The Official Battletech Thread

[Wolflord Havoc]

Another way to play Mixed tech is to Multiply each ton of 3025 tech as 1.0, Star League/advanced inner sphere tech as 0.75 and each Clan as 0.5

So if you are playing a game with Basic (level 1) 3025 Tech against an opponent with Clan Tech and you have agreed on say 300 Tons then the Clan player only gets 150 tons of Clan Tech Machinary or 225 tons if using advanced (level 2) inner sphere. The Level 1 3025 player gets a full 300 tons!

Another way to determine the size of forces is for 2 players to use the Clanners and each bids off agaisnt the other.

So in a 300 Ton game both players build a unit and then bid off by removing machines and points of Elementals etc.

This should result in an interesting force of Clanner vs an Inner Sphere unit. (or even vs another Clan unit!)

[Epicenter]

Sounds like Jade Falcons then.

Don't make people play the Clan that actually liked the Loki. I'm all for weird and not totally effective mechs with lots of weird gadgets - they have style (yeah, I love Clan Diamond Shark's stuff because of that).

But the Loki ... that thing is a bit too much style.

[Bloodknight]

I like the Loki *sniff*

[mughi3]

I'm generally more the light to medium type, and avoid bringing too much heavy equipment. More fire and maneuver than firing line...

Actually thats not jade falcon, ice hellions are masters of the light to medium fast scouting forces.

are there official rules for games without hexes?

Yes. they are in the old BMR as well as the new tactical operations.

basically you take all movement mods, ranges, walk/run speeds and double them.

Another way to play Mixed tech is to Multiply each ton of 3025 tech as 1.0, Star League/advanced inner sphere tech as 0.75 and each Clan as 0.5

So if you are playing a game with Basic (level 1) 3025 Tech against an opponent with Clan Tech and you have agreed on say 300 Tons then the Clan player only gets 150 tons of Clan Tech Machinary or 225 tons if using advanced (level 2) inner sphere. The Level 1 3025 player gets a full 300 tons!

Another way to determine the size of forces is for 2 players to use the Clanners and each bids off agaisnt the other.

So in a 300 Ton game both players build a unit and then bid off by removing machines and points of Elementals etc.

This should result in an interesting force of Clanner vs an Inner Sphere unit. (or even vs another Clan unit!)

We just use the old simple rules-inner sphere on sphere is one lance for one lance, clan on clans is one star for one star and sphere on clans is 2(lances) to 1(star).

because of the rules set and random effects of game play, battle value, and tonnage can never truely "balance" out the game.

But the Loki ... that thing is a bit too much style.

Not the way it overheats, not to scary, but it looks decent enough.

[kombine]

Can anyone recomened a good place to get minis for this game in the UK?
me and a few friends wouldn't mind joining in with this game, we can get the rules/book no problems but finding minis......

[Wing Commander]

If you are in Liverpool they're closer than you think...
In fact, the Mech factory is in Liverpool - Gamecraft are on Parr Street in the City Centre, ask for Roger he'll be able to give you anything you're looking for.

[kombine]

I thought Game craft had closed, Thats what i was told (yesterday to be exact)

[Wing Commander]

Its definitely not closed! I was in a couple of weeks ago, he is looking for new premises if he can get his sold, but things being as they are at the moment...
He has pretty much most of the range in stock and most of the books, etc if there is anything you need he'll either have it or have it soon!

[kombine]

cool, will most likely check it out tomorrow or next week when i head into town.

[mughi3]

For fun we decided to do a game with nothing but battle armor.

Being a clan hells horse player it was only fitting i would use the gnome and my opponant being a davion put some cavaliers (small laser) on the table.

We used the standard IS VS clan 2:1 ratio and it turned out to be a tough fight. we also deployed via hidden deployment so things got interesting fast.


With the cavaliers speed they quickly swarmed me in force and it looked grim for the gnomes, i managed to thin the numbers but neart the end i was down to 3 BA VS 7 of his. i got lucky with an initiative roll and managed to isolate first one pair of survivors and then another.










one gnome survived the game and won the victory.
;D




After that fast little game we did a planned engagement with re-enforced lances using unit specific rules found in the field manuals.


