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After lurking since around about Steiner Rules, decided to finally create an account. You've created something that's managed to keep my and many other people's attention for over a year, and that's no easy feat. I do think that a mini campaign involving logistics could work out quite well, since it'd involve everyone and would serve to be an interesting change of pace. And if it doesn't work, well, better to have tried and failed, and even the Solaris match was entertaining despite its issues. I'd also like to sign up as a pilot. What's another 5 years? My e-mail address is REDACTED Arraxis fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Jul 22, 2012 |
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Jul 10, 2012 08:38
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Oh, but I cannot restrain myself, either. Sign me up for the pilot list too! I have PMs. I would imagine a mini-campaign would involve some fancy shenanigans from Strategic Operations? I have no idea, I haven't read it, but an extra level of complexity is good to spice things up every so often.
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Jul 10, 2012 09:06
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We should have the Death Commandos do the planetary assault. They've already shown off how amazing they are at assaulting things. Like defenseless women and children.
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Jul 10, 2012 09:41
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Zaodai posted:We should have the Death Commandos do the planetary assault. They've already shown off how amazing they are at assaulting things. Their specialty is, if you want to be particular, actually babies.
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Jul 10, 2012 10:28
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TildeATH posted:Am I the only one who's been rooting for PTN all along? God, I hate Marik. No you are not, but in my case I just think it would be more interesting to see Amaris suceed exceptionally well at this point.
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Jul 10, 2012 10:46
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Oh lord, I see death in my near future. Hang in there, one-leg-standing buddy!
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Jul 10, 2012 11:42
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Mini-campaigns are cool. Is this how an unbalanced match usually goes in tabletop? I've only really played the video games so I've never seen a single mech do so much damage.
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Jul 10, 2012 12:56
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I'd be in for the mini-campaign!
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Jul 10, 2012 13:11
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Grand Fromage posted:Mini-campaigns are cool. Have you read the Nadir scenario updates? A couple points of Elementals absolutely wreck the players in it.
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Jul 10, 2012 13:19
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Holy hell, that Bobcat really is going full on  isn't it? I wonder if it'll take out any more of Goonlance before it finally gets shut down. If it gets shut down, that is.Also, mini-campaign would be pretty cool.
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Jul 10, 2012 14:06
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My one concern with a minicampaign is the loss of theatre flexibility that PTN has had; by jumping theatres as often as he has he's let us see multiple corners of the AltBattletechVerse, and I worry that we run the risk of seeing - for instance - Sky fade into the background while we focus on House Liao, or something along those lines. Given that I think I've seen partisans of every House (save possibly Liao; no one likes those guys) and Clan in this thread, there's a risk that focusing in on the detail work will cause the bigger picture to fall out of frame. Mind you, as far as concerns go that's a really nice one to have, given that PTN has been very, very good at showing us "the rest of the story" via interludes and political votes, and I have no reason to believe he won't continue to do so; I just wanted to raise the point in the hopes that the distilled awesomeness of a minicampaign won't completely drown out the more diffuse awesomeness of the rest of the Inner Sphere. (unless the minicampaign focuses on House Marik's repulsion of the RWR and later absorption of the Capellan Confederation in which case forget I said all that other poo poo and focus, by all means)
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Jul 10, 2012 14:42
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landcollector posted:Have you read the Nadir scenario updates? A couple points of Elementals absolutely wreck the players in it. I thought that was mostly due to the players performing the Battletech equivalent of punching yourself in the face, though. Still, it'll be hilarious to watch one half-melted mech absolutely dismantle the remaining players.
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Jul 10, 2012 14:58
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Decoy Badger posted:I thought that was mostly due to the players performing the Battletech equivalent of punching yourself in the face, though. Still, it'll be hilarious to watch one half-melted mech absolutely dismantle the remaining players. The Champion managed to literally punch itself in the face, and it didn't even have arms (well, no lower arm actuators or hands at any rate).
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Jul 10, 2012 15:07
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Chiming in to support the idea of a mini-campaign. Persistent damage and strategic decisions would add a ton of flavor to these skirmishes we're fighting. ____________________ The Red Corsair and Morgan Kell had deceived Duncan Marik and stolen much of the cream of the Battlemech crop in the Castle Brian. That did not mean he walked away empty handed, however.  A sleek little mech lay slumped against the wall in one of the massive tunnels the Hounds had fled through, legged and battle-scarred by its former brethren in white but otherwise intact due to the thieves' haste. Much of what to be had was scrap or salvage for parts, but this was indeed a stroke of good luck. Identifying itself as a Lynx LNX-9Q, it's lines and armament identified it as an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. Marik contemplated his prize. This was neither an Atlas or Battlemaster that would have directly bolstered the strength of his forces, but this was a capable design thought long lost. With a little work and a little patience, this one mech could be returned to its feet. With yet more patience and a great deal of resources, this could be the foundation for a high mobility raiding and guerrilla warfare platform. Some of the choicer Star League-era technologies would be difficult or impossible to replicate, of course, but that would not always be the case. As he turned on his heel, he silently waved his technicians in to begin salvage operations. He grunted in satisfaction as a cloud of jumpsuit-clad techs swarmed over the mech. This trip hadn't been a complete waste of time after all. Rivensteel fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Jul 10, 2012 |
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Jul 10, 2012 15:21
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landcollector posted:The Champion managed to literally punch itself in the face, and it didn't even have arms (well, no lower arm actuators or hands at any rate).
