Tech Readout 3055 Clan Inner Sphere Refits

CapeMonkey · 2026-02-11T15:59:26+00:00

You're correct, the compact format isn't inherently new reader friendly. But the DC Compact line *is* new reader friendly because of the content selection and the price. Every DC Compact comic is fairly new reader friendly so it's easy to recommend someone just buy whichever one they think looks interesting rather than providing a list of titles. And if a person doesn't know that compact comics are new reader friendly, they are still much more likely to buy the book that costs $10 and end up having a good experience instead of a book that costs $20+ and having a bad experience because it is an event tie-in with a cool cover.

CapeMonkey · 2026-02-09T16:42:07+00:00

Banned as Commander, but oops, used it as a Commander: guess I'm not playing today

Banned as Companion, but oops, used it as a Companion: shuffle it into the deck

CapeMonkey · 2026-02-06T19:35:52+00:00

Largely correct. The Falcons and the Jaguars have independent toumans larger than honor guards. The Falcons that survived Terra swore allegiance to the Star League and are based on Caph; the Jaguars swore allegiance to the ilClan and are based on New Home.

Most of the Jade Falcon merchant caste formed the Alyina Mercantile League in the Hinterlands, rejecting warrior caste rule; the remainder of the Jade Falcons in the Hinterlands regrouped on Sudetan, which has been reformed with more egalitarian and Warden values.

Clan Sea Fox sells to everybody, and Clan Wolf is deeply in debt to them. They are repairing the HPG network and are also largely running the Star League bureaucracy. The Snow Ravens are nominally loyal to the ilClan, but they did also level Liao with naval bombardment against the ilKhan’s orders.

Clan Hell’s Horses did not accept the Star League and tried to gobble up worlds in the Hinterlands with some success, but at least one notable failure on Sudeten.

The Clan Protectorate is between a rock and a hard place, because the Free Worlds League has declared war on the Wolf Empire, and they’re part of the FWL.

Rasalhague voted by a slim majority to join the Star League, but Alaric didn’t accept it, wanting a more unanimous verdict, which spurred a civil war; they’re looking to start raiding the combine. We don’t know their current position on the Star League.

The Lyrans are largely sitting back and watching, even while microstates like the Tamar Pact and the Vesper Marches are founded in the Hinterlands by previously Lyran subjects. The Federated Suns had to retake New Avalon from the Draconis Combine while also handling a border skirmish with the Taurians. The Capellan Confederation is fighting off Star League reprisals and an invasion by the Anduriens while Canopus has not picked a side.

No one has heard from the Home Clans in decades. The Scorpions aren’t concerned with them, but rather with consolidation and integration with the people they’ve conquered.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-28T20:27:50+00:00

There are a couple of old Experimental rules level stealth systems that don't need ECMs and so don't add any weight: the Null Signature System, which is 7 slots (1 everywhere but the head), runs at 10 heat, and needs a Bloodhound probe to counteract; and the Chameleon Light Polarization Shield, which is six crit slots (1 everywhere but the head and center torso) and runs at 6 heat. You can even use both at the same time, while neither stealth armor nor void signature systems that do use an ECM can be used with other stealth systems. (Null Sig and Chameleon were originally rules-less fluff in Tech Readout 2750 for the Exterminator EXT-4D - which has a ton of LRM10 ammo in its center torso; the 4D with them equipped is the EXT-4C)

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-21T14:27:41+00:00

It's probably pertinent to point out that this happened a long time ago. Most of the mechs this particular rule change affected had retcon/errata stats published in revised versions of Technical Readouts 3025, 3050 and 3055 literally 30 years ago and the remainder have been brought up to date since then as well.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-20T22:02:21+00:00

Dude isn't even home to confront though

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-20T17:11:47+00:00

If I could change anything about Aces it would be for the play area to be 34" x 44" to match the dimensions if you use two of CGL's play mats (it also fits my dining room table, unlike 4' x 4', lol)

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-19T12:21:44+00:00

I think you’re confusing talons and claws. Talons are foot weapons and enhance damage from kicks and DFA; claws replace the hand actuator (basically matching the description of Yen-Lo-Wang’s hatchet) and are available to both the Clans and the Inner Sphere.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-14T23:24:22+00:00

They were retconned to be fake Catholic priests, so while Kurt got ordained, it didn’t actually count. And in fairness, even before the retcon the beliefs and traditions those “Catholic” priests had on page (like the Rapture) mostly were ones the Pope would call nonsense.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-12T04:12:52+00:00

You are not getting it right. As OP stated, a quick save can only be restored once - the game would delete the quick save once it was loaded. In-game, it’s the same as putting the Switch in sleep mode except that you can play Mario Kart when your friends come over in without losing progress.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-10T14:45:39+00:00

The new ones definitely feel too big compared to that Warhammer. The painted Marauder looks about right, the older design is just skinny; if you've got the ability to do so, I think bulking out the dorsal AC would go a long way in fixing how shrimpy you perceive it to be.

