NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm just curious as to hpw many rpers out there know of the battletech universe, as well as the possibility of rping certain aspects of it. I'm just curious...

Always been partial to the clans myself. Not sure I like the Dark Ages though.

Been playing since it first hit the streets. Was always partial to the Grey Death. The RP aspects are a bitch. No problem solving, mostly kill, kill, kill. I'll stick with it as an SF military thing.

It's fun to play, but I find the military arguments against mechs too compelling to RP it here.

Oh. And Little Richard's Panzer Battalion =)

I've actually based my entire ground force off an ecletic mix of Battletech, Halo, and random bits of tech (various guns) of my allies. I have, unfortunately, limited knowledge of the BattleTech universe, having only played a little MechWarrior and MechCommander, but I still like it. Personally I prefer Clan designs for my own mechs, due to their aesthetic and practical appeal.
So is this like an invite or a sign-up for a BattleTech style ground RP?

Been playing since it first hit the streets. Was always partial to the Grey Death. The RP aspects are a bitch. No problem solving, mostly kill, kill, kill. I'll stick with it as an SF military thing.

I was about to say the Grey Death as well.. also Wolf's Dragoons are on the top of my list.

I would say there are RP aspects you still have to contend with. You have to gather forces, jump to the location and you can have a presence to meet the jumpship(s). You cannot attack the jumpship(s) but you have to get the dropships planet side without being blown out of the sky on the way in. After landing you still have to regroup and prepare for battle. To me, it is much more complicated than kill kill kill and there is a lot you can RP. If you are a fanatic, you can get quite creative actually.

go comstar!

I don't know that much about Battletech, except that which comes through the computer games, but I tend to be partial toward the Clans myself...

When I finally get around to going FT, I will use Battletech stuff for ground combat, most likely.

FedSuns all the way!!!
Ok so Victor and Kai are the munchiest characters ever invented but thier fathers were ore interesting.

I rather liked the FeedCom but i can see why FASA had to destroy it with the clans and then the civil war.
If you want really interesting BTech rp try looking at either classic era (3025) stuff or the periphery or even better solaris 7.

As for the actual emchs you simply can't beat the jagermech, helios, hunchback and trebuchet.

I've always liked all the mercs over those other guys.

I prefer Comstar because, well, they are the ones who hold the flame of technology aloft while all else is darkness. Or maybe I just like them cuz there crazy, I cant seem to choose. As for the best mechs, the Fafnir, Timber Wolf (Mad Cat), Dire Wolf (Daishi), Mad Dog (Vulture), and Man O' War (Gladiator) are all quality designs. I guess its pretty safe to say I favor heavy clanner mechs, he

Cool! I expected zilch responses...

As for myself, been at it for so long, and I 'mean' for so long, that I still have some of the original books that were created. I mean the ones with the 'iffy' pictures in them.

And excluding a few books, including the Lyran Sourcebook, and the last Tech Readout (3067 I think...) I have a good spread. Wish though I had grabbed the Tukayyid scenario gamebook in a gameshop down in Bilouxi, MS when I had the chance (and the money..)

Personally I am about equal with FedCom when it existed, FedSuns, ComStar after the Schism, The Star League prior to the First Succession War, and Clans Ghost Bear, Wolf when Ulric was ilKhan, Star Adder, Hell Horses, Coyote, and finally Wolf Dragoons Mercs, all in order of preference.

I also prefer Clantech over IS versions, though some Comstar and a few IS designs, even with preference of the Second Line models the Clans use.

But.. believe it or not, despite my hankering for a Timber Wolf mech, I actually prefer a Behemoth (Stone Rhino) for some reason, and usually rework such a design into OmniMechs of their own. =^^=

I definitely prefer Clan-tech.. Omnis are the way to go for sure. Solaris matches are sweet, I like the expansion pack for MW4 and play in the Solaris matches. Could use that for a detailed RP.

If you are going to set this up, I suggest 3050 as the age we do it in (because thats the only sourcebook I have, lol). I posses almost every novel in the battletech library ( I think im missing 2), and I have almost every card in the origional series. Id join in if u started it.

