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Agent Interrobang posted:Yeah, no, save it for the completely unprepared reaction. I want to SAVOR people's first look at the sheer, unmitigated terror that a Star of Omnis can be. Use the Mk 1 Omnis that are floating around the net - those will make you poo poo yourself the first time you run into them. Lokis with actual armor on them? Masakaris with a primary config that doesn't flirt with shutdown or ammo explosion every time you fire your primary weapons set? Eeeeevil.
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Jan 26, 2011 18:53
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PoptartsNinja posted:... So, since nobody chose the Gray Death Legion, I may force us to play a mission with them as part of the Kell Hounds Cylene campaign. I actually like the Gray Death Legion, and I have no idea why I didn't vote for them. Their light scout [redacted] is one of the few [redacted] that doesn't look like rear end.  Edit: So, if your plan is to shove all of us who want to play in different factions, so that you/we can have a big battle royale at end (or before), then sign me up for the GDL. (Or Comstar/Word of Blake) If that wasn't your plan, I hope it is now. 
Tarquinn fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Jan 26, 2011 |
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Jan 26, 2011 18:54
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Mukaikubo posted:Sweet christ yes. In fact, I am going to lobby hard for Comstar to be our 3rd or so faction, or maybe even 2nd; after we get word of some advanced force kicking rear end on the periphery, Comguard saddles up to go deal with the situation all smug with their Star League equipment and they get utterly jobbed too. Especially if our beating is what prompts the First Circuit to start opening the warehouses in utter panic after seeing their best manhandled. You just know that our first experience with the Clans is going to be getting hosed up by a Mad Cat. Or possibly those which should not be named. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Jan 26, 2011 |
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Jan 26, 2011 18:57
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Cythereal posted:You just know that our first experience with the Clans is going to be getting hosed up by a Mad Cat. Or <REDACTED>. As it should be. What, you expected something else out of this avatar? Mukaikubo fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Jan 26, 2011 |
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Jan 26, 2011 18:59
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Uh, no offense, Cythereal, but we've all been trying very hard not to mention THOSE. Mad Cats are common knowledge even to greenhorns, but not THOSE. Please do not spoil THOSE. PS: Mukaikubo, might wanna edit that quote. Agent Interrobang fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Jan 26, 2011 |
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Jan 26, 2011 18:59
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Agent Interrobang posted:Uh, no offense, Cythereal, but we've all been trying very hard not to mention THOSE. Mad Cats are common knowledge even to greenhorns, but not THOSE. I agree wholeheartedly. Maintain radio silence.
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Jan 26, 2011 19:02
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Agent Interrobang posted:Uh, no offense, Cythereal, but we've all been trying very hard not to mention THOSE. Mad Cats are common knowledge even to greenhorns, but not THOSE. Edited my post accordingly. Radio silence about those... things... is in force.
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Jan 26, 2011 19:06
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Cythereal posted:Edited my post accordingly. Radio silence about those... things... is in force. Thank you very much. It's merely that I want to see newbie player reactions to them. Mostly of the 'HOLY GOD WHAT THE gently caress JUST KILLED ME?!  ' variety.
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Jan 26, 2011 19:08
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Agent Interrobang posted:Thank you very much. It's merely that I want to see newbie player reactions to them. Mostly of the 'HOLY GOD WHAT THE gently caress JUST KILLED ME?! Your point is well taken. I have redacted my quote accordingly. The novel scenes where the readers meet them for the first time are some of the most bleakly hilarious things ever, in an "what the christ" way.
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Jan 26, 2011 19:10
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Agent Interrobang posted:Thank you very much. It's merely that I want to see newbie player reactions to them. Mostly of the 'HOLY GOD WHAT THE gently caress JUST KILLED ME?! I agree, now that I think about it. >_> They were in MW2: Mercs, too. Lovely little surprise in a mission on a swamp world during the Clan Invasion - you can't see anything below roughly your mech's knees due to fog, and that's the mission where they first appear, IIRC...
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Jan 26, 2011 19:10
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Tempest_56 posted:I present you a typical flowchart of a Battletech game to explain: Wow. The rulebook is that badly laid out that it takes so long? I can definitely see how you wouldn't exactly take the initiative to get better at the game after an experience like that.
