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If you want a real time killer, we have one we call the 100-Ton-Maxi [I may have already posted this]
1] You are only allow 100 tons on the board at a time.
2] You may not Eject until you are "Crippled" [Loss of a leg or all weapons, ect] or destroyed.
3] Once you are out of the fight you can bring in a New Mech.

or

The Stinger Drill
1] Everyone takes One Stinger and just lets the fun happen.

could be fun doing an escalation thing when you start at the stinger drill and just work your way up 5 tons at a time until its nothin but behemoths stomping around, and the one lucky guy who kept his stinger safe. that would be a pretty epic game.

Level 1: Panther PNT-9R. Scrappy light 'mech that can fight above its weight class, hard-hitting, decent at all ranges jumps, reasonably durable for the era, fair heat efficiency. Very versatile. Also has an angry face for a cockpit, which endears it to me.

Level 2 IS: Lancelot LNC25-01. Gigantic engine? Check. All energy loadout, and enough heat sinks to fire them all day? Check. Good firepower for size? Check. Armor? ...well, nobody's perfect.

Level 2 Clan: Mad Dog (Vulture). Powerful, but not overpowering. A fun one to make custom pod configurations for, and a good flavorful character ride, if your gaming group does any kind of campaign play.

Genosaurer wrote:Level 2 Clan: Mad Dog (Vulture). Powerful, but not overpowering. A fun one to make custom pod configurations for, and a good flavorful character ride, if your gaming group does any kind of campaign play.

My Favorite I base on an BattleTech Center Vulture the V4
6x Streak SRM-6 [4 tons ammo]
6 ERSL
15[30] Heat Sinks

If I had to choose any 3025 mech to actually roll with it would have to be the Grasshopper. Good armour and good manouverability with a good weapons load out. I'd only be fidgety about that LRM5 ammo.

Yeah but nobody uses the LRM on a grasshopper anyways. It's all about jumping and lasing. The only reason you fire the LRM is to get rid of the ammo before it explodes. It is probably the most efficient mech of its time, but as such, becomes a very valid target to everyone else and its a damn good thing they put jumpjets on him because that's the only thing saving him from getting mobbed.

The LRM is a 'get your attention' weapon. Its designed to support the hit and fade aspect of a Grasshopper's combat ability. The lasers are for the stand up fight.

I like how the LRMs are head mounted, they are there for the trickshot. The last thing we needed was yet another energy weapon only mech *yawn*, ammo is more fun.

Wonderful mech the Grasshopper, you would have though that by its name its just a less voracious variant of the Locust.

Well, my second favorite design is the Charger.

All of my friends always thought I was nutters for liking an Assault 'Mech that behaved in every way like a light, which was the reason I loved that thing so very much.

An Assault Recon 'Mech, yes please.

I saw a Charger take a Warhammer apart once with a 8 hex charge and WHAMMO! that Warhemmer was just crushed with the onslaught. That's why it's called a charger, right? Nice when you have a good piloting skill for it.

Guitardian wrote:I saw a Charger take a Warhammer apart once with a 8 hex charge and WHAMMO! that Warhemmer was just crushed with the onslaught. That's why it's called a charger, right? Nice when you have a good piloting skill for it.

You should try the large laser variant of the Charger. Incredible firepower at the expense of armor and heat sinks!

Thanks but I'd rather just keep the armor and run into stuff if I draw a good pilot character. That thing is a battering ram that nobody takes seriously. Start adding on actually decent weapons and people notice you.

Trouble is charging does damage to you too so its self defeating. the charger is not a cheap disposable unit due to its huge engine cost when CBills are considered.

This is a mech crying out for a hatchet or two. Or just downgrade the engine and cover it with guns.

Charger CGR-1A5. A refit kit with level 1 technology. reduces speed to 4/6 and rearms with an AC20, two SRM6, a small laser and a medium laser. Now who is laughing!

Orlanth wrote:Trouble is charging does damage to you too so its self defeating. the charger is not a cheap disposable unit due to its huge engine cost when CBills are considered.

This is a mech crying out for a hatchet or two. Or just downgrade the engine and cover it with guns.

