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If he's jumping at all he's clearly jumping to 1123, which is a bit suicidal anyway. I'd ask if the explosion happens on ignition or after/ consecutive with movement or what.
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May 8, 2011 08:05
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I've always been a fan of the 1812 Overture for all your building explosion soundtrack needs.
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May 8, 2011 15:06
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I hope someone with vastly more skills than me will draw an art of a mech jumpjetting away from an exploding factory. I suppose you could take inspiration from Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions.
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May 8, 2011 16:52
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Zaodai posted:I've always been a fan of the 1812 Overture for all your building explosion soundtrack needs. Actually, a proper rendition of that might be helpful to our cause...
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May 8, 2011 16:52
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Pinguliten posted:Eh, you might want to ask PTN if jump jets will set the bloody thing off as well, he did write a single spark in his fluff text and well jump jets. Those went plasma from the core of a fusion plant. Gas set off by jump jets is nothing but additional thrust to get him where he's going. 
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May 8, 2011 18:03
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He has to wait a turn to stand up before he can jet anyway, and just the contact of metal on concrete will probably cause enough of a spark.
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May 8, 2011 20:34
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I promise the concrete on Tharkad isn't made out of flint. 'Mech armor is ceramic (and also not made of flint). Just standing up isn't going to blow up the Valkyrie.
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May 8, 2011 20:45
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Leperflesh posted:yes, it's a ballet, so what Hey, The Rite of Spring is a ballet too, and it's about a a girl being sacrificed by a pagan cult in a fertility ritual! Dancing can be badass.
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May 8, 2011 20:49
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I'd walk the Valk down to 1129 or 1128 below the rightmost fuel tank; shoot the train up from there and hope to bait the Von Luckner over by the refinery. He's packing a ton of short-range hurt that will saw off what's left of you in one hit and probably critical every section of the Valk simultaneously if it fires everything, but just an LRM10 for range. Get him to drive over past the refinery and then blast it.
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May 8, 2011 20:57
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I (Valkyrie pilot) am currently surrounded by refinery/fuel tanks, no way I can just walk through those without setting off a chain reaction. I'm pretty sure its jumpjets or nothing at this point.
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May 8, 2011 22:37
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Dominus Caedis posted:I (Valkyrie pilot) am currently surrounded by refinery/fuel tanks, no way I can just walk through those without setting off a chain reaction. I'm pretty sure its jumpjets or nothing at this point.
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May 8, 2011 22:40
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It's a long list of pilots, but is it too late to add me to the end of it? Just found this thread yesterday. Now I understand why there was all that Battletech chat in the STO thread. In any case, I am PM-capable, so I'll just watch for my name on the list.
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May 8, 2011 23:01
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I can't tell. Were those DFA on the buildings a terrible tactical error that the team is going to feel, or are the ensuing death explosions going to mean that we'll pass the 30 million C-bill objective anyways?
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May 9, 2011 00:45
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Artificer posted:I can't tell. Were those DFA on the buildings a terrible tactical error that the team is going to feel, or are the ensuing death explosions going to mean that we'll pass the 30 million C-bill objective anyways? The important thing is that stuff explodes.
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May 9, 2011 01:25
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Volmarias posted:The important thing is that stuff explodes. This is a man I would follow into battle anytime.
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May 9, 2011 01:28
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Trast posted:This is a man I would follow into battle anytime. Maybe at a mile or two behind him, yeah.
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May 9, 2011 01:51
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Dominus Caedis posted:I (Valkyrie pilot) am currently surrounded by refinery/fuel tanks, no way I can just walk through those without setting off a chain reaction. I'm pretty sure its jumpjets or nothing at this point. See if PTN will let you activate your jump jets without standing so you can rocket through the fuel tanks like a big fiery humanoid rocket of death. (He won't. But a man can dream.)
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May 9, 2011 02:26
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:See if PTN will let you activate your jump jets without standing so you can rocket through the fuel tanks like a big fiery humanoid rocket of death. It was good enough for Joanna, dammit. 
