743448
Really nailed the “half-chewed piece of gum” look there, nice work

>>93743856
It's one of the most common and not quite obvious pitfalls for painting. I think everyone struggled with it initially, it takes some experience and mistakes to actually learn what the consistency you're looking for is. It's one thing to say "like skim milk" and another thing to actually understand it in a practical way that can be consistently implemented.
>>93743448
So yeah, I like the idea but those paints gotta be thinned. One nice thing about learning is that if you go a little too thin, you can easily fix it by just adding another thin layer, and the results really do stand out.

>>93743448
Pretty decent for your first attempt! Personally I would have painted just one mech in that scheme, gotten feedback, and then improved with each one. Hopefully the Lancelot comes out better!

How come there isn't a Kuritan intro quickdraw that dropped the JJs for HS and armor like they did every other jumping mech? Hawk, Wolverine, Crusader, etc.
Why isn't there a Davion version that crams an AC/10 in there somehow?

Bros, I really like the Enforcer, it feels like the perfect medium mech. It's decently sturdy, decently mobile, has two hard hitting weapons, and best of all it's cheap. Is a Griffin or Wolverine a better mech? Sure, but those are into heavy mech BVs.

>>93744537
The Davion AC obsession came long after the quickdraw was completely irrelevant.

Speaking of can the quickdraw ever be good? Is there a single decent Quickdraw?

>>93743874
I'm sure we'll see pictures of them any day now.

Paintfags ruin another btg. Nobody was surprised.

>>93744593
Most of them are usable. There's one which drops the lrms for heat sinks which I like

How many Tarantulas is too many Tarantulas?

>>93744593
You gotta remember that given its movement profile, there's almost ALWAYS going to be an easier target than the Quickdraw, so it will get a surprising amount of work done simply because it won't be the easiest thing to shoot at, and it's a low priority target anyway, and has just enough armor to survive a moderate amount of incoming fire. Think about it like a slightly worse Wolverine.

>>93744754
they look pretty rad but I'd take no more than 2

>>93744772
It already has four medium lasers, it just needs them to point forward to create something that's at least passingly useful.

Does anybody treat custom omnimech loadouts any differently from regular customs? Has the omni part of an omnimech ever actually mattered to you outside of a narrative/campaign game?

>>93739002
The Scorps captured in 3073 a cache of equipment (Waypoint 531) set by the Blakist to support an attack on the HW. They got some salvage from there. Also the Hansa got some Blakist reffugees that helped modernizing their lines (that is also why the Hansa had fucking Purifiers).

Both the Star Phyton (Nexus) and Star Crusader (Grand Crusader) are clan mechs based on those Blakist designs. The Scorps have samples and the datacores to design new mechs from them.

Is it possible to have a mech that jumps 7 with an ac/20 and reasonable armor?

>>93744964
No

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Pouncer?

>>93745092
>what if adder but jumpy

>>93745057
Maybe a 5/8/7 with iJJs.

>>93744593
>>93744772
The -5A is decent in spite of itself. The 5K is a better 5A, but it's hilariously oversinked. One of the few IS mechs that would be better with ERML.

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revenge of the nerds

What's the best introtech IS lance you can personally put together under these restrictions:
3K BV
4 mechs
4/5 or better for all pilots.

>>93744212
two MODIFIED banshees

>>93745298
Stinger 3R for 359
Wasp 1L for 335
Firestarter H for 694
Awesome 8Q for 1605
Total BV: 2993

a perfect lore friendly lance!

>>93745298
>3k BV
In Ilclan? Why would you do this to yourself? You have all the technology but you're playing at so limited a BV that you can't use any of it.

>>93743069
lmao IRL drama ok

>>93744676
The day that paintfag posts a non mono-lance is the day the paintsnobs will post their games

>>93745399
The only winning move is for CGL to give us an entire range of painted models.

>>93745298
Phoenix hawk PXH-1, 4/5
Stinger STG-3R, 4/5
Wasp WSP-1A, 4/5
Charger CGR-1A1, 4/3
2961 BV, good luck bringing the charger down before it rips something in half.

>>93745403
If the videos from the chinese factory are anything to go by then there's already a box of pre-painted agoac miniatures intended for store grinder events. So, I guess, we're already transitioning to that stage. Just wait for the pre-painted salvage boxes to start showing up

>>93745409
>>93745354
So which of these two wins do you reckon?

