Battletech: Clan Wolf is "Licensed to il"

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Battletech: Clan Wolf is "Licensed to il"

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Strobe: Jun 30, 2014; GW BRAINWORMS CREW

You can safely skip Hour of the Wolf. Everything of merit or value in that book is done better in IlClan.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 00:02

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 20:28

Crazy Joe Wilson: Jul 4, 2007; Justifiably Mad!

MadDogMike posted:

Wasn't he actually created by Word of Blake though? Thought he confessed as much right before he got appropriately put out of our misery by pillow. Though maybe I missed something and he fully turned against his creators, which seems appropriate enough for a WoB plan really. Haven't read Hour of the Wolf, so not sure of specifics. I do remember he planned to stage the Blackout at a time when he could return a la King Arthur and get everybody licking his boots for "saving" them, but somebody ran the plan early and oops, Republic wasn't strong enough to endure.

He says the WOBBIES kidnapped and tried to mind-rape him into the super-soldier/strategist he became, but he didn't like the whole kidnapping/mind-raping part so he rebelled against them.

Again, the Republic's main weakness was believing too much in disarmament. Everyone disarmed, but the Republic disarmed like 60%. Stone believed a little too much in his own hubris (And also was really sad after David Lear died), and it ruined his experiment.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 00:45

Holybat: Dec 22, 2006; I made this while you were asleep.

a cyborg mug posted:

Here they are, my first painted miniatures in like 15 years and my first ever mechs!

I genuinely didn�t remember how much I enjoyed painting and how time flies doing it. I feel like the mechs are just nice minis to paint as well. I never was and apparently still am not the most amazing or patient painter but it seems like I can still hold a brush, also I�m happy with my color schemes and they look decent from further away. Think I�m most pleased with how the Battlemaster and Awesome turned out. Of course, they still need to based but that might have to wait until I�m back in Finland in a year.

Now to just get some games under my belt! Played a couple of test games with the girlfriend the other day and definitely dug it despite it being pretty slow going having to check and double check all the rules. Found some people to play with here in Berlin, just haven�t had time to meet up with them. Also I�m already lusting after new lance boxes... Might get two to add a lance to both �teams�.

drat those look really cool!

# ? Aug 24, 2022 01:56

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

Strobe posted:

You can safely skip Hour of the Wolf. Everything of merit or value in that book is done better in IlClan.

You can also just assume that anything really obvious happened and you'll be correct.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 03:06

Strobe: Jun 30, 2014; GW BRAINWORMS CREW

If you've been reading BattleTech fiction to be surprised you must have had a miserable last 35 years.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 03:10

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

I didn't expect the 6th Lyran to get absolutely demolished in the FCCW. Or Caesar Steiner to put Free Skye in the ground. Usually there's some plot beat that they didn't telegraph.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 03:26

Fearless: Sep 3, 2003; DRINK MORE MOXIE

My mercs thus far:

I have two more left to do, but I think that is about it for this particular colour scheme and unit.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 07:56

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

Contuning the drama of Blaine Pardoe, ex-Battletech Author and confederate-symp-around-town:

quote:

ValkyrieRaptor
�
14 hr. ago
� edited 13 hr. ago
GoldSilver2

oh hey I sat through this whole thing and took notes so nobody else would have to

Disclaimer: I went into this with a strong dislike of Razor for being obnoxious, and a healthy distrust of Pardoe's motivations, but I do sit right of center so I'm not completely in opposition of the two on all subjects.

Here's the highlights:

The video opens with Pardoe sitting in front of a banner for Blue Dawn. There's a tombstone with a sad emoji on it in the lower right corner. This goes away eventually and I'm not sure whether Razor or Blaine put it there, but it's really loving funny to me either way.

Within about 6 minutes, Pardoe is calling Confederate statues - quote - "one of a kind works of art." Guess we know what that passage in Forever Faithful was about now.

Pardoe notes that at one point, he and McClosky agreed to drop their little issue entirely. Evidently Faith broke this agreement within about 48 hours, and while I'm not convinced Pardoe is completely truthful with his recollection of these events (at bare minimum there's some lies-by-omission going on here), it's important to note that there was mutual antagonism going on last year.

loving Roy Calbeck is in the comments whining about how CGL treated him. looooool

Pardoe admits CGL's actions are due to them "running a business [...] I have a very slanted perspective on that"

Razor stops to give a shout out to Arch, because of course he does.

Razor also claims he's a writer but has never written "political anything." Bullshit dude, you know drat well you write your own videos. It counts.