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May 9, 2011 02:55
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Let’s Read: Main Event (part 13) Chapter 13 Solaris City, Solaris 8 August 3054 Days elapsed since book start: 108 Mercenaries recruited since book start: 2 Mercenaries recruited off-screen: 1 Things accomplished since book start: 2 (Rose took a nap, Rose got a Shadow Hawk) Protagonists introduced since book start: 5 Protagonists mentioned but not yet introduced: 1 Antagonists introduced since book start: 1 Antagonists defeated since book start: 0 Chapters Spent on Northwind: 5 Jeremiah, still bleeding from his gunshot wounds (because the author has completely misjudged how crippling being shot in the shoulder by a dozen little plastic flechettes would be) Godzillas his way into Carstairs’ office and starts getting blood all over one of Carstairs’ chairs. Carstairs isn’t quite sure what the gently caress to make of this, and demands to know why Jeremiah simply Hulk Smashed his way into the office; and calls Jeremiah out on his poor manners. Jeremiah said ‘he thought he had an open invitation’ and is here, not because he’s pissed about the stupid-rear end conditions for the last fight, but to tell Carstairs a story. STORY TIME! STORY TIME! STORY TIME! But first, pointless banter. Carstairs asks what Rose is doing next, then calls him a pussy for wanting off Solaris ASAP. Rose then thinks about telling the story for over a page before he mans up and actually starts talking. I’m not going to lie, this chapter is tedious even compared to the others, it’s stupid and melodramatic and I almost couldn’t force myself through it. It’s also the second giant robot fight in the book; which isn’t saying much since Jeremiah’s fights are invariably short and stupid. First off, Jeremiah Rose admits to being a member of ComStar. Now, earlier—we learned that he quit his position because there was a two-year waiting list for a ‘Mech. During this story, we learn that Jeremiah quit immediately after the Battle of Tukayyid, which occurred over two years ago.  Anyway, Jeremiah was with the 91st ComGuard division stationed in the Draconis Combine. Jeremiah wanted badly to go fight the Clans on Luthien. ComStar wouldn’t let him, and shipped his unit to Tukayyid instead; prompting Jeremiah to try to resign to go get himself killed. Anyway, to sum up, on Tukayyid, Jeremiah fought the Smoke Jaguars and lost three of the soldiers under his command. The rest of his Level I was seriously damaged except Jeremiah, who simply had a giant ‘X’ melted into his armor by large lasers PLOT INVULNERABILITY. Also, quite possibly, because the Clans didn’t think him worth killing. (Incidentally, this entire chapter is six pages long. I have condensed 90% of those six pages into the above paragraph; and I did so without once using the phrase 'Battle Lust', something the author was unable to accomplish) Then the chapter ends.
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May 9, 2011 02:55
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PoptartsNinja posted:had a giant ‘X’ melted into his armor by large lasers ...I figure they were going for a target symbol, but figured the thing would be destroyed before they finished it. So instead, they went for an X!
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May 9, 2011 03:12
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elitebuster posted:Maybe at a mile or two behind him, yeah. I never said how close I would follow him. 
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May 9, 2011 03:20
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Let’s Read: Main Event (part 14) Chapter 14 Solaris City, Solaris 9 August 3054 Days elapsed since book start: 109 Mercenaries recruited since book start: 2 Mercenaries recruited off-screen: 1 Things accomplished since book start: 2 (Rose took a nap, Rose got a Shadow Hawk) Protagonists introduced since book start: 5 Protagonists mentioned but not yet introduced: 1 Antagonists introduced since book start: 1 Antagonists defeated since book start: 0 Chapters Spent on Northwind: 5 Carstairs calls bullshit, and rightly so. Jeremiah’s story sounds like bullshit; but guess what? It’s not over, goddamn it. Rather than getting this over with, Jeremiah asks Carstairs where Esmeralda is. Carstairs says she’s probably with O’Shea then asks why. Jeremiah plans to steal her and any of the Solaris Mechwarriors willing to join him out from under Carstairs, bankrupting his entire stable. Of course, he doesn’t tell Carstairs that. Jeremiah starts talking again, about the fight against Clan Wolf. Convinced he’d be the sole survivor of his own idiocy, his surviving lancemates gave Jeremiah a stack of letters to send back to their family and loved ones. Talking about the fight with Clan Wolf then causes Jeremiah to have a flashback, but the result is: everyone under his command died, leaving Jeremiah feeling At one point in the battle, Rose even leaves one of his soldiers to fight off six Clan ‘Mechs while he duels with two; and he wonders why they all died. This is a supposed tactical genius, Ladies and Gentlemen. Are you depressed yet? Is it any wonder nobody in the Inner Sphere ever accomplished anything in the centuries before Hanse Davion was born? Before they all die, each of his soldiers asks Jeremiah to live on. For their sakes. It’s supposed to be touching, but comes across as… stupid, honestly. Stupid and ham-fisted. Oh, look, there’s Jeremiah Rose, the Boy Who Lived! Who came out of Tukayyid with only a tiny bit of emotional scarring and with his magical powers of jackassery multiplied a thousand fold. Then the chapter ends.
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May 9, 2011 03:37
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Common sense is lostech, apparently.