>>93745432
Pixie slaughters light mechs and the Charger will just kick the Awesome to death.

>>93745447
people don't want you to know this, but the firestarter is a real chore for the pixie to fight. same movement profile and the flamers prevent you from doing the usual joyriding on the head scale.

>>93745476
Flamers do damage OR heat.

>>93745393
Retard

>>93745498
I didn't say it kills the pixie. I said it prevents you from riding the heat scale. turning 1/3 of your BV into a glorified MG carrier is worth it.

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These days, I can't help seeing a weird walking bird or some kinda rotund dinosaur when I look at the Vindicator.

>>93745510
Why are you playing Ilclan with 3k BV dumbdumb?

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I know Clanmechs, particularly omnis, have a reputation for being bad at heat management. Beyond the Nova Prime, what are some other examples of clan mechs that are really bad at heat management? Want to keep an eye out for these while I'm list building, and to throw infernos at them if I see them opposite.

>>93745522
He specified introtech, which means succession wars. Not ilclan. Are you genuinely retarded?

Anons tell me about the lore for your lance members ,ill start
>middle aged 4th son of a minor lyran noble family who started a merc company because of a midlife crisis
>very late 20s wannabe solaris champion who sold his families entire fortune and went into debt to buy a hunchback
>early 20s niece of the commander who joined out of boredom with her normal life
>very early 20s son of a very wealthy (but not noble) family on Robinson who joined the lance after washing out at a davion military academy

So what rank are you before you get a Bloodname in a Clan?

Like, I see in the manuals a lot of un-named Clanners leading full Clusters in second line galaxies. But given that popular bloodnames have like 25 slots, there must be way more holders than just the front line cluster leaders.

>>93745298
2x JVN-10N
2X JVN-10F

>>93745092
planes look so cute when you give them stubby little arms and legs

>>93745612
Mechwarrior, Star Commander, etc.
I'm not giving you a full list because doing your own research is valuable and the list is exhausting. The best source of info on the Clans is the Blood of Kerensky trilogy and/or the Warden/Crusader sourcebooks.

>>93745426

Thats just one step from the Clix era.....

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Why didn't any of the other clans help the Smoke Jaguars during Operation BULLDOG? I know they were often belligerent, even towards other clans, but the actual number of clanners is so low in the IS that you sould probably help each other out, no?

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>>93745844
Now we're playing Robotjox.

>>93745871
Honestly, i would love to see CGL crash and burn...

>>93745844
I stumbled on a decently price ebay lot recently of MW clix, was very tempted. I remember enjoying mage knight when I was a kid. Is it considered playable or shit?

>>93745926
The game is ok, the minis go from nice to abortions. But the whole bussiness model almost killed BT.

>>93745860
at that point they were basically known as the smoke jobbers. why would anyone help that?

>>93745580
The Hunchback pilot is very suited for his mech. I like it

>>93745860
Clans are the sort of people who believe that if you actually require help, you deserve whatever is happening to you. And the jags were particularly big assholes on top of that.

>>93745937
>But the whole bussiness model almost killed BT.
Can you elaborate? I enjoy a good story.

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kek

>>93746041
Long story short, Mechwarrior was a collectible miniatures game for a time. The whole model of random unit packs collapsed (not only Mechwarrior Clix, all of them).

>>93746047
Tell me this is photoshop. I have little love left for CGL but this is too good to be true.

>>93744162
Imagine namefagging just to troll shittily

>>93744574
Good for you! I like the Enforcer too, he's a part of my Urban lance alongside the Axman, Hatchetan and Urbanmech.

>>93746041
To explain in more detail: Jordan Weisman really loved the random pack idea that MTG was using. He decided that would be a good idea to bring to Battletech, and he specifically decided to bring that to a new era, with new mechs, but the era fluff states that mechs should be rare.
So he made mechs a rare find in the random packs.
That's right. You're going to crack packs for a giant robot game and be rewarded with an endless pile of infantry/BA, vees, and things that are not giant robots. And I stress again: new era, new mechs. But you can't get models for those mechs without cracking a stupid amount of packs because they're so rare.
And I'm sticking to criticism of the product design, I'm not even talking about the new scale or visual direction.

Why the fuck would you buy into this this instead of staying in 3067 with the rest of your collection?

>>93745522
Why not?

