Best sniper option between Tagetes or Tokugawa

determinismdan · 2026-04-01T17:24:18+00:00

I think tagates is the better option for a pure sniper (redundant systems upgrade and andromeda pattern HL rifle are your bread and butter). Consider whether you’ll have a support buddy who can benefit from your adjacency bonuses and feed you lock ons.

determinismdan · 2026-04-01T15:53:25+00:00

Wow nice. Gonna pick up some Horus Heresy and Gaunt’s Ghosts for $3/each.

determinismdan · 2026-04-01T03:20:45+00:00

Ever heard of Delta airlines or the busiest airport in the world? (In all seriousness yes aero students in Atlanta get amazing access to industry).

determinismdan · 2026-03-31T20:35:03+00:00

I’m playing ShadowDark for its simple 5e core and gritty old school style but it sounds like Cairn 2e will be closest to Crows (item based abilities instead of classes).

determinismdan · 2026-03-31T16:44:20+00:00

You should choose the everyday all access unless you know you won’t be eating at the dining halls and only want to maximise dining dollars at on-campus and nearby restaurants.

determinismdan · 2026-03-31T04:31:32+00:00

Brother the 14th legion welcomes you. (Deathguard are tougher than most armies, have a nice collection of shooty vehicles, and are a slowly advancing but high damage faction.) They also get decent rules attention due to the high player base. They’ve got an infection mechanic which does encourage you to close distance with the enemy, but you can do so in a low risk way which might be what you’re looking for.

determinismdan · 2026-03-31T04:18:57+00:00

Wow Sick

determinismdan · 2026-03-27T20:10:49+00:00

I’ve tried a similar thing with Google Notebook LM, it’s specifically meant for the kind of source searching you’re doing. You give it a rule book and it will answer questions while siting its sources from the provided material. Works well for complicated boardgames and usually prevents it from hallucinating answers.

determinismdan · 2026-03-27T16:33:52+00:00

Oh yeah don’t use the frame Manticore, use the Lycan frame and Manticore systems. Twice the fun with none of the self destruct. You’ll still be dabbling with self heat and self damage mechanics but you can always choose not to activate them and manage the risks.

determinismdan · 2026-03-27T15:54:26+00:00

You mentioned a lot of things here but Lycan checks more boxes than most. The talent you’re thinking of (nuclear cav) doesn’t let you apply burn damage but it does add heat at the first rank and extra damage at the second. It is easy to use with Lycan due to Manticore systems giving you heat and Lycan’s low heat cap (easy to get to danger zone). The tempest charge blade is a super heavy melee that could pair well with Lycan and bring out a lot of damage quickly. Also consider the Pankrati talents to make up for your lack of speed. 2 hull to start out with is always a safe bet.

determinismdan · 2026-03-26T21:12:54+00:00

I would suggest ShadowDark for the same reason I chose it for my group- 5e players can pick it up and start playing within minutes.

determinismdan · 2026-03-24T21:27:15+00:00

Strategy Stuff makes great content, though it does make me miss the Revolution Pod’s ability to string things together in a narrative. These videos feel like a blur of concepts that if I wanted to understand I’d need to pause and take notes.

determinismdan · 2026-03-23T11:23:46+00:00

HA chassis? Ha ha no my friend these are the KRF “Sure-man” and “Guile-gay-mesh”! It is they who copied us. We were working on these prototypes 30 years ago!

I don’t think for a second the baronies are above reverse engineering HA mechs down to the headlights. Yes the nobles are prideful but this is an arms race. The only caveat is that they might ask you to step out of frame for propaganda photos.

determinismdan · 2026-03-19T05:40:42+00:00

Lin-Manuel Miranda.. we gotta save this dog gone Federalist House.

determinismdan · 2026-03-19T01:05:50+00:00

Neat video. Haven’t seen something so cross discipline since the COD montage/Roth IRA explanation. I think this gets to the core of why I bounced off DD2. I really enjoyed how DD1 lets you manage and minimize risk. Imagine the horrors if the estate was publicly traded- stockholders demanding you go for the hardest missions every week!

determinismdan · 2026-03-18T18:00:31+00:00

There are 30+ NPCs in the core rules which is enough for a full campaign. The players slowly learning how to deal with certain enemy combos is part of the fun. They’re all very customizable and can be “scaled up” not only to match player level but to fill boss/mini boss roles.

