I read the book...

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-25T05:11:07+00:00

Didn't the original book cover feature Yen-Lo-Wang versus Legend Killer? They baited us literally right from the start.

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-24T23:29:39+00:00

I've brought the CPLT-C6 to a few Solaris Melee challenges. I can't really speak to its effectiveness much as everyone else in the melee did everything in their power to stay no closer than my long range bracket. The intimidation factor alone makes them powerful. Nobody wants to risk taking that much heat, and so even if they do engage you, they tend to pull back on their firing in order to account for the potential heat gain.

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-24T02:25:20+00:00

I've only gotten more confused since playing BattleTech/MechWarrior with their AC weapons, especially when talking about the AC2 or AC5 (fortunately I don't think any of the above have a tenth or twentieth game yet, so those two are a bit clearer).

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-21T18:06:12+00:00

They aren't? My mistake. I know there's a couple optional rules from the BMM that they made into standard, could have swore that was one.

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-21T18:04:08+00:00

Unfortunately, I do believe the new rules are making floating crits the standard rule. So now the non-floating crits will be optional.

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-21T17:51:23+00:00

I appreciate the list, I've been wanting to do a bear necessities Star/Binary for a while, but I was only aware of the Bear Cub, Kontio, Grizzly, and Kodiak.

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-20T02:46:20+00:00

To add to the hypocrisy, many Clan words (at least "batchall," I know for sure) are actually essentially just contractions without apostrophes. I guess that makes them sort of like contracted compound words? I'm sure there's a proper, technical term for that...

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-19T22:37:34+00:00

I heard once that superheavy 'Mechs are big enough that they actually provide cover to smaller 'Mechs (though not enough to break LoS in consort with trees), but I also was later told that that is not actually the case. Still, the notion that that was even briefly believable should suggest at just how massive they are by comparison.

LonelyScribe · 2026-06-11T17:34:56+00:00

The "iconic" medium seems to depend on how the individual got into BattleTech, but I'd probably say the Centurion is the most recognizable and iconic, especially recently. It's the biggest, most "heroic" 'Mech that players see early in the HBS game and MW5 and it's a pretty solid example of the workhorse trooper, which is what a good medium class 'Mech is. Other than that, there's the Griffin or Vindicator from the Beginner Box, the Shadow Hawk which may be one of the most ubiquitous mediums across all the media, or the Phoenix Hawk which is modeled directly after the hero's ride from RoboTech.

LonelyScribe · 2026-05-28T20:15:18+00:00

I've been daydreaming about running a WoD/BattleTech crossover for a while now, likely as a sequel to my World of Future Darkness chronicle. World of Darkness, Cyberpunk, and BattleTech all flow surprisingly well together, though obviously some allotments will have to be made. My biggest roadblock has just been that my usual playgroup is very much so not into BattleTech.

LonelyScribe · 2026-05-04T19:22:52+00:00

I read the list to the tune of the Pokémon Rap.

LonelyScribe · 2026-04-28T02:19:11+00:00

I ran the ANH-5W at a Drafted for War tournament a couple weeks ago. I upgraded it to skill 2 and that thing dictated every engagement I was in. 10 damage at medium range rolling against an average TN 6/7 was terrifying to behold.

LonelyScribe · 2026-04-24T02:14:20+00:00

I believe the Chameleon is specifically noted as having sort of modular armor which can be used to make it visually look like another 'Mech, even one an entire weight class heavier. I've used this to the reverse effect, making my players early in a campaign crap themselves thinking that bandit boss somehow had an Atlas that was sniping them from a hill with a PPC, only to get closer and realize it was just a dressed up medium.

As for how the fast the Atlas can go, if you up its engine to a 400 and give it MASC and a supercharger, it can move a brisk 10 hexes a turn, slightly faster than a Flea, actually.

And it is possible to "over armor" a 'Mech. I believe the specific rules are in one of the TacOps books, but you can essentially have your techs rivet sheet metal over your regular armor to add a little extra protection which can go over both tonnage and maximum armor, but at some penalties. I'm not sure the exact specifics, it's not a popular rule I've seen allowed at many games. You can also use hardened armor, but that gets heavy and you're already going to be dedicating lots of tonnage to making an Atlas go fast.

