Battletech

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Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
42,271
50,242
Not that I disagree that other things weren't represented in the game. But, by canon, Muslims are represented in Battletech. Specifically in the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns. This was well before any blue hairification of the franchise. So while the character writing is super poor (like ninety percent of the games flavor or story text) there isn't a reason she can't be there in all her hijabihood.

That's the best part, him specifically mentioning House Davion when the Federated Suns are one of the successor states with a significant Muslim presence. The irony being that I bet that the writer he's bitching and moaning about probably didn't know that Muslims are already represented in two of the successor states either.
 
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AngryGerbil

Poet Warrior
<Donor>
17,781
25,896
Very well, I was clearly mistaken.

If Islam existed already in the Battletech universe before this game then I will eat my words.

I remember MechWarrior the old 3D PC games from the 90's and I remember the card game Battletech. I never did get in to the TableTop and the deep lore.

If Islam and the raping of 9 year olds already existed in Battletech, then I recuse myself for being ignorant and for this current video game being my first exposure to its existence in Battletech.

I am sorry, I didn't mean to break up your guys party. My apologies. May Allah and the Messenger of Allah live forever in this fictional universe.

forrest-gump-black-panther-party.gif
 
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AngryGerbil

Poet Warrior
<Donor>
17,781
25,896
But....

That DOES mean that I could legitimately write a fan-fic about a lance of Mechs traveling to Mecca to PPC jihadis in the face.

There's a silver lining to everything!
 

AngryGerbil

Poet Warrior
<Donor>
17,781
25,896
I don't remember a single loyalty conversation with Kamea that didn't have an 'only in it for the money' choice. Your whole rant sounds unhinged, especially since the insane culture of the clans results in a 10 year death toll that 1400 years of Muslim barbarism can only dream of, and later the Word of Blake is responsible for engulfing the entire region in 14 years of conflict in a period that is flat out called the Word of Blake Jihad, or just the Jihad. Muslims are barely even a blip on the savagery radar of the Battletech universe.

I have to defer to your superior Battletech lore knowledge here. I mean that honestly, not sarcastically. I truly had no idea that Islam existed in this world already.

Perhaps I myself was way behind the concept of fictionalized hijabi engineers, even so far back as my teens.
 

Jalynfane

Phank 2002
719
563
Mechwarrior_4.png


There was a MechWarrior you could hire, in the 1989 game, I think the name was Killer or something, his quote all the time was "I want to kill, kill, kill and eat dead, burnt bodies" or something like that. He must have been Asian.
 
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Vimeseh

Trakanon Raider
938
725
I have to defer to your superior Battletech lore knowledge here. I mean that honestly, not sarcastically. I truly had no idea that Islam existed in this world already.

Perhaps I myself was way behind the concept of fictionalized hijabi engineers, even so far back as my teens.

I know you're being kind of sarcastic here, but the Battletech Nationalities in space is kind of interesting.

Draconis Combine: Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and north Africa are heavily featured. They used to own what would become the Free Rasalhague Republic whis was heavily Swedish.

Federated Suns: Very heavy French, English, Spanish with a smattering of Arabic.

Lyran Commonwealth: Italian, German, and ironically Scottish in the Isle of Skye and Donegal areas.

Capellan Confederation: Primarily Chinese and Russian with a smattering of Irish and Scottish.

St. Ives Compact: Space Taiwan.

Free World League: Heavy American, Baltic, and Asian Indian.

The clans were a mixed bag but notable were the heavy Native American influence of Smoke Jaguar and the Russian/Slavic dominated Clan Wolf.
 
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Pancreas

Vyemm Raider
1,121
3,809
Bunch o random thoughts.

So I had fun with this game but it definitely left me wanting more. I am taking a long break and then seeing where the mod community is in a couple months.

The main campaign was ok. I wish the random missions had more variety and depth.

The first time I started the game I played
a ton of random missions before getting the second ship. Had like 1000 days in game. I had no idea what I was doing. Decided to restart and pursue the campaign missions as soon as they became available. Finished the second to last mission at 70 weeks.

