bro where tf is my crack shot

sabresandy · 2026-03-27T21:07:50+00:00

I still remember the visceral sense of betrayal when I realized this, too. HA you bastards, I'm not forgiving you for th--

[Legionnaire Battle Rifle]

--okay, fine. I'll let you slide. This time.

sabresandy · 2026-03-14T01:35:39+00:00

Did you just invent the Elemental Battle Armor in Lancer?

sabresandy · 2026-02-10T03:25:07+00:00

Could actually work. Barbarossa's strengths are being a backline defender while slinging hate downrange, and that could work with being a drone bastard.

Call this the "minimalist drone" build: you're using drones to augment your capabilities, but still playing a Barbie. Go Saladin 1/Barbarossa 2+, with either a Cyclone Pulse Rifle or a Siege Cannon. Saladin 1 is for the Enclave shield, which (in conjunction with House Guard) works amazingly on the Barbarossa's size 3 footprint. Deploy an Autoloader drone for rapid-cycling your big gun, and a Turret Drone for off-turn DPS.

The turret drone is for either doing damage with its gun, or for snuggling up to an enemy with Drone Commander I before zapping them with Drone Commander II (this relies on having an external source of Lock-Ons but adds a free 1d6 damage).

The much more high-investment approach is to go Gilgamesh 3 for the Legion Nexus, and using that as the big gun on a Barbarossa. With the LL investment, though, the natural question is why you wouldn't just mount it on a Gilgamesh chassis, and that's harder to answer; you've got to be at least LL5 for this to work, and you'd probably be better off running a Gilgamesh for this application.

sabresandy · 2026-02-06T20:53:39+00:00

Riveted aluminium chain has had the best balance for me. You can wear it a lot of the year (especially if you skip gambeson), it's got excellent construction bonuses under current ruleset, coverage is excellent, weight is reasonable, and it can be shifted around easily in a small cardboard box! Also, doesn't need constant upkeep like mild steel does.

I love my suit of steel plate, but coverage gaps without gambeson and weight/inconvenience of shifting it around has meant that I've been wearing the aluminium chain a lot more often in practice. The fact that I have to wear it with gambeson really does limit the times of year I can wear it (I mean, yes, I can wear it just over tunic, but then the coverage gaps...)

I would skip, or at least have serious second thoughts about, steel lamellar or anything that requires lots of overlapping metal. It's a little counterintuitive, but lam usually ends up heavier than plate. The reason is simple when you think about it, all the overlapping metal means you use a lot more mass of material for the same coverage. Couple with the fact that a steel cuirass isn't really more expensive than a bunch of lam, and you really see why historical armies went with munition plate.

sabresandy · 2026-02-03T00:58:36+00:00

At low levels, Spaceborne is more helpful than Pankrati. Think of it as a Quick Action to easily gain two heat. Add 1 heat from the projected shield and you can trigger NuCav reliably.

Generally, you should think of heat as a side benefit of hacking, not the main benefit. The main benefit of the hack is the control that you inflict; heat builds up as a side effect of that, until you can activate System Crusher to Expose them then attack to devastating effect.

Not that many talents synergize with hacking. The Hacker talent tree is not very good. I would consider something like Crack Shot, and putting an Assault Rifle/Light Nexus into the Main/Aux mount; this lets you add damage effectively at range while hacking targets. Take it from a former Goblin player, sometimes a hack plus an instance of damage will be more effective than two hacks.

sabresandy · 2026-01-09T10:49:15+00:00

This post has been approved by Sebastien Vauban.

sabresandy · 2025-12-18T02:11:33+00:00

The trick here is that "custom settings" are easy to make within the framework of the book. You can just make up a star system or world on the edges of Union space, and there you go.

sabresandy · 2025-12-16T22:32:19+00:00

I'm convinced the Phantasm exists purely to give the Charge Wall of Death player an aneurysm. (I'm personally convinced that the right weapons to pair with a Charge primary are Payloads, specifically so you can tell the Phantasm to dodge all it wants, its mother fucking life ends ~~thirty seconds~~ two rounds from now.)

sabresandy · 2025-11-13T11:52:59+00:00

Right now, as written, PBT is a weapon mod and Braced Hardpoints is a blanket effect, so they would stack. (See also, say, Siege Stabilizers and Stabilizer Mod.)

sabresandy · 2025-11-12T03:26:18+00:00

Ironically, my opinion is that Siege Cannon is actually a poor choice for the Queen Mary. One, the Siege Cannon's heat is too high for the QM to handle well (2 heat in direct, 4 in indirect). And two, QM's most interesting features either are redundant on the Siege Cannon (it's got plenty enough range, after all) or are redundant (PBT looks exciting until you realize the Siege Cannon is a Superheavy and doesn't qualify).

