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Hidden Units, or the incredibly rarely used Overwatch rule from Tactical Operations. It's rarely used because it's loving complicated and the payoff is low, but it would be a reason to bookkeep.
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Sep 10, 2017 02:49
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Strobe posted:Hidden Units, or the incredibly rarely used Overwatch rule from Tactical Operations. It's rarely used because it's loving complicated and the payoff is low, but it would be a reason to bookkeep. In this situation I'd say it's far more likely that the players ARE the hidden units.
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Sep 10, 2017 02:51
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Since I'm still in a holding pattern with the next map, I'm going to stream some Infinite Space this afternoon / evening. It's a bit like Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but with space pirates and grinding. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Sep 10, 2017 |
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Sep 10, 2017 21:34
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Man, I remember tyrantsabre's let's play of that game. It's more Badass than it seems at first glance.
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Sep 10, 2017 22:10
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Xarbala posted:Man, I remember tyrantsabre's let's play of that game. It's more Badass than it seems at first glance. Is the thread still on the forums, or did it get archived?
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Sep 10, 2017 23:23
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Xarbala posted:Man, I remember tyrantsabre's let's play of that game. It's more Badass than it seems at first glance. Of all the unfinished threads due to the LP curse, that one was sad to see. e: here's the thread though I don't know if it's archived or not: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3453793 Psion fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Sep 11, 2017 |
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Sep 11, 2017 15:00
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Every time people bring up Infinite Space I think you're all crazy for thinking it was a JRPG, then I remember that there are two series named Infinite Space.
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Sep 11, 2017 17:46
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wiegieman posted:Every time people bring up Infinite Space I think you're all crazy for thinking it was a JRPG, then I remember that there are two series named Infinite Space. You aren't the only one who has to do a mental double take on that.
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Sep 11, 2017 18:05
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Chapter 38 Masamori, Hachiman Galedon District, Draconis Combine 2 November 3056 Scout Platoon breaks into the hotel where Ninyu Kerai is staying. DEST troopers wear full-body bulletproof gear, but…  … that gear only stops penetration, it doesn’t stop the kinetic energy of an impact very well. So shooting a DEST trooper probably won’t kill one, but you can still break their sternum with a shot to center mass. The worst place to shoot a DEST trooper is the head because their rigid bulletproof faceplate protects better than the ninja pajamas. Not that anything stops a round from a Zeus Heavy Rifle which Scout Platoon’s sniper team uses to eliminate the guards at the door. Meanwhile, Colonel Camacho is actually having fun for the first time since Patsy died. He’s decided he’s going to die and for once grief isn’t weighing him down as he’s directing the 17th Recon’s forces. He’s commanding from the rear and hasn’t committed his own `Mech to the fight yet, so when the 9th Ghost Regiment’s flanking company attacks the compound from the river he’s perfectly positioned to intercept. The Ghost force is primarily lights and mediums, and Don Carlos pilots a Timberwolf, but he’s still outnumbered 12:1.  Don Carlos is starting to understand. He’s still committed to dying, but this is a moment of growth and understanding. Just as he raises the Timber Wolf’s PPCs and prepares to engage, his son’s Shadow Hawk leaps in. Gavilan is off in a Scorpion right now, but Don Carlos doesn’t know that. The Ghost company focuses down the Shadow Hawk immediately to try to keep their 12:1 advantage, and Don Carlos, certain he’s just watched his son die, snaps.  The scouts are not having a good time of it. One of them eats it as soon as we cut back to them, and there are still 45+ DEST Ninjas between them and Ninyo Kerai. The scouts clear out a room of them with a White Phosphorous grenade and an honest-to-god suicide bomb of the sort that wouldn’t fly from the theoretical heroes in post 9/11 fiction. They are still on the ground floor at this point but Cassie and a few other scouts use the suicide bombing as a distraction to make their way to the express elevator. DEST commands eventually think to cut the power, trapping Cassie’s (six or so person) scout team on the 72nd floor. One of them is already bleeding out, and by this point everyone the other 30-odd scouts Cassie left behind on the ground floor are dead. Ninyu has 20 guards with them, not because he thinks he needs them, but because they want to and he can’t be bothered telling 20 ninjas to gently caress off every morning. The wounded scout stays in the elevator when the others make for the service ladders, and kills the first bunch of DEST troopers to open the doors with suicide grenades. Chapter 39 