|
No, they should be dead. All of them. Just like all Clanners.
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2021 23:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 21:55 |
|
|
Defiance Industries posted:No, they should be dead. All of them. Just like all Clanners. I feel like what I'm getting at is Wolf's Dragoons should also be dead and retconned out of existence, and replaced with a much cooler unit that spent the pre-invasion doing cool Easy Rider stuff across the inner sphere.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2021 23:27
|
|
|
So... Hansen's Roughriders?
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2021 23:30
|
|
|
Holybat posted:I legit really liked Wolf Hunters and the Free Worlds League reformed novels in the MWDA line. Marik (and pretend Marik) shenanigans are fun! Yeah, after I wrote my review above I remembered that Alaric had totally butchered civilians and killed surrendered forces during the Clan Wolf/Steiner invasion of the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth (Dark Age books). I think in the former, one of his officers got sniped so he murdered an entire city block, 5k people. He's little better than Malvina. I really wish Tara Campbell had just pulled the trigger when she had the chance and killed him, even if it cost her the Highlanders. The Wolves without Alaric will die an even quicker on the quicksand that is holding Terra. HOTW seriously needed more ROTS perspectives so that it wasn't just Clan Wolf is Awesome 24/7.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 00:55
|
|
|
But if she did that then how would the Northwind Highlanders accomplish their long history of doing nothing whenever stuff goes down? We'd miss out on all those times the Northwind Highlanders sat on Northwind!
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 00:59
|
|
|
I am incredibly aggravated that Tara Campbell was successfully goaded into abandoning defensive positions to try to save Scotland, largely because the Northwind Highlanders should have next to zero connection to a place they left literally a loving millenium ago.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 02:42
|
|
|
Crazy Joe Wilson posted:I think in the former, one of his officers got sniped so he murdered an entire city block, 5k people. Can they please figure out a way to present a faction or character as a dangerous and/or bad guy without making them commit war crimes? In the '80s-90s fiction it seemed like the major atrocities (nuking planets, Kentares massacre etc.) were in the past. They were there to explain how the 3025 universe came to be, but they weren't really something you were supposed to experience in your games. Call it war weariness or whatever, but everyone had become a bit more civilized by 3025 at least "on camera." Part of what made the Clans scary and inhuman antagonists was their willingness to kill civilians, with the Smoke Jaguars being extra bad for orbitally bombarding Edo on Turtle Bay. Then it seems like in order to make the WoB extra-bad they had to go around nuking everyone. Sounds like more of the same concept with the Dark Age.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 02:50
|
|
|
Carbolic posted:Can they please figure out a way to present a faction or character as a dangerous and/or bad guy without making them commit war crimes? It's just tiring at this point, and just smacks of "look how grown-up our franchise is". It also handily undermines the intended horror of characters like Malvina when instead of being an anomaly like Victor Milan seemed to intend with her introduction, she's just one of a horde of assholes willing to warcrimes at the drop of the hat.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 03:24
|
|
|
Strobe posted:I am incredibly aggravated that Tara Campbell was successfully goaded into abandoning defensive positions to try to save Scotland, largely because the Northwind Highlanders should have next to zero connection to a place they left literally a loving millenium ago. Someone should make Pardoe read a novel set in the modern day where everyone is constantly talking about contemporary events in terms of what figure from the Holy Roman Empire most resembles Donald Trump so he can see how ridiculous his characters look. Carbolic posted:Can they please figure out a way to present a faction or character as a dangerous and/or bad guy without making them commit war crimes? In the '80s-90s fiction it seemed like the major atrocities (nuking planets, Kentares massacre etc.) were in the past. They were there to explain how the 3025 universe came to be, but they weren't really something you were supposed to experience in your games. Call it war weariness or whatever, but everyone had become a bit more civilized by 3025 at least "on camera." Part of what made the Clans scary and inhuman antagonists was their willingness to kill civilians, with the Smoke Jaguars being extra bad for orbitally bombarding Edo on Turtle Bay. Then it seems like in order to make the WoB extra-bad they had to go around nuking everyone. Sounds like more of the same concept with the Dark Age. They didn't do a lot right in the FCCW, but they didn't fall into that trap for once. There were WarShips involved in the fighting but the most objectionable thing they ever did with one was when Free Skye ordered a targeted bombardment against the Hesperus II HPG to keep the Lyran forces from calling for help. And one unit used tactical nukes because they were backed into a corner, but they used them only against military targets and they still were labeled a rogue unit for it and condemned by basically everyone. Defiance Industries fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Jan 8, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 03:54