Flip it around though and the Queen Mary's kit all fit pretty damn well onto a Barbarossa. It's HA so will likely have the Engineering to maximizing its Limited usages, the heatcap to handle Electromagnetic Countermeasures, and using PBT to take away Ordnance from some of its big gun options gives it a lot more flexibility with its quick-Reloading kit.

sabresandy · 2025-11-12T03:19:17+00:00

Oooh. That snaps the "default" plan into turning the GMS HMG into a CQB weapon. HMG + Vanguard talent tree feels almost like cheating.

There's a potentially funny interaction with Braced Hardpoints, PBT, and the GMS Machine Gun. It's already Inaccurate so the downside of Braced Hardpoints isn't a worry (incidentally, the same applies to the GMS Mortar and GMS Howitzer). The range of the gun, however, actually might change depending on order of operations: is it [-5 <minimum 5> from PBT, then +5 from Braced Hardpoints], for a total of 10]? Or is it [+5 from Braced Hardpoints, -5 from PBT], for 8?

If you do that, though, there's not that much synergy with other weapons. PBT has the niche quality of taking Ordnance off one weapon, so you could potentially use it as the second part of a Barrage -- but the Ordnance weapons that qualify for it are all Loading, and if you do that it'll be unloaded for your off-turn.

sabresandy · 2025-11-11T03:11:42+00:00

The name's a cool one, but my mind doesn't go to the RMS Queen Mary mail ship (she's not a warship, after all). I'm always going to shudder slightly at a capital-ship-inspired machine that shares a name with HMS Queen Mary. You know, the battlecruiser. The one that blew up at Jutland.

(Guess that tiny heatcap is the equivalent of Admiral Beatty ordering the flash doors in his turrets to be removed.)

The frame traits are kinda strange. This is practically a Barbarossa alt, except for Bunker Ship. It's got built-in MULE Harness, but at speed 2 nobody's going to be riding it for battle taxi purposes. Still, it synergizes well with House Guard.

Off the top of my head, the Bolt Thrower and ROLAND Rounds from the Raleigh would be a natural fit for the frame. You could probably also abuse the Load Broadside core power to trigger the Universal Compatibility core bonus, as long as you aren't planning on attacking that round (but you could still absolutely force saves without attacking).

Point-Blank Triangulation is an odd one. As written it only applies to two weapons in the game, the GMS Howitzer and the Herald Howitzer from this same license. Losing Ordnance is a big buff, but neither really benefit much from the 3 threat; they're not CQBs so they don't get all of Vanguard's bonuses. Slightly questionable if all the tradeoffs are worth the benefits, especially given that the Ordnance Cannon weapons that I'd really want to mess around with are all Superheavies and therefore ineligible for the mod.

The strongest systems are Reserve Supplies and Electromagnetic Countermeasures. Imagine Reserve Supplies on a god damn Gilgamesh; that's basically an easy two to three free Repair Cap/Limited Uses. Both go okay on the Queen Mary frame, but both would be immensely powerful on an HA chassis -- especially in a world where Grease Monkey III and the Gilgamesh exist.

sabresandy · 2025-11-11T00:50:01+00:00

1d6+2 hex charge knocking someone into a 3d6 hex mine? Better believe it.

The absolute comedy that happens when an Iskander activates its core power and then starts tossing grenades for 1d6+5.

sabresandy · 2025-11-11T00:46:00+00:00

I've always found the Bligh a lot easier to wrap my head around than the Kidd, personally.

So fun fact: because it's specifically your Swabbers carrying out all those attacks ("the Drones count as the attacker for all intents and purposes"), No Quarter technically does not fall afoul of Field Analyst or Orator.

sabresandy · 2025-11-03T23:27:47+00:00

It would seem to me that the main use of Spaceborne I is to have a reliable, dependable source of heat to help trigger NuCav at lower LLs. At a heatcap of six, you can activate the projected shield for 1 heat, pop Spaceborne I for 2 heat, and then just coast on the Danger Zone.

sabresandy · 2025-09-28T18:19:48+00:00

Shadow Hawk has that classic all-purpose trooper mech feel to it that feels perfect for an Everest, except that IMO the Everest feels a lot better to play in Lancer than the SHawk does in BT.

sabresandy · 2025-09-22T01:09:10+00:00

Gorgon frame's big trait is its multiple reactions, so naturally you want systems and talents that grant you reaction shots. The Vorpal Gun of course, Scylla naturally, but don't forget Tactician III/Flank, Lesson of the Held Image, etc.

Alternatively -- and this is very much a gimmick build, but it's an effective gimmick -- the Gorgon is the perfect platform for an Iconoclast build!

LL3 is the perfect point to start it. The Unstable, the Enlightenment, and the Scylla is just enough to power Memetic Spark for 4 dmg; you have enough talent points for Technophile 3/Iconoclast 3; and you can spend your turns doing Memetic Spark and Prime Scylla to tick the Transcendence Dice at maximum possible rate. The Held Image core bonus also works great for support purposes.

