Welcome to Mecha Monday! Here we dedicate ourselves to mecha RPGs, war games, and board games alike. Here we start games, tell campaign stories, share resources & assets, and seek advice for our games and homebrew.Let us know what needs to be updated with the pastebin.Assorted Mecha Goodness:https://pastebin.com/E2wi55AZEmbryo Machine Translation:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r_cjOLuUp3HussVRhbQYU3G0zK6hwy1rLancehounds Homebrew:M3g4 folder/eMEBUbCL#kj2FRrlqTa-02U16XpnVRgPrevious Thread: >>93964422Thread Question: How should a mech be deployed? Does it fly to a battlefield under its own power, does it have to be transported, or some other way?Thread Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JygrbkrPA8
>>94152929>TQIt's cool when they're transported, be it by plane or land vehicle. Cheap way to have an explosive entrance, too.
Reposting New Old APES
>>94152929I'm proud of myself. In a late-night bout of productivity, I looked at my system and actually made changes. Fought through the choice paralysis and made the space opera aspect of the setting an optional module so I can stop worrying about that and I even touched-up and expanded the gameplay section that's been sitting unchanged for what had been probably coming up on 2 years, now. Glad that I decided to stay up late, time to go to bed.
Shelved my mech project for lack of progress. I'll probably come back to it in a few weeks/months.>>94152929I don't generally do flying mechs, so if it's already "deployed" in that it's at a forward base or something, on foot. Transporter vehicles otherwise. But, smaller mechs, so it's more practical.
>>94152929Speaking of flight, the south's samson helicopter can only transport vehicles right? No gears?
>>94154858Yeah, from the flavor text as well in the 90s book it looks like it refers exclusively to vehicles, not gears.
New Heavy Gear companion is out with extra stuff
Ermahgerd mercher mernder!>>94152929>How should a mech be deployed? Does it fly to a battlefield under its own power, does it have to be transported, or some other way?Gotta admit it's pretty cool when they're carried by helicopter and dropped down to the battlefield.
>>94156347I'm liking all the new stuff that's being shown off. The Ares and Hades upgrades for Talons fo look like they'll make them even more busted then they already are though. Also where the fuck are the Behemoth and Seeker/Murdock? I need them for my norf ego.
Anyone got that new bcg book?
Aside from Lancer, what system has the easiest system for building mecha? Also what would you use to run a Zoids game?
>>94159830BESM 1e with BRCS
>>94159830>Aside from LancerLancer a shit>what system has the easiest system for building mecha? Mecha Hack>Also what would you use to run a Zoids game?I have only a surface level of Zoids knowledge, but my best friend's wife loves Zoids, so I was thinking of seeing how to make a Zoids Hack for Mecha Hack.
>>94159886>Lancer a shitHa never said it wasn't, just that it has very simple builds at least at the start.>>94159886>I have only a surface level of Zoids knowledge, but my best friend's wife loves Zoids, so I was thinking of seeing how to make a Zoids Hack for Mecha Hack.Don't know why I mentioned Zoids specifically, not like they do anything super special that other mecha don't. I guess I just don't want any combat too complex where you spend 15 minutes on a turn.
>>94159830BCG for both
>>94159905>I guess I just don't want any combat too complex where you spend 15 minutes on a turn.Definitely Mecha Hack, then. It uses old school roll under the attribute, and it's all done by the player. Combat is very fast. Character creation is pretty quick too. The only real complaint is there isn't much for the pilots to do outside of their mecha other than roleplay.
Has anyone tried this? I like the setting and the main thrust of the game, but it seems really really light on rules and character development.
>>94156722All the beetles getting airlifted to the palace for the final battle on kummen was one of my favorite parts of votoms
>>94159830>Aside from Lancer, what system has the easiest system for building mecha? Mekton Z>Also what would you use to run a Zoids game?Mekton Z
I am manually rewriting Heavy Gear 2e to include new elements and to fit a post-apocalyptic setting (with giant robots.) And I'm experimenting with a change to add a bit of a "Newtype" element to it, a'la Gundam.The idea being that the mechs use a neuro-link system to allow the pilots to actually control them. This is why they're bipedal--they've used the same system with tanks, even aircraft before, but it has a deleterious effect on people as they start to forget which of their bodies is the real one. Bipedal vehicles at least retain the basic locomotion--quad mechs are done by simulating riding an animal, with the Mech having a simple AI about as smart as a horse controlling the legs in response to the pilot's prompting.However, the neuro-link is very complex, and there are certain neurological markers which are genetic which allow it to work much better. These are "Pilot Genes," at level 1 it just grants a +2 to Gunnery/Piloting/EW/Combat Sense when hooked up to the mech, each level thereafter grants a +1, but it costs XP to develop (representing someone "unlocking" potential) and at Level 5 the individual is so connected they don't even need to be in the mech to command it, they can use a little transceiver to radio thoughts directly to the machine from outside of it.At higher levels things will start to happen, but that's the meat of it, does this sound like a good idea y/n? I was going to let people "buy" Pilot Genes even after Chargen representing a nascent talent asserting itself also.
>>94160002I've been meaning to check it out but I haven't had the chance yet. Gimme the QRD.
>>94156110So in blitz all it can transport is the caiman? Feels like lost potential
>>94160720I am VERY interested.
>>94160720>They can just control the machines at will At that point, it's just Warmachine but with mechs rather than magitech robots. Why have mechs when you can get a dude to control one or two of them without even being inside?
>>94160927Thank you, I'll post the PDF when I've finished, it's a transformative work so it is not piracy.>>94160997That's only at the maximum level, at that point the character is like a Newtype. The effect also works both ways, mechs with AI systems can invert it and use the Neurolink to gradually brainwash people with Pilot Genes at the range of their Communications system. So if you've got Pilot Genes you are a better pilot, but you're also vulnerable to this shit unless you wear a tinfoil hat.
>>94160927God I love the wheels.
>>94161163It's been like 20 years but wasn't this the plot of G-Gundam?
>>94161345Reminds me more of the Reapers from Mass Effect.
>>94152929>TQI will always be partial to the mech itself or a transport being launched from a hidden bay in a random urban locale or mountainside that opens up with lots of alarms, flashing warning lights, etc as it does so. Like Thunderbirds or the Evangelion elevator. I dunno why I love this shtick so much but it always gets me hyped.I also very partial to the Battlestar Galactica style tube launches for space settings.
>>94152929heres a Question about you all, What are the factions in your mecha setting, they're Ideology. how they formed and how do they're Mecha reflect them as a faction as a whole
>>94162232-The KavlutskaMaritime nomads, a tribe divided into many Ship-Clans, centered around White Harbor, which was once called Dutch Harbor, back when that meant something. Their home-island is poor and frozen, but they possess looted technical schematics from Anchorage and a small fleet of functioning pre-war vessels. Their culture of raiding and extreme out-group hostility is a result of the scarcity of resources, and constant warfare with other groups in the North. They are advanced technologically, but their culture is savage, superstitious, xenophobic and shockingly authoritarian. All marriages are arranged by the Blood Clerics (eugenicists), "Dasyu" (anyone who isn't them) aren't considered human, and they worship "The God," which is defined by the absence of all othersThey possess some of the few remaining military grade fabricators after the war, and so can continue to produce a handful of their war machines each year. The Agartha Series is amphibious, submersible, and built for long endurance missions. They engage in raids constantly to procure materials, supplies and slaves, and the hulking war machines have become symbols of dread. They are very distinctive--with a elongated "heads" that vaguely resemble those of an orca whale. As a result, though their tribal name is actually a pidgin word for Seals, they are frequently called Orcas, or Orcs, by other tribes--which has cast a pall on attempts to treat with them.Now they have come South to tear down the false gods of the Dasyu, to fill every gutter with human blood, and to slicken every street with human fat. Washington will fall, and then Oregon. And then, oh yes, then. California shall burn.I mean the heroes have their work cut out for them, California's already on fire 90% of the time.(I don't have any cool arctic robots so here's a Z'gok)
>>94162232I haven't gotten too deep into it yet but Factions as they were would be the major Station Cities, which are effectively autonomous City States connected by the railways that cross the encroaching wilderness between them. A few I have thought out a bit are below tho.>UgoldomThe Northern Bastion is the primary supplier for coal and oil with massive mining operations. So most of their machines are designed around those purposes. Large, industrial, and pragmatic. Lots Drills, Dozers, Digging Tools, etc. Their military units are largely just armored-up variants of these with mounted steam-pressure cannons and/or flamethrowers. They're also famous for having the most heavily armored trains.>JárnveggurThis mountain hold is well known for being the safest of the Station Cities given its location nestled between many mountains. Their machines are built for the rugged terrain and mountainous climates. Their military has very limited mechanized units as most of their focus is on mountain fortresses and gun emplacements, using their easily defended position to their advantage. Their mech units are primarily light units for scouting operations. Járnveggur is also the headquarters for the IRG (Intercontinental Rail Guard) which are a paramilitary organization with no ties to a single City State that acts as a for-hire Railway army with their own trains and mechs.
