That BattleTech AI Investigation

Catalyst Game Labs has long been a company that's lowered the barrier to entry for BattleTech. BattleTech has enough barriers to entry. You can download the instructions for play from their website and proxy any kind of physical object (as long as it has a clear front facing) for a BattleMech and go ahead and play. They have free fiction and free scenarios and all kinds of great tools for players.

One of the best tools is the Master Unit List(MUL), a website which lets you look up and select 'mechs for a force. It can be classic battletech or alpha strike, you can search by era and tech base. They made it very easy to select a group of relevant 'mechs and make a force out of them.

A while back, CGL took down the MUL with a promise of "a new and improve site." For those of us who are familiar with how unreliable CGL's BattleTech webpage was or who remembered Magic: the Gathering's similar Gatherer tool's long hiatus, this was not encouraging news.

But on August 13th, a video from CGL dropped announcing the new MUL and going over its features. It was a fairly dry video–and I have to give CGL points on realizing how little charisma their staff has–and they decided to spice it up with some shots of BattleMechs in action. And there their troubles began.

Battlemech Equipment Survey Round 5

I've posted a few of these, but this is a last call for Round 5. I believe I've got 8 Rounds planned total. And then...well, who knows?

It's a survey asking which BattleTech equipment or class of equipment you generally prefer.

Survey 5-1: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJPrkwIhGeBuT97nV3r1OF6XXy4gzW-x35FytgTGQ2Y7xaqw/viewform?usp=sf_link

• Standard PPC versus Standard Fusion Engines
• MRMs versus Improved Advanced Tactical Missiles
• Shield versus Anti-Penetrative Ablative Armor

'Mech: "SLAM" Society LAM

 

Survey 5-2: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdX2sX95cIc6jFbGyC60u9EsXldzb9ea4uyITyoNvdL5aemiw/viewform?usp=sf_link

• Pulse Lasers versus ER PPC
• CASE versus basic C3 systems
• Re-Engineered Lasers versus 'Mech turrets

'Mech: Freelancer FLR-11

 

Survey 5-3: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUjn3fWy8c47oL0MyAHPl1DiV4Gs3azMV3ySspkV0lbObaIA/viewform?usp=sf_link

• Artemis V versus Double Heat Sinks
• Supercharger versus RISC Pulse Laser Module
• Bloodhound Probe versus Nova CEWS

 Strange match-ups to be honest, but that happens.

'Mech: Teniente

 

Survey 5-4: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeR71ite0K-HuacWTCQ7RJiTjClaMQHbDJ0sPxOLRfMW01EBw/viewform?usp=sf_link

• Light Fusion Engines versus Gauss Rifles
• Targeting Computers versus ER Pulse Lasers
• Heavy Gauss Rifle versus Reactive Armor 

'Mech: Elite ELITE-1

 

Survey 5-5: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfG1b2c_6VLL5MoNoBv_v5BVkuL7sqTeGi_uxwbXfV1iA5wWg/viewform?usp=sf_link

• TSM versus Hardened Armor
• AC special munitions versus Artillery special munitions
• Angel ECM vs Guardian ECM

These matchups are determined by the results of previous rounds, so these coincidental match-ups are just that.

'Mech: Facehugger FCH-1A

 

Survey 5-6: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfEZbFaeI2RwIhEIouOe1apAsCiTw68BblvNWo1oMAFkvvoeA/viewform?usp=sf_link

• Standard versus Streak SRMs
• Heavy Lasers versus iHGR
• Standard ACs versus Plasma Rifles

'Mech: Shinedown SHDN-13

TRO: Dark Age, Part 8 of 8

I'm still reviewing Battletech's Technical Readout: Dark Age. I'm reading through all of the entries and giving my thoughts. But as a collection of other TRO's, it's very long so we're going over it in 8 parts.

As always, first impressions are in regular text and later notes are in italics.

Onager

Did they roll laser sizes on a table? Do you hate logistics?!

Facehugger FCH-1A

I've been releasing surveys on BattleMech equipment for the past few weeks, and each week I release a new 'mech made with just the technologies from that survey (and introductory technologies).

It's designed to close quickly, run hot, and then poke at 2 hexes enhanced by TSM. The hardened armor gives it some resilience. That works well because as an infighter it wants to have good jump and can give up some running MP. 