>>93745580
Jae Mercer is a quiet, lone wolf type who only talks when necessary, but somehow always manages to convey the important information. They're the leader of a recon lance for reason.
Jack Porter alpha striked a Kingfisher (twice), shut their Marauder down from overheating, and then died when the Kingfisher shot back, penetrating the cockpit, which destroyed his sensors and made his 'mech fall on it's head.
[Error 404] is a fairly decent mechwarrior, but for whatever reason, every time anything in detail is written about her, it ends up getting corrupted. She gets paid in cash because of this.

This is a follow up from a previous post where I had been asking NEA for advice. I am currently engaged in my first BattleTech campaign, which is set in 3060, and I am looking to expand my Mercenary force out to a company. I started with a single lance, then picked up another lance of lights because at the time I had the feeling my GM would veto anything larger. I was encouraged to get my head out of my ass and ask rather than just making assumptions, and after talking with my GM while there are restrictions on what purchases I can make they are much less stringent than I had assumed based on previous conversations. Basically if its an IS mech that has been in production for a few years and isn't known in lore to have been exclusive or prohibitively rare then it's fair game to try and make rolls to acquire it. I have however been strongly encouraged by my GM not to expand past a company. So I have four mechs to play with assuming I don't try to pawn off any of the mechs I already have, which may be the smart thing to do. I have a current budget of 150 million cbills. I recognize that picking up heavy mechs is probably the smart thing to do, but I kinda want to stick to mediums for roleplaying reasons, cause I have the commander in a family mech (which is a medium, and not a great one) and I like the RP dynamic and I don't want to invalidate it by scaling past the level at which it can contribute. At least not yet. I know eventually it will happen, but doing so right after my first contract just seems too soon.

So yeah I'm looking for suggestions for mechs to pick up as a mercenary commander in 3060 which have been produced in the inner sphere for at least a few years, aren't faction exclusives, and preferably are mediums. As far as models which I already have, but which I'm not using yet in the campaign I have a Wolverine, Griffon, Dervish, Enforcer, Hunchback, Phoenix Hawk, Shad, Hatchetman, and Trebuchet. Any advice ya'll can give would be appreciated.

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R8 it

>>93746096
Honestly, i would also hope that ia PS...but its CGL and their cheap chinesium we are talking about.

>>93746283
Literally any of the Helm Memory Core upgrades of any of those 'mechs, which you can read up about on Sarna. Personally, a huge fan of the Griffin-3M, as it does everything the original Griffin does, except better and without overheating ever.

Are the Shim redesigns losing their luster for anyone else? I used to dig them, but they're all starting to look the same to me now, and lately I find myself gravitating back to the designs I grew up with, retarded though some of them might be.

>>93746283
There aren't that many different IS mediums that fit your criteria. The apex is probably the Omni firestarter and Blackjack, but most stuff as at least a decent variant, and as long as the GM is making sure your opposition is appropriate you will probably be fine.

I do think you are being a bit restrictive in your thinking though. Investing in a newer, heavier mech for themselves and their children is exactly the kind of thing a mercenary commander with tens of millions in the bank should be doing.

>>93746283
Try this:
Wolverine 7K
Shadow Hawk 5M
Griffin 3M
Phoenix Hawk 3M

All these are available to mercs and have been produced for a while come 3060. I don't know what your other lances are, but this gives you a decently cheap, jump capable striker lance to complement your lights and your other lance. You don't want them to hang around a battle for long because they are somewhat fragile, but their speed and jump jets combined with long range firepower should let you dictate range well and if they come close, the Wolverine can protect your boys.

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>Cappy low rank pilot that barely dodged being a servitor
>his unit gets wiped out fighting on some shitty planet and the command isn't going to evacuate him
>gets offered a ride off the planet by some low-end merc unit in the middle of their own evac
>he takes them up on the offer and decides to MIA and join them, bring his mech along the way
Need some crappy but serviceable succession wars mech to fit this concept, either a medium or a cheap heavy. At the moment it's a toss up between a Clint, Blackjack or a Vindicator.

>>93746551
Blackjack is probably the best option because it's parts are pretty available compared to the Clint and Vindicator.

>>93746551
I mean, being that he's a crappy I'd say Vindicator.

>>93746510
>they're all starting to look the same to me now,
We TOLD you so...

>>93746283
>Any advice ya'll can give would be appreciated
You are handicapping yourself for insane reasons. With that much money available, there is zero chance that a family wouldn't buy their kid a better Mech. Nut up and at least buy a fast heavy for your lance leader.

