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I attempted to fix the Shadow Hawk’s poo poo rear end LRM launcher, here’s the end product Also did a short video on the procedure on YouTube https://youtu.be/7tJL1sozrA0 Modelling and painting kinda feel more fun than I think it ever did as a kid. Not sure if that’s actually the case but I’m finding a level of relaxation in painting that I rarely find nowadays with other hobbies/pastimes.
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Nov 4, 2022 06:43
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I find painting and posing models to be very relaxing as well. I think it helps that I quit worrying about them being as good as other ones I saw people making, and instead focused on just trying to have a good time.
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Nov 4, 2022 08:29
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Defiance Industries posted:I find painting and posing models to be very relaxing as well. I think it helps that I quit worrying about them being as good as other ones I saw people making, and instead focused on just trying to have a good time. I take a Bob Ross sort of approach, generally. Life's hard enough as it is, be kind and forgive yourself your happy accidents when you're working on a project.
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Nov 4, 2022 09:31
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a cyborg mug posted:Modelling and painting kinda feel more fun than I think it ever did as a kid. Not sure if that’s actually the case but I’m finding a level of relaxation in painting that I rarely find nowadays with other hobbies/pastimes. I enjoy modeling, and I enjoy detail painting (like highlights, or freehand and lenses), but for whatever reason base coating is universally a hell experience that makes my brain go "quit painting for good, this sucks rear end and won't get better" on every single model regardless of base or scheme. Honestly surprised that I got that lance finished as quickly as I did instead of getting put off too hard to finish, like a lot of my Warhammer stuff. No idea why my brain is like this. (Though I'm definitely worse at painting than I was when I was younger, despite having more experience than before, which doesn't help things...) Glad it's a very positive experience for others, though. I'll figure it out eventually.
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Nov 4, 2022 14:09
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Strobe posted:The definition of "zombie" is pretty fluid, apparently. I've only ever heard it used for standard engine mechs with all energy weapons. Off the top of my head I can only think of a couple that fit the bill in the Recognition Guides and neither of them have really been talked about in here yet. (A couple Regent configs, Inferno R, Black Knight 18) Stuff like Ferro-Lamellor and Reinforced Structure with Case II make zombies that i'd probably say are even tougher than the old definition. I don't think there's a mech yet that combines Lamellor and Reinforced with all energy yet, but in an assault package I imagine it'd be drat rough to put down. Together they weigh so much you'd really only see it on a 3/5 though if you want space for weapons. Getting behind them would probably be the best way. Sharkopath fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Nov 4, 2022 |
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Nov 4, 2022 14:15
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Defiance Industries posted:I find painting and posing models to be very relaxing as well. I think it helps that I quit worrying about them being as good as other ones I saw people making, and instead focused on just trying to have a good time. Agreed, it’s really therapeutic for me. I’ve painted everything from huge armies before (a whole infantry company worth of Imperial Guard, to start), all the way down to fighter squadrons for Star Wars: Armada (each one is like half the size of a fingernail), and they’re all a delight in their own way*. Painting is still something I turn to whenever I’m feeling stressed. *aside from the VCX-100 Ghost, for Armada. That thing can go gently caress itself thoroughly.
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Nov 4, 2022 14:24
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Carbolic posted:Has Battletech had any LGBT viewpoint characters yet? Some of the early stuff had some I guess-not-too-surprising-for-the-'80s homophobia but how far has the setting actually progressed in this regard? Katana Tormark is gay or bi iirc (her books did not sound very good though and she gets owned pretty hard). I think there’s a bit in one of the Stackpole novels where someone considers framing Hanse for having a male lover and decides nobody would really care? Interestingly the line that produced Stefan Amaris started with a married woman having an affair with Heather Durant, first consul of the Rim Worlds Republic. Durant left her title and authority to this woman (Terens Amaris). It’s not clear if this is meant to be read as a decadent corruption of Durant or a genuine act of love - and either way it does eventually lead to the Amaris dynasty, which is not exactly positive representation. Surprisingly, it’s from the Periphery sourcebook back in 1988. Which has an incredible cover! Please post the cover someone
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Nov 4, 2022 14:43
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PoptartsNinja posted:Hanse Davion and Ardan Sortek. What sources are you basing that on?
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Nov 4, 2022 15:01
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SkyeAuroline posted:I enjoy modeling, and I enjoy detail painting (like highlights, or freehand and lenses), but for whatever reason base coating is universally a hell experience that makes my brain go "quit painting for good, this sucks rear end and won't get better" on every single model regardless of base or scheme. Honestly surprised that I got that lance finished as quickly as I did instead of getting put off too hard to finish, like a lot of my Warhammer stuff. No idea why my brain is like this. (Though I'm definitely worse at painting than I was when I was younger, despite having more experience than before, which doesn't help things...) Use an airbrush or a rattlecan of your color and get basecoating done very quickly. In general I don't enjoy painting at all, but I like the end result as I hate playing games with bare plastic.
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Nov 4, 2022 15:36
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Floppychop posted:Use an airbrush or a rattlecan of your color and get basecoating done very quickly. I'm the opposite, more a painter than a gamer, so I'll be happy even if I never get to plonk down my mechs on a table. Though my Dad just retired and he got the oooold box, so I think he'd enjoy finally getting a few games in 30 something years later.
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Nov 4, 2022 16:54
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If I want to get into the novels, are any of the following trilogies absolutely horrible and with skipping? Grey Death Legion Warrior Trilogy Kerensky Trilogy Seems like those three are the good standard foundational works as far as Battletech fiction goes
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Nov 4, 2022 21:25
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Nov 4, 2022 21:36
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Count Thrashula posted:If I want to get into the novels, are any of the following trilogies absolutely horrible and with skipping? Do you like Stackpole's other work? You're going to have to put up with a lot of him and his boring rear end prose.
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Nov 4, 2022 21:38
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Decision at Thunder Rift IMO is really good at least. I found it interesting for the following reasons: -It was written before a bunch of BattleTech lore and technology was made up so it makes up a bunch of its own stuff and runs with it, but not in a bad way -It's a small-scale story that is about the life and death of a small time unit, not whole nations or alliances, which not all subsequent authors managed to restrain themselves to -It has actually sci-fi content, taking a world with weird climate and seasons and imagining what a divergent human society that has adapted to that would look like -None of the descriptions or prose stuck out as bad, awkward, or overly repetitive or derivative unlike some authors who love to remind us that PPCs are like man-made lightning that cause flowing rivulets of molten armor
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Nov 4, 2022 21:43
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Carbolic posted:What sources are you basing that on? Subtext, in both The Sword and The Dagger and from later writing by Stackpole during the Clan invasion. It probably never will be the official canon relationship, but it's about the same level of 'inferable' as James Buchanan or any other real historic figure. Hanse and Ardan were lifelong companions, to the point that Ardan immediately retired and almost entirely removed himself from the public eye when Hanse died. The two of them knew one another so well that Arden was able to spot the fake Hanse Davion when no one else could. Thanks to Stackpole we also know that Hanse Davion had a severe case of Imposter Syndrome (  ). He didn't consider himself a fit ruler for the Federated Suns and viewed himself a caretaker who was duty-bound to leave the Suns in as strong a position for its next "true" heir as he possibly could. He was 45 when he married the 18 year old Melissa Steiner and their children were an extension of his duty to create heirs (and spares) to two nations since no one was sure if the Federated Commonwealth was actually going to last.If Ian Davion had lived, Hanse likely would have never married. He was prepared to live and die a bachelor to avoid becoming a tool that would stand in the way of official succession. For more solid (if not necessarily specific or positive) in-universe representations: - Anything goes in the Magistracy of Canopus as long as the parties involved are consenting adults. - It's explicitly stated that the Draconis Combine doesn't have any homosexuality stigmas or taboos, there are gay bars on both Hachiman and Luthien, and at least among their Samurai-class male/male relationships tend to be an idealized norm. - - I wish this was a more positive portrayal than it actually is but it's primarily because the Draconis Combine as a whole treats women as second-class citizens. I'd say the real positive portrayal is that it's never held up by any of the Draconis Combine's neighbors as a reason to hate and fear them (the hatred is directed at the atrocity-committing samurai not the atrocity-committing gay samurai). The only person in fiction who reacts negatively to perceived homosexuality from a member of the DCMS was an explicitly creepy weirdo (and rapist abuser) who betrayed his planet to the Combine so he could play out his fascist dictator power fantasies. He got summarily murdered by Cassie Suthorn. - The Clans do not give a poo poo who sleeps with whom. All of the on-screen relationships have been Cis (including all of Joanna's) but Phelan and Rana's exclusive relationship is explicitly weird by Clan standards. Cyrilla Ward was very close friends with Natasha Kerensky, to the point where they had promised to mutually - - In practice, in the fiction, it's nearly always the person with the lower ranking approaching someone of a higher rank and making the offer to someone who they admire. There's no shame in Clan society for being turned down by someone of a higher rank but there is shame in being rejected by someone you outrank. Since someone mentioned Joanna: Joanna is the weirdest of the weird outliers. In the first Jade Phoenix novel, she got assigned to a Solamha sibko training detail in her very early 20s (22 at the latest if she was 28 during the battle on Glory) which is a huge embarrassment for a line warrior. That just doesn't happen unless you're a colossal gently caress-up. In Joanna's case, it would be pretty easy to extrapolate that the flaw that got her put on Sibko duty in the first place was an untreated sexual addiction coupled with her willingness to outright murder anyone and everyone over the most minor of perceived slights. She spends most of the hunt for Aidan hooking up with a random Mechwarrior from Clan Wolf and not actually doing her job, the shirking being probably as close to the Warrior caste has to an actual crime. Then her personality also does a complete 180 for the second book and onward. Legend of the Jade Phoenix is such a weird trilogy. Count Thrashula posted:If I want to get into the novels, are any of the following trilogies absolutely horrible and with skipping? I personally recommend Wolves on the Border instead of the Warrior Trilogy, but if you're not adverse to Stackpole and/or feel up for reading both I'd sneak Wolves on the Border in either right before or right after the 3rd book of the Warrior Trilogy.
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Nov 4, 2022 22:26
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I think they later chose to have Hanse being unmarried despite the tenuous political situation he was in be explained by Dana Stephenson agreeing to marry him and then immediately dying in combat. I think there are some hints in older material to some relationship he had when he was young, but I can't find any elaborations on that until they started publishing Battlecorps fiction. Retcons aside, you do have to consider another factor in Sortek's disappearance from the public eye: Victor taking the throne and firing him from the post of Prince's Champion so that Galen Cox could have the job. That would have been a loving tough pill to swallow. "Hey, I know you're still having a hard time with my dad's death, but I need to replace you with my totally unqualified college buddy. L8s!"
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Nov 4, 2022 23:00
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I really like the idea of total warfare with all the different unit types, how does that play hexless? I like the idea of open boards and terrain and also the more complex rules (ie not alpha strike)
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Nov 4, 2022 23:25
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Count Thrashula posted:I really like the idea of total warfare with all the different unit types, how does that play hexless? I like the idea of open boards and terrain and also the more complex rules (ie not alpha strike) check out death from above wargaming. they have a great handle on it. my group only plays hexless, and i'm making terrain to suit. we play 1 hex = 1", and keep the concept of "levels" in where 1" rise = 1 level up. it actually converts pretty painlessly, there haven't really been any issues
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Nov 4, 2022 23:56
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Count Thrashula posted:I really like the idea of total warfare with all the different unit types, how does that play hexless? I like the idea of open boards and terrain and also the more complex rules (ie not alpha strike) The same, except that you replace 1 hex with 2 inches. So your 5/8/5 Griffin now moves 10/16/10 inches and instead of needing to move 3 hexes to get a +1 mod, you need to move 6 inches. The one thing that might trip you up is that turning costs 2 mp per facing instead of one. LoS rules are massively simplified, if you can see half of a miniature (sighted from the middle of your mini) you have LoS.
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Nov 5, 2022 00:13
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Defiance Industries posted:The same, except that you replace 1 hex with 2 inches. So your 5/8/5 Griffin now moves 10/16/10 inches and instead of needing to move 3 hexes to get a +1 mod, you need to move 6 inches. The one thing that might trip you up is that turning costs 2 mp per facing instead of one. This reminds me of a Living Legends player who also played some other non-BT multiplayer mech game where you could design your own chassis. He made a spider legged base with a fifty foot tall tower that had a camera and a gun on top. I don’t think it was very effective but it was super annoying. I wonder if that would count as LOS to the mini.
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Nov 5, 2022 00:17
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I just read Redemption Rites (which is pretty good, by the way) and the main character, Haya Tetsuhara, is pretty heavily implied to be a lesbian, along with the earlier mentioned Extremely Gay Star Captain Thabo.
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Nov 5, 2022 01:19
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One of the Lyran Regulars regiments has a company commander who is married to her commanding office, who is also a woman. This caused a major scandal because, while it's not completely illegal due to them not being a direct superior and subordinate, it still makes for an awkward and unpleasant work environment for the officers between the two of them. And that's why I never dated anyone in Mass Effect, I don't create hostile work environments.
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Nov 5, 2022 01:25
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General Battuta posted:I wonder if that would count as LOS to the mini. There are extremely few situations in BattleTech where you can shoot someone but they can't shoot back.
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Nov 5, 2022 02:15
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PoptartsNinja posted:There are extremely few situations in BattleTech where you can shoot someone but they can't shoot back. yeah my group is flirting with a house rule that would allow this and it's very hard to fairly implement... can see why they made the design decision they did
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Nov 5, 2022 02:32
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Meh. https://twitter.com/MikeStackpole/status/1588992963040145409
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Nov 6, 2022 01:10
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Almost 50 people playing at this AS tournament in Winston Salem! I’m 2-2 so far, 2 close wins, 1 close defeat, and 1 blowout against me 
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Nov 6, 2022 01:27
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That's a pretty good turnout, how many layers deep is the bracket?
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Nov 6, 2022 01:31
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Defiance Industries posted:That's a pretty good turnout, how many layers deep is the bracket? No idea. 6 games total for everyone, though! Not sure what the scoring scheme is, I’m mostly just there for stompy-robit violence.
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Nov 6, 2022 02:15
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Icon Of Sin posted:Almost 50 people playing at this AS tournament in Winston Salem! I’m 2-2 so far, 2 close wins, 1 close defeat, and 1 blowout against me Whoa, where in WS? I didn't even know there was a decent game shop there these days
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Nov 6, 2022 02:34
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Count Thrashula posted:Whoa, where in WS? I didn't even know there was a decent game shop there these days So, the guy running it has a “shop” in that he has an ungodly amount of battletech stuff on retail racks in his garage, and a bunch of collectible stuff floating around as well. It’s called Fortress Games and Minis. Idk what strings he pulled to have us playing in the gym at a local school, but he pulled it off and has enough terrain to have over 25 playable tables, sponsors/prize support, swag bags, and some serious draw. I played people from western NC, Atlanta, and Florida today. I think the turnout is nearly doubled from what it was last year too, so here’s to hoping next year sees another increase.
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Nov 6, 2022 02:52
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Pretty sure I have ordered stuff from him, I think that's one of the big online Battletech stores along with Aries.
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Nov 6, 2022 06:13
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Icon Of Sin posted:So, the guy running it has a “shop” in that he has an ungodly amount of battletech stuff on retail racks in his garage, and a bunch of collectible stuff floating around as well. It’s called Fortress Games and Minis. Idk what strings he pulled to have us playing in the gym at a local school, but he pulled it off and has enough terrain to have over 25 playable tables, sponsors/prize support, swag bags, and some serious draw. I played people from western NC, Atlanta, and Florida today. If I'm not mistaken that guy is the go-to for finding hard-to-get BattleTech stuff. I know a guy who recently sold all his DTF BattleTechs books, all the way dating back to 1985 to him.
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Nov 6, 2022 15:09
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FishFood posted:Pretty sure I have ordered stuff from him, I think that's one of the big online Battletech stores along with Aries. Yeah, I just ordered from him last week. Looks like this weekend's intro game fell through, next week is a paid tournament so it's definitely not happening then either. Ah well.
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Nov 6, 2022 15:33
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I picked up the AGOAC box and was pleasantly surprised to find it comes with a $20 coupon for the online store. What would be the best next purchase to use that on? Battlemech handbook? Succession wars tech book? More mechs? Maps?
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Nov 6, 2022 22:06
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If you like playing on hex maps, the new map packs are really nice. Otherwise, I'd say get a 'mech box that has at least one of your favorite 'Mechs in it.
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Nov 6, 2022 22:13
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Just demoed the game for my buddy and I think it may have been the best game demo ever? We were doing a 2v2 against my regular opponent, I gave my friend a Wolverine, I'm in a Battlemaster, and my more experienced buddy has a Wolverine and a Marauder. Well, my new friend managed to get a through-armor critical with his SRM-6 against the Marauder, exploding its ammo. CASE kept it standing, but a couple of turns later another of his SRMs hit the head, forcing the pilot to test for consciousness, which he failed and passed out, landing directly on his cockpit killing him stone dead. Just a hilarious series of events and I think we sold my friend on the game.
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Nov 7, 2022 00:02
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Count Thrashula posted:I picked up the AGOAC box and was pleasantly surprised to find it comes with a $20 coupon for the online store. What would be the best next purchase to use that on? Battlemech handbook? Succession wars tech book? More mechs? Maps? Doesn't that box come with a coupon to both Catalyst and Iron Wind Metals? I don't know if the other stores do it, but if you buy the rulebooks direct from Catalyst, they come with digital + physical copies of the books, and give you instant access to the digital, so I went with that with mine.
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Nov 7, 2022 02:32
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Count Thrashula posted:I picked up the AGOAC box and was pleasantly surprised to find it comes with a $20 coupon for the online store. What would be the best next purchase to use that on? Battlemech handbook? Succession wars tech book? More mechs? Maps? TRO Succession Wars is a pretty bad product. If you're going to get something in that vein, get TRO:3039, which is a significantly more complete book.
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Nov 7, 2022 02:37
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I do wish they would just reprint the original TROs with the new art. I don't think TRO Succession Wars is too bad, but it is missing most of the Unseen mechs so it feels pretty incomplete. They show up in TRO Clan Invasion, but with writeups for the updated versions instead of the originals.
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Nov 7, 2022 03:16
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FishFood posted:Just demoed the game for my buddy and I think it may have been the best game demo ever? We were doing a 2v2 against my regular opponent, I gave my friend a Wolverine, I'm in a Battlemaster, and my more experienced buddy has a Wolverine and a Marauder. Well, my new friend managed to get a through-armor critical with his SRM-6 against the Marauder, exploding its ammo. CASE kept it standing, but a couple of turns later another of his SRMs hit the head, forcing the pilot to test for consciousness, which he failed and passed out, landing directly on his cockpit killing him stone dead. Just a hilarious series of events and I think we sold my friend on the game. Hell yeah I did two demo games for some friends and family last week and everyone liked it. My cousin (old wargamer) figured he’d get some mechs himself, so I’d consider that a success. I thought a lot about it - what’s actually the best way to go about demoing BT to new players? You want to emphasize the fun and cool sides (in my opinion: BT’s most interesting gameplay mechanics in initiative/movement/positioning, mechs getting punched in the face and poo poo exploding) and minimize the less interesting parts (games taking a very long time especially when learning the game, missing shots, ammo management…). I ended up fielding Vindicator & Jenner vs Shadow Hawk & Wolverine controlled by the newbies. It went exactly how I’d hoped both times (Vindicator and Jenner gave the newbies a good fight but the more balanced and durable team ended up grabbing victory in spectacular, violent fashion). I intend to do a video/talk on YouTube about the subject in the near-ish future. There really isn’t much on it yet. a cyborg mug fucked around with this message at 10:06 on Nov 7, 2022 |
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Nov 7, 2022 09:47
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