And if you're going to be that close, why not carry an Angel ECM?

Facehugger FCH-1A

Mass: 45 tons
Chassis: Standard Biped
Power Plant: 180 Fusion
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 54 kph
Jump Jets: Standard
     Jump Capacity: 180 meters
Armor: Hardened
Armament:
     2 Improved Heavy Medium Laser
Manufacturer: Unknown
     Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3145
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-E
Cost: 5,634,628 C-bills

Battlemech Equipment Survey, 505

Hey, it's another equipment poll!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfG1b2c_6VLL5MoNoBv_v5BVkuL7sqTeGi_uxwbXfV1iA5wWg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Round 1
Hardened Armor
TSM

Hardened Armor is interesting. It's a great way to make a moving pillbox around a single PPC. It's got its uses though.

TSM is probably objectively better, although I used it before things like the Plasma Cannon and Plasma Rifle came out to fuck with your heat numbers. 

But it's also a free upgrade. Since no one cares about C-Bills, there's not a lot of reason to add it to just about every design. Especially since you can turn off heat sinks to use it on just about anything. a mechwarrior takes on some tactical restrictions by doing that, but it's worth the payoff.

Probably why there's a Battle Value cost bump, which is a very good reason not to add it to every design.

Hardened Armor though. Battlemech base physical attacks are already too good.

Mech 504 - Elite

On Friday, I posted a new BattleMech Technology Survey. Thursdays, I put up a 'mech made exclusively from those techs.

On reflection, this guy is more of a Hollander II, with the same main weapon and speed, but a bit more tonnage for defensive systems. Beyond the armor, the Elite sacrifices its durability to squeeze out additional performance at range using a Direct Neural Interface and a dedicated Targeting Computer.

It's one thing to stay at long range; it's another thing to be able to hit at long range with an ammo fed weapon while using that range to stay safe.

TRO: Dark Age, Part 6 of 8

I'm still reviewing Battletech's Technical Readout: Dark Age. I'm reading through all of the entries and giving my thoughts. But as a collection of other TRO's, it's very long so we're going over it in 8 parts.

As always, first impressions are in regular text and later notes are in italics. 

Blood Reaper

The only thing wrong with the Blood Reaper is its stupid, stupid name.

Despite the number of 'mechs in this TRO that have mercs doodling hearts into the margins of their ledgers, I sense a rise in units tightly linked to one faction or another.

I remember when Vlad Ward wasn't a cartoon nationalistic despot, who murdered people on a whim, but was instead...

...I guess I remember him as aspiring to being a cartoon...whim...

I hate this entire TRO entry. Blood Reaper is a monument to "no style" triumphing over "all substance."

Battlemech Equipment Survey, 504

 Hey, it's another equipment poll!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeR71ite0K-HuacWTCQ7RJiTjClaMQHbDJ0sPxOLRfMW01EBw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Round 1
Light Fusion Engines
Gauss Rifle

That's rough. Making engines lighter without making side torso loss fatal is good. On the other hand, a headcapper with a 22 hex range. Gotta give it to the gauss.

Round 2
Ultra ACs
Armored Components

I gotta call neither/don't know. UACs seem pretty fucking bad. But I don't even get how armored components are good. Imagine declaring called shots on your own crits. There's no way to protect everything important. My books are all packed so I don't even know if they protect components when a section is destroyed. 

Armored components sound good on paper. So do UACs. I've got the experience to back up UACs being bad, but not so much Armored Components.

Mech 503 - Teniente

If we made 'mech only with technology from Battletech Equipment Survey: 503, what could we do?

The redundancy of HAGs and Clan LRMs struck me first, so I started with those. That required something heavy. 

XXL Engines meant it ought to be fast, Endo-Composite structure was a big "why not."

So what Clan uses fast 'mechs? At what time would all of these technologies be available? "Ice Hellions" are the Clan that Does Speed, so I thought of them and reviewed their ignominious end. They put all their eggs into an assault on the Jade Falcons (instead of, say, the Lyrans who were right there!) and failed after the Clan Satan's Simps, sorry Hell's Horses, decided to get involved.

Anyway, the Ice Hellions got absorbed by the Goliath Scorpions and the Goliath Scorpions decided to make the Ice Hellion khan--who got his clan destroyed--into their khan. Anyway...

