Classic Battletech Is Awesome: the Thread!

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**H.B.M.C.**

Did y'all know that BattleTech is awesome? And on that subject, I notice that we spend a lot of time reacting or speculating on what Catalyst might do next.

I have a different question:

What products would we like to see them do?

For me, I want to see a return to Solaris VII. Some of the best games of BTech I've had have been Solaris matches, played on the Solaris maps.

I've had ideas kicking around in my head for years now about doing a Solaris League style game that's a little bit Necromunda and a little bit Blood Bowl, with stables dedicated to various Great Houses, elite Clan pilots, political back-stage dealings and espionage, 'Mech customsation and economy/trading post, different level leagues, prizes, winning the crowd over, MechWarrior development (skills and whatnot). And all using the standard BattleTech rules - not a new "duelling" set of rules or whatever.

I think such a thing would be fantastic, especially if they redid the maps in the current style and made them larger (the current Factory map is great, but imagine it as a proper 2x2; imagine the Steiner Colosseum as a 2x2 rather than the all-too-small map it is now).

Someone in the current Merc KS comments had an interesting idea as well: We've seen interchangeable turrets on the vehicles, and posing options for some 'Mechs (jumping 'Mechs). Hell, the FrakenMech in Snord's Irregular's box some extra build options.

So why not interchangeable parts for Solaris 'Mechs? Like a Solaris VII boxed set that has, say, 8 'Mechs in there (2 of each class), and each one has a few swappable arms and whatnot, including melee options. I think that'd be great fun even in a game that doesn't emphasise WYSIWYG.

And on another note, I bought some 2mm and 6mm masking tape so I can give this scheme a shot:

**Charistoph**

So a modeling version of the Psuedotech Arcade Operations?

That could be interesting and fun.

For Easter we did a thing where you grabbed an egg and either deliver it back to a "mother hen" or open it up and draw a card with an upgrade.

The upgrades included repairs, Tasers, Grenades, weapon improvements, and even one booby trap. I did up the cards and everything.

**Prometheum5**

I would be extremely into a new Solaris box. I got like two thirds of the way through cleaning up the old Solaris duel rules to work with the current ruleset. I think the only thing left to do was the weapon chart, which was just a whole bunch of data entry I didn't want to do. The more granular accounting of the Solaris rules looks like a lot of fun.

**Ghaz**

From the BattleTech Forums, a look ahead at some possible new plastics:

Death_from_above wrote:
Another video from Six Sides Gaming on miniatures design (53 min) :

Participants : Randall, Ray, Anthony and Brent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiW-BV1ZDV8

DISCLAIMER : none of these (well, except the Mauler) are to be taken as granted/imminent releases.

Name drops/topics :

Thorn - not very high on the list (14.50 timestamp)

Fireball - Brent is adamant that we WILL see it (the others are slightly less enthused)

Hunchback variants - Anthony : "why not a Hunchback variants ForcePack" (approx. 16.00 timestamp)

Mauler - IS coming (Randall, 16.50 timestamp)

Yeoman - can be made to look cool (17.30 timestamp)

Shootist - Brent sees potential (18.25 timestamp)

Hollander - they all seem to like it (21.40 timestamp)

Legends of Solaris ForcePack - Randall goes "keep looking to the future" (23.45 timestamp and again at 30.00)

Hatamoto-Chi and Berserker - in the works according to Randall (23.57 timestamp)

Brent then asks "where would fans like to see a Hatamoto-Chi, a House Kurita ForcePack or elsewhere ?",
Ray then mentions the Mauler again (Hmmm...)