Charger CGR-1A5. A refit kit with level 1 technology. reduces speed to 4/6 and rearms with an AC20, two SRM6, a small laser and a medium laser. Now who is laughing!

But that is not a Charger that is a 80 ton Atlas
If you are going to play chargers you need two of the 5 Pop-Gun verions piloted by Betty and Wilma

Anpu42 wrote:

Orlanth wrote:
Charger CGR-1A5. A refit kit with level 1 technology. reduces speed to 4/6 and rearms with an AC20, two SRM6, a small laser and a medium laser. Now who is laughing!

But that is not a Charger that is a 80 ton Atlas

More like a Victor without jump jets. Its a 4/6 rather than 3/5 design, so it can still charge if you want to do so. i suppose that means AC20 ammo is out.

We had a class of Mech we called “Stick Mechs”, because you needed a stick to beat them down.

Panther
Vindicator
Wolverine
Thunderbolt [our nickname was the Government Model 45]
Orion
Battlemaster
Banshee

I had a Thunderbolt once stand and slug it out with a 100 ton Mech for 5 turns in Melee before I walked through a building with no armor left, do relies how cold those things are when you are not firing the Large Laser.

Agreed on all of the above list. Those are all mechs with ridiculous staying power, who often end up punching and (pilot willing) kicking until the last throes of the battle. Cool thing about Banshee is that it is not taken seriously. All of those mechs are great survivors, and they all carry close to a full armor load and at least 4/6 speed and jets for the smaller ones... coincidence?

I'm curious where 'government model 45' came from?

The only mechs I ever named were the ones who survived game after game... "Lionheart", who later became "Ol' reliable" who was my last-mech-standing champion Crusader (I painted him white with a red cross on his chest), "Hendrix" my Hatchetman, "Little John" my Archer who made it through 4 games and racks and racks of LRM ammo before he even got a leg knocked off and usually just ended up punching stuff... "Oswald"(as in Lee Harvey) my Assassin who nobody every bothered to shoot at much cause he's a difficult target with a minimal threat; Those are the only ones I named throughout about 5 years of hardcore weekly multiplayer games (not very origional names, I know, all with stupid and obvious references to the name of the Chassis). Hendrix the Hatchetman eventually ended up being self destructed by an ammo explosion... how appropriate. Hendrix self destructed after rocking for years. hee hee.

Guitardian wrote:I'm curious where 'government model 45' came from?

The M1911A1 Government Issue .45 Automatic, you know Ol' Relable

Joke names do work the best, Like Logan the Wolverine Pilot, who love the claw rules

We should play a dumb game naming all the old cannon mechs with the dumbest stupid cultural references. Starting at the 20 tonners...

Stinger: "The Police"
Wasp: "Protestant"
Locust: "Plague"

Commando: "Arnold"
Spider: "Charlotte"
Valkyrie: "Fat Lady Sings"
Javelin: "Track and Field"
Urbanmech: "Urbanwreck"

Panther: "Pantera"
Firestarter: "Half Baked"
Ostscout: "Socrates" (as in "why are we here?")
Jenner: "Wheaties" (Bruce Jenner was the origional wheaties box cover guy)

Whitworth: "Whatworth"
Vulcan: "Cripple God"
Assassin: "Lee Harvey"
Hermes II: "Shoot The Messenger"
Clint: "Eastwood" (kind of a no-brainer there)

Phoenix Hawk:..... dunno
Hatchetman: "Hendrix"
Vindicator: "Gibson" (after Mel aka braveheart who fought for freedom?)