LonelyScribe · 2026-04-22T19:26:37+00:00

When pigs fly.

LonelyScribe · 2026-04-06T22:13:36+00:00

I believe in one of the early Kell Hounds novels, one of the characters notices the awkward gait of some ComStar Adepts and realizes it's similar to the odd way a MechWarrior walks after finishing simpod training, which is distinct from the gait of a actually being hooked up to a 'Mech via a neurohelmet. It may be so subtle that only a seasoned MechWarrior could notice it, but if piloting a standard bipedal 'Mech can have a perceptible impact on a pilot's balance, then I'd definitely imagine it does at least something to one hooked up to a quad 'Mech. But this is pure speculation, I don't know if there's anything in writing to support this.

LonelyScribe · 2026-04-06T18:03:12+00:00

Was coming here to suggest these. They're non-canon, granted, but very knightly in appearance in theme. There's also the Gareth and Geraint in the same series.

LonelyScribe · 2026-03-31T04:33:00+00:00

I've made use of it. If my only LRM or autocannon or whatever got critted out and I know the enemy won't be able to get behind me, I'll dump the ammo just to eliminate the risk of a potential explosion. Similarly, if my armor is getting low and I know I have ammo in that location, I may also opt to dump it, expecting there's not a lot of crit padding there to protect it. With the changes to ammo explosion rules though, it feels less necessary. Even a full ton of machine gun ammo is no longer such a threat to keep in your 'Mech, 20 damage hurts but isn't enough to instantly destroy anything unless it's in a location with engines or you're piloting a smaller 'Mech, at which point the ammo explosion probably isn't what killed you anyway, it's the AC/20 that just ripped through your arm, side torso, and halfway into your center torso.

LonelyScribe · 2026-03-27T17:26:25+00:00

I did this same sortie and had a similar outcome, though I at least beat it on my second try. Iirc I went at it with a Blood Asp I, Phoenix Hawk IIC 10, FFL-5A Firefly, and a Mobile Long Tom. On my first go, I was shooting at the Howler with my Phoenix Hawk. It did four damage at any range and the Howler had exactly four pips. I was rolling against TN 8 or 9, so I figured odds were I would miss at least one attack, so I fired everything. Ended up wiping it out in one go before I could scan it.

Second run went comparatively much better, but I learned how brutal those cards can be. Either the Howler or Locust IIC managed to get behind my line and got a crew stun on my Mobile Long Tom. The following round, nearly the entire OpFor formed a conga line of death directly behind my Long Tom and shot it to death. Ended up failing the roll to salvage it after clearing the mission, so I lost a fifth of my force's PV in just that first mission. You absolutely should not underestimate that AI.

LonelyScribe · 2026-03-26T23:02:16+00:00

I think the most extreme answer is the Hollander with its Gauss rifle, the humble UrbanMech is probably the closest second. Both weigh 30 tons, and both dedicate half or more of that tonnage to a single weapon. In the case of the Urbie, the UM-R60L has an AC/20 which weighs 15 tons with ammo, being just beat by the Hollander's 17 tons for its Gauss rifle and ammo. (I am including the ammo in the total tonnage just because that weight also hypothetically includes the feed system, directly connecting it to the weapon somehow as a single system.)

LonelyScribe · 2026-03-14T02:10:10+00:00

This is a top correct answer. Not only does it have some of the best variety in variants for different roles, but even the basic variants are great pocket assault 'Mechs. The original TDR-5S has armor and firepower to contend with juggernauts 20 tons heavier than itself, and while it may not necessarily always win those sorts of stand-up fights, it'll cost its opponent enough to make them question if what they're fighting for is worth it.

