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Well Max wasn't exactly all there and he was watching his nation crumble before his eyes....

 auticus wrote:
https://youtu.be/TkWzLFPdLc4

I'm getting ready to start a merc campaign and wanted to add some Battletech content to my youtube.

For those that enjoy listening to some discussion on game systems.

Auticus I watched your video. Thanks for taking the time to go through that, it was quite well done.

It all seems so complex; If I get the $50 box, that is enough to play with for a long while, yes?

 Shrapnelsmile wrote:

 auticus wrote:
https://youtu.be/TkWzLFPdLc4

I'm getting ready to start a merc campaign and wanted to add some Battletech content to my youtube.

For those that enjoy listening to some discussion on game systems.

Auticus I watched your video. Thanks for taking the time to go through that, it was quite well done.

It all seems so complex; If I get the $50 box, that is enough to play with for a long while, yes?

I'm glad you found it useful; a couple of friends of mine also jumped in today afterward so its an exciting time (for me)

I'm not sure what $50 box you are referring to. There is a box with like 22 miniatures in it that is a starter box that has lasted many people I know their entire battle tech experience. The clan invasion boxes run similar with lances and you can get by with a single lance worth of models forever as well if you don't mind playing the same mechs and you are playing in an era appropriate game (for example if you buy a clan box with clan omni mechs, then you're fine unless your playgroup is playing pre 3050 (succession wars or before)).

The older starter box is Inner Sphere mechs so appropriate for any era. The new clan invasion starter box has five mechs in it (clan era).

 auticus wrote:

 Shrapnelsmile wrote:

 auticus wrote:
https://youtu.be/TkWzLFPdLc4

I'm getting ready to start a merc campaign and wanted to add some Battletech content to my youtube.

For those that enjoy listening to some discussion on game systems.

Auticus I watched your video. Thanks for taking the time to go through that, it was quite well done.

It all seems so complex; If I get the $50 box, that is enough to play with for a long while, yes?

I'm glad you found it useful; a couple of friends of mine also jumped in today afterward so its an exciting time (for me)

I'm not sure what $50 box you are referring to. There is a box with like 22 miniatures in it that is a starter box that has lasted many people I know their entire battle tech experience. The clan invasion boxes run similar with lances and you can get by with a single lance worth of models forever as well if you don't mind playing the same mechs and you are playing in an era appropriate game (for example if you buy a clan box with clan omni mechs, then you're fine unless your playgroup is playing pre 3050 (succession wars or before)).

The older starter box is Inner Sphere mechs so appropriate for any era. The new clan invasion starter box has five mechs in it (clan era).

Sorry, this box is what I am keen on using a gift card for :
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/battletech-game-of-armored-combat-catalyst-game-labs/1131295182

Nice. Yeah that one comes with eight plastic battlemechs, or two lances worth. You can easily not get any other mechs and just stick with those eight.

The only time you would HAVE to put yourself out there and get more is if you wanted to do a company or more as a company of mechs is three lances.

Those are the big battles though - and likely using Alpha Strike rules.

Every group and area is different but most groups I am experienced with predominantly are running lances or the equivalent and as you get more comfortable nothing stops you from identifying some mechs you really like and finding just those to add to your collection

 auticus wrote:
Nice. Yeah that one comes with eight plastic battlemechs, or two lances worth. You can easily not get any other mechs and just stick with those eight.

The only time you would HAVE to put yourself out there and get more is if you wanted to do a company or more as a company of mechs is three lances.

Those are the big battles though - and likely using Alpha Strike rules.

Every group and area is different but most groups I am experienced with predominantly are running lances or the equivalent and as you get more comfortable nothing stops you from identifying some mechs you really like and finding just those to add to your collection

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'll grab it soon. cheers and see you around here.

Game of Armoured Combat is a great start. I'd even suggest getting the Beginner's Box at the same time, both because it's a great way to ease you into the game, comes with two more 'Mechs (one unique to that set), and an extra map (having map variety is good!).

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
(having map variety is good!).

This can not be understated. I was looking forward to the maps by the time Wave 2 shipped more than the mechs.

