Battletech 3145 - Recruitment (Open for recruitment)

[Renegade Vile]

Yeah, I'm happier venturing into unknown territory myself rather than retreating the Clan Invasion again - it seems like the only period Battletech games or RPs ever feature, except for the very rare Jihad-era game.

That is mostly due to the strife and iconic elements in that era. I personally also prefer it when I play miniatures or a video game, or if I were to play some kind of board game or watch a tv show. The differences are incredibly big between factions at that point (something unrealistically) and it makes for better variety. That being said, I do agree that this era, or some of the lesser known ones, are better for role playing purposes. Especially when you have a big plot in mind.

[LordLuck]

This... this is awesome!

I had just played MechWarrior IV - Mercenaries than this wonderful oportunity appears. I am not that well versed in the universe of BattleTech, albeit I did play the MechWarrior Clix miniature game [still treasure my Stormhammers] and was a far of the computer games. Hmmm. Let's see if I can cook a character up... I know, that for the sake of simplicity and more enjoyment, the cap for heavy/assault mechs should be short, so I'll try to make one while I have the time! XD

That being said... this is a work in progress. I would love you guys to share ideas for the character, as well as pointing anything that might be just wrong. I'm not a savant of the setting [Yet!], so I hope this isn't too much of a screw-up! :)

***

Name: Marco Lorenzini
Sex: Male
Age: 29
BattleMech: Eisenfaust
Homeworld: Solaris VII
Original Faction: Lyran Commonwealth - Stormhammers

Description: Standing tall and slender, built with a rather elegant frame, few would look upon Lorenzini and imagine of the brutal sort of mech-fighting he mostly enjoys. His hair is curly, brown, grown like a crown over his temples, while his broad shoulders conceal some body strenght not expected of him otherwise.

Background: Born on the thrivving world of Solaris VII, it was only natural that the nephew of a Stable Master would grow close and interested on the BattleMechs harboured, fixed, and redressed on the family's Stable. While his grandfather and great-grandfather both had been more active, fighting jocks on the Arenas, his uncle and father decided not to risk that much money into battle, instead taking over on the family's personal stable after their father's passing away, and convert the bays into one of the many Stables that host the crew of fighters that once flocked into the world's arenas. The Jihad had indeed put quite some pressure upon the world, and the arena betting bussiness crawled down to a halt in the worst seasons, but remained a viable way of making money. Not as viable as taking upon a career on the Military of the Lyran Commonwealth - or rather, the Alliance as it was still back them.

The stables were still managed by his uncle when Marco's father decided to withdraw from their joint investment, and take his family with him into his military assignments along a mercenary career. It was during this time that Marco learned actual riding skills - mostly on WorkMechs until finally taking a shot at riding an Uziel during recruitment events while he was just of age. Impressing COs, he was half-conscripted, half-willing press-ganged into the military. Serving on minor units as a Light-Mech jock bound to runs and scouting missions, Marco would later join with pride his own Father's unit, just as his old man was retiring back to Solaris VII. With his own gathered money, he was able to retrofit his inherited Mech, the single Mech that his father had retained from other times of glorious arena battling and taken into military service. An Atlas III that his ancestors had ridden, the Atlas III 'Eisenfaust'.

Retiring from the military and just barely managing the fines for it, Marco sought the many mercenary lances that operated mostly on their own.

Personality: Talkative and Easygoing, Marco prefers to join battle in middle to long range, where he can bear the full might of his mech' impressive weaponry. Arrogant and Overconfident given the height of the mech he rides, making him slightly act superior and condescending to other rides of lighter mechs. Not the patient hunter or unseen stalker - he is the one to tackle the enemy with overwhelming firepower. Distracting and Intimidating on the battlefield.

Specialty Skills: A rather smooth talker, Marco can be convincing enough in taking on diplomatic roles - sometimes cooking up arrangements and drawing suitable contracts for the Lance. Sly, but more than willing to face an oponent head on, albeit not as fearlessly as he does from the cockpit. Some mechanic's base skills, learned from his infancy.

BattleMech

Chassis:  Atlas III
Model: AS7-D3
Weight Class: Assault
Callsign: Eisenfaust
Description: Tall and Imposing, Lorenzini finds no need into hiding the towering monstrosity that is the Atlas. Instead it is painted in deep-blue, and bears a worn and mostly forgotten insignia of the Stormhammers. Since most of the faction had been integrated into the Lyran Commonwealth, the symbol of the Steiner gauntlet lifting the Stormhammer high is mostly meaningless to many that see it, finding it to be his personal insignia if anything.
Weapons:
RAC/2, Streak LRM-20, Streak SRM-6 and 4 Medium X-Pulse lasers

Equipment: A Guardian ECM Suite, Arm Shields, a Radical Heat Sink system, and an armoured cockpit.

