25 replies to this topic

[Cawdor]

tl;dr version:

1. Please list the Battletech weaponry, its advantages and disadvantages as well as your personal opinion regarding those.
2. Please list the most prominent 'Mechs of each class. In regards of told stories, usage by VIP's, as well as player popularity.
3. Please list the most important events of the Battletech universe and in short words the procedures leading up to them.
4. Please list the Battletech authors you liked the most. Please also mention your fav. novel/s.
Thank you for your time!

ntl;wr version:

I got into contact with Battletech about nine years ago. I was bored out of my mind and some dude I knew tossed me what looked like some random sci-fi book. I actually only just took it to get him to **** as he kept babbling about how great it was and how I should totally take it and Gaus Cannons on animals and stuff.
It basically won me over at the very first page: The political map of the inner sphere. I'm a sucker for fictional border movements. Weird, I know.

Since it was nine years ago and since said book was only one in a long line of random media I ate up at that time, it's a bit of a blur, looking back. Something about some conspiring omnipotent network going down with pancakes or whatever. >_>

After reading it, I thought: Alright, giant robots and a bunch of tanks blowing each other up with a bit of brain usage involved. I can dig that - lets see youngest Battletech game.
Unfortunately, it was only after my service in the federal defence that I finally got to it. Some comrade of mine gave me copies of MC and MW4.

But by then, I couldn't bear the graphics anymore. Its weird with older games, really. I found that your must have played a game by the time it came out in order to fully appreciate and enjoy it. Because as your visual standards rise later on, you won't be able to get into it anymore. Even today, I'm still addicted to C&C:RA and Master of Orion II. Yet, I can't get into Jagged Alliance 2 or Fallout 2 because they look too darn ugly. Weird, I know

Haven't cared about Battletech since.

But, now there is this new thing turning up that gives the illusion that matches actually matter by introducing the IS map. They let you determine the ownership of worlds that are totally irrelevant to the universe and no one cares about! Yay for fictional border movements! And all that powered by Crytec 3! Holy cow!

So here I am. A noob. Basically, like all of you

Now.

Before I'll raid my book store for some Battletech stuff. What are, in your eyes, the most important phases of the Battletech universe. I already heard about Natasha (when I read about the trials), about the clans, the jihad and the dark age. But where do you think is the sweet spot? Which authors do you think are the best?
Further more, I do remember about short and long range missiles/lasers, about the gaus/rail guns and er ... plasma? O.o
Would you please reintroduce me to the weapons?

I already made up my mind about taking the smallest, most annoying 'Mech out there to perfect the dance on the swords edge. I also decided to pledge my allegiance to house Steiner (good as any, really) just so I could welcome the clans with open loaded arms. I'm also convinced that a small 'Mech with loads of sensory equipment would be best suited for a commander, as he could see things coming that others wouldn't - and just buzz off when s**t is about to hit the fan.
So, what do you think would be the best choice of 'Mech for that whole deal? Which one would be best to use with which weapons?


I would thank you for your time answering my wall of text. But we all know that typing up your opinions on these topics is basically just nerd-masturbation

[Stone Profit]

Sarna.net has all the info you could wish for ;-)

[Bull Frog]

After all that text, at least provide the man with a link

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page


As for my favorite authors, I'd say I liked Stackpole for the Blood of Kerensky trilogy and Loren Coleman for any of his books. Those are the two that spring to mind at the moment.

Edited by Bull Frog, 18 March 2012 - 09:58 AM.

[Stone Profit]

seems like he knows how to type lol, 10 keystrokes doesnt seem beyond his abilities :-P

[Cawdor]

Facts may be found sarna. But not your opinions.

Edited by Cawdor, 18 March 2012 - 10:01 AM.

[Geist Null]

stick to 3050 lore, and by your self -description you need to pilot an urban mech.

