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[BattleTech] The Clan Wait-vasion
Ianator
A predator cannot differentiatebetween prey and accompliceRegistered User regular
A predator cannot differentiatebetween prey and accompliceRegistered User regular
BATTLETECH: The Board Game of Armored Combat
(because the MWO thread probably isn't the place for this)
Current Events:
- The BattleTech Beginner Box is now available. Two miniatures and quick-start stuff for $20.
- The BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat starter box is also available. Eight miniatures and a bunch of stuff for $60.
- Catalyst has launched and completed a Kickstarter for a Clan box set and additional Star and Lance Packs. Ended on August 17, 2019, the crowdfund raised over $2.5 million!
What is BattleTech?
BattleTech is a tabletop wargame that involves giant robots shooting, lasering, missile-ing, MAN-MADE LIGHTNING-ing, punching, kicking, hatcheting, clubbing and otherwise beating the crap out of their opponents. Most battles involve two players commanding their choice of four BattleMechs piloted by unique MechWarriors on a hex-grid battlefield doing their best to wreck the other player's Mechs. From there players can expand their games with BattleMech construction rules (Tech Manual), tactical battle assets (TacOps) and strategic conquest mechanics (StratOps)... or just scale their battles up and play twelve-on-twelve battles in two hours with truncated rules and stats (Alpha Strike).
Mech models can look like -these- when painted and can be bought primarily from -here- (amongst other websites and even local game stores). Mech stat sheets look like -this- and there are books full of 'em.
Gameplay consists of players rolling for initiative, the loser forced to go first, before moving their units (usually Mechs but there's also vehicles, infantry platoons, AeroTech and more) about the field in order to find good firing positions (or good face-beating positions). Speed is life and you must balance your Mechs' movement each turn with their MechWarriors' need for a stable firing platform. You will also need to reconcile your many weapons with the heat they generate - nobody wants to be caught out in the open with an overheating Mech.
MechWarriors?
That's right, the MechWarrior series is the most prominent of the BattleTech franchise's many video game spin-offs - MechWarrior Online even derives Mechs' stats from their BattleTech equivalents whenever practical. There's also the MechCommander RTS games for PC and MechAssault titles for the original XBox.
Hmm, some of these Mechs look a bit familiar...
In the earliest editions of BattleTech, FASA procured their designs and models from an outside firm which licensed several anime franchises (Macross, Dougram and Crusher Joe). Unfortunately, after a lawsuit from Harmony Gold over the Macross designs it was discovered that said outside firm didn't have the rights to sublicense their content. Still, these early designs form a core part of classic Battletech imagery and are being reimagined in recent years to bring them back to the modern scene without stepping on any copyright or trademark toes.
Getting Started
The best place for a new player or two to get their feelies is the two introductory box sets: the BattleTech Beginner Box contains two miniatures and quick-start rules and sheets to get players blowing stuff as soon as possible, while the BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat box contains eight minis, standard sheets, a set of Alpha Strike cards and a fifty-plus page Introductory Rulebook for a more complete experience. Each set also includes the necessary dice and a unique novella set in the BattleTech universe.
The BattleMech Manual is the next step up. This book expounds on all the functionality a 'Mech will ever need to use on the battlefield.
For those looking to take it farther, following is the current selection of "core" rulebooks:
- Total Warfare - The "main" rulebook and a step up from the Introductory Rules. This introduces rules for advanced technologies and non-Battlemech units (such as vehicles, aerospace, infantry and battle armor).
- Tech Manual - Ever wanted to make your own BattleMech? This book contains all the details for building your own tournament-legal record sheets.
- Tactical Operations - Planetary conquest! Artillery, command levels, minefields and more for all your world-conquering needs.
- Strategic Operations - Rules and equipment for the whole solar system! WarShips, JumpShips, expanded Aerotech and extensive salvage and maintenance.