Pardoe jumps to talking about Blue Dawn pretty quickly, because of course he does.

In regards to McClosky's "threats," Pardoe says it's a rare instance where he may favor a red flag law. This is the exact point at which I fully turned on him, because either you oppose red flag laws on the principle of them targeting people who have not been convicted of a crime, or you don't. Someone saying "wow these suck except when I can use them against my enemies" is the exact reason one should oppose them.

Both Razor and Pardoe talk about bots skewing Renegade HPG's poll about Pardoe's release. I have to ask, how much do you think people actually care about a loving Twitter poll? Do you really think someone threw hundreds of dollars into a bot campaign to skew it, or is it far more likely that it got a huge influx of attention after Razor shared it and it immediately got flooded with votes that Twitter's system then threw out under the presumption that it was a raid (which, yeah, kinda)?

Pardoe talks about the political books he self-published, such as "The Democratic Party Playbook." This isn't problematic in and of itself, but if you really think about it, this is probably the actual reason CGL let him go, because Amazon isn't going to make much distinction between "Blaine Pardoe" and "Blaine Lee Pardoe," and getting recommendations for A Most Uncivil War or The Democratic Party Playbook after you bought Hour of the Wolf and No Substitute for Victory is 100% a thing that will happen. It's not a great look for CGL if they want to stay out of politics. (Also, CGL was apparently listed as the publisher for Blue Dawn at one point?)

Pardoe says his least favorite 'Mech is the Charger. As a Kurita player, I'm deeply insulted. Maybe he'd like it more if it was painted orange and had the Army of Tennessee Battle Flag on the back?

Pardoe accuses CGL of "firmly planting a knife in his back." Unsurprising, but it's probably worth noting that they did in fact also tell McClosky to gently caress off when she submitted another story, so it's increasingly sounding to me like they just didn't want any part of these two's drama anymore.

Pardoe says "there's a lot of people who want to bring real-world politics into gaming." Meanwhile, in Forever Faithful, p.110: "They do not understand that defacing or destroying a monument or destroying other ones does not change history. In fact, it often ends up reinforcing history. Rewriting the history books to impose a new social order rarely works in the long term."

Pardoe claims that he was the intended target of a "trap" by a fan asking if there were/are/will be trans characters in BattleTech. He responds by saying "it's interesting that they think by the 32nd century that this will still be an issue and will define characters [...] it's not central to who they are." He then claims that he can't be transphobic, because his son is gay. Maybe he's not, but he sure is loving wrong about this being a fad. Ask any trans person if it's central to who they are, whether they want it to be or not. You're not going to get a lot of "no"s.

Pardoe thumps his chest a bunch about how he refused to back down and "shut up and write" as a conservative author (my words, not his, for the record). I just want to point out the hypocrisy here, as conservatives constantly tell liberal figures to "shut up and dribble" or "shut up and sing" or "shut up and act," etc.

A viewer points out the obvious: "what happened in Blue Dawn is happening to you!" Did it, or is it being framed that way?

Pardoe takes a moment to talk about Creative Juggernaut's new IP, saying BattleTech was a "passion project" and that it never paid him a lot of money. He does this while showing off a prototype mini from said new IP. hmmmmmm

Pardoe and Razor both reiterate their calls for his supporters not to brigade or harass others. Despite everything going on in this video, I think this is legit, because they're both smart enough to know that brigading/harassing their opposition weakens their intended optics of being the victim.

Pardoe expresses his dislike of Three Points of Pride, the Ghost Bear football short story. Well, poo poo, if you really needed a reason to cancel the man before...

Razor asks Pardoe: "Inner Sphere or Clan?" Pardoe responds that he prefers the Clans, because he thinks that they're hopelessly flawed, doomed to failure, and a tragic civilization. It's like he thinks their entire reason for existence is a lost cau-...Oh. Oh no.

Pardoe ends this utterly grueling bitchfest by telling his supporters "go buy my stuff from my other publishers, is all I can say," as if that's not the motivation behind everything he's been saying since GenCon weekend.

There, I sacrificed 2.5 hours of my life to this poo poo so you wouldn't have to. Updoot me.

A sacrifice we were all willing to let him take.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 08:55

raverrn: Apr 5, 2005; Unidentified spacecraft inbound from delta line.

All Silpheed squadrons scramble now!

Comstar posted:

Pardoe expresses his dislike of Three Points of Pride, the Ghost Bear football short story. Well, poo poo, if you really needed a reason to cancel the man before...