[lone wolf]

I would suggest every one of the books as they all give backstory into the forming of the various great houses espiecally the federated commonwealth. The Sword and Dagger would be a good starting point as it leads in the the Justin Allard Liao books which also gives you the forming of the federated commonwealth and why everyone seems to really dislike the Capallen Confederation. All the books leading up to and including the invasion of clan space would be a good read for now until MWO intro's the clans.

[Hawkeye 72]

1. Lasers, missles, ballistics.
2. Some of the most prominent mechs can be found in the media section of this website.
3. For hundreds of years an organization called the Star League rules over the Inner Spheres great houses. In 2765 an uprising occurs that starts a 13 year war in the IS. War ends in 2779 when former Star League general Aleksandr Kerensky captures Terra. A year later he disappears into the periphery with 80% of the Star League Defense force. This is followed by 400 years and 4 succession wars between the great houses that costs trillions of lives. It is now 3049 and tensions are still very prevalent.
4. Michael A. Stackpole, Loren L. Coleman, Robert Thurston
Start between Decision at Thunder Rift to Heir to the Dragon. That covers up to the current timestamp. The warrior trilogy is a good starter as well

Also go here http://mwomercs.com/...-pretty-please/

And here http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

[Qin]

Cawdor, on 18 March 2012 - 09:43 AM, said:

tl;dr version:

4. Please list the Battletech authors you liked the most. Please also mention your fav. novel/s.


ntl;wr version:

Well so far novels go:

You might be interested in the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy: Blood Legacy, Lost Destiny and Lethal Heritage. They play at the start of the clan invasion up to the battle of Tukayyid. It shows Inner Sphere side and the Clan side.

Leading up to that are a few other good series:

Warrior Trilogy: Warrior Coupe, Warrior En Garde, Warrior Riposte. The time leading up to the 4th succession war. Mostly about House Davion, Steiner, Kell Hounds, a snuf of Liao, and a hint of Kurita.

Saga of the Grey Death Legion: Decision at Thunder Rift, Mercenary Star and Price of Glory. Following an iconic Merc unit from its inception up to the recovery of a Star League memory core that would bring a renaissance to the Inner Sphere. Probably the one big thing that made it possible for the Inner Sphere to fight the Clans.

Next to that there are a few more books from before the clan invasion, and a ton that play after it.

Also interesting Sarna has some text version of the old House Books, great sources of information that will give you some insight into their history, their battles and struggles.

http://www.sarna.net...ts/house_books/

There are updated ones for those, but the old books do have their own certain style and feel thats unique. They go from 2000 to around 3025. The updated books all go a bit further to past the clan invasion.

That should be enough reading material for the next few weeks

Remember there will be a test afterwards

Edited by Qin, 18 March 2012 - 12:00 PM.

[CobraFive]

Well for weapons, you have,

Lasers: Come in Small, Medium, and Large. They have infinite ammo but cause your mech to generate heat if you shoot too fast. These are pretty much the "standard", general-purpose weapons. Bigger lasers weight more, make more heat, and take more space, but do more damage and have better range.

Pulse Lasers: Fire a burst instead of a maintained beam. They do higher overall damage but even more heat.

Autocannons: Come in small (AC/2) medium (AC/5) large (AC/10) and extra-big (AC/20). The bigger they are the more damage they do, but the shorter range and less ammo they carry. The AC/20 is a massive weapon that can cripple some lighter mechs in one shot at close range. Overall Autocannons weight more and are larger then lasers, and have limited ammo, but generate no heat.

Gauss rifle: A gun that uses magnets to shoot its bullet, its like a mech-sized sniper rifle. Very high single-hit damage, very long range, but also heavy and large, and with limited ammo.

PPC: Particle Projection Cannon is sort of a sniper rifle for lasers. Its one of the most efficient weapons with very high damage, long range, and isn't really heavy or large. However, it generates tons of heat. A very common "heavy weapon".

