Copycats

[yellowlightman]

Cyclone sent me the pictures he had of the Japanese Battletech designs, and I uploaded them at:

http://www.yellowlightman.com/mw/jpbt/index.html

I broke them up into two pages so it wouldn't kill all those 56k'ers out there. Enjoy.

EDIT: Cyclone just sent me more pictures and corrected me on soem naming mistakes. I'll fix everything and re-upload the new pictures tommorow after my classes.

Edited August 25, 2003 by yellowlightman

[Dangard Ace]

You've still got some of the mechs on the second page misnamed. Crablike one is the Marauder. The Sazabi looking one is the Battlemaster and the one with the forty squares/missiles over the shoulders is the Archer.

Rifleman and Wolverine are flipped too. B)

[gerwalk25]

Slightly OT:

It would be sweet if Jovian Chronicles, Heavy Gear and/or Mekton Plus became a clicky/dice games. A Mekton Rapier and HG V2 sculpts would look sweet.

~G25

[yellowlightman]

You've still got some of the mechs on the second page misnamed.  Crablike one is the Marauder.  The Sazabi looking one is the Battlemaster and the one with the forty squares/missiles over the shoulders is the Archer.

Rifleman and Wolverine are flipped  too.  B)

Yeah, I finished a revised (and corrected version). Unfortunately, my school's internet is laggy as hell tonight, so I can't even upload the pictures. I'll have to do it tommorow. I hope.

EDIT: Pages are up and working... Hope all the names are correct.

http://www.yellowlightman.com/mw/jpbt

Edited August 26, 2003 by yellowlightman

[kensei]

Sweet Jesus....you gotta tell me that there is a mech sim of the Jap BT. Those mech designs look way more awesome that the US BT.

[Dangard Ace]

Yeah, I finished a revised (and corrected version). Unfortunately, my school's internet is laggy as hell tonight, so I can't even upload the pictures. I'll have to do it tommorow. I hope.

EDIT: Pages are up and working... Hope all the names are correct.

http://www.yellowlightman.com/mw/jpbt

Looking good. :thumbsup: It's been awhile since I've looked at some of those re-designs. Love the BT shadowhawk cover. Always did like images of machines with all their "toys" laid out in front of them.

oh wait....the hunchback image isn't showing.

[kensei]

Yeah, I finished a revised (and corrected version). Unfortunately, my school's internet is laggy as hell tonight, so I can't even upload the pictures. I'll have to do it tommorow. I hope.

EDIT: Pages are up and working... Hope all the names are correct.

http://www.yellowlightman.com/mw/jpbt

Looking good. :thumbsup: It's been awhile since I've looked at some of those re-designs. Love the BT shadowhawk cover. Always did like images of machines with all their "toys" laid out in front of them.

oh wait....the hunchback image isn't showing.

Go the Hunchback!

[GreenGuy42]

Okay, I take it back... I LIKE the light/medium designs. However, I think the anime effect on the heavies is a bit much...

[yellowlightman]

Looking good. :thumbsup: It's been awhile since I've looked at some of those re-designs. Love the BT shadowhawk cover. Always did like images of machines with all their "toys" laid out in front of them.

oh wait....the hunchback image isn't showing.

Should be fixed.

I personally wish they had made miniatures of these designs, but I'm guessing it was a purely paper-counter type deal.

[Captain of the SDF-1 Macross]

I found a couple of sites hosting the Japanese Battletech images:

http://www.ceyah.org/~jandrese/jbt/

http://www.flames-of-vengence.co.uk/Battle...battletech.html

Also, I found a site on which mecha get changed into FASA's Battletech mechs:

http://brianscache.com/unseen/

How this helps. B)

[dna]

Pretty sweet looking...

[McKlown]

Hmmm... if you mean the games.... Microsoft has control over the franchise now (thats why Mechassault is an Xbox exclusive) and as long as MS sees MW as a profitable franchise, and as long as they have the money (read for a long long time), MW games will still be produced.

Apperently MS doesn't think MW is profitable, because they put Mechwarrior 5 on "indefinite hold" months ago.

[Lynx7725]

I admit I haven't played since college, but I don't recall being light weight giving any statistical advantage and a whole bunch of disadvantages (less armor, less/lighter weapons, less damage capacity, etc.).  What could lights do that heavies couldn't do better?  I'm geniuinely curious here.