Funny thing about that. I was wondering that exact thing.

I'm not asking to start another 'earth' version, considering the BT universe has hundreds of worlds as well.

Would anyone reading this however, like to play in a 'universe' theme of battletech, set between 3050 - 3067, which runs from The Clan Invasion, to the FedCom Civil War and Blakist Jihad beginnings...

Anyone can make up their own unit, unless they have the books to use a standing one. This be Merc, IS unit, Comstar/Word unit, or any Clan.

If it aids things, I actually have a BattleForce 2 game box with a fully detailed Inner Sphere map, including all systems within and external of the Periphery borders. Rps under this idea would attempt some level of detail, but not be so that loses fun, and drags things out too much. Some of the battles for worlds could last months, so a loosening of detail can be done to expidite the story of battle between two forces.

..and... if anyone wants to try it, we can cross match time periods of differing units that normally haven't met.. (i.e. Home Clan vs. IS units, SDLF vs. Clan, yada yada...)

..the idea is to have fun first, and enjoy what makes this game and universe so good..

...Mechs destroying everything... =^^=

Funny thing about that. I was wondering that exact thing.

I'm not asking to start another 'earth' version, considering the BT universe has hundreds of worlds as well.

Would anyone reading this however, like to play in a 'universe' theme of battletech, set between 3050 - 3067, which runs from The Clan Invasion, to the FedCom Civil War and Blakist Jihad beginnings...

Anyone can make up their own unit, unless they have the books to use a standing one. This be Merc, IS unit, Comstar/Word unit, or any Clan.

If it aids things, I actually have a BattleForce 2 game box with a fully detailed Inner Sphere map, including all systems within and external of the Periphery borders. Rps under this idea would attempt some level of detail, but not be so that loses fun, and drags things out too much. Some of the battles for worlds could last months, so a loosening of detail can be done to expidite the story of battle between two forces.

..and... if anyone wants to try it, we can cross match time periods of differing units that normally haven't met.. (i.e. Home Clan vs. IS units, SDLF vs. Clan, yada yada...)

..the idea is to have fun first, and enjoy what makes this game and universe so good..

...Mechs destroying everything... =^^=


Your idea intrigues me. However, I have abosolutely no idea what tech exists in the Battletech universe between 3050 and 3067, as I only know about it through MechCommander and MechWarrior. So I would need a little bit of help.

Well, about the one thing that is major within this time period, is the clan invasion, which introduced the concept of the OmniMech.

These are Battlemechs that are configured to have pods of weapons interchanged to suit the Mech to a particular mission. The advantage is the shorter repair and refit time an OmniMech takes, and can be configured midmission at times.

Clan mechs at 3050, and later at the tech spreads through the following near two decades, had far superior weapons and defensive tech, where as the usual mech of the same weight class against an IS version prior to 3050 (even as late as the 3039 War) could all but shred that opposing mech one on one.

Clan weapons were better, had far longer ranges, and were better able to dissipate heat. They usually had far better punch as well.

Clan Armor and understructure were also both lighter, stronger, and more durable against punishment.

Heat was better disspated via double heat absorption sinks, targeting computers were more advanced, and in fact about every aspect of a Clan Mech was superior in every way to an IS Mech. They even were in cases better than the vintage Star League Mechs that Comstar fielded, one on one.

This was the prime reason why the invasion was so sucessful. Even their second line IIC Mechs were better than their IS counterparts.

This didn't mean Clan Mechs won 'everytime' the Clans attacked IS forces, and in fact over time, it was proven by combined arms and arts tactics, that the Clans could be defeated, so in the case of the death of Clan Smoke Jaguar to Task Forces Serpent and Bulldog from 3057 - 3058.

As a result, dissimination of OmniMech clantech has spread throughout the Inner Sphere, albeit still somewhat parcel to the House Powers.

Well, about the one thing that is major within this time period, is the clan invasion, which introduced the concept of the OmniMech.