- Interstellar Operations - Take on the role of a House Lord and run an entire faction's military! Massive-scale warfare, alternate eras and the return of the Land-Air Mech.
- Campaign Operations - Split off from Interstellar Ops, C-Ops lets you run and maintain forces of any size, craft new battlefields to liberate (or conquer) and construct campaigns at all levels of play with this final rulebook.
Looking for new ways to play? - A Time of War - The RPG component of Battletech. Become a MechWarrior and make your place in the universe. Are you a member of a noble Great House? A vat-bred Clan warrior? Or a mercenary who lives only for their next paycheck?
- Alpha Strike - A simplified variant of the classic Battletech system which delivers more units in faster games. Turn your record sheets from -this- to -this-. Grab some Lance Packs and go to town!
Eras: When and Where
The story of BattleTech is divided into "eras" which determine the present factions and relevant technologies. The overarching eras go thusly:
Age of War: 1988-2570. Humanity's expansion into the stars, the formation of the Terran Alliance, Great Houses and Periphery, the conflicts that resulted and the invention of a weapon to rule the battlefield: the BattleMech.
The Star League: 2571-2780. The Star League, an overarching government, has been ruled for centuries by House Cameron. When its leadership is destabilized, the Great Houses are split between following a new leader or fighting back against the usurper. Aleksander Kerensky, leader of the Star League Defense Force, launched a fourteen-year war to reclaim the throne. The damage was done, however, and the Houses' old rivalries would ignite once again. Kerensky and half of his SLDF would depart the Inner Sphere, refusing to swear in a new First House.
The Succession Wars: 2781-2900 (Early), 2901-3049 (Late). Over the next three hundred years the five remaining Great Houses were constantly at war with each other over who would lead a reestablished Star League. A great deal of technological progress disappeared in the First and Second Succession Wars with the abundant use of atomic, biological and chemical weapons; the saying goes that the Houses "blasted the Inner Sphere back to the Stone Age". The Third and Fourth Succession Wars were fought under more old-fashioned rules of engagement. ComStar, a neutral faction with sole proprietorship over the galaxy's only method of faster-than-light communication, finds itself religiously hoarding Star League-era "Lostech" and stifling the technological regrowth of the galaxy. Only when a memory cache is rediscovered, its contents freely shared and traded to the Great Houses, does this growth resume. And not a year too soon...
The Clan Invasion: 3050-3061. Remember Kerensky and the SLDF who ragequit after the Star League broke apart? Yeah, their genetically-engineered warrior descendants have returned as the Clans. The Inner Sphere has been judged and the Five Great Houses have been found wanting, resulting in a near-total curbstomp of the depleted IS forces by the technologically superior Clans. Naturally, the offensive is blunted by inter-Clan rivalries and their disagreements on how to save the Inner Sphere from itself. The Sphere, in turn, mostly gets its act together and pushes back at the Clan forces, ending in ComStar proposing a final proxy war to decide the victor. The Clans lose and, bound by honor, dissolve their invasion and melt into modern politics.
The Steiner-Davion Civil War: 3062-3067. The heirs to a Steiner-Davion union, siblings Victor and Katherine, wind up in full-blown conflict as Katherine schemes to vault House Steiner to glory atop the dead bodies of their former Davion rivals. Several of the Clans make their mark in the war. Victor's half takes victory but not without cost: the largest faction in the Sphere is split apart once again while Katherine is spirited away by Clan Wolf.
Jihad: 3068-3080. With the religious reverence of technology losing its relevance, a radical splinter of ComStar known as the "Word of Blake" plots to recover the ways of old, feeling they are destined to come to power as heads of the new Star League. The Houses are suspicious and the League is dissolved. Understandably upset at the rejection of their prophecy, the Blakists attempt to reunite the Star League by lethal force in an all-fronts assault known as the Jihad. They're descended upon like a pack of hungry wolves and erased from the public eye, ComStar's Hyper-Pulse Generator network absorbed into common government.