Sorry for replying so late, but I hadn't been in the mood to check boards lately.

Basically, a light 'Mech has mobility on its side. It can get around to the weaker rear armour of the heavier 'Mech at will and it can choose the engagement range. That's the chief advantage of the Light 'Mech.

Remember that the Classic BTech is a mathematical chessboard and it becomes equations. In more practical terms, a Light 'Mech with say, 8/12/0 (Locust class) would be able to walk around a Heavy.. say, Warhammer and pot at its back.

And you say that the 'Hammer would be able to torso-twist and bring at least one PPC to play in reaction? Yes, that's true.. but assume a straight 8-hex movement, that's a +3 modifier there straight away, added on top of the 'Hammer's own movement modifiers. If the Locust is under the minimum range of the PPC, there's additional modifiers.

Assuming a realistic scenario where the Locust walked 6 hexes (it had to turn), and is up right next to the rear of the walking 'Hammer, the 'Hammer can only bring one PPC to bear at +6.. so that's 10s to hit for an average IS pilot (BS4). In return, the Locust gets a +2 modifier, so 6s to hit. Much better and on the rear armour too.

This is talking about 3025 tech, which had more disadvantages to the Light 'Mechs. Bring in Clantech with its pulse lasers and targetting computer, the Light 'Mechs are much better. Weight saving technologies benefits Light 'Mechs better than Heavies, to the point where Light 'Mechs moving at 9/14/0 (or more!) with enough firepower to core through the back armour of even an Assault 'Mech in a salvo or two.

However, a good Light 'Mech pilot needs to know when to press and when to retreat. As you noted, Light 'Mech does not have the armour to take punishment, and the normal mistake that new players do is to stick in a firefight which they can't pay for the exchange rates.

Heavy 'Mechs have more room for errors and is generally more fun to play for the casual player. For more competitive players, Light 'Mechs requires more finesse and skill.

[Lynx7725]

Apperently MS doesn't think MW is profitable, because they put Mechwarrior 5 on "indefinite hold" months ago. 

It's more likely that MS is waiting to see how ClickyTech fares. FASA passed the licences to Widzkidgames, and it's really too early to see how it will do.

However, I think there's really some discontent with regards to how ClickyTech is being promoted. I'm not really in the scene but that's my impression on things.

[yellowlightman]

I found a couple of sites hosting the Japanese Battletech images:

http://www.ceyah.org/~jandrese/jbt/

http://www.flames-of-vengence.co.uk/Battle...battletech.html

Also, I found a site on which mecha get changed into FASA's Battletech mechs:

http://brianscache.com/unseen/

How this helps. B)

Thanks for the links Captain, seems like the first two sites didn't have the same quality as Cyclone's images. That last page has a lot of great info though, very interesting.

[F-ZeroOne]

BT is dying if you ask me. Classic BT anyway.

However, the Shadowhawk (IIRC) which was the BTization of the Super VF-1S Battroid (IIRC) was the official mech of the Steiners (IIRC)... Not too shabby.

If you ask me, what killed BattleTech was that blasted cartoon - though it did provide the one line that made it truly memorable:

"If you say 'information is ammuntion' one more time, I'm going to put this axe somewhere uncomfortable!"

Uh, anyway... I think the 'Mech you're referring to is the Phoeinx Hawk - although I did not have the majority of BattleTech products, I don't recall ever coming across a transformable Dougram/Shadow Hawk ( when I first started playing BattleTech, I didn't have any of the Tech manuals and tried to build the Macross - or as I knew them then, Robotech - mecha with what I thought were the correct weapons. I couldn't work out why I couldn't have a Warhammer/Tomahawk with twin PPCs and twin LRM15s. I later found out that FASA couldn't do it, either...! )

I liked the Shadow Hawk. It could do a bit of everything...

One thing I do have a slight grudge against BT is that BattleTech has led to the adoption of the word "Mech" to describe a piloted robot. I much prefer "mecha" - I've described the difference before as being between a walking tank and a dynamic, rocket-boosted, robot ninja...

Another of the BT oddities are the Clan "second-line" Mechs that appeared in the 3050 manual. These were of Japanese origin, and I was once told the story behind their design, but I've forgotten exactly what it was. The images that appeared here don't seem to match up with those designs, so I wonder if they were specially commisioned or are in the full set of Japanese BT images...