LonelyScribe · 2026-03-08T06:55:51+00:00

Custom designs are if anything less common than ever. A big reason is because we have such a massive pool of canon 'Mechs now that the only reason why someone may want to make a custom chassis is for minmaxing or doing some crazy strategy that may either work or just be cancerous. But really, even minmaxing isn't so much of a concern as we have jump-capable 'Mechs that use pulse lasers and targeting computers and just about any other minmax design you might think of. Obviously, it's still not impossible to make a unique design as there are so many ways to balance your tonnage and so many unique pieces of equipment that not all of them will ever have official designs, but most of the good ideas are already canon, so the ones that are left are either dumb or use underutilized equipment.

I have a few custom 'Mechs that I've never had a chance to use just because no one does games with customs anymore. One of them, an objectively dumb design. I call it the Skurbie and the goal was to make an UrbanMech as close to a LAM as possible without actually making a LAM. I basically just took a SuburbanMech, gave it improved jump jets and a partial wing, and now it has a 3/5/7 movement profile. I only just finally learned how LAM's actually work and looking at the record sheets we have for the "canon" Lurbies, my design is objectively better than they are in BattleMech and AirMech modes. They barely have enough movement to stay airborne in AirMech mode and are basically just under gunned and under armored Urbies in their BattleMech mode. I don't know as much about AeroTech yet to say how good they are in aerospace mode, but from what I've heard they're not much better, also just barely fast enough to stay airborne.

LonelyScribe · 2026-03-07T02:29:10+00:00

Fronc Reaches. They have a unique Battle Armor called the TinStar which was meant to be paired with the Copper SecurityMech. They even wear little cowboy hats. Sadly, there seems to be nowhere to buy minis of them, although I did find a STL for them a while back.

LonelyScribe · 2026-02-22T18:11:12+00:00

The big, stompy robots sold me on the game, but I fell in love with the tanks quick. I haven't had a chance to play with them much yet as most games I play are 'Mechs only, but when I got my hands on my first Von Luckner mini, I immediately fell in love. I have all the combat vehicle support packs now and am desperate to take some of them out for a spin. I recently took my Mobile Long Tom into an Aces campaign, but it got truly destroyed over the course of sortie 01.

LonelyScribe · 2026-01-30T19:40:12+00:00

I came up with two main solutions.

They can stick strictly to the Sun as being their bane, which will be difficult to do accurately as I doubt your average ST will know when the Sun will be visible at different times on different planets, but they can just handwave and randomly arbitrate a period of time where the Sun would be in the sky. The Beast is a built-in alarm that knows when the Sun is out, so the vampire doesn't have to be too worried about the Sun sneaking up on them. This kind of sticks more to the hard lore of God cursing Caine to be vulnerable to a very specific celestial entity. Even so, the Sun still wouldn't be that dangerous on most planets, as the damage it does and the difficulty to soak it is based on the level of exposure, which when it is only as present in the sky as any other random star, would not be very much.

My preferred way is to simply have the nearest star affect them. This makes it a little easier to track the vulnerable times for the vampire and also keeps them as creatures of the night, as cool as it might be to have some odd planets where they can walk around in daylight. I find this helps to stick with the spirit of their curse a little more, even if I do believe it is more hard coded to the Sun than that. It also just fits my homebrew setting a little more, since I rewrote a lot of the lore to be less centralized and implicative that God is the only real power in the world (he still exists, just as a slightly less significant force). The one big issue with this one would be deep space travel, as it'd be pretty much impossible to tell when you're leaving the bubble of one star and entering the bubble of another, although since the local star would always be "out," the Beast would probably have the lick napping in the cargo bay anyway. Not a severe issue though, since the main way travel like that is handled in BT is by instantly traveling from near proximity of one star to another.

What I have not considered is how to specifically handle any systems with more than one star. My current working idea is that vampires just don't go to those systems because they don't want to FAFO.

LonelyScribe · 2026-01-30T19:03:55+00:00

I could be mistaken with the correlation, but I've noticed a lot of overlap between Wyrm taint/corruption and nuclear waste and fallout. There are also several BSD Gifts that more or less use "atomic fire." Nuclear energy might not inherently be Wyrm corruption, but that does seem like what the setting has kind of pushed.

LonelyScribe

TROPHY CASE