53 replies to this topic

[Panaka]

Any word on Land-Air-Mechs?
I want my VF-1S Valkirie.....ehm Phoenix Hawk.

[Erhardt]

Ugh. I hope not. LAMs were a mistake IMO. Made Battletech too Robotech-y. Thankfully the fluff made it clear they were as rare as hen's teeth so the game didn't get bricked with them.

[Jack Gallows]

LAMs were a horrible idea, and should be scrapped and never revisited. It was a bad idea to copy Robotech/Macross as much as they did, and this takes the cake.

Battletech needs to move away from everything they pulled from that. Need to make redesigns that work well enough so they never have to worry if they can use "unseen" or not, either.

[Darklord]

I doubt even a single LAM exist at this point in time in the 3049 universe.

DL

[Andrew Harvey]

darklord, on 01 November 2011 - 03:55 PM, said:

I doubt even a single LAM exist at this point in time in the 3049 universe.

DL

Not in the Inner Sphere anyway. If I remember right, a few Clan Smoke Jaguar techs try to revive the concept sometime before 3060. Clan technology can go a long way, but even that couldn't save the LAM (although the destruction of the Jaguars probably helped put the final nail in that coffin). Good riddance I say.

[Panaka]

I'm asking because I'm a Macross fan. Because of that I would like it if they were in the game, but I won't make a fuss if they aren't.

On the one hand they are part of BT lore, while on the other they don't really fit. Would like to see the Unseen getting a redesign that Harmony Gold can't throw a tantrum over.

[Andrew Harvey]

Panaka, on 01 November 2011 - 04:06 PM, said:

I'm asking because I'm a Macross fan. Because of that I would like it if they were in the game, but I won't make a fuss if they aren't.

On the one hand they are part of BT lore, while on the other they don't really fit. Would like to see the Unseen getting a redesign that Harmony Gold can't throw a tantrum over.

I might not be a fan of the LAMs, but I'd love to see the Unseen 'Mechs in the game. The Griffin was always one of my favorite mechs; getting to play it in this game would be a real treat.

[justin xiang]

So much haterade on the LAMs. I love LAMs. Aerospace is one of my favorite aspects of the game and LAMs are just so cool... Probably helps that I am also a Macross fan.

[Redtail]

Honestly, I'd rather see aerotech fighters and armored vehicles in the game before LAMs. Something about the persistent use of nosecone-crotch in both LAMs and Robotech lore always wierded me out about variable-geometry vehicles like that.

[The1WithTheGun]

I don't hate the LAMs, but like oh so many examples of real-life military hardware designed with TOO broad a mission profile - it just can't hold up against more specialized designs.

Not saying that versatile designs don't have a place, but a LAM's mission profile was way too broad - mech's beat them on the ground, and aerospace fighters beat them in the air.

[ChargerIIC]

LAMs were a horrible idea. A friend of mine kept running LAMs in our board game matches - they make locusts look positively bulletproof

[Samson]

Yeah I see it toeing too close to the lines of the "Unseen". I'd prefer that they dont go down that route although personally I am a huge fan of the Warhammer. I'd like to see this game acutally come out as opposed to some injuction by Harmony Gold suing over use of thier designs.

[mithril coyote]

there is new artwork for LAm's that give them original looks. there is also new rules that make them useful but not very powerful.
the new looks are actually the orignal looks, the models produced by the terran Hegemony for the star league.

Edited by mithril coyote, 01 November 2011 - 05:47 PM.

[Motoko Isawa]

No.

[Panaka]

samson, on 01 November 2011 - 05:26 PM, said:

Yeah I see it toeing too close to the lines of the "Unseen". I'd prefer that they dont go down that route although personally I am a huge fan of the Warhammer. I'd like to see this game acutally come out as opposed to some injuction by Harmony Gold suing over use of thier designs.

There might be a way to short circuit Harmony Gold on some of the Unseen and the LAM's. Basicly all the ones based on the Macross/Robotech VF-1. Contact the owners of Macross for the lisence on one or two designs. There is a design called the VF-3000 Crusader. It's not a VF-1 and never seen in Robotech, as it is from the Macross M3 game. The other alternative is using the VF-11 or VF-5000. Those could probably pass for a Phoenix Hawk and related designs in a pinch.
This being an option depends on how broad that liscence deal Harmony gold has is. If that includes Macross Plus and later shows, the only option is a complete redesign.

[Jack Gallows]

They're a blatant rip off of Robotech/Macross, leave it out.

[Zerik]

LAM: Only if you do not mind a single laser shot locking up the transforming mechanisms and causing a critical systems failure that sends the 'Mech plummeting into a mountainside while the pilot is crushed in the gears of their own machine.

[Paladin1]

darklord, on 01 November 2011 - 03:55 PM, said:

I doubt even a single LAM exist at this point in time in the 3049 universe.

DL

Actually, at this point there was still a functional Stinger LAM factory in Kurita space and there were plenty of Phoenix Hawk and Wasp LAMs in the other four House militaries. House Davion even had an Avalon Hussar regiment with a full battalion of Phoenix Hawk LAMs (41st Avalon Hussars, IIRC).

[AJC]

as said above Lams of the Stinger model actually still have a functioning factory in Kurita space (abet it's only for a single Lam type and it's set to be razed to the ground when the Clans come a knocking in 3050) so they can exist here.

But personally i don't want them even if they can exist they are too jack of all trades to be good and one bad hit messed up them to badly.

[Ooya]

LAMs are one of my favorites. They can make for a rather spectacular scout, albeit, as other have pointed out a rather fragile one. As bad as Far Country is it does have a Phoenix Hawk LAM in it - I did not mention that book, not not at all, you must be delusional. Besides if they have LAMs in this game and you get good with one, you will have more style than most of the other players in the game.

Edited by Ooya, 01 November 2011 - 08:31 PM.