As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
Let's Play: Orion Pirates [Klingons KILL 56Ks!] New ship! Name it!
MechMantis
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
For those who don't know, Starfleet Command is a series based on one thing:
Flying ships from the Star Trek Universe (TOS and TMP era) and shooting shit up with those ships.
Fine fine. It's actually based on a REALLY ARCANE board game called Star Fleet Battles, which was apparently quite fun until you had to calculate your turn rate at a certain speed which was then calculated at a certain power, but it didn't matter because the entire thing was HEX PRECISION.
The first three games, Starfleet Command, it's sequel, Empires at War, and this game, a stand-alone expansion to the sequel, Orion Pirates suffered from what was deemed to be a horrible interface and unforgiving gameplay. Starfleet Command 3 moves the game from the days of Kirk to the days of Picard, and simplify the gameplay to the point of boredom. So, I say SCREW YOU, Starfleet Command 3, and we're gonna play Orion Pirates instead.
We are going to be playing single player campaign. Which is essentially Dynaverse 2 single-player. That's not bad. Dynaverse 2 sets you up as a new captain for one of the many races (or cartels, but FUCK THEM) with a frigate under your control. You undertake missions and take sectors from the enemy races and can command up to three ships of any class.
The ships come in 4 main "classes", Frigate, Light and Heavy Cruisers, and Dreadnoughts. Frigates are fast, tiny, barely-armed suicide boxes (mostly). Light Cruisers are slower, but you can actually survive in battle for a few minutes against the larger ships due to the heavier armor and more guns. Heavy Cruisers are the mainstays of fleets, a good balance between maneuverability and heavy weaponry. Dreadnoughts are the heavy bruisers of the fleets, capable of wiping out a large variety of smaller ships in an alpha strike.
This leads into the choices. There are 4 eras to choose from. Early era means I get to pick from a plethora of frigates. Oh, and maybe a light cruiser. Middle era gives a decent amount of choice in the Frigate and Light Cruiser classes, with a few Heavy Cruisers thrown in for good measure. Late Era means Dreadnoughts. Advanced just allows more advanced refits of Frigates and the two Cruiser classes. Dreadnoughts apparently don't NEED the fun guns. (They do. Horribly.)
Now, picking an era doesn't really do anything. You need to pick a RACE too. They are as follows: (If people vote for me to play a Pirate Cartel I'll pick one randomly. Because they're all nearly identical. I hate pirates so much.)
The Federation:
These guys are balanced. Like humans in EVERY OTHER GAME. Maneuverability, hull strength, heavy weaponry... The only thing they REALLY have going for them is their above-average shield regeneration.
\The Klingon Empire:
Klingons are pretty awesome. They're extremely maneuverable, have somewhat decent armor, and they get disrupters, which are cheap heavy weapons. They have a few Romulan hulls, but no plasma torpedoes, and some of their ships can cloak. However, their systems are fragile as hell.
The Romulan Empire:
Romulans are glass cannons, really. Their hulls leave a lot to be desired, but they can cloak and their plasma torpedoes will devastate anything they hit. These fuckers are ANNOYING if you have to play against them, as they'll fire their torpedoes, and cloak before you can hit back. I mean, LOOK AT HIM. He's just smirking evilly there.
The Hydran Kingdoms:
I bet you're saying "What the fuck is that thing?" I have no clue. But this was a race in Star Fleet Battles, so it's here. These guys are masters of the knife fight. Gatling Phasers, Hellbores, and Fusion Cannons. And fighters. At long ranges, they're easy to kill. But woe to you if you get close.
The Lyrans:
Fuck these guys. Annoying to play, annoying to play AGAINST. Their Expanding Sphere Generator, whatever the fuck that is, is annoying as hell to use, but the AI seemingly uses it well, because it will kill any fighter or missile that closes within hurt-range of the Lyran vessel. If you guys make me play the Lyrans, I will hunt you down and kill you. I am not kidding. Oh, and their shields suck.
