TRO: Dark Age part 1 of 8

So I've been putting off doing stuff because I want to do other stuff first, but then I don't do the other stuff so I end up not getting stuff done. Perfection is always the enemy of good. 

Without getting into it, I've finally gotten the Technical Readout: Dark Age for Battletech. It's a whopper and it's all 'mechs. I was going to say, "...and, thankfully, all 'mechs," but I guess my thinking has evolved on that. I'll get to it.

These are my notes on it as I read it, with latter-day interjections being italicized.

Intro

Some good points about "The Dark Age" era actually being the end of The Republic Era.

The ilClan of 3250 exists and it's Clan, complete with a Last Annihilation, and SLDF-like gunslinger program, and a Roshak writing reports.

The talk of all of these 'mechs being obsolete is either an overstatement--the same way that Star League tech was considered the bee's knees when it's more like the flea's wings--or a sign of things to come. My thought on the future of Battletech is a time/tech jump which makes most now-modern equipment usable, but mostly worse than a new generation of fewer, streamlined systems which more elegantly sit atop Total Warfare/Time of War/Destiny rulesets.

Gún

A Capellan infantry support/counter platform.Most 'mechs have stories about how cool they are--the Gún includes that--but the aside about a Davion Centurion acing four of them and a pilot refusing to do war crimes in it seem to have misunderstood the assignment.

It's also notable for mentioning a Davion "warbook" used to identify Gún configurations, which I kind of assumed TRO's were.

Congrats on making a 'mech that, while respectful of the Chinese culture of the Capellan Confederation, no one in your western audience is going to talk about because the "ú" character needs to be looked up and "Gun" with the unaccented "u" means "gun" in English.

 

Arbalest

 

This guy's armor is fucking terrible. I know this is just a reasonable collection of previous products from the Jihad and the late Republic Era, with a bit of 3250 lore in the front as a teaser. Cool. Worth it. Sexy fun.

It's still a bit jarring that "the present" shifts from 3075 to 3145 to 3085 between entries. 

Crimson Hawk

A new member of the Adjective + Animal family. A relatively slow 'mech with two weapons it can't fire. The notion of putting two heavy lasers on it is preposterous, but I could see an Extended Range (ER) Laser/Heavy (Hv) Laser pair to add flexiblity. Not good, but I could get behind that.

It pains me to say it, but the Wolves in Exile seem to be on the right track with Improved Jump Jets and an ER Medium Laser/ER Large Laser (ERLL) combo. Whatever happened to the Pack Hunter? This seems like a shittier Pack Hunter.

Gunsmith

Anything with an XXL engine reveals C-Bill costs as a fucking lie. That said, I could see the post-Jihad disarmament as an era where fewer, higher-cost units would be worth making. Hell, start domestic production of Clantech.

But whatevs, we didn't do that and the Gunsmith was created AFTER the Blackout. I just think there's no war where the US Military would approve infantry rifles for $1 million a pop to get a 25% bump in performance.

It looks cool though, both physically and in terms of weapons. Not strong, but...potent? A little undersinked, but if that's an issue just fire 3 lasers at a time.

I guess it's just 4x the cost of an identical 'mech moving 8/12. The US military will occasionally cough up bucks for a sniper rifle or squad automatic weapon, so I guess I can't bitch about a few expensive specialty weapons. I mean, the Davions aren't doing that, but yeah. Sure. Alright. You do you, FASAnomics.

Koshi

I like the trend of making standard versions of omnimechs from Operation Revival so that I can obnoxiously pretend people are talking about them when they call 'mechs like the Mist Lynx the wrong name. 

The Koshi (standard) seems okay. The excessive ammo load compensates for its lack of energy weapons and marks it as a fast, capable little harasser/recon/support gay.

I do prefer the Koshi 2 for its longer-ranged and ammo-saving Streak Short Ranged Missile (SSRM) rack. Kudos to the Koshi 3 as wells for the small laser/Targeting Computer hax*. Not something that's going to work often, but fun it does.

