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The Battle Of Luthien - War Story From A Tabletop Veteran
#161
Posted 28 July 2017 - 12:04 AM
Responding to your original thread. I just want to say that I too found Battletech fascinating back in those days. A friend in college introduced me to the Battletech board game in the early 90s. I also played Star Trek (also by FASA) with some friend in our dorm. I ended up buying the 2nd or was it 3rd edition of Battletech (we were playing with the first edition in college). Paramount sued FASA so there were no new versions of Star Trek, but I think I have a copy of the game somewhere. I bought and played a number of Mechwarrior, Mechcommander games. I am playing MWO and have a beta key for Battletech if that tells you anything.
First I just want to say that your story was both uplifting and terrible. I am sorry to say I know at least one person like those Mechforce guys you mentioned. Its never pleasant dealing with people like that. I totally understand why your brother and friends quit the game. Now I am not trying to defend these Mechforce guys, but I just wanted to point out what it must be like for someone to hand over their hand painted miniature to a 17 year old teenager they've never met before. At your age, what does a 17 yo make you think of? Car crash? drinking? rebellion? I personally don't have any hand painted miniatures, but I can understand why he threatened you.
What I am about to say may be off putting to some people but I feel is worth mentioning in light of your story. From my experience, I find FASA games are generally poorly written. The rules for both Star Trek and Battletech leave a lot open to interpretation which encourages rule lawyering. I would complain more about Battletech. It just feels like such a lost opportunity. The game could have been so much better. OK, I better stop before I start a flame war.
#162
Posted 28 July 2017 - 07:43 AM
Fishy101, on 28 July 2017 - 12:04 AM, said:
What I am about to say may be off putting to some people but I feel is worth mentioning in light of your story. From my experience, I find FASA games are generally poorly written. The rules for both Star Trek and Battletech leave a lot open to interpretation which encourages rule lawyering. I would complain more about Battletech. It just feels like such a lost opportunity. The game could have been so much better. OK, I better stop before I start a flame war.
I don't disagree with you on the rules part or the miniatures parts actually... I can feel my chest tighten every time my four year old wants to touch my BT miniatures or 40k miniatures...
As for the rules, well that's part of the problem with something not getting a real rules overhaul in 30-40 years, it's something I both love and hate about Battletech and Paladium, a book from the 80's is still valid and works with in the latest version of the rules.... It's why I've made it a personal pet project (when I have a bit of spare time) to tinker with the rules and try to make something updated and still fun to play... So far my group has enjoyed my tinkering with the rules. If I ever get it finished, I intend to send it off to Catalyst and get them to look it over for possible publication.
#163
Posted 28 July 2017 - 02:13 PM
Really, anyone who sees the need to get that hostile toward younger players for any reason shouldn't be hosting anything at all, let alone take up so much space in a community where finding a good BT tabletop game has always been difficult. He failed across the board. No contest.
Edited by Rush Maguin, 28 July 2017 - 02:15 PM.
#164
Posted 03 April 2018 - 08:03 PM
thank you and I will see you out there from one old vet to another. even when the unfriendly show up you will see me play. just might be a little less at that time but still playing.
#165
Posted 15 April 2018 - 08:00 AM
![^_^](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums//public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png)
#166
Posted 20 January 2019 - 02:22 PM
What did Tychus Findley say? "Hell. It's about time."
![^_^](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums//public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png)
I'm tempted to start my own unit. Finally, I get my long loved, long piloted Marauder II.
I'm so tickled.
![:D](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums//public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.png)
#167
Posted 19 July 2019 - 06:26 PM
![:)](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums//public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png)
#168
Posted 03 October 2019 - 06:26 AM
I can't remember where else I've stumbled over this tale in the past (If it's not on Sarna, it should be) but I've read it in some non-MWO locations, and it's always worth a read.
A good tale about a bad experience being turned to something good (depending on how you look at it).
Thank you for remaining part of the community.
#169
Posted 06 January 2020 - 06:48 AM
MCJomar, on 03 October 2019 - 06:26 AM, said:
I can't remember where else I've stumbled over this tale in the past (If it's not on Sarna, it should be) but I've read it in some non-MWO locations, and it's always worth a read.
A good tale about a bad experience being turned to something good (depending on how you look at it).
Thank you for remaining part of the community.
Thanks for the thought, MC. I've posted it on Facebook as well. I'll probably post it in places forever, now and again. It just seems like a story worth telling. And the bullies certainly slandered me pretty freely in the early 90s. Balance, and all.
#170
Posted 10 February 2021 - 03:26 AM
I came into Battletech somewhat second-hand, starting out with buying Mechwarrior 2 for PC back in 1999. I was 11 and it was the first game I ever bought for myself. Playing thru missions as a Wolf and Falcon, struggling with my heat curve as I was bracketed by LRMs, it was a heck of an introduction to the universe. Shortly after, my parents bought my first Battletech book, 'Test of Vengeance'. I followed a Ghost Bear Elemental as he fought the Draconis Combine and Hell's Horses, while struggling against the machinations of Clan Wolf. I was hooked.
