In a move bound to further annoy players who declared their personal fannons end in 30xx, BattleTech has released Technical Readout 3145, Era Report 3145 and Field Manual 3145 should be hot on their heels. And my love for BattleTech grew three sizes that day.
For everyone for whom the MWDA setting was a turn-off, the 3145 era feels like a breath of fresh air. Forget your preconceptions and dive in. TSEMPs and Re-Engineered Lasers for everyone!
It's politics as usual in the wake of the collapse of the Republic of the Sphere.
Trillian Steiner barely holds together a Lyran Commonwealth quailing under a two-front was, facing the resurgent Jade Falcons and their new Khan Malvina Hazen's aggressive Mongol doctrine and Alaric Steiner's new Wolf Empire.
The Hell's Horses face a crisis for faith, forced to choose between supporting the Falcons and forging their own destiny.
The Dragon roars, having annihilated the seditious Nova Cats and smashed into the heart of the Federated Suns, aided tacitly by the betrayal of the Davion's former allies in the Raven Alliance.
Daoshen Liao's Cappellan Confederation now stands as the Inner Sphere's premiere military superpower, their hidden military buildup putting lie to Devlin Stone's dream of disarmament. It's target? New Avalon.
Shattered by betrayal and the incompetence of Caleb Davion, the Federated Suns stands on the cusp of what will either be it's finest hour, or it's darkest defeat.
A Phoenix in purple, Jessica Marik's reborn Free Worlds League quietly girds itself for war against enemies on all sides. With both Regulus and Andurien refusing to cooperate and the Wolf at her door, a new Captain General finds many willing to smother her nascent state in its infancy.
And lurking at the core, the Republic remnant lurks like a malignancy, waiting for their time to come again.
The gangs all here, and it's nice to watch the writers gleefully stretch their legs, unbound by the need to cling to the material foisted on them by WizKids. They've done a fantastic job so far, polishing up the gems of the Jihad era and turning them into well thought out plot points that roll the universe forward.
It's simple, unpretentious BattleTech, returning to its roots to wallow in intrigue and warfare. Unburdened by the need to keep fan favorite characters alive and no longer straight-jacketed by Michael Stackpole's heavy handed fiction, it's a no holds barred slug-fest where nothing, not even the Kell Hounds, Nova Cats and Eridani Light Horse are held too sacred to be fed to the meat grinder.
The Kuritans are back to being bad-ass all-conquering space samurai. The Cappellans are playing aggressively for keeps rather than defensively. The Free Worlds League are no longer the joke enemy faction. The Wolves are back to kicking ass and taking names (and then writing about it in the Remembrance).
If you thought the Dark Age couldn't be saved, think again. If you liked the Dark Age, well... drink deep.
And if you, as a BattleTech fan can find it in your heart to hate these 'Mechs, I pity you.
QSM-3D Quasimodo
HTM-30S Hatamoto-Suna
TNZ-N3 Tian-zong
GTD-20S Götterdämmerung
AS7-D3 Atlas III
HD-2F Hound
Greetings, my friend.
And thank you.
FOR THE REPUBLIC!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, malignancy?!
Also, malignancy?!
Yes malignancy.
Also, malignancy?!Yes malignancy.
** spoiler omitted **
that's my (censored)! Also, your guys were more than a bit of deus ex machina.
That said, the new Alpha Strike miniature wargame ruleset looks good too. The ability to resolve full company on company engagements in under an hour is surprisingly good too.
I'm sorry, but some of the machines presented in the 3145 TROs ahould have never been or need a serious redesign :-)
I'm sorry, but some of the machines presented in the 3145 TROs ahould have never been or need a serious redesign :-)
How so? I'm genuinely interested in why you think so? I think they're head and shoulders ahead of many of the designs produced between 3058 and 3067.
Plus as a bonus, no one House got an entire force of stinkers.