*Okay, so small lasers have a lot of damage per ton but have a very short range and don't focus damage. BUT if you link them through a targeting computer you can take a focused, targeted shot to savage one location. Not efficient or smart, but the kind of jank I like.

Mjolnir

Seems like a nice little 'mech. It's hard to bag on it when its flavor is that it's a post-Jihad 'mech made to fill billets. Maces are kinda stupid, but there's few ways for a 25-ton 'mech to jump 6 hexes and then deal 12 points of damage in a single lump.

Is it worth the 2 additional points of damage over a standard kick that's going to hit one of two legs? I don't think we're supposed to ask that about maces. 

Given how much the rest of the book bangs on about Mjolnir like they're the Son of Timber Wolf, I've decided to hate them. 

Anubis

Seems like a sensible unit. Ranged weaponry seems at odds with recon duty, but they're not imcompatible. Looks like hell to field on a table; just lots of turns with high to-hit numbers and slowly whittling down targets.

 Also, making an SSRM version undermines the unit's versatility--which multiple mentions of thunder mines attest to--and blatantly erases Multi-Missile Launchers (MMLs). Whatever happened to MMLs? MMLs were cool! Then I guess you wouldn't have the dog ears (fox ears?).

Cadaver

There is no way this piece of shit beat a Hellbringer. It carries 2 tons of ammunition for its embarrassing  main gun that can't hit the scouts it's assigned to hunt down. Rip that shit out and, I dunno, scare up some tonnage for some light PPCs (LPPCs) or a Large Pulse Laser (LPL). Even a Rocket Launcher 10 and some jump jets would be a better idea.

I know canon 'mechs are supposed to be kinda awful. In that respect, the Cadaver excels.

Crosscut Loggermech Mod 

Okay, I can see this as a generic "industrial 'mech" stat block for use in campaigns. I also like the heartwarming final story of the entry.

Also, no "Ubiquitious" quirk?

Dola

It's a super-Spider. Knife-Spider? I guess I can't talk shit about the Thunder Fox if I start drumming up Adjective + Animal names to call 'mechs.

Looks fine. Easier to disarm.

The fluff story about the prototype using composite structure and a small cockpit is funny. I'll remember that as a design don't alongside the reflective armor*.

*Reflective Armor (Reflec Armor) takes double damage from falls and small cockpits impose a significant +1 penalty to rolls to avoid falls. It's what they call a no-bo.

 Jackalope

 ...missile Spider? I guess only the Capellans, the Sea Foxes, and the Galatean Defense League(?) know to put Beagle Active Probes (BAPs) on their scouts. I know BAPs suck in gameplay, but if you're going to make them and fluff 'mechs as recon units, you should put them on those recon units.

That is somewhat undercut by a scout 'mech with a quad-cannon disco ball on its head.

Pack Hunter II

Oh shit, it's the Pack Hunter; I thought you were put in the dumpster with the other 3060 designs.

"Mongoose II"? "Cygnus"? The Wolves in Exile(WiE) have a lot of fucking 'mech production for a harried remnant of Clan Wolf...or I guess CW split into two top-tier factions in the 3050's, one of which FedEx-ed their industrial base to the Inner Sphere without anyone noticing.

JFC, I hate the WiE so much.

Not the least of which is how they massacred my boy, Pack Hunter. This book hammers on about how speed is all the rage in the Republic and ilClan Eras and therefore everyone needs and XL Engine.

My question is..."Do they?"

My other questions: "Does a nimble sniper have a mission profile that requires battle armor defense?" Give it a 3rd medium laser and some armor, if you're resigned to giving it secondary weapons instead of a targeting computer.

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Goddamn, that's a lot of 'mechs. About 95 in this book. At 12 a go, that's 8 weeks of reading and writing. But it's better than the previous 8 weeks of not having read it or written anything at all.