ProtoMechs are talked about - they seem to like the 1st gen ones. Not adverse to tackling them, but they need
to fit in the plan (24.50 timestamp)

IndustrialMechs - Brent could see a Dark Age pack, whereas Randall sees a possibility of including an IndyMech
in a potential future faction-specific ForcePack (approx. 28.00 timestamp)

Proliferation ForcePack - a careful balancing act between clunky and cool for the Mechs (approx. 30.55 timestamp)

Quad Mechs - tricky due to hex base/posing. Goliath and Scorpion should be possible to fit without supporting peg
(33.00 timestamp)

Currently no concrete plans to do more Quads (wait and see pattern), but Randall likes the Barghest and Brent
mentions the Dark Age possibilities (i.e. another "they need to fit in the plan" point)

Celestials - Anthony goes "I agree" right away (34.30 timestamp)

Primitive tanks - more of a niche product, but never say never (38.10 timestamp)

Aerospace ForcePacks - Randall : "the Aerospace rules are broken". In order to go ahead with ASF packs, it would/will
also require a rewrite of the rules. Currently dabbling a bit (an ASF here and there). Antony mentions the ASF in various
illustrations (i.e. they are being looked at/worked upon)

Point is addressed again at timestamp 43.10 ; no hard plans for more ASFs until the rules aspect has been addressed

New Tripod Mechs - Brent goes "in plastic, not anytime soon", Ray answers "not neccesarily. There is one thing" - he then
clarifies "but it's a maybe" and the Ares gets name-dropped as a potential candidate for the future (41.10 timestamp)

Battle armor - more variants/types being discussed. Could be another "dabbling" niche (as opposed to seeing the full line-up
of every BA out there)

The launch of the initial Beginner Box was a bit of a gamble for CGL (48.00 timestamp)

**H.B.M.C.**

Yeoman - can be made to look cool

Made to look cool? The Yeoman is cool!

**Thargrim**

Finished a Lyran Guards shadowhawk earlier today. Not my favorite looking mech, but one of the few AGoAC minis I hadn't painted yet.

**Charistoph**

Thargrim wrote:
Finished a Lyran Guards shadowhawk earlier today. Not my favorite looking mech, but one of the few AGoAC minis I hadn't painted yet.

I love how the Shadow Hawk looks. I'm just disappointed in its loadout. It is so underwhelming and even if one hits with everything cannot force a PSR on the target.

**Dysartes**

That's some nice work, Thargrim.

**H.B.M.C.**

Charistoph wrote:
So a modeling version of the Psuedotech Arcade Operations?

Not like "power ups", but just alternate builds of standard designs, so an Atlas, but you could give it an axe. A Banshee with a sword. A Hunchback, but with an axe. That kind of thing. Just extra parts to show some of the customisation of Solaris.

**aphyon**

Charistoph wrote:
Thargrim wrote:
Finished a Lyran Guards shadowhawk earlier today. Not my favorite looking mech, but one of the few AGoAC minis I hadn't painted yet.

I love how the Shadow Hawk looks. I'm just disappointed in its loadout. It is so underwhelming and even if one hits with everything cannot force a PSR on the target.

yeah it is the opposite of the wolverine. almost every wolverine loadout is great, almost every shadowhawk loadout is bad. The only one i really use is the 3K, but then i use it in my swords of light lances so it works well with the C3 network.

light fusion
5/8/3
.heavy PPC
.MML 5
.ER medium laser
.C3 slave

**BrianDavion**

so the 8 million dollar mark has been annoucned, a blood asp salvage box, and a 1st summerset strikers force pack.

**Charistoph**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
Charistoph wrote:
So a modeling version of the Psuedotech Arcade Operations?
Not like "power ups", but just alternate builds of standard designs, so an Atlas, but you could give it an axe. A Banshee with a sword. A Hunchback, but with an axe. That kind of thing. Just extra parts to show some of the customisation of Solaris.

You mean something like this, without raiding another game's kits?

Just a set of kits of hand/arms that could do upgrade like that for each weight class could be interesting.

**H.B.M.C.**

Yeah, or like the Zeus I have that has an axe from the Ti Ts'ang.

Trying that around Solaris VII would be fun, as I feel that outside of patched together periphery/pirate 'Mechs, the most customisation would occur there.

**Miguelsan**

I wouldn't mind a Fireball or a few. It's an undergunned widowmaker, but looks so fun.

M.

**H.B.M.C.**

Fireball is a magnificent bit of nonsense on two legs.

