Battletech

[Jack Stryker]

Sorry about that.  http://users.anet.com/~cplkagan/equipment/spheretech/vehicles.html

specifics on the vehicles, where weapons are placed, how much armor is there, the works.

[HairyHeretic]

What's the opinion on the Slayer? A bit heavy for what we'd field?

[Jack Stryker]

Seems perfect to me.  I don't really have weight restrictions, so whatever you're comfortable with is fine.  Remember, overkill is just right

[Anathanasia]

What's the opinion on the Slayer? A bit heavy for what we'd field?

*straps an Urbanmech onto the top of her Warhammer as a helmet*

[HairyHeretic]

Careful or I'll whip up something with a rotary ultra AC-20 in the nose 

And com jammers, so I can fill everyones airwaves with Ride of the Valkyries 

[RubySlippers]

Harrasser

- current weapons (frees up 8t)

- add in turrent 1 TAG laser (1t)
- add 32 armor factors (2t)
- add 8 machine guns front facing (4t)
- add 200 ammo - 25 rounds of fire per gun (1t)

I figure the company recovered a damaged Harasser minus working weapons and she was forced to refit it from spare weapons and parts, mostly. I got the idea to make the front of the hover tank a wall of metal when it fires and to make it a devestating cheap hit and run vehicle besides a scout and tagger for artillary and the like. Say there is a 20t WASP she could pilot in if its distracted by another threat and hit it for maybe 16 damage. With more armor factors it could do that. But I would like to know if I did this would it be effective against targets on paper it should be. Added armor would be more in the nose than the rear and turrent though.

[Jack Stryker]

Harrasser

- current weapons (frees up 8t)

- add in turrent 1 TAG laser (1t)
- add 32 armor factors (2t)
- add 8 machine guns front facing (4t)
- add 200 ammo - 25 rounds of fire per gun (1t)

I figure the company recovered a damaged Harasser minus working weapons and she was forced to refit it from spare weapons and parts, mostly. I got the idea to make the front of the hover tank a wall of metal when it fires and to make it a devestating cheap hit and run vehicle besides a scout and tagger for artillary and the like. Say there is a 20t WASP she could pilot in if its distracted by another threat and hit it for maybe 16 damage. With more armor factors it could do that. But I would like to know if I did this would it be effective against targets on paper it should be. Added armor would be more in the nose than the rear and turrent though.

Sounds alright to me.  Though by my count, you actually have 4 extra tons to work with.  On a side note, 25 rounds is a little light per machine gun, considering that it means that 25 bullets will fire out of each gun before it runs out of ammo.

[RubySlippers]

If you have a missle launcher each ton is x number of missles so wouldn't that be ammo for 25 volleys of fire for the MG? I assumed they would be the same sort of rules. Ammo 200 would be 200 uses of the MG for one gun, divide that by 8 would be 25 uses.

If not I have to get back to the drawing board or do something else.

[Jack Stryker]

Well, that's the thing about machine guns.  you can either fire in short bursts, or you can hold down the trigger for a continued burst.  Counting the 200 'rounds' per ton, and comparing it to a heavy machine gun round of today, that could translate to about 50 bullets per 'round', which would give each machine gun 1250 bullets.  I'm not sure about the exact mechanics of it, though.

That's why I usually use small lasers instead of machine guns.

[RubySlippers]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_BMG

We are talking 2000 pounds of ammo that is alot of bullets so I assume that would be bursts, so the guns don't overheat and jam and a tank would not fire single rounds its not a sniper with a rifle. That is alot more than any WWII fighter armed would have on them. So I would argue its 25 standard volleys per gun. It matters really its not likely I'll go toe to toe with mechs and the like but would go in to take opportunity attacks and fire say one to four times. That is ample damage for that many guns.     But if the guns need lots of ammo than I'll have to do something else.

Anyway I have 2t extra likely I'll triple the armor.

[Jack Stryker]

Well, if your character has the cahones to go into a fight with it, more power to you.  I just need a setup for your character and the specs on the Harasser.

[Anathanasia]

Just my two cents, 'cause I can never resist...

For my money, Ruby, you should forget the MGs and go for even a single LRM 5. With the advent of pulse lasers, you really don't want to get too close to even a crippled mech because those weapons can do a lot to mitigate your speed advantage if you have to come in to fire.

Also, note that at 20 tons or heavier a vehicle requires more than one crew to operate. That's another reason I was trying sell you on a VTOL, Ruby, you can have a nice little scout/harassment VTOL at a mere 15 tons.

And a note about MGs and bursts, yeah, that '200 shots per ton of ammo' is bursts. The same can probably be thought to apply to certain models of autocannon as well; I've seen autocannons portrayed as both firing bursts of smaller shells ('smaller' in this case like 30mm, though I think there was a 50-60mm autocannon firing bursts in one short story published in Battletechnology Magazine way back when...) to the idea of modern tank guns firing a single 120mm shell. Just saying, there's a fair bit of abstraction going on here, try to follow my example and not overthink the holes in Battletech and you'll avoid developing a painkiller dependency...

Finally, my disclaimer once more: do what you love, just trying to make sure everyone has all the information they need! 

[Jack Stryker]

Yeah, machine guns are really only good against unarmored infantry.  It's only when the Elementals arrive on the scene that the machine gun can really be used to better potential.

On a side note, Ruby, there's a spot open in the fast-attack/recon/spotter D Company for a tank lance.  If you like, you can take over as lance commander, and set up the rest of the lance however you like.

[The Great Triangle]

Did I already explain my 30 ton light attack mech to everyone?