Flamer: A flamethrower. Its range is short and damage output minimal but raises the enemy's heat level, allowing for specialized strategies preventing an enemy from using his energy weapons.

Missiles: Come in two basic flavors, SRMs for short range, and LRMs for bombardment. SRMs do more damage but fire straight, while LRMs can be guided to fire over obstacles. LRMs fire in larger salvos (up to 20 missiles compared to SRMs 6) to cover a wider area for bombardment, while SRMs have a more dart-like accuracy.

There's some other weapons but those are the main ones.

As for prominent mechs, there are way too many to ever list, even if you only wanted to talk about the player favorites. Urbanmech (The one in my signature) is the best mech in the game though, so that's an important one. Other then that just pay attention to the ones that Mehcwarrior Online posts, they've been picking good ones so far.

As for factions it doesn't really matter because one of the factions are space vikings, which is the correct choice.

[DarkTreader]

From what everyone else has said so far, they've pretty well covered the major information, and dropped a lot of data for you to go through.

But seriously, people... don't lie to the man and tell him that an Urbie is the best 'Mech in the BT universe - or if you do, give him valid reasons as to why. It's like one step away from trying to rope him into being a brony... *shudders*

As far as what is the 'best' 'Mech, there really isn't one - it all comes down to your personal style. What weight chassis do you want to field (Light, Medium, Heavy, Assault)? Do you want to rain death from afar and turn someone into scrap with hordes of LRMs? Do you want to play a more 'sniper' role, or do you want to get up close and personal to dish it out face-to-face? Lots of questions to be asked.

For ranged support, you may want to look at a Catapult or (if they decide to put them in) an Archer or a Longbow.
For more of a sniper-ish role, during this period, anything that fields PPCs (or Gauss Rifles in the not-so-distant future) will be your best friend: check out things like the Panther, possibly the Gladiator, the Banshee, or (again, if they put it in) the Marauder.
For the close and personal feel? Try the Centurion, the Atlas, the Dragon, or the Enforcer.

[Qin]

I think one other iconic mech is forgotten as usual... the Charger... who does not love this 80 ton mech that can run as fast as many medium mech... and it even has 5 small lasers... its a classic!

[sz3peter]

If you ask me, the best start is with this Trilogy:

• 1988 Warrior: En Garde
  
• 1988 Warrior: Riposte
  
• 1989 Warrior: Coupé
  
• 
  
• It has all the basic information you asked for.

[Gigaton]

Regarding the most prominent 'mechs, in early fluff/lore the three 20 ton 'bugs' (Locust, Wasp and Stinger) are often described as the most numerous 'mechs in Inner Sphere, possibly amounting to something like 50% (or even more) of all 'mehcs.

These 'mechs later became unseen and were removed, but their prominent status was still noted at times. For example, the revised 3205 TRO comments that the 45 ton Vindicator is the most common 'mech in Capellan Confederation, but only after Locust, Wasp and Stinger. The passage that makes this note is a leftover from the original 3025 TRO that was retained dispite the the 'bugs' themselves being axed.

The Project Phoenix TRO, in which these 'mechs were reseen still notes, for example, that Stinger was the second most produced 'mech in Inner Sphere (with Wasp being presumably the most produced one).

Edited by Gigaton, 18 March 2012 - 11:57 PM.

[Sinitron]

How to play MWO: hop in the Hunchback or Centurion, then take it from there depending on what you prefer.

These are two of my favorite all-time Inner Sphere 'Mechs, and I think just about everyone is fond of the massive KLANK from the Hunchback's AC/20 in the gameplay clips. Being mediums, they're a fair blend of speed, firepower and armor. The Centurion is a great jack-of-all-trades with it's mix of missiles, lasers and a powerful autocannon.

I'm also glad you enjoy political maps - I do too! I used to follow the EVE Online influence maps at least monthly for a while. It's going to be fun to be there at the start of the Clan Invasion and watch how the map changes accordingly as they progress.