What the gently caress

# ? Aug 24, 2022 09:45

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

I just ordered 4 Urbies from local gaming store (who for some reason didn't put them anywhere I could actually find them, but found via local fuckbook page). A lance of 0/0 pilots is BV 4880.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 11:12

hot cocoa on the couch: Dec 8, 2009

Comstar posted:

I just ordered 4 Urbies from local gaming store (who for some reason didn't put them anywhere I could actually find them, but found via local fuckbook page). A lance of 0/0 pilots is BV 4880.

lol.

i've been having thought experiments along these lines lately. cheap mech with a hella boosted stat (one or the other, whichever synergizes with their playstyle best), and see how worth the points they are. like for glass cannons, boosting gunnery to 0. a 0/5 urb is only 882 pts and can still potentially land a hit on a mech moving 24" at max range after jumping (on a 12, but still). much more reasonably, if the urb was standing still and shooting at medium range (10") at a mech that moved 9", it's an 8+ to hit. that's pretty drat reliable shooting for that cost, and it's dealing 15 damage a pop. or a valkyrie sprinting around the map shooting lrms at still hitting other sprinting mechs at max range on a 9-10+. or a hollander doing the same with it's gauss rifle, etc.

think i may try this out next game

# ? Aug 24, 2022 14:11

DrPop: Aug 22, 2004

Fearless posted:

My mercs thus far:

I have two more left to do, but I think that is about it for this particular colour scheme and unit.

Well done, dig the scheme. Nice work!

# ? Aug 24, 2022 14:13

Rorahusky: Nov 12, 2012; Transform and waaauuuugh out!

Comstar posted:

I just ordered 4 Urbies from local gaming store (who for some reason didn't put them anywhere I could actually find them, but found via local fuckbook page). A lance of 0/0 pilots is BV 4880.

The most elite Urbanmech pilots in the Inner Sphere, with thousands of hours of experience twerking their 'Mechs in the direction of the enemy, drawing dicks on the faces of Atlases with their smol lazor, and proudly waving the flag of R2FU

# ? Aug 24, 2022 14:16

Crazy Joe Wilson: Jul 4, 2007; Justifiably Mad!

Fearless posted:

My mercs thus far:

I have two more left to do, but I think that is about it for this particular colour scheme and unit.

Dang, what's your strategy for doing such crisp white?

Comstar posted:

A sacrifice we were all willing to let him take.

I've said it before and say it again, BLP got the destroying cultural icons of a defeated people right for the wrong reason. History is full of examples of conquering nations trying to assert their rule by destroying any symbol of the previous administration, which can backfire (See Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and how Russia and Prussia treated them). But that doesn't match up with statues of traitors set up by a defeated people to say f*ck you* to the victors and flaunt racial discrimination, the circumstance he was thinking about.

In-Universe, the Neu Star League tearing down all Jaguar statues and art is probably going to backfire, because the defeated Jaguars had no reason to buy in to the new system.

raverrn posted:

What the gently caress

As a Nova Cat fan, I dislike all Ghost Bears stories on principle :smug:

# ? Aug 24, 2022 14:32

Marx Headroom: May 10, 2007; AT LAST! A show with nonono ~~commercials~~!; Fallen Rib

I really could not care less about BLP and I wish people would quit trying to import that dumb drama in here tia

# ? Aug 24, 2022 16:11

PhotoKirk: Jul 2, 2007; insert witty text here

Fearless posted:

My mercs thus far:

I have two more left to do, but I think that is about it for this particular colour scheme and unit.

Those stripes are so clean...

# ? Aug 24, 2022 16:32

a cyborg mug: Mar 8, 2010

Fearless posted:

My mercs thus far:

I have two more left to do, but I think that is about it for this particular colour scheme and unit.

That is nice as hell, gently caress

# ? Aug 24, 2022 16:58

Fearless: Sep 3, 2003; DRINK MORE MOXIE

Crazy Joe Wilson posted:

Dang, what's your strategy for doing such crisp white?

The recipe is this: white basecoat, then a wash of 25/25/50 black wash, blue wash and Army Painter quickshade medium (though any wash medium will work and water will too in a pinch with just the tiniest hint of dish soap) before finishing off with several white dry brush coats over top of that. The idea is to come up with a colour that looks a bit worn and weather stained, and that contrasts with the hazard stripes and oil stains/grime/mung that is added with carefully applied black and brown washes as streaks and in spaces where such filth would accumulate. And periodically, you pick out an armour panel and paint it start white to suggest a recently replaced plate amidst everything else being so worn.