Masamori, Hachiman Galedon District, Draconis Combine 2 November 3056 Cassie loses another scout immediately—and this is the crux of Cassie’s failures. She doesn’t lose any fights in this novel, but fighting isn’t what she’s struggling with. Her problem is interpersonal relationships, and the people around her just keep dying. The “Inner Sphere’s best scout,” a woman who’s entire role is predicated on keeping other people alive, is ill-equipped to actually do that. And worse, she doesn’t even care. After talking up how the 9th Ghost Yakuza are treated as Teppodama, bullets to be spent, Cassie is doing precisely the same thing the book has already called out as a genuinely bad thing. Cassie is not going to grow past this in this novel. She doesn’t get her biggest moment of real character growth until Hearts of Chaos. She is, in this moment, the killing machine Kali fears. Don Carlos has killed an entire lance by himself by the time the rest of the Caballeros can bright a company in to assist him. Not only is he not dead, but he’s still fighting even though his Timber Wolf has been battered and has lost an arm and is a hair shy of losing a leg. As a counterpoint to the Ghosts’ failed flanking mission, we cut to Gabby’s successful one. They kill a 9th Ghost urbanmech before the scene cuts back to Don Carlos. The lightest Ghost machines run when reinforcements arrive and the rest get cut down.  This is the novel’s actual Climax. Don Carlos is no longer bottling up his grief and shame, but is letting it out in an actually healthy way. Everything Cassie is involved in is the denouement. Cassie is down to herself and three other scouts. Two, as one gets killed by a sword as soon as they start up the stairwell. Cassie counters sword-wielding ninjas with a pouch full of ball bearings and throws one over the railing. Victor Milan’s martial arts scenes are very involved, far better than his BattleMech combat, and after a big emotional breakthrough he uses them as a little catharsis. By the time Cassie’s fight with the (two) sword-wielding DEST ninjas ends, she’s down to two friendlies. The DEST troopers have withdrawn to the penthouse to guard Ninyu directly. Cassie uses the unconscious (not dead) body of a DEST ninja as an Ender’s Game meat shield and rushes into the penthouse while her two surviving scouts hold the door to keep any more ninjas from coming up behind her (they both die). Chapter 40 Masamori, Hachiman Galedon District, Draconis Combine 2 November 3056 Gabby’s flank attack has thrown the Ghosts into an inordinate amount of disorder because at the end of the day they’re still mostly barely-educated criminals. The 17th’s morale has been bolstered by Patsy’s Song, and they sortie out of the compound en masse the moment the Ghosts are distracted chasing rabbits. The Ghosts actually break and withdraw. Meanwhile, Don Carlos discovers who’s actually piloting Gavilan’s Shadow Hawk: his wife. She dies from her injuries. Ninyu Kerai is content to watch Cassie murder his DEST ninjas because in addition to being a murderer and a bastard he’s also (at this point in time) a heartless rear end in a top hat. After killing the last three or four (the book makes it feel like more because they keep standing back up, but there really aren’t many) DEST ninjas present, Cassie presents Chandrasekhar Kurita’s evidence to Ninyu Kerai. Ninyu draws a gun on her but Cassie gets him in a joint lock and pricks him in the neck with her Kris to encourage compliance. At this point everyone she’s brought along to help her is dead. Lainie and Kali are about to have a `Mech showdown, but Ninyu Kerai calls off the assault. Epilogue-Patsy’s Song Chapter 41 Masamori, Hachiman Galedon District, Draconis Combine 2 November 3056 Marquis Redmond Hosoya, the CEO of Tanadi Computers who Chandrasekhar Kurita has framed, fears that the battle being called off means he might have been framed for something. He tries to run away in a private jet and gets killed by an aerospace fighter.  Percy and Cassie meet up again after. Cassie feels genuine remorse for leading him on and wants to apologize. This is the biggest moment of growth Cassie has, and it comes pretty much as an afterthought. The pirate-murdering `Mech-killing Cassie from the start of the book could not and would not have attempted to make amends for hurting someone.  She’s still Cassie though. She’s not joking. Percy decides he still wants to know her, and Cassie realizes she doesn’t mind that idea. Meanwhile, Lainie has killed her cousin the Oyabun and taken over the local Yakuza. Lainie doesn’t grow much in this novel and she won’t play much of a role in Hearts of Chaos, but she’s one of the primary movers in Black Dragon and most of her backstory is revealed here.  Cassie demands the truth from Uncle Chandy. Chandrasekhar Kurita introduces her to the Clan Jade Falcon merchants he’s been hiding. He framed the CEO of Tanadi, which he openly admits, but maintains he’s not a traitor.  Chandrasekhar then reveals his plot to destroy the Clans once and for all. The warrior-caste fears what the Inner Sphere has to offer.  Uncle Chandy.  Cassie and Kali then go camping because even though it’s implied a few days have passed, it’s still November 2nd and it has been a long day. And that's it for Close Quarters, the first book in my favorite trilogy. The tale of PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Sep 13, 2017 |
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Sep 13, 2017 06:24
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While Cowboy is my favourite character, Don Carlos going all  in the climactic battle is by far my favorite scene in the book.