Background: It most certainly does have a rather mysterious backstory, with it’s particular paintjob and the Stormhammer’s symbols all over it’s shoulders and chest. Lorenzini has been willing to investigate into the matter of where his monstrous Mech has come from, but has had little access to Lyran information in that regard.

[Renegade Vile]

This... this is awesome!

I had just played MechWarrior IV - Mercenaries than this wonderful oportunity appears. I am not that well versed in the universe of BattleTech, albeit I did play the MechWarrior Clix miniature game [still treasure my Stormhammers] and was a far of the computer games. Hmmm. Let's see if I can cook a character up... I know, that for the sake of simplicity and more enjoyment, the cap for heavy/assault mechs should be short, so I'll try to make one while I have the time! XD

That being said... this is a work in progress. I would love you guys to share ideas for the character, as well as pointing anything that might be just wrong. I'm not a savant of the setting [Yet!], so I hope this isn't too much of a screw-up! :)

That game is what introduced me to the setting proper as well. Gloriously fun Mecha game of a quality that few have. It's a pity that genre struggles so in the game industry, with barely any titles in almost a decade, that are non-anime and worth mentioning.
Regardless, if you want to catch up on fluff, I advise the Battletech wiki, easily found when googling. Just go to the Factions section where you can look at both factions, and the eras in great detail. Managed to freshen everything up in about two hours; give or take (not counting factions, just the timeline). Note that lady KaylaM has some very interesting information in her first post that summarizes the current state of affairs in the Dark Age era.

[LordLuck]

Thanks, Renegade, I did check on her fine post. I have been using Sarna for the basics and technical information. I'll take a look on the Battletech wiki and take a throughout read later today.

Heh, yes, I was quite aloss for some time before figuring our that the endgame actually refered to the Word of Blake's Jihad.

[Renegade Vile]

Thanks, Renegade, I did check on her fine post. I have been using Sarna for the basics and technical information. I'll take a look on the Battletech wiki and take a throughout read later today.

Heh, yes, I was quite aloss for some time before figuring our that the endgame actually refered to the Word of Blake's Jihad.

I stopped keeping up with the lore halfway through the Jihad as well, so I needed to check up there too.
Can't offer feedback on your machine and the like though, that's all for the GM to do.

[orderNchaos]

Boy oh boy, what's with all of the Lyrans?  ;)

[ArtemisHighmore]

I was going off genetics. Haha >.>

[Blobbe]

Boy oh boy, what's with all of the Lyrans?  ;)

Same as all the Kuritans in the first game, maybe?

Overall, I think that once TheGlyphstone and Renegade Vile get their characters done, we're good to go. I'm working on the NPC commander now, and maybe a few other unit fillers. Also I probably should think of a name for the unit, hmm...

Black Sun Company? It was the first thing that came to mind

Ok, looking over things; LordLuck, the character you've got there looks pretty good, and the unit could definitely use some heavy lifting, so an assault 'Mech would be grand (And to think, I was terrified that we'd be awash with them...). Also, yay for the Stormhammers! I still have a few of mine on display still. There are a couple of things though:

1) The Atlas III is a new-ish 'Mech, only debuting in 3110. True, it could be an heirloom by that point allready

2) Your weapons load is a bit off; the Atlas III has a RAC/2, Streak LRM-20, Streak SRM-6 and 4 Medium X-Pulse lasers. It also has a Guardian ECM Suite, Arm Shields and a Radical Heat Sink system, plus an armoured cockpit. Fix those up, and we're great to go.

[ArtemisHighmore]

On a side note, forget reading the wiki. I just got a history lesson thanks to this thread. haha

[TheGlyphstone]

That game is what introduced me to the setting proper as well. Gloriously fun Mecha game of a quality that few have. It's a pity that genre struggles so in the game industry, with barely any titles in almost a decade, that are non-anime and worth mentioning.
Regardless, if you want to catch up on fluff, I advise the Battletech wiki, easily found when googling. Just go to the Factions section where you can look at both factions, and the eras in great detail. Managed to freshen everything up in about two hours; give or take (not counting factions, just the timeline). Note that lady KaylaM has some very interesting information in her first post that summarizes the current state of affairs in the Dark Age era.

Johnny-come-lately. :) I got my start with Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries.

[orderNchaos]

Johnny-come-lately. :) I got my start with Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries.