What about a 6/9 heavy with a command console and two standoff weapons? Slap on an anti-missile system and throw on a few lasers that aren't from the equipment survey, but are good includes anyway, and you've got the Tiente.

It's Spanish for "Lieutenant," and named for a planet taken from the Nova Cats after they betrayed the Clans. It's a taunt and a command 'mech.

Teniente

Mass: 65 tons
Chassis: Endo-Composite Biped
Power Plant: 390 XXL
Cruising Speed: 64.8 kph
Maximum Speed: 97.2 kph
Jump Jets: None
     Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Standard
Armament:
     2 ER Small Laser
     1 LRM 15
     1 HAG/20
     1 Anti-Missile System
Manufacturer: Unknown
     Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3100
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-F-E
Cost: 62,127,285 C-bills

Capabilities
Made from the 503 tech survey. Goliath Scorpion command 'mech used by their Ice Hellion remnants. An elite bodyguard/command unit for larger formations.

Type: Teniente
Technology Base: Clan (Advanced)
Tonnage: 65
Battle Value: 1,963

Equipment                                          Mass
Internal Structure            Endo-Composite          5
Engine                        390 XXL              15.5
    Walking MP: 6
    Running MP: 9
    Jumping MP: 0
Double Heat Sink              10 [20]                 0
Gyro                                                  4
Command Console                                       6
Armor Factor                  208                    13

                          Internal   Armor   
                          Structure  Value   
     Head                    3         9     
     Center Torso            21        33    
     Center Torso (rear)               8     
     R/L Torso               15        24    
     R/L Torso (rear)                  6     
     R/L Arm                 10        19    
     R/L Leg                 15        30    


Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand

Weapons
and Ammo                                 Location  Critical   Heat    Tonnage   
ER Small Laser                              RT        1        2       0.5   
Artemis V FCS                               LA        2        -       1.5   
Anti-Missile System                         LA        1        1       0.5   
Anti-Missile System Ammo (24)               LA        1        -       1.0   
CASE                                        LA        0        -       0.0   
LRM 15 Artemis V-capable Ammo (16)          LA        2        -       2.0   
LRM 15                                      LA        2        5       3.5   
ER Small Laser                              LT        1        2       0.5   
CASE                                        RA        0        -       0.0   
HAG/20                                      RA        6        4       10.0  
Hyper-Assault Gauss Rifle/20 Ammo (12)      RA        2        -       2.0   
    

TRO Dark Age, Part 5 of 8

I'm still reviewing Battletech's Technical Readout: Dark Age. I'm reading through all of the entries and giving my thoughts. But as a collection of other TRO's, it's very long so we're going over it in 8 parts.

As always, first impressions are in regular text and later notes are in italics.

 Mad Cat III

It's a fast fire support 'mech with backup lasers and then additional backup lasers.Y'know, like a Dervish. That pulse laser and SRM variant sounds like a mulch pile buffet.

I can't judge Derek Leung until I know what an Incubus is.

Okay, he sucks.

 

Final analysis on Timber Wolves II - IV

Thunder Fox

Shit. Skobel Mech Works really beat the Clans to the trademark office on this name, didn't they? The base model seems like a decent direct fire support unit. The jump jets, small laser, and light armor imply it's not quite focused. I know I've been clamoring for slow, SFE 'mechs, but a quad--maybe the only quad without a ubiquitous turret--wasn't the platform for it.

As a cheap training 'mech, I think it's deecee.

The variants seem reasonable...except for adding mechanical jump boosters (MJB), which make all of the quad problems worse without the free facing changes allowed by conventional jump jets (JJ). 

Anzu

I immediately took to this guy. I like 65-tonners, but TRO: DA left me cold there. It was this or the Carronade.

Or the Mangonel.

Or the Hound.

The Anzu takes it because it strikes me as a big brick with enough choices that it actually leans into finesse.

Powerful? No. Tough? Also no. Intimidating? Absolutely not. Dangerous if used well? Eh. Deadly in its versatility? It doesn't even have hands.

I'm charmed at its humble complexity. (Ditto the -J70 variant) In a BattleTech where the Falcons have betrayed their ideals & been absorbed by the Wolves, the Capellans are stock evil, and The Word of Blake, Blood Spirits, and even ComStar have been annihilated, maybe I should throw in with the Free Worlds League.