Quasimodo - physical combat specialists that are neither packing great weapons, nor superior speed and yet they manage to neex XL engine somewhat stink. Personally I think 3025 Wolverine could be upgraded to similar performance for less $$$.
Hatamoto-Suna - extensive modification trading speed for firepower. A fine machine, but what is that XL gyro good for on this?
Tian-sung - *applauds to whomever was the one using his head to make this*
Gôtterdämmerung - endo steel and heavy ff to trade criticals for spare weight spent on heavier engine that saves weight. Steiner can take a pitchfork and start throwing money out of the window...
Atlas III - oh yes, rotary something in arms is so cool... well not really. I wouldn't want to try brawling with this. Plus I hate mixed tech on serially produced models.
Hound - a solid nachine indeed.
Quasimodo - physical combat specialists that are neither packing great weapons, nor superior speed and yet they manage to neex XL engine somewhat stink. Personally I think 3025 Wolverine could be upgraded to similar performance for less $$$.
Hatamoto-Suna - extensive modification trading speed for firepower. A fine machine, but what is that XL gyro good for on this?
Tian-sung - *applauds to whomever was the one using his head to make this*
Gôtterdämmerung - endo steel and heavy ff to trade criticals for spare weight spent on heavier engine that saves weight. Steiner can take a pitchfork and start throwing money out of the window...
Atlas III - oh yes, rotary something in arms is so cool... well not really. I wouldn't want to try brawling with this. Plus I hate mixed tech on serially produced models.
Hound - a solid nachine indeed.
Ah. I see what you're getting at.
For me, for all their flaws, none of these machine are "I win" easy mode buttons like the Warlord, Thunderhawk, Devastator or Hellstar (though the Tian Zhong is coming a mite close). But unlike absolute rubbish like the GRF-5M Griffin, they're not "Lose At Army Selection" choices either. All of them can do a job, if not well, at least decently, but suffer from the typically expected factional "Ooh Shiney" syndrome of new 'Tech.
Thing is as a Marik, after being force fed stinkers since 3058 onwards, I can work with "flawed but functional" machines. Or maybe my standards on what makes a playable 'Mech are just much lower. Looking at the Albatrosses, Storm-Tempest, Griffins and Shadowhawks that are being pushed out of service by the newer designs, flawed as they might be, I see things I can actually work with.
The Quasimodo for instance is a very capable mobile cavalry blocker. It's not a one-on-one duelist, but when operating in a mixed force of Carronades, Anzus and Yeomen, becomes a very capable lynchpin for a Lance.
The problem is not in machines having a flaw, but in the fact that they are flawed in a stupid way. The fact that any person jst looking at the stats can identify that something seems to be put in there for minimal gain or that something is clearly overcameable by using standard tech and yet the TRO relies on more costly and exotic solutions. Just take the glut of XL and XXL engined machines in the TROs. If I can have a tank for three milions or for eleven or twenty, then on army scales the difference is enormous. If the world in Battletech is trying to look somewhat realistic, then this is really looking dumb.
Please note that above mentioned 'Mechs are not the worst offenders that I'd like to never even be made. Well, maybe except the Quasimodo, which really is wasteful. Even Götterdämmerung gains at least something for the effort, whether it's really worth it could be another matter, but I think it's not that bad. True design horrors are things like the Manticore II, DI Schmidt or XXL Madcat... And by all means I'm not saying that previous TROs didn't have their own botches. It just seems that they are geting more common lately.
You may be judging these designs too harshly, Zmar. Individually, they may not look too great — but have you tried putting together forces of complementary units?