>>94163180Thought it was in space at first. This is just Alaskan vikings burning down California?
>>94166849Good California is a pest
>>94163180I like the phrasing of "The God." It sounds just alien enough to stand out.
>>94162232Originally it started as a cyberpunk corporate state, ideologically invested in well, money. Their mech lineup was one industry-standard general purpose model and a dozen very specialized mechs.The other faction was a communist power, their mechs were these crude and brutal slabs of iron that looked like they were welded together by starving peasants (they were) but they could still hold a rifle and take few punches.As of now that idea was shelved and the current iteration of the setting is those cyber megacorps all fighting each other among the ruins of a dyson sphere
>>94163180Are these the villains, or are these the PC's side?>>94164866Ooh, is it like a railwars kind of thing with giant robots? That's genius.>>94167613My dream is to someday do a Birch World setting. Imagine nomads who have been traveling in the exact same direction for 2000 years, and they're only about halfway there because the distance they're traveling is like walking from Earth to Mars.
>>94160669>Mektonbro says Mekton has easy mecha systemCan I trust you Mektonbro? I wonder how impartial you really are. Honestly though, I'd have figured it would have a complex system because it's from the same guy who made Cyberpunk right?
>>94168260Pondsmith's work was complex 30 years ago. These days even the stuff that was considered cumbersome and obnoxious in 1990 is downright lite, because general literacy of complex mechanics skyrocketed after MMOs were invented.
>>94168159Pretty much. The initial idea was for a Railway based ttrpg campaign where players took the role of Rail Jockeys which are in effect basically Mercenaries who act as a combination of laborer, enforcer/guard, and excursion personnel. The twist is that the trains themselves not only often house smaller mechanized units (typically labor mechs) but the engine itself is capable of turning into one in emergencies.
>>94168159The Kavlutska are obviously villain-coded, but one of the premises of the setting as I'm working on it is that everyone is perfectly reasonable from their own perspective. In their case, they've been stuck in literal Alaska surrounded by bioweapon-crazed mutants on one side, the OWG which is like an Alphabet Agency's HR department with a military, on the other side, and omnicidal robots in the Arctic Circle.South of them is a little joke of mine, which is the very stereotypical Post-Apocalyptic new societies, all spread throughout California.Matriarchal Wiccan Covens? Sure, they're in Portland (fuck you Sterling).Military-LARP Libertarian Covenants? They're in Frankfort (San Francisco.)Hardcore Feudalism struggling with its slow transition to Hansa-style mercantilism? Welcome to Zeeatl. The weather sucks and they reinstated coverture but at least they have electricity.So the Kavlutska are either the Orcs to the protagonist faction of your choice, or they're the Protagonists on their way to inflict Total Coastoid Death in California. Flexibility!
>>94168405I was gonna ask if the locomotive was like some kind of Mech-Centaur with the lower body of a train and the upper body of a robot. Total Kino, I'm sure it's gonna kick ass.
>>94168440>WiccanDid I just step back in 2005? Or is that like an umbrella term for all of the neo-pagan stuff?
>>94168480Thanks. I don't have much named yet but one of the other Station Cities whole shtick is they don't use mechs but instead have Tanks that are capable of switching to a rail mode, linking up with each other, and attaching to an engine for longer term overland travel. So they can quickly deploy armored divisions and only need engines and habitation cars for their crews rather than entire trains with cargo cars loaded with vehicles/mechs.
>>94168260>Can I trust you Mektonbro? I wonder how impartial you really are. Honestly though, I'd have figured it would have a complex system because it's from the same guy who made Cyberpunk right?You make a good point. I think Mekton's construction system is easy, but I'm very biased. Trying to look at it objectively, it is is NOT easy. It is complex, it is detailed. I don't think, though, that's it's HARD. It's just complex.>>94168346>Pondsmith's work was complex 30 years ago. These days even the stuff that was considered cumbersome and obnoxious in 1990 is downright lite, because general literacy of complex mechanics skyrocketed after MMOs were invented.Kinda true, yeah. But at the same time storytelling-focused games like Powered by the Apocalypse, Blades in the Dark, Fate, etc have changed the overall paradigm of RPGs. The expectations have moved to include really broad, vague systems too. I'm not saying they never existed before Fate, but they're more common and accepted now.At the end of the day I'd say Mekton is high crunch, but I wouldn't call it difficult. I'd just call it involved. So construction is not fast. Buuuuuut your mileage may vary.
Considering the R. Talsorian votoms game is based off of the mekton rules, I assume MZ can be used to make AT/gear type mechs, not just gundams yes?
>>94168834>I assume MZ can be used to make AT/gear type mechs, not just gundams yes?Correct.There's a section in the back providing resources to design your own ATs, and there's also rules for using Mekton Z and Z+ to expand your options.
>>94168667>>94169246Also the proliferation of digital tools.Speaking of which, has anyone taken the time to automate swathes of Mekton's construction rules, like a spreadsheet or something? Or are there variables that are too fuzzy or can't be represented by numbers?
>>94163180>>94168440This Kavlutska situation sounds mightily metal. Question: who are the players and what would they do?>>94164866>>94168405>>94168480>>94168651Goddamn, the Station Cities setting sounds freakin' boss. Great ideas!>>94167613Cyber megacorps at war in a Dyson sphere? Sounds cool as heck to me.Great settings! I want to steal all of them!! (But I won't. Because stealing is bad.)
>>94169606I thhhhhink some people have done such things, with varying levels of success. You might check the Mekton Zeta Creation League discord server, or the Mekton Zeta facebook group.
>>94169658>Station Cities setting sounds freakin' bossI appreciate that. It's definitely been a backburner project but the ideas have been stewing for a while. Initially I had planned for it to be more of a Fantasy setting with steampunk elements, but the deeper I got the more I liked the more industrial railpunk concept. The biggest tipping point that has stopped me from really laying out the worldbuilding in concrete is if I want it to be human only or add fantastic/sci-fi species.
>>94169754>human only or add fantastic/sci-fi species.If the latter, I'd recommend just one or two non-human species. It's easier to write and there's significantly more room for each group to stand out and be unique if there are only a few, as opposed to many fantasy settings where they're a dime-a-dozen.
>>94169784Yeah. I had an idea for a species kinda inspired by the Quarian's from Mass Effect that would be intentionally opaque about if they were actually another species at all or just humans in environmental suits with a different culture. Other than that iirc Dwarves were on the table cuz Dwarves are cool and work well with industrialism.
>>94169810The Quarian idea is pretty good, I like that a lot. Any more ideas regarding that?
