10 replies to this topic

[SourGoat]

I'm just curious, are there any stories of civi's salvaging downed mechs and take them for there own and repair them?
Were there rule/laws keeping them from doing so?

You'd think taking a House mech after a big battle might either get you in trouble
or killed especially if they are merc's.

Picture being a farmer on a neutral/independant planet and a mech fight breaks loose between the factions
and many are totaled. How much trouble would you get in if you took one for your own personal mech.

Would you need permission or make a claim on it first?

[IHateAtlas]

... Would the farmer have the means to recover and make any sort of use of it?

If I were the farmer, I would call the government(whatever) to just come haul the thing off so that it's no longer in the way...

[LordDeathStrike]

right off the bat youre gonna hit the most complicated biomechanicle lock youve ever seen, the neuro helmet, mechs are tuned to their pilots brains, not any hayseed can just hook the mech up to the recalibration super computer with a new pilot/helmet and make it work.

if you think biometric finger scanners/eye scanners/facial recognition systems are fancy, you aint seen nothin yet.

Edited by LordDeathStrike, 26 March 2012 - 11:56 PM.

[Nighthound]

In most cases you would have a winning side which had just forced the enemy to retreat or in some rare cases had just wiped the enemy unit of the map. In either case there would be some kind of watch/guard stationed around/near the battlefield so that the unit's Techs can come and pick everything up thats still usable .... the rest is just scrap metal and you could do with it what you wanted.

But lets just say there is no watch/guard because they wiped each other out .... what is the famer to do? Most pieces would weight a ton or more so how would he lift or transport them? ..... If he managed that and somehow was lucky enough to find all the pieces to reconstruct one functioning Mech out of it, where does he get the know how to do it? (only good Techs would be able to manage that) .... And then you would need a brand new Computersystem or a realy expensive and rare hacking tool to reset the old Computer to be able to do anything with it.

I won't say "doesn't happen" but it would be something around a one in a million chance (if not more)

[Gunhead]

SourGoat, on 26 March 2012 - 08:40 PM, said:

I'm just curious, are there any stories of civi's salvaging downed mechs and take them for there own and repair them?

Can't recall any incidents of civvies salvaging battlemechs. But i do recall some occasions in the books where civilians had fitted loggermechs and other agrimechs with machineguns and even light autocannon. Reckon such improvised setups have had their weapons salvaged from fallen battlemechs or destroyed tanks.

[Cody Machado]

@LordDeathStrike

Not true in the fluff clan mechs had verey little to none security so it might be possible for some hick to frankinmech some thing. I mean these are hicks, if they can fix any thing with baling wire and duck tape I think one of them can make a clan mech workable.

Edited by Cody Machado, 27 March 2012 - 01:42 AM.

[Arctic Fox]

As said, salvaging a functional or mostly functional 'Mech is pretty unlikely as it would require there being one left and nobody else to claim the salvage. A much more likely case is said farmer being able to strip functional weapons or other pieces of equipment and strapping them to his IndustrialMech, which is a regular occurance in the Periphery.

If there happens to be a lot of salvage left over (or he's been stockpiling parts) then it wouldn't be too far fetched for him to also be able cobble together a FrankenMech from various working parts. I can't recall any specific cases of FrankenMechs being assembled by civilians, but there have been cases of working 'Mechs fitted with parts from half a dozen different (and usually heavily damaged) units, so it should be possible if there's enough technical expertise and manpower available.

Edited by Arctic Fox, 27 March 2012 - 01:43 AM.

[Dataman]

if I'm the farmer... and there's tons of chunks of metals in my farm, well mate, I'm lucky to be alive

[Stormwolf]

Grayson Carlyle salvaged a number of mechs with a bunch of guys from various militia and civilian backgrounds in Decision at Thunder Rift.
Though it was Carlyle and later Lori Kalmer who were in charge of restoring the mechs.

[Exilyth]

*pulls out the support vehicle construction rules*

Well, with what is normally available at a farm...

and some battlefield salvage...

Mhh...

I'd guess it's going to be either an upgraded industrial mech, a makeshift trailer fo' the truck or a hover tractor with a long tom.
Also, armor plates make for pretty stable silos, I heard...

Edited by Exilyth, 27 March 2012 - 12:59 PM.

[SourGoat]

Wow, I didn't expect answers so fast.


The militia idea would be a good idea.
If I was a farmer in the mech warrior universe I'd atleast have some sort of mech equipment to repair the agri/indutrial mechs I have.
I'd have some way on transporting them also. If some mechs were stomping on my property either I'd want some compinsation or some salvage.
To me mechs wouldn't be a new thing they would be advertised and possibly have books about them everywhere.
"Retired" techs might either try to pass off his knowledge and die a peaceful farm life. (I don't know why)
Your guy's turn...