I ended up getting almost all of the novels and enjoyed the works of Stackpole and Blaine Lee Pardoe. I mowed lawns and saved up my money for Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, Ghost Bear's Legacy, Mechwarrior 3, MechCommander. Waiting anxiously for the release of Mechwarrior 4, I finally realized that people older than I had waited just as anxiously for the Clan Invasion. The anticipation must have been incredible! Though I hadn't played a turn of tabletop yet, I really felt like a part of the community at that point.
In 2017 I finally found a group nearby that played TT Battletech, and I still play with them to this day. Less than a week ago, our often unlucky GM cackled as he got the mythical golden-bb, dropping a mighty Atlas with an overmatched Scorpion tank's AC-5. Even though 2 turns later, the tank was stomped flat by a Victor. You can't get moments quite like that anywhere else. And Battletech plays just as good now as it must have 30 years ago.
---------
I was fortunate enough to attend GenCon in 2019, and was able to play tabletop at one of their nice setups. Myself and 2 of my friends were assigned random Mechs at a starting tier, with the tiers increasing the longer you played. It was meant to be a free-for-all, but with me and 7 others who'd just joined the Melee in pre-3050 Light Mechs, and the 9th player in a Templar Omnimech? We knew what to do. Pile in on him as best as we could!
He had the B variant of the Templar. The ER PPC it carried was lethal, but what made it REALLY dangerous was the trio of Rotary Autocannon 2s, and he demonstrated it. Even at long range, capable of sandblasting tons of armor off us. All we could do was try to keep fast, stick to cover, and make it as hard for him as we could.
The Templar downed a Clint with his first shot; out of 12 RAC-2 shots, 8 hit, and 3 of those hit the Head. That and the ER PPC forced a pilot check that the Clint's Mechwarrior could no longer make. Down he went, and down he stayed after his fall crushed the cockpit.
It went like that for several turns, the Templar picking a target and either whiffing completely or nearly blasting the Mech apart with one salvo. Our Succession War-era Battlemechs didn't have the range to fire back with much, my Locust being the outlier. I carried 2 LRM-5s but almost nothing else, including armor. So I peppered him at long range as best as I could as we closed, our 2 full Lances of Mechs becoming 5 over the course of 6 turns. Turn 7, the Templar finally targeted me.
The only thing that saved me from becoming a rapidly disintegrating pile of actuators was the ER PPC missing wide. His Rotaries didn't. They sawed off an arm, damaged my engine, and nearly amputated my leg. As it was I was sent to the ground. I tried to fire prone for a turn, though it was clear my LRMs were ineffective. But as he backed out of cover and into the open, trying to keep the remains of our impromptu unit in range, I saw an opportunity. We won initiative and I took the only chance I had left, charging 11 hexes straight into him.
The Templar has solid armor. And the Locust is as light as any Mech comes. But anything going over 100kph is going to do some damage, and we'd done JUST enough damage for about 20 points to make a difference. My Mech was nearly obliterated by the impact, shearing off my leg for good and wrecking my other arm. But the Templar took internal damage to its Right Leg, hobbling it. Stuck out of cover, unable to build up any speed, and his Rotaries starting to jam. The remaining Lance of Mechs tore him to pieces over the next 2 turns though he downed 1 last Mech in the process. While I ranked up a tier and walked back onto the field in a Chameleon-7V, ready to dish out more trouble.
The Templar's pilot was remarkably easygoing about the whole thing. "The tallest Mech in the room will always get a target on its head." he shrugged, admitting he would have done exactly the same thing. It was a LOT of fun and as friendly as game as you could ask for. That, combined with all the interest Battletech has gotten recently thru Kickstarters and new video games, makes me confident that there's life yet in the franchise.
I had planned to return to GenCon in 2020, for 4 full days this time, but the world had other plans. Hopefully, I and everyone else that wants to will have the opportunity to attend GenCon again in 2021. If you find yourself looking for company at the Battletech tables, I'll be the the bearded guy with one hand. Grimacing as he calculates what his next salvo will do to his heat curve. It's been a wild ride of over 2 decades for me, but it's not over yet!
Edited by Andrew Harvey, 10 February 2021 - 03:30 AM.
#171
Posted 10 March 2021 - 01:14 PM
Andrew Harvey, on 10 February 2021 - 03:26 AM, said:
I came into Battletech somewhat second-hand, starting out with buying Mechwarrior 2 for PC back in 1999. I was 11 and it was the first game I ever bought for myself. Playing thru missions as a Wolf and Falcon, struggling with my heat curve as I was bracketed by LRMs, it was a heck of an introduction to the universe. Shortly after, my parents bought my first Battletech book, 'Test of Vengeance'. I followed a Ghost Bear Elemental as he fought the Draconis Combine and Hell's Horses, while struggling against the machinations of Clan Wolf. I was hooked.