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Jan 26, 2011 21:04
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Glazius posted:Wow. The rulebook is that badly laid out that it takes so long? I can definitely see how you wouldn't exactly take the initiative to get better at the game after an experience like that. Obviously it's an exaggeration for comedic value but the rules for battletech are pretty hefty the first few times you play. D&D is complicated but since you're not really competing against anyone, besides the DM I suppose, it isn't such a big deal if something gets missed. Luckily megamek takes the majority of the hassle out of the gameplay itself and lets you focus on the fun parts of the game (getting dice raped).
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Jan 26, 2011 21:13
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Mukaikubo posted:Your point is well taken. I have redacted my quote accordingly. The novel scenes where the readers meet them for the first time are some of the most bleakly hilarious things ever, in an "what the christ" way. That was pretty awesome. Destroyed Shin's mech, lost an arm in the process, fell 200 feet, then took a sword cut to the throat and six shots to the head with a heavy pistol. And even then Shin wasn't sure that he'd killed it.
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Jan 26, 2011 21:16
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I rember those things if its what I think it is... I wouldnt mind being a pilot at some point as well I have PMs.
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Jan 26, 2011 21:25
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Glazius posted:Wow. The rulebook is that badly laid out that it takes so long? I can definitely see how you wouldn't exactly take the initiative to get better at the game after an experience like that. I think it more boils down to the game goes fairly quick if you know what you're doing and have the sense to consult the available quick-reference at the back of the book; but it takes roughly forever+1 if the involved players are too busy squabbling and bickering over exact rule wordings to play. Heat, for example, is pretty goddamn simple (you fired three weapons worth 3 heat each? You have 10 single heat sinks? You gain 9 heat and lose 10, for net 0) but some people just can't grasp it and have to look up the drat section of the book every time. Also, yeah, Megamek does 90% of that behind the scenes anyway so it doesn't even matter.
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Jan 26, 2011 21:28
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Tempest_56 posted:I think it more boils down to the game goes fairly quick if you know what you're doing and have the sense to consult the available quick-reference at the back of the book; but it takes roughly forever+1 if the involved players are too busy squabbling and bickering over exact rule wordings to play. Heat, for example, is pretty goddamn simple (you fired three weapons worth 3 heat each? You have 10 single heat sinks? You gain 9 heat and lose 10, for net 0) but some people just can't grasp it and have to look up the drat section of the book every time. LOS has ended friendships and made bitter enemies of familys.
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Jan 26, 2011 21:33
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Axe-man posted:LOS has ended friendships and made bitter enemies of familys. At the same time, is it really such a good thing that we have given all of our rule decisions over to this, this... machine?! What, pray tell, will we do when this little homunculus awakens one day and announces that it has no further need of us? (Am I the first to make an overt Alpha Centauri reference this thread? Do I get an award?)
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Jan 26, 2011 21:38
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Mukaikubo posted:Do I get an award?  Here ya go. I've got a couple of these things lying around after hit-and-runs in the Dieron district. 
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Jan 26, 2011 21:42
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Zeroisanumber posted:That was pretty awesome. Destroyed Shin's mech, lost an arm in the process, fell 200 feet, then took a sword cut to the throat and six shots to the head with a heavy pistol. And even then Shin wasn't sure that he'd killed it. Calling something an anklebiter doesn't seem like much of a nickname. Until you remember that the ankles in question belong to mechs. What book was this? I may have to give it a look.
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Jan 26, 2011 21:43
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Cythereal posted:Calling something an anklebiter doesn't seem like much of a nickname. Until you remember that the ankles in question belong to mechs. This was Lethal Heritage (Book 1 of 3 of the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy) if I remember right.
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Jan 26, 2011 21:46
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Agent Interrobang posted:Yeah, no, save it for the completely unprepared reaction. I want to SAVOR people's first look at the sheer, unmitigated terror that a Star of Omnis can be. This is going to be so drat sweet. Sure, people are going "Well they most be bad news if these guys who know BT are talking them up..." but when the poo poo actually goes down it'll be more like: 
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Jan 26, 2011 22:30
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Mukaikubo posted:Your point is well taken. I have redacted my quote accordingly. The novel scenes where the readers meet them for the first time are some of the most bleakly hilarious things ever, in an "what the christ" way. Oh god those scenes.
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Jan 26, 2011 22:32
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WarLocke posted:This is going to be so drat sweet. Sure, people are going "Well they most be bad news if these guys who know BT are talking them up..." but when the poo poo actually goes down it'll be more like: Seriously. It's like being the first soldiers ever to come up against a platoon of arquebuses. "WHY IS EVERYONE BLEEDING AND SCREAMING?! WHAT BLACK SORCERY IS THIS?!"