Dark Age: 3081-3150+ (ongoing). From the ashes of the Jihad, another new Star League is formed, now maintained by the central Republic of the Sphere. With technology recovered from Blakist facilities and utilized by ultra-loyal Knights and Paladins, the Republic manages to stamp out most major conflict for a few decades. A sudden blackout of the HPG network spurs the many factions, Houses and Clans alike, to once again lunge at each other's throats and ignite the flames of war as if it's the only thing they know how to do. The central government sequesters itself as the Fortress Republic, building up its military forces as those citizens outside the "walls" must fend for themselves until the veil is lifted once more.
Links: Read Up
The Official Battletech Website: The definitive portal to getting into the BattleTech board game.
SARNA: The BattleTech Wiki: Everything you ever wanted to know about everything BattleTech.
Master Unit List: An online tool to help you sift through the thousands of combat units in the BattleTech universe. Includes Alpha Strike stat cards!
Iron Wind Metals: The official producer of BattleTech miniatures in the US. If it's not plastic or 3D printed, it's a metal mini made by these guys.
CamoSpecs Online: This website showcases the various color schemes in the BattleTech universe as demonstrated on actual minis.
MegaMek: An unofficial online version of the BattleTech board game. Some of us forumers are participating - ask in the thread!
Solaris Skunk Werks: This Java app will let you build Mech stats according to Tech Manual rules and print them out as official-looking sheets.
Don't be afraid to suggest any additions or fixes for this OP. I'll probably need to get different image links sooner or later.
BOARDGAME: ONLINE.
STORY: ONLINE.
LINKS: ONLINE.
ALL SECTIONS NOMINAL.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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I loves me some tabletop stompybots. I'm patiently awaiting for my copy of the new Introductory box to arrive, because I'm a miniatures whore. I'm even planning to repaint my collection this summer*!
@Ianator, one link I'd add: sarna.net
I reference it least once a day, as I daydream about Battletech and Mechwarrior while at work.
*Pending pulling myself away from other games. I have too many hobbies.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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A group meets up at the local Hobbytown every other Friday. This fortnight's game was to be a 6,000 BV-per-player 2v2 but an arrival from someone who works across the street turned it into a 5-way free-for-all. The roster went thusly:
P1: Perseus, Wraith
P2: Warhammer IIC, Daishi
P3: Nightwolf, Kraken XR
P4: Shiro, three Rokurokubi
Me: Awesome, Grand Dragon, Marauder
Within about two turns my Awesome finds itself staring down the many barrels of the Kraken XR's four Rotary AC/2s and two Streak LRM-10s. Initiative comes around and the Kraken unloads. My Awesome is awesome, but I elect to defer fire to my MAD-5R first.
One of my ER PPCs hits. Roll hit location...
Snake eyes. Center torso with a chance for a critical hit.
Boxcars. Three CT crit slots are going to disappear.
Engine hit.
Empty slot, reroll.
Engine hit.
Empty slot, reroll.
Engine hit.
He'll never stop bringing it up. I can live with that.
---
Another game: two or three games later is a 2v2, Jihad vs IS/Clan. I bring MAD-9S, P1 above brings his Perseus, we're the IS. P2 brings a Deva Infernus and a Gallowglas - we've got the weight while they've got the Jump Jets. He takes the Deva while letting someone else use the GAL, first the store owner and then P3 after about two turns.
Both of the Blakist players gang up on my Perseus buddy across open ground while I sneak around a mountain to keep from getting preemptively shot. They split up when I enter the brawl - me versus the Deva, Perseus versus Gallowglas. The GAL and Perseus get into close combat - while the GAL gets a few good hits in, it ultimately gets kicked apart by the Perseus.