[Pvt Dancer]

Your asking for to much info and asking us to do the work for you. So no, I will not help you till you can help yourself.

Internet is a wonderful tool, use it. Don't be lazy.

[Sychodemus]

1) Weaponry is spread across energy, ballistic, missile, artillery and melee. There are easily over one hundred specific weapons and the era of gameplay determines what is available when. But generally, a given weapon will have several degrees (small, medium, large and sometimes extra large; just like McDonald's.)

2) With something like a thousand models of 'Mechs....... anyway..... Mechs are categorized like weapons (but using terms like light, medium, heavy, assault) and icon status is sort of in flux. But lights are typically the fastest and least well armed, assaults are the slowest and most well armed, mediums and heavies fall in between (with the former leaning toward speed and the latter toward armament.) For old-school players, the icons would be (probably) Locust, Griffin/Shadow Hawk, Warhammer/Marauder and Atlas, but nowadays it is difficult to answer universally (especially when you are dealing with faction loyalists.)

3) 25 years and hundreds of books in probably the third (if not second) most comprehensive science fiction setting, it is not easy to "summarize" but...(cough.. bg.battletech.com.... cough.... www.sarna.net)
a) The Big Bang; which leads to the creation of alot of stars and planets;
b) biological lifeform known as human developes - violence is discovered;
c) man learns to use clubs;
d) man invents gunpowder;
e) man invents jet propulsion;
f) man splits the atom;
g) space travel (man goes to alot of those stars and planets);
h) major exodus from Terra as soon as practical;
i) unified factions form;
j) Terran Hegemony and these other so-called "Successor States" have difficulty getting along;
k) Terran Hegemony transforms into the Star League - uses ancient tool called club to set states straight; Mech invented to carry bigger club.
l) Nutjob called Amaris screws Star League up; States laugh and go back to clubbing each other; Star League General named A. Kerensky kills nutjob and then bails, taking most of his army with him;
m1) States beat dead horse for several centuries - unfortunately everybody is named horse - technological innovation stops and even regresses; clubs make a comeback;
m2) nutjobs mkII (ComStar) make sure the phones keep working ; they also keep healthy stash of replacement parts. They do not tell anybody else about it. They also begin looking for A's army because, well, because.
m3) A. Kerensky's army go as far away from Inner Sphere as possible until people get bored/scared. A. Kerensky uses club a few times and takes away most everyone else's clubs. A dies. Everyone wants their clubs back. Everyone changes name to horse. His son N decides to go on a secluded holiday. Invites only people he likes. Hands out clubs. Short pause. After grouping his friends into 20 teams and naming them after chipmunks, lizards and birds, decrees that genetics are better than sex; also says people with clubs are better than those without; N uses clubs on non-friends. Afterward, N gives some of his friend's stuff to his other friends; former gives nuclear-tipped finger. N. uses clubs alot. Acts all cool about it afterward. N dies after failing to catch a friendly neighborhood spider's gauss round. N's other teams use club on spidey. Surviving teams continue to use N's poetry as religion and law. Sweet.
n1) Two of the regressive states join forces with each other because the other three suck. New "super" state decide the smaller of the three sucky states would make a cool wedding present. Discovery that two-clubs are better than one club. Sucky states wait for super-state to get tired. sometime during all this a guy named Death finds a Star League garage with a Super-Deluxe How-to manual; he decides to live up to his name and shares it with all the states even the sucky ones. Nutjobs mkII facepalm over loss of monopoly.
n2) N's teams beat on each other. rough play results in chipmunk team being co-opted by mean kitty team. Teams get bored, some want to use clubs on states alot; other want to use clubs a lil-bit. They compromise and send some furry friends to check out the states, but all secret-like. Furries use older clubs on states to see who is tough and who is named horse.
n3) Nutjobs mkII accidently send advanced mechs and equipment to the least sucky of the sucky states instead of "get well soon" card. Super-state tries that two-club %$#^ again and least sucky state tells them where to stick it. Nutjobs mkII find A's army alright. N's Teams act like it is a big deal and decide to take clubs to Inner Sphere. Teams club each other to find out who gets to club the Inner Sphere.
o) Winning teams invade. States try to club back but Teams make all states sucky. The secret furry friends decide to help the states by giving them Team back story.
p) Nutjobs mkII get tired of states being sucky and challenge all the invading Teams to Rumble Royale. Nutjobs mkII pwn Teams. Give them 15 year timeout. Teams QQ and club each other for comfort.
q) Nutjobs mkII put on white hats and offer to help states to be non-sucky. Still keep phones working.
r) Nutjobs mkIII decide that their inner nutdom is being stifled by mkIIs and that they like black hats better.
s) States decide to intimidate Teams by naming one horse. They call themselves Star League mkII and use quadruple-club technique on mean kitty team. Tell other teams that they can't come to Inner Sphere anymore because they suck. Teams that are already in Inner Sphere must finish timeout before they can play again.
t) Super-state decides to name itself horse.
u) Sucky states decide that they miss clubbing each other and disband Star League MkII.
v1) Nutjobs mkIII get mad because they were gonna join Star League mkII and show them how to club Teams for reals. Throw hissy-fit and club everything. And again. And again. That guy from Terminator saves everybody by clubbing nutjobs mkIIIs.
v2) Teams club the everloving snot out of each other, because, well, because.
w) Everybody sucks. One sucky state decides that it wants to be 15 sucky states. That Terminator guy makes Star League mkIII but doesn't call it that because it rhymes with horse.
x) Everybody practices clubbing but only on weekends since that Terminator guy locked up the clubs.
y) That Terminator guy quits dayjob. Phones stop working.
z) Everybody unlocks clubs and names everybody else horse.