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May 9, 2011 03:40
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SynthOrange posted:Common sense is lostech, apparently. It's not terribly prevalent even in our day. 
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May 9, 2011 03:53
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Let’s Read: Main Event (part 15) Chapter 15 Solaris City, Solaris 9 August 3054 Days elapsed since book start: 109 Mercenaries recruited since book start: 2 Mercenaries recruited off-screen: 1 Things accomplished since book start: 2 (Rose took a nap, Rose got a Charger) Protagonists introduced since book start: 5 Protagonists mentioned but not yet introduced: 1 Antagonists introduced since book start: 1 Antagonists defeated since book start: 0 Chapters Spent on Northwind: 5 Jeremiah, finished telling his stupid story, makes to leave. Carstairs offers to sell him a ‘better ‘Mech’. Main Event posted:“Too good to be true. Bye, Carstairs.” Rose threw open the door. Dayum, Carstairs won that charger less than two hours ago and he’s already refitted it? The Gyro was destroyed! That’s…  Anyway, we’ll find out later that Rose is piloting the CGR-1A9 Charger; an “upgrade” of the old CGR-1A1 with a better weapons suite and a little over half the armor. It’s no wonder this thing lost to a Warhammer in a punching match, it has less armor than a ‘Mech half its weight. They negotiate, 3.8 million in C-Bills and Jeremiah’s spare (he hasn’t mentioned he has a spare yet) coolant suit. The 1A9 Charger is worth 8 million C-Bills, so this might strike you as a good deal until you realize that coolant suit is hundreds of years old and still works perfectly. Jeremiah then pays Carstairs 3.8 million and the flight suit, and signs without reading. Main Event posted:“You don’t read your contracts?” Bullshit. Carstairs calls bullshit as well, but Rose’s master plan has come together. He’s already had the Charger shipped to the spaceport (bullshit), already purchased a spot on the ship for it AND the Shadow Hawk (bullshit), and arranged for a Lieutenant Viets to come give him a ride (bullshit) to Badicus O’Shea’s house so he can recruit Esmeralda (bullshit) and O’Shea (bullshit); and all during what is described as a phone call that lasts less than sixty seconds. So, I say again: BULLSHIT. Carstairs then asks where Jeremiah got so much money, and Jeremiah says he bet everything he had on Jeremiah Rose surviving the fight. Derp. We then see a scene transition, and Rose knocks on Badicus O’Shea’s front door. Badicus remains awesome. Main Event posted:“My name is…” Unfortunately, Badicus then decides not to beat Jeremiah senseless. This is merely how Badicus shows his desire to be friends. Badicus talks about the fight and boasts that he wouldn’t have let himself nearly get killed by a Hatchetman (he doesn’t, <Redacted> get him). Esmeralda then compliments Jeremiah’s “fast reaction times.” Reaction times so fast he got himself pummeled by a Javelin before even trying to hit it back. Jeremiah then returns Badicus’ laser pistol, since it was ‘so lovingly cared for’. Sorry I killed your girlfriend with it (oh, wait, we forgot about that plot point already), no hard feelings, yadda yadda. Esmeralda then demands to know why Jeremiah is here. He tells her it’s because he wanted to apologize to Badicus (lie, he hasn’t done that nor will he) and two because he wants to hire Esmeralda to come Esmeralda then demands to know how Jeremiah is paying for all this, and he lets her know he’s broke so her pay will have to come as a percentage of their first mercenary contract. She’ll be an officer, yadda yadda… and that’s what sells her. It’s a really stupid move from a business perspective, but she’s a Solaris fighter and they’re not the sharpest hammers in the refuse heap. Badicus O’Shea then demands a position in the unit too. Jeremiah rejects him, but Badicus pulls the “you owe me” card and Jeremiah relents; which means we get to keep an awesome character around even if he’ll be marginalized and eventually killed off. Jeremiah asks if Badicus owns a ‘Mech, which he doesn’t, so Jeremiah gives him the Shadow Hawk. Dutifully, Badicus will get that walking pile of poo poo destroyed by the end of the book. Then the chapter ends.
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May 9, 2011 04:18
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I'm going to say this much: at least they explained Rose was a member of the ComGuard and thus why he would be at the Battle of Tukayyid. In other novels and at least in one game you get characters that were at Tukayyid despite it never being established they were even in the ComGuard and in fact probably couldn't have been. So that's like 1 point for this book versus the one thousand or so points against it.
