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The Mad Dog Mk. III is unambiguously the Mechwarrior 4 Vulture.   It is its own thing now, and I appreciate what they've done with it, but there is no Mad Dog Mk II because it would be visually identical to the Mad Dog Mk III. In this case, the "New 'Mech or just a model variant with a new name" is the Mk II to Mk III, which I didn't explain very well. It's 2:00 AM and I have insomnia, I should be sleeping.
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May 17, 2023 08:49
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Owlbear Camus posted:What's the most iconic Amaris/RWR 'mech (outside of idiotic wunderwaffen that never worked or got deployed as one or two off prototypes as a last ditch to hold terra)? I was bored at work and tried to theory craft an Amaris Civil War box set the other day. I haven't decided what should be on the SLDF side other than Kerensky's Orion and maybe a Sling light mech. On the RWR side however there's a clear set of distinct Amaris aligned mechs: Jackrabbit Galahad Pheonix Dragoon Rampage and the mandatory Rifleman III
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May 17, 2023 10:43
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PoptartsNinja posted:Grand Dragon's in a weird spot because it's at least a partial redesign even if the armor layout's nearly identical. It's got Extended Torso Twist when the original Dragon doesn't, so it's more than just a variant. But it shares the same model line, and existing Dragons can apparently be upgraded into Grand Dragons sooo Grand Dragon is the 737Max to the 737 - we want something new but we don't want a new type certificate.
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May 17, 2023 15:27
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The thread's mostly touched on it already but the real IRL reason is "we want to sell more TROs and canonize more things from other sources using the license" and so Random Factory Line suddenly pops out a new 'Mech chassis
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May 17, 2023 15:42
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PoptartsNinja posted:Grand Dragon's in a weird spot because it's at least a partial redesign even if the armor layout's nearly identical. It's got Extended Torso Twist when the original Dragon doesn't, so it's more than just a variant. But it shares the same model line, and existing Dragons can apparently be upgraded into Grand Dragons sooo
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May 17, 2023 15:46
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SirFozzie posted:I would go Grey Death Trilogy, then the Warrior series, and then the Clan Invasion series (Blood of Keresky) Started the Grey Death series last night, basically I've only played the first half of the HBS game and the SNES game as a kid. I am very surprised that Grey Death's story starts out with betrayal and sabotage hopefully this is the only title to deal with betrayal and sabotage Have a feeling Battletech's 'whole thing' is betrayal and sabotage
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May 17, 2023 17:14
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Grevlek posted:Started the Grey Death series last night, basically I've only played the first half of the HBS game and the SNES game as a kid. Partly but there's also political intrigue as well as cleverness on the battlefield to turn a hopeless situation around.
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May 17, 2023 17:30
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Yeah once you get into the fiction enough there's basically three or four stories that get told. The thing is they're good stories, so if someone tells one well then that's a real good time.
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May 17, 2023 20:06
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Is the word of Blake supposed to field units that are like 90% tanks or have I messed up my against the bot settings in mekhq. Every mission is like 10k bv of tank
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May 18, 2023 22:51
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The Word of Blake loved combined arms forces like ComStar did, but the bot really loves tanks. Moreso at low BVs. Hopefully you're not just getting dunked on by fighters dropping thermobarics when you hit 15k BV.
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May 18, 2023 22:57
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Arquinsiel posted:The Word of Blake loved combined arms forces like ComStar did, but the bot really loves tanks. Moreso at low BVs. Hopefully you're not just getting dunked on by fighters dropping thermobarics when you hit 15k BV. Must be that then, I was worried I'd messed up the balances. Aerospace got turned off precisely because I don't want to deal with that. Even vtols are annoying as heck. I want big stompy robots and little shuffley robots shooting them in the back.
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May 18, 2023 23:04
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Whats better? Nightstar-9FC or King Crab-010 ? Playing around with some lists, and at 6k, I can bring a Nightstar + Awesome, but if I fit in the King Crab, I have to replace the Awesome with a regular ol' Marauder. The overheat-y version.
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May 18, 2023 23:38
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ilmucche posted:Must be that then, I was worried I'd messed up the balances. Aerospace got turned off precisely because I don't want to deal with that. Even vtols are annoying as heck. In Campaign Options > Against The Bot Tab I set the Mek/Mixed/Vehicle ratios to 3/1/1 and I get mostly mech fights with some vehicle support.
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May 19, 2023 01:37
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Is the WSP-1S clan invasion or succession war? The master unit list shows it as a clan invasion era mech but the mech sheet lists succession war 
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May 19, 2023 01:53
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It was invented in 3049 and has Star League tech on it so if you bring it to a game where they say they're using Succession Wars tech, you'd be a dick even if according to CGL's current definition of eras you're still barely within the lines. I think their strict use of years to define that really misses the point of what most players use them to communicate.
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May 19, 2023 02:04
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Defiance Industries posted:It was invented in 3049 and has Star League tech on it so if you bring it to a game where they say they're using Succession Wars tech, you'd be a dick even if according to CGL's current definition of eras you're still barely within the lines. I think their strict use of years to define that really misses the point of what most players use them to communicate. this weekend is only going to be our fourth full game and have just been going off of the symbols on the pages. how would I know that something is star league tech?
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May 19, 2023 02:33
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Len posted:this weekend is only going to be our fourth full game and have just been going off of the symbols on the pages. how would I know that something is star league tech? if it's not in the agoac basic 3025 rules that's a good indication it's not in the spirit of what someone means by succession war tech level avoid stuff with pulse lasers, uac/lbx, case, ER energy weapons, gauss, xl engines, etc etc.
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May 19, 2023 02:53
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Owlbear Camus posted:if it's not in the agoac basic 3025 rules that's a good indication it's not in the spirit of what someone means by succession war tech level We have both picked up the Total Warfare book and look at it for rules questions more than AGOAC if that makes any difference. but i'll keep that in mind building a list for this weekend
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May 19, 2023 02:58
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There are (at least) two different ways people refer to "Succession Wars" games. 1) Things that have availability during the Succession Wars era on the MUL. This is distant second in terms of common discussion but is definitely a way you can do it. 2) Having an Introductory tech level, which means it only has equipment on it that is from the intro box rules. This is significantly more likely to be what anyone in particular is referring to. This is then complicated by a lot of people calling this "3025" even though it can reasonably extend for decades in either direction.
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May 19, 2023 03:04
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The "Rules Level" can give you that information: "Introductory" is going to be Succession Wars or Age of War/Early Star League level technology, while "Standard" will be Star League level stuff with XL engines and pulse lasers and such. Once you get to the late Clan Invasion, "Standard" starts to include some of the new technology developed independently, but before then it's mostly recovered Star League tech.
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May 19, 2023 03:09
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Look at the Rules Level on the sheet. Rules Level: Introductory means it has only things in a Game of Armored Combat. This is what you look for for Succession Wars gameplay in normal pickup games. Rules Level: Standard means it's covered by Ttotal Warfare/BattleMech Manual, which includes all normal Clan and all Star League things. Rules Level: Advanced and Rules Level: Experimental mean it has stuff found in Tactical Operations: Advanced Units & Equipment or the older printing just called Tactical Operations. The BattleMech Manual contains some equipment in this category as well. The difference between these two things is kind of arbitrary in a lot of cases but sometimes means "this tech is normal and common but has more complex rules" like artillery and minelaying and field guns, versus "this is weird poo poo found only on the extreme cutting edge" things fielded by Word of Blake, The Society, or Solaris gladiators. Rules Level: Era Specific: This was never found on the sheets themselves but used to be used on the Master Unit List. It isn't any longer, but I thought it was actually a helpful designator: it meant that the unit contains things found only in a highly specific time and place, and should normally only be used in a scenario representing that. Primitive 'mechs, prototype Star League reproductions fielded around the War of 3039, early Clan prototypes, and the weirdest poo poo fielded by Word of Blake and The Society. The rules for this stuff is found in the Interstellar Operations: Alternate Eras book or the older printing called just "Interstellar Operations." Unfortunately, this stuff just seems to be shuffled into "Advanced" and "Experimental" now. Note that Dark Age shifted some things around so some Experimental things became Advanced and some Advanced things became Standard. However, any of the Record Sheets products for years 3085 and earlier follow the conventions above. But "Introductory" has always meant "only the stuff found in the basic box set of the game."
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May 19, 2023 03:20
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Actually I'm a little fuzzy on the equipment that graduated from Advanced or Experimental to Standard. Is all of that stuff found in the BattleMech Manual? I know BMM has some advanced things in it and it would make sense if that was the case. (If not then while it makes sense in-universe for tech to advance, it isn't helpful for selecting a rulebook to match the units.)
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May 19, 2023 03:27
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Frustratingly, the MUL tracks what rules level a unit was when it debuted so there are a handful of units that were Advanced in the 3060s and 3070s that would be Standard if they came out now, but are listed Advanced on the MUL. It's less than ideal.
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May 19, 2023 06:01
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Yeah the Master Unit List staff have already put in a pretty heroic effort so I kind of feel bad for pointing it out, but I feel like it would be more helpful to replace the existing "Rules Level" with a better indicator of what book the most advanced equipment the unit uses is found in. At the very least, the large numbers of existing Introductory and Standard units would be very easy to label, making the amount of work needed to do that that much lower. I feel like the downshifting of certain techs for Dark Age was kind of a mistake. I get that there's some intent to support tournament play for the Dark Age by letting players take stuff that would normally be barred from Clan Invasion/etc. tournaments. And it's thematic that "experimental" stuff would stop being as such when it reaches widespread mass production. But they did it in kind of the most confusing way possible.
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May 19, 2023 06:24
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The kickstarter is allowing 5% of backers to try out the Pledge Manager starting tomorrow.
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May 19, 2023 12:37
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At least in the case of the WSP-1S it’s listed Clan Invasion era despite debuting a year prior. I’d use that to determine if you should bring it (I wouldn’t). I’m on my phone so MUL doesn’t pull up perfectly, but I thought there was an option to filter by availability instead of production date when you’re on desktop(?)
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May 19, 2023 12:42
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actually3raccoons posted:At least in the case of the WSP-1S it’s listed Clan Invasion era despite debuting a year prior. I’d use that to determine if you should bring it (I wouldn’t). There is, which is what made me look that particular wasp up. I built my list last time based on the logos on the mech sheet instead of running it against the availability filters in the MUL. When I was poking around yesterday looking at what I want to bring I noticed it wasn't there. When you tell it to only show things available in the succession war it also shows star league logos though
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May 19, 2023 13:39
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Len posted:There is, which is what made me look that particular wasp up. I built my list last time based on the logos on the mech sheet instead of running it against the availability filters in the MUL. When I was poking around yesterday looking at what I want to bring I noticed it wasn't there. I mean technically true, in the sense than if you're playing a war game set in 2023 a P-38 mustang would be "available," though rare due to age and attrition the analogy breaks down tho since in battletech the p38 would outgun and fly circles around the f22. Owlbear Camus fucked around with this message at 13:51 on May 19, 2023 |
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May 19, 2023 13:49
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You should ignore the Era logo. This denotes when it was first made, not when it was still in use. Many units first built before the Succession Wars are shown as available during the Succession Wars. This is correct, because many things continued to be built and used throughout the Succession Wars even though they were older designs. If you limited yourself to only units first built during the Succession Wars you would be missing a very large number of common units. Since many people say "Succession Wars" as a shorthand for "the basic stuff from the box set" you should just filter by Rules Level: Introductory and take any unit that uses Introductory rules no matter when it was made. If people are sticklers for era availability for some reason, filter by Era: Late Succession War - Renaissance (3020-3049) and pick things that use Rules Level: Introductory. Edit: If they really do mean "anything from the Succession Wars regardless of rules" then gently caress it, go nuts and take the Super Griffin and Ian McKinnon's Black Knight and other wacky experimental units BattleMaster fucked around with this message at 14:03 on May 19, 2023 |
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May 19, 2023 13:58
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Saint Celestine posted:Whats better? Nightstar-9FC or King Crab-010 ? I'd go with the Awesome. Matches the range of the Nightstar and it's a zombie mech.
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May 19, 2023 14:35
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actually3raccoons posted:At least in the case of the WSP-1S it’s listed Clan Invasion era despite debuting a year prior. I’d use that to determine if you should bring it (I wouldn’t).
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May 19, 2023 14:39
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Arquinsiel posted:The Clan Invasion started in 3049, it just didn't really get past the pirate kingdoms in the coreward periphery until 3050. Ah, I'm dumb, thank you!
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May 19, 2023 15:04
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Got to play two 300 pt Alpha Strike battles yesterday. These pics are mostly from the 2nd one, since the board was way cooler. My 300 pt SwordSworn Prince's Men short company, Heavy Battle Lance and Medium Cavalry lance.  The Battlefield  300 pts of Pirates, that's actually a lot of good equipment, maybe they found an old Star League stash?  My Cavalry lance gained control of the hill first and tried to play cat and mouse with all the pirates. Griffin took a fire control hit, and Centurion lost all its armor, before the lance pulled back. Both Black Knights lost some armor in exchange.  The Heavy Battle Lance moves up through a narrow alley while the Pirates try to create a kill zone. The Cavalry lance maintains its harassment though.  Swordie Warhammer finally sees the pirate Atlas and trades shots. Crusader keeps indirect firing the Black Knights but misses.  Griffin and Wasp jump to flank the pirate trap from an unexpected side. Pirates panic and break the kill zone pattern.  Crusader goes toe to toe with a Black Knight, both sides Alpha Strike until their heat is in the red. Crusader wins. After 1.5 hours we declared SwordSworn a win. They hadn't lost any mechs (Although the Crusader and Warhammer were one point from death), but the Atlas, 1 Black Knight, and 1 Urbanmech were in the same shape, and another Black Knight had been asploded. For the Flying Duke, for the First Prince!
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May 19, 2023 15:44
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PlasTech Locust outta nowhere!
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May 19, 2023 17:20
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How do you y'all build lists? Say someone wants to do a game at X BV, are there just tried and true units you throw in there and build around it? Or do you decide on a playstyle and find units that fit it? What about for scenarios? In my limited experience, I have an idea of what I want to do but no idea if it will actually work out or not.
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May 19, 2023 20:16
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Pick the mechs that look coolest and run those. For scenarios, pick the faction and then pick the mechs that look the coolest and run those. Once you're playing long enough you'll have entire companies and battalions built up and you know that Lance X will work for that scenario or whatever.
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May 19, 2023 20:51
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Crazy Joe Wilson posted:
cool
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May 19, 2023 21:14
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Owlbear Camus posted:I mean technically true, in the sense than if you're playing a war game set in 2023 a P-38 mustang would be "available," though rare due to age and attrition The P-38 was the lightning. The Mustang was the P-51.
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May 19, 2023 23:33
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NoNotTheMindProbe posted:The P-38 was the lightning. The Mustang was the P-51. I'm going to pretend like I was laying some kind of militaria nerd trap instead of legit conflating their nicknames humor me for the sake of my ego
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May 20, 2023 00:51
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Saint Celestine posted:How do you y'all build lists? I grab an appropriate RAT, roll 2x what I want to field and then keep half. Keeps things interesting.
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May 20, 2023 01:12
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