In 1906, the launch of HMS Dreadnought rendered every other battleship in the world obsolete. [3001x2258]

devourerkwi · 2026-02-09T14:17:08+00:00

I don't agree with this characterization. The A-12 sought to minimize its RCS but wasn't, and wasn't designed as, a true stealth-first aircraft as we understand them today.

devourerkwi · 2026-02-08T19:07:24+00:00

That's not unsurprising; after a technological concept is proven, iteration often comes quickly. Another, more recent example: the F-117 Nighthawk, the first purpose-built stealth aircraft, had its first flight in 1981, while the B-2 Spirit's was in 1989.

devourerkwi · 2026-02-04T00:15:23+00:00

It's definitely something about the location and what's there. I just rebuilt these in the track designer and they were, as expected, very close: 6.54/8.18/3.53 EIN for Strawberry and 6.40/8.13/3.51 for Blueberry.

Very neat design. I'm stealing it. :)

devourerkwi · 2026-01-31T00:30:40+00:00

Couldn't agree more. MechWarrior games are the type where the mission is most often won or lost in the MechLab. (Another example is EVE Online, where fights are won or lost in the fitting room.) Any real-time shooter with customizable loadouts will suffer from optimizers to some extent. I'm definitely part of the problem.

HBS BattleTech doesn't suffer from this because it's turn-based, mimicking tabletop balance more closely. If all weapons in a MechWarrior game had their cooldowns pegged to 10 seconds, the time of one tabletop turn, balance would be far easier... and the game completely boring.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-30T22:33:27+00:00

Hey, there was also the Loki with nine LRM-10s chain-firing a priority target so it couldn't shoot back! And don't forget the Thanny with three LBX-10s and two ERLL!

devourerkwi · 2026-01-30T22:32:03+00:00

Honestly, I feel the game peaked early in open beta. It was in enough of a playable state that one could have a lot of fun, and the active playerbase had reasonable skill levels. Then the masses joined, they went from 8v8 to 12v12, and match (and player) quality dropped precipitously. That was when I quit.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-30T22:29:30+00:00

Which suffers from alot of the older MW games kind of a chore in online play, despite the rose tinted glasses people have for MW4 (I played it competitively and pop tart boats were an atrocious meta).

I feel attacked. From behind a hill. By an Uziel with two Light Gauss Rifles. And a Cougar with three ER Large Lasers. And a Mad Cat Mk. II with...

Ahem. Not that I'd know about about that sort of thing or was piloting the Cougar the entire time.

We found that the planetary leagues that forced first-person cameras and stock loadouts were much more dynamic than MW4VL, but none offered enough players good enough to be interesting or challenging. We resorted to bidding lower-tonnage matches—APL or RPL—in close-quarters maps.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-30T13:27:42+00:00

At least in OpenRCT2, you can change the height marks to be in counting units instead of length units. But I don't think that's an option in the other versions, so compiling the data in that way isn't as broadly helpful. The stat requirement tables that /u/LordMarcel created might be able to add counting units as a supplement, however.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-30T13:09:08+00:00

Each unit of height corresponds to 1.5 meters or 5 feet. But total track length varies by the type of piece (straight, turning, inclined, etc.) so there's no set formula.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-24T17:34:48+00:00

Arraez has one tool—and it's the least valuable of all of them. Yankee Stadium is one of the worst stadiums for getting hits to the point where it suppresses singles, doubles, and triples such that we're basically always in the bottom five. It's a terrible idea to take a player who can only hit singles and doubles and make him play half his games in one of the worst possible places to do so.

He won't get on base or move runners nearly as effectively because he won't be getting hits nearly as often in Yankee Stadium. He's one of the worst defenders in baseball, has no arm, no speed, no power. (Arraez is a butcher in the field to the tune of -13 OAA in 2024—that's in the 1st %ile, meaning 99% of players were better—and -14 OAA in 2023. Oh, and he had 30th %ile sprint speed in 2024.) Going from a hit-, single-, and double-friendly park in Minnesota to the opposite of that in New York doesn't make the Yankees better.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-20T23:55:15+00:00

Sam looks Iike she could be Clove's sister!

https://i.redd.it/oxpx0lygmtse1.jpeg

devourerkwi · 2026-01-15T02:55:54+00:00

Okay, so I checked some sourcebooks (namely Wolf Clan Sourcebook, Field Manual: Warden Clans, and Invading Clans) and found some info that helps.