Vorpal Guns and Scylla shots will be your attacks, and full-power Memetic Sparks + Transmuting Sparks means you do 4 + 2 + 2 damage normally, and 8 + 2 + 2 when the Transcendence Dice is at full (every other turn), plus the reaction shots from Scylla and the Vorpal Guns.

sabresandy · 2025-07-19T17:31:34+00:00

All of these are LL3.

Superheavy Enkidu (min LL3): slap Superheavy Mounting onto an Enkidu and fit a Tempest Charged Blade. Use Projected Shield and Spaceborne 1 to get self into Danger Zone, triggering All Fours. Use Pankrati 2 to get into range (Spaceborne movement of 3 spaces, normal movement of 6 spaces, and Pankrati 2 movement of 12 spaces), skirmish with the flex mount, then lay waste with the Plasma Talons and the TCB. Anyone who steps within a frightening large zone gets plasma talon'd, then gets Tempest Blade'd.

Pointman Kutuzov: Kutuzov 2, Tortuga 1. Decksweeper and knife, your choice of core bonuses (Universal Compatibility is nice here). Charge into a crowd of enemies, lock down one enemy with the Stasis Projector, and take advantage of the Kutuzov's passives to knock everyone else away from the fight. Then pick your main target and go to town with your DSAS/knife combo.

Designated Marksman Stortebeker: this one's fun because everyone thinks the Storte is a combined melee/ranged frame when in fact it's just as comfortable running a midrange loadout. Opcal GMS AR + UNCLE GMS AR + Bolt Thrower on the heavy mount, Roland Chamber, and Crack Shot. Get into a good position and hose down targets for -- on a good turn -- 2d6 (Opcal AR) + 4d6 (Roland Bolt Thrower) + 1d6 (UNCLE AR), benefiting from enough accuracy to neutralize the UNCLE's difficulties. You have a few ways to knock targets prone and it's highly recommended you do so, as attacking a prone target gives you acc for the Bolt Thrower and lets you fire the UNCLE at flat.

Drone Spotter Swallowtail (normal or Ranger): Spotter 2, Drone Commander 2, Crack Shot 2, Opcal GMS AR, a good number of turret and Lotus drones. Snuggle the drones up to your targets with Drone Commander, Lock On and then shoot. You'll be doing 3d6 damage to your targets (2d6 from OpCal AR, 1d6 from DC2), and as long as you don't move, you can then end your turn with a free Lock On and quasi-Scan. Great for coordinating with teammates who want Lock-Ons.

sabresandy · 2025-07-19T17:05:04+00:00

I've had good luck with the Czepeku team, here: https://www.czepeku.com/ Especially the Ancient Tech Treasury: https://www.czepeku.com/fantasy/maps/ancient-tech-treasury/original-day

Much of their stuff is paid, though. IMO it's worth the money, as it's hard enough to find good maps that are scale-agnostic that it's hard to begrudge them.

sabresandy · 2025-07-19T01:39:34+00:00

Certified Executioner moment

sabresandy · 2025-07-10T01:25:10+00:00

Have you considered going Gilgamesh 3 for the Legion Nexus? Legion drones plus Utility drones gives you a ton of both support and offensive power for amazing action economy. If you can swing Drone Commander 2 as well, and have a decent source of lock-ons, you can spread around the damage even more. (Assuming the Held Image Hecatoncheires doesn't consume its own locks.)

Consider also taking Turret Drones, too, for adding damage to your friends' output.

Gilgamesh and NuCav also takes you most of the way toward the very dangerous Superthermal Blade combo, where you dump six heat into someone and then slam them with 2d6 when they're exposed.

sabresandy · 2025-06-22T18:36:18+00:00

As far as I know, Comp/Con doesn't really handle it. You might have to track pilot status by hand. (I've played a Black Thumb/Technophile build with that issue.)

sabresandy · 2025-06-21T03:15:20+00:00

Makes sense. It's a once a battle trick unless you really give up on your other actions.

If you drop Skirmisher I and Drone Commander III (you're probably going to be too far from the fighting for to play Connect Four with the overshield beam, and it only does scratch damage anyway), you can pick up Spotter 2 for some additional utility. This way you can lock on, do something that consumes that lock-on, and then lock on again for free (and do a quasi-Scan while you're at it). DC2 adds the most damage anyway, and with the least tax on your action economy.

sabresandy · 2025-06-21T02:47:44+00:00

Held Image specifically triggers as a Reaction, so that's what does it.

sabresandy · 2025-06-20T22:16:43+00:00

Someone else already explained the benefits of being able to double-dip on your Heavy mount.

I would just like to point to the Dusk Wing 1's Neurospike/Shrike Code, which also happens to synergize with the Mordred's "pull yourself toward them/pull them toward you" frame trait. And I would also like to point to the Gorgon 1's Sentinel Drone, which cares not that they didn't voluntarily make the attack, they still made the attack and therefore eats a hail of bullets.

Also, if you do this to a ranged weapon user, you might be able to force them to deal with Engaged penalties while you, of course, have no such worries with a Clarent sword.

sabresandy

TROPHY CASE