I am currently using a mix of Vallejo Game Colour paints and Army Painter paints and washes (the latter because they were really cheap) but the recipe will also work with GW equivalents as well if you are using Citadel Colour, in fact I first painted this with Citadel washes:

PhotoKirk posted:

Those stripes are so clean...

a cyborg mug posted:

That is nice as hell, gently caress

Thank you both for your kind words!

Fearless fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Aug 24, 2022

# ? Aug 24, 2022 17:14

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

Marx Headroom posted:

I really could not care less about BLP and I wish people would quit trying to import that dumb drama in here tia

Yep, as far as I'm concerned he's not relevant anymore, and cgl will make some kind of boilerplate statement when he dies.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 18:57

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

hot cocoa on the couch posted:

i've been having thought experiments along these lines lately. cheap mech with a hella boosted stat (one or the other, whichever synergizes with their playstyle best), and see how worth the points they are

Alpha Strike.

Lance of base Panthers (19 pv) with Marksman (+1 pv/each) and Sniper (+2 pv/each). No super-boosting necessary (although if you've got PV left over boosting their skill will only make this better). That's 88 points for a lance that no assault 'Mech can ever voluntarily approach (and skill increases make it a lance nothing can safely approach). It's a huge bargain for an incredibly toxic lance that I don't recommend anyone actually run.

Comparatively, a Dire Wolf Prime has a PV of 56, and the highest PV unit in Alpha Strike (the Turkina Z) has a PV of 86.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 19:13

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

I simply push the Turkina off the map and keep going.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 19:38

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

It's just mostly picking up a lance of assault 'Mech killers for significantly less than a lance of assault 'Mechs that makes me wonder:
A) Is that the real reason the Panther is so common?
and
B) Is that the reason House Davion has so few assault 'Mechs?

# ? Aug 24, 2022 20:19

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

I'd say that the answers to A and B are basically the same for both governments. [Panthers/Valkyries] are so common because they are a mass produced pocket medium. House [Davion/Kurita] has few assault mechs because their economy is poorly managed, causing them to have to rely on a mass-produced pocket medium to fill their ranks.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 20:37

Strobe: Jun 30, 2014; GW BRAINWORMS CREW

SPAs in Alpha Strike do not have a PV, the "points" used for SPAs are completely unrelated and I desperately wish they would get renamed.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 20:42

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

I always just assumed they were additive.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 20:43

Strobe: Jun 30, 2014; GW BRAINWORMS CREW

They're unrelated, for exactly the same reasons as they're the example in your post (using it like that is insanely busted). The SPA section has a couple paragraphs that use those points numbers to describe how much SPA a given pilot might reasonably have to prevent a single random regular pilot from loading up on a dozen SPAs. I'm pulling the numbers out of my bad memory right now, but I think "Regular" is 2 or 3. The only (and I do mean only) balance consideration afforded for SPAs is the suggestion (and it is only a suggestion) that you only have 1 in 4 units have SPAs.

It's probably the part of Alpha Strike that I like the least because it's the goddamn Wild West and there are no rules.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 20:49

Floppychop: Mar 30, 2012

Decided to take a "family picture" of the mechs I've finished since I got into the game a couple months ago.

I might mix it up and do something different eventually, but thanks to oil washes this white scheme is crazy easy.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 21:02

Fearless: Sep 3, 2003; DRINK MORE MOXIE

Defiance Industries posted:

I'd say that the answers to A and B are basically the same for both governments. [Panthers/Valkyries] are so common because they are a mass produced pocket medium. House [Davion/Kurita] has few assault mechs because their economy is poorly managed, causing them to have to rely on a mass-produced pocket medium to fill their ranks.

I think the "pocket medium" descriptor is particularly apt. In a Panther you get a mech that fills the same role as a Griffin but 20 tons lighter and with greater speed and smaller size to compensate for the lack of armour-- a mech that can provide a phenomenal return on a light investment, assuming you have the skills to run it properly and given that the DCMS consistently places great emphasis on individual skill it suits them very well.

Davion's relative lack of assault mechs is more due the extremely spread out nature of the Federated Suns, its relatively less productive industrial base and to the combined arms focus of their entire military, of which battlemechs are one part. If you have a professional officer and NCO corps, effective and clear communications and can fully utilize aerospace, mech, armour, infantry, artillery and (later) naval assets, you do not need to rely on concentrations of assault mechs to generate force. House Steiner, with its proliferation of social generals, is rather the opposite. Plus, if you spend most of your time fighting the DCMS, something very large and slow might be more of a liability than an asset regardless of how well armed and armoured it is.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 21:02

Marx Headroom: May 10, 2007; AT LAST! A show with nonono ~~commercials~~!; Fallen Rib

Floppychop posted:

Decided to take a "family picture" of the mechs I've finished since I got into the game a couple months ago.