>>94169658The broad premise of the campaign is that it's like 2600 AD, and an ice age is coming. It's already post-apocalypse, and now a SECOND apocalypse is on the way to fuck everyone.To prepare for this, the remnants of the one-world government dammed the Mediterranean, pumped the water out of most of it, and are constructing a sort of sheltered valley down there where the freezing winds won't reach. I'm going to start them off in West Coast USA, and then see where they go from there. They would be people who have the Pilot Genes that allow them to interface with the mechs properly rather than rely entirely on mechanical controls--which group they're a part of (if any) I'll probably run by them.The Kavlutska were a bit more developed because I used them as antagonists in a bunch of test fights, I'm guessing my players will want to do a campaign as them since that means they won't have to fight their hideous war-crime mechs. Pic related.
>>94169857They were basically rail nomads catching rides on whatever train they could get aboard. Wandering from place to place searching for somewhere to belong (in a deeper more spiritual sense). An important part of their culture was this idea of searching for "Where They Fit" like a cog in a great machine that only fit perfectly in 1 place. They were big on found family concepts as well. Parental/familial bonds were not particularly strong among their kind as generally children were raised communally by matrons of their kind who had settled down on whatever train or city the child was born in. Often times they never know their biological parents at all as they would return to wandering the world on their search not long after the child was born. And the father's rarely even waited that long before leaving. Another big note is that each of their suits is unique and handcrafted by them and their companions. A right of passage in order to set out into the world to find their place, was to create these suits. And being seen by outsiders without the suit is extremely taboo.
>>94170354Very interesting stuff, keep at it. Good read. They're definitely worth putting in.
Couple of new battle reports for HGB! The first one includes a preview of the upcoming 4.0 rules.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_QTUg8nmRshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1eOac51RcI
With a command upgrade like the chieftain, does the better EW skill represent the satup or is the skill better in addition to the satup (meaning it has an effective 3+)?
>>94162232>TravelersFormed as the old world order broke down, the tribalistic Traveler groups formed. The world is fucked and the Travelers rove around, scavenging and looting what they can, either from old storages or from fresh battlefields. They then either sell their loot, or sell themselves out as handy traveling armed groups. Because they're not producers of parts themselves, their mechs are patchworks jobs, but may often have some real Old World gems, or refurbished high-tech stuff from the other factions. They're very insular, very family-oriented and do work for the good of the group but only their group.>ReclaimersInstead of roving around, Reclaimer groups decided to make use of all the ruined places and make them into homes anew. Generally Reclaimer groups form from individuals who then band together as they come together in these old cities to defend themselves from others, to keep their new home safe from those who want their stuff, or who want their home. Reclaimers usually refurbish Old World foundries and workshops, so they can build their own mechs from scratch. Given their nature, they favor defensive tactics.>RemnantsThe Old World order collapsed, but it didn't die, and a lot of old political and military groups try to hold on to their legitimacy, clinging on to restoring what they lost. Given their origins they often have information on either old storages or facilties, and thus keep old metalworking alive. They find or rebuild old technological bases and set about bringing the torch of civilization back to the world, whether it wants it or not. Easily the most combined arms-obssessed faction of them all.(1/2)
>>94172326>RevolutionariesWhen the old order broke down, it was an open opportunity for firebrands of all types to enact their ideals, now that they wouldn't be held down by an established order. They're visionaries, idealogues, terrorists who all have differing views on what the old world order should be replaced with, leading to just as much infighting as it does fighting everyone else. Their mechs are usually the most slapdash, even beyond Travelers, but they make up for it with ruthless tactics and fanatical pilots.>NationalsNot everything fell apart, and not every attempt to create something new blew up. The nationals, nation-states that either survived or formed after the world fell apart are now fighting to keep themselves together and secure their power bases as everyone else picks at their borders, either for their material, their resources, or their territory. They are easily the ones with the biggest militaries, being able to actually maintain industrial bases as opposed to refurbishing old ones - or they still hold onto the good stuff, and as a result they have large numbers of mechs with good equipment but are stretched thin as hell.>ColonialsFormed from the breadbasket areas, the last patches or arable land on Earth where millions were sent to slave away to produce enough food to combat the global famine, said slaves and the military personnel sent to guard them realized they held the keys to the kingdom and promptly declared independence as city-states now known as Colonies. Everyone wants what they have, and the Colonies obssess over keeping themselves safe from the "rabble" (especially after someone smuggled a nuke into the largest Colony, Iyuli, and annihilated it), they leverage their advantages into having the smallest, but by far the most well-equipped and elite militaries the Earth can even see, and are at the forefront of mech development, even supplementing their lack of numbers with AI-controlled mechs.(2/2)
>>94172060Effective 3+.
>>94168651So I was stewing on this overnight thanks to the discussion and ended up naming this Station City. Rather than trying to overcomplicate things I went so on the nose it's painful.>PanzerstadtThis booming industrial city is home to the most efficient engineering corps of any of the Station Cities. They are unique among the Station Cities in that they do not produce Steamframes whatsoever, preferring motorized vehicles for both military and utility purposes. The Imperial Defense corps is one of the mightiest military forces on the continent in spite of this in no small part due to their much quicker deployment times than other Cities. The bulk of their armed forces are made up of mechanized infantry and armored divisions that can all utilize the railways to rapidly move about the continent. They are heavily reliant on their alliance with Ugoldom to supply the fuel for their machinery though.
>>94152929I figure their advantage is over broken ground and urban environments but are otherwise at converting energy into movement relative to other vehicles. Loaded onto trucks usually with more heli dropping as they go from technical equivalent to genuine game-changer (then again by the time they're worth investing specialised flyers in they're recognised as valuable enough to shoot down so maybe not...).Considering they ARE technicals (IE forklifts jury-rigged by shit-tier warlords) >>94161952 is in effect in the opposite sense of Tracy Island's opulence. The key thing mecha were good for was on the spot repairs of Concreef failure (setting's an archipelago of arcologies built on force-grown atolls). Naturally the megacorps in charge extract "rent" in the form of ensuring that only "accredited technicians" are allowed to fix fissures opened by wave action, disrepair and / or sabotage. Slums near the isles' edges (where the ground tends to slough away) can't afford that shit and instead resort to vigilante emergency worker protection rackets. Fake shacks (often with real ones built on / around them) explode to reveal the jailbroken / salvaged mech squad within who are then driven to the crack site as fast as possible and set loose to work before anyone can tell them not to ("negotiations" of payment are conducted by the nice men with guns around this point).>>94162232Initially it's countless slumdog warlords acting as proxies for the megacorps stuck in MAD stalemate. Gradually the fact that mecha are extensions of mad-god AI lend their delirious pilots more and more power, they (and their brainwashed minions) supplant the warlords and eventually the corps until the constant violence is less about profit than warped ideals of chivalry.>>94153069Indeed they are though if they're fighting on terrain they rather than vehicles are suited to (and why wouldn't they?) maybe Koolaid-ing into the fray is a desperation move.
>>94160002What's the gist of it?>>94168405Ever see that Railroot setting the board was working on a while back? Wargame rather than individual character focused but perhaps relevant.
>>94175071>RailrootI had not.
>>94175471I'd misremembered the name, apparently it went by Derailed (a nod to the fact that the whole thing was born of a thread derailing shitpost). Here's the last peep of it:https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/87021550/#q87021550Pretty sure the semi-Fae faction were pitched as having zombie / cyborg / mech Knights though I'm not sure that was settled on. I imagine them as corpse-mulch compost squeezed into enchanted armour. Anyway I make the comparison as a compliment, I enjoyed those threads very much!
>>94175538Sounds like a pretty interesting concept. Funnily enough this setting did have beginnings as a sort of green apoc/nature strikes back thing. The whole reason for the station cities and the megatrains was essentially meant to be because the wilderness is too dangerous and volatile to traverse otherwise.
