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Atlas Hugged posted:Quick question regarding the Clan Invasion box. Does the rulebook included only have rules for Clan stuff or is it basically a complete rulebook with everything you need to know to get started? The Kickstarter says a core rulebook PDF would be sent to every backer so backers wouldn't need previous sets to play, but I'm thinking about people who buy the box off the shelf and have no prior experience with Battletech. I don't think we know for sure but I would assume they would include the core basic rules.
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Aug 5, 2020 00:41
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I wrote the upcoming box rules: it's just an appendix to the AGoAC rules (originally they were going to be full and independent, but it was decided there wasn't enough changes to warrant it; the book would have been 98% the same as the basic one and presumably raised the new box set's cost). So it's essentially an update adding combat and construction rules for the new gear, and an add-on giving you the rules for Elementals vs mechs.
Xotl fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Aug 5, 2020 |
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Aug 5, 2020 01:00
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In other words, if I have the 25th Anniversary box, the one with the Thor and Loki in it, and I get the Clan Invasion box, I should basically have enough rules to get me by? But if my friend buys just the Clan Invasion box, he won't have enough rules?
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Aug 5, 2020 01:24
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Atlas Hugged posted:In other words, if I have the 25th Anniversary box, the one with the Thor and Loki in it, and I get the Clan Invasion box, I should basically have enough rules to get me by? Yes. The CI box has been described from day 1 as an expansion to the current starter box and not a completely stand-alone product, and I think the packaging reflects that.
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Aug 5, 2020 01:28
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Strobe posted:Yes. The CI box has been described from day 1 as an expansion to the current starter box and not a completely stand-alone product, and I think the packaging reflects that. This was what I was pretty sure of, but the Kickstarter itself mentioned a basic rulebook PDF and that you absolutely did not need AGoAC to use the new box, so I wasn't sure if a link to that or something was going to be included for people who bought at retail.
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Aug 5, 2020 01:33
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It's definitely true you don't need AGoAC to use it, at least. I can't think of the last time the rules changed for anything Introductory level past like, 2007, so any of the Total Warfare or BattleMech Manual books printed will do the job just a bit more... thoroughly than strictly necessary, and so will every box set rulebook from the same time period (including the 25th box you've got).
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Aug 5, 2020 01:38
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Strobe posted:It's definitely true you don't need AGoAC to use it, at least. I can't think of the last time the rules changed for anything Introductory level past like, 2007, so any of the Total Warfare or BattleMech Manual books printed will do the job just a bit more... thoroughly than strictly necessary, and so will every box set rulebook from the same time period (including the 25th box you've got). I'm more thinking specifically of people who see this shiny new box and have played the Battletech PC game or MechWarrior and say, "This would be great for game night!" My FLGS is taking pre-orders for the retail release now and I kind of want to give a warning that if you are completely new to Battletech, this is not the box you should be buying unless you have a friend with the rules. But yeah I should be fine. I kind of want an excuse to buy the BattleMech Manual anyway.
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Aug 5, 2020 01:46
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Yeah, I hope it's clear on the box that it's an expansion product, not a standalone, because people will be eventually buying them off store shelves without any exposure or even knowledge of the kickstarter. But that seems like a pretty obvious thing to mention on the packaging; I assume CGL will do so.
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Aug 5, 2020 02:09
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 Started painting again. I missed this.
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Aug 5, 2020 08:12
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Rounded out my crew to a full company plus the Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth. The metallic paint was interesting to work with. It got clumpy on the ankle because I had to glue it back together, though.
Defiance Industries fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Aug 6, 2020 |
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Aug 6, 2020 02:24
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WhiteHowler posted:
I am very excited to be getting back to BattleTech after being off it for a couple years, and I am starting to research/write a campaign for some family to play. Does anyone have any recommendations for good ground vehicles in the 3000-3050 time frame to field as opfor against my fledgling merc players? I've really only ever run mechs, but I think non-mech forces/combined arms could a lot of fun.
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Aug 6, 2020 05:13
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There is a trio of universally available mook tanks that are basically designed to get chewed up and spit out by players but will wreck their day if they're too careless in the form of the Scorpion, the Vedette, and the Bulldog.
