Cray
02/18/09 08:38 AM
147.160.136.10
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A lot of parts could be universal. In modern large pick up trucks there are lots of parts that are used by the different truck manufacturers. There are truck parts that Ford, Chevy, and Dodge use because its just to costly to build there own part. The reason is that so few heavy trucks are built that it really drops the cost when you use a common part.
A lot of tanks and mecks could use universal parts. That would make building and repair a great deal easier and cheaper.
Which parts are universal in mechs? Every actuator is sized and shaped differently depending on the type of joint a mech has and the mech's tonnage (a 75-ton Orion's knee actuator isn't the same as a 75-ton Marauder's knee joint). Every structural member in a mech is uniquely shaped for that mech. Targeting and tracking systems do come in some common brands, but generally each mech uses its own T&T system. Armor is custom-shaped for a particular mech, as are myomer bundles. Heat sinks come in all models under the sun using different coolants and refrigeration technologies. There is some commonality in gyros and engines but, even so, there are numerous versions of each.
The big point of commonality in mechs and tanks is their weapons, of which specific models get shared across many designs. But beyond that? There's a lot of customization in every mech, which made good techs so respected during the Succession Wars - they could scavenge just about anything and get it to work on a different mech.
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Only on solaris 7 buddy- most machines used in fights today are factory-built.
Read Objective Raids. The Marauder II factory therein largely hand-builds its 100-ton mechs.
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Oh heck no. You have seen how car manufacturing lines work?
We're talking about BattleMech lines, not car lines. The description of the Marauder II facility tragically locks a lot of mech production into a hand assembly state. Each Marauder II is kept stationary in a big, vertical assembly scaffolding while parts are brought together and essentially placed by hand. The end result is (IIRC) 18 Marauder IIs per year.
There are a number of highly automated factories in BT, most dating from the Star League. Others involve a lot of hand assembly to turn out their trickle of production (10 to 30 mechs per year is the norm versus, what, 10,000 cars a month from a good car factory?)
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Remember- the house lords have thousands, if not tens of thousands, of battlemechs at their disposal.
Remember the House Sourcebooks. In 3025, production was at the rate of 400 to 500 mechs per year per House to fill the ranks of armies with 6,000 to 12,000 mechs. The rule of thumb amongst writers is that production doubled or trebled in the 3050s and 3060s (as did losses).
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This is even more improved with the Star League tech that went into some plants (like Hesperus II when the WoB occupied it) that made them almost completely automated.
My recollection was that the Helm Memory Core allowed people to revive long-dead lines that had been idled for lack of knowledge on how to build key components or maintain the assembly line. I don't recall a wave of robots taking over the mech factories.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Prince_of_Darkness
02/18/09 02:23 PM
205.202.120.139
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Oh. Well, I just learned something without going to school 
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Zandel_Corrin
02/18/09 05:33 PM
123.2.140.247
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Where are you getting your info?
The books say that while light mechs such as the locust can be constructed 1 a week ish heavies and assdaults are more like 1 every 2-3 months.
They also say that while the factories USED to be mostly automated now only the electronics and fusion plan factories are.
Galaxy Commander
Zandel Corrin
Night Dragon Clan
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Christopher_Perkins
02/18/09 11:14 PM
24.127.68.31
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You also can't buy new mechs in the middle of a major campaign.... thus you need to salvage and keep as much of your force going as possible...
true... depending on where you are and what your supply is like...
some units have spares...
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Also just cause it's cheaper to buy new doesn't mean that you can... you might not have the cash.... or the supplier might not have the mechs...
true
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Consider that most mechs are built by hand for the most part.
only one or two of the most common / known (i.e. the fraction of mechs that make it into Technical Readouts) have actually been hand built... IIRC the Bandersnatch (before the design was bought by a major manufacturer) and the Bandit were stated to be hand built
Hand Building is exactly what happens in the repair process
A Technician excises damaged armour, rebuilds/shores up the internal structure from/with bar stock, repairs and/or replaces damaged equipment from stores, and then cuts and forms armour stock (hopefully of the original type, even if not the name brand) into the shapeings required to fit the space uncovered (and hopefully the proper siloette... remember, many of the phoenix designs had the same structural skeleton as the original unseens, but had different armour forms that gave them the new siloette)
engine repairs are easy enough, simply cut into the armour, and repair/replace the sheilding, otoh, it may be easier to remove the engine and replace it with one of the spares and repair the engine at the technicians (and astech team of assistants) leasure
Engine replacements and/or upgrades are relatively easy, cut into the armour, cut enough of the structure to clear the way for the engine, remove the engine, and place the new engine, form the removed IS around the engine, and then place it, and then cover it with armour.
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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His_Most_Royal_Highass_Donkey
02/20/09 05:26 PM
24.5.141.133
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With so much equipment that is out there and so few mechs coming off the assembly line people have no choice but to keep the old stuff running.
I created a NPC that his back story was that he paid to go to the dragoon school for battle mech repair by buying trashed battlemech equipment fixing it then selling it. By the time that he left Outreach, he had a warehouse that was full of stuff that was sold to be melted down to be recycled. In his character creation I gave him the advantage of prodigy in battlemech repair. He also had lvl 4 in battlemech repair. I think his base roll was 2 with him rolling two dice and taking the two highest rolls he did not fail very often even on the hard to make rolls.
Why argue if the glass is half full or half empty, when you know someone is going to knock it over and spill it anyways.
I was a Major *pain* before
But I got a promotion.
I am now a General *pain*
Yay for promotions!!!
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Christopher_Perkins
02/21/09 04:13 PM
24.127.68.31
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Quote:
A lot of parts could be universal. In modern large pick up trucks there are lots of parts that are used by the different truck manufacturers. There are truck parts that Ford, Chevy, and Dodge use because its just to costly to build there own part. The reason is that so few heavy trucks are built that it really drops the cost when you use a common part.
That is entirely possible, especially on the level below the macro scale that the rules cover...
and, cray, actuator bundles could easily be set up so that generic actuators came in lenghts that you could cut to fit as well as bundles thhat are added for every 5 tons... remember, the rules and the fluff is still rather minimal when you are trying to figure out what the universe is actually like
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A lot of tanks and mecks could use universal parts. That would make building and repair a great deal easier and cheaper.
true, entirely possible, no one knows
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
02/21/09 04:22 PM
24.127.68.31
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Read Objective Raids. The Marauder II factory therein largely hand-builds its 100-ton mechs.
I had forgotten that..
Could be that the Valkyrie Line from TR3025 was so worth mentioning because it was a SLDF Facility that was all but Materiels in one end and Valks out the other...
Humm..
so, why does the Bandersnatch descripption stand out so much to me?
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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Prince_of_Darkness
02/21/09 06:13 PM
205.202.120.139
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Because filiferous Bander sold the plans all across the IS.
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starmaster
02/25/09 05:23 PM
74.180.19.153
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http://mech-warfare.com/default.aspx
a journey of a 1000 lightyears begins with the first command- starmaster
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