>>93746457
>their cheap chinesium
Not to defend CGL, but where else do you think they are getting anything made? EVERYTHING is Chinesium now, unless you're ok with paying $30/Mech that's "made in the US". Exactly what do you expect them to do?

>>93746473
Fair enough. I'm still pretty new so I figured I'd ask in case there were any trap options to avoid.

>>93746521
You aren't wrong. I'm probably being a bit silly. It's undeniable that heavier mechs would let me take on higher paying contracts. Probably smart to make use of the money. As far as heavy mechs in my collection I've got a Black Knight, Flashman, Grasshopper, Crusader, Warhammer, and I'm looking at adding a Axeman and a Gallowglas in the near future.

>>93746538
Thank you anon. I'll give these a look. Why the 3M over the 3D for the Phawk?

>>93746620
Fair enough. Aight, time to look at heavies I guess. Any suggestions? Either among those I mentioned above or any others. I print my mechs so as long as I can find an STL there really isn't much of a limit on what I can get.

>>93746639
Not make anything at all, and let fans 3d print whatever we want.

>>93746678
>I'm still pretty new so I figured I'd ask in case there were any trap options to avoid.
There are no trap options in Battletech. Unless your GM looks at the list you bring to the table and goes "Well I'll just fuck you up for no good reason", you should be able to bring whatever you want. If you want to play medium 'mechs, your GM should realize that bringing nothing but heavies for the OpFor would be a dick move.

>>93746678
by 3060 omnimechs are available for everyone, with a 150 million cbill budget you can have everyone in a timby and still have 50 mil leftover for repair fees.

basically you're acting like youre in introtech, and not right before jihad where shit starts exploding with options

>>93746678
The 3M is more widely distributed and sold thanks to the FWL having a buttload of production. The 3D can be found outside of Davion space, but it's more limited.

Now as far as your heavies go, I'd recommend picking up a Thunderbolt. The Black Knight, Flashman, and Gallowglass aren't produced in anything resembling huge numbers until after the Jihad in 3079 and the Axeman has a lot of problems. You could run this for a simple anchor unit for your company:

Thunderbolt 7M
Warhammer 7S
Crusader 4BR
Grasshopper 5N

Grasshopper gives you a bit of maneuverability, but most importantly the mechs are ubiquitous, rugged/easy to maintain, and generally won't explode at the first sign of trouble. It can take a hit and keep on ticking on a budget. Which, if you are playing a campaign, becomes very important. Your logistics, upkeep, and maintenance matters quite a bit. This lance is probably going to be the focus of the enemy, so they need to be survivable and easy to repair/maintain.

>>93746778
You won't have a store to play at anymore if they go that route. You think stores let people play there because of their charming personalities? Stores need something to sell.

>>93745612
Wolf Clan and Jade Falcon books give s list of literally every single warrior in the galaxies involved in the Invasion. In the front-line galaxies, badly every Star Captain, some Star Commamders, and a handful of MechWarriors/Pilots have bloodnames.

>>93746448
390 engine/10

>>93745426
That would be fantastic. Pre-painted minis is what helped X-Wing takeoff as the huge success it was for a bit.

>>93746849
The store I go to, I've never bought a single model there. They do however charge a $5 per player per 3 hour table fee and sell food and drinks, which is where most of their revenue probably comes from.

>>93746810
Fair point. On the other hand he has been clear in communicating to me what I can expect for opfor. He told me there would be infantry, and there are infantry. He told me there would be vees, and there have been vees. I'm pretty sure even if I hadn't come prepared for infantry or vees I still would have seen them across from me on the table. I don't think he's intentionally trying to fuck with me, but I do think that it is possible that he sets things up and I bring the wrong mechs for the job.

>>93746822
I recognize that you have a valid point. But for one thing Timber Wolves are outside of the restrictions set by my GM. And even if I could buy them I don't really want to run four Timber Wolves honestly. But, you have a valid point. I ought to spend more.

>>93746846
I'll look into printing a thud then. It's a mech that's been on my radar regardless. Thank you for your feedback anon.

>>93746931
Don't know what lights you have access to, but here's some rough accounting.

Striker Lance
>>93746538
38,967,798

Battle Lance
>>93746846
24,710,776

This gives you a total of 63,678,574. A light Lance should be able to run it to an even 100 mil, which gives you 50 mil for repairs, support staff, and conventional forces.

>>93746849
>You won't have a store to play at anymore if they go that route.
Just play at home, duh?

