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Post by Anastas on Nov 14, 2003 2:27:01 GMT -5
Which design did you find to be the most worthless in any of your games?
I have to say that the Thor / Summoner Primary left me less than impressed.
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Post by LittleBano on Nov 17, 2003 6:49:11 GMT -5
Never been a fan of the Catapults, the original version. They aren't very smartly put together.
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Post by Anastas on Nov 18, 2003 1:16:10 GMT -5
That one requires some finesse to use properly. Certainly not one for the mano-a-mano slugging matches. It's a 'Mech you inflict on players who need to learn how to cooperate to survive.
But if you really want to give your players some grief, force a CGR-1A1 Charger or a UMR-60 UrbanMech on them as their lancemates.
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Post by Hussar on Nov 18, 2003 1:30:26 GMT -5
Charger, yuppers there's a crap mech. Although if you tweak it (a lot) it has possibilities.
I never did like the Stalker either. The big walking egg thing just was never cool.
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Post by LittleBano on Nov 19, 2003 6:42:03 GMT -5
I also was never a big fan of the original Atlas. It was proof that just because you are the biggest doesn't mean that you are the best. It had severe problems with overheating.
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Post by Anastas on Nov 20, 2003 1:02:28 GMT -5
I also was never a big fan of the original Atlas. It was proof that just because you are the biggest doesn't mean that you are the best. It had severe problems with overheating. Very true, however the Atlas is another one of those 'Mechs that you never use alone. Both of the Atlases in my merc unit served as command & coordination vehicles. One was the regimental command 'Mech, the other commanded a combined arms artillery company (two Long Toms, two Schreck PPC carriers, four 'Mechs, two Warrior H-7 Helos, two Wasp LAMs).
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Post by Anastas on Nov 20, 2003 1:07:09 GMT -5
The original stock Banshee was a pretty lame design. But like Hussar's Charger, it could be tweaked all kinds of ways and made very useful.
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Post by Hussar on Nov 20, 2003 23:33:03 GMT -5
Y'know, that's something I never quite understood. So many of the mechs had huge heat problems, particularly the heavier mechs, that could be solved by dumping some of the lamer weapons and sticking in some more heat sinks. The original Marauder for example, carried an AC/5. WHY??? Dump the AC 5 and now you can use your twin PPC's every round, run, and never, ever have to worry about heat.
The AC of pretty much any size was just never worth the weight. Except for maybe a 20. Anything smaller and you were better off with a beam weapon and enough heat sinks to handle it. Hmmm, weighs much more, limited ammunition and pretty poor range vs much lighter, no ammunition and equivalent range/damage. Which would you go for?
When I modified mech's, generally speaking, the first thing that got tossed off was an autocannon. You want range, go with LRM's or ER PPC's, you want punch, go with Streak SRM's or lasers. The autocannon was simply the most useless weapon in there.
That being said, I always did love the hunchback. The AC 20 was worth it in a short combat, so long as you could get resupplied.
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Post by Anastas on Nov 21, 2003 1:26:49 GMT -5
From a cost standpoint, autocannons were much less expensive to manufacture. Their lower technology base also made them easier to produce than PPCs or other energy weapons, which weren't all that easy to come by for many centuries. There were more makers of autocannons than there were beam weapons.
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Post by Hussar on Nov 22, 2003 21:17:09 GMT -5
That was one thing that always bothered me about Battletech in general. The lack of technology.
I mean, take LRM's for a second. The idea that you have to roll 2 6's to hit with all LRM's is rediculous. The tech exists today for fire and forget missiles, and they're trying to tell me that 1500 years into the future, that tech no longer exists?
Having been a tanker for 6 years, I know how accurate main battle armor is. With the tech that exists right now, on a main battle tank, you should be getting first round hits 9 times out of 10. Between laser sighting and sabot rounds (high speed armor piercing) you don't miss very bloody often. Really, you should be hitting far, far more than you do using the Battletech rules.
The most effective weapons in the game are the PPC's. Realistically. Excellent range, fantastic damage, an all around great weapon. Really, the missiles should be a far more effective weapon than they are. As should the AC's. Why they are SO heavy is beyond me. It's utterly rediculous that a autocannon should be that big.
Sorry to step on a soapbox here, I really do like Battletech. It is a really fun game. I certainly spent enough hours playing. But, this one point really always bugged me about the game.
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Post by Anastas on Nov 22, 2003 22:46:46 GMT -5
You aren't the first person to notice that, and you won't be the last. Most modern weapons outrange BattleTech ones by a wide margin.
But let's get back to talking about sucky BattleMechs. I want to know what they were smoking when they came up with the MAD-3L Marauder (the one with one Large Laser and one PPC).
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Post by Hussar on Nov 23, 2003 5:42:17 GMT -5
Ewww, didn't even know about that one. One mech that I always disliked was the Commando, at least in its original configuration. What a useless piece of mech.
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Post by Anastas on Nov 24, 2003 0:24:37 GMT -5
The Commando was meant for beating the snot out of light scout 'Mechs. Since it was ammo dependent, its best use was as a part of a permanent base.
The original Cicada and Vulcan were pretty useless machines, in my opinion.
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Post by Hussar on Nov 24, 2003 7:48:54 GMT -5
I know this is off topic, but we should get a battletech game going here. Use Open RPG and we could do it, so long as people were on at the same time.
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Post by Anastas on Nov 25, 2003 0:13:10 GMT -5
I know this is off topic, but we should get a battletech game going here. Use Open RPG and we could do it, so long as people were on at the same time. Would you include a Hussar and a Baboon in your forces? The time issue is a big hurdle. I generally work closing shifts at my job (Build-a-bear Workshop at Chicago's Navy Pier). I also have to contend with the fact I have sold off most of the BattleTech stuff in my possession and the remainder is in Georgia in a metal file cabinet.
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