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May 9, 2011 04:20
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You know, I'm starting to feel better about not having read all the Battletech books. I started off being pretty faithful. I read all three of the original Grey Death books, I read The Sword and the Dagger, then all the Warrior books, with Wolves on the Border in there too. And then I sort of...stopped. I eventually picked back up with the Stackpole Blood of Kerensky books, then the Falcon Guard ones, and after that I was just...tired. I eventually slogged through the Twilight of the Clans ones, but then I couldn't take anymore and quit reading 'em entirely. There are probably some decent reads in there that I never even glanced at mixed in with dross like Main Event, but I don't know if I've got the time or energy to sort through them all. Also, back then it was kind of like you were playing along. The Mechwarrior and Mechcommander PC games were playing with the events you were reading about. You could play the original Battletech and do Fourth War scenarios or Clan Invasion ones and feel like you were participating (albeit off screen) in something being shared by the whole Battletech community. Now? I dunno, no one seems to play B'tech around here anymore. I see Warmachine and Warhammer and even one gang that plays World War II minis, but never any Battletech. The only time I see it is at 'cons, and I'll always catch a game when I can, but it just ain't the same. Also, the Jihad leaves me cold, and the Republic of the Sphere and all the WizKids stuff does nothing for me at all. Maybe its just nostalgia, but I sometimes wish they'd never done the big jump and done the Clans at all. Just five houses and Comstar, last man standing rules the Sphere. It was cleaner, and maybe a more gradual tech curve wouldn't have rendered all the old designs immediately useless. Of course, if I'm wishing for stuff, maybe I should ask for more seasons of Firefly or Crusade, instead, huh? 
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May 9, 2011 04:40
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Let’s Read: Main Event (part 16) Chapter 16 Harlech, Outreach 24 September 3054 Days elapsed since book start: 146 Mercenaries recruited since book start: 4 Mercenaries recruited off-screen: 1 Things accomplished since book start: 2 (Rose took a nap, Rose got a Charger) Protagonists introduced since book start: 5 Protagonists mentioned but not yet introduced: 1 Antagonists introduced since book start: 1 Antagonists defeated since book start: 0 Chapters spent on Northwind: 5 Chapters spent on Solaris: 10 Jeremiah, Badicus, and Esmeralda (in that order) arrive on Outreach. Is everyone ready to see what Rianna and spoiler Angus /spoiler have been up to? No? Me neither. We then find out the ‘rebuilt’ Charger has been rebuilt in pieces (in other words, it’s still scrap). So Jeremiah Rose is piloting what amounts to a pile of razor-sharp ceramic armor. Awesome. Jeremiah then bitches about how long the trip took, again, even though it’s been less than fifty days which isn’t bad for two jumps plus a week’s travel to each jump point. Jeremiah sends Lieutenant Esmeralda and Badicus to secure a place in the repair bay for his ‘Mech, then goes looking for Rianna. Rianna is with a pair of civilians. Shall we see how Rose reacts to them? Main Event posted:The two men were obviously civilians. Everything from their style of dress to the way they moved through the crowd spoke of a lifetime sitting behind desks, safely protected by a hopefully distant military. If these were potential employers, Rose wondered if he might be entering the wrong business. Dickhead. So yeah, Jeremiah instantly judges his employers based on superficial appearances. Sorry, jackass, but unless you’re the Wolf’s Dragoons you won’t be getting any heads of state personally offering you contracts. They’re offering a one-year garrison contract. Now, the first Black Thorn books happened to come out at around the same time that the Mercenaries handbook was released; which contained information for running a mercenary unit, contracts, determining pay, etc. … in that handbook, it’s basically impossible for any unit smaller than a regiment in size to function for longer than 3-5 years; you’ll be losing money on every contract. They’re offering a one year garrison contract; and Jeremiah, who has never before been a Mercenary, instantly knows that it’s a bad deal. ‘Logistical genius’ Rianna seems to think he should look things over more closely, however, and so Jeremiah bows to his baby sister’s wishes. The two are from the planet Borghese (which surprised me so much when it was recognized by Microsoft’s spellcheck as a real word that I had to look up the origins) which is in Steiner space near the Jade Falcon border. It’s a planet with nothing to recommend it and no military forces, so there’s absolutely no reason the Jade Falcons would give a poo poo. The Federated Suns refuses to garrison the world because doing so would make it a target for the Clans, but the natives are retarded and decided to hire a company of Mercenaries to Their contract is small, but offers full use of the planet’s repair facilities (which really should be pretty abysmal) and full salvage rights; which means the Black Thorns would keep anything they kill. That sounds good in theory, until you realize that chances are pretty good that if the Clans want the planet and send anything other than a small raid, twelve ‘Mechs (HAHA, ok, FIVE ‘Mechs) aren’t going to stop them. Rianna has been Rose’s Charger is still a heap of trash, incidentally, so I’ll let you guess how well the fight goes. It goes even worse than that. Oh, even better, both of Rianna’s ‘strong candidates’ decide not to join the unit. The only person they can actually hire is a man named ‘Hawg’ who pilots a Zeus. Jeremiah immediately decides Hawg is batshit crazy, then promptly hires him anyway. The other two weren’t even given names, so they were non-contenders anyway. Jeremiah then stays up all night going over mercenary dossiers, because who needs sleep anyway? Then the chapter ends. Things Accomplished: -1 (Rose failed to take a nap)
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May 9, 2011 05:23
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PoptartsNinja posted:Things Accomplished: -1 (Rose failed to take a nap) So... did he ever get those gunshot wounds treated off-screen? I note you failed to mention them in this chapter, so I was wondering if he might have finally done something sensible, or if the author just forgot about them like he's forgotten about a ton of other stuff.