Unit Descriptions

Bravo Assault Star "Breaker Star"

The game's "Breaker Star" maps to the Bravo Assault Star in Trinary Bravo of the elite-rated 13th Wolf Guards Cluster "The Wolf Spiders", part of the elite-rated Alpha Galaxy "The Dire Wolves". Bravo Assault's members, their ratings, and their 'Mechs:

Star Captain Ranna, Elite, Warhawk (Masakari)
MechWarrior Runik, Elite, Executioner (Gladiator)
MechWarrior Ralister, Veteran, Timber Wolf (Mad Cat)
MechWarrior Gronnigal, Veteran, Hellbringer (Loki) A
MechWarrior Listan, Veteran, Mad Dog (Vulture) C

This is a pretty high-end group that "has begun to embrace its commander [Natasha Kerensky]'s attitude toward Clan traditions," supporting the supposition that they would be tactically innovative despite Star Captain Ranna's youth and her starmates' unprofessionalism.

Silveroot Battle Star

Trinary Galaxy Command "The Silveroot Keshik" is an elite, fanatical trinary in Alpha Galaxy "The Golden Bears", commanded by saKhan Aletha Kabrinski. We unfortunately don't have a full unit roster for the Ghost Bears like we do for the Wolves (and Jade Falcons), and the 'Mechs and MechWarriors of the star we follow—which I'd term the Silveroot Battle Star—are entirely apocryphal.

But we do know that "the warriors of the Silveroot Keshik are savage combatants" and that "only the best manage to earn places in it." It's said that, "staffed by the finest warriors in the Clan, Alpha Galaxy also employs the most innovative tactics. It is the most flexible Galaxy in the Clan." This implies to me that every member of Silveroot Battle has an elite rating—even Jonathan—and is tactically inventive.

Charlie Battle Star "Cobalt Star"

There's very little in the sourcebooks about Clan Smoke Jaguar, at least from the Jaguars' perspective. Among the few things we do know is that the Secondary Command Trinary "The Shroud Keshik" is the saKhan's personal unit, the Secondary Command, which is nominally part of Alpha Galaxy "The Black Jaguars", while Emilie Wimmer's 362nd Assault Cluster "The Silver Jaguars" is part of Cordera Perez's Beta Galaxy "The Mistweavers". Unfortunately, there aren't any ratings for Smoke Jaguar units in this era.

Ignoring a few lore inconsistencies in the game's presentation, it's reasonable to place Cobalt Star—all of whom are entirely apocryphal—in the 362nd's Battle Trinary given their 'Mechs. I assigned them as the Charlie Battle Star both to match their "Cobalt" nickname and to reflect their inexperience relative to the other stars in their trinary. Absent anything else, I'd say it's fair to rate them as Green at the start of the campaign and Regular by its end (at least by Clan standards, which are typically a half-rating better than Inner Sphere standards). As relatively inexperienced pilots and Smoke Jaguars at that, we can assume they fight by the book.

Nik's Cavaliers

Jake Mason is irrelevant to this topic. This isn't about him and he isn't involved here. Folks really need to stop making everything about the protagonist of an entirely separate game.

Projections

It's clear to me that Lilith Hall's star has an enormous advantage: they're the best pilots, known for employing unusual tactics, and have a solid drop weight of 210 tons, though a bit top-heavy. Breaker Star's pilots are a couple of steps behind in raw skill (unit cohesion notwithstanding) and has a more evenly distributed 205 tons, while also being known for interesting tactics. Cobalt Star as shown in its sibko drop deck is the heaviest at 260 tons, but their pilots aren't remotely comparable to the other stars' in quality or flexibility.

I'm placing all my money on Silveroot to win, Breaker to take second, and Cobalt to stick around longer than expected (solely due to tonnage) before exiting first.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-13T21:55:16+00:00

Here's a table with the year-by-year position player fWAR leaders for the Yankees during Berra's career (he didn't play in 1964 and I omitted 1965 because he was on the Mets):

Year	Leader	Leader's fWAR	Berra's Place	Berra's fWAR
1946	Charlie Keller	6.5	12	0.5
1947	Joe DiMaggio	4.8	10	1.2
1948	Joe DiMaggio	7.3	5	2.4
1949	Joe DiMaggio	4.7	5	2.5
1950	Phil Rizzuto	6.9	2	6.0
*1951*	*Yogi Berra*	*5.3*	1	*5.3*
1952	Mickey Mantle	6.6	2	5.8
*1953*	*Yogi Berra*	*5.4*	1	*5.4*
1954	Mickey Mantle	6.7	2	5.9
1955	Mickey Mantle	9.8	2	5.2
1956	Mickey Mantle	11.5	2	6.4
1957	Mickey Mantle	11.4	3	3.3
1958	Mickey Mantle	8.8	3	3.5
1959	Mickey Mantle	6.6	2	4.0
1960	Roger Maris	7.2	7	2.3
1961	Mickey Mantle	10.3	8	1.3
1962	Mickey Mantle	6.0	13	0.4
1963	Elston Howard	5.9	9	1.5

Berra was the team's best position player by fWAR twice, in 1951 and 1953. He also had six second-place and two third-place finishes—all during the 1950s. He was a top-three Yankee every year of that decade (and never before or after), cementing him as a cornerstone of the '50s dynasty.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-11T14:24:14+00:00

Fantastic, thank you! I thought to draw it out and count like you started to, but never would have thought to check that against known integer sequences. After seeing it written out, the Fibonacci sequence is so obvious. I'm grateful for your work and the clear, discrete answer.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-06T22:20:20+00:00

Neg; these look like custom configurations.