Enforcer: "Robocop"
Centurion: "Julius"
Hunchback: "Quasi"
Trebuchet: "Trench Bucket"

Griffin: "Oberwald" (Blood bowl ref.)
Shadowhawk: hmmm.. dunno
Wolverine: "Logan"
Dervish: "Bin Laden"

Quickdraw: "McGraw" (duh)
Rifleman: "Oswald" (again)
Dragon: "Bruce"

Catapult: no idea
Crusader: "ReligionIsDumb"
Thunderbolt: "Rod"

Warhammer: "The Emprah!"
Archer: "Little John"
Grasshopper: "Annoyance"

Orion: "Target" (read the origional Artemis myth)
Marauder: "Zentraidi"

Charger: "Popgun"
Victor: "Victoria"
Zeus: "Swan"
Awesome: "Metalocolypse"

Stalker: "Condom"
Goliath: "Scooby" (he thinks he's a biped...)
Battlemaster: "Dubyah"

Cyclops: "No-Man" (read the Odyssey)
Banshee: "Souxie Sue"
Atlas: "Shrug" (Ayn Rand)

just some funny name ideas because I'm bored... I'm sure I missed a couple of the origional 55 but hey... whatever...

Valkyrie: "Rider"
Panther: "Kitty"
Assassin: "Calidus"
Vulcan: "Chain Gun"
Phoenix Hawk: "Ashes"
Dervish: "Dancer"
Rifleman: "Vindicare"
Catapult: "Trojan Rabbit"
Archer: "Robin Hood" (DUH!)
Grasshopper: "Pebble From the Hand"
Orion: "Master"
Marauder: "Norse"
Zeus: "Lightning"
Awesome: "Dude"
Stalker: "Unseen Lurker"
Goliath: "David"
Cyclops: "X-Man"
Banshee: "Screamer"
Atlas: "Muscle Man"

When they started the Star League and Clan crappola I turned and ran. The plain old Battletech game where most of the designs came from anime will always be my favorite. Once they started using more and more high tech-ish fanboy designed drek and then lost the licensing to the Destroids and other Japanese mecha I knew I wouldn't go back. And now it's owned by WotC isn't it?

It's kind of sad since I have almost 100 metal mechs on hex bases. Someday I suppose I'll come across folks who still play the original game, or not.

Regardless, my favorite mech is a toss up between the Warhammer and the Thunderbolt. Or maybe the Shadow Hawk.

What we started becouse everyone likes diferent Eras/Tech Levels is we started doing is after the end of each session we rotate who chooses what Ara/Tech we will play next time.

Sanguinary Dan wrote:When they started the Star League and Clan crappola I turned and ran. The plain old Battletech game where most of the designs came from anime will always be my favorite. Once they started using more and more high tech-ish fanboy designed drek and then lost the licensing to the Destroids and other Japanese mecha I knew I wouldn't go back. And now it's owned by WotC isn't it?

It's kind of sad since I have almost 100 metal mechs on hex bases. Someday I suppose I'll come across folks who still play the original game, or not.

Regardless, my favorite mech is a toss up between the Warhammer and the Thunderbolt. Or maybe the Shadow Hawk.

No, WotC sure as hell doesn't own Battletech. It is owned on the highest level by Topps (yeah, the baseball card people) and licensed to Catalyst Game Labs. CGL has many old time Battletech writers, contributors, and part owners who continued the game line after FASA died.

In the end, if you like the "3025" era, you have no reason to stop playing. All the things you own (except LAMs for the moment) are totally and completely still viable to play with and use.

Have the old Unseen stuff? Great! Keep using it. No one will stop you or do anything about it unless you are a Catalyst Demo Agent. Even then, rights were secured for everything that was redesigned with the exception of the Robotech designs, a whopping 14 chassis.

All the stats for those designs are still valid. Everything you loved about the game back then? Nothing stopping you from playing that way now. NOT A THING. Come on back to the BAttletech Community. We'll take ya.

yeah if we can find each other...

Topps own Battletech? Do ya get a free stick of gum with every mech?

While I'm happy to hear that I'm "allowed" to use my old FASA stuff (I know, I know. You meant that only in a "it's your toy, play the way that's fun for you" way. ) finding folks who want to play using that era of the game is harder than I'd thought possible. But if anyone in my area does want to dI'm more than willing.

It isn't a complete list, but it gives you a place to start to find players:

http://www.catalystdemos.com


Sign up is free, no spam email or anything. It is a site for people to find their local Catalyst Demo Team Agents (like me) and other Catalyst gamers in the area. You can search for Battletech or ShadowRun if you play it.