Why does the mustang have wheels on it's ass?
>>94175873Maybe it's supposed to sit down when using its SMS?It looks a bit silly and all it reminds me of is that one scene with optimus prime choking megatron with similar looking ass-wheels.
>>94175873Similar reason as to why the Bobcat has wheels on the knees or the engineering nightmare that is the Hussar. Low profile.
>>94176029>>94176323Interesting. Still on the mustang, would it or a crusader make a better "bodyguard" for a cataphract in a cg?
>>94176583Gotta rep the Paxton classics, I'd go with some cruds.
>>94176323Bring back knee-wheels. Wildcat 4 life.
>>94163180Kind of feels like the Battletech Clans except racist instead of autistic.
>>94160002I've taken a look at the quickstart rules. It has a cool premise, but (and I know this will be superficial), but I don't like the blatant "communism fuck yeah" overtones and weird mech design
>>94178576>It has a cool premise, but (and I know this will be superficial), but I don't like the blatant "communism fuck yeah" overtones and weird mech designThat's a lot of what we get with the indie RPGs that are part of the Itch community. If you look deeper into the RPGs available there, you even start to notice that the vast majority of them feature the same few artists.There are a couple of RPGs that are good in spite of that, but they're few and far-between.
>>94175873Jerboa has single wheel on its ass.
>>94176583I'd say Mustang. Cheaper than Crusader, and has the linked rocket to put hurt on far-away dudes and Brawl:2 to fuck up anybody who thinks it's ok to come into melee range.
I've decided to make my own simple system from the scratch, but I'm not very well versed in ttrpgs in general, so I'm constantly paranoid about creating something someone else did better already. Is there some sort of top 10 most popular list of mecha ttrpg games? I looked up some stuff on youtube, but 90% of it seems to be about Lancer and not much else.
>>94178866Lancer, Heavy Gear, and Battletech are what I'd consider the big 3 as of now. Mekton is also super important historically, has a good chunk of tie-in material from other mecha media (Gundam, Metal Warriors, Macross/Robotech) and is what kickstarted DP9 doing Heavy Gear and Jovian Chronicles. The other six I would say are Mecha Hack, Battle Century Z/G/S, Beam Saber, Embryo Machine, Metallic Guardian, and Armour Astir as names that get brought up semi-regularly. Plus we have some Homebrew stuff on /tg/ like Chromestrike, Lancehounds, Ad. Eva., and so on.
>>94178947Thanks. I recognize some of these, but I wasn't sure how niche they are. I'll look them up.Maybe I'll try to narrow it down a bit though - which one of these has mechs with several pilots inside? I had this idea of the whole team of players controlling different parts of a single big mech and I was wondering if there are systems that cover this already. Something like picrel.
>>94179122Only one from the above that has that is actually Mecha Hack. Specifically, in the 'Mission Manual' expansion. It's pretty cheap so I'd nab and take a look at it.Mecha Hack itself is pretty lightweight, and doesn't bother too much with the on-foot sections.
>>94152929>How should a mech be deployed? Does it fly to a battlefield under its own power, does it have to be transported, or some other way?For the medieval fantasy mech system I want to make, I've been thinking a bit about this. The more sophisticated ways are>The Harpy use launch catapults and then the mechs glide for as far as they can.>The Elves use teleportation circles.>The Dwarves use a train network. but I can't really come up with a good "basic" way of transportation other than walking, like putting them up on a wooden cart not only makes little sense but also would be kinda lame. I've been thinking about an array of simple floating or multi-legged "transport barges" but I'm not sure.
>>94178866>>94178947>Top 10 most popular mecha RPGsI think it's worth mentioning Savage Worlds for its Rifts & Robotech books. Also the Essence D20 books for Power Rangers and Transformers. Sadly, the Essence D20 Power Rangers book completely and utterly dropped the ball on the Zords. Just totally failed. But the Transformers books do a better job and I imagine it's be possible to cobble their rules together to fix the Power Rangers Zords problems.>>94178947>Metallic GuardianThis hasn't been translated yet though, right?>>94179122>>94179182>which one of these has mechs with several pilots inside?Mekton can do multi-pilot mecha. It's one of your better choices (maybe best) for doing super robot fare.
>>94176583Crusader, Mustang as made for police work more than combat and it can’t take advantage of its speed while escorting the Cataphract
>>94181898>This hasn't been translated yet though, right?I thought it did some threads back but maybe it was just only Embryo Machine.
>>94178748
>>94183979Kill all Earthers, NuCoal belongs to the badlanders (and Humanists.)
>>94177595>>94178776>>94182292I appreciate the input but I think I'll be going with the mustang. I'd have to ditch a few upgrades and switch around variants to make up the extra cost of the crusader. And while it doesn't seem like that big a deal, I'd prefer not having vuln: H you know?Also thoughts on this 100tv combat group?
>>94185843It seems ok, but I think the amount of Skirmishers there is a bit superfluous. Two sources of ECM+ is more than enough for one CG imo.Also, keep in mind that the more combat groups you have, the more objectives you can take.
>>94187927What would you recommend instead of another skirmisher?
>>94190063I'd make it simple, and grab another Mustang.
>>94184392I am calling for Total Humanist death. Behead Humanists, Decapitate Humanists, Roundhouse kick a Humanist into the concrete, shell Humanist civilian centers with nerve gas artillery missiles, crucify filthy fedoras, force Humanists to invest in dogecoin, saturation fire APGLs into Humanist maternity wards, forced sterilization for Humanists, Punish Humanists by outlawing sodomy, blind Humanist women with an ice cream scoop, launch Humanists out of a mass driver into space, assign Humanists to teach Mordren how to do long division, slice Humanists with a Vibroblade, stir-fry Humanists with inc. medium heavy rockets, slam dunk Humanist infants into the trash compactor
>>94192589Take their aqua gears.
>>94178501They're not racist per-se, they're all the same aleut-russo-anglo mix, largely, but so is most of everyone they're fighting. It is because of two factors that they have a eugenic system, the radiation above the 52nd Parallel, and Pilot Genes. The former has made them paranoid of mutation and deviance, and the danger that inbreeding and birth defects pose in such a harsh environment, but the latter is a very real and very comprehensible polygenic trait that directly advantages their way of life. So they started out arranging marriages and even sharing genetic material to try and Mendel themselves into being a race of super-pilots. It's not like they expose infants with the wrong skull shape, they just limit reproduction.A few of them leave every generation because of this--which is allowed unless they have the Pilot Genes. Those are too precious to allow to leave and more importantly they do not want other tribes to "steal" their quasi-sacred bloodlines.
>>94193436I love his little rollerskates.
>>94193528I just saw those!!!
>>94193436I think the fire dragon is ugly
>>94193548Call it whatever you want, you'll burn all the same.
>>94192589They're not even really humanists, Humanism is just Christianity with the supernatural parts excised, the HA is supposed to be the Kallipolis (as per Plato's Republic) but presumably they couldn't call it that because nobody would recognize it.
>>94193695In their case it'd probably be Revisionism with the supernatural elements excised.You must remember the time period the setting was written. In the mid-late 1990s the Soviet Union had just collapsed. Communism was the big atheistic ideology at the time, but that would villain-code them and also Communists had just been totally humiliated globally. It also briefly became unfashionable to bully the former Soviets because they were just emerging from decades of living in a dystopia.You saw this in a few things, Communists sort of vanished from everything unless it was deliberately played up as a joke like Red Alert. So if you wanted an atheist society with an actual philosophic tradition instead of being a desolate post-soviet shithole, the easiest way was to try and synthesize some of the more secular Greeks together with a bit of techno-chauvinism.
>>94193467Whoah damn I've never seen this pic before. The Brutishdog never looked so good!