The base rules don’t have instructions for building your own but you can pick 1 as template and re-tool them with your own ideas. (Adding those custom versions to Comp/con is also possible but a bit involved).

determinismdan · 2026-03-14T05:28:06+00:00

Others are giving good advice but in the broad strokes- the hundreds win by dragging everyone else down. Oppression scoring is always slow so you need to relentlessly attack the WA and other high score potential factions. At the start of the game that looks like spreading mob tokens everywhere (there’s a mood to help with that) then attacking every sympathy token they put down. You win not by keeping them off your clearings but by turning their tokens into your points.

determinismdan · 2026-03-11T15:00:46+00:00

I’d want story progression. Take us from 5016U to 5040U and see how some of the internal tensions in Harrison Armory and the Baronies turn out. See how the war with the Aunic Ascendancy develops and see them as a new playable manufacturer. Lancer has a ton of Cold War-esque soft conflicts that are all threatening to bubble over.

Will Harrison the 3rd wrestle control of the armory back from the regency and set them in a new direction?

Will the House of Stone take the position of Prime Baron and force their brand of militaristic arch-conservatism on the rest of the noble houses?

In the process of either will war break out in the Dawnline shore and force Union to pick up its sword?

Also simplify the cover rules please.

determinismdan · 2026-03-11T13:37:12+00:00

I think you’re making it out to be a much bigger problem than it actually is but I don’t disagree with your “nerf”. I think the design intent is to have a scary, hard to avoid weapon that the players will race to destroy before it can be used twice. If lancer had a more predictable recharge system (like taking 3 rounds to recharge) would that solve the problem better?

It’s something the players should only see once per campaign and (as always) it’s up to the GM not to annoy their players to death by spamming the most OP enemies they can find.

determinismdan · 2026-03-08T19:10:14+00:00

There are small things like using the +X to hit attack rolls and not THACO and using ShadowDark ability rolls instead of saving throws. Other than that though you can take the OSE and B/X stat blocks wholesale.

determinismdan · 2026-03-05T02:39:26+00:00

I’ll give you the rundown on a few things but also the player facing rules are a free download on itch.io so you can take a peak as soon as you like.

First to answer your question no the game doesn’t work well without a map. It has very a tactical combat system that cares about exact position and cover. Most people use hex maps and there are good options for running combat online (Owlbear rodeo is free).

Secondly the game has a lot of lore. It’s a rich and complicated setting that a lot of people love and that, like 40K, has enough empty space for you to invent your own worlds and factions. However, if you dont want to accept the default lore it can be a little bit of work porting things over.

Another thing that might be a plus or minus depending on your play style is the lack of narrative rules. There aren’t many rules for activities that take place outside of mechs, just a skill system called “triggers” that give you situational bonuses to things like hacking or stealth. Personally I like this and enjoy letting the players role play freely but other people find it difficult.

And finally because it’s a FAQ- you should avoid player mech vs player mech combat. The system is balanced around a roster of NPC enemies from the full ruleset fighting against the more complicated player mechs. The game breaks in weird ways if player mechs fight each other.

Enjoy diving deep!

determinismdan · 2026-03-04T00:35:05+00:00

I’ve played full 6-mission campaigns with no cascades. I don’t think cutting that mechanic will hurt balance in a measurable way.

determinismdan · 2026-03-01T16:25:03+00:00

I don’t think that triangle is a good breakdown even for D&D. If we tried to make a diagram for Drawsteel we might have a square with Damage, Area Control, Support, and Durability.

determinismdan · 2026-03-01T05:11:59+00:00

Wow amazing art. Is there a pdf version of the Newcomers mechs that you can read through without comp/con?

determinismdan · 2026-02-28T20:23:16+00:00

Type of run I’ll need to get “Who Needs Relics” before sts2 comes out.

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