I just got the Clan Invasion Reinforcements box in and if you're just looking for gaming value this is a tremendous next step after the starter boxes. It comes with a ton of card standee mechs with a variety of record sheets for each, card support vehicles that also have dust storm hexes on the reverse, and a new map with special rules for those dust storms. Also included are simplified rules for the support vehicles to add some spice to your scenarios without having to learn all the vehicle rules. Really great box that I hope is widely available.

If you're looking for record sheets, check this out!

https://bg.battletech.com/downloads/

Pretty sure my wife ordered the clan invasion pack, so that should be awesome!

Played our biggest game yet so far based on a scenario I wrote up for my Gray Death Legion. We played 3040 era so nothing too fancy, two lances per side, around 7500BV before pilots. The setup was that the GDL are on pirate patrol and intercept some bandits trying to get off planet with their loot. The pirate dropship is disabled in atmo and ejects two cargo pods and then the pirates combat drop out to secure the loot on the ground, and the GDL drops in after them. It's capture the flag with a bit more elaborate setup. The cargo pods drop and scatter, and each side had a couple extra terrain tiles to modify their side before game start.



Both sides drop in their territory with the goal of defending their cargo pod and bringing the opposing side's pod back to their home edge. The city in the middle is neutral and any damage inflicted to buildings (by weapons or skidding into one) is negative victory points.


GDL Command Lance and Scout Lance all setup.


OpFor side deployed... some mech drop rolls were failed...


Gray and McCall hung back to defend their pod for longer than I probably should have held them back.


The action heated up as we met around the city.


A few mechs ended up jumping in and around the urban center for cover but we ended with no collateral damage.


Most of the game ended up taking place in the pirate territory, with them trying to take advantage of the fact my heaviest hitter was hanging back on the defensive.


Blake hops up the ridge to claim the opposing cargo pod and prepares to run for it... by this point his mech was mostly armorless.


Sure, what could go wrong, standing here on a Level 2 ridge holding the flag.


Blake made it two turns jumping the pod towards home and then suffered an arm hit that knocked the pod free and crippled the Stinger, preventing it from picking it back up. The next turn Clay jumped in with his Wolverine and claimed the pod. Then pretty much the entire table pounced on this spot...


Thanks to a few lucky rolls the Wolverine survived the turn and his friends cleared out the biggest opposing threats. Big play of the game went to Grayson, taking a turn to cool his Marauder down and making up for it in the Physical phase, double punching the enemy Crusader and crumping it dead with a head strike. All that took us from around 9:30 AM to 6PM with a break for lunch so we called it, figuring that the Wolverine was just zippy enough to jump along the board edge back to safety and outrun the enemy Arched and Marauder that were still in pursuit.

Playing an 8 on 8 game opened up a lot of tactical options but still took us a long time. I'm not sure how anyone finished some of the Company v Company scenarios from the old sourcebooks in a day. It was very fun to try out a scenario I had written, and interesting to see what did and didn't work so I could make updates for future use. Biggest mistake I made was making picking up the objective an action in the Physical Attack phase, so a mech has to move into the hext with the pod and then stand there for a turn waiting to see if it survives long enough to attempt a pickup. I updated my packet to make the pickup attempts a 2MP action taken at the end of the Movement Phase so you potentially have more than one attempt and can better plan out the rest of your turn.

Next match is probably going to be an urban defense setup with some Lyrans I'm finishing up. After that I'm thinking I kinda want to jump ahead and mess with some IlClan nonsense just to get a taste of that tech level. We were holding off on introducing Clan tech proper with the goal of doing a mini-campaign to blood our Clan forces against each other before letting one side run some invasion missions on IS defenders to give us a good sense of Clan stuff and then putting it in context. I think I want to skip that for now and get a sense of what's in some of the Rec Guides and get in the mood for Tamar Rising where we'll get the first real sense of how my beloved GDL are doing as if their re-founding. I'm also building up some Kell Hounds, where I figure it makes more sense for more advanced stuff to show up.

What a lovely sight. Those Citytech buildings surely bring back memories.

M.

 Miguelsan wrote:
What a lovely sight. Those Citytech buildings surely bring back memories.

M.