>>94194183I was looking for gundam stuff because I want to have sex with the Z'gok, but if you try to find anything gundam you just get gunpla.So, being the clever devil that I am, I went the one place where I knew 3d/real art wouldn't be allowed: Gelbooru. Started looking up other stuff just to see how much there was and there are fucking mountains of it.
>>94192589Okay Mr. DeRouen it’s time for bed>>94193789There actually are communists in Heavy Gear, they’re in Zagreb. It’s just clear the writers didn’t know really anything about communism and it’s all basically Red Dawn-level stuff. That’s one thing that’s getting fixed in the future.
>>94194669I swear to god, if you fuckers start putting in "Communism good actually" your ass is grass
>>94194722Go back to /pol/, chud
>>94194722You can have a nuanced depiction of an absolutely villainous ideology, Anon. I'm doing it right now in my own games. Cartoon commies might be fun if you're just blasting them in a video game, but in something like Heavy Gear where moral ambiguity is the entire point you gotta put in a bit more effort, and they were almost there.Like, the "Communists" are literally the pet country of the UMF. So it's like if North Korea and Israel combined, and their host-state is Buddhist Holland. You could do a lot with that. There's real potential there.
>>94194669There is also Marigold out in the Badlands with their strange connection to the creepy as fuck blue crescent group and lead by a labor bored.
>>94194769Oh, I will agree with that. As long as the balance/nuance is kept I'm good.
Thoughts on frag cannons? Are they worth taking in blitz?
>>94196385They're good against light n speedy targets, infantry, and also have some relatively good damage against heavy armor. If you can get within range, they'll do a pretty good job.
>>94194722>>94194769They’re not going to be good, they’re still going to be pieces of shit. It’s just the nature in which their shit is going to be based on their attempts to create a communist society instead of the old setup where they just had gulags and commissars for their own sake.>>94194795Yeah but most of the people there killed themselves Heaven’s Gate style back in 1936. There’s also Timmins, though.
What kind of game are you currently running? I'm working on getting my friends to let me run something form them post apocalyptic but they're hesitant since it wouldn't be 5e.
>>94201803BCG
>>94201803Mecha Hack.
>>94201803>hesitant cuz its not 5eYou need better tabletop friends. Or to teach them a real game.>What are you currently running?Nothing currently. Not mecha related (well a little) but reading through Astro Inferno since I finally got the physical book and plotting to run that soon.
I've heard HG 4e is built off of the same bones as blitz, and the other 3 used a different system. For someone trying to get into HG which of those earlier editions would be a good starting point
>>942058482nd Edition. It shares the same mechanics as the first edition, with some clean-up. It's also where most of the material is.3rd edition was a hybrid edition: the main system was SilCore, an updated version of the Silhouette system, but it was also paired with the D20 system. This, combined with the fact that 3rd Ed had no new material (everything was reprinted from previous editions), is it's looked down upon.
>>94205848One of the guys who worked on it said that he considers 2e to be the purest HG, it's the one where they were just trying to perfect the game itself, it's the best place to start. Most of the books are in the links.
>>94205848Of the old Silhouette versions 2e is the best by far
>>942058482e is what all of the sourcebooks were written for. However, most of the game's materials are supplements for the core setting which is fine, but the setting feels like any of a thousand other "Colony world rejects Fascist Earth" shticks.
>>94207565Earth isn't really Fascist, the Earthers had a perfectly good reason for doing what they were doing, previous generations and a nuclear war completely fucked their biosphere, so they have to basically let the planet reset by housing the whole population in big arcologies for a few centuries.In order to do that though they need resources that they simply don't have, and to do that they need the colonies to contribute. The colonies do not want to contribute. So the Earthers are using the last resources they have left to simply take what they need by force. They just weren't expecting Terra Nova to have giant battlemechs, but while the first invasion failed, there's nothing to stop them from trying again. Sort of like how round 1 of the Clan Invasions in Battletech was repelled, but they just reformed and tried again after a few decades and then succeeded.
>>94207911idk, sending GRELs to get gassed on Caprice after the "invasion" was an instant success seems rather Adolf but I suppose even the Earth Commonwealth can have a sympathetic light shown on them as you mention with the fucked planet and strained resources. I personally am awaiting shepherd warcrimes against them.
>>94208008For a combiner game? Not really. As mentioned earlier in the thread by >>94179182 and >>94181898 are the best output for something like that. Otherwise it's an untapped niche within a niche within a niche.
>>94207565>>94207911Earth also fucked off and left the colonies to their own devices for a few hundred years. So obviously the colonies are going to resist a “home” that most people’s great grandparents don’t even remember when they show up demanding obedience and resources.Earth were the villains to a cartoonish degree in this scenario.
>>94206161>>94206683>>94206947>>94207565All right, thanks
>>94207911>>94208050It's kind of ironic since the CEF has Home under control that they haven't moved everyone over there despite that being their original intention with Home.
>>94208046Sorry for the deleted post, I didn't mean to spam the same thing itt, I just forgot I already asked here.Thanks, that's reassuring.
>>94208366You're good. I wish you luck with whatever you have cooking.
>>94179122>I'll look them upIn case you hadn't looked at the OP, we've got a pastebin link that can help you out>>94201803>What kind of game are you currently runningThree (then two, then three again) mech pilots come to aid a small colony that is being attacked by unknown guerilla forces. This leads to the discovery of a xenocidal robot army, a supposedly extinct alien species, and a transhumanist secret society, with the colony caught in the middle. We're maybe half to two-thirds of the way through. If I can keep the players satisfied, I'll greentext the story next year
>>94207911.05 Credits have been deposited into your account you Martian wagecuck. Tell your GREL overseers to give you an extra tablespoon of onions paste tonight you've earned it.
>>94201803I'm getting ready to run an experimental post-apocalyptic thing in HG 2e. I've got a long-time group and it's been a running joke that the setting has been through multiple eras, so we've had ancient sword & sorcery, modern, and like star-trek future all in the same setting before. I even ran a CoC thing that only at the very end tied into the whole thing. The one thing I've never done is post-apocalyptic, and I've also never done Mecha.So I figured, I'd just do it, and have it start becoming evident that they're actually in the same world but between the modern age and the distant space age. Since the sci-fi game actually mentioned that the world had been nuked and had gone through several centuries of primitivism before people recovered the past, it fits in perfectly.
Hello anons. Is there a wargame that goes for a combined arms near-future and grounded feel? Something like in the video (https://youtu.be/19-Pp7e4jjs) where mechs are closer to what DARPA would design. BT is too much of huge robots plus feudalism, Heavy Gear nails the political landscape but the designs are unique to the setting and more conventional anime style.Is there nothing except taking some generic wargame ruleset and making your own, or adding mechs to a modern "historical"?
>>94212768Maybe Eisenfront? That cinematic gives me ACV and Front Mission vibes and Eisenfront is definitely FM inspired. You could probably also go with Heavy Gear if you're willing to kitbash the designs with greeble a little.
>>94212768I sort of came in from the same direction, HG's interest is that you don't have to use anything in the books, not even the aesthetics. The system works just as well for Steel Battalion style klonkers as it does for VOTOMs. Honestly a little bit better.
Got some Hunters done recently. Figured I'd share 'em.
>>94168602Wicca is it's own neo pagan religion but it's probably also used as a umbrella term
I'm assuming not, but just making sure, are there any books like the polar vehicle guides for peace river or any other faction in the game?And of not how much of a process would it be to try and backport some of their gears to the older ruleset?
>>94216355Best you get is the 3e 927 Vehicle Companion. It has some Paxton Gears listed as well as some colony stuff, namely Caprice. It's still 3e though and not 2e but I'd imagine it would be an easier conversion job than 4e/Blitz to 2e. Most NuCoal Gears and Later Paxton stuff like the Harrier are 4e and up.