It has a retractable blade in one arm, a TAG or flamer in the other, and an SRM-4.  The mech has a top speed of 120 miles per hour, which it uses (occasionally with the onboard jump jets) to set up extremely crippling charging strikes against enemy mechs.  Obviously, it damages itself a lot, which is why I use the Hermes chassis, an extremely reliable Star League mech that had the production line restarted less than 10 years ago, and still undergoes design developments and upgrades.  (Though the mech itself has actually been downgraded somewhat from its original design.)

My character is from Irian in the Free Worlds League, by the way.  He believes fairly strongly in House Marik combined arms tactics and gunboat diplomacy, though like any mechwarrior from the League, he strives to emulate the Star League doctrine of using small groups of mechwarriors to decisively end battles with fewer casualties.

[TheGlyphstone]

This still recruiting/accepting interest? I never did read the novels, but I've played Mechwarrior 2, Mechwarrior 3, Mechwarrior 4, Mechassault, Mechcommander....yeah, I'm a Battletech game junkie in general.

I'd probably be most keen on either A) an aerospace pilot, if we don't have one, or B) an artillery nut for long-range fire support, in a Catapult if I can get one. Cats are so fragile, but they look so cool (Atlas, Madcat, and Daishi are the only ones I like better, and the latter two are Clan models I think).

[RubySlippers]

Oh screw this. (argggghhhh) 

wait .....

I'll pilot this is I'm going to scout no use getting fancy and anyway the basic tech is old really parts should be easier to get than other aircraft.

http://users.anet.com/~cplkagan/equipment/spheretech/vehicles/3025/vh-ferret.html

I figure she can drop off infantry spotters and sensors, and stay back out of mech weapons range using her normal tech to triangulate artillary fire. I could pull machine gun out for added sensors or add a human assistant or medic plus maybe a tad more armor. hummmm ..... any ideas there. I just think a machine gun would be a waste of space in this case for more utility modifications.

I just don't want to think about this much anymore its just not worth it I want to start work on a character.

[Jack Stryker]

Well, if you want to be a VTOL pilot, that's alright.  If you don't want to write up anything for yourself, though, I could gladly write up everything for you if you really wanted to be a tanker.

And Glyphstone, i'll be taking new people on even into the starting parts of the rp.  We already have one fighter jock, but there's nothing that says you can't be another.  For a Catapult it would be rather easy to set up up in it.  All I need is a profile and setup for the 'mech you choose.

And for anyone still interested, I still have 3 front line company commands available, and nearly every lance command available as well.

[NotoriusBEN]

*coughs and glances at Noto* https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=63088.msg2858501#msg2858501

the black knight is alittle too humanoid i thinks, but its up to jack if that qualifies or not.

not to step on toes D: just probably better if its looked at now... rather than possibly having to change it later >_>

The black knight is a legitimate mech, darkling >o<. It's just sad that the schematics picture available looks crappy. This is a rear view from Mechwarrior 4 (granted mech4 was in 3066).


also jack, I rearranged the heat sinks. I missplaced a couple numbers between the schematic and what I put on my character sheet. My Black Knight indeed has 20 sinks arranged with 16 in the CT, 2 in the LT, and 2 in the RT. No jump jets.

also Ruby, no need to split hairs for exact numbers with rate of fire, and ammo consumption. A ton of MG ammo is *quite* a bit of ammo.
Using some experience from the games, very rarely have I burned through a ton of any ammo, except for heavy guass rounds, and I eat ammo like it's popcorn.

Usually engagements last from between 3 and 10 minutes because mech combat is just *so* deadly. 2 PPC and an AC10 blow off torso parts if they dont outright kill 40 ton mechs. Even at larger tonnages, the assault mechs face similar lifespans simply because the weaponry brought to bear is scaled up.

since you plan on a scout/spotter, 1ton of ammo is plenty per weapon system. if you feel like having staying power, add another. the fight is over before you need a 3rd ton of ammo.

[Jack Stryker]

One note i've been thinking about, it would be nice to have a few people put up as the opposing force.  Someone to coordinate the defending forces against us, and later on someone to command the original Lord's forces that drop in on everyone.

[ChaoticSky]

i tried to reinstall MW4 recently, doesnt seem to work with 7 T_T

[Jack Stryker]

i tried to reinstall MW4 recently, doesnt seem to work with 7 T_T

I was mad when I couldn't get MW2 to work on XP.  luckily, i've been able to get MW3 and MC2 to work on vista.   MW4 I could do without.  The game just has so many wrong turns from what Battletech really was about.

[RubySlippers]

Ok I have my vehicle the Ferret (recon variant)

I pulled out the weapons, doubled the armor and Ferret electronics with twice the drop devices and added an ECM Suite!  Fast, stealthy and perfect for recon and triangulating the fire of the artillary and anti-infantry cluster like weapons on the enemy. All I need is to see them and calulate the distances or get them between three sensor packs on the ground to get exact targeting. It works now it has to work in the future modern GPS sorts of tech.

No guns but come on calling down artillery and cluster tipped rockets on areas of infantry works. 

ECM was on the Wiki Weapons & Equipment List so I assume ok its listed as standard level 2. 

I have the stats and will submit with my character later.

[Anathanasia]

One note i've been thinking about, it would be nice to have a few people put up as the opposing force.  Someone to coordinate the defending forces against us, and later on someone to command the original Lord's forces that drop in on everyone.

And here I thought you were the GM and as such would be playing the OPFOR, Jack...? 

[Jack Stryker]

And here I thought you were the GM and as such would be playing the OPFOR, Jack...? 

Most likely that will be the case, but I'd find it fun to compete against someone else strategically in an rp.

[Anathanasia]

Most likely that will be the case, but I'd find it fun to compete against someone else strategically in an rp.

I love strategic competition, but I find it works much better when there's some random method to gauge success and not just the willingness of other human beings to 'play along'.

Yup, I really have misgivings about doing that in a freeform game...but whatever, let's see how it goes, especially as it might be moot.