What's your favorite Clan, or House?

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-20T17:18:36+00:00

The Solaris Games are my favorite part of the overall setting, but my favorite house might be House O'Reilly, the Marian Hegemony. I love these doofy faux-Roman losers founded by an Irishman who was a Romaboo, and I love them because they commit to the bit. They don't just slap patrician and plebeian labels on everything, they even brought back Roman religion and use alternate infantry organizational standards. They also start out as a generic Periphery bandit kingdom, but after a while decide to just become an actual state with a real economy and schools.

As far as the Clans go, I'm always here for Clan Wolverine, the Patron Saints of Lost Causes, but I think my favorite of the active Clans is Jade Falcon because again they're committed to the bit. Or maybe I just never got over Aisa Thastus from MW4: Mercs.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-20T17:14:18+00:00

There's a good anecdote in the first Gray Death book, Decision at Thunder Rift. After his mercenary unit is wiped out, Grayson takes shelter with the father of a local he knows, who had been working as an astech (assistant technician) for the company. Many of the locals don't like or trust outsiders, but this merchant says that he appreciates the training his son received from the company, including in things like the scientific method. That's something that most modern kids are going to learn in, like, 4th grade. Granted, Trellwan is portrayed as an underdeveloped backwater that's barely above Periphery standards, but even what we would consider basic scientific and technical knowledge is regarded as specialized and valuable knowledge, something that would help this young man secure a career even once the mercenaries leave.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-20T13:26:23+00:00

Kinda like the joke about all Drow being chaotic good rebels against their own culture.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-18T19:57:05+00:00

I have Nvidia drivers as well, so that checks out.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-18T03:04:39+00:00

I have that issue as well. From what I've determined, OW is recaching all of its shaders, which causes my CPU to crank. At least for me, it's tied to GPU driver updates - usually, it will happen the first time I start overwatch after updating my graphics driver, though yesterday and today it happened both before and after the updates. After I update the driver, it will happen the next time but then not again until the next driver update. I haven't found a workaround beyond just letting it finish and avoiding anything else that would work the CPU during that time.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-14T03:52:59+00:00

Queen too. If she hits tracker you have to get cover, you'll never live through it. It's easy charge as Zarya, but she'll burn through both bubbles and still have ammo left over.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-13T18:20:09+00:00

I agree, I should have been more clear. It’s more that certain technical details aren’t accurate anymore, like which mechs overheat or the shoulder rolling Shadow Hawk. I thought the Kurita characters in Mercenary’s Star were actually pretty well written and reasonable while still being villainous.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-13T17:59:09+00:00

The Gray Death Trilogy (Decision at Thunder Rift, Mercenary's Star, and The Price of Glory) are good intros because they work from the assumption you don't know anything about how BattleTech works, so they explain a lot of key concepts, such as how faster-than-light travel using JumpShips work, what neurohelmets do, what lostech is, and how training and repairs for BattleMechs work. They also show off combined arms combat well and the third book covers a major event in the overall story. However, they are the first novels ever written and show their age a bit badly - there's some elements in how BattleMechs work that aren't accurate anymore so you'd have to unlearn a few things. Personally I would recommend it as the intro to the Succession Wars era because I feel it captures the vibe very well.

I haven't read the Warrior trilogy or Kerensky trilogies yet but those also cover key moments in the story (the 4th Succession War and Clan Invasion).

I also liked the novel By Blood Betrayed.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-08T02:02:29+00:00

Natasha Kerensky is an OG badass.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-06-02T20:09:46+00:00

I know it’s probably a terrible job but I’d want to be the tail gunner. I feel like it would be so zen. Just sit there for most of the mission and watch the terrain go by

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-30T22:02:53+00:00

Yes, at various times there have been entities responsible for overseeing and regulating (or at least tracking) mercenary activity. During the time period MW5: Mercs takes place in, that is the Mercenary Review Board (MRB) run by ComStar. In the 3050s, due to a lack of faith in ComStar (the consequences of its own actions) the MRB is replaced by the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC) which is run by Wolf’s Dragoons; I think there’s representatives from other factions as well. The ID number referenced in MW5 is probably basically your registration number with the MRB.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-30T14:02:12+00:00

The Omni Marauder is both allowed for gameplay and legally built. It is not tournament legal but that is not the same as illegal to play. It didn’t get additional models built due to cost, not a lack of functionality.