>>94212768Maybe one of Osprey's generic SF wargaming rules? These usually have mech rules that can be fine-tuned to the setting's tech level as an option.
>>94213888>>94215249>>94217234Alright, thanks anons. These are all interesting suggestions
I put up a video of LP session for heavy gear rpg 4e. It's the classic Jungle Drums adventur, condensed into oneshot form.https://youtu.be/Ohfo0myLE1g?si=HDHXVT_uRuDtuHch
>>94215887Oooh, RAFM scale. Very nice. Can you get a slightly more front facing one as well?
>>94217403They actually are 1/144 Blitz models. Would love to have some RAFM someday. I just weirdly like baldies, fits better with the stripped down look imo.
>>94217605Hey, I didn't know the Blitz scale got the pre-ATO heads for Hunters. Anyway, super great paintjob.
>>94217654Thanks. You can get them with the north weapons pack if you want some yourself. iirc I think Uncle Heavy Gear also has 3D printable ones as well. I mainly got them to differentiate my Jaguarundis from regular Jags but I figured I'd use the Hunter heads for Stripped Down units as well. I think I have some Jager jealousy but dont tell southies that.
Alright, bogpill me on Heavy Gear list building. What are the basics one should keep in mind? The massive amount of choices is somewhat overwhelming, even with just a starter 50 point game.
>>942180341. The main polar factions have 4 main 'classes' for the gears: grunts, elites, heavies, and ecm guys.2. The 3 main sources of defense are cover, ecm, and smoke. Being out in the open is begging to be fragged.Here's a simple, well-rounded 50tv group:2 jager gunners (grunts)Mamba gunner (elite)Blackbox iguana (ecm guy)Bushmaster cobra (heavy)Play it, see how it fits, think about how you'd like to expand on it and go from there.
>>9421803450TV is kinda nice in that you don't have to stress about combat group roles much. Just pick what objective you feel like and units that you help you achieve it. GP units and objectives are decent ones to start out with.What I might go starting out is the basic trooper unit of each faction so for norf it's Hunters. The Terranovan factions all have a hunter equivalent so just use those in place. Colonies get slightly more complex but i'd say their basic trooper mecha would be Earth: F6-16, Caprice: Acco, Utopia/Eden: Constable APE. In a combat group you'll always at least want one unit to be the group leader. Generally you'll also want them to dawn whatever commander upgrade or have a unit specialized for commanding. Hunters with the Headhunter upgrade is a good place to start.If you find yourself with extra TV left over you can always go for upgrades. Smoke is always a good one for when you need an immediate defensive option. Veteran is a good TV filler. It will give units an extra skill point and opens up options for even more upgrades such as dual welding weapons or adding additional melee brawling or ECCM. Also generally doesn't hurt to have a second in command for 1TV.There's a helpful page at the end of the 3.1 book for upgrade references to help out with building a combat group out.
>>94218126Oh, forgot to mention: models with ecm+ have their defense buff turned on permanently, without needing to spend an action. Always useful to have.Good to have a source of defense (via smoke/ecm) for each CG.
>>94218126>>94218169>>94218144Got it, going with 10 Lynxes + 2 stripped down Hunters.All stuff aside, I was thinking of tattletale weasel (commander), a jaguar (elite), two hunter gunners, strike para cheetah (ecm), and strike mad dog R (heavy). The mad dog is the cheap out heavy considering I went with 6 gears and reasonably expensive ones too, but hey, it's a cool mech in BT so why not pick it here too. Alternatives would be the tiger, bear or dingo, if I substitute the cheetah for a cheaper ECM guy (a Ferret), or go with 5 gears.Weasel for commander? I can see it's a frail gear but hey, it looks cool, has good electronics and seems suited enough for being an order slut. The one I'm not sure about is the Jaguar, doesn't speak to me much even though the TNs are good.Absolutely no points left for customization, but it's fine by me, less of a headache.
A couple of questions about mekton z1. Am I reading it right that arm/hand servos can hold a weapon up to it's kill rating?2. If I wanted to make a melee weapon that did 20 damage, would it be 20 kills or 10 as per the chart?
>>94219099>1. Am I reading it right that arm/hand servos can hold a weapon up to it's kill rating?A hand can hold as many Spaces as the Arm it's attached to. So, a hand (even a 1 Kill hand) on a Heavy Striker arm (5 Spaces) can hold a weapon that takes up 5 Spaces. Using both hands, it could hold a weapon that takes up 10 Spaces. (I actually like your idea better, though)>2. If I wanted to make a melee weapon that did 20 damage, would it be 20 kills or 10 as per the chart?A weapon that did 20 Kills of damage would cost 10 CP and would be able to take 20 Kills of damage itself. Man, that'd be one bigass weapon!
My group is about to start up a game of Mechs vs Kaiju (FATE system), so I'm sharing details here.General theme being mecha in a post-apocalypse defending wasteland trade convoys traveling between settlements from kaiju left behind by alien Invaders. Expected scale is about 50m averages for the mechs, so OG Godzilla heights.I have decided to base my mech around the USS Texas, mounting the 10x14in autocannons on the hips like a Kantai shipgirl.>BB-35, 'Bigby'>Big Bastard Type 35>One of the most technologically advanced man-piloted mechs of its era, the BB-35 served in (conflict) but saw no action there, and made numerous sorties into (location) during (conflict) without engaging the enemy, though he did fire for the first time when shooting medium-caliber guns at supposed Invaders (no evidence exists that suggests these were anything more than rubble). From (year) to (year), BB-35 became a flagship mech for the early (settlement name), one of only four such mechs to receive such an honor. During (conflict) BB-35 escorted armored convoys across the (Noun) Wastes and later fought against (blank) class Kaiju in the (Location) landings and (Location) dust-beaches in the (conflict) before being transfered to the (War theater or location) in the late (year) to provide gunfire support during the (battle) and (battle). He was the only (faction name) mech to take part in all four of these conflicts. BB-35 was retired in (year) having earned a total of five (medals).>BB-35 was a technological testbed, having many 'firsts' in modern mech-design. The first mech to mount (standard system), the first (faction) mech to (basic function), the first (faction) mech to launch a (common event), and one of the first mechs to receive a production-grade radar. He was also the first mech to be outfitted with 14-inch autocannon shells.>It's estimated that, accounting for drift in relative value, BB-35 cost five point eight-three billion (money unit) to construct. 1/2
>>94222641>Glitch :>Ponderous Obsolescence - BB-35 was since put back into service due to (particular need), and while mounting tremendous armor and weaponry, has not aged particularly well as a warmachine. Core design philosophy has long since shifted away from the 'dreadnought' mindset, such tremendous mechs being too slow and too expensive to operate and keep in full repair compared to simply fielding squads of smaller, more agile, and far less expensive mechs.>BB-35 is a ponderous giant in the battlefield, carrying the heaviest armor of its era (now half-again as heavy as modern armor platings), the biggest guns (being matched by modern guns half their size), and being dreadfully slow and cumbersome compared to its modern counterparts. BB-35 is a very, very large target, and its pilot must husband his movements carefully lest they end up in a situation that spells his destruction.>Offensive System :>(3 points) 10x14 Gun Battery - A hip-mounted battery of ten autocannons, five on each side, which launch 14in wide shells with staccato applause. Outdated in design, relying on multiple weaker guns, which were the most powerful mech-carried guns of their era, they manage to keep up with modern weaponry through sheer size and damage output, and little else.>Gun Battery (Area)>AP-Rounds (Penetrating)>Big Ol' Guns (+1 WV)>Defensive System :>(3 points) MDC 'Smooth and Mild' Heaviest Armor Plating>Ablative - Whenever the mech takes mild physical consequences, you can instead damage the armor. Reduce all defensive roles by -1. This reduction must be repaired in the same manner as mild consequences.>Cumbersome - Increase Armor Value by +2. If a situation aspect makes moving from one zone to another, increase the difficulty of the Overcome check by +2. This mech may not move more than one sector per round for any reason. This does not affect forced movement.>Big Ol' Plates (+1 AV) - +1 Armor Value
>>94218322Seems solid so far. A Jaguar could be overkill and I could see for going into upgrades or cheaper units/varients but Jaguars for the most part are real solid units. 3/3 hull/structure can kinda suck but hey you have 3+ piloting and agile and I doubt your 50TV opponent would field a single Visigoth. I'm not too sure about a weasel commander as in my experience an aggresive enemy will make quick work of a weak commander then you can say bye bye to those command points. If you still decide to stick with it I would slap smoke or be prepared to have him surrounded by cover and bodies that count as cover.