I was worried they would be annoying and not stay put but they ended up working fine and looking great. The urban setups on the modern maps are gorgeous but they're drawn at a very different scale. The CityTech setup gave a great sense of a small metropolis with robots stomping through the streets.

Finishing a lance to bid the year farewell

Love the PH and Wasp minis, where are they from?

Nice work!

The Phawk looks 3D printed... ?

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
The Phawk looks 3D printed... ?

Or they are the robotech minis. It is just the standard Valkyrie and Valkyrie with super parts.

Alway nice to see unseens on the table. i bought a couple of the catalyst plastic sets just to get some in my collection.

 Chillreaper wrote:
Love the PH and Wasp minis, where are they from?

Nice work!

Bought the sculpts at Cults3d


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 aphyon wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
The Phawk looks 3D printed... ?

Or they are the robotech minis. It is just the standard Valkyrie and Valkyrie with super parts.

Alway nice to see unseens on the table. i bought a couple of the catalyst plastic sets just to get some in my collection.

Unfortunately, the RRT valks are 1) gak and 2) way too big. I ended up getting good models elsewhere and eventually I expect I'll set the RRT sprues on fire.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
The Phawk looks 3D printed... ?

It is, yep. The lines are probably a combination of me doing a fast test print and orientation.

Ok i am snowed in for another day at home so i thought-Fun battletech question time-

Favorite factions and units within those factions you play on TT and why?

I will start

Inner sphere i have 2 factions and 3 units (thank you field manuals for all the special rules)

My original love for all things japanese means-

Draconis combine


2nd swords of light



In the realms of TT rules they get some slight initiative bonuses, but the main reason is because they are the pillar of steel. the eblem of what it means to be a warrior of the combine and they also have dedicated support assets.

2nd deiron regulars



I play them mostly because i liked the idea of a dedicated mountain division and they have a great official "parade" scheme of black/green cammo
TT side they get an initiative bonus when fighting in mountain terrain.

Lyran alliance/fedcom



Because who doesn't like a bunch of crazy Germans with the biggest mechs and bigger guns.
steiner scout squad i am looking at you.

10th lyrans guards



This is pretty obvious. it was prince victor steiner/davions unit prior to the clan invasion and has been the unit of note for all future rulers to serve in.

TT rules wise they get over-run and bank intiative, or if you are playing a campaign, they get a bonus to mechwarrior skill roles as well as acess to some clan equipment post 3050.




Clan side

Hells horse



I love their philosophy -the warrior is the greatest asset not the specific battlefield position of that warrior-making the horse toumen one of the best combined arms force among the clans almost to the point of being the anti-clan in combat doctrine


Iota galaxy(the 9th ring of hell)



The 9th is a special case-the unit of misfits and rejects. warriors sent to die in glorious suicide missions because they vex the khan, then they not only succeed in their missions but usually survive.

The paint scheme for the unit is just flat black, however they have taken to painting their units with garish schemes depicting fire, skulls, lava and lightning. i like to think of them as the legion of the damned.

TT rules wise-they have off board movement, refuse to follow zellbrigan, and seek to take out command elements.

As with all HH units if they do not take something in their star that counts as infantry, they suffer an initiative penalty.

Many moons ago (towards the end of the 90's) a friend of mine at another site, as part of a drunken chat, came up with the idea of the UN turning into a dictatorial world government. This got morphed into a crossover with BattleTech, where rifts opened up near Earth that allowed various IS and Clan forces to descend on this 'Other Terra', or 'Scorched Earth' as it became known, and a big war for this different Terra began. The Clans were on the side of the UN, the Inner Sphere on the side of everyone fighting against them.

As a way of getting loads of people involved, most of the characters in the story were people from the forum, and eventually he brought other people in to write short stories with their own characters that fed into the narrative. Naturally I wanted my character to fight my fav faction, the Jade Falcons, so I went looking for a Falcon unit to be my adversary.

I came across the 5th Battle Cluster from the Jade Falcon Epsilon Galaxy:


For reasons I won't go into, I tend to give female main characters the surname 'Anu'. As luck would have it, this group was commanded by Star Colonel Diane Anu. She became the main rival to my character, appearing in a few stories. I was surprised to learn, many years later, that Anu not only became Galaxy Commander of Epsilon, but rose to the rank of the Jade Falcon saKhan!