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Aug 6, 2020 05:23
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AC5s are nothing to scoff at, especially with a good field of fire. Thanks for the recommends! I'll add in some LRM carriers for good measure to make sure my players know they need to remember there are more than lasers and ACs on the field.
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Aug 6, 2020 05:40
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They're garbage tanks but they do take non-trivial killing to remove. If you're tracking parts and repairs they make for good armor pinatas when those stores eventually run low (and they will).
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Aug 6, 2020 05:54
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Have a Behemoth roll out as the "DON'T EVER TALK TO ME OR MY SON AGAIN" guy after you've taken out a few of them. They'll probably get overconfident after burning down some expendable tanks, and the Behemoth will tell them not to underestimate everything on treads.
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Aug 6, 2020 06:20
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SRM Carriers are grudge monsters, don't be tempted to use them except maybe as an objective "the local [OpForce] has purchased some new tanks, take them out before they can load them with ammo!" The Manticore is very capable and a good step up from the Vedette / Bulldog. Watch out for the 3025 hovertanks, they can be extremely powerful. The Saladin is extremely nasty for a 35 tonner but even the lighter and faster hovers like the Harasser and even the Savannah Master can be really difficult for new players to handle since they can get into the rear arcs so easily. The Pegasus, Scimitar, and Saracen are probably the three least irritating Hovertanks to fight against but even then the Pegasus is very heavily armed for its tonnage while the Scimitar and Saracen can both plink away at long ranges where they're not likely to do anything but the players will have a lot of trouble catching them and killing them. If you want something to be a fast nuisance, the Warrior VTOL is my go-to since it's slower than the J. Edgar, has to get close to do damage, and carries less firepower than the Harasser and Pegasus. Just be sure someone has some FLAK ammo on them to turn the +1 airborne target penalty into a -3 bonus. If you plan on letting your players tool around in light 'Mechs for a while, a Clint can be a nice early-game "boss" 'Mech. It's not especially powerful but it's significantly more dangerous than a Cicada while still being fast enough to get off the board. It can make a great ride for a recurring villain and they'll take a lot of satisfaction when they eventually TAC crit its ammo and blow it to bits.
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Aug 6, 2020 07:01
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I like the Striker as a low-end tank that is more interesting than those members of the AC/5/machine gun club. It has two tons of SRMs so you can give it a ton of infernos which can be a fun surprise at the right time. If they're in heavier units: The Patton, Manticore and Myrmidon* are good grunt tanks that all have a medium-range 10-damage main gun and some secondaries. They're the next step up from the low-end stuff like the Scorpion and Vedette, but aren't as dangerous as things like the Schrek and Demolisher. Karnovs with jump infantry (I like auto-rifles, but you can choose other weapons for more range/less damage) can make them do the ants-in-the-pants dance while reminding them why machine gun exist. Jumping infantry can disembark with the helicopter in the air without using the optional fastrope rules! *Myrmidon is available starting in 3060, may be too late if you're a stickler for that
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Aug 6, 2020 07:18
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Myrmidons are excellent tanks, it's true. Until the players are actually tooling around in not-lovely Heavies of their own I'd probably leave the heavy armor mostly home or only rare showings. Manticores and Pattons are fully capable of trading punches with trooper mediums and low end heavies and having a chance (not 50-50 but somewhere close) of winning the one on one fight outright, and that can be tough if players are still in 'Mechs worse than that.
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Aug 6, 2020 07:24
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3rding the Myrmidon. They're excellent little tanks that fill that role of being a serious threat but also not too difficult to get out of the way for a new-ish team. I'm also a fan of using the Harasser in a similar way - it's a notable enough threat for any light/medium, fast enough to be dangerous on rear attacks for big stuff, and explodes really nicely when you smack it.
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Aug 6, 2020 23:15
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Operational Turning Points: Hanseatic Crusade is out today, and there's a lot of poo poo happening in that section of the Deep Periphery, apparently.  The most interesting bits, personally: 1) Major potential Dark Age spoiler: The Blackout didn't reach the Escorpion Imperio, all of their HPGs are still working. 2) One of the Hanseatic League's Regional Defense Forces includes over 50 Demolishers.  3) The Hanseatic League fields multiple battle armor Regiments, and most of them are really loving good (including one spaceborne/Marine battle armor Regiment). 4) New Bloodnames!