These are Battlemechs that are configured to have pods of weapons interchanged to suit the Mech to a particular mission. The advantage is the shorter repair and refit time an OmniMech takes, and can be configured midmission at times.

Clan mechs at 3050, and later at the tech spreads through the following near two decades, had far superior weapons and defensive tech, where as the usual mech of the same weight class against an IS version prior to 3050 (even as late as the 3039 War) could all but shred that opposing mech one on one.

Clan weapons were better, had far longer ranges, and were better able to dissipate heat. They usually had far better punch as well.

Clan Armor and understructure were also both lighter, stronger, and more durable against punishment.

Heat was better disspated via double heat absorption sinks, targeting computers were more advanced, and in fact about every aspect of a Clan Mech was superior in every way to an IS Mech. They even were in cases better than the vintage Star League Mechs that Comstar fielded, one on one.

This was the prime reason why the invasion was so sucessful. Even their second line IIC Mechs were better than their IS counterparts.

This didn't mean Clan Mechs won 'everytime' the Clans attacked IS forces, and in fact over time, it was proven by combined arms and arts tactics, that the Clans could be defeated, so in the case of the death of Clan Smoke Jaguar to Task Forces Serpent and Bulldog from 3057 - 3058.

As a result, dissimination of OmniMech clantech has spread throughout the Inner Sphere, albeit still somewhat parcel to the House Powers.


Most of this I figured out from the Original MechCommander/MechWarrior 3 (and to a lesser extent, MW4). But I really can't place which weapons systems and 'Mechs I could use during this time period...I'm talking about stuff like when the Thunderbolt missile system came into use. I have no idea. This is where I'm gonna need some help.

The tbolt doesn't actually exist outside of the MW games

basically the tech goes in the following order(off the top of my head so forgive any errors)
3050:
clan: all the basic clan tech and weapons ie ER lasers, pulse lasers Ultra and LBx autocannons
IS: basic IS tech plus medium pusle lasers and er mediums, LBx10 AC possibly UAC10 (old star league tech)

3060:
clan: micro lasers, heavy lasers and ATMs
IS: IS versions of most of the clan weapons (ie full rnage of ER and pulse lasers, UACs and LBxACs) introduction of gauss rifle and light guass rifle, capcitor PPC (lvl3 tech iirc), advanced LRM muntions (thunder, swarm, semi giuded)

3067:
Clan: not sure actually
IS: RACs, rocket launchers.


In terms of tech yes clan tech is generally better but as a general rule it is hideously expensive, thus why IS tech combined arms works well agaisnt it, for the rpice of 1 50million cbill omnimech i can feild 30-50 light vtols with rocket launchers... or light tanks with AC10s...

Honestly, all the IS weapon systems were basically losttech by the time of the fourth succession war came about. C3, Tbolt, extended range lasers and the like were simply either reciovered tech or tech hoarded by Comstar during the Succession Wars.

All the 'new' stuff, excluding Enhanced C3 and such, are Clan tech domain.

Btw, Mechwarrior is basiclly the roleplay AD&D version that goes 'with' Battletech, allowing people to rp characters in Battletech itself. The novels btw usually ended up in roleplay sourcebooks, so much of the stuff read in the novels, is the same in all the sourcebooks that resulted.

To try and confuse them all as seperate things is not needed. Everything's interlaced to the hilt. The only catch is not what version is in what, it's simply down to between IS and Clan technology and way of living.

I personaly enjoy all those battle techs, but I wonder if you are basing the Cappellan Confederation of a series of books by writer Chris Bunch? If so then thats why my vote went for it. Very good FT type series The Last Legion. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi and a lot of good battles.

The Eridani light Horse.

True paladins.

Am trying to flesh it all out as you choose a faction, whether an existing or one you've made up, and just have fun rping out battles and such sorta on our own timeline. It can also be like the Rp Mechwarrior series, with interaction and all.

Using known themes and novels as flavor is up to the individual.

The question is should this be a self contained world, yet open to anyone to rp in, or simply make it a flat out open rp world without a title (like Planets-I and such..)