Let’s take the FedSuns as a thought-exercise. The Atlas III isn’t a great damage-dealer, but with those two shields, it can play damage-sponge like nobody’s business. Put a BLK-NT-5H Black Knight alongside it, and you’ve got a heck of an anchor for a force, perhaps bodyguards for a Destrier Siege Vehicle or two, complete with Ballista Artillery Trailer(s). (And trust me, as even one of those sets carries two Long Tom artillery pieces and twin Arrow-IVs, they WILL get noticed.) A Templar III and a couple of Vulpes or CN-11-O Centurions to run interference, and you can hold someone’s attention very very well indeed. Then you whip some Prey Seekers, Gunsmiths, and/or Zibler hovertanks around the other guy’s flanks and start backstabbing the hell out of him, and suddenly he finds he’s got a very complex problem to solve. Throw some Scarecrows into his deep rear areas to murderise the hell out of his techs and logistical units, and you’ve got yourself a force that can win a military campaign. ;)
There are similar synergies in all of the other factional lists — for instance, the Götterdämmerung is clearly meant as a zombie damage-soaker. Sure the other guy may well look at your force and realise what you’re doing, but recognising your intentions and countering them are two very different things. ;)
The thing is that you could do these things often with less fancy tech (= cheaper). Atlas III is not criticised for carrying shields, but for relying on imported technology, just as Black Knights and Scarecrows would be (Unless FedRats have made themselves a regular clantech factory). Destrier is utterly worthless. Split it in two and you'll see...
For fun's sake I've remade this into a smaller tank to showcase this.
Quarterdestrier
Total weight: 50 t
Internal structure: 5 t
Engine: 100 XL 2.5 t
Speed: 2/3
Heat sinks: 10 standard 0 t
Control equipment: 2.5 t
Turret: 2.5 t
Armour: 64 Hardened 8 t
Front/Sides/Rear/Turret: 15/13/10/13
Weapons and Equipment
Long Tom Canon/Turret/20 t
Long Tom Ammo (2x5)/Body/2 t
ER laser (M)/Turret/1 t
AMS/Turret/0.5 t
AMS ammo (12)/Body/1 t
Light MG/Turret/0.5 t
Light MG ammo (150)/Body/0.5 t
C3 slave/Body/1 t
Guardian ECM suite/Body/1.5 t
Infantry/Body/1 t
CASE/Body/0.5 t
There's slightly less armour (whih could be really remedied rather easily), but the point is that for the same tonnage I have twice the armament you have on your sige thing and I'm not even mentioning better terrain handling (As I can cross regular bridges), survivability (As Four vehicles are not so suspectible to random criticals than one), and transportability (I can fit in small vehicle bays). Even two larger tanks would trump the destrier with one hand pricking something from their teeth. Sorry, but ultraheavy things are mostly grossly inefficient and ponderous.
Most of the Spheroid powers have managed to institute limited production of some forms of Clan-tech, and indeed some technologies that are arguably better than Clan-tech. The fifty-odd years of relative peace have let everyone invest in their infrastructure to that degree, although going all-Clan-grade is still too expensive, and some of them do find it quicker and cheaper to just buy the stuff from the Diamond Sharks/Sea Foxes.
As to the point about super-heavies being inefficient, I do agree in many ways... but sometimes, it’s as much about style as it is efficiency. ;)
Super-heavies have a very small niche to fill, similar to super light scout "PLEASE DONT SHOOT AT ME!" mechs.
These things, however, are presenting themselves as serial production models. That would mean a bit more than a few lasers handcrafted at NAIS for experimental purposes. Not to mention that the Sharks ar probably not charging standard prices for their tech unless they are absolutely dumb, which I can't see accounted for anyhwere.
About niche units - well, that's what they are. But they are more something like the Flumph and less something like the Tarrasque. You don't put them on table to scare the enemy. When you put them on table the opponent simply shoots them and forgets the funny creatures.
These things, however, are presenting themselves as serial production models. That would mean a bit more than a few lasers handcrafted at NAIS for experimental purposes. Not to mention that the Sharks ar probably not charging standard prices for their tech unless they are absolutely dumb, which I can't see accounted for anyhwere.
About niche units - well, that's what they are. But they are more something like the Flumph and less something like the Tarrasque. You don't put them on table to scare the enemy. When you put them on table the opponent simply shoots them and forgets the funny creatures.
the mech itself never counts. Its all in how you use it.