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Aug 8, 2020 00:38
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That actually kind of makes sense. The Scorpion HPG grid is isolated from the Inner Sphere network.
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Aug 8, 2020 00:42
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It has some interesting implications for the Homeworlds, too.
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Aug 8, 2020 00:45
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Yeah, I suppose it depends on if the Adders just shut down the HPGs linking the Homeworlds to the Inner Sphere or if they actually slagged them.
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Aug 8, 2020 00:47
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Defiance Industries posted:Yeah, I suppose it depends on if the Adders just shut down the HPGs linking the Homeworlds to the Inner Sphere or if they actually slagged them. The implication in the text is that proximity to the Inner Sphere is the important part, so that may not be the important question. Without a view on the Homeworlds we won't know, but the possibility is wide open.
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Aug 8, 2020 00:50
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The Clarion Call was someone* weaponizing a super HPG to warp hyperspace in some fraction of the Super HPG's... 2000 lightyear radius? Which burned out core components and may or may not still be ongoing. The few HPGs that were immune to this and had to be physically attacked were most likely Super HPG prototypes / experimental platforms or HPGs that otherwise had nonstandard shielding for their critical components. *Leftover Wobbies. They didn't even do a good job hiding it, the symbol of their attack forces was nearly identical to the 43rd Shadow Division's emblem with one snake instead of two. 
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Aug 8, 2020 01:22
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the original plans were by the Republic however. Devlin Stone himself saw them in the "break in case of emergency" database. Word of Blake or whomever just followed his plan. Also, CLARION CALL basically was a weaponized "Use every backdoor that's been built up in the code over 400+ years to burn everything out" worm. Basically, there's so many things that can be done to break an HPG, that it does them all at once, so anti-virus (such as it is) can't find em all (some of them because they're hardcoded in the system). Some also work only if other issues are not present or patched out. (edit: Also, I'm kinda shocked that Black Boxes aren't used more in the fiction to get around the HPG's, as apparently they still work. Probably what happened is no one needed them any more, so they sat dusty and unused since the end of the Clan Invasion/Jihad, and was not widespread enough to get black boxes out to planets within the five years of the Blackout)) SirFozzie fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Aug 8, 2020 |
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Aug 8, 2020 02:00
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I didn't know they had detailed what happened with the HPGs that much. Is the info just spread out tidbit by tidbit in a bunch of different books?
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Aug 8, 2020 02:27
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They've done a lot to make the WizKids fluff less stupid.
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Aug 8, 2020 02:39
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It's spread way the hell out.
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Aug 8, 2020 02:41
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SirFozzie posted:the original plans were by the Republic however. Devlin Stone himself saw them in the "break in case of emergency" database. Word of Blake or whomever just followed his plan. By "Word of Blake or whomever" you mean "Devlin Stone"
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Aug 8, 2020 02:41
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He's said that he didn't know about the Clarion Call being issued when Tucker woke him up (and he was pretty out of it, so he was probably telling the truth) Field Report: 3145 “Did you disconnect my remote feeds?” Stone asked. The man had been in ComStar—it wasn’t outside possibility that he could’ve hacked the HPG feeds. “I should see the prefecture governors’ offices on those screens.” “They’re outside the Wall.” “What wall?” “Fortress Republic. And even if they weren’t, barely any of the HPGs work.” Stone stared at him edit: although the new fiction seems to state otherwise, that he didn't expect everyone to rearm so quickly. Who knows. Edit 2: Now that I think about it, it more and more sounds like he set this up to go off when certain data points were set (that the other Houses had disarmed to the point of being an easy target), and for whatever reason, it went off way too early. SirFozzie fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Aug 8, 2020 |
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Aug 8, 2020 04:17
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I think the new Vapor Eagle is the first time I haven't liked one of the revamped mech designs.
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Aug 9, 2020 16:58
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Whaaaaaaat? That mech is awesome looking!
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Aug 9, 2020 17:03
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I just happen to prefer the MWO version of the Vapor Eagle, is all.
