So Much Better Than I Realized!
I have never been much of a fan of vehicles in BattleTech. I grew up in an era when a combat vehicle was considered way too fragile for serious battle. Maybe they had valuable tactical usages, keeping battles in certain places or whatnot, but they were not really something that made the cut anywhere.
Blood from the Stone!
Last week my order of Technical Readout: 315 arrived from BattleCorps. I’ve since gotten a chance to read through the book twice, and there are several designs that tweak my interest. What are the early impressions from the book?
The Technical Readout: 3060 shipped and like always I headed to my local gaming store to purchase my copy very soon after. I still remember looking over those units for the first time, and finding some that really stuck with me. Today I want to look at my four favorite BattleMechs from 3060, and then hear from you about your own.
What do you like in a BattleMech? What makes it work? Everyone’s playgroup will be different. I get that. If you run into a lot of missile boats, then an Anti-Missile System has an enhanced value to you. I’m not a fan of it normally. If you run into a lot of ECM warfare, then electrical enhancements, like Artemis IV are just dead weight in a lot of situations. So what do I like in a BattleMech? Let’s take a look and see!
And the Vikings Roll
Viking – Let’s go ahead and start with my favorite BattleMech from the Technical Readout, shall we? My friend, the 90 ton assault class Viking, a combination ComStar and Free Rasalhague Republic force. This is a great missile boat for your army – it sports two LRM20s, and two LRM15s as well – launching a full 70 missiles down field each round. With Artemis IV fire support, it can really blow out an enemy unit. It has a largely redundant quartet of machine guns and a pair of small lasers as close range stuff in case someone gets a little too big for their britches and tries to close. Avoiding the problems that can come with an XL engine, particularly in a unit with so many ammo critical slots (threatening an explosion that would shut down the ‘Mech), the Viking even has a strong amount of armor for those that want to return fire – a full 15.5 tons. It’s one of the best missile boats ever made, and it will not just exploit open areas on units, but it peppers armor itself!
The Eagle has Landed (Literally)!
Eagle – When playing I’ve found the Eagle to be a strong and reliable design in a few major roles. 5/8/5 movement is very respectable for a light ‘Mech, because you can always jump to get +3 to be hit if you need it, or else you can just walk +2 or run +3, so you have options to make it harder to hit you than it is to hit others. That’s what you want. In addition to that, we have an ER Large Laser to give the unit a long range bite, and an ER Medium to back it up. You can leap around, finding the right spot to fire off a few lasers. And then don’t forget that is has max armor as well. I like to use it as anything from a traditional scouting role to a flanking force that pushes heavier units or even a supplement to a long-range position where it can head out quickly to deal with anybody who comes close. That’s a good BattleMech, right? And then it has TAG as well, so you can paint stuff for future damage from other units in the right lance. I often don’t even bother. It has enough weaponry, range, armor, and movement to suffice for a 25 ton guy, and when you need it, TAG comes a-calling!
Wizards and Mages, Oh My!
Shugenja – I’ve never a super big fan of XL engines. They work in the right circumstances and for the perfect unit, but otherwise, I prefer a unit with survivability. Particularly when it’s low on armor or tends to explode. That’s why the Shugenja is a strong choice. It’s a larger unit that uses the XL engine to give it enough room for a solid allotment of long range of weaponry – that ER PPC plus the pair of Large Lasers – all energy weapons that don’t rely on ammo – and a strong MRM 30 launcher to fill in a medium range role and to ward off any smaller units from getting too comfortable. Meanwhile the heavy BattleMech sports 13 tons of ferro armor, so it has pretty good protection. It addition, it has the valuable C3 Master unit, so it provides two roles. It’s a good long-range ‘Mech that can sit back and snipe at folks, while also providing the Master for a C3 equipped lance. That combination, along with the strong armor it affords, is a powerful combination for your unit. I use them a lot, and have gotten great results.
Blake and Marik, BFF!
Buccaneer – I don’t generally like an XL Engine on a unit that wants to close. It’s prone to getting hit overly much. And the Buccaneer definitely wants to close, so it can connect with its medium and short range weaponry. Other than the ER Large Laser, it doesn’t include any long range weapons. Now you can rock a quartet of Medium Lasers, a random Medium Pulse Laser, and an SRM 6 (with Artemis) for short range fun, and that’s in addition to the hatchet that forces you to close, and gives you a good reason to do so! Don’t forget that unit has great armor – 10 tons of ferro on a 55 ton ‘Mech is virtually maxed out. And the weapons load doesn’t require more heat sinks. Your base 10 [20] can deal with the heat from all five lasers, and your SRM 6 (You make just over 20 heat with your movement as well). So the unit works from all of those angles. But what XL engine gives you is an unusual way to use it. You have a crazy 6/9 movement. That lets you stab in there quickly from way outside of its normal range to hit quickly and powerfully. You can run 8 or 9 hexes, close with a BattleMech, and then carve into it with your weapons. You have the potential for a strong hit and fade tactic if you want, or you can stay and fight for a few turns, with the flexibility that battle requires. I’ve found myself using it in a variety of roles. But my favorite is to snipe with the XL Laser and position my ‘Mech to make a running and basing attack on the flank or rear of a unit and then just devastate it. This thing puts the fear of Blake into you.