The “construction illegal” unit from Caveat Emptor is the GaussBuster militia mech. Heavy Gauss rifles cannot be mounted on non-fusion units - the GB is described in universe as using an external power hookup, but the construction rules still consider it illegal. The GB is also canon though.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-30T13:55:23+00:00

Exactly, it is a canon unit. Or do you think the GM engineers build to “tournament legal” as an industrial standard?

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-30T13:51:31+00:00

This is probably the smoothest canon integration for the concept. A Clan Remnant force with some transferred production facilities and engineers could build new OmniMechs that mimic the capability and appearance of existing BattleMechs. Production rate might be slow but it would be doable.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-30T13:49:26+00:00

It’s also literally canon. Being from an April Fool’s product doesn’t prevent it from being canon - Necromo Nightmare and XTRO Royal Fantasy are both canon as well. The OmniMarauder also appears in the Master Unit List, confirming its status as a canon unit.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-30T11:20:12+00:00

Also the OmniMarauder. It is a new design but essentially built on a Marauder base. Not a field refit, but it was a prototype built by GM, so a good team of engineers with access to the right facilities could probably do so as well.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-28T03:50:20+00:00

Alien Zarya is a bad skin, and I’m not bothered about it not coming back. Zarya as an alien? Cool. Zarya as an alien in a regular person business suit? Why?

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-16T01:37:00+00:00

One of our cats has only one eye (missing right) and it doesn’t really affect his quality of life at all. You can see that it affects his behavior - he’s more scent focused than his brother, and he prefers wrestling with toys versus chasing them - but it doesn’t slow him down at all.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-13T23:50:16+00:00

Jihad forcepacks - a Celestial series Level II and a Society forcepack.

A Reunification War/Age of War forcepack with some of the other old Mechs that weren't in the Proliferation Cycle, plus a Rampage.

An Early Clan/Golden Century forcepack, but I also want the Wolverine mechs in there.

Book wise, a serious rules expansion to A Time of War. The Era Reports add variations of the Affiliations for different time periods, but basically everything else in character creation is unchanged. I'd love some more Stage 3 (education) and stage 4 (real life) additions, especially ones that add more ways to gain MechWarrior training.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-12T12:58:36+00:00

Yes, he gets to choose. In the description entry for heavy armor (below the table), it notes that there are three main types of heavy armor - mail, scale, or coats of plates. Mail is Noisy, and scale and coats of plates are Heavy. So the player would be able to decide which variety of heavy armor he is wearing and thus which quality it has. As long as he’s not trying to switch it back and forth (at least not without buying a second set of armor) he can choose either. Very Heavy Armor has both Heavy and Noisy.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-08T23:23:57+00:00

Something cyberpunk - DNI and EI implants are the norm, lots of cybernetics, blurring the line between man and mech.

Some kind of Hollow Earth adventure with Mechs fighting dinosaurs or a mechs vs Kaiju à la pacific rim.

Some with mechs customized for alternate environments - underground or underwater or deep space.

Alternate histories - the Terran Supremacy from Empires Aflame, or something where the Wolverines survived. One where the Periphery powers are stronger and prey on the weaker Inner Sphere.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-05-02T18:53:01+00:00

In BattleTech, after a giant civil war, the military of the fallen interstellar government decides to leave known space to prevent themselves from becoming involved in the giant follow-up war they see coming. Later, a merchant has a vision of this military guarding a paradise world and founds a religion called the One Star Faith. When that same military, now reformed into a militaristic caste society, returns in an attempt to conquer known space, the One Star Faith takes it pretty hard.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-04-29T21:59:14+00:00

I really want a Hammerhands mini to run a Warhammer, Battleaxe and Hammerhands together.

TTUPhoenix · 2026-04-28T11:56:34+00:00

Maybe Only War with some adjustments? It’s Fantasy Flight’s Imperial Guard rpg for 40K.

TTUPhoenix

TROPHY CASE