But in that mission a fucking Jenner hopped up on a boulder and crit my main character in the head knocking him out for 70 days. So I used that time to prep for the final missions. During this time I scored two atlases.

Headshots are scary as fuck. It was awesome when glitch drop kicked a wolverine in the head while in a hunchback. Basically, it punishes you if you just sit there and take a pounding, that 1% will come up.

I personally liked battlemasters. They felt pretty agile for their size. I ran all Lancers or Outriders. The second tactics ability is pretty cool too.

For the modding community. I really want to see an expansion of random missions. More mission variety, and a way to play sans the campaign. Some salvage mod where you collect individual pieces. So 8 parts to make a mech. LA, LT, LL, RA, RT, RL, CT, HD. When you make a mech it takes time and it doesn't come with weapons. Longer progression time through weight classes. Start with a light and maybe some vehicles. Background choices determine early game mission selection, pirates raid bases, soldiers defend them, gladiator fight other lances. Lostech treasure maps to vaults coming up in high end missions or random events. Combat related random events. Ect. Ect. Ect.

Great core mechanics for the most part, mods will probably make it actually worthwhile though.

As for being outnumbered. Yeah it's rough at times, but that is why the withdraw button is like instant end the mission.

I never withdrew, but I also wracked up a lot of injuries and blown off parts. No pilot kills ...except that one to my leader thankfully.

Assaults are seriously armored and you basically turn the pilot to jello before the mech explodes unless you focus on knocking them down and coring them. Also, tactics level 9 is the most op skill by far. Called shot mastery allowed me to kill two assaults a round if I was careful. Three pilots do a knockdown and core targeted alpha strike on one. And the other pilot used precision shot to core another. This is major heat production though. Both of the morale abilities are pretty broken.
 
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Sludig

Silver Baronet of the Realm
8,852
9,132
No one ever complained but I thought it was odd you get salvaged mechs instantly of use and armed, unlike I thought in mech commander when you receive them mostly stripped and fucked up. Meanwhile you can't create multiple saved load outs and takes a fair bit of time bringing shit out of storage as opposed to the mech you blew off a fucking side torso and a leg.
 
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Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
42,271
50,242
You probably should have to assemble the mech in the bay instead of it magically assembling itself with a full loadout once you accumulate 3 chassis pieces.
 

Sludig

Silver Baronet of the Realm
8,852
9,132
True, I only looked at it from when you collect 3/3 in one go, much less if it was a case of piecing them together for a while. Had a 5 salvage mission was hyped, but then there was shit for good targets. I did however manage to finish 5 or 6 assorted 2/3 1/3 mechs and get a huge cashout selling them was pretty nice.
 

Jalynfane

Phank 2002
719
563
Yeah for muh immersion I think you should get them blank and have it take time to assemble. Also they talked about it requiring 5 chassis parts to build instead of the three. All this stuff is modifiable though, everything is in JSON, so it should not be long for super mods
 

Pancreas

Vyemm Raider
1,121
3,809
A "few" other thoughts.
FINANCIAL ADVICE

Don't ever buy any of the morale increasing ship upgrades ever. Even though it's tough... do the +1 morale monthly budget early on. I's like a difference between 250k and 360k. Late game 110k is nothing. Keep buying the Morale bumps and between that and random events you will hit the cap pretty easy. Then you don't have all those upkeep costs for the morale facilities. You do lose some random event options this way though. 3rd mech bay is also kinda not needed. You can have three full lances ready to go with 2 bays. Basically a lot of the ship upgrades just bloat your monthly budget. But selling a single assault is good for a month and then some even with full upgrades.

If you chase the story missions about as quickly as the pop up, then you never have to worry about finances until the campaign is finished. Go full salvage forever. On the missions you don't get mech parts pick rare equipment. Once you have a few decent mechs rare equipment is often much more useful anyways.