I ended up getting almost all of the novels and enjoyed the works of Stackpole and Blaine Lee Pardoe. I mowed lawns and saved up my money for Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, Ghost Bear's Legacy, Mechwarrior 3, MechCommander. Waiting anxiously for the release of Mechwarrior 4, I finally realized that people older than I had waited just as anxiously for the Clan Invasion. The anticipation must have been incredible! Though I hadn't played a turn of tabletop yet, I really felt like a part of the community at that point.
In 2017 I finally found a group nearby that played TT Battletech, and I still play with them to this day. Less than a week ago, our often unlucky GM cackled as he got the mythical golden-bb, dropping a mighty Atlas with an overmatched Scorpion tank's AC-5. Even though 2 turns later, the tank was stomped flat by a Victor. You can't get moments quite like that anywhere else. And Battletech plays just as good now as it must have 30 years ago.
---------
I was fortunate enough to attend GenCon in 2019, and was able to play tabletop at one of their nice setups. Myself and 2 of my friends were assigned random Mechs at a starting tier, with the tiers increasing the longer you played. It was meant to be a free-for-all, but with me and 7 others who'd just joined the Melee in pre-3050 Light Mechs, and the 9th player in a Templar Omnimech? We knew what to do. Pile in on him as best as we could!
He had the B variant of the Templar. The ER PPC it carried was lethal, but what made it REALLY dangerous was the trio of Rotary Autocannon 2s, and he demonstrated it. Even at long range, capable of sandblasting tons of armor off us. All we could do was try to keep fast, stick to cover, and make it as hard for him as we could.
The Templar downed a Clint with his first shot; out of 12 RAC-2 shots, 8 hit, and 3 of those hit the Head. That and the ER PPC forced a pilot check that the Clint's Mechwarrior could no longer make. Down he went, and down he stayed after his fall crushed the cockpit.
It went like that for several turns, the Templar picking a target and either whiffing completely or nearly blasting the Mech apart with one salvo. Our Succession War-era Battlemechs didn't have the range to fire back with much, my Locust being the outlier. I carried 2 LRM-5s but almost nothing else, including armor. So I peppered him at long range as best as I could as we closed, our 2 full Lances of Mechs becoming 5 over the course of 6 turns. Turn 7, the Templar finally targeted me.
The only thing that saved me from becoming a rapidly disintegrating pile of actuators was the ER PPC missing wide. His Rotaries didn't. They sawed off an arm, damaged my engine, and nearly amputated my leg. As it was I was sent to the ground. I tried to fire prone for a turn, though it was clear my LRMs were ineffective. But as he backed out of cover and into the open, trying to keep the remains of our impromptu unit in range, I saw an opportunity. We won initiative and I took the only chance I had left, charging 11 hexes straight into him.
The Templar has solid armor. And the Locust is as light as any Mech comes. But anything going over 100kph is going to do some damage, and we'd done JUST enough damage for about 20 points to make a difference. My Mech was nearly obliterated by the impact, shearing off my leg for good and wrecking my other arm. But the Templar took internal damage to its Right Leg, hobbling it. Stuck out of cover, unable to build up any speed, and his Rotaries starting to jam. The remaining Lance of Mechs tore him to pieces over the next 2 turns though he downed 1 last Mech in the process. While I ranked up a tier and walked back onto the field in a Chameleon-7V, ready to dish out more trouble.
The Templar's pilot was remarkably easygoing about the whole thing. "The tallest Mech in the room will always get a target on its head." he shrugged, admitting he would have done exactly the same thing. It was a LOT of fun and as friendly as game as you could ask for. That, combined with all the interest Battletech has gotten recently thru Kickstarters and new video games, makes me confident that there's life yet in the franchise.
I had planned to return to GenCon in 2020, for 4 full days this time, but the world had other plans. Hopefully, I and everyone else that wants to will have the opportunity to attend GenCon again in 2021. If you find yourself looking for company at the Battletech tables, I'll be the the bearded guy with one hand. Grimacing as he calculates what his next salvo will do to his heat curve. It's been a wild ride of over 2 decades for me, but it's not over yet!
Fantastic story. Absolutely wonderful show of tactics and the kind of unpredictable battlefield Battletech excels at.
![^_^](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums//public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png)
![^_^](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums//public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png)
#172
Posted 06 August 2021 - 11:14 AM
![^_^](https://static.mwomercs.com/forums//public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png)
#173
Posted 24 September 2021 - 06:15 PM
#174
Posted 02 December 2022 - 12:51 PM
#175
Posted 17 July 2024 - 11:00 AM
Time flies, eh? But I'm still around, still blasting away with my mechs, digitally and otherwise.
This tale never loses its relevance, however. Keep shooting, warriors. Happy hunting.
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