174 replies to this topic

[Fishy101]

@Rush
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.

[Metus regem]

Fishy101, on 28 July 2017 - 12:04 AM, said:

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.

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.

[Rush Maguin]

He was entirely out of line to have threatened me, full stop. He was way too angry and intense about things to start with, and he could have conveyed a need to be careful with his miniatures without resorting to threats of physical violence. The way he was going on, and it seemed like he wanted to give me a test punch or two just to show he wasn't kidding. We were all geeks and nerds and handling miniatures is part of the game, not to mention a basic wargaming courtesy we all observed even back then. So, I disagree emphatically. If you were there and saw how extreme he got, I have a feeling you would back off that point completely. It was absolutely needless and uncalled for. It was one of many things the bully-hosts did to go too far and it wouldn't be acceptable by right minded people anywhere.

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.

[MadFJohn]

Rush Maguin

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.

[Rush Maguin]

Thank you, MadFJohn. I'll keep an eye out for you 'round the universe. Happy hunting.

[Rush Maguin]

So. After years of patient waiting, my signature 'mech from this long ago battle - the Marauder II - finally debuts on MWO.

What did Tychus Findley say? "Hell. It's about time."

I'm tempted to start my own unit. Finally, I get my long loved, long piloted Marauder II.

I'm so tickled.

[Rush Maguin]

Edited the original post in response to the Clan Invasion kickstarter - check post one, page one for the addition.

[MCJomar]

Just logged in for the first time in a while to say thank you for posting this.
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.

[Rush Maguin]

MCJomar, on 03 October 2019 - 06:26 AM, said:

Just logged in for the first time in a while to say thank you for posting this.
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.

[Andrew Harvey]

I probably read this before, back in 2012, but it was nice to read again after so long. Your enthusiasm for the game, even 20 years later (now 30) was REALLY clear. People like you are what helped give Battletech a real community, in spite of the people more interested in points and reputation. Thanks for that Rush. You're a great ambassador of the game.

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.

[Rush Maguin]

Andrew Harvey, on 10 February 2021 - 03:26 AM, said:

I probably read this before, back in 2012, but it was nice to read again after so long. Your enthusiasm for the game, even 20 years later (now 30) was REALLY clear. People like you are what helped give Battletech a real community, in spite of the people more interested in points and reputation. Thanks for that Rush. You're a great ambassador of the game.

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. Bravo, bravo. And thank you for the kind words! I'm glad to see this post still getting some love. That battle of mine is now 30 years ago as of the last week of July. I have no idea how to commemorate it.

[Rush Maguin]

FYI, the battle I described in my first post is officially 30 years old as of the last week of July. Today, I bought the ilClan PDF and I'm still eagerly awaiting that gorgeous new sculpt of the Marauder II from my Kickstarter haul. I'm fighting on, and on, and on. I hope all of you are, as well.

[Blood Rose]

9 years later and this story surfaces again. It is still an excellent tale, and deserves to be pinned in my opinion.

[Rush Maguin]

I missed that I posted this 10 and a half years ago, now. Time certainly flies. This convention is now 31 years in the rearview mirror, and I'm turning 49 this month. I'm glad this old tale keeps making the rounds and keeps making a good point. I just can't believe how much time has passed now. So much time, so much time.

[Rush Maguin]

Twelve years since I posted this, here on this forum. I'm fifty years old as of December. This big game is now thirty-three years old this month.

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.