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Aug 10, 2020 04:21
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From Rock of the Republic, it sounds like Devlin Stone planned on initiating the Blackout eventually while he was cryogenically frozen, but someone beat him to the punch way sooner. Devlin overestimated people's loyalty to the Republic and underestimated how much the Houses had Demilitarized, so when the Blackout came, the Republic fractured, and the Houses invaded, which was the opposite of what he thought would happen. Basically, defeating the Word of Blake, creating the Republic, and ruling it for 50 years caused Stone to drink his own Kool-Aid to an unhealthy degree. Doesn't help that most people in the Republic while Stone was around believed in the whole demilitarization thing too much. Had the Republic just stayed at it's 30 Line Regiments + Stone's Brigade strength, it would've been fine come Blackout. It should be noted that the original plan for the Republic per Wizkids was that after a year or two into the game, the Republic would collapse and die, and just become a huge chaos zone. Wizkids changed it and kept the Republic going because the player base really dug their Knight and Paladin pieces, and demanded a full-fledged faction for them.
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Aug 10, 2020 14:34
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 Managed to survive an entire barrage of this, then proceeded to kick the Jenner's head in and kill it instantly with my Puma. You see what happens when you don't practice social distancing? YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS?!
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Aug 13, 2020 05:42
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Played my first Battletech game in nearly a decade yesterday. Good times and I really hope to spend more time getting into it again. I ran a small 2v2 with my neighbor. I fielded a Dervish and a Jaegermech and he had a Jenner and Trebuchet. I was in pretty good position to annihilate his Trebuchet when it was running hot, but I stupidly forgot about the minimum distance on the ACs and moved in far too close to be effective. Then the Jenner scored a hit on the ammo and that was all she wrote. We played another half dozen turns until the Jenner finally got behind the Dervish and found its ammo as well. All in all a good time was had by all (except for my mechs). gently caress Jenners.
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Aug 13, 2020 05:48
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This was pretty much an ad-hoc stream of consciousness post as I try to fight off a MASSIVE anxiety/depression attack. Ok. This is what I got from putting together the various text blurbs from Shattered Fortress, Era Digest: 3145, Rock of the Republic, etcetera. Devlin Stone, as we all know, plans for EVERYTHING. He is a control freak of the HIGHEST nature. (For example, when they inform him that the Fidelis have been released. "THEY WERE MINE!"). He had a plan for the inner sphere that "I will fight no more forever." But he couldn't stand not being there when it happened, as he believes that only he can pull it off. What we know: Devlin Stone Created the Blackout Protocol (Clarion Call) before he was put on ice. Devlin Stone did not actually ACTIVATE Clarion Call, as he was on ice. He wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. (His reaction when being woken up for the first time "TOO SOON!"). Also, he was surprised by how quickly the Houses rearmed, and that the HPG networks were down when woken up. He asks Harwell "where are my live feeds of the prefecture governor's offices" It is very likely that Clarion Call was set to go off when certain conditions were met (and would wake up Stone at that time so he could see what happens). For example "Once House military levels have been at peace for X years and reduced their forces to X amount") So, the problem is that someone (Mr. X, I will assume Word of Blake for the purpose of discussion here) discovered those plans, and realized that yeah, this plan really could work. And if done NOW, instead of "when the stars are right", that the Republic would suffer along with the other Houses (which is why I think it's comstar/word of blake. Doesn't this sound like their "Have everyone beat each other to point of exhaustion then we take over?) So, they launched some of their Hidden Forces at the HPG's that Clarion Call could not take out. So, a defrosted Stone is trying to project like "The plan is fine, we're going to stop them at Terra and then recover all the worlds we lost, and then some!".. because well, that's all he really has left to play, morale wise. But he keeps running the numbers, and they just can't. They could defeat Clan Wolf. Or Clan Jade Falcon. Or the Capellan Confederation. Or the Draconis Combine. They MIGHT stop two of the four. MAYBE. They CAN'T stop all four. So, he has to try to reduce the amount of fronts he's facing. By giving Julian Davion a relatively small amount of forces, it A) distracts the Combine, which was actively trying to breach the Fortress, and B) Davion might feel obliged to send forces to help. It seems to be working, as the Dragon's tounge is being Chopped into pieces, and it's safe to say that the Dragon