Well, some count more never than others.
I'm of the opinion that the charm of BattleTech revolves around inherently flawed units. The flood of "easy win" machines in TRO 3058 - 67 actually soured me on the prospect of the game itself. I actually like TRO 3075 and 3085 for the obviously unoptimised machines contained in them.
I guess we're of entirely different opinions, given that for myself, the Quasi is one of my favorite units out of the 3145 era. It's not game-winning by a long shot and the flaws of a 5/8/5 Close Combat Unit are all too obvious, but it serves as a modern Anvil replacement where it functions perfectly in a Lance environment, plugging a gap in the FWL orbat.
Different gaming philosophies I guess.
My group tends more towards narrative campaigns where salvage is a huge factor. It's shaped my playstyle dramatically.
Well, there are obviously flawed, like Atlas having crappy ranged firepower, or Rifleman overheating as hell and having only modest armour, and there is stupidly flawed, like Di Schmidt taking XL engine to save tonnage and rack the cost up to stratosphere and then wastes eight tons to mount whoping two flamers. First are okay with me, second irritates me to no end.
Well, there are obviously flawed, like Atlas having crappy ranged firepower, or Rifleman overheating as hell and having only modest armour, and there is stupidly flawed, like Di Schmidt taking XL engine to save tonnage and rack the cost up to stratosphere and then wastes eight tons to mount whoping two flamers. First are okay with me, second irritates me to no end.
I see what you mean.
But then again, they've always been around...
Hatchetman with XL engine and SHS, Goliath with XL engine, extraneous heat sinks, URBANMECH with extra heat sink...
Right from the beginning.
Which I also take for botches. Just look at 3050 Hunchback or 2750 Puma tank. Magi os also quite horrible, but at least the TRO admits it from the start...
It just seems to me, that the amount of botched designs increases with the amount of new tech available, as everyone thinks that newer is better without using a bit of common sense. Rules can force deficiencies on a eesign, but that doesn't mean that I have to create them arrifically without even bothering to explain it in fluff.
I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree on this, since I find these little quirks and inefficiencies are what makes BattleTech fun for me. I'm one of those players who actively advocates against more Warlords and Hellstars, you see.
What you call 'botches', I see as the current design direction of TPTB. While there are monsters in the new books like the Black Knight, I expect to see more designs like the Quasimodo and DI Schmidtt, functional designs, that while far from optimized, are still functional when they hit the table.
I'm happy with this design direction, and while I don't agree with your assessment, I hope you can find your own sweet spot in the universe as well.
We'll have to indeed. I'm also against Hellstars and Warlords actually. They get boring quickly. The problem with DI Schmidt is not with the design otherwise, but with the fact that it is botched artifically. Just a minimal amount of tweaking, that is rather OBVIOUS can change it to a functional and yet still distinctive design. I'm irked by the fact that the TROs are starting to feel like a buch of numbers has been hastily put together without any consideration which kinda devaluates the work put in the art and fluff.
Just by throwing out the flamers and heat sinks you can save 8 tons, which will give you the standard fusion engine, cutting the cost considerably. Vehicular flamers could be installed with a little more tweaks provided that you really need the incendiary utility.
Minimal change, but any designer in pseudorealistic universe would see it and wouldn't build the tank the way it's presented in TRO unless someone got a hefty sum of money sideways.
Minimal change, but any designer in pseudorealistic universe would see it and wouldn't build the tank the way it's presented in TRO unless someone got a hefty sum of money sideways.
This is Steiner we're talking about with the DI Schmidtt.
Even Stainer know how to build effectively. If they want to use XL engine on a tank, I'd expect something like Manteuffel, or that eight tons would buy another RAC/2 for example. Wasting them on something as "useful" as twin flamers, when you could take vee flamers and the Targeting computer they were drooling about in variants section, is plain stupid.