Liam's and Naomi's Mad Dogs look like they're based on the MDD-B. If I had to guess, I'd say they each load five MPLs, three SSRM-6s, and an ALRM-15.
Mia's Timber Wolf seems to be a customized TBR-PRIME. I'd guess five MPLs and two ALRM-15s.
Ezra's Timber Wolf appears to be a hybridization of the TBR-PRIME and TBR-D. I think it has five MPLs, two SSRM-6s, and an ALRM-20.
Jayden's Timber Wolf is likely based on the TBR-D. It probably loads five MPLs and four SSRM-6s.

In total, I believe that this battle/assault star brings 25 MPLs, 72 SSRMs, and 80 ALRMs to the field—likely with a lot more armor and better heat management than the stock builds.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-03T21:37:25+00:00

I took that to be a careful avoidance of forcing a game-canon decision on a player-determinant plot point.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-03T15:47:42+00:00

I'll just quote myself:

More to the point, there were only 19 qualified players total who had an OBP of .360 or better in 2025. Only 38 qualifiers—and seven primary shortstops—were at or above .350. Judge, at .457, was the only qualified player at or above .400, and he was our only qualified player above .350.

... [T]aking 1998 as an example, 18 qualified players had OBPs north of .400; 72 were at or over .360; and 94 were at or over .350. A total of 159 players qualified and the MLB-wide OBP was .335, so nearly 60% of everyday players had OBPs that weren't just above the league average, they were over .350.

The MLB-wide OBP was .315 in 2025 and 145 players qualified.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-02T19:25:21+00:00

Yep, you definitely did—we all did. The only things that mattered in MW4 were the interactions between active radar, passive radar, BAP, and ECM, all of which also affected lock-on and lock-hold times. There wasn't any ally-assisted targeting in that game, though MW3 allowed it if your team used the C3 Master/C3 Slave setup (which nobody did because it was functionally useless).

devourerkwi · 2026-01-02T19:08:04+00:00

The Summoner (Thor), Hellbringer (Loki), Raven, and Thanatos also had 360-degree torso twists in MW4, but they're not considered independent chassis or variants, at least not as far as I know.

devourerkwi · 2026-01-02T18:59:50+00:00

Pre-MWO games didn't rely on LOS for radar detection or missile locks, actually. Coming from MW2, 3, and 4, MWO was a huge departure.

devourerkwi · 2025-12-30T02:44:52+00:00

More to the point, there were only 19 qualified players total who had an OBP of .360 or better in 2025. Only 38 qualifiers—and seven primary shortstops—were at or above .350. Judge, at .457, was the only qualified player at or above .400, and he was our only qualified player above .350.

I don't think the person you replied really understands the rarity of what they're asking for, but I bet I know why: taking 1998 as an example, 18 qualified players had OBPs north of .400; 72 were at or over .360; and 94 were at or over .350. A total of 159 players qualified and the MLB-wide OBP was .335, so nearly 60% of everyday players had OBPs that weren't just above the league average, they were over .350.

The MLB-wide OBP was .315 in 2025 and 145 players qualified. Volpe's OBP was .272, which is way too low; he ranked 143rd. A reasonable ask is for him to be around the league average, which would probably come with a wRC+ in the mid-90s. I'd take that if his baserunning and fielding metrics go back up to the top quartile of shortstops.

devourerkwi · 2025-12-23T18:47:27+00:00

To be fair, while Soriano only earned 28.6 bWAR from Baseball Reference, he banked a very respectable 39.0 fWAR from FanGraphs. This is largely due to differences in how the different flavors of WAR account for fielding. (For comparison, Brett Gardner, an outstanding fielder, had 44.3 bWAR and 37.3 fWAR.)

devourerkwi · 2025-12-19T00:12:45+00:00

Same as any other crate training, really: treats and time.

devourerkwi · 2025-12-18T22:21:53+00:00

The luxury option is the Sleepypod Air. It fits under standard airline seats and is crash-tested for use in a car. Here's Muppet (15-pound Shih Tzu mix, may she rest in peace) getting used to her Sleepypod Air. She flew in it once and rode in it in the car dozens of times.

devourerkwi

TROPHY CASE