On his side-the second robinson rangers with a
.Berserker
.Axeman 1N
.No-datchi 2KO
.Ti T'sang
.cavalier battle armor

My side...knowing he wanted to get close to me i made it hurt more the closer he got-
lyran 10th regulars-
.fafnir
.heavy gauss atlas
.heavy gause goliath
.viking gauss variant
.point of kanazuchi battle armor(i didn't have a sheet handy for infiltraitor MKIIs)
and some mine fields since i got to be the defender. >



The first part of the game saw him use terrain judiciously to get close to me and the cavaliers almost torso crited the atlas early on.

His berserker and t'sang both managed to trigger minefields and took some leg damage.

The atlas's troubles only compouned when the berserker hit it in the face with a PPC and getting 2 crits-both life support...after which the atlas fell down in the water and killed the pilot.
#P

I managed to put the no-datchi to sleep for a turn while i mangled the berserker and the t'sang but in the process the fafnir was stripped of torso armor then failed his pilot check and fell criting heavy gauss rifles twice. putting the pilot to sleep for the rest of the game.


It was actually pretty even up to this point. he still had some battle armor and 2 mechs same as me. he put alot of effort into killing the viking and the goliath only took minor armor damage. when i got lucky and nailed the XL engines/torso onthe no-datchi the axeman decided to disengage since he was alone facing two assault mechs. he managed to get off the table while taking fire the entire way out.








Victory for the 10th, and a fun game.

[iamfanboy]

The old plastics were hardly perfect anyway; right now I'm going through my 20+ old plastics and fixing doozies like this one:



I mean, seriously; what kinda half-assed casting job leaves huge GAPING holes in the sides of your plastics?

But I like the game, so I'm sticking to it.

Not only that, on some of my oldest (and best-cast) minis, the surface of the plastic is actually PEELING OFF; I'm having to slice it off and resculpt any details that I remove! Tedious, but after Warhammer armies this is nothing!

[Sleazy]

Can anyone tell me anything about these Battletech minis I bought?

I got these cheaply off ebay new in blister, I dont know much about them. I have painted a couple for fun but am wondering what I have and what use they are. Are any particularly notable?

- Scorpion Mech
- Cestus Mech
- Hachiman Fire Support (2)
- Hellion 1
- Locust Variant LCT-5V
- Dragon Mech
- Ryoken Omnimech (with weapon choice)
- Phoenix Hawk
- Inner Sphere Fighters #3 Slayers (3)
- Jenner Mech

[Wing Commander]

You have mostly Inner Sphere designs - the Hachiman, Hellion & Ryoken are clanners but the rest of it is Inner Sphere.
You have the makings of a Merc force or perhaps a Draconis Combine unit - that way you can drop the Clantech in as they would likely have been captured. The 3 Slayers are Kuritan Aerotech fighters as well and the Dragon and Jenner solid Kuritan designs. The Scorpion, Cestus, Locus and Phoenix hawk are all usable by the Dracs so thats what I'd go with.

[mughi3]

Looks like you got a mixed bag


- Scorpion Mech
quad, light on heat sinks, great little 3025 most peple have acess to but watch the heat buildup.

- Cestus Mech
good light heavy, the gauss laser variant is the most heat efficient. usually a fedcom mech
- Hachiman Fire Support (2)
Clan fire support tank. for clanners 2 veciles equals 1 mech. if your playing hells horses vehicles will serve you well
- Hellion 1
Not a real fan of this mech. it's very fast. the B model packs quite a punch but has poor heat management. the C model has a more even laser/ATM loadout with a targeting computer.

- Locust Variant LCT-5V
glass hammer-run fast

- Dragon Mech
combine specific, can be used as a grand dragon as well. a good fast heavy used extensively by the combine.
- Ryoken Omnimech (with weapon choice)
Very good clan medium. lots of weaons options from city fighter to harasser, available to all clans

- Phoenix Hawk
Inner sphere classic like the locust and scorpion. old but reliable.
- Inner Sphere Fighters #3 Slayers (3)

- Jenner Mech
a locust with missiles and a tad bit more armor.


Looks like you have the makings of a fine IS light/recon lance or a more medium lance.

My picks
-cestus, scorpion, dragon, pheonix hawk.

Put them up against the hellion and ryoken with clan pilots and it should be a pretty fair fight.