Or maybe I should look at the Carronade again.

Shadow Cat II

I don't even know what the Shadow Cat I did; how can I judge the SCII, another non-omni version of an omnimech made at a different tonnage.

You don't need JJ on a 6/9 guy with this kind of range. It needs armor. Preferably stealth armor.

That said, I like stupid ideas and the variant with a partial wing sounds stupid.

The fluff makes it sound like it salvaged an AC mid-battle instead of just...getting properly repaired?

Another "cost effective" 'mech with one of the largest XL engines out there.

Vulpes

Stupid. Perfect.

Okay, what if you replaced the RAC with, like, 15-18 MMLs? A targeting computer? Additional heat sinks?

I do feel like the fluff forgets just how hard it is to kill a mechwarrior. OR maybe we're supposed to assume Capellans and Combine officers are stock evil enough to kill Davion mechwarriors 'just cause.'

Vulture Mk III

Goods help me, it's actually and omni. Looks like an improvement in almost every way. I respect its role as a support omni, even if assigning a specific role to an omni defeats the purpose.

The B config is conventionally good. The rest...have character.

What?! Character is good!

Vulture Mk IV

Oh fuck off!

(It's actually fucking sweet.)

Dragon II

It's an artillery 'mech. Did the CPLT-C4 stop working? 

Oh. That makes sense.

Disappointed that the description of the -11R only mentioned being faster and not swapping the Arrow IV systems out for LRMs.

Clan LRMs.

Clan Streak LRMs.

30 Clan Streak LRMs.

Karhu

Prime config, item one of this post-Jihad 'mech is a retractable blade, which both stinks of the Word of Blake, and stinks in general. Dramatically under-gunned for a 65-ton 'mech.

A - Solid. Lasers are unfocused (no pun intended).

B - Shades of the Kodiak. Nothing wrong with that.

C - Exists.

D - The natural endpoint of Clan design. This omnimech is nothing more than a delivery system for 2 Clan PPCs.

Lament

I lament these jacked PPCs and the poorly-applied text on this image.

Excited by the Heavy Laser version. Too fast and XL-ed for its job as a juggernaut. A 260 SFE weighs 1.5 tons more and you could recoup some of that by upgrading the armor to Ferro-Fibrous (FF). Whatever.

Loki Mk II

That is a stupid number of guns. Well done.

The fluff does ask how the Falcons and Hells Horses can manage Inner Sphere populations. If, y'know, as a matter of course they obliterate unruly villages. That's pretty war crimes on laundry day behavior, and I don't know how long...oh yeah, Malvina Hazen. 

How is there any nominally Jade Falcon space left with her dead and her touman gone?

Scourge

I'm feeling scourged by these undergunned racecar heavies. 

Putting AES on an arm with no hand actuator doesn't seem like a wise utilization of resources. I GET that 4 ERML's is usually the better attack...I just want it in case I want it.

"It's fast"? "Only the gauss rifle ammo keeps it from being a heavy scout"??? Wat? And they just lean into this ilClan-era heavy with average speed being some kind of unusually fast machine.

Someone, please tell "Deacon" Mendoza that pious restraint and gauss rifles parted ways in 2587.

Ursa

Gee, I wonder who made "'Bear' in a foreign language 'mech"? 

Lyrans? Well fuck me.

I guess I gotta break this down. The Ursa is nicknamed "The Rhino." Call me crazy, but I've always thought BattleTech naming conventions were--at least in the beginning--based on WW II plane nicknames. The Japanese didn't call their fighters Zero's, but the US did. Were the nicknames for the Spitfire, Stuka, Stratfortress, Tiger Tank, et al marketing pushed to the field, or were those descriptive names used by grunts passed up and into history?

Fuck. It was all marketing, wasn't it? Even the Zero. 

So clearly I was wrong about that. But I like my more romantic concept, where 'mechs have production grades and numbers created by cold, industrial calculus that are graced with names by the humans who must know them by their character on the battlefield in a pantheon of metal to be wielded...or defeated.

I hope whatever ghost manufacturers the Clan version of this removes the RAC/2.

Also, do quads take rear leg damage when they charge? I gotta read up on that?

I'm not sure, but I think they do.