The Gorn Alliance:
The Gorn are like Romulans with strong hulls and no cloaking devices. They hit hard, and can take hard hits. Not particularly fast or maneuverable, but stay the fuck out of their forward arc. They have plasma torpedoes, and plenty of 'em.
The Interstellar Concordium:
These guys are an alien version of the Federation. Only they kill people who don't join them. So they're pretty cool. They have a special heavy weapon, the Plasma Pulsar Device, which hits a full half of the shields on any ship (3 of 6 faces). Their smaller ships are rather weak, but their larger ships are nightmares.
The Mirak:
Missiles. Missiles missiles missiles MISSILES. Missiles and phasers and disrupters (sometimes). Now, mind you, these guys have all kinds of different missiles. But they're ALL MISSILES. They have decent shielding. AND MISSILES.
MISSILES.
The difficulty is the last point. I've always played at Commodore, but I don't know the difference. Maybe prices or something. Or AI difficulty. I have no clue. Make me go for Admiral, for all I care.
LET THE VOTING BEGIN.
MechMantis on
0
Posts
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
DIFFICULTY: ADMIRAL
ERA: MIDDLE
Update 1: The beginnings of the War Record.
Update 2: First blood!
Update 3: Federation FFs are annoying.
Update 4: In which we receive a new ship.
I once watched a full squadron of fighters DECK a D7 in about 3 seconds.
My Hellbores didn't even finish charging.
Someone vote for the Klingons.
And then Mirak.
And then the Lyrans.
So then it'll be one vote in every race. We'll have a rainbow.
EDIT: Ahaha. I forgot about the Feddies.
You know who I'm voting for.
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
*
Anyone who votes for a buch of fuckups that don't have money but sit around playing poker should not have their vote counted.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I never asked for this!
They're blue in SFC.
Strange, I know.
EDIT: I'll be killing the vote at around 5:00 -5 GMT.
(That's US Eastern Time for you non-intelligent USers.)
Imagine my surprise when it had like 5 manuals full of text and a million little cardboard cutouts.
So I made my own rules for it.
Anyway by extension I was never any good at Starfleet Command no matter how much I wanted to enjoy the game.
But I do remember liking the Lyrans more than others, so I vote for them.
Granted, SFB was the board game from HELL...
But there is something wrong with you.
EDIT: I have made my decision. If I'm lucky enough to get a race that isn't friendly with the Lyrans...
We are going to have many pairs of mittens.
Why because I like the Lyrans or because I couldn't get into SFB?
Give me a break I was like 8 years old at the time I took one look at those manuals and said "Screw that"
Although I did read them sometime later.
I've seen SFB. It is horrendous. It is downright arcane.
But Lyran-liking? Unforgivable.
Kzin were cool, though. Because they didn't have that Goddamned ESG!
Come on people!
The Gorn vessels can't turn all that fast. But if they actually hit you, your hull will suddenly vaporize.
No BOTP for Gorn.
To be fair the basis of my like for them is that they had cool colored pieces.
EDIT: Because it's appropriate:
http://wisconsin.cowparade.com/cow/detail/3919
I vote Klingons!
That's a good price for a used battle cow...
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Guys. Races are all nice.
But what about ERAS?
Or maybe DIFFICULTIES?
Looks like i'm the only one who voted for a difficulty Mech, guess your stuck on admiral =p
Okay. I'll spell this out to you people who can't vote for anything but race:
ERA:
Early: Tiny ships
Middle: Medium ships
Late: Big ships
Advanced: (I need the electro-science smilie here.) ships
DIFFICULTY:
Captain: Sissy mode
Commodore: Normal
Admiral: Hard
When Klingons play baseball, they do it for KEEPS!
Another vote for the guys with the big freaking swordy things (Ba'atleth?).
And keep the difficulty normal, Late Era.
I miss modding these games.
Think i might give this a reinstall when my new rig arrives.