4) Authors: Battletech is fortunate in that most of them are not bad by any means. Suggested mandatory reading: Warrior Trilogy then Blood of Kerensky trilogy (both by Michael Stackpole) simply because they are "turning point series" and do a good job of fleshing out the state of affairs during 3028 and 3050. After that is really is a matter of preference; once you know what you liked about those books it is much easier to direct you to later books of a similar style or flavor.

Edited by Sychodemus, 19 March 2012 - 02:25 AM.

[Kaine Vulpayne]

Cawdor, on 18 March 2012 - 09:43 AM, said:

4. Please list the Battletech authors you liked the most. Please also mention your fav. novel/s.

If you are interested in reading some but not all BT novels and don't insist on chronological order
I strongly suggest, you start with those written by Michael Stackpole.
These are definitely among the best overall novels (several have been mentioned above) and also capture most of the major historical events in the BT main timeline (up to some point at least, he stopped writing finally IRC)
If you like a certain time you can fill in other author's novels later.

Edited by Kaine Vulpayne, 19 March 2012 - 03:17 AM.

[DarkTreader]

Quote

Sychodemus said...
{insert huge wall of text HEAR}

...
...
...
That... was the most epic retelling of the BT history that I have ever seen.
Well played, good sir. Well played. I particularly liked this:

"k) Terran Hegemony transforms into the Star League - uses ancient tool called club to set states straight; Mech invented to carry bigger club.
l) Nutjob called Amaris screws Star League up; States laugh and go back to clubbing each other; Star League General named A. Kerensky kills nutjob and then bails, taking most of his army with him;
m1) States beat dead horse for several centuries - unfortunately everybody is named horse - technological innovation stops and even regresses; clubs make a comeback;"

[Nathiel Surefire]

Sychodemus, on 19 March 2012 - 02:24 AM, said:

3) His Answer...

It's... beautiful. Pair this with the "Two Cows Does Battletech" description of the different factions and I can't think of any battletech read more entertaining. Bravo, good sir. Bravo.