I might mix it up and do something different eventually, but thanks to oil washes this white scheme is crazy easy.

Yeah you did a great job with the panel lining here, and smart choices on the trim. The Timber Wolf and Exterminator especially stand out.

I always appreciate a good Exterminator paint job bc those rollerblading pads look goofy as hell but some people can actually pull it off

# ? Aug 24, 2022 21:18

Sidesaddle Cavalry: Mar 15, 2013; Oh Boy Desert Map

Which Panther variants are faster than Griffins? I only see a few fancy low-volume variants that go 5/8

# ? Aug 24, 2022 21:22

Finster Dexter: Oct 20, 2014; Beyond is Finster's mad vision of Earth transformed.

Fearless posted:

I think the "pocket medium" descriptor is particularly apt. In a Panther you get a mech that fills the same role as a Griffin but 20 tons lighter and with greater speed and smaller size to compensate for the lack of armour--

Panther is slower than a Griffin. They're still good value, though.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 21:29

Fearless: Sep 3, 2003; DRINK MORE MOXIE

Sidesaddle Cavalry posted:

Which Panther variants are faster than Griffins? I only see a few fancy low-volume variants that go 5/8

None, I'm wrong.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 22:47

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

Fearless posted:

None, I'm wrong.

If you count the Wight as a Panther variant ( :v:

), the WGT-1LAW/SC is pretty comparable to its contemporary, the GRF-6S. It just loses out on a point of overheat value and the jump jets.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 22:56

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

Making a Panther go fast is like... you missed the point of a Panther. If you want to go fast you use a Jenner.

# ? Aug 24, 2022 23:37

Crooow!: Dec 7, 2005; Abortions for some, tiny American flags for others!

There is also the Panther PNT-9ALAG that dropps the jump jets for a larger engine making it 5/8

# ? Aug 25, 2022 10:36

General Battuta: Feb 7, 2011; This is how you communicate with a fellow intelligence: you hurt it, you keep on hurting it, until you can distinguish the posts from the screams.

I�m rereading Blood of Kerensky and it�s okay. I like how many different hypotheses people come up with for the Clans. I wonder if Focht was just bulls hitting when he suggested they were The Things.

# ? Aug 25, 2022 18:31

GD_American: Jul 21, 2004; LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY AS IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!

I wish they had gone further down that path before the reveal, like even pushed it back to the second novel.

The whole superpowered invaders thing was such a fertile story ground for the first month if the invasion there.

# ? Aug 25, 2022 18:38

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

Focht managed to be 1:1 correct about Clan culture, he just didn't think humans would be stupid enough to form a society like that.

PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Aug 25, 2022

# ? Aug 25, 2022 19:11

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

GD_American posted:

I wish they had gone further down that path before the reveal, like even pushed it back to the second novel.

The whole superpowered invaders thing was such a fertile story ground for the first month if the invasion there.

Ehhhh, I think the reveal needed to get out of the way pretty quickly. They laid the foreshadowing on too thick with Wolf's Dragoons. Once you meet Ulric it's pretty easy to connect the dots.

# ? Aug 25, 2022 23:32

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 20:28

Crazy Joe Wilson: Jul 4, 2007; Justifiably Mad!

PoptartsNinja posted:

Focht managed to be 1:1 correct about Clan culture, he just didn't think humans would be stupid enough to form a society like that.

The one thing I like about The Clans sourcebook is when it talks about Clan culture there's a lot of points about how a lot of the regulations aren't enforced nearly as much they pretend to. For instance in the civilian castes while marriages are arranged, often times scientists arrange them after civilians have already gotten together. Apparently, religion is actually fairly common in the civilians as well, with most technicians and merchants being Buddhist. The warriors are such a tiny speck of Clan population (Could be just FASA economics though), that the vast majority of Clans people will almost never see one. Also, falling in love and romance is not unheard of among warriors, though it is considered strange by most of them.

It's stuff like that that's interesting instead of "ANOTHER CLAN NOVEL ABOUT HONORABLE WARRIORS SEYLAH" that I wish Catalyst would give more attention to. Show more of the non-warrior side of things in the BattleTech universe. Same for Inner Sphere Houses.

Crazy Joe Wilson fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Aug 26, 2022

# ? Aug 26, 2022 00:18

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Battletech: Clan Wolf is "Licensed to il"

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