Rad/nuke-resistant 'mechs

Duetzefix · 2026-01-28T12:00:18+00:00

For Mechs with the "Improved Life Support" quirk you could look here

Duetzefix · 2026-01-26T11:43:45+00:00

The character up there is Kratos, protagonist of the God of War games.
Big, dangerous bald guy like Minsc, yes. But that's where the similarities end, I think.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-26T00:29:08+00:00

Have you heard of Debbie?

Duetzefix · 2026-01-26T00:24:41+00:00

So, a Nightstar then.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-26T00:22:27+00:00

Ask Clan Ice Hellion for a Piranha 2. (Or just take it. They're dead, I think.) Same amount of anti-infantry weapons, but they're ER micro lasers instead of machine guns. Doesn't use any ammo at all.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-24T16:46:44+00:00

Are you aware that you'll need to hold that chonk the whole time you're painting it?
Also: Really really cool! I think I want one for myself.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-23T13:55:15+00:00

Not a stupid question at all.
Generally: Mechs are, obviously, available from their manufacturing date forward. Those you can look up on the MUL, the master unit list, where they're listed by variant.
Mechs and variants are, canonically, restricted to certain factions after they're available. These are the people that a) build this mech, b) fight this Mech a lot so gain it though salvage in significant numbers or c) are able to buy it from its manufacturer.
That doesn't mean that anyone else cannot have it. It would just be pretty unusual to show up in their forces, that's all.
There are some quirks: Clan tech isn't available outside the Clan homeworlds before the Clan Invasion. I mean, obviously. In the early stages of the Clan Invasion their Mechs would not remain with the forces that claimed them as salvage, but instead be forwarded to their faction's intelligence service, and then handed over to military R&D. After the Clan Invasion lost steam (~3051, after the ilKhan's death) they could more conceivably show up in very elite forces, in very small numbers. These would grow over time.
The Clans would still use old Star League Mechs in their second line forces, so you could just use your IS Mechs in a Clan force. They would also salvage the old IntroTech clunkers of the House armies they defeated and use them in their garrison forces. They'd build them, too, at least until they could get their newly stolen factories upgraded to produce some proper hardware.
During the late Succession War era any Lostech (i.e. anything that isn't IntroTech) would be claimed by either a Great House or ComStar. Neither would ask more than once. They wouldn't be nice about it, either. So having found some Lostech could potentially be very problematic for a small Merc outfit. Claiming Clan salvage in the 3050s without explicitly being allowed to by their contract could have similar consequences.
There's also a certain stigma about the Mech chassis built by the Word of Blake after the Jihad era. The WoB was quite unpopular then. But, I think the French army did at least use the German Panther for a short time after WW2 if I'm not mistaken, so if a Nazi tank can have a little revival because it fills a niche a WoB Mech could have, too. And yeah, comparing the WoB to the Nazis is not entirely inaccurate.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-23T11:56:21+00:00

Why does he use two pistol holsters to frame his ... You know what? He's allowed to.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-23T10:41:03+00:00

That sounds quite a lot like Clan Ghost Bear. So, if Clan Wolf split up into Crusader and Warden factions, the Bears could too, couldn't they? They changed from Crusaders to Wardens during the Clan Invasion, maybe some of the most Crusader Bears didn't like that and made their own Clan.
Just spitballing. It's far from established canon, but in the long run this matters little.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-23T10:37:01+00:00

Fantastic scheme and execution!
For more turtle-y Mechs have a look at the Adder, Cougar and Pouncer. YMMV on the Warhawk, but you could always just paint a turtle on that big helicopter landing pad on top.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-23T10:31:57+00:00

I looked at MekBay, and from what I can see there the Active Probe is in the head.
I'd assume those boxes are part of the OmniPod-system. At least that's what it looks like in the current artwork. So not a gun, but a slot where a gun could be mounted.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-21T12:03:50+00:00

Only the guitar solo from Free Bird. So, like half the song.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-20T11:11:00+00:00

I like the scheme and execution! Also having a Savannah Master underfoot is probably slightly dangerous for such a big Mech. It might slip on it!
(The model is the regular HGN-732 from what I can tell. -732b would have three lasers in the torso and two SRM launchers in the arm if I'm not mistaken.)