>>93746586
>choosing to take a vindicator over any other medium when you betray the Chancellor
Are you retarded? Do you know how the Vindicator works?

>>93746931
Having a large reserve of cash makes sense, the default campaign rules sort of overemphasize what a money pit running a mercenary unit is.

>>93746180
To an extent though, he was right.
People fucking love the salvage boxes. I typically see them priced at $9 a piece and they always immediately sell out. There are very few minis out there that go for more than $9 each and many that go for less than that. $36 for 4 random mechs, which you may not even like, is a terrible deal compared to buying lance packs and trading/selling off what you don't like, or even just buying individual mechs.
Yet people buy them anyway, because they fucking love the surprise of it. It's a minor form of gambling and sets off all the same signals in the brain that gambling does. Every time my LGS gets them in stock, they sell out immediately. Meanwhile they have 11 copies of the IS Command Lance and 7 of the IS Battle Lance, on sale for $18 each.
Marauder, Archer, Valkyrie, and Stinger OR 2 random mechs.
Warhammer, Rifleman, Phoenix Hawk, and Wasp OR 2 random mechs.
I know which deal I'd take, but I'm apparently in a very tiny minority there.

>>93746994
If that's the ride that you have then that's the ride that you take with you when you split. It's not like the character in universe gets to choose his ride when he defects.

>>93746931
If your GM tells you beforehand what to expect, good, you know what is expected of you to bring. That said, even if you do fuck up, so what? You'll learn better for the next time.

>>93740680
>>93740675
Mechs can walk backwards

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When is it sensible to use regular Clan Battlemechs? I know that pretty much all frontline Stars and Clusters and Galaxies use Omnimechs pretty much exclusively, and view regular Battlemechs, even ones of the own design, with at least some degree of disdain. So, since Battlemechs are pretty much entirely relagated to Solahma units, when would it be appropriate to use them?

A lot of Clan Battlemechs are really cool and seem really fun to play around with, but my inner autism is having trouble justifying their use to myself with warriors in good standing.

Are solahma units used on their own? Would a Galaxy or Cluster Commander send a solahma Star as an insult to an enemy? How would they be used, in universe?

>>93747008
Except in this scenario he is explicitly allowed to choose, dumbass.

>>93747013
True. I'm just having a good time and I don't wanna crash and burn any sooner than I have to. Or at all if possible. I'm really hoping to be able to last long enough to get involved in the Fedcom Civil war. That was what we were going for with this. Give me a year or two to build up and prepare as best I could before the war proper started. Then I rolled stupidly well for starting funds and that kinda complicated all my plans.

Speaking of coming prepared I'm told that I am gonna start seeing vtols and asf in the future since he just got a bunch from his mercenaries kickstarter. Factoring in that info any mechs I should look into? Only ones I can think of are riffleman or Jaegermech, but I've heard enough about them to be leery of picking one of those up.

>>93747001
That was why I was sitting on a lot of it honestly. I figured that way even if I got wiped out I could afford to rebuild. That and I really did want to experience starting small and working my way up. But at this point I have the money. As anons have pointed out acting like I don't is kinda silly.

>>93746982
One moment lemme pull up the campaign file and I'll tell you exactly what I've got so far.

>>93747066
Standard mechs aren't necessarily solahma. There's plenty of second line Galaxies with good pilots and solid firepower where they can be found. Usually Clan battlemechs are filling defensive roles, so any scenario in which a Clan is under attack can very easily incorporate them as supporting units or as primary forces.

>>93747066
There's a couple that's earned a certain reputation like the Hunchback IIC being good in duels. If the design is good, Clans won't turn it down just because it's not an Omnimech.

>>93747066
>Are solahma units used on their own? Would a Galaxy or Cluster Commander send a solahma Star as an insult to an enemy?
Yes to all. I suggest you read the everything around the Wars of Reaving because that's when TRO 3085 came about. And that's where you get a lot of the IICs designed for solahma use.

>>93746510
No. I think its mainly just an issue that there's so many mechs in Battletech to begin with. There's only so many designs you can do with that before you get some overlap. Honestly impressive that there's so many good designs as it is.
>>93746778
Why are you acting like people don't already 3d print whatever they want?