LANCE COMPOSTION

Light mechs are... dangerous to those who operate them.
Medium mechs are cool when you first get more of them. M-laser hunchback, Centurion AL, and kintaro were my favorites.
Heavy mechs do work for a long time. Thunderbolt 5ss is really solid. Orions and blackknights are also great. Grasshoppers make great bruisers/ scouts as well
Assaults... Atlas, Battlemaster, highlander each great. Stalkers are the knockdown kings with +stability damage LRMS. Actually LRMS are basically cheating.
I never got a King Crab.

I went two outrider bruisers and two lancers in each mission. For random missions Sprint up until enemy contact. I would look at where I thought the reinforcements were hiding and rush that first. Then jump brace my way forward hugging terrain with bruisers. LRM boat and sniper hides behind terrain. I would initiate with one bruiser doing a jump brace forward to see the enemy. LRM boat splits fire between two targets. This gets two unsteady mechs. Sniper knocks em both down. Last bruiser picks one and cores it. Sometimes I would DFA a mech next round to quickly set up another knock down/ maybe get lucky with a head kick. Basically I would just core the shit out of stuff unless there was a mech I wanted. There I would just keep knocking them down and maybe blow a torso. The heavier the mech weight class the easier it is to get full salvage for it.

WEAPONS and LOADOUT

M lasers and SRM 4s are the most heat/ weight efficient sources of damage. They also are the least concentrated. You can still do lots of good damage with them. But it tends to work better if you approach from an angle that pares down the possible shot locations for you like the side or back. concentrating damage into a single part is the fastest way to kill a mech.

AC 20 is amazing for ATLAS bruisers or crazy centurion pilots. Its really hard to make it work and still have decent armor otherwise. AC10 is a decent but not overly amazing substitute.

AC5 is a great sniper
PPC is another great sniper
Sniper weapons are there as support to LRMs for knockdowns, but probably could just be replaced by more LRMs, but that gets boring.
Stability damage is the primary method of setting up a mech to be killed. LRMS with +Stability damage are extremely powerful to the point of game breaking.
LRM10 is bad for weight to damage ratio. LRM 15 and 20 are preffered.
SRM6 is devastating when paired with +damage and good angles and is great for taking those last few hp off a part.

Don't factor support weapons into your heat profile. You will only use them in a balls out up close ALPHA strike or during a melee attack where heat doesn't matter. Sustained fire at range is the only time your heat profile means anything.

When creating a weapon load out, try to maximize your hardpoints with M lasers, and SRMS, OR Pick 1-3 long range sniper weapons with some LRMS OR Max LRMS with little armor OR with a heavier mech do an AC20/10 with m lasers and srms. Those seem to be the most effective weapon profiles.

Place ammo in your legs. Unless the enemy is attacking from below, the legs are the last thing to go. This greatly reduces the chances of a crit blowing the ammo store and taking out a part. Split up heat sinks and jump jets across multiple parts except for arms to maintain as much mech function as possible for as long as possible. MAX your armor and Always take jump jets. The tactical advantage to blocking LOS is amazing and extra evasion is always good.

SALVAGE

If you have a mech you are trying to get and the core is damaged a lot. do a precision shot on a L or R torso with a single shot high damage weapon. It's all or nothing that way. Also attacking from the back if there is still armor that is another way to avoid accidentally coring it. With multiple weapons like lots of m lasers or SRMS look at the % chance of hitting any particular spot, then multiply your total damage by that percentage to snipe off just that part. 50% chance on a part with 100 hp/ armor needs about 200 damage plus some extra for misses for example. Look at the core % and multiply that by your total damage to see if it survives with an extra shot or two spilling over from the exploding torso or leg into the core. It gets fuzzy quick but you can really increase your salvage success rate by sniping off both R and L torsos. I would do a melee and then single AC5 or 2/ SRM shot knock down combo a couple times as the best way though but with mediums and some heavies... stuff gets borked quick.