Before that, though, I get stuck in with the Deva. We trade blows, me getting some okay Torso hits while he chews up my right side some. Somehow I manage to knock out his pilot. He wakes up next turn, but it's all for naught as I manage to drill out his Engine with my LLs, LB 10-X AC and an ER PPC. Guess which one deals the final hit?
I think I'm going to call my Marauder's right arm PPC "The Heartbreaker".
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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I'll have to check when I get to work, but I'm pretty sure it's possible. MWO pretty much uses the TT values for tonnage and crit slots, so if you can build it in MWO it should work for TT.
A short BT story (I've got a few): In my younger days, I was enamored of the mech construction rules, so I set out to design the ultimate mech: an Atlas built from the ground-up with Clantech. It was a beautiful piece of work, with an UAC/20 along with other upgraded weapons, max armor, faster....everything was improved from the IS build while retaining its essential characteristics. The build completed, it was time to field test it.
It was a straight tonnage-even match. I roll for, and lose initiative. My first opponent (who was significantly less experienced than me) moves his mech, then another opponent goes, then the mighty Atlas IIc lurched forward into action.
Weapons phase. Opponent 1 takes aim....with a Gauss Rifle.
Rolls to hit.....hit.
Rolls for location....HEAD.
THE MIGHTY ATLAS IIC, HEADSHOT ON THE FIRST TURN OF THE GAME.
My younger self just about flipped the table.
So this has always been a problem.
Edit: the reason I was asking about building rules is that Mvrck wants to get the mechlab back up and spiffy again, and I was thinking it would be cool if we could make a table top version. This could already be done, and might not at all be needed, but figured I would throw it out there if it might be a cool tool.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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The BattleMech engineers of Talisker IV proudly present the CTF-KSM.
A few notes:
1. Three jump jets give it the proper amount of oomph to let it clear those pesky mech-knee-high rocks that litter Talisker IV.
2. The weapons have been focused in the arms, with maximum range of motion for the two Large Lasers and one of the LB 10-X autocannons.
3. The chassis is maximally armored, for the pilot's protection.
4. Four tons of ammunition give the CTF-KSM a sustained rate of fire for twenty rounds for its two LB 10-X autocannons, which is frankly ridiculous by tabletop standards....
5. ...and which, according to proper MWO standards, has been stored in the legs for maximum protection.
We saw a sample of one of the 3d printed mechs at last year's Pax Prime, and it was super cool, but not at all smooth, it had all that typical 3d printing ribbing. I wonder if there's some sort of finishing process they can do so it isn't such a night mare to paint. In other news, the MWO styled miniatures looked seriously amazing. https://flic.kr/p/fNs8eH
Damnit. I want those minis to be a real thing so badly. Ugh.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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The main reason for this is a fundamental different in how they play: on the tabletop there is no way to choose what part of a mech you are aiming at unless the mech is completely disabled (not just knocked down, the pilot has to be totally unconscious)
You use different charts for hit location depending on what angle you are shooting them from but usually you have a 1/36 chance of hitting the head. Though on the punch attack table that goes up to 1/6 (physical attacks kick ass, the Atlas in particular really needs them).
This means you cannot focus fire on a torso location to quickly kill off an opponent. Any hit, no matter how little damage it does, that gets through the armor on a location does have the same chance to crit though. Which is why you usually want to pack a range of weapons from high-damage single location hits (large autocannons, PPCs etc...) and weapons which spread out (SRMs, LBX autocannons). You hope to punch a hole somewhere with your Gauss rifle and then follow it up with shotgun blasts and swarms of SRMs in order to get as many hits (however little damage they do) on that location.
There is also the issue of accuracy. Under good conditions you are usually looking at a 50ish% chance missing entirely (before you even roll for random hit location). Odds of hitting go down dramaticially if you are jump-jetting, or are at long range or the enemy is moving fast. A poptarting jump mech at long range would be looking at needing to roll 11 or 12 on 2d6 at best to even hit.
the new 2014 Makerbot Replicator runs $2899 and could probably turn out a decent mech mini
I have my doubts about whether the Makerbot Mini could though
(this vid starting at 3:10)
I love me some Level 1, green-effing pilot, shenanigans as much of the next guy. But step up to Level 2 tech with vet/elite pilots and shits gets deadly super fast.