But a Hunchback box? That sounds awesome.

Throw in a regular (reposed) HBK-4G, an HBK-4P (obviously!), and then an HBK-4SP for close missile support, and then a HBK-5S 'cause it's very different (and jumpy!).

**Albertorius**

Yeah, I guess that the next step would be more modular stuff, like what they're doing with their "deluxe" models, I guess?

Only, you know, a bit more available to pleople outside the US...

Ok, questions time, I'd like to tap into dakka's Btech knowledge to help me a bit with army design.

This is mainly for AS, as that's what I'm starting to play with a friend and what we're testing, but I'd like to be able to use it too in regular Btech (so, would be nice if lances were also useable in regular Btech, even if swapping around).

A while ago, I painted a Draconis Combine Lance, and I kinda liked the results, even though it's probably not very optimized:

I painted it "default Kuritan scheme" or Sword of Light-ish, and I kinda like how it looks.

So now I was thinking about doing a C3-enabled company to play around with those rules in AS. The plan would be to make it pre-Jihad, which seems to be the time where the DC most played around with the C3 concept, and I'd like it to be something of a top of the line company for the era, with things like the first omnis and the like.

Not sure if it's best to have a mech with 2 C3 Masters as company commander or to have two C3M-equipped mechs in the command lance, to be honest, but if I want a double C3M mech it seems I'd be limited to a Battlemaster CM, a Tai-sho, a Sunder OB or a Naginata. Of those, the Tai-sho and the Naginata are... well, not really very pretty ^^.

So, what would you do, dakkaites? Help me out a bit? ^^ Gonna post this here and on the AS thread, just in case, so feel free to answere where you think is more appropiate.

**aphyon**

As an old hand with swords of light C3 lances

these are my go to units-

company command-

.Battlemaster C3-double master

Lance command
.Battlemaster 3K C3 master
.Shugenja-C3 master

Units with C3 slaves by weight class-

Light
.Jenner C2

Medium
.Wolverine 8C
.Shadow hawk 3K

Heavy
.Ninja to-all variants put i prefer the 4
.Grand dragon C or 7K (i prefer the 7K for the MASC)
.Catapult K5
.Archer 9R (late era)
.Warhammer 8D
.Daikyu 02

Assault
.Hatamoto chi 28T
.Hatamoto chi 28T-shin -special variant for a named character
.Akuma 2X

**Miguelsan**

I would recomend to get a mech you like, and do a custom job. You need to remember that the mechs in the TROs are stock models, and with the passage of time, especially in merc units, weird retrofits are going to happen.

It looks that this would be a one off to flesh out your company, so anything within the construction rules goes. It's not like you are trying to look for an advantage within the rules for a tournament..

My personal mechs (e.g.) have many custom designs due to having, or not having enough of one item to repair a mech at a given time, including up to a double cockpit Battlemaster that drops the MGs, and downsizes de SRM to find the 3 extra tons for the double cockpit.

So in short, don't worry, and look where you can shave those 5 tons from your favorite assault.

M.

**Albertorius**

aphyon wrote:
As an old hand with swords of light C3 lances

these are my go to units-<snip>

Thank you

Some of those are later era than I'd want (we're doing pre Jihad, for the moment), but there's some food for thought

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Miguelsan wrote:
I would recomend to get a mech you like, and do a custom job. You need to remember that the mechs in the TROs are stock models, and with the passage of time, especially in merc units, weird retrofits are going to happen.

Certainly true, but if possible I'd prefer to stay within "official" loadouts for the most part, if only because that way we should know what they have ^^

It looks that this would be a one off to flesh out your company, so anything within the construction rules goes. It's not like you are trying to look for an advantage within the rules for a tournament..

Nah, not at all. Not going to any tournament, for one xD

My personal mechs (e.g.) have many custom designs due to having, or not having enough of one item to repair a mech at a given time, including up to a double cockpit Battlemaster that drops the MGs, and downsizes de SRM to find the 3 extra tons for the double cockpit.