Clan Wolf -pre "Clan Refusal War"
Clan Wolf in Exile -post "Clan Refusal War"
and as for Dark Age, House Davion a.k.a. Federated Suns

I'd probably take the Fed Suns Davion Brigades, regardless of timeframe as a standard choice.

But I also put together an independant IS/Clan hybrid style force, called Clan Angel Galaxy, in a reach of worlds numbering 10+ Systems, that can be easily transplanted into this setup.

It'd probably be somewhere in the Periphery between DC and Fed Suns territories across from the Outworlds Alliance (or Raven Allaince in the Dark Age saga...)

Bump with a NARC missile...

Bump you right back. Activating ECM. ;)

Anyone else got comments about making this idea work?

Am trying to flesh it all out as you choose a faction, whether an existing or one you've made up, and just have fun rping out battles and such sorta on our own timeline. It can also be like the Rp Mechwarrior series, with interaction and all.

Using known themes and novels as flavor is up to the individual.

The question is should this be a self contained world, yet open to anyone to rp in, or simply make it a flat out open rp world without a title (like Planets-I and such..)

Generally speaking the Chaos march is a reasonable place for fairly open play with mercs and various rogue elements runnign around.

Now persoanlly i would be very torn as to what to play, do i play a light/medium Davion RCT, my online clan (clan storm kestrel, minus the navy as it is a bit powerful for a small semi dark caste outlaw clan (the history is somewhat complicated), or my nice little mercs the unit the Norwegian Blues.

probabaly the NBs as you can use them just about anywhere and theya re a nicely davion merc team.

Cool, another with a Clan. I'd be open to multiple units controlled by a single user, as long as they can handle it.

The catch to all this then is to get some people to play as some of the more 'unpopular' sides. Unless that is, everyone plays Davion units attacking all over the place.

Strange I haven't seen a Kurita or Lyran 'call' yet, just mostly Davion.

I'm surpirsed there haven't been any DC or LA calls although the fact we have the clans makes the LA less atractive.
based on experience with MPBT3025, FS and DC are the msot popualr factions with LA for those who like big mechs and FWL/CC for those who are truely masochistic, in the end the FWL were offering huge sign on bonuses to try and get anyone to play for them.

I didn't know that the Federated Suns were still active.

Well they were active in MPBT3025 which was oddly enough set in 3025...
between 3025ish and 3068 the Suns joined with the lyrian allaince to form the federated commonwealth, after the civil war that ends in roughly 3068 they reevert to the fed suns and the Lyrain commonwealth (both still ruled by a memeber of the steiner davion family).

The we move on to dark age and i refuse to touch that with a 10ft barge pole.

Well they were active in MPBT3025 which was oddly enough set in 3025...
between 3025ish and 3068 the Suns joined with the lyrian allaince to form the federated commonwealth, after the civil war that ends in roughly 3068 they reevert to the fed suns and the Lyrain commonwealth (both still ruled by a memeber of the steiner davion family).

The we move on to dark age and i refuse to touch that with a 10ft barge pole.


how long ago was 3025?

Clans of course. They're so übercool :cool:

how long ago was 3025?

It was about 30 years before mechwarrior 3 and mechcomander and about 40 years before mech4, blacknight, mechcomander2 and mercs.

basic tiem line:
3025: 4th succession war
3049/50: clan invasion
3058: operation bulldog/serpent (IS counter strike)
3060-3068 end of the clan wars, Capellan revival and then the Fedcom civil war.

I still remember the sourcebook that had the 'next generation' of the Inner Sphere, prior to the Clan Invasion, and I think prior to the Fourth Sucession War too.

I still also remember getting the 3050 Tech Readout for the Clan mechs, wondeirng 'what the heck' was going on.'

All these years later, we sure know 'what's' going on now.

One unit that would be interesting to rp, would be the Highlander Black Watch Regiment during Bulldog and Serpent. Considering how much hatred the Clans had for that unit, and the fact that the Black Watch shuns Clan equipment, that'd be a fun unit to play.