So they became where I put the majority of my Omnimechs.

My Clan 2nd Line 'Mechs on the other hand, all went to...

The 7th Bear Regulars


As a big MechWarrior 2 fan - one of the first two games I got when we got a band new top-of-the-line Pentium 166MHz, alongside Quake - I played the hell out of that game. I did so mostly with the Jade Falcons (#Death2Wolves), but when Ghost Bear's Legacy came out I jumped at the chance to play that. This is back when I didn't even understand how BTech worked or what the Inner Sphere was (and as I wouldn't play MW2: Mercinaries for many years, that knowledge would come later). I didn't realise that the Draconis Combine forces in that game weren't Clan forces. I just thought they were the Dragon clan.

So when organising my 'Mechs I knew I wanted my collection of 2nd Line 'Mechs to go somewhere that wasn't the Falcons, and I also had a Binary of Clan vehicles as well. So I found the 7th Bear Regulars to be a good home for them.

Some time before I got into the actual BattleTech tabletop game, my fav BattleTech game of all time - MechCommander - was released, and with that a wealth of knowledge on how BTech actually functioned, including the Inner Sphere.

So it should be unsurprising that yet another one of my forces is influenced by a video game, roughly half the my IS 'Mechs fall under the banner of the...

1st Davion Guards


I may be #ClanJadeFalcon4EVA, but my loyalties lie with the Inner Sphere and the 1st Davion Guards.

But, thanks to Ghost Bear's Legacy, I also really liked the Draconis Combine, and as I found out more about the universe I knew that I had to split my IS 'Mechs between the two factions, much as I did with my Clan 'Mechs.

So, in reference to the game (again), my DC forces are, of course...

2nd Sword of Light


Shame what became of them in the end...

Now I have three other small forces - a ComStar force, a Capellan Confederation force, and a Pirate force. The first two don't have a canon unit associated with them yet as they're not really organised. The Pirate Force is known as Bronstein's Berzerkers, and is led by the vicious noble-turned-pirate Amelia Bronstein. Even made a custom 'Mech for her, a Zeus converted with the axe from a Ti Ts'ang.

Nice.


At least your pirates aren't movie studio guys like Greenburg's Godzillas.

Also, yes what happened to the second swords was tragic, unfortunately most of my units suffered similar fates during the jihad...darn WOBBIES!

The 2nd Sword got off easy.

One of the entire factions I play just got all-but-annihilated.

CJF?

Correct.

I know that feel bro ;_;

My favorites are the worst losers of Clan Jade Falcon, the Iota Galaxy. They're a garrison command, who are routinely raided to give experience fighting Clans to Lyrans. (this helps explain my lamentable tabletop performance) but their force mixture of second line mechs, often with the latest technological bells and whistles means that they often serve as guinea pigs for new technologies.

I'm hoping they were left behind when the Clan went for Terra, and will appear as part of the Falcon Remnant in Tamar Rising next year.

my favorite faction is House Davion.

If I have to name a fav clan it's proably clan wolf, but that's more a "ummm uhh... well I like wolves so I'll say that"

House Steiner - well pre 4th Succession Wars when Davion/NAIS seemed to become the best at everything.....

Mercs - Grey Death Legion - first books I read and loved Grey and Lori. Camacho's Caballeros a close second then Black Widow Company

Well, I usually GM, so I kinda like them all ^^

If I had to choose though, I dig Kurita and Davion the most of the IS, the Taurians from the periphery and I did dig the Nova Cats... :(

Also, I finished another lance, the last minis of the year I think:

While I have my preferred House (Davion) and preferred Clan (Cloud Cobra, but Hell's Horses has been growing on me), I didn't paint with that in mind. I did paint to keep the differences between IS and Clan intact, but that's about it.


For Clan, I went with a psuedo-Cloud Cobra design, with a dark sea blue top and purple pants and break up. Painting the bottom a different color was inspired by the Black Pants Legion idea.


For Inner Sphere, I went with a Brown Pants look and a green top. The Mercury II shown is technically Clan, but built on Star League tech, so I hybridized the scheme.

We don't really operate as factions, except the campaign which has most of us as a merc group.