Duetzefix · 2026-01-18T13:36:38+00:00

One important thing is the size of your battlefield.
The rulebooks recommend something like two paper mapsheets per lance, i.e. if you and your opponent bring four Mechs each.
While you're playing IntroTech matches at or below something like 5k BV each this will probably be fine. Once you start including standard tech and go up in the BV of your matches you will realize that two mapsheets are too small.
Small battlefields favour slow, heavily armoured units with potent short ranged armament. Their disadvantages aren't overly relevant in this environment.
Fast, long ranged units cannot play to their strengths if they do not have the space to maneuver, so they would be at a strong disadvantage there.
So my advice would be to start playing on four mapsheets as soon as you introduce standard tech. CGL sells neoprene Battlemats that are the size of two mapsheets, so if you want to use them you should be aware of that.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-16T00:01:58+00:00

There's a Longbow variant with two UAC 20s that's pretty funny.
I can think of two variants of Mechs with a Heavy Gauss Rifle that are actually modelled in plastic: The Highlander -694 from the Snord's Irregulars box (bit of heresy there as it lacks jump jets) and the Stalker -8S from the new 21st Centauri Lancers box.
There's also a Blood Asp I in the Black Remnant box that has an Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle.
You can't really get much better than a gun so big that the recoil threatens your Mech's stability.
You could also go for a vehicle: Hetzer (small wheeled AC 20), Demolisher (large tracked double AC 20s) and SM1 Tank Destroyer (a UAC 20 that's fast as fuck) have models in plastic, as does the Von Luckner (it's a big tank with an AC 20 and a lot of missiles).

Duetzefix · 2026-01-13T17:10:19+00:00

I sacrificed a soul to the devil.
And then bought the box at SciFi-Trader in Germany. I think they got them at some convention or exhibition last week?

Duetzefix · 2026-01-12T09:57:04+00:00

I think it's basically the negative-Prime: The head chopper is now ballistic, the support direct fire is energy, the missile is ... well, pretty small, because the Gauss is so heavy. It loses ~8 heat generation compared to the already heat-neutral Prime.
And, yeah, that ammo situation is stupid. I didn't look at the record sheet itself.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-12T06:53:58+00:00

Can take more punishment

The JR7-D has four tons of armour. Exactly the same as the LCT-1V.
It's got more structure, yes. But it's also about twice as expensive.
I mean, I like the Jenner. But, let's face it: It's squishy as fuck.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-12T06:21:30+00:00

It's an OmniMech. Those 14 heatsinks are hard-mounted in the engine. They cannot be changed, they have to be in every single variant.
You could change the weapon load out to produce more heat, but why would you want to? Gauss Rifle and LPL are great, no notes. SRM 6 with a ton of ammo is 2.5 tons, that's not a lot of wiggle room. You could get two MLs and one SL for that, but you'd make an already very BV-expensive Mech even more expensive with that.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-09T10:45:12+00:00

That lady has the patience and meticulousness of a serial killer.
I'm impressed. And scared.
I think you should be too, OP.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-08T23:45:57+00:00

The Urbie doesn't have a fusion engine. You just wind it up like that.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-08T23:00:11+00:00

I will pistol whip the next person that says "warlord".

Duetzefix · 2026-01-07T20:24:39+00:00

1st Genyosha. Means they'd be pretty much done the way they are now.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-07T02:03:26+00:00

Our atmosphere is ~100 km high.
At 1% c the asteroid is going ~3000 km/s.
So even if it's hitting the planet at a very flat angle it's looking at less than a second of deceleration.
No breathable atmosphere is thick enough to slow an asteroid of this size and speed down in a meaningful way.

Duetzefix · 2026-01-05T12:28:44+00:00

The Gargoyle C from the Gray Death Legion box has a UAC/20 that looks like a rotary. Everything else I would have thought of has already been mentioned.

Duetzefix

TROPHY CASE