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Jul 10, 2012 15:26
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MadScientistWorking posted:I thought ruleswise you couldn't actually do that then. `Mechs without arm actuators can still try to dislodge Elementals, and can still hit themselves if they miss.
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Jul 10, 2012 15:42
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PoptartsNinja posted:`Mechs without arm actuators can still try to dislodge Elementals, and can still hit themselves if they miss.
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Jul 10, 2012 15:49
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MadScientistWorking posted:True I didn't know if it was a punch or something else rules wise. That was my error, not clarifying the circumstances.
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Jul 10, 2012 15:51
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Leperflesh posted:
Seriously though, this shouldn't have hit, right? Or was it just a copypaste error? It's really important since this hit was the crit that caused the gyro crit that forced a falling check that failed due to the bad leg.
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Jul 10, 2012 16:21
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Given that I think I've seen partisans of every House (save possibly Liao; no one likes those guys) Capellan Confederation partisan checking in. Blah blah, shoot kids every day, but at least we're not trying to have sex with them, like some neighboring Successor States.
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Jul 10, 2012 16:23
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If Goonlance wins this fight I'd think Marik would have come out pretty well, what with trading some light mechs for all the wacky tech in the Bobcat and Coyote. Not that the Free Worlds League ever truly wins in Battletech  
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Jul 10, 2012 17:41
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A campaign, you say? I love a bit of continuity! Not too surprised at the Ace Bobcat wrecking lights: It doesn't take too much L2 tech or clantech to obsolete l1 35 tonners, and always winning initiative is a licence to murder.
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Jul 10, 2012 18:02
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Decoy Badger posted:I thought that was mostly due to the players performing the Battletech equivalent of punching yourself in the face, though. Nah, it was more that Elementals always get critical hits when they're clinging to you, and in that particular scenario, if one of your parts was hit by a successful critical hit, it automatically blew up. They ended up scoring critical hits on two of our guys on the Center Torso, if I recall right, including our big guy.
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Jul 10, 2012 22:29
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W.T. Fits posted:They ended up scoring critical hits on two of our guys on the Center Torso, if I recall right, including our big guy. It wasn't the criticals, so much as me rolling rear center torso armor on the elemental swarm attack table. Elementals do a lot of damage, and when they hit rear armor? They're going right through it. Edit: Also, to show I haven't been idle these past few days, here's a brief excerpt on the story I'm currently working on for BattleCorps! I'm a bit worried about this one since it's set during the Age of War. Also, this is my first draft, it hasn't seen any editing yet. Title Pending posted:Blum laughed. “Relax, kid. It’s so easy an officer could do it. Bucket goes up. You hit the quick release on the cockpit if she hasn’t opened up already. You get the wounded `Mech jock in the bucket. You pilot that Annihilator into her bay. Real easy.” PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 00:26
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I think the mini-campaign idea is an excellent way to get the thread more actively involved in the individual battles, both intellectually and emotionally. I fail to see how this would be unwelcome.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:41
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PoptartsNinja posted:It wasn't the criticals, so much as me rolling rear center torso armor on the elemental swarm attack table. Elementals do a lot of damage, and when they hit rear armor? They're going right through it. Yeah, I remember now. It wasn't crits, it was that if any part took structure damage, it was instantly destroyed due to the vacuum. And between rear armor being ridiculously paper-thin and Elementals doing insane damage, they were able to one-shot like three of our guys before they pulled out. What's the in-universe fluff logic in rear armor being so ridiculously weak, anyway? I can understand why it's that way in terms of game balance, but from an in-universe perspective, I can't for the life of me fathom why you'd want the back of your machine to be more vulnerable to enemy fire than the front.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:44
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W.T. Fits posted:What's the in-universe fluff logic in rear armor being so ridiculously weak, anyway? I can understand why it's that way in terms of game balance, but from an in-universe perspective, I can't for the life of me fathom why you'd want the back of your machine to be more vulnerable to enemy fire than the front. Tanks had weak rear armor in World War II. That's pretty much the entire reason. Edit: It's also to keep Assault `Mechs from being invincible. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 00:57 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 00:48
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W.T. Fits posted:
Why would you ever deliberately be facing away from the enemy?
