GrantPrien
09/27/07 03:14 PM
216.220.27.79
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Hey guys!!
New Battletech guy here (Well. Not yet I guess).
Just got interested in battletech. (If your wondering how I bought some FASA CrimsonSkies stuff off ebay and there was a FASA catalog included with Battletech in it).
Ok... Bunch of newbie questions.
#1. With the exception of not having new weaponry is the old FASA battletech compatible with the new Classic Battletech? I will say right out front that with monetary stuff right now I am lucky we got interenet  So a lot of what I got would be off Ebay. As opposed to new CB stuff that is about the same.
#2. In the TechReadouts (3025, 3050,etc) are the record sheets in the back of the manual? I am wondering ahead of time because it looked like at CB.com that you had to buy a seperate book with all the shets in it.
#3. I have heard (And saw) a number of differant programs meant to edit mechs. Say a Timberwolf weaponrywise. Can anyone recomend a good one? ALso I am curious if these are the ones you edit the weaponry and then print out the sheet with the records on it?
#4. I have seen "Heat sinks" Now In the free "Quick start rules" you can download off CB.com it doesnt have heat rules in them. But the Universe update record sheets do. Now I have the weaponry heat generation/size/damage off this site. But how are the sinks used? That is how much dissipates per turn, and I noticed the penalties of heat alongside the number of heat sinks., Say there are 16 sinks. it is AFTER these are filled that you start rolling/checking the penalty table?
Many thanks guys 
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Dester
09/28/07 04:04 PM
216.57.96.1
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1) not sure, haven't seen the quick start rules.
2) no there are no record sheets in them. your best bet is to either get a mech editor program like "heavy metal" or to just down load a copy of a blank record sheet from here in the download section, print them off and fill them out as needed.
3)heavy metal is the one i use and it lets you print of the mechs as well as comes with alot of pre-made files (just be carefull not to save over them when you customize)
4) everything you do in a mech generates heat, moving, fireing weapons, ect.
The number of heat sinks is the number of heat points you can get rid of a turn, anything left over is added to the heat chart. you start at the bottom and work up. at the very end of the turn is when heat effects take effect and remain untill the end of the next turn. If you have more heat sinks then heat points that you generate, you can move your heat back down the chart by the excess heat sinks (but never below 00).
Hope this helps
Dester
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GrantPrien
09/28/07 07:04 PM
216.220.27.164
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Yes!! LOT of help!!!!
As soon as I can I am getting TR3050, and if I can later the HeavyMetal program.
Also.... I think I better just look for a copy of the FASA boardgame...After finding your reply I have looked all over for exactly how much say jumpjets ormovement generates and there is a lot of little stuff that I better just break down and try to scrounge up one
Thanks again and hopefully will see you around the boards!!!
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Nightward
09/28/07 07:25 PM
203.206.76.167
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1. Aside from a little (a lot?) of continuity SNAFU, everything FASA produced is fully compatible with anything produced by WizKidz/FanPro/Catalyst/Whatever they're calling themselves this week. The only exception is MechWarrior 3rd Edition, which was a complete re-write of the ules and is incompatible with the standard BT rules and the two prior editions of the game.
2. No, but if you've bought one of the older rule books (not Total Warfare) there is a blank 'Mech sheet at the back of it that you can fill in based on the information in the Tech Readout. Alternatively, you can google "Pryde Rock Industries" and check the dowloads section there, which has some free 'Mech editing software.
3. At the moment, I use The Drawing Board, but it does not (and probably never will) have the new Total Warfare equipment. There is a commercial program called Heavy Metal that does/will, but I am waiting for the new version before I buy a copy of it.
4. Heat takes place in the Heat phase, which is just before the End Phase (after firing, after physicals). So you total up all the heat you've accumulated until that point, subtract from that number the amount of Heat Sinks you have, and then add the difference to your Heat chart.
For example, let's say I have a WLF-1 Wolfhound. I ran (2 heat), fired the Large Laser (8 heat), the three forwards Medium Lasers (3 heat each for a total of 9), and the rear-mounted Medium Laser (3 heat). My sanity and tactical acumen is questionable, because this is 22 heat and my Wolfhound only has 10 heat sinks, which means I apply 12 to my current heat score. This pretty much renders me imobile next turn and means I'm not going to be shooting anyone any time soon.
The Quick-Start Rules may not be applying heat, as it's intended to be an introductory game and managing heat issues is a matter of both finesse and extreme annoyance. Have you seen the BNC-3S Banshee? It has more guns than it knows what to do with, and can make life hell on the enemy... right up until you realise it's a total heat pig,which takes all the fun out of it 
Incidentally, most players do their heat in the firing phase to simplify tracking. That's neither here nor there, though.
