#Battletech map scale

[tinygiantplasticmonsters]

CGL map scale Overlord for battletech I painted up. Almost did a big Combine logo on it, but turns out the Federated Suns navy also does red and black, so leaving it off so I have an excuse for it fitting more usages.

[agbpaints]

How To: Basic Model Photography

Far too often I see folks post their newly painted minis online only to fumble at the last hurdle with a poor picture. It doesn't matter how good a painter you are, a bad photo can ruin any model. While you can invest in an expensive light box and a purpose-made camera, there are some things you can do to get at least quality photographs with a phone camera and some items from around the house.

Light

You want as much ambient light as possible plus some extra sources to account for the scale of the minis. If you have a room with big windows and the sun isn't directly blasting through them, that's great. If not then a reasonably bright overhead room light will work too. I also use an articulated LED desk lamp as a more controlled source to light the miniature from the front and illuminate details that an overhead source might cast into shadow.

Background

Try to get some sort of flat color backdrop to photograph your minis against. The easiest method I've found is to get a sheet of paper, I use some lightly colored and textured parchment paper, and then prop that up against something sturdy to make a gentle curve before setting your mini on it. Neoprene warhammer play mats or paper battletech maps can also work great for this if you do want a more thematic background to match your game of choice. This not only makes the model stand out more without visual noise in the background, it helps control your lighting and gives your camera an easier target to focus on.

Stability and Camera Distance

Your weak, fleshy meat hands might seem kinda steady but for the purposes of doing very scuffed macro photography they almost certainly aren't, so you’re gonna want some form of mechanical stabilization for your camera. A tripod is great for this, but if you don't have one then you can just prop your phone up on whatever surfsce you're taking the photos on.

You'll also want to play with how far the camera should be from the model for the best picture- I find that about 6-8 inches works best for my Galaxy 20 but your mileage may vary depending on what hardware you use.

Angles

Because a photo is a static 2d representation of a 3d object, the angle you take a photograph at relative to the model will chance which details are most visible and how the pose is read by the viewer. Think about how you want your finished piece to look like and consider taking a couple of protos with different angles and poses tonsee what works best.

Cropping

A teeny tiny mini in the middle of a big wide photo means anyone who wants to look closely at the details needs to zoom in on it, and most people won't do that! Once you've taken your photo, crop it down so that the miniature is filling the frame.

You could also consider the Rule of Thirds- most photo editing software will give you pairs of vertical and horizonal lines that divide an image into 9 segments, framing your subject in the photo so that it ends up falling along or framed by those lines can give you a guideline to easily produce a well composed photo.

Hopefully these tips help you take better photos of your models! It does take a few extra minutes compared to just snapping a quick photo off the paint betch but the extra effort is absolutely worth the results in my opinion

[ariesgamesandminis]

Restocks are up from Cross Electric Designs!

Aerospace Hangar Beluga Dropship - Map Scale Circular Objectives Pack Control Tower (Aries Exclusive 4-Color) Double Hex Bay (Aries Exclusive 4-Color) Factory Facility Beta (Aries Exclusive 4 Color) Factory Facility Gamma (Aries Exclusive 4 Color) Guild Dropship - Map Scale Hex Bay (Aries Exclusive 4 Color) Stationary Cannon 6-Pack (Aries Exclusive 4-Color) Vehicle Ops Center (Aries Exclusive 4-Color)

[professionalscrublord]

4th Succession War campaign report 1

Summary of the first of two games I ran for friends so far.

Preamble: an infographic I assembled from online assets to introduce the players to the setting.

-Map pic from gruese.de/innersphere - Excellent 3025 resource -Logos, Inset map from sarna.net BT wiki - You've probably heard of it already but if you haven't go there immediately it is the best -Emerald Dawn logo from Harebrained Schemes BattleTech, AFAIK this faction is apocryphal.

Disclaimer: I may have taken a few small liberties* with the specifics for convenience, but my players are pretty new so I feel confident nobody will call me out on them ;)

*sometimes also known as errors

TL;DR: You are mercs hired by team Yellow to help Teal fight off Green. Here's some money, now shoot those guys. Good merc.

Mission 1: LZ Defense

Map: "Deployment Zone" from Tukayyid map pack Time limit: 10 turns to liftoff. Primary Objective: Defend dropship, at least 3/4 struts must survive. Secondary: Salvage prototype EW equipment.

-Allied spheroid dropship (located in one of the scorched craters) is preparing to lift off but still needs more time to spin up the drives. A hostile lance unexpectedly appears nearby (map edge furthest from dropship) and attacks! The craft hull is well armored against mech-scale weapons, but the attackers are going for the exposed landing struts instead. Destruction of 2/4 struts (set their HP to a reasonable amount for the attacking force and make them immobile targets so they won't hold up long against a concerted effort) will prevent a safe liftoff and ground the dropship long enough for further Capellans to arrive, something the FedSuns forces cannot afford.

-3/4 of the attacking Lance are Emerald Dawn thugs (undisciplined, easily distracted from the struts by the players shooting at them), but the last one is a Raven in Liao colors (Have this pilot stand out by being more focused on the landing struts) equipped with a prototype Electronic Warfare suite, which is what prevented detection until the force was almost ontop of you. If you can control the field post-battle and salvage an intact EW system the Davions will pay extra for the chance to study it.

Hexes adjacent to the dropship on the last turn take a ton of damage+heat when it lifts off. The next hexes out take half that.

Optional Rule: "Shielding movement mode" Tactical Operations p.19 allows mechs to try to physically block the line of fire.

The players' results:

✅Primary: Diversion successful, dropship lifted off safely. One strut had moderate damage, another had light damage, but the players did a good job of juggling aggro so none were destroyed.

❌Secondary: EW equipment unrecoverable (Destroyed in Raven ammo detonation on the last turn!)

Enemy routed, battlefield controlled. 3 pilots captured (1 house military, 2 EmDaw). No viable mech salvage (CT destructions/Ammo dets) though a handful of weapons/heatsinks/jumpjets were salvaged.

I'm using the WP (Warchest Points) system in the new Mercs rulebook and I gotta say I like it, it's rather convenient. