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Amechwarrior posted:Note that IIRC, (please someone let me know if this is still true) it's easier to get to the side arcs of vehicles vs 'Mechs. This is correct; however vehicle crit tables are also the tamest on the sides (they're more likely to take motive damage and less likely to be outright destroyed by a side crit). Paradoxical as it sounds, you generally want to either hit them from the front or, even more preferentially, from the rear unless you've got the firepower to kill them outright in one turn. Rear hits destroy vehicles very quickly, as does fire, although you'd typically want inferno SRMs to really exploit that.
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Apr 9, 2023 18:02
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Amechwarrior posted:Thanks for that, hopefully we can at least open that side up for a finisher next round or cause it to pull back. I'm talking mostly crit table stuff anyway, usually by the time you're dealing critical damage to a vehicle it's dead anyway unless you scored a TAC. Whichever side you do hit a vehicle from, try to keep doing damage from that direction. Statistically if you attack a tank from the side you're going to hit that side with a few minor deviations to either the front or rear or even more rarely the turret, so ideally if you go for a vehicle kill everyone with an angle should be dumping shots into it from the same direction on the same turn. The worst thing you can do with a combat vee is allow it time to maneuver and waste your shots on fresh armor.
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Apr 9, 2023 19:34
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Slavvy posted:But then I remember the cougar is meant to be a heavier, more powerful derivative and yet it's only got large lasers? Not heavier, just built on the same frame with a different armor layout and jump jets because the Jade Falcons designed it.
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Apr 10, 2023 18:10
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Space Kablooey posted:I'm totally new to BT but IIRC from the manual only 1 heavy woods is needed to block LoS. One heavy woods and one light woods, or a total of +3 ToHit penalty from intervening woods. One hex of heavy woods by itself is a +2, so it doesn't block line of sight but is a nasty ToHit modifier.
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Apr 10, 2023 23:46
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NoNotTheMindProbe posted:They can jump though. They're the only mech that has the leg strength to weight ratio needed to jump under their own power. Not the only one, most 'Mechs can get both their legs off the ground at a run so most could perform a standing jump pretty convincingly. It's just that any jump they do make would be hard on the pilot and wouldn't carry them 30 meters, so a 'Mech's normal jumping speed is 0 hexes unless they've got jets. BattleArmor can use mechanical boosters to jump a full hex without jets. Myomer is powerful stuff.
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Apr 13, 2023 03:02
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Infantry can be really scary depending on their setup, but mostly they're a tar pit / area denial. They're like a land mine that can occasionally move and can do real damage since they never suffer movement penalties.
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Apr 13, 2023 04:50
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Scintilla posted:That's absolutely fair. There's a reason why Firestarters are one of the most feared anti-infantry mechs, and why their pilots tend to be summarily executed instead of taken prisoner. Historically, House Kurita didn't take prisoners until the 3050s; and House Davion had the most Firestarters so this isn't quite as cut and dry as it looks. Pre-Theodore House Kurita was just as likely to execute all the infantry the Firestarter didn't kill for not being brave enough to charge into the flamethrowers when their commander ordered them to. Nevermind that DCMS's unique brand of stain-immune uniforms were notorious for being highly flammable in an extremely unpleasant way where the burning uniforms would turn into a clinging, burning polymer goo like wearable napalm if exposed to an open flame. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Apr 22, 2023 |
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Apr 22, 2023 20:59
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They are the setting's greatest monsters. They weren't pissed at the Smoke Jaguars for nuking Turtle Bay, they were pissed the Smoke Jaguars didn't have the intestinal fortitude to come down and machine gun the population face-to-face. 
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Apr 22, 2023 21:07
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painedforever posted:MechAssault MechAssault was the start of the Word of Blake Jihad. Slavvy posted:I asked because mech commander 1 is my all time favorite giant robot game. Following a davion guard unit from the initial landings, through the inevitably atrocity-packed cities, all the way to the desperate last stand for the space port would be some good stuff in book form Operation Bulldog is mostly glossed over in favor of the attack on Huntress, but the second book of the Twilight of the Clans series focuses on it (if I'm not misremembering). All of the games are apocryphal, but the 1st Davion Guards (along with four entire Kurita regiments including the 5th Sword of Light) did attack Port Arthur and drove a Nu Galaxy cluster from it. Nu Galaxy uses a blood red and gray scheme. Unfortunately, all those times you were fighting JagerMechs in Mechcommander may have just been trigger-happy Davions attacking the 2nd Legion of Vega, who use an almost identical colorscheme. (this is a joke)Actually unfortunately, the really pretty blue and gold colorscheme the Davion Guards were sporting in the game isn't accurate. The gold is a stand-in for the Davion Guard's red and white stripes so they wouldn't need to try to program three-color sprites for Multiplayer. The sound of bagpipes intensifies... 
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 03:15 on May 17, 2023 |
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May 17, 2023 03:00
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That's literally what I said, yes. Tricolor paintschemes wouldn't have really worked for MechCommander's multiplayer so they replaced the red and white with tan/gold. Blue and gold looks amazing together so it really worked for the game, it's just wasn't the actual Davion Guards scheme at the time.
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May 17, 2023 05:08
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I don't believe that's true, but I'd have to see how they're determining "expected damage."
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Jul 13, 2023 06:22
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Scintilla posted:I love how quirky quadmechs are, but man, not being able to torso-twist is just the worst possible drawback. There's a reason they killed the "No Torso Twist" negative quirk, too. Not being able to torso twist is just hugely punishing.
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Aug 1, 2023 18:37
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One of the Shadow Hawk's problems is that it's full of explosive ammo that it just can't use quickly enough. An average game probably isn't going to last more than 15 turns, and a Shadow Hawk has 3 weapons systems that will still have ammo left after Turn 15 even if they're fired every single turn (and two of those will still have over half of their ammo left). The SHD-2K doesn't completely alleviate this because it's still saddled with an LRM-5; but a Shadow Hawk with 1 ton of LRM-5 ammo is still far safer than one with 1 ton of LRM-5 ammo, 1 ton of SRM-2 ammo, and 1 ton of AC/5 ammo. And PPCs are just good weapons that never really go obsolete.
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Aug 20, 2023 23:40
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Koorisch posted:It's just a shame the SHD-2K doesn't remove one heatsink to get another pair of Jump Jets, then it'd have the same jumping ability as a Griffin. There are a lot of "It's a shame" or "If only"s about the Shadow Hawk. It's definitely not the worst 'Mech in the setting, but it's probably the most consistently disappointing.
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Aug 23, 2023 07:06
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And then if you're making something that big, expensive, heavy, and easy to flank you'd really best just make it a tripod for the maneuverability advantages. And since tripods are all silly by default, your superheavy is too.
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Aug 24, 2023 07:49
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Clearly, working for the Draconis Combine is the best choice. There's no way working directly for one of the five great houses could go wrong! A Plus, if you take too many missions against the Draconis Combine, they're likely to throw a battalion at you the next time you take a mission on one of their borders.
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Aug 24, 2023 19:17
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Command Rights is relatively straightforward. Independent means the company is free to pick and choose how, where, and when it fights. If an enemy company lands and the mercs decide to play guerillas, they can. It's fairly rare for a small command to be offered independent contracts; it's typically only done as a way to save face or for plausible deniability. If you see independent command rights on a raid there's a good chance your employer thinks you're all going to die. Liaison means the company has been saddled with a liaison officer who is responsible for making those command decisions. Liaison officers can be persuaded, but if they say jump the mercs have to say 'how high.' There's also usually a penalty if they die; but they often come with their own BattleMech and depending on the house or mercenary command it could be a really solid 'Mech. You can, in theory, disobey a liaison officer if they're being obstinate; but it'll go before a tribunal and you could (will, if you failed) be charged with breaching contract. It should be noted, since one of our options is the Draconis Combine: some Liaison officers can be pretty chill; but DCMS liaison officers almost never are. They consider 'babysitting duty' to be beneath them and they will absolutely punish the unit for anything they think they can get away with (In this era you could get someone cool like Minobu Tetsuhara; but that's a rarity). It should also be noted: the Draconis Combine assigning you a Liaison officer is actually a sign of trust. It means they think you might be able to operate independently. Operating under direct DCMS command is significantly worse. The Draconis Combine almost never offers Independent command rights outside of suicide missions (and even then they're likely to assign you a Liaison to make sure you suicide properly). House command means you're under control of the local military authority. If an enemy company lands and they tell you to stand directly under their DropShips to try to convince them to leave, you stand directly under their DropShips or you're at risk of breaching contract. With some Great Houses this is NBD, they'll basically give you independence and just assign you objectives to complete. But with others they are absolutely hiring you to catch bullets with your teeth so their regular troops can keep their paint looking pretty and you will catch those bullets. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Aug 24, 2023 |
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Aug 24, 2023 19:35
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Just for funzies, in this era this is about what you should expect from each of the Great Houses, command-rights wise: Federated Suns House Command: Usually pretty safe Liason Command: Unusual for them to offer, usually means they have an objective they don't want to tell you about (higher risk missions) Independent Command: Either a suicide mission or something they don't care about. Pay close attention to the mission target. Lyran Commonwealth House Command: Fairly risky, it just depends on who's in control of the local theater and whether or not they're competent. Liason Command: Usually pretty safe, you'll get a junior officer who may not have Social General poisoning yet... provided they're a Captain or below. Pray you don't get a Major, that's the buy-in rank for most wealthy idiot failchildren. If your liaison is a Major you'll be babysitting them rather than the other way around. Independent Command: Usually very safe, it means they trust you and want to build better relations with you. Draconis Combine House Command: YOU WILL JOIN THE SUICIDE MISSION Liason Command: As long as you can tolerate your liaison officer, this assignment will probably be pretty safe. The Draconis Combine is hiring you to fight, but they don't assign a Dragon's Tear unless they have to. Independent Command: We have an emergency suicide mission that needs doing. Free Worlds League House Command: Varies Liason Command: Usually fairly safe Independent Command: Usually fairly safe Capellan Confederation House Command: Usually fairly safe Liason Command: Usually fairly safe Independent Command: We have an emergency suicide mission that needs doing.
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Aug 24, 2023 19:56
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Cythereal posted:For reference for the thread, Contract C is with the Federation of Skye, which is part of the Lyran Commonwealth but has a history of getting antsy about wanting independence at inopportune moments. Given the time period and that it's a contract to raid the Combine, this contract is probably on the up and up, but it would behoove potential goon votes to bear in mind that the company's employers may not be in complete accord with the mothership. The current leader of Skye is Duke Aldo Lestrade IV, a He hates the Draconis Combine more than he loves power; but he loves power a whole lot. While Skye vs. DC contracts are probably on the up-and-up, Duke Lestrade would have absolutely no qualms about suiciding you into the Combine if he thought your deaths would hurt the combine more than they'd hurt his power base.
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Aug 24, 2023 21:10
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Scintilla posted:On the flipside, the Lyran liaison is a hands-on kind of gentleman who is perfectly willing to suit up and join the fray directly if the need arises. But what's the Liaison officer's rank?
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Aug 25, 2023 18:58
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Scintilla posted:He is Hauptmann Heinrich Stanier of the Fourth Skye Rangers! Phew. Good news, everyone. Hauptmann is a Lyran captain, and it's the highest rank that regularly sees combat. Your liaison is almost certainly an actually capable officer and not just a loose doorknob.
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Aug 25, 2023 20:07
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It gives the GM an opportunity to field weaker OpForces. Always losing initiative is a huge challenge. A Locust is barely noticable in a fight between two lances of mostly Heavy 'Mechs. An Ace Locust is an unignorable threat in the same circumstances, because it can pick and choose when (or if) the players ever get to engage it.
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Sep 1, 2023 02:33
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That's why I'm running 'desperation mechanics' in my current thread. If the players toy with an enemy 'Mech long enough it *will* become an Ace. 
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Sep 1, 2023 14:40
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Forest Ranger should probably be the mobility capstone skill. It's incredibly powerful. It turns all light woods into heavy woods (for the occupant only) and turns all heavy woods into jungles. It's one of the most powerful SPAs and is one of the ones I frequently ban (or limit to 1/company) in RL games.
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Sep 1, 2023 21:31
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The novels enter a weird holding pattern after the Clan invasion; where it's clear the team had a strong idea of what to do early but then kinda floundered for a bit as they tried to decide what to do next. Most of the novels in the 3055-3058 era were either long on (often pointless) political maneuvering and rather short on sense from the mainline authors; or weird minor character pieces from other authors. It kinda feels like they were fishing for writers who both 'got' the setting and could keep pace with Stackpole.
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Sep 3, 2023 14:52
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Defiance Industries posted:The Hornet can't get away from a Flashman, a mech which is not only almost quadruple the size of the Hornet, but carries the Hornet's entire mass in JUST LASERS. To be fair, very few things can get away from a Flashman. 5/8 is shockingly fast for a pre-Clan 75 tonner. The Flashman's real charm is that very few things things slower than it can out-fight it. The Hornet is one of the few 'Mechs I'd imagine could consistently lose a fight to a Clint.
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Sep 6, 2023 03:21
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Scintilla posted:-Anything else I personally find amusing. That sounds like a call for Death from Above! Anyway, my suggestion to goonlance is: try to pick off something weak and fragile with concentrated fire to immediately put the action economy in your favor. That probably means focusing on the Commando because it's a walking bomb and a decent threat, or the Hornet which isn't a threat but may have some trouble maintaining its move mods. If the Sentinel or Commando ever touch a mud hex they should be your highest priority target; and I'd personally probably focus on the Sentinel. It doesn't have much more armor than a light 'Mech, but it's still got a 40 tonner's internal structure so it can take more of a beating than you'd think. Then, between the Griffin, Wolverine, and Hunchback the Hunchback is the most vulnerable to incoming fire due to its slow speed. It may decide to juggernaut at you and just charge straight in. If it does, its your top priority target. Unfortunately, the HBK-4H Hunchback fixes the HBK-4G's biggest flaw: its left torso is stuffed full of heat sinks so it's hard to crit the two tons of ammo there. I'd say it's actually more dangerous in the hands of a trainee than an HBK-4G would've been because it's harder to get a lucky elimination on. Edit: The Wolverine and Griffin are both comparatively low-damage skirmishers. The Griffin may be tempted to bunker down somewhere to try sniping, if it does you can probably just position yourselves to deny it shots the whole match while you pick off everything else. Imagine how humiliated their team leader High Speed Low Drag Spec-Ops Sniper will be if he doesn't even get to shoot his PPC until everyone else is dead?
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Sep 6, 2023 |
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Sep 6, 2023 18:30
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One of the key tricks of BattleTech is limiting how many members of the OpForce can see you. If only one enemy 'Mech can see you, but two of your units can see that enemy 'Mech, you've got local superiority and that enemy 'Mech is probably in trouble. That does vary a little based on enemy range, too. It's probably NBD if the Hornet can see you, unless it's close enough to fire. And even then, its weapons have such short effective ranges you can probably ignore it until it's point blank. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Sep 6, 2023 |
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Sep 6, 2023 23:26
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Bloody Pom posted:Mechs can shoot at each other over height-1 hills, but hit rolls that land on the legs will automatically miss. This is only partially true. Partial Cover is a thing, but you have to be adjacent to the level +1 hex for it to count; and it doesn't work if your enemy is attacking from a higher elevation. I always used to fudge that, but MegaMek is going to be playing RAW. Negating partial cover is the closest to an elevation advantage that BattleTech has. If the enemy's on higher ground than you, taking cover behind a "level 1" hill is not safe.
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Sep 7, 2023 01:27
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I'm not sure how much advice Goonlance is interested in, but there's a spot pretty much dead center between all four current player positions that would let you engage a 4v2 fight with the Griffin and Hunchback. That spot also puts the Wolverine and Commando very out-of-position (1-2 extra turns to join the fight) and lets you concentrate fire to hopefully score an early elimination. For less specific advice, It'd probably be worth hammering the Hunchback a little. He's not a terrible pilot but 2+ PPC hits and he's still looking at a 6+ piloting test with a 7+ injury roll if he fails. Those aren't terrible odds for a Turn 2 knockdown of the most dangerous 'Mech in the OpForce.
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Sep 9, 2023 21:50
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DFA them into a mud hex, then cactus bonk.
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Sep 11, 2023 20:24
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Dump the Shadow Hawk's single ton of LRM-5 ammo, pick it up the next turn, and throw it at him. The Shadow Hawk is 55 tons, so that 1 ton of ammo is 2% of its mass; which means it can be thrown up to 6 hexes for (the math always results in) 1 point of damage; at a scaling 0 to +5 penalty ToHit depending on how far away the target is. This is not a serious suggestion.
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Sep 12, 2023 05:07
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Slavvy posted:*nodding seriously while understanding nothing* 6+ and below: easy shots 7+ slightly more than a 50% chance ToHit 8+ slightly worse than a 50% chance ToHit 9+ and above: risky shots
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Sep 13, 2023 21:22
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TheParadigm posted:you also can't reverse elevation changes. This is correct, unless something huge happened in the errata you can't back up or down elevation changes.
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Sep 15, 2023 14:11
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biosterous posted:^ idly curious, when the wolfhound backed down the hill and failed a PSR ending in blowing his own leg off in vipers of somerset was that a house rule for movement, or something like coming up with a way to handle a not-actually-legal movement order? It's an optional rule; I just decided not to ever use it again after that mission because the players generating a bunch of PSRs they might not have been expecting is really bad. PSRs will kill you dead faster than weapons fire.
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Sep 15, 2023 15:51
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Well, they would, but that feature doesn't work because the capacitors are all sitting in a box back on Pandora. Instead the Quikscell simulator just hard-crashes and bluescreens on user death and leaves a glitched out artifacting mess in the simulation that grinds other DI computers to a crawl for a few seconds every time they scan it.
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Sep 18, 2023 15:23
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They're just staying true to the source material.
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Sep 23, 2023 19:15
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Lemniscate Blue posted:Is "armor" a thing in that universe or do they just cover their robots in aluminum foil? You're talking about an anime where an attack helicopter makes an attack run and, without taking any sort of incoming fire, just plows straight into a building exactly the same way the VTOLs in Mechwarrior 5 do.
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Sep 23, 2023 20:23
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Unfortunately, "Skirmisher" is sort-of BattleTech's catch-all category for units. It's not really the dustbin category (that's "Ambusher"), but anything that doesn't fit into another role and isn't terrible enough to be an Ambusher is a Skirmisher by default. Just for fun, because some people like seeing things like this: There are 3917 BattleMech variants with declared roles (and 101 without, but those are usually units without usable datasheets). Sorted from most common to least-common: Skirmisher - 860 (21.95%) Striker (Scouts with guns) - 794 (20.27%) Sniper - 626 (15.98%) Brawler - 598 (15.27%) Missile Boat (Snipers with missiles) - 366 (9.34%) Juggernaut (Brawlers with bigger guns) - 350 (8.94%) Scout - 311 (7.94%) Ambusher (Mostly UrbanMechs) - 12 (0.31%) Of the 12 Ambushers, the only three of them that aren't some variety of Urbanmech are all Hunchback IICs.
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Sep 25, 2023 20:08
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Slavvy posted:Has this game even got ambush/surprise attack style mechanics where you can't see the enemy until they shoot? There are hidden unit rules. The enemy can detect hidden units with a Beagle Active Probe, some 'Mech quirks, or getting a unit into base contact. They're rarely used because they're a pain in the rear end. Captain Foo posted:“It’s good in a city” I love this in the same way "for added close-in punch" means the 'Mech has an SRM-2
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Sep 25, 2023 20:31
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