KickStarter BattleTech Pre-Release Thread

[Cael]

Wonder if they'll have TACs. Not likely, given how they're handling it so far, but if they did it would be hilarious/bullshit.

EDIT: (Through-armor criticals, AKA how the dice let you know they fucking hate you)

EDIT 2: I'm pretty sure TACs were an "optional" rule but I could be wrong about that

Roll a 2 for location and it is TAC to the CT. That is in the base rules.

The optional one was to roll a second hit location if you roll a 2, which means possible TAC anywhere.

 

[Cael]

Just to make a little addendum, you forgot about Rear Torso, which is basically the same as CT except generally considerably more fragile in regards to armor (there's two types of "hit points" for Mechs in BTech, armor and internal).

No. In the real rules, each torso section has a rear component. Even in MW, each torso section has a different rear section.

All 3 suffer from the same thinner armour, but that is more a function of people allocating more armour to the front than to the back as both comes from the same pool of armour points. You CAN, in theory, make a 'mech have a thicker rear armour than the front, and mount all your torso weapons firing into the rear arc.

 

[Jason Liang]

No Stackpoling please God no fucking Stackpoling, Stackpoling is a stupid fucking rule

There's also this infamous move:

 

[Jason Liang]

Nice medium-sized battle - lots of great content on Russian Battletech pages. For some reason Russian players like playing Clan. I wonder why

 

[Cael]

2 words: Alexandre. Kerensky.

 

[Cael]

No Stackpoling please God no fucking Stackpoling, Stackpoling is a stupid fucking rule

There's also this infamous move:

That move is never in any of the rules, by the way. It was made up crap, on par with Aidan Pryde's small laser of doom.

 

[Destroid]

Making a TT game in computer format, with ALL of the TT rules built in and computer controlled opponents would be something that Battletech fans would pay good money for.

Something along the lines of Mechcommander, but turn based, hex based, with TT rules, weapons ranges, 'mech customising rules and the like. In fact, something like Fallout Tactics where it is RT until battle starts when it reverts to TB would be a pretty good platform to put the whole thing on.

And, of course, you will need to put in all of the stages in the round (i.e., move stage, weapons fire stage, physical attack stage, cooldown stage, etc.).

A game like that would be an instant hit with BTech fans, the storyline be damned, really. Throw in moddability and map/mission creator/editors and you will have fans buying and playing that game for the next 20 years. And all you have to do is release mission packs and stuff until technology advances enough for you to re-engineer the same game but with better graphics and speed. BTech has been around for 30+ years and still has legions of fans and players. There is no reason to "upgrade" the basic game in the slightest.

I come bearing gifts from an alternate timeline.

 

[Jason Liang]

That move is never in any of the rules, by the way. It was made up crap, on par with Aidan Pryde's small laser of doom.

Speaking of which, look what I just found:

So awesome if you know that scene.

 

[Cael]

I come bearing gifts from an alternate timeline.

MegaMek is good, but it doesn't seem to have the flexibility I am looking for. My system has individual profficiency ratings for Laser, SRM, LRM, PPC, Pulse Lasers, Heavy/Light/Ultra Heavy Autocannons, Flak Cannons, Artillery, Gauss Rifle and Small Arms. Also, Piloting and Jumping is divided into 'mech weight categories, Sensors is a separate skill and a special category for profficiency with a particular 'mech (without which you get penalties). There is also a Luck system involved that would allow you to stop insta-Pilot death head shots :D

It was built for a RPG style of game, where you keep your character(s)/pilot(s) for multiple campaigns, not as expendable grunts.

 

[Jason Liang]

... I was always pretty fond of the Mechwarrior RPG ruleset myself.

 

[Cael]

Speaking of which, look what I just found:

So awesome if you know that scene.

Very nice.

I have always found the strategic overview of that scene to be a bit silly. I mean the Falcons were already retreating and running for their DropShips. Comstar should have called for Hegira and let the Falcons go so that they can concentrate on the other fights still raging.

 

[Cael]

... I was always pretty fond of the Mechwarrior RPG ruleset myself.

Too many holes in it. I adapted the White Wolf system into BTech. 5 dots max dovetails nicely into the traditional Piloting and Gunnery ratings of 0 to 4.

 

[Jason Liang]

Very nice.

I have always found the strategic overview of that scene to be a bit silly. I mean the Falcons were already retreating and running for their DropShips. Comstar should have called for Hegira and let the Falcons go so that they can concentrate on the other fights still raging.

True, but perhaps Focht had no way to contact the Clan leadership to arrange hegira. His only real Clan leadership contact was Ulric, and even if he could communicate with Ulric it wouldn't have worked since each Clan was leading themselves. And Focht probably wasn't familiar enough with the Clans to know about hegira (although iirc he knew of safecon). I don't recall it being invoked in any engagement in the Clan Invasion. When Stackpole wrote Lost Destiny, there'd been only three books about the Clans.

Also, it's said that Aidan's heroics allowed the Falcons to retreat in an orderly enough fashion to claim the battle a draw. That implies that the Com Guards basically slaughtered most of the other clans as they were retreating, out of ammunition. If they offered hegira, those engagements would have been considered draws.