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Jan 26, 2011 22:34
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Tempest_56 posted:Also, yeah, Megamek does 90% of that behind the scenes anyway so it doesn't even matter. Wait, so all of us people who have never been able to play Battletech but gaze into this thread with slackjawed awe could play with this Megamek? And we could play with Goons and be educated as to the way of giant robot awesomeness? 
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Jan 26, 2011 22:52
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Trast posted:Wait, so all of us people who have never been able to play Battletech but gaze into this thread with slackjawed awe could play with this Megamek? And we could play with Goons and be educated as to the way of giant robot awesomeness? Yup! Megamek is an awesome resource for just that reason: the basics boil down to 'can you position units on a hex grid, remember weapon ranges, and make sure you're actually facing what you want to shoot?' And the little summaries it gives at the end of each turn make it quick to learn what's actually going on mechanically. Alas, the interface can be mildly clunky, but it's easy enough to figure out after messing around a bit. And it even includes bot AI, if you want to practice against the CPU.
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Jan 26, 2011 22:59
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Trast posted:Wait, so all of us people who have never been able to play Battletech but gaze into this thread with slackjawed awe could play with this Megamek? And we could play with Goons and be educated as to the way of giant robot awesomeness? Yes. Absolutely. All of that. http://megamek.sourceforge.net/ If you read the freely available quick-start rules someone linked earlier, you shouldn't have much trouble figuring out how to start playing around with megamek and getting the hang of the basics. Honestly, you're more likely to have trouble figuring out how to start a game against an AI bot for training than you are actually playing once you do- the program design is not as intuitive as it might be.
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Jan 26, 2011 22:59
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Agent Interrobang posted:Seriously. It's like being the first soldiers ever to come up against a platoon of arquebuses. "WHY IS EVERYONE BLEEDING AND SCREAMING?! WHAT BLACK SORCERY IS THIS?!" Yet more BattleTech magic technology. I'm fairly sure there is no way, even theoretically, to make something so small so resistant to damage. Maybe the clans nipped over to the Star Trek universe and bought some shields.
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Jan 26, 2011 23:01
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Hey guys, if you can answer to quick rules questions for me, I can avoid some email tic taccing with our wonderful host: A) Can you kick backwards, forwards, or all round you? B) Is this walking path valid for 7 movement, and if not, what am I doing wrong: Starting in 0608 with the Jenner (Position D) Total movement walking 7 Costs 2 to move into 0609 (1 for the square, 1 up the hill) Costs 1 to move into 0610 Costs 1 to turn to face 0711 Costs 1 to move into 0711 Cost 2 to move into 0811 (1 for the square, 1 up the hill) Movement cost of 7 total?
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Jan 26, 2011 23:03
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Arglebargle III posted:Yet more BattleTech magic technology. I'm fairly sure there is no way, even theoretically, to make something so small so resistant to damage. Maybe the clans nipped over to the Star Trek universe and bought some shields. If we're talking about what I think we're talking about, they work more on Space Marine technology than Star Trek. Which is basically willing away the damage by being badass rather than technomagic. Or perhaps little kid cowboys and indians logic. "I shot you!" "Nuh-uh! I was behind an invisible rock!"
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Jan 26, 2011 23:09
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:A) Can you kick backwards, forwards, or all round you? Only into your forward arc, which is the hex directly in front of you and one to either side. Punching is different, depending on which direction your torso is twisted and which arm it is. (Simple answer: you can punch things everywhere.) quote:B) Is this walking path valid for 7 movement, and if not, what am I doing wrong: Yes, that appears to be valid.
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Jan 26, 2011 23:10
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As for magic armour technology, it helps that stuff like AC20 200mm shots have the density of water (well, inbetween water and salt water to be exact!)  (Calculated by some insane people at Stardestroyer.net, yeah that place)
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Jan 26, 2011 23:12
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My current orders as they stand: Orders: Walk to 0811, torso twist to face the spider, and fire all weapons into the rear armor of the spider mech (K2). Fires: 4 x Medium Laser at spider mech (K2) 1 x SRM at spider mech (K2) Any optional extra that lets me fire for MOAR DAMAGE should be done. Commanders intent: I want to talk the best possible shots at the spider while I can. I don't think it's rear armor can possibly be that hot (I am assuming it is the same or less than the Jenner), so I anticipate that with a bit of luck, and some joy on the hit locations table, I can really mess him up. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Jan 26, 2011 |
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Jan 26, 2011 23:23
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:I don't think it's rear armor can possibly be that hot (I am assuming it is the same or less than the Jenner), so I anticipate that with a bit of luck, and some joy on the hit locations table, I can really mess him up. SDR-5K's rear armor is 2/4/2. So one ML hit anywhere breaks the armor.