>>93747082
If you're going to start seeing and Aerospace assets, you need aerospace assets of your own. Otherwise your mechs are going to just die. I have a very limited amount of experience with ASF outside of CCAF staples like the Transgressor and Transit, so I don't know if I can help you there. As far as assets to counter fast movers, I would just buy a lance of Partisans rather than have dedicated anti-air mechs. If you have to pick some, I'd get an Orion and a Rifleman because they are versatile and have the anti-air targeting quirk. Just make sure you get variants with LBX/5s or LBX/10s; LBX/2s are useless and the Jagermech is a huge liability.

>>93747082
>Factoring in that info any mechs I should look into? Only ones I can think of are riffleman or Jaegermech, but I've heard enough about them to be leery of picking one of those up.
The Blackjack, too.

The Rifleman and Jaegermech are absolutely amazing when it comes to shooting VTOLs or ASFs with flak ammo. The issue of why they're so "bad" is that they are kind of bad at mech-versus-mech engagements, which are what 90% of these games are.

>>93747004
I completely agree that they're just gambling. That said, it's fun. I occasionally add one to an online order for $6 for the fun of it, but it's not at all a good deal. They make sense for things like prizes though. They're frequently out of stock online and I never see them at my LGS at all.

>>93747434
I like to use them to inspire in-universe salvage myself. Building a force, buy a salvage box, figure out how they got whatever's in it as part of their backstory.

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>>93746846
I kindof have to recommend against the 7M. There's nothing wrong with the loadout, and everything wrong with the crit allocation. The streaks and LRMs are crossfed, so if you lose EITHER torso, you lose all your missile weapons. I've had this happen every time I've ran the damn thing and it ends up as either a lone ERLL or just 3 ML. The worst part is that it's a completely unforced error, there's enough space to have correctly allocated the ammo for each torso, so I have no idea why they did something so egregiously bad. Up until the point where this happens, it's a great mech, but I'll just say consider yourself forewarned.

5M SHawk doesn't carry anywhere near enough ammo. It absolutely wants another ton for the 20 rack, and wouldn't say no to a 3rd ton with a 2nd ton of ultra 5 ammo as well.

Griffin 3M is great, grab Jumping Jack for the pilot if you're using SPAs, cuz you have enough heat capacity to alpha strike and jump constantly without building up any heat. I have one in my campaign and it GETS WORK DONE. Love it, no complaints.

PHawk 3M direly wishes it had 3 more head armor, but is otherwise pretty damn solid. 1 ERLL if you're jumping, both if you're on the ground, MPLs up close.

Now, since this is for a campaign, all of these are fixable issues, many of them with very easy levels of refit.

Other recommendations:
Archer 4M. Best Archer, no notes.
Cicada 3G. Fantastic scout, what the OG Cicada wishes that it was.
Blackjack Omni also slaps. There's several good configs, I'm a big fan of the C

>>93747120
>If the design is good, Clans won't turn it down just because it's not an Omnimech.

In 3050 they would. By 3067 less so, by 3150 not at all.

>>93747591
Seconding the BJOC. By far the best mech hunter on the blackjack chassis

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>>93745871
The wrist saw has been replaced by a fusion arc torch.

>>93746678
>Aight, time to look at heavies I guess.

I'm going to agree with the need to look at heavy units, but I'm going to strongly disagree with the recommendations you've been given so far. Everyone has immediately gone with 4/6 Mechs that tend toward heavy armor, and I don't think that's where you are in the campaign right now.

Given what you've told us in the past, I would try to put together a heavy cavalry lance, two mediums, two heavies, nothing slower than 5/8. That way it can move with and support your light units, and you are less likely to get defeated in detail when you're slow units get left behind. When you upgrade to a third lance, *that's* the one you make into an anchor force of slower high end heavies. Building a heavy cavalry unit without using heavily factional designs prior to 3063 is tough, but I'd go something along these lines:

CLW-7W Chameleon
>basic upgrade of a hugely common training Mech. Should be easily accessible to everyone.
Phoenix Hawk 3S or Nightsky 4S
>Both 6/9/6, so they pair well with the Chameleon. Both easily available to Mercs; the Pixie is a 3040s upgrade, and the Nightsky is factional, but only a little, and it debuted in 3053.
Black Hawk KU
>3055 5/8/5 Omni explicitly sold on the open market. Having an Omni is highly useful.
Flashman 8K
>Because you own the mini, and this is playing your "lance leaders unicorn" card. Your Flashman was one of the ones sent to the Combine by mistake in 3039, was lost and entered general service, and as tech has been improved it has slowly been restored to the original -8K standard.