Uh...I started playing Battletech: Crescent Hawk Inception (circa 1989)  XD

[ArtemisHighmore]

I have never played a battletech computer game. >.>

[TheGlyphstone]

Uh...I started playing Battletech: Crescent Hawk Inception (circa 1989)  XD

No fair. I wasn't born yet. 8-)


EDIT: Mo serryous, but is anyone going to be sporting a C3 Master in their loadout? I'm stuck with a C3 Slave as part of my Blitzkreig's loadout.

[ArtemisHighmore]

I admit i have no clue what those are.

[orderNchaos]

C3 Master is a targeting and control system that can send target data to other mechs.  So say you have a recon with a C3.  The Recon mech can mark the targets and send the target data to the slaves who can target from range.  Works well with Artemis systems and Archers/Locust teams

[ArtemisHighmore]

Oh okay, I get it. So we should strap it to a light mech!

[orderNchaos]

Actually I think there is a weight requirement for the Master.  Sarna is a bit vague on the weight class.

[TheGlyphstone]

Oh okay, I get it. So we should strap it to a light mech!

Or at least a fast one. The Blitzkreig is a 50-tonner Medium mech, but it still books around at 118.8 kph, fast as or faster than most Lights.

[ArtemisHighmore]

After doing a little reading, I am not sure it would make sense for the game. I always feel Mercs would be a group of hotshots, more willing to go toe to toe with an enemy than to work together, but maybe that is just me. -shrugs-
I also saw something about an emergency C3 unit. Short term, 60 second run, but it makes sense in this setting, at least to me.

[orderNchaos]

After doing a little reading, I am not sure it would make sense for the game. I always feel Mercs would be a group of hotshots, more willing to go toe to toe with an enemy than to work together, but maybe that is just me. -

Only in the Merc units that don't survive more than a couple of contracts.  The merc units that survive(Grey Death Legion, Wolf's Dragoons) are close knit with great unit cohesion making them formidable adversaries.

[TheGlyphstone]

Actually I think there is a weight requirement for the Master.  Sarna is a bit vague on the weight class.

It's just a really big and heavy system, 'usually carried by heavy or assault mechs' both for that reason and because they can carry more armor to keep it intact while being shot at. I suppose someone might design a Medium (or even light) mech that did nothing but operate as a C3 Master Hub, but it would be a very fragile and valuable target, so not good tactical design.

After doing a little reading, I am not sure it would make sense for the game. I always feel Mercs would be a group of hotshots, more willing to go toe to toe with an enemy than to work together, but maybe that is just me. -shrugs-
I also saw something about an emergency C3 unit. Short term, 60 second run, but it makes sense in this setting, at least to me.

You're crazy, right? That's exactly why the old Draconis Combine, and later the Clans, eventually got their asses kicked by the Inner Sphere military units and mercenary groups, because they were too focused on individual glory. When your life, health, and paycheck (not necessarily in that order) require success, and you've got a bunch of other guys at your flanks and rear in the same situation, damn right you're going to work together the best you possibly can. Loose-cannon-lone-wolf mercs quickly become smoking-crater-dead mercs.

[ArtemisHighmore]

Well I suppose it is my lack of knowledge on merc groups then. All of my experience is based the clan invasions. I admit I have a love the concept of honor and glory on the field of battle.  ::)

[TheGlyphstone]

Well I suppose it is my lack of knowledge on merc groups then. All of my experience is based the clan invasions. I admit I have a love the concept of honor and glory on the field of battle.  ::)

And that is exactly how the Clans fought, bound by their weird version of battlefield honor that prioritized independence and personal glory, and it eventually spelled their doom.

Inner Sphere warriors and mercenaries are also honorable by the conventions of the day, but it's a much more pragmatic version of honor that still prioritizes victory.

[LordLuck]

Kayla, thanks!

I get it. I was a little torn between the Atlas AS7-D3 and the D2, which packed a Hyper-something Gauss Rifle instead of the AC. But as Sarna claimed the weapon itself was ClanTech, I thought it was far too much clanner on the Mech. :) Hail Stormhammers!

And I'm learning so very much already. I knew about the Clanners glory-hounding about seeking personal glory through 'single' combat and independence on battle, but I wasn't aware the Draconis Combine 'suffered' from it as much per se.

How 'bout the Dragon's Fury subfaction? What were the guys like?

...I have the MechWarrior Clix forces of both Dragon's Fury and Stormhammers, a couple lances each. I should get some battle reports up if I can find a pal to play them. I miss those days.

[ArtemisHighmore]

Oh that could create a fun dynamic. Stop glory hunting and help the team damn it! XD