Yea, verily. Let it be known far and wide that Nightward loathes MW: DA. Indeed, it is with the BURNING ANIMUS OF A THOUSAND SUNS that he doth rage against it with.
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GrantPrien
09/30/07 08:12 PM
216.220.27.132
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WOW!!
Thanks for the replies!!
A lot to sift through and check out 
But I think its worth it....
For some reason I enjoy the Battletech/Crimson Skies Boardgames.. There is more strategy (And thus skill) than just running/flying around punching as much lead/laser into a target as you can.
Anyway.I will work with what I can find and hopefully if I get a Playable amount of info together I will try to get it going!!!
Many thanks!!
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Greyslayer
10/09/07 10:21 AM
216.14.198.56
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also there is a free program on the net called megamek which is a java game based on the battletech game system. It is open source and constantly being updated so if you want to get a feel for the tabletop game but do not want to outlay funds in case you dislike it then give megamek a go...
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Alabrax
02/01/08 02:16 PM
206.180.38.20
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Quote:
1. Aside from a little (a lot?) of continuity SNAFU, everything FASA produced is fully compatible with anything produced by WizKidz/FanPro/Catalyst/Whatever they're calling themselves this week. The only exception is MechWarrior 3rd Edition, which was a complete re-write of the ules and is incompatible with the standard BT rules and the two prior editions of the game.
Hmm I just bought the 2nd Ed rules off of ebay for $6, then one of the players says we should have gotten the 3rd Addition rules instead. I have heard that the systems are different and do not play well together but most of what I have seen about this subject is peoples personal feelings on the issue and not many facts about whats different or how incompatible the MW3 and BT rules are.
Can anyone tell me what pitfalls I will run in to if I use MW3 with BT rules? What the differences are and how hard it is to make it work and how well it does work after converted.
Oh also... how big are the hexes supposed to be on a standard BT hex board?
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Christopher_Perkins
02/02/08 02:05 PM
67.166.179.76
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Short form would be to use the RPG 3e Skill Targets in the Mechwarrior Data Area on the Mech and multiply the range hexes by 3 and leave the movement hexes as is. (the books advise against doing this... they say to convert the characters using the conversion rules...)
the one issue is that RPG 3rd edition is at a 5 second scale while battletech is at a 10 second scale, so you might be better off using minerature rules rather than using half hexes for movement (the MWG: SVII book says 15 m Increments for movement and 100 m increments for range with jumping being at 30 m... no wonder they suggest using your imagination instead of a gaming board)
Note, there are Limited Conversion rules in RPG 3rd Edition that provide a means of converting Mechwarrior Characters to BattleTech Characters and just using the BattleTech Board, and MWG: S7 suggests using them if you want to use a Map Board
house rules based on the ranges in the MWGS7 article for role playing mech combat
@ 1/285th scale
Movement at 2" per BMR Hex (15 m increments, 5 second turns = 30 m in 10 seconds)
Fireing at 4" per BMR Hex (30 m Hex) or 12" per BMR Hex (100 m per fire hex)
(humm, appears to be true to minerature scale... much to large to use)
humm, need to distort the scale back down closer to the 1/900th of the mapboards to better fit in limited playing area
Movement at 1" per BMR Hex (15 m increments, 5 second turns = 30 m in 10 seconds)
Fireing at 2" per BMR Hex (30 m Hex) or 6" per BMR Hex (100 m per fire hex)
its GOT to be better in the new book coming out at the end of the replacement cycle for the Core Books but the dueling rules would probably be better for a PDF or Series of PDFs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
long explanation
Mechwarrior / BattleTech RPG 1st & 2nd Edition arrive at the same numbers for gunnery and piloting skill as the BattleTech Game, so you would be able to use the Piloting and gunnery skill from a Mechwarrior Character in a BattleTech or Solaris VII Boxed Set Game with no issues.
Mechwarrior / BattleTech RPG 3rd Edition uses a d10 system, that gives you more range in results. However there is not much direct correlation between the D6 System of BattleTech & Mechwarrior/BattleTech RPG 1st/2nd Edition and the new game.
Mechwarriors Guide to Solaris VII comes closest to bringing Mechwarrior/BattleTech RPG 3rd Edition to the Maps - an overview is given below
While BattleTech uses a +0 Short +2 Medium +4 Long scale
RPG 3rd Edition uses a +0 Short +2 Medium +4 Long +8 Extreme scale that appears to have the 3e Extreme range band correspond with the BT Long range Band. Note, while the book says not to simply multiply the hexes by 3 (range hexes are at 100 m per BMR hex while movement is at 30 m per BMR hex) to play using the RPG 3e Skills, While MWG: SVII says that BattleTech Weapons do not have an Extreme Range, Combat Equipment Guide makes it clear that its more like BattleMech and Combat Vehicle Battle Computers having an Automatic Gunnery Bonus (nominally +2) making the "Long" Range for the BattleMech the same as "Extreme" Range for infantry weapons of the same type.