|
|
|
Defiance Industries posted:So... Hansen's Roughriders? Reporting this tweet for trying to own me with facts
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 04:43
|
|
|
I like the idea of the clans and almost no actual implementations of the clans in books mostly because I don't think very highly of most of battletech's authors  Hour of the Wolf was... ehhhh. Didn't love it. Wish we could just make a new playground a hundred years in the future. But it's been confirmed that we're not ever doing a timeskip, so... yeah, if like me you didn't like Hour of the Wolf, congrats, because we're stuck in that era now.  At least we'll always have older eras to play in, so can't really get THAT unhappy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 19:32
|
|
|
I'm at least glad that Alaric got at least some slight pushback at the very end of the novel, before that he was basically perfect in everything he did. If you came into the book (and Children of Kerensky) without knowing anything else you'd assume that he was the noble protagonist of BT
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 20:00
|
|
|
still of the mind that the best clan character is the Elemental Detective from the BoK books.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 20:28
|
|
|
Asa Taney is the best Clan character because he is Nicholas Kerensky's ideal man. Completely inept at all kinds of statecraft and military leadership, but an exceptional shot. That overrides any other concerns in the system, because anyone who is a good shot is inherently a good leader of a government.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2021 01:17
|
|
|
Clans r dum
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2021 06:23
|
|
|
Round 3 on learning to paint. This time a shadowhawk.     1) i did a zenithal (?) prime on this, and also did a light-sand colored base layer on the red parts first, so the red was generally smoother and less frustrating all around. 2) also I did a layer of light purple before the yellow. It's still not great, but I think better the second time around, although I probably could put one more coat on there to get things more flat and even 3) still struggle with some nooks- I feel like this is where the super-detailed 3d print and the constant grain-lines make things frustrating. There's always a little tiny bit from one angle that still has a base layer showing through or something 4) I got over-aggressive with the red, and should have been a little more judgmental on letting the black just stay as-is, like I did with some of the joints of the Valkyrie I feel like next step is to give this guy a dark wash over a lot of the red to help give some more shading?
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 03:24
|
|
|
I'd recommend a wash, yes. It'll help tie the model together, although you do have to be careful washing yellow if you want it to stay bright. Edit: Here are some of my 'Mechs, from oldest to newest. I'm not great at wet blending or any advanced techniques.  The oldest is the Hellbringer on the left. It was given a dark green basecoat, and then drybrushed with a light green--and that's it. Super basic technique, it's one of the earliest 'Mechs I've ever painted. It's about 10-12 years old now. 'Mechs take to drybrushing really well, although with 3D printed minis drybrushing can catch the occasional print line if you're not careful. The red Awesome was one of the first 'Mechs I painted when I got back into 'Mech painting a few years back. It's painted roughly the same as the Hellbringer (dark red base, light red drybrush), but it also got a wash. You can see the wash dirtied the paintjob a bit but also helps bring out some of the mini's lines and details. If you keep the 'Mech standing upright while a whole-body wash dries the wash will tend to settle on the lower edges which helps give a little color contrast. The orange Awesome in the middle is from the box set and about a year old. It wasn't drybrushed, it was painted with solid colors and then washed (and re-highlighted with solid colors). That's essentially the technique you're using. The Jade Hawk was painted with the same technique as the Awesome, but it was also given a topcoat with a green-to-gold color shift paint. These paints aren't strongly pigmented so I do not recommend using them as a basecoat, but they work just fine if you apply them as a single layer over a color you've already painted. The effect is pretty subtle on camera but it's quite shiny and turns gold when the light catches it just right. Perfect for the flashy idiot Jade Falcons. The last 'Mech is a Tomahawk painted at the same time as the Jade Hawk. It's contrast Blood Angels Red over a silver basecoat, which gives it a metallic red color. In hindsight I should've washed it after, but I was being cautious since mistakes are very difficult to touch up with this method. I don't know why I included the jeep, but the two troop transport vehicles were contrast paint tests. They're both colors painted over metallic silver (the first is Volupus Pink and the second is Snakebite Leather). I'll finish them one of these months. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Jan 10, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 03:48