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Jan 26, 2011 23:30
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Yeah, an Alpha Strike from behind could cripple or even kill the Spider outright, assuming everything lands.
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Jan 26, 2011 23:33
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Yeah, that is my hope - if I can land a crippling blow on the spider, the Hussar is going to be in a sticky situation.
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Jan 26, 2011 23:37
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Pimpmust posted:As for magic armour technology, it helps that stuff like AC20 200mm shots have the density of water (well, inbetween water and salt water to be exact!) What, you were expecting maybe a high-tech shell filled with high explosives in a container that begins the explosion a few inches away from direct hull contact so the explosion can form into a jet of concussive plasma that could pierce straight through armor and do horrible damage to the inside of a war machine? Good god no! If we did that, MechWarriors might get hurt! Maybe even killed, and we can't have that! Like the  in ancient times banning the arbalest because a commoner might kill a  , we fight with gimped weapons because only commoners are supposed to die in warfare, Other than that, I was wondering, Poptarts: how did you make that map? That doesn't appear to be a MegaMek map, since the hills are different as are the hex signages. Also, if anybody wants to, I'd be glad to teach someone the basics of CBT with MegaMek (or just play if anyone's excited watching the thread and can't wait). I've been making maps for the past couple of days, and they're so densely filled with interesting stuff that the MegaMek AI is too drat stupid to really fight on them very well, preferring to march overland through virgin (dense) woods rather than take the road helpfully cut through them because it doesn't point directly at the unit it wants to target and other such nonsense. The bots are okay in 'stock' maps, but it's pretty retarded on the kind of map where you need to think.
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Jan 26, 2011 23:37
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Agent Interrobang posted:Alas, the interface can be mildly clunky, but it's easy enough to figure out after messing around a bit. And it even includes bot AI, if you want to practice against the CPU. Wow, when did this happen? Last time I tried megamek it was peer-to-peer only because they had no AI implemented...
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Jan 26, 2011 23:38
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WarLocke posted:Wow, when did this happen? Last time I tried megamek it was peer-to-peer only because they had no AI implemented... Calling it an AI is kind of a misnomer. It's more "Artificial Stupid". Basically it knows just enough to move towards enemies, stay outside of its own minimum range, fire at the enemy it has the best chance to hit, and manage its own heat. Even that's no small accomplishment, but... it kind of pales, after a while. Bonus: If you give it an aerospace fighter, it can't work out how to make it go. God's truth. It will just sit still and unmoving. ninja edit: They may have fixed that, I have the most recent 'stable' version which is getting on in months
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Jan 26, 2011 23:40
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Mukaikubo posted:Calling it an AI is kind of a misnomer. It's more "Artificial Stupid". Basically it knows just enough to move towards enemies, stay outside of its own minimum range, fire at the enemy it has the best chance to hit, and manage its own heat. Even that's no small accomplishment, but... it kind of pales, after a while. I can confirm, however, that it has no real concept of target priority or focus fire, it only shoots based on strictly best BTH. I've seen a mech fire one weapon (a large laser) at an infantry unit in heavy woods, the second, an SRM-6, at a mech inside a hardened building (which will absorb all the damage,) and an LRM-20 at an LRM turret all the way across the map, simply because it calculated a better BTH on those targets than on focusing on one (such as, say, collapsing the hardened building with fire.) They'll also decide, in heavy marshlands, that breaking off their attack on our mechs to march to the side and attack jump infantry is a good idea for some reason. So, yeah. Good in a 4v4 mech battle on reasonably open terrain. Tonight, I may be seeing how it does in intensely deep urban environments. I'm expecting a lot of  .
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Jan 26, 2011 23:45
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ShadowDragon8685 posted:stuff about dumb AI Pretty much all this. One of the default scenarios that comes loaded, a Clan Trial of Position, has you in a Stormcrow against two Novas and a Pouncer. Not only could the AI not kill me with three mechs, it got so freaked out by the fact that it couldn't get LOS due to terrain that it just kept futilely moving from side-to-side along the terrain blockage, while one of the Novas just... sat there, far outside its own weapon range, while I slowly tore it apart with laser-fire. It was pretty goddamn 
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Jan 26, 2011 23:55
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