That is, 21 Hex Long range for an LRM on the BattleTech Map being and Extreme Range of 2100 meters in the RPG...
Christopher Robin Perkins
It is my opinion that all statements should be questioned, digested, disected, tasted, and then either spit out or adopted... RHIP is not a god given shield
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Christopher_Perkins
02/03/08 01:26 AM
67.166.179.76
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Quote:
Oh also... how big are the hexes supposed to be on a standard BT hex board?
what are you speaking of?
The Size of the hex on the Game Board
... thats about 1.3123 inches but this varies depending on when the map was printed - generally the hexes are printed large enough for a hex base to fit in them
The area that the hex represents
... For BattleTech it is 30 meters --- this is about 1/900th scale, the maps are printed at 1/3rd what they would be if the intention was to have the scale of the map line up with the scale of the Ral Partha & Iron Wind Metals mineratures, however, the decision was made in order to conserve playing area...
Christopher Robin Perkins
It is my opinion that all statements should be questioned, digested, disected, tasted, and then either spit out or adopted... RHIP is not a god given shield
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Alabrax
02/03/08 01:46 AM
71.72.136.176
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I was asking about hex size because I have a chessex hex mat. The hexes seemed a bit small... and now I realize just how small they really are.
Thanks for all of the answers!
Edited by Alabrax (02/03/08 01:53 AM)
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Christopher_Perkins
02/03/08 02:11 AM
67.166.179.76
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Does the Chessex mat have hexes large enough to fit a hex base? I know that there were some mats sized to the BattleTech Hex Base, but you may have another type of BattleMat?
If you are using MWDA figures, the bases will be too large for BattleTech Maps, and nothing that I have seen tells me whither or not the scale of the playing field in MWDA matches that of the Mineratures.
the MWDA Vehicle and BattleMech Mineratures are at 1/170th Scale, and the BattleTech Mineratures are at 1/285th Scale. The infantry Figures for both games are closer to 1/160th Scale
the infantry figures are at a third scale that is larger than the BattleTech Scale for BattleMech and Vehicle Mineraturs but is relatively the same for both MWDA and BattleTech Mineratures...
Edited by Christopher_Perkins (02/03/08 02:22 AM)
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Alabrax
02/03/08 11:30 AM
71.72.136.176
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The hexes on my current mat is way too small. I think the hexes are close to an inch big each... so that isnt going to work. I did look to see what else is out there last night and I saw one that has hexes that are 1 1/2.
Personally I don't mind the over sized MWDA mini's, do however wish they were on smaller bases, because they are so big they will not fit in to a hex well. Then you have the bases for vehicles and quad mechs... none of it works well.
One option I was thinking about that may cure my base vs hex issue is to use inches instead of hexes. I think I saw rules for using inches somewhere. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks again for all your help.
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Christopher_Perkins
02/03/08 05:21 PM
67.166.179.76
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4.14" > 30 m hex & 0.83" per 6 m Level is to scale with the BattleTech Minis, almost no one uses this because it consumes a heck of a lot of space.
What ever inch or cm based terrain that you use is up to you, but you should be aware that its not quite accurate in Line of Sight Calculations if its less/more than the Mineratures are scaled at. But what ever you want to do is up to you (it was my responsibility to make you aware of the difference, and yours to determine if the difference matters to you)
Most people prefer to use the 2" rule for BattleTech Minis (1/285th Scale) as it is a little larger than a Hex Base (appx 10 m scalar) so feels the closest to the hex based game
6.95" > 30 m hex & 0.83" per 6 m Level is to scale with the Mechwarrior Dark Age Minis, but i do not know if any one uses this rule (7" H * 1" L), and i know neither the Meters to Inch equivelent nor the turn length in the MWDA game.
Christopher Robin Perkins
It is my opinion that all statements should be questioned, digested, disected, tasted, and then either spit out or adopted... RHIP is not a god given shield
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GrantPrien
06/12/08 07:22 PM
216.220.27.69
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Wow..Been gone awhile and didn't notice the replies (Sorry).
Thanks for that Mega-mek info. I will look into it.
As for playing *Guilty*. Sorry. Been extremely busy in real life. I still hope to get in a few rounds but......
Anyway> Thanks for the help (Again) and if I ever get around more to doing something I will let you know how it turns out
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