Working on a couple mech ideas with the HG 2e tech manual. How could I best represent something like this? A handheld autocannon but connected to an internal/back mounted ammo feed?
>>94222641>>94222672Drew Bigby
After some internal debate I've decided it's not necessary to limit people to piloting exclusively humanoid mecha. This may seem odd but the idea is that the pilots project their minds into the machines and pilot them as if they were their own bodies
>>94223230Belt-fed pistol? Awwww shit, we Wetworks now
>>94223524drew another BigbyI'm done for now
I was shocked the thread was still up after so long. Forgot the autosage is deadWe're going to have to deal with e-mail verification next though aren't we?
>>94224204>he doesn't knowRemember when CAPTCHA was "temporary"?
What mecha games have the deepest crunch? Bonus points if it's not homebrew.
>>94225026Battletech. GURPS and CORPS can probably end up similar levels if you force everybody to use shit-tons of optional rules and build everything using GURPS Vehicles/CORPS VDS.
>>94225026Mekton Z is prrrrrrretty crunchy
>>94223524>>94223902Okay i'm actually done nowSorry, i'm rather excited about this game. We haven't played anything mecha in a long time.
>>94222641>>94222672>>94223524>>94223902>>94225260I gotta say, I love the name "Bigby" for a giant robert. And your game sounds like a blast!
>>94225420I intend to draw the mechs of the other 3 players, when they finalize their designs for me to go off of. Posting here of course.I need more practice drawing, i'm rusty and this is a good chance.
>>94222897Right, makes sense. Could slap the commander in a headhunter hunter by downgrading the weasel from tattletale, or discard the ferret as the weasel is already a great ECM+ + ECCM dude, and get a better heavy and commander
>>94168260>>94168667Yeah Mektons mecha building LOOKS complicated, but it actually isnt. Its just a bunch of simple math, really. You build you mech how you want, add it all up, and then adjust it upwards/downwards. The hardest actual part is just keeping track of it but as long as you do, its simple.
>>94226865It gets bullshit with the techmanual though
>>94231312thats why you dont fuckin bother with the tech manual, thats for crazy people.
>>94226865>>94231366If you’re not using the tech manual then what’s the point? Mekton’s core parts are boring and generic. The tech manual is where all the real fun is.
I wonder how non-anime of a mech you can make with mekton, and conversely how anime of a mech with a much more realistic and simulationist builder like GURPS TL9 or 10 (without super science)
>>94233227Define “anime” and “non-anime” mecha.
>>94233691I'm assuming "non-anime" mecha is stuff like Battletech or Mechwarrior and the like. Titanfall bridges the gap somewhere in the middle.
>>94233691Anime (not necessarily all of them): giant, super mobile (flight, surface to space, no inertia), projectile spam, hands wielding guns, bullshiuttium technology, melee weapons, energy shields, undisputed king of the Battlefield mogging everything elseNon-anime (also not necessarily ticking everything): small, remotely operated or semi-autonomous, sensible weapon package, weapons are turreted or swivel mounted, vulnerable to heavier firepower and AFVs, not so great on very soft terrainSo to boil it down as much as possible, physics defying magic vs grounded mil-sim, although something like Heavy Gear which is undoubtedly anime is still by and large more than realistic (gears are small and with sensible weight). On the contrary, Battletech is way more anime than HG: mechs are king and absolutely massive, all sorts of pew pew energy weapons, can take ungodly punishment etc. I have never used mekton but the latter is probably achievable but the former isn't without TL! stuff.
>>94233874Ignoring how retarded your definitions are.Mekton can do “non-anime” by your definition, there’s different scales in MZ+ and conversion rules for making mechs/ACPAs for Cyberpunk 2020.
>>94233874Its incredibly easy. You just make a CP 50-100 mech. Generally the way i see it is that CP 50-100 is true grunt tier shit, 150 is Ace Custom, 200-250 is gundams and anything above that is veering into super robo shit.
>>94217396That's pretty cool. I've always liked the green chick, she's on all of the HG art.
>>94168440Feudal Seattle would be a step up desu this place is Hell.
>>94233890NTA, but how can you otherwise define it? I only watched Votoms, but isn't the anime mech mil-sim much less common and represented, unlike the physics defying mecha? Even having watched Votoms, obsolete and playing heavy gear, when someone mentions "anime mechs" I picture Gundams and the like first
>>94236146Cute>>94236188I hate driving there. Traffic is horribad.
>>942163553e vehicle companion has almost everything published up to that pointBackporting from 4e is possible if you reverse the conversion process and base it off similar statblocks
>>94233227>>94233691>>94233716>>94233874>>94233890>>94234685You can build nearly anything in MZ+, including an M1 Abrams tank, an F-22 jet fighter, a battleship, a motorcycle, a bulldozer or power shovel or front-end loader, or whatever else you wan. Pic related.
>>94233716>"non-anime" mecha is stuff like Battletech or Mechwarrior and the likeOh, you mean the stuff that was originally copied from anime like Macross, Dougram, and Crusher Joe?>>94233874>Non-anime (also not necessarily ticking everything): small, remotely operated or semi-autonomous, sensible weapon package, weapons are turreted or swivel mounted, vulnerable to heavier firepower and AFVs, not so great on very soft terrainOh, you mean stuff like the mecha in anime such as Armored Trooper VOTOMs, Obsolete, Xabungle, Dragon's Heaven, Zoids, etc?TL;DRThese presumptions about "anime" vs "non anime" mecha is better phrased as "super robots" vs "real robots." (Or perhaps "mecha" vs "mechs"?) Mekton Z and Z+ can do both quite well. There are a couple of Voltron-esque tropes that Mekton isn't terrific for, but there aren't any RPGs, wargames, or even vidya that handle such things well.
>>94236653>NTA, but how can you otherwise define it? I only watched Votoms, but isn't the anime mech mil-sim much less common and represented, unlike the physics defying mecha? Even having watched Votoms, obsolete and playing heavy gear, when someone mentions "anime mechs" I picture Gundams and the like firstThe funny thing is that Gundam is sorta a genre unto itself nowadays, straddling the lines of both Super Robot fare and Real Robot fare. They have red/white/blue overpowered prototypes but they also have the Zaku.However, Gundam is still more Real than Super for the simple fact that in Gundam, you don't shout out the name of everything you do. Voltron, Shogun Warriors, stuff like that, they don't just shout out "form Blazing Sword" -- Duke Fleed/Orion Quest will shout out "Dizer Kick!" when Grendizer/Grandizer simply kicks an opponent.
>>94237874Geh, I forgot to namefriend that one>These presumptions about "anime" vs "non anime" mecha is better phrased as "super robots" vs "real robots." (Or perhaps "mecha" vs "mechs"?) Mekton Z and Z+ can do both quite well.
>>94237879Man I'm off my game today. I was trying to add that, regarding:>>94237808>These presumptions about "anime" vs "non anime" mecha is better phrased as "super robots" vs "real robots." (Or perhaps "mecha" vs "mechs"?)He's right.