[Sleazy]

thanks for that mughi3 and wingcommander. I still need the rules so I reckon I'll pick up the starter box from my LGS.

I think I'll give the fight suggested by mughi3 a try.

[mughi3]

Best bet nominate one mech from each force to be the commander with a +1 improved skill set.


standard IS are gunnery 4 and piloting 5 with a commander being an elite 3/4

clan standards are a 3/4 with an elite command 2/3

thats how we always run them and it balances out.


Along with the rules i suggest you pick yourself up a copy of the fine computer program heavy metal pro (HMP).

so you can print out control sheets for vehicles, mechs, protomechs and battle armor including all the variant builds.

.the (stormcrow)ryoken prime is a good laser boat and very heat efficient. the B is super scary up close but you have to watch your heat double shoting the UAC 20 really spikes the scale. prime would be my call. stay at range and use it to your advantage-my pick for command pilot.

Go with the C model on the helion and load out the ATMs with short range HE ammo 3 points damage per. it's fast enough to use them effectively,


ON the IS side
.grand dragon-
I'm a fan of the 7K the MRMs are a little harder to hit(+1) with but don't have the 6 hex min range(and count as having artemis IV) of the LRMs and the PPC is an ER so no mins there either.

cestus-
6-Y firing everything and running generates you 1 extra over heat per turn. it has decent enough energy weapons to fall back on when you run the gauss rifle dry.-my pick for command pilot.

.pheonix hawk.
i would roll the 6D
it has a targeting computer, snipe with the ERPPC and switch to medium lasers once you close the range.
you take a risk by running XL engines but i think it is worth it.

.Scorpion.
the 12-S doesn't overheat and has CASE for the LBX.

[mughi3]

Did another game against the robbies this weekend.




In this game i threw in totally random stuff i normaly do not use together. i was allso helping to teach 2 new people the game, letting them control a couple of my units.

To make it even better the robbies got to fight the second swords of light this time around. we had so much fun with BA last time around we decided to sub in some for this game.

I had nothing over 65 tons on the table. it had the feel of a recon lance in heavies, but we dracs like our heavies.
>
.grand dragon
.ninja--to
.tokugawa
.kanazuchi BA



he ran his
.berserker
.t'sang
.no-datchi
.cavalier BA




Most of the game we danced around each other trying to keep the range open as long as possible. it ended up making for a very long game. his zerker was also rolloing incredibly well on his ECM ghost imaging, maxing it out several times. this prbably saved him from death.

The tokugawa took down the no-datchi though pilot shock and he never woke up again. we savaged both the zerker and the BA but when the ninja-to took concentrated fire that ripped off a single torso the field was lost, forcing the dragon to MASC and get clear. he probably could have taken the zerker down if he had stayed but he wasn't willing to risk tangling with a nearly untouched t'sang.

It was a good game and we got some newb training in.


A couple of our other players also did a star on star battle between the Jags and nova cats. i didn't hitnk to take pictures of that one. but i set up the table fun, with a super highway and a parallel river running stright down the lengthof the table.

Here are some pics of our battle.

[Wolfblade670]

Could anyone tell me the learning curve BT requires? My FLGS played it for awhile but when I finally decided to try it out they dumped BT and switched back to Warmachine. I'm thinking about buying the starter box, but if I can't teach my non-wargaming mates to play it I may not.

[Wing Commander]

You can pick up the basics in a few games, mastering the heat track is probably one of the trickiest aspects and you have charts for the rest. Mastering the game though, thats a whole different prospect.
The starter box is superb value and means you don't have a big outlay to play the game at a decent level, I'd recommend getting hold of it closely followed by Heavy Metal Pro.

[Bloodknight]

I explained CBT to my fiancee in less than half an hour and she could play it (and she does it quite successfully, too). You basically just need to know how to move and how you calculate to-hit rolls (which is pretty easy), the rest is on your sheet. I suggest starting on the 3025 tech level, the later ones are too confusing for beginners. It's also probably the most tactical level of CBT and the one where you learn to master the game because you get all that crappy tech and heat and ammo explosions actually mean something.

The starter box is ace
Heavy Metal Pro is good, so is The Drawing Board. Or at least TDB used to be good, haven't looked at it in ages due to no opponents except my GF, and we usually play stuff from the scenario packs that FASA released in the 90s.