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Sep 13, 2017 07:23
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Defeating the Clans with Consumerism. I love it.
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Sep 13, 2017 10:08
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Love the analysis of the themes in Close Quarters. The Let's Reads are my second-favorite part of this thread (I keep hoping you'll get back to finishing DRT but I know that book is awful and don't actually wish reading that on anyone).
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Sep 13, 2017 11:37
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DEST Ninjas and their love for thinking they're actually DEST Samurai end up with one of my favorite scenes in Battletech, where they murder a bunch of people in a Clan command center, to try and get to the Khan there. They even kill his bodyguards with poison shuriken! Then, after killing dozens and dozens of people in whatever way they could, they don't just poison shuriken the guy in the chest because "This is not an assassination!", and they challenge him to a duel. So it's the leader of the DEST team against the Khan (who is an elemental, if I recall), and that ends up working out poorly for the DEST guy as they really should have just loving killed him like they did everyone else. I mean poo poo, they say it's not an assassination, but if they had cut his head off in the duel, I have no idea how that ends up being any different in perception. They still broke into the base and killed the guy, giving him a fair chance isn't really less of an assassination? The Draconis Combine's situational hard-on for HONORABU COMBAT only ever seems to pop up when it's going to get them chumped.
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Sep 13, 2017 16:13
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That was the Combine's other branch of ninjas, the Nekekami. I apologize for the delays. I am once again neck-deep spriting buildings to give us some interesting scenery. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Sep 13, 2017 |
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Sep 13, 2017 17:26
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PoptartsNinja posted:I apologize for the delays. I am once again neck-deep spriting buildings to give us some interesting scenery. No worries, think we're all enjoying your 'Lets Read'!  So, what's the 'interesting scenery' this time, no more Yamato Class Super-Structures, I take it?
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Sep 13, 2017 20:19
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According to the wiki, the Zeus is only a slightly bigger fiddy cal. Slightly heavier grain, slightly bigger. That shouldn't be that bad to fire. Zeus should have been a 20mm.
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Sep 13, 2017 20:45
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Saint Celestine posted:Zeus should have been a 20mm. So, this then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahti_L-39
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Sep 13, 2017 21:00
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Saint Celestine posted:Zeus should have been a 20mm. The Zeus isn't meant for anti-armor work, a man-portable PPC, an Assault Rifle, or even a Gauss SMG works better. It's a bipod- or tripod-mounted sniper rifle designed to defeat body armor. In BattleTech terms it's got a .22 damage value so it does slightly less than twice the damage of an average bolt-action rifle. Most single-shot weapons aren't great at defeating `Mech armor, which is why the Heavy Gyrojet Rifle (basically a semi-automatic RPG, IIRC it's a nightmare weapon in A Time of War) only gets a damage value of .35. The KA-23 SMG Cassie uses during the finale has the same .22 damage value as the Zeus, which means over a 10-second period the amount of damage they can dish out is "comparable." The Zeus just does that with one bullet while the KA-23 eats half a clip.