I personally think that Petra's CTF build is solid, for tabletop. You've got four punch weapons (10/10/8/8 damage) to create holes, and then you can follow up with 20 points of KABLAM to go crit-seeking. It's maximally armored, and average-to-good maneuverable for a heavy. It won't drop another big mech instantly, but it'll hang just fine.
Other builds from MWO, it'll really depend. I think most MWO builds are going to put up a fight just fine, because compared to every stock TRO build, the MWO builds have been min/maxed out to the last fraction of a ton.
I would note that the whole level 1/2/3 stuff is thankfully gone from the rules now. You just pick Era and better tech / pilots costs more BV
Yeah his build would probably do well but I was addressing the issue of whether the type of mech that currently rules the meta of MWO (poptarting long range snipers) would work well on the tabletop
And as much I try, I can never convince my friends to play by BV. It's all old third edition terminology and weight matching with them. Yes, my friends are heathens. x_x
How hard it is to hit you scales with how many hexes you moved, while how much harder of a time you have hitting your opponent is based simply on the movement speed you selected. It's all about getting it so running causes the enemy to roll at -4 while making you only roll at -2, or whatever.
And then the one turn you messed up and can't run fast you get slagged. I love it.
This box set, it is fantastic.
The new plastic figs are really cast well. They're still the derpy designs, but the manufacturing of them is top-notch. All of the normal figs are one-piece, with really good detail, very little visible mold lines, and no visible deformation to any of the parts.
The premium figs (Battlemaster, Mad Cat) come on sprues, and are likewise well detailed. There's a bit more mold line prep that'll be needed, but the individual parts look amazing. I can't wait to put these bad boys together, and put them next to the Thor/Loki from the last box set.
How are you going to paint them up?
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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It's a lot of IS mechs, though, and my existing list already has at least one unit from every major House and then some. I'll have to break into more Periphery and mercenary paint schemes, or dip into different House units.
I assume you have an Oosik company already if you're hurting for colors?
I was certainly planning an Oosik lance (Jenner, Hunchback, Catapult, Atlas), but never figured on a whole company! I can certainly add a few more to that list to represent specific Oosik pilots *cough*Dragon*cough* though.
eNozN1RVNTYwUDVRNVUzUjOsMVQzRCON1UyApAmYbQZRYwaRBlOqZSYA7ZUOyQ==
Kurita Red: Dragon, Trebuchet, Jenner, Cicada
Forest Green: Awesome, Cyclops, JagerMech
Dark Grey: Atlas, Assassin, Spider
Icy Blue: Banshee, Zeus
Didn't really have much in mind specifically for factions aside from the Dragon being Kurita. I'm starting to wonder what I should paint the rest of them up as.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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IIRC there is a Panther in the box set right? If so, Kurita that mofo up.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Yup! I think it'll be the first member of a new lance for the DCMS in my TOE. [/acronyms]
PSN : Bolthorn
Sub-Level 27. Don't forget pics!
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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PSN : Bolthorn
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Part of my obsession mania OCD desire to do it right this time is twofold:
1. Factionalize my collection
2. Paint said faction'd mechs and vehicles in appropriate colors.
So, I've spent too much some time getting things organized. Anyone that's interested can look at my tentative ToE at this link!
I'd absolutely love any input and criticism. I did my best to fit mechs to factions, and then in some manner of sane grouping (especially the Clan mechs, by speed groupings).
I'm still working through planning the new batch. Not sure how many to reserve for Oosik-ification...
Warhammer.
Archer.
Heavy LRM Carrier.
I hope to have them painted by Friday.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Tomorrow's the Warhammer and Panther.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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