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Jul 11, 2012 00:51
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W.T. Fits posted:What's the in-universe fluff logic in rear armor being so ridiculously weak, anyway? I can understand why it's that way in terms of game balance, but from an in-universe perspective, I can't for the life of me fathom why you'd want the back of your machine to be more vulnerable to enemy fire than the front. For the same physics reason that a tank shape is always able to be stronger than a mech shape of equivalent weight (casually ignored by BT of course) given a set weight you can be measurably better armored if you emphasize one direction than all of them.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:53
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All Battlemechs should have the text "Front Towards Enemy" painted on them. 
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Jul 11, 2012 00:54
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W.T. Fits posted:Yeah, I remember now. It wasn't crits, it was that if any part took structure damage, it was instantly destroyed due to the vacuum. And between rear armor being ridiculously paper-thin and Elementals doing insane damage, they were able to one-shot like three of our guys before they pulled out. There's a maximum amount of armor that you can have protecting any given location. Where are you going to focus it?
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Jul 11, 2012 01:00
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code:
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Jul 11, 2012 01:29
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PoptartsNinja posted:Tanks had weak rear armor in World War II. That's pretty much the entire reason.
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Jul 11, 2012 01:38
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Alchenar posted:Why would you ever deliberately be facing away from the enemy? Why wouldn't you want your back to be as equally protected as your front in the event you're unable to prevent a speedy enemy from maneuvering behind you despite your best efforts to point the front of your mech at them? Also, flanking by multiple opponents and ambushes from concealment are things that can happen; even with a 360 degree field of vision, it's still possible, if unlikely, to be taken by surprise and fired on from your rear arc despite your best efforts.
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Jul 11, 2012 01:43
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That's why there's ANY armour back there. It's supprisingly rare that experienced players allow backshots that aren't a trap.
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Jul 11, 2012 01:51
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UberJew posted:For the same physics reason that a tank shape is always able to be stronger than a mech shape of equivalent weight (casually ignored by BT of course) given a set weight you can be measurably better armored if you emphasize one direction than all of them. You've definitely got the right of it. The reason why tanks have stronger front armor than rear armor is because if you have a limited weight capacity for armor given the strength of your engine, you're going to want to maximize your protection from the direction you're most likely to encounter an enemy with. W.T. Fits posted:Why wouldn't you want your back to be as equally protected as your front in the event you're unable to prevent a speedy enemy from maneuvering behind you despite your best efforts to point the front of your mech at them? While true, increasing back armor at the expense of front armor does not improve survivability. In fact, it does the opposite. Don't wade into the fray without support. If you have lighter allies screening for flankers and rushing ambushers, you're less likely to be surrounded and torn to pieces. Incidentally, this is why tanks never enter urban areas without heavy infantry support. Unless their commanders are absolute idiots (I'm pretty sure this happened to Russian tanks in Chechnya once, but I forget the source of the anecdote.)
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Jul 11, 2012 01:55
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T.G. Xarbala posted:
If I remember correctly, tanks are surprisingly vulnerable to molotovs dropped from roofs if they aren't supported by infantry.
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Jul 11, 2012 02:21
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^ People redesigned the engine covers to make them less vulnerable, and the modern generation of NBC protected tanks can obviously be sealed against burning fuel. T.G. Xarbala posted:You've definitely got the right of it. Yeah, it's a slightly more complex picture in practice because in real life armour isn't ablative, it tends to be 'bounces off or penetrate' and if you tried to put enough armour on an tank to achieve impenetrability from all directions you would have a block of steel that just sort of sat there. So given that you cannot have enough armour, you try and prioritise what weapon systems you want to be able to defeat from which facings at what ranges, which means a bunch of different thickness (and weight) breakpoints. This is what leads to the factor that a Abrams has massively thick armor but once you move to anything lighter they have significantly thinner armor. Unlike BTech there is no point having armor thicknesses in the middle - either you can bounce a RPG round or you cannot (slight simplification there, there are three stages - everyone dies, the vehicle is dead but the crew survives and bounces). Given these constraints, modern designers are effectively faced with this challenge: In a BT context if you could pick one, but only one, facing to have 'immune to gauss rifles' be an effect, which face would it be? Of course, you'd pick the front. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 02:32
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Bear in mind that the realisic model of armour penetration only holds true for things that aren't lasers. If you start having the ability to melt chunks off then suddenly a rock can penetrate the remaining bits.
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Jul 11, 2012 03:12
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Arquinsiel posted:Bear in mind that the realisic model of armour penetration only holds true for things that aren't lasers. If you start having the ability to melt chunks off then suddenly a rock can penetrate the remaining bits. Actually, it holds true even then. If you're expecting armor melting lasers, than having more armor where you expect the lasers to come from means you can survive that much longer because it has to burn through that much more armor.
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Jul 11, 2012 03:47
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