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Sep 13, 2017 21:25
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Is the Heavy Gyrojet Rifle just a Bolter from 40k? Because it kind of sounds like it, and that'd be a nasty weapon in a universe where your primary soft targets are exclusively other human beings rather than 12 foot tall orks or life devouring insect monsters.
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Sep 13, 2017 21:29
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Zaodai posted:Is the Heavy Gyrojet Rifle just a Bolter from 40k? Pretty much, yeah.
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Sep 13, 2017 21:44
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Actually, 40k bolter projectiles are two-staged, using a conventional charge to first launch the bolt out of the barrel, and then igniting the rocket motor. Gyrojets instead just ignite the rocket from within the barrel. They're also caseless, whereas bolters are not. 
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Sep 13, 2017 22:18
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CourValant posted:So, what's the 'interesting scenery' this time, no more Yamato Class Super-Structures, I take it? Among other things, a horrendously inefficient parking garage.  VVV No, they just make for good city scenery. Without them the map is going to be basically straight concrete. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Sep 13, 2017 |
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Sep 13, 2017 23:49
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PoptartsNinja posted:Among other things, a horrendously inefficient parking garage. You know, a hex movement base does make it infinitely easier to parallel park. We going full Cassie 'rigging up parking structures to blow' then?
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Sep 13, 2017 23:54
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I need more rooftop cruft sprites. They take so long for something I know nobody will ever notice, but without them things always look weird.
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Sep 14, 2017 00:33
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Zaodai posted:Is the Heavy Gyrojet Rifle just a Bolter from 40k? Because it kind of sounds like it, and that'd be a nasty weapon in a universe where your primary soft targets are exclusively other human beings rather than 12 foot tall orks or life devouring insect monsters. Fun fact: gyrojet weapons actually exist You, too, can shoot a 13mm rocket at someone out of a gun
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Sep 14, 2017 01:16
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If you've got more money than sense and decide that going full on Lord British is a bit passé
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Sep 14, 2017 01:28
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These readings inspired me to go check out the books online, but while I really like how you explained the characters in Close Quarters the actual prose in the sample section was pretty rough. I'm not sure I'd want to make it through a whole book of that. I checked out Wolves on the Border, and while I'm skeptical of all the prattle about Honorable Samurai Codes at least it reads well.
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Sep 14, 2017 02:47
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Voyager I posted:These readings inspired me to go check out the books online, but while I really like how you explained the characters in Close Quarters the actual prose in the sample section was pretty rough. I'm not sure I'd want to make it through a whole book of that. The books are a fun read. PTN hasn't scratched the surface of the cast of characters in the 17th Recon or the 9th Ghost Regiment. Give them a shot.
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Sep 14, 2017 03:15
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Voyager I posted:These readings inspired me to go check out the books online, but while I really like how you explained the characters in Close Quarters the actual prose in the sample section was pretty rough. I'm not sure I'd want to make it through a whole book of that. I honestly have more or less the exact opposite opinion. Far too much telling in Wolves, too much flatly stated about characterization and relationships. Though I suspect there may have been some heavy handed editorial intervention.
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Sep 14, 2017 03:25
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Defiance Industries posted:Fun fact: gyrojet weapons actually exist I actually got to fire one of the Gyrojet pistols once. It was pretty cool, although I'd much rather have a regular gun in a combat situation.
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Sep 14, 2017 03:29
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Natty Ninefingers posted:I honestly have more or less the exact opposite opinion. Far too much telling in Wolves, too much flatly stated about characterization and relationships. Though I suspect there may have been some heavy handed editorial intervention. Minobu was brilliant, though I would agree about some of the writing in that book. The sections about the Genyosha in the Warrior trilogy are a lot better. The tea ceremony in the first book, the interactions with the ISF, his murder...