Mattlov wrote:It isn't a complete list, but it gives you a place to start to find players:

http://www.catalystdemos.com


Sign up is free, no spam email or anything. It is a site for people to find their local Catalyst Demo Team Agents (like me) and other Catalyst gamers in the area. You can search for Battletech or ShadowRun if you play it.

I just did that and it seems that the closest place to me that has Battletech events is in Texas.

sqir666 wrote:

Mattlov wrote:It isn't a complete list, but it gives you a place to start to find players:

http://www.catalystdemos.com


Sign up is free, no spam email or anything. It is a site for people to find their local Catalyst Demo Team Agents (like me) and other Catalyst gamers in the area. You can search for Battletech or ShadowRun if you play it.

I just did that and it seems that the closest place to me that has Battletech events is in Texas.

I KNOW there are people in Oklahoma. I'll go try to dig some of them up if you are interested. Alternatively, you could head over to http://www.classicbattletech.com and sign up on the forums there. We're all friendly, and there is a "Gatherings and Challenges" Forum so you can say who and where you are. Hopefully people nearby will respond. But I know a several people in OK who play, I'm just not sure WHERE in Oklahoma they are.

Sanguinary Dan wrote:While I'm happy to hear that I'm "allowed" to use my old FASA stuff (I know, I know. You meant that only in a "it's your toy, play the way that's fun for you" way. ) finding folks who want to play using that era of the game is harder than I'd thought possible. But if anyone in my area does want to dI'm more than willing.

Actually from what I've seen, a lot of people still play 3025. It seems like most local groups that I've talked to have been pretty flexible too, so I'd recommend casting your net, so to speak, and see if you can find some local players, if you're interested in playing.

This was kind of interesting: In the 'Mechwarrior' RPG 1991 edition (which I just found in my mom's back porch while visiting for the weekend )... There is a table for random mech assignments based on house affiliation. It is a 2d6 table, and as all Btech players know, 7 is the largest bracket of probability with 2d6. These are the lances that you would get if you rolled the (theoretically probable average) for each mech class:

Davion:
Valkyrie (obvious)
Dervish (??!!)
Rifleman (makes sense with hanse's autocan obsession)
Awesome (I'm wondering why it isn't a Victor)

Steiner:
Commando (duh)
PhoenixHawk
Rifleman
Zeus (duh again)

Kurita:
Panther (duh again again)
Whitworth
Dragon (obviously)
Victor (makes no sense since it's a Davion mech design)

Marik:
Locust (whatever)
Hermes II (sucky and appropriate)
Orion (ancient old design that still toughs it out, also appropriate)
Battlemaster (Yessss... I want one)

Liao:
Stinger (hey it's Liao... they're struggling)
Vindicator (That one is a no-brainer)
Catapult (!!!)
Cyclops (!!!!!!!)

Of all of these lance configurations I think the strongest combo is (gasp) Liao! Yeah stingers suck and cyclops is low on armor but can hit hard, but the stinger can guard the cyclops back while the Catapult and Vindi do the real work.

The second strongest combo is the Davion one, with its only weak spot being the stupid Dervish and its exploding SRM arms.

Which lance would you guys prefer to take, cuz I just might try playing all these lances off against each other on the mechwar simulator just to see, cuz I'm bored and visiting my mums house and have nuthin to do while she is off at work... taking bets... I'll tell you who the winner is after all bets are in (probably at the end of the weekend). I'm betting on Liao.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Kurita a close second. Dragon is their toughie, whitworth kind of a tough 40 tonner that can multitask, but comparatively slow. Victor never made sense to me, and why it would be the most common Kurita assault mech I do not know. Panther rocks and everyone knows it.

Still I bet on Vindicator, Catapult as excellent efficiency mechs. Cyclops a lightweight but hard hitter, and stinker as the only weak spot so Liao!!! FTW!!!

I like the Kurita Lance. Good Manuvability and LOTS of Meduim Range Firepower.
As for the Victor, it and the Panther would make a Brutal Close Combat Team.
Kurita also took the Victor Plant during te 4th Sucssesion War from the Frogs.