SRMS seem to roll chance to hit the head once per missle but wont hit more than once per salvo. LRMS roll once per salvo. All other weapons roll once per shot. Doing multiple types of pilot damage in a single barrage doesn't seem to incur more damage, disregarding knockdown damage. So a hit to the head AND blowing up a Torso section. Or blowing up a Torso section AND the ammo within it will only do one pilot damage if done in a single attack. Getting a crit on a part can cause any ammo inside to explode, which will blow the part it;s stored in and cause pilot damage.

Shooting a mech from an elevated position increases chances to hit the head, and from a lower position to hit the legs. From the side will get arms and torso sides if at the same elevation Arms torsos and head if shooting from above, arms legs and torsos if shooting from below with a small chance at hitting the core. Back is core and torso sides against back armor. Font is distributed among all parts against front armor but has the highest natural chance to hit the head.

Destroying a leg will cause a knockdown no matter if the mech was unsteady or not. Destroying both legs destroys the mech and gives 2 salvage. Kliing a pilot with at least the core and 1 leg still intact will give 3 salvage. Coring a mech gives 1 salvage.

KNOCKDOWNS

Knocking over a mech is a minimum of two attacks, one to fill the gauge and pass the unsteady threshold, and one to tip it over. When doing stability damage focus on attacks that fill the bar first. A mechs unsteady threshold is indicated as a small white triangle on their stability bar. Once this is passed during a round that mech loses all evasion charges. However the stability bar still needs to be filled to cause a knockdown. A mech that loses a leg starts with one stability damage bar always filled even if they are braced. Bracing reduces stability damage received.

The AI tends to stand up fallen mechs first within a phase. Gets those free called shots off quick before they get up if you happen to be in the same phase. Better option is to reserve until they move then knock them down and core them in one go.

Knocking over assaults can still be useful but only if it has already taken it's turn, which can be tough to control. But knocking over is only done for one of two reasons, to inflict pilot damage, to set up free precision shots. So it's usually employed on the last mech standing that you are trying to salvage, or you are coring the shit out of something to put it down. If you are just trying to core something just pick the mech that already went and kill it. Quickly dispatching enemies is the only way to survive 9 vs 4 assault battles.

DFA is great to use when your mechs legs are in good shape and were fully armored to begin with. You can basically safely get away with 1 per match depending on remaining forces. Its a concentrated attack which is much more devastating than dispersed fire like SRMS or lots of M lasers. And it's sure to fill a stability damage bar. So a stiff breeze will knock over a mech after that.

DEFENSE

Max your armor. Really. Only shave a little bit off, keep your back heavily armored too, especially late game. You will be outnumbered and possibly surrounded and it gives you another side to absorb damage with.

Ejecting is great for saving your pilots while still finishing a mission. It will destroy the head and any head components the mech might have had. Withdrawing can save time and money in repairs and injuries. I am stubborn and rarely do either.

Sprinting into trees is great. Jumping and bracing is great to draw fire when limiting other options. Face damaged sides away from enemy. Be very cautious in melee range, melee damage is concentrated damage and can destroy parts fast. Bulwark is really powerful. Bulwark AND the extra Evasive charge skill makes for some very durable pilots. Bruisers can alternate Alpha strikes with melee. I go light on heat sinks, usually enough to get 4-5 bars not counting support weapon slots.

Lots of enemy mechs do not have jump jets, use terrain to choose when to engage them. I always equip jump jets. Always Move max distance for evasion pips. Anything less is dangerous but sometimes necessary. Jumping will typically generate an extra evasion pip compared to moving except when sprinting with a high pilot skill. jumping also generates heat. Taking a turn to Brace to remove stability damage and heat can be a life saver. Using the valor ability is basically cheating as you can run in and melee and still have guard or sprint and guard. Rotate the mech that is up front getting beat on with ones hanging in the back line. Sometimes bringing that sniper forward to take some shots is the best way to keep everyone vertical. Once a hole is opened up in a mechs armor the AI will focus fire it. Use terrain to block LOS and reengage whenever possible. If your mechs are in a good position and have full evasion pips and or bulwark/ guard or full evasion and cover, reserve your turn and let the enemy wiff and do reduced damage... then respond to the enemy movements and concentrate fire to remove threats quickly.