Tukayyid is one of my favorite sourcebooks ever published for any pnp game.

 

[Cael]

Very nice.

I have always found the strategic overview of that scene to be a bit silly. I mean the Falcons were already retreating and running for their DropShips. Comstar should have called for Hegira and let the Falcons go so that they can concentrate on the other fights still raging.

True, but perhaps Focht had no way to contact the Clan leadership to arrange hegira. His only real Clan leadership contact was Ulric, and even if he could communicate with Ulric it wouldn't have worked since each Clan was leading themselves. And Focht probably wasn't familiar enough with the Clans to know about hegira (although iirc he knew of safecon). I don't recall it being invoked in any engagement in the Clan Invasion. When Stackpole wrote Lost Destiny, there'd been only three books about the Clans.

Also, it's said that Aidan's heroics allowed the Falcons to retreat in an orderly enough fashion to claim the battle a draw. That implies that the Com Guards basically slaughtered most of the other clans as they were retreating, out of ammunition. If they offered hegira, those engagements would have been considered draws.

Tukayyid is one of my favorite sourcebooks ever published for any pnp game.

Wolf's Dragoons should have told them that. I believe that Victor Steiner-Davion used it a bit later at Coventry (3057-ish?). only 5 years difference, give or take.

Hegira isn't a draw. It is an honourable withdrawal, so the other side still lost. It is just that boths sides' honour is intact. It is basically "I know I am going to win. You know I am going to win. But in the process, both of us are going to get mauled, and that is wasteful as all hell. So, let's agree that I won and save resources, which is what the Father wanted us to be doing, so honour to you, too."

 

[Jason Liang]

Now you've got me trying to recall what the Dragoon/ Comstar relationship was like, if any.

Now that I'm thinking about it, another reason why the Falcons were able to draw on Tukayyid despite abandoning their objectives was that by the point they started their withdrawal, the Clans had essentially lost the challenge. Kael Pershaw as well as the Falcon leadership already knew that the Jaguars and most of the other Clans present had failed to gain their objectives and were being routed, so the Falcons held on long enough to withdraw without losing honor, since the whole invasion force was already in retreat, and they themselves had also run out of supplies and ammunition. And probably the more strategic Clan heads like Pershaw already knew that even had the fighting gone a lot better, the Clans had underbid disastrously and lost the battle before it even began.

Re: hegira, now I'm thinking that even had ComStar offered hegira, at least the Falcons would never have accepted it. This was the decisive battle. These warriors had trained their whole lives for this one battle. Most of them probably didn't want to withdraw and would have rather died fighting. What do they have to live for?

The only reason that Marthe accepted hegira on Coventry was she needed the warriors to defend the JF Occupation Zone from the Wolves.

 

[Cael]

Now you've got me trying to recall what the Dragoon/ Comstar relationship was like, if any.

Now that I'm thinking about it, another reason why the Falcons were able to draw on Tukayyid despite abandoning their objectives was that by the point they started their withdrawal, the Clans had essentially lost the challenge. Kael Pershaw as well as the Falcon leadership already knew that the Jaguars and most of the other Clans present had failed to gain their objectives and were being routed, so the Falcons held on long enough to withdraw without losing honor, since the whole invasion force was already in retreat, and they themselves had also run out of supplies and ammunition. And probably the more strategic Clan heads like Pershaw already knew that even had the fighting gone a lot better, the Clans had underbid disastrously and lost the battle before it even began.

Re: hegira, now I'm thinking that even had ComStar offered hegira, at least the Falcons would never have accepted it. This was the decisive battle. These warriors had trained their whole lives for this one battle. Most of them probably didn't want to withdraw and would have rather died fighting. What do they have to live for?

The only reason that Marthe accepted hegira on Coventry was she needed the warriors to defend the JF Occupation Zone from the Wolves.

The Dragoon Compromise basically invalidated any hostilities. It was all a matter of survival by then. Although Waterley was still trying on her shit until Focht put one in her head.

 

[Infinitron]

Spotted in the latest issue of PC Gamer:




Closer look at dialogue sequence:

 

[Cael]

That mission looks suspiciously like one of the starter campaign missions in MW4Mercs. The one where you sneak past the turrets and blow up a generator and fight the Black Cobras for the first time.

 

[Jimmious]

Is this still listed for an "early 2018" release? So theoretically in the next 2-3 months....?

 

[Monty]

Is this still listed for an "early 2018" release? So theoretically in the next 2-3 months....?

Yep, I guess people will ask again at next week's Q&A, perhaps there will be a hint. So far the average estimate on the BT Forums, based on a carefully weighted blend of pure speculation and the the date of PDXCON.... seems to be mid-April.

 

[Monty]

(At least some of the) voice acting finalised

 

[Grotesque]

 

[Black]

"a main line medium mech that used across known space".
Did another tranny proofread this?

 

[Cael]

"...does not lack in any single area."

Is the moron on drugs? The Shadow Hawk lacks in the most important part of any 'mech: firepower.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

"...does not lack in any single area."

Is the moron on drugs? The Shadow Hawk lacks in the most important part of any 'mech: firepower.

It's the epitome of "jack of all trades and master of none". The Shitty Hawk is a mech that desperately needs customization to be decent.