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Sep 14, 2017 03:46
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Voyager I posted:These readings inspired me to go check out the books online, but while I really like how you explained the characters in Close Quarters the actual prose in the sample section was pretty rough. I'm not sure I'd want to make it through a whole book of that. Victor Milan is not the best BattleMech combat author. His `Mech fights are vague or tend to be one-hit KOs, and sometimes he introduces characters and makes it very clear he's setting a death flag for them because they have no stated flaws. He writes excellent martial arts scenes. His martial arts scenes are very John Wick, especially in Hearts of Chaos (which is otherwise his roughest novel). He's not always subtle but he doesn't let his libertarian leanings shine through as often as you might otherwise expect. The closest the series has to a Mary Sue is actually Uncle Chandy, who always seems to know to put the 17th in the right place at the right time. And it's very clear that Uncle Chandy is actually working his gigantic rear end off in order to make it seem like he's doing this effortlessly. TLDR: Close Quarters and Hearts of Chaos have some rough edges, Black Dragon is the best book in the trilogy by far but relies on the other two and doesn't really make sense without them. Edit: Here are the new buildings I've been working on. Not enough neon signs, but I'll cope. 
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Sep 14, 2017 |
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Sep 14, 2017 04:03
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PoptartsNinja posted:Edit: Here are the new buildings I've been working on. Not enough neon signs, but I'll cope. That's a lot of Dragons and Helipads.
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Sep 14, 2017 05:29
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Oh that's quite nice You've actually made a lot of bespoke mapsheet assets over the course of the thread, PTN.
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Sep 14, 2017 05:45
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CourValant posted:That's a lot of Dragons and Helipads. You're right, I clearly haven't plastered the Drac meatball on enough things!  You are entertained by Soccer only because the Coordinator permits it, peasants!
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Sep 14, 2017 05:49
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PoptartsNinja posted:You are entertained by Soccer only because the Coordinator permits it, peasants! That's actually a good point. Combine society isn't known for its luxuries or indulgences to begin with, most resources are allocated to the Pillar of Steel, 18 hour working days, government housing projects, etc. So, where does Uncle Chandy get the idea, or the goods, to run air conditioners and DVD players into Clan space?
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Sep 14, 2017 06:06
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PoptartsNinja posted:Victor Milan is not the best BattleMech combat author. His `Mech fights are vague or tend to be one-hit KOs, and sometimes he introduces characters and makes it very clear he's setting a death flag for them because they have no stated flaws. He writes excellent martial arts scenes. His martial arts scenes are very John Wick, especially in Hearts of Chaos (which is otherwise his roughest novel). He's not always subtle but he doesn't let his libertarian leanings shine through as often as you might otherwise expect. The closest the series has to a Mary Sue is actually Uncle Chandy, who always seems to know to put the 17th in the right place at the right time. And it's very clear that Uncle Chandy is actually working his gigantic rear end off in order to make it seem like he's doing this effortlessly. Chandy and Cassie. But then, what would Battletech be without its Mary Sues? Victor Steiner-Davion, Grayson Death, Kai Allard-Liao, Phelan Kell... but not Natasha Kerensky. Natasha Kerensky is awesome. However, you can't help but love the Cabelleros. They have a lot more personality than the other merc units (aside from the Kell Hounds).
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Sep 14, 2017 06:08
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painedforever posted:Chandy and Cassie. Cassie isn't a Mary Sue. She looks like one, but she's a condemnation of all the existent Kai Allard-Liaos. The only thing she does successfully in Black Dragon is save a Capellan spy from being killed by other Capellan spies. Everything else she attempts she fucks up, and she gets a lot of Caballeros killed because of it. She's barely even an observer during the climax. None of the novels are about her, she's an ancillary character in her own trilogy. A real Mary Sue never gets upstaged. Edit: Tweaked the stadium's colors a little more. 
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Sep 14, 2017 |
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Sep 14, 2017 06:25
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CourValant posted:So, where does Uncle Chandy get the idea, or the goods, to run air conditioners and DVD players into Clan space? Well, the idea, that's easy. The Lyran Commonwealth tried to run the same play on the Draconis Combine before the Combine issued a general embargo of everything coming out of Lyran space.
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Sep 14, 2017 06:33
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Hm, what's the best way to show the scale of this monster I've created? Oh, I know! I'll plop a DropShip next to it!  Each hex is 30 meters squared, and that building occupies 91 hexes. That is nearly 3 square kilometers of building. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Sep 14, 2017 |
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Sep 14, 2017 08:55
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