So there are my four favorite Inner Sphere BattleMechs from 3060. What are yours?
Tank-Geddon!
Ah yes, the combat vehicle. It’s downright prolific in the Inner Sphere (and the Periphery even more so)! We have lots of things telling us that your basic combat vehicle has a lot of value on the battlefield. But let’s set aside the fluff for a moment and talk about what your experience has really been with tanks and other vehicles.
Are there BattleMechs out there that are ugly as sin but you still get real joy from playing them? Is there a go-to ‘Mech for you that your friends taunt you about, but you just know how to get it to work? What BattleMechs out there play better than they look for you?
Jenners For Science!
Jenner – I don’t know why, but for some reason, I always get Jenners to work well. They look ugly, I don’t like the design that much from an aesthetic standpoint, and you might wonder at how I can get an overheated low-armor unit to work so well. I wonder it about it too! But I do. Sometimes I just get them to play like a musical instrument. I get a devastating impact from them at times, and in my most recent run on MegaMekNet, I had a couple that had a lot of surprising kills they had ratcheted up. From Hunchbacks to an Archer, the Jenner can sometimes be a master of taking out things on the battlefield way above its tonnage. At least for me.
Ever since I looked at my first Technical Readout, I realized that BattleTech was a game about aesthetics, just as much as it was about blowing stuff up. There were always a variety of BattleMechs that just has a really effective design. Before I played my first game, before I even knew the rules, a friend told me to just play a ‘Mech that looked good – the better looking ones always played better.
Of course, now I’ve played the game long enough to know better. Design and beauty aren’t always hand in hand. There are a variety of units rocking the block that look like more of a threat than they actually are. Let’s take a look at a few BattleMechs that I always thought had the look, but couldn’t follow it up.
Speak Softly, and Carry a Big Gun
Hollander – I love the way this light ‘Mech looks, with the big gun, the frame built around it and more. It just looks great, like a ‘Mech fused to a piece of artillery or a modern day weapon like the M777 Howitzer. The ‘Mech has always felt like a realistic looking and strong design. Except, it’s not. As a design, it lacks ammo, backup weapons, armor, speed, etc. It’s just not a strong design. I’ve played them, and I have really wanted them to work, and it’s never to be.
Have you ever run into BattleMechs that you just don’t get? Have you heard lots of accolades from other players, but then they never work for you? They are highly acclaimed in forums and have lots of defenders online, but you’ve always been disappointed from them.
I just don’t understand them. I’ve tried them, I’ve played with them, and they just never work. I have a few BattleMechs below that have just never worked for me, no matter how much people might extoll them. Have they worked for you?
We Built Missile City…
Commando – I get that there are some enthusiasts out there that love their Commandos, with its fast strike capacity and strong weapons payload for a 25 ton unit. But me? I’ve never gotten them to work well. They are too weak in armor, and I’ve always wished they’d be faster, or jump to get a little closer, or to get a little harder to hit. They can get blasted at range, and they need the right terrain to be feasible. Commandos – I can’t get them to work.
The Scapha – one of my favorite vehicles of 3145
In this article, I continue my overall review of the units offered in the Technical Readout: 3145 series, specifically those units that have captured my eye, and stand above the rest. This entry, covering combat vehicles, continues from the previous article which addressed the ‘Mechs. One of the most enjoyable things about the post-Dark Age era is that technology has proliferated so much that most of these machines are no longer limited to a specific faction. Heck, even former third-rate Periphery powers are turning out units with advanced technology and examples of Clan tech in some examples.
From the Star League With Love
3058 is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to Technical Readouts (TRO), and that always made it harder for me to suss out. It introduces Inner Sphere omni technology in BattleMech form in the TRO series. It also features a large number of older designs, such as the Chameleon, Mackie, and Merlin and Striker that had been around for a long time. As a player I was never sure why they did that, and our playgroup had a lot of questions. But the TRO gave us some fun new ‘Mechs rolling off the lines with the latest tech as well.
So after all of these years, which of these are your favorite Inner Sphere units?
Continue reading
Scenario Packs and their ilk have been with us for almost as long as we’ve had the game. From the first campaigns to the latest Turning Point, we have seen a ton of scenario packs released down through the ages.
Sure, a handful of scenarios like Unbound, Living Legends and Necromo Nightmare might strike some fans as problematic from a variety of angles. Sales of modules, adventures, and scenarios are almost always going to be among your worst sellers. And it’s no surprise that we’ve seen a variety of different takes of the Scenario pack, whether it’s replaying a major battle or campaign (Luthien, Tukkayid, Twycross) or whether it’s running the battles of a famous unit (Northwind Highlanders, Tales of the Black Widow Company), many scenario packs are repeats of famous aspects of the universe. But when they don’t sell well, you get different flavors, such as generic ones like Operation: Flashpoint, Operation: Stiletto or those that push the limits of the universe (of which Living Legends is clearly the blatant example).
With that stated, what are my three favorite scenarios?