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May 9, 2011 06:59
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W.T. Fits posted:So... did he ever get those gunshot wounds treated off-screen? I note you failed to mention them in this chapter, so I was wondering if he might have finally done something sensible, or if the author just forgot about them like he's forgotten about a ton of other stuff. Rose doesn't need to get his wounds treated. He's more rear end than man.
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May 9, 2011 07:08
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Crepuscule Adepte posted:...I figure they were going for a target symbol, but figured the thing would be destroyed before they finished it. So instead, they went for an X! I like to think that a clanner named Xavier had read a book about Zorro and wanted to steal his schtick. "I could have killed you, but I'm so superior I don't even need to!" Then his sibko beat him with sticks until he agreed to cut that poo poo out.
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May 9, 2011 07:11
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PoptartsNinja posted:had a giant ‘X’ melted into his armor by large lasers  This would explain a lot
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May 9, 2011 10:47
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PoptartsNinja posted:Carstairs then asks where Jeremiah got so much money, and Jeremiah says he bet everything he had on Jeremiah Rose surviving the fight. Derp. This so far is the first (only?) line that hasn't had me wanting to shove an icepick into my eyes. Rose actually did something smart? 
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May 9, 2011 17:06
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This is scaring me away from reading any BT novels, guys. You are cruel.
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May 9, 2011 17:44
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Trast posted:This is scaring me away from reading any BT novels, guys. You are cruel. Just go pick up the Blood of Kerensky trilogy. Stackpole's 'trunk' novels are pretty drat good (but it's been established I have lovely taste in books so someone may refute me) and those are basically the 'beginning' of the BT book series, introducing the Clans and all. That is, there are a handful of books that take place before that in the timeline, but most are pretty crappy (early GDL books). The Warrior trilogy might be worth reading (been way too long since I read them) if only to learn how awesome Justin Allard is, though. Edit: Seconding the Wolf Pack love. It's a pretty good book. Wolves on the Border is pretty good too, it involves the Dragoons but is from Minobu Tetsuhara's viewpoint, so a lot of Kurita-style samurai bushido stuff. Incidentally, another one of the few good pre-3050 books. poo poo, I don't even remember anything other than the bare bones for Twilight of the Clans. It's like 18 loving books or something there. poo poo started to run together for me. WarLocke fucked around with this message at 18:28 on May 9, 2011 |
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May 9, 2011 17:51
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Stackpole's descriptions get overwrought in the Warrior trilogy (nearly every destroyed 'Mech gets "picked up into the air by the power of a freed sun" and melts into nothingness when it explodes); but the politics is pretty good. He's better in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, and then gets bad again in Twilight of the Clans. I really do suggest picking up one of the one-shot books like Star Lord or Wolf Pack (or Highlander Gambit and Impetus of War if you want to see someone do what Jeremiah Rose is doing but a million times better) if you're interested in reading some Battletech novels and not sure where to start.
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May 9, 2011 18:18
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I'll still throw in a recommendation for Illusions of Victory. It doesn't really connect to the rest of the universe a ton (it takes place on Solaris), except to use some of the politics as a backdrop. Wolf Pack is sitting on my "read" shelf, but I don't remember much about it other than a vague recollection of it being pretty good, so I'll second PTN's recommendation there.
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May 9, 2011 18:27
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I remember Impetus of War being pretty good.
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May 9, 2011 18:39
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Holy poo poo, he actually managed to sucker a guy with a Zeus(note: one of the better mechs we've heard of so far, although it's no Awesome!) to join his suicide brigade of misanthropes and idiots?
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May 9, 2011 18:43
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To be fair, Hawg's defining personality trait is 'mildly insane'.
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May 9, 2011 18:49
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