CONTACT

When making contact with the enemy you have a brief window where you can still issue orders to the whole lance. If you wait too long only the mech that moved forward and made contact will have traveled. Here I usually just force everyone to sprint forward to keep them close and get evasion.

Touching the yellow cross that indicates the location of a mech lance with your sensor ring will generally activate those enemies. In most high end random missions there is a reinforcement force that is a bigger pain than the main force. Hunt the map for their most likely spot and go there first. Once they are activated the main force will make it's way to you. If you are quick you can usually be wrapping up combat there before they fully show up.
/spoiler]
 
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Jalynfane

Phank 2002
719
563
There is a good player doing a Light mech only campaign on youtube.

is the first episode. I think he might have issue with some of the missions where you have to destroy things fast, like speedy APC's that blow shit up.
 
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Varia Vespasa

Vyemm Raider
1,961
3,756
Yeah, he did a normal playthrough for 24 episodes but found it too easy and the difficulty rating way too variable for his enjoyment, so he's starting this with lights only for the challenge.
 

Pancreas

Vyemm Raider
1,121
3,809
Yeah, he did a normal playthrough for 24 episodes but found it too easy and the difficulty rating way too variable for his enjoyment, so he's starting this with lights only for the challenge.

He could just go all firestarters then. The campaign missions are very straightforward and just stalling for time can usually win it for you.

5 skull random missions might be tough though. That's just a lot of angry tonnage coming your way.
 

Punko

Macho Ma'am
<Gold Donor>
7,912
12,564
I finished the game, so here is a short review:

Overall I enjoyed the game. Gameplay is what you'd expect of a turn-based mech game, I find the graphics more then good for the genre, there is enough content - especially given that this is a relatively cheap game.

On the downside, performance gets really bad, even on a top end comp, the issues are based on the number of items in inventory and the number of savegames, while users can solve this by micromanaging these aspects, I feel they are the result of bad optimisation.

I also get the feeling they could have done a lot more with the universe they created, while I understand this part of the game only came into scope at a later stage due to kickstarter funds, it feels kind of bad to see them make an entire universe with the various houses, yet only use 5% of it during the campaign. The non-campaign missions are pretty bland, the lack of cohesion makes the after-main game pretty boring.

Hopefully DLC/expansion will add the necessary elements to fully use the core.

7.5/10, solid 8 if they work out the technical issues.

Pancreas Pancreas Mostly what you said. Do you want to co-write a Mass Effect 3 review, to make sure we on the same page?
 
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Dandain

Trakanon Raider
2,092
917
The greater universe is being saved for future content. They didn't want people who've never been exposed to battletech to get tied up in the game of thrones level shit that happens in the actual world. The next 25 years of lore and beyond in the game world hold up well as plot devices. If they handle this game right, its going to print them money for a while.
 

Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
42,271
50,242
The greater universe is being saved for future content. They didn't want people who've never been exposed to battletech to get tied up in the game of thrones level shit that happens in the actual world. The next 25 years of lore and beyond in the game world hold up well as plot devices. If they handle this game right, its going to print them money for a while.

Meh. I'm not terribly interested in a story based on the squabbling between successor states because it would just seem like a rehash of Kamea's story on a larger scale. Or Mech Commander 2's story. Or Mechwarrior 1. Or Mechwarrior 4. I'm also not terribly interested in vanilla Sphere vs Clan conflict, which was the story of every Battletech game I didn't list. I want a story set right at the beginning stages of the clan invasion.
 
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Dandain

Trakanon Raider
2,092
917
I want those stories to be told too. But they are going to use the 25 years of lore up to the invasion, including I hope, things happening on the Clanworlds. The map design can be as big as it needs to be, it can't be much work to drop in on the clans in 3025-3050 in all the leadup, including internal Clan conflict itself.