>>94236653>how can you otherwise define it?You don’t, it’s a false dichotomy.
What would be the way to design a gear/AT size mekton rather than a mobile suit scale one in MTZ?
>>94238415Roadstriker scale.
>>94238415>What would be the way to design a gear/AT size mekton rather than a mobile suit scale one in MTZ?>>94238449>Roadstriker scale.Correctamundo
Got invited to a Lancer game, not exactly my type of system but they know I like gundam so they threw me a pity invite. I'm a bit overwhelmed by it and I was wondering if anyone could help me and tell me how I go about just being this guy. All I want is to spend my turn doing damage. I don't want to do anything but shoot my guns every turn and say one-liners.
>>94239019The answer is honestly just play a different system. I'd recommend against playing Lancer
>>94239019>I don't want to do anything but shoot my guns every turn and say one-linersCome on, how hard can that be?
>>94239209>The answer is honestly just play a different system. I'd recommend against playing LancerThat's not on the table. >>94239329>Come on, how hard can that be?Okay so I want to do big damage while shooting my guns every turn and saying one-liners.
>>94239019>>94239469Just run an Everest and load it up with guns and missiles, pick talents that support using your guns of choice and missile launchers.
>>94233874Saying Battletech is more anime than Heavy Gear is an insult to both of them
>>94212768Metallurgent>>94237808Mechs and mecha are the same thing
>>94239643There’s a stark contrast between how Battletech lore depicts mechs moving and fighting, and how the Mechwarrior video games depict them. They’re actually pretty “anime” in canon.Also the ridiculous color coded factions are anime as fuck.
Working on some small changes to how Heavy Gear 2e works, trying to represent something a bit closer to the modern day in time period. One of these is how guided missiles appear to be the exact opposite in terms of how they're priced from real life.I.E., IRL the device that actually fires an ATGM or a MANPAD is relatively cheap, while the missiles themselves are the primary expense. The same is true on vehicles, the hard points that an Aim-9 is attached to are really as expensive as pieces of civilian gardening equipment, but an AIM-9 itself, the actual missile, costs like $500,000. The launcher is a metal tube with some basic electronics and a scope, the missile itself is what costs all the money.By contrast though in HG 2e, if you want to mount an ATGM on a vehicle, the launcher is 1956 points, whereas the missile itself is 39.12, meaning that the launcher costs 50x as much as the munition. My proposed change to this would be to reduce the cost of the launchers down to some very small cost (the cost of a hardpoint, or a modification to a cannon barrel like the MGM-51) and then multiply the ammunition cost by x5 or even x10, so that the missile itself costs 200-400 ish.Also might introduce man-portable ATGMs which are somehow absent from the core rules despite these being the exact weapon you'd want when dealing with giant robot walkers. Any thoughts? HG is one of the rare games that actually makes guided missiles as damaging as they really are, instead opting for the "two dozens tiny missiles which sandpaper the target to death"
Is there a formula for how the tv/rating is derived from the various rocket pack sizes (HG 2e tech manual)? I'd like to make some of my own with different amounts of rockets but these values are all over the place and I didn't see any notes on how to make new ones.
>>94240278Here's what's in the Silhouette 3e core. I believe this should work, I.E. if you use it to just recreate any of the weapons statistically it will give you the right TV cost, but I haven't tested it yet, haven't needed to make weapons yet. For some reason making and scrap-building weapons is not something they cover in great detail at any point, I think they just never figured out how to make it work without making it trivially easy to scratchbuild gamebreaking weapons.
>>94239643Anywhere but in the videya, BT rules actually mirror the standard real robot choreography very closely.HG is Anime too, but VOTOMS was pretending to be way more milsim, so that ended up being mirrored into the rules.
>>94239648>MetallurgentMan it looked interesting but even here, shields and melee weapons, mechs dual wielding magazine fed weapons, and the gen 1 mechs completely throw away the (already not very) grounded designs away
>>94240912This is totally false, there are very few real robot shows where the robots just pound each other with attacks over and over until eventually one of them is so damaged it diesThat does actually describe super robot fights pretty well though, with the exception of the finishing move
>>94240278
>>94225535Session hasn't started yet, but Ref posted some example mechs for us to reference, so i drew one. Basic trooper, Havoc.
>>94241701Kaiju Hunting is an underrated mecha medium.
I know I'm retarded, but explain to be what's the utility in the Blast quality for LoS shooting in Heavy Gears. You deny the +1d6 defence bonus for cover, but then you are rolling with 1d6 gunnery vs a 2d6 piloting, since all you removed was the cover bonus. Did I just not understand indirect fire and LoS?
>>94242369It's a bit tricky at first, so don't feel retarded or nothing. Here's the thing: Usually, as you said, Blast wouldn't really help, since both you and the enemy lose a dice.However, this changes once you add Forward Observation to the mix.When a guy spots a target for another model, it eliminates the -1d6 for indirect firing. So, you can get a bunch of guys hiding, have one dude spot for them, and then all of them fire their Blast weapon, and ignore enemy cover (as long as at least the spotter has LoS to the target).
>>94242492I meant the first part. Fire missions are covered in the second bullet point and easy enough to understand. I guess the former is for targets that are outside optimal range, which means you'll already be rolling at 1d6 anyway, so you at least get to deny cover?
>>94241249>This is totally false, there are very few real robot shows where the robots just pound each other with attacks over and over until eventually one of them is so damaged it diesThe most common real robot choreography ends in a brawl after some maneuvering and shooting.You'd easily realize that if you'd care watch with your brain turned on.
>>94242601Ahh. Yeah, that is true. And also if you're firing at infantry who's in cover (but not in a building), you'll deny em 2d6 instead of 1d6.
Do you guys think there should be an AMS+ upgrade, or ability? I haven't seen a reason to upgrade mechs with it, and for the very few things that natively had it, it hasn't come up much for me. Something like a small 4" bubble of friendly AMS coverage doesn't sound too bad
>>94244291I think it will be more useful in 4.0, since it will add a +1 against indirect attacks instead of just a reroll
>>94239648>Mechs and mecha are the same thingEh... That's debatable.In Japan, they use メック -- "mekku," meaning 'mech' or 'mechs' -- to specifically refer to the more Western style of giant robots. Meanwhile メカ -- "meka," meaning 'mecha' -- is used for any kind of machinery at all. Cars, guns, aircraft carriers, giant robots, they're all mecha to a Japanese speaker.In English the whole question is totally muddied. Personally, I approach it this way:Mech = a machine (usually a giant robot)Mechs = two or more machines (usually giant robots)Mecha = machinery (usually the idea of giant robots)andMechas = Does Not Compute! (Just as there's no such word as 'musics,' there's no such thing as 'mechas.')Of course, your mileage may vary.
>>94241249>This is totally false, there are very few real robot shows where the robots just pound each other with attacks over and over until eventually one of them is so damaged it diesOutside of Dougram, that's true.>That does actually describe super robot fights pretty well though, with the exception of the finishing moveAgain, totally true.>>94243447>The most common real robot choreography ends in a brawl after some maneuvering and shooting.No, the most common real robot coreography is one-hit, one kill. This is almost universally true, except for bigtime main characters. One-shot kills are easier to animate -- and to reuse for animation -- than partly damaged robots. >You'd easily realize that if you'd care watch with your brain turned on.Don't be rude, we all love giant robots here.
>>94245933>Just as there's no such word as 'musics,' Uuuuuummm aaaaaaktchually!“Musics” is a word, it’s a very specialized use case of referring to different types of traditional music, like how “fishes” is used to refer to species of fish, or “peoples” refers to different population groups.It’s a word you will never encounter outside of studying musical history.
>>94241693Am I missing something in this formula? Why not just write (DM+ROF)2
>>94246725I typed the squared symbol, but that works too I guess