So in short, don't worry, and look where you can shave those 5 tons from your favorite assault.

M.

Thank you ^^. I'm not planning on worrying too much (my opponent already has a customed Wolverine with TSM and melee weapons and flamers and gak, mostly to make it mirror to their old ride and to have it do some real damage at melee, which is something of an issue in AS), but I'd also prefer to stick with "stock" models if possible (just prefer, nothing more... mostly as an opportunity to see all the weird gak there is out there).

**Charistoph**

H.B.M.C. wrote:Fireball is a magnificent bit of nonsense on two legs.

Very much so, and I love it for that reason. My favorite model is the XF. Nothing like being able to reach the enemies' deployment zone and then go back in to your own in the same turn just to flex.

Of course, our local scenarios USUALLY have a Victory Point for having a unit in the opponent's Deployment Zone, and something that can get a 6+ TMM regularly (even after running in a literal circle) is very useful for that.

Albertorius wrote:Not sure if it's best to have a mech with 2 C3 Masters as company commander or to have two C3M-equipped mechs in the command lance, to be honest, but if I want a double C3M mech it seems I'd be limited to a Battlemaster CM, a Tai-sho, a Sunder OB or a Naginata. Of those, the Tai-sho and the Naginata are... well, not really very pretty ^^.

That's hard to say. Having 2 C3M units makes it harder to take out the whole network by taking out one unit. On the other hand, having a dual-C3M allows that C3M to have nastier bodyguards available so you can "hide" it. Be careful of those mobile ECM units, though.

One other suggestion I would have is the Cyclops. The CP-11-C2 is a dual C3M and that allows it do do what the Cyclops was designed to do (though, a Jihad variant you can easily say its a prototype). The CP-11-C3 has a single Boosted C3M (which isn't available till the Jihad) which allows it to ignore all but the harshest ECM environments.

**master of ordinance**

Sorry for the bad pic quality, I need to get a better photo.
Mechs from my 3rd Canopian Fusiliers regiment. The modded Shadowhawk is built to represent a 3H variant, which has no official stats. After a bit of work I tracked the only official bit of art of it that appears to exist and modded the mini based on that, and the loadout I cooked up in Megamek.
Just ignore the 2 at the end, its the 2nd loadout I tried out, the first used an LRM10 in place of the SRM6 but paid too much in armour and jump capacity to be worth it.

Spoiler:

**aphyon**

I am with you on that Albertorius.

Our group also steers clear of custom jobs unless it is something we all agree on ahead of time. our attitude is that if there is something you want to run find it among the cannon designs that are already available. it helps prevent player abuses.

**Ghaz**

A bigger sketch of the Hatamoto-Chi:

**Ghaz**

And the Mauler...

**Flinty**

If ever there was a mech looking to be the poster mech for the ‘80s

Those are some major power shoulders going on There

**Ancestral Hamster**

Flinty wrote:
If ever there was a mech looking to be the poster mech for the ‘80s

Those are some major power shoulders going on There

It needs a mullet to be properly 80s.

**Flinty**

Ancestral Hamster wrote:
Flinty wrote:
If ever there was a mech looking to be the poster mech for the ‘80s

Those are some major power shoulders going on There
It needs a mullet to be properly 80s.

Is there a rear shot of the model yet? Maybe it’s having a party at the back

**aphyon**

Ghaz wrote:
A bigger sketch of the Hatamoto-Chi:

When a charger and a thug love each other.......................

I can always use more hatamoto.

**Flinty**

What you have may well have to do for now. The KS has not yet ignited into a final frenzy of pledge increases or backers.

**Albertorius**

Hm, it might be the poses, but none blow me away, and I love both.

The Hatti looks better (although the head is kinda meh), but the Mauler looks... way too much like the MWO one, I think? Probably because the MWO Mauler was pretty close to the original, but still ^^

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Flinty wrote:
If ever there was a mech looking to be the poster mech for the ‘80s

Particularly big feat for the Mauler, taking into account it appeared first (IIRC) in the Battletech Compendium, which was released in 1990 :p