is.. distracted. The Capellans are being held at Northwind, which keeps them from being a contender for Terra, right now at least. But they're still going to be coming, eventually. So that's only a partial win. So, the two immediate threats are the two major Clans. Wolf and Jade Falcon. And Stone has pretty much admitted that the Republic, in its current form, is dead. Deader then disco. Deader then Hanse Davion. Maybe more dead then Sun Tzu Liao (wouldn't be surprised if Sunny Tzu put himself on ice ala Stone) Stone (to Harwell): You don’t see it because you’ve been approaching the problem from the wrong direction. You believe we’ve been trying to preserve the Republic all this time? What if I told you the Republic can’t be restored to what it was? What if I told you that the best way forward might be to forge the Republic into something new and different? Does anyone think that Stone can make a deal with the Jade Falcons? (you may laugh here, if you wish. I did) Does anyone think that if Devlin Stone goes to Alaric Ward and says: "Rather then the two of us warring and Jade Falcon taking out the winner, how about this. You and me fight. If I win, the Wolf Clan becomes the Republic Defense Force. As part of the Republic, Clan Wolf is the ilClan, and can rally the less insane members of the Clans to accept. If you win, mostly the same, except that the Star League/Republic Defense Force has supreme military command over the Inner Sphere", that Alaric wouldn't accept? The numbers game weighs heavily on Alaric's mind. Which means that he's desperately trying to get more forces. Such as Wolf's Dragoons. Such as the remnants of Wolf-In-Exile. (would that be where Anastasia Kerensky is going?). Such as the Kell Hounds? (Garner Kerensky returned in Divided We Fall from such a mission). Such as the Fidelis. Now, let's say we add in the Davion/Republic armies. That's... a pretty impressive coalition. Not enough to steamroll the Jade Falcons on Earth. But enough to HOLD? Enough to send them fleeing (which just reinforces Clan Wolf, Kerensky's Legacy, as the ilClan). All of which could conceivably lead to the situation described in the future of the TRO:Succession Wars Prologue, where they write to the IlKhan: That moreover, the re-employment of these older BattleMechs in the arena system has helped quell the inherent hostility and intransigence of the freebirth masses of the Inner Sphere. The enormous change they have experienced has been eased both by these gladiatorial contests and by the sight of familiar ’Mechs competing in them. Such machines also provide an effective baseline for the evaluation of potential MechWarriors in the contests, given the [rohibition against the use of modern technology by the faux warriors. Finally, the familiarity of these ’Mechs provides a bridge for Spheroid citizens between the past and the present. One wonders, for example, whether the feats of Gunslinger Jázon Marik became so legendary across the Inner Sphere in part because they came at the controls of a Thunderbolt. In this way, these ancient BattleMechs have come full circle. Once, they were used to tear down the First League and carry out some of the worst atrocities ever committed by mankind. Now, they tie us to the glories of the past while achieving new triumphs in the League’s name, and help vent the ancient animosities of the Inner Sphere. Rather than view this document as evidence of the barbarism of those you now rule, perhaps consider it an epitaph of that barbarism. In short, that the Clans and Inner Sphere have merged by 3250, and that while trueborn Mechwarriors still make up a lot of the SLDF Mechwarriors, that the gladiatorial games (like the old Gunslinger duels between the SLDF and the Draconis Combine Ronin pre-first star league fall), provide satiation for nation's grudges, while testing out MechWarriors for the SLDF . Clan Wolf has already started that, with Solaris acting as a feeder system to the Clan Wolf Touman. Jade Falcon would NOT want anything like that. Ever. So, it's likely that Wolf wins in some way, but how do we get from point A to Point B? I tried to map that out. This probably comes off as one of those conspiracy theory bulletin boards, but I think I'm pretty solid in my guesses. (And hoo boy, if the Steiner-Davion line ends up taking over the Inner Sphere under Alaric, the cries will be FIERCE)
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Aug 13, 2020 13:21
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We know from TRO: Jihad that whoever takes Terra doesn't do it gently. The Republic is "a mockery" that is "ground under heel." Which lines up with the people they think are cool: Leo Showers, Lincoln Osis, Elias Critchell and Vandervahn Chistu. I think the veneration of Critchell in particular points to a different winner. There is no way that a narrative set by Clan Wolf, for whom Vlad Ward is a messianic figure, is going to talk about the "righteous Falcons" and how Critchell was this wise dude.
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Aug 13, 2020 18:49
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Taintrunner posted:
Still really want to get those awesome looking hexagon terrain pieces, and buildings.
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Aug 13, 2020 18:58
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