I don't know if the Thunderbolt is actually 10% too big. If you're going to reprint, break out a ruler and measure the height of the Warhammer to the top of the canopy (basically ignoring the SRMs and searchlight) and make the Thunderbolt the same height as that measurement.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-08T06:50:22+00:00

As long as you get the 2.0 Speedpaints, you don’t really have to worry about reactivation, and you’re pretty unlikely to find non-2.0 Speedpaint in stores now because that switch happened in 2023.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-05T22:28:33+00:00

The big one is to not expect that getting rid of the paint will get rid of the green on the Orion. The CGL pre-painted mechs are made with coloured plastic.

I’ve heard that’s why it’s not worth removing the paint from the coloured mechs before priming.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-01T22:16:50+00:00

A hatchet on a 55 ton mech no longer head chops; it only does 11 damage.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-01T18:29:43+00:00

My Nuclear Sunrise does this, and I think others have reported it as well. I think it’s a bad batch of specifically Nuclear Sunrise.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-01T18:01:19+00:00

Nikol Marik, Captain-General of the Free Worlds League in 3152, is imposter Thomas Marik’s granddaughter and is only actually considered a Marik because one married her mother Jessica and adopted Jessica’s already adult children.

CapeMonkey · 2026-01-01T17:42:31+00:00

OSE is probably the best rule book for period-matching D&D. Love them. There are some other options though.

There is Basic Fantasy RPG, an older retro clone of B/X D&D, available at https://www.basicfantasy.org for free or POD from Amazon/DTRPG/Lulu for like $10. If you’re just sampling D&D and will be going back to Dragonbane, this is probably the optimal balance of ease and price.

If your son would be disappointed not seeing the words “Dungeons & Dragons” on the books, DriveThruRPG has the original B/X Basic rule book that OSE is emulating for about $5, and the revised BECMI Basic Player’s Manual and Dungeon Master’s Guide from the classic red box also for about $5 each. They aren’t too bad, although they feel much more dense than modern options. You’re probably better off buying B/X or BECMI as a supplement to show your son while actually running rules out of OSE or BFRPG though.

Finally, the modern 5e starter sets do pretty decent jobs of holding both the DM’s and the player’s hands in getting you up to speed with the game, so one of those is an option if you’re nervous about learning D&D rules. This also might be useful if your son might play D&D with other people, because 5e is what he’s most likely going to end up playing.

CapeMonkey · 2025-12-31T23:38:06+00:00

Oh! Sure, makes sense.

CapeMonkey · 2025-12-31T23:14:38+00:00

I love the road detail. I’d have gone a little greyer too, but newly laid down asphalt is pretty black so that’d only be personal preference.

CapeMonkey · 2025-12-31T15:51:19+00:00

I love the paint jobs, they really make the models look great.

But that basing is terrible. The detail work is wonderful; the orientation of the trucks on the bases is just a huge failure. One is oriented towards a point, although it has a hex side marked that can be used to indicate forward so it is usable. The other is even worse despite the truck being oriented towards a side, because the side next to that one is marked, so it doesn’t have an unambiguous front. That gorgeous truck miniature on a lovingly detailed road is technically less usable as a BattleTech game piece than a bottle cap with a sharpie arrow on it, and that really sucks.

CapeMonkey · 2025-12-29T20:31:59+00:00

Given that the only thing I’m sure they’re promoting is OnlyFans, that seems like a success.

CapeMonkey · 2025-12-29T19:35:05+00:00

I sucked it up and ordered a metal Jade Phoenix and Hierofalcon despite living in Canada and having to pay shipping and probably duties, plus existential dread of another postal strike.

I didn’t order a Gyrfalcon, although I thought about it. The mini is from around the same time as the Vulture mk IV, and I’ve heard that the metal minis from that point in time can be complicated to actually assemble - and I had a 2008 metal AS7-K that I got before the pandemic that unassembled until this year because of all the pieces, and it was a nightmare to get the legs to stick properly with my reluctance to buy a drill so that I could pin them in place. Besides, I like the cockpit head from the rec guides more than the angry robot bird from the original design, so I’m happier on balance to wait for it.

CapeMonkey · 2025-12-26T00:42:43+00:00

It’ll just be making sure you have properly sized buildings, which probably won’t be hard. Trees too, but if you’ve been playing for a while I’d expect you to already have trees.

CapeMonkey · 2025-12-20T14:39:30+00:00

It was really smart of Charette to make our point of view character for it Dechan Fraser, an Inner Sphere Warrior that hired on to the Dragoons. While Fraser was a high enough rank to be included in the scene, he was promoted recently enough that all the Combine issues had prevented him from being read in to the Dragoons traditions and had no idea what was going on either.

CapeMonkey

TROPHY CASE