|
|
|
PoptartsNinja posted:I'd recommend a wash, yes. It'll help tie the model together, although you do have to be careful washing yellow if you want it to stay bright. I feel like I want to try a metallic base coat and red over it on my next practice- I sorta planned to do that on my last one but went with the sand base instead.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 20:12
|
|
|
Fidel Cuckstro posted:I feel like I want to try a metallic base coat and red over it on my next practice- I sorta planned to do that on my last one but went with the sand base instead. The color-over-metallic only works with the GW contrast paints, or with artist inks (which you can get from craft supply stores but are definitely on the 'advanced' end of painting since they're best applied with an airbrush). Contrast and Inks are both basically very thin, highly pigmented paints that stain whatever's under them rather than covering it up the way standard acrylics do. Contrast paints have some nice additional properties that make them pretty beginner friendly though. They essentially shade themselves.  These were all painted primarily (but not exclusively) with contrast paints. I've done no additional highlighting in most places, although there are a few bits that are painted in traditional methods (anything metallic, anything stone, the two pink capes). I didn't go back and use washes to shade these (except for the bits that were painted traditionally, like the dwarf drunk monk's stone fists), contrasts are really good at emphasizing detail. If contrast paints came in dropper bottles I'd recommend them at almost any price, unfortunately they come in GW's badly designed pots. As a casual painter the pots are fine, you probably won't notice the loss of paint as it dries out, but for someone who paints a lot (like I do now) I transferred my contrast paints to 20oz dropper bottles at the earliest opportunity. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Jan 10, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 21:38
|
|
|
GW's pots are fine and basically loss-less if you're not using a palette, too.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 22:03
|
|
|
That's unfortunately not true. The tongue built into their caps collects paint and drips it into the rim. It's not a huge deal with contrast paints because they're so thin, but on regular paints after you've opened and closed the caps a few (dozen) times in regular use eventually you'll build up enough paint that the cap can't close correctly and the pot will start to dry out. It's particularly noticeable on colors I use all the time, like and Zandri Dust. I go through a lot of Zandri dust and I'd say only about 4/5ths of any pot ever made it onto a mini. For most painters, that's not a huge deal loss-wise, it just started to irritate me since it's my go-to basecoat for stone. GWs pots are tolerable at best. Edit: they are somewhat convenient for new painters who may not have a palette or wet palette but I can't recommend them. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Jan 10, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 22:39
|
|
|
I regularly have to go in with a pick and clean out the rims of my GW pots. It's friggin annoying. P3 pots have a similar 'tongue' and don't have the same issue of paint collecting in the rim.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 23:32
|
|
|
gw has always been weirdly inconsistent. I've had colors (usually whites or greys) that get dry quickly and then there's this single pot of Necron Abyss I've been using for over a decade.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 23:40
|
|
|
I've had that issue with one or two pots, but I've only had to go in and clean out a lid rim once in the last year and change. I don't know if I'm just getting lucky, or what, but that's not my experience with the format. In any case, Contrast is thin enough that that just doesn't matter, and are also formulated well enough for most of them that you can use them out of the pot without thinning. For those ones, you can avoid using a palette altogether and not lose much at all. Back on the painting: it really cannot be overstated how significant the improvement between washed and unwashed is.  The Grendel on the left has not been washed. The Shadow Cat on the right has. I try to go for a very clean, targeted wash, so you can see every meaningful line on the model clear as day without darkening the mini. It ends up looking a little bit cartoony, but I don't mind that and I'd rather get the most out of the (very good) detail on the mini.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 23:43
|
|
|
I think I'll be painting my Clan minis Spirit Cat colors (Gray with white, more white symbolizes purity of the warrior), and Inner Sphere mechs clix Republic colors (Red and gray-teal), in memory of the Republic. Victario ves Republica! 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 15:53
|
|
|
Defiance Industries posted:Someone should make Pardoe read a novel set in the modern day where everyone is constantly talking about contemporary events in terms of what figure from the Holy Roman Empire most resembles Donald Trump so he can see how ridiculous his characters look. Its Conrad III Hohenstaufen OP
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 00:48
|
|
|
Looking at the camo specs website I suddenly thought of this - are those 'parade' colors, or they actually ran with those camo in the battlefield?
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 04:57
|
|
|
Depends on the unit. 'Mechs don't really use visuals for targeting, so some commands like their machines to look impressive (to cow the locals) and others use appropriate (or intentionally inappropriate) camo to keep orbitals from spotting them quite as easily. If you see a unit that has a colorscheme that interests you, I suggest punching it into Sarna to see if they run those colors constantly or if they're a "we use parade colors when we have to, we guess" unit. As a general rule, the more elite the unit the more likely they are to keep their 'Mechs flashy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 05:10
|
|
|
Just paint the schemes that you like, tbh. I paint exclusively parade colors unless a unit just doesn't have them, because I want the unit that mech is from to be visible from across the table, especially since decals take weeks to come in and my attention span is short.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 05:33
|
|
|
Strobe posted:Just paint the schemes that you like, tbh. That's how I wound up with an entire company of Banson's Raiders. Awful command, great color combination.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 06:00
|
|
|
I always assume that in a "realistic" game everyone would just be painted in whatever normal camo scheme. Using parade schemes is also good for telling units apart on the table at a glance, which is one of the reasons a lot of folks use them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 06:02
|
|
|
I treat every mech as a special boy and there is zeron consistency from model to model. Basically I play Bretonnians.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 09:23
|
|
|
What pledge level do you have to make in the kickstarter to get custom faction dice (I.E. Jade Falcon dice)? Asking for a friend.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 21:55
|
|
|
$1 Then you have to add them as extras and I think they're $3 a pair? Not entirely sure, and I'm not entirely sure you can still do a late backer thing. That doesn't mean you can't, just that I don't know.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 22:08
|
|
|
How broken would the second half of my campaign be if I counted up all the XP I "earned" GM'ing the past 6 scenarios and I wound up with enough to stack the perks Cluster Master, Weapon Specialist, and Sniper on a Clanner pilot with a Vulture that has two LRM15s with Artemis IV FCS? edit: to be clear, this would not only give me a -2 to hit, it would halve the range penalties, and also give me a +4 on the cluster table, so if I managed to roll an 8 or above on both hits, that would be a full 30 points of damage every turn (broken up into 6 clusters of 5). Taintrunner fucked around with this message at 08:26 on Jan 13, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 08:14
|
|
|
Alpha Strike?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 08:26
|
|
|
PoptartsNinja posted:Alpha Strike? Total Warfare. For my narrative campaign I oversimplified a bunch of rules and came up with a generic XP system, since I am bringing in first-time Battletech players and don't want to waste their time staring at spreadsheets. Deploying & surviving was 2 XP points, kills are 1 XP point, rare acts of bravery/stupidity are 1 XP point. So my opposing Mercenary players have stuff like Jumping Jack and Melee Master already, but I just wiped out like half of their company last scenario with 1 narrative betrayal and 2 brutal headshots from a ruthless duo of Hatamotos.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 08:29
|
|
|
In Alpha Strike, I'd say it'd be hard to turn something as fragile as a Mad Dog into a boss, but in tabletop Sniper's significantly better than a lot of the alternatives so I could see that working. Does your version of Cluster Hitter require the 'Mech to stand still? The Alpha Strike version does, but the MW: Destiny version doesn't. Anything that requires you to sacrifice mobility on a recurring boss isn't great. If you want to be a surprise jerk on the cheap, there's always Marksman + Human TRO on a usually ignorable trash sniper like a Clint, a Kit Fox, or a Panther. Bonus points if you do it with a 'Mech or vehicle that uses a single AC/2 or LB 2-X like a Vulcan, Arctic Cheetah B, or Huntsman A. Plink, critical chance through armor with the Human TRO bonus, then retreat off the board while monologuing and siccing another pack of minions on the players until your players hate that damned sniper more than anything else you've ever fielded  (then let them catch it and kill it during a climactic battle or after they plot an ambush that impresses you).
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 09:07
|
|
|
PoptartsNinja posted:Does your version of Cluster Hitter require the 'Mech to stand still? The Alpha Strike version does, but the MW: Destiny version doesn't. Anything that requires you to sacrifice mobility on a recurring boss isn't great. Cluster Master, in the version I adapted from Campaign Operations, is a +2 for any roll on the cluster table, regardless of movement. It costs 8XP, and considering that most pilots are only earning 2-6XP max a scenario, I felt like that's pretty fair. To be clear, I lose like 90% of the games I play in Battletech, which is why I became a GM. My last scenario I quietly introduced a couple Jihad era Mech variants as part of a scenario that involved moving units from Point A to B as quickly as possible with zero salvage opportunity as added incentive, the only reason I came out on top was a couple of lucky boxcars - Gauss Rifle to the head at the opening combat round and a PPC in the final combat round. The last one was especially sweet, the whole table looked at my dice tower in shock & awe. At the moment I'm running Clan Smoke Jaguar against 2 different "lances" of players at once, and pulled a much more experienced veteran to help me out with running the Clanner side, which has been pretty fun as they spent the past year as an undercover spy on the Inner Sphere side.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 10:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 21:55 |
|
|
How did the Fedsuns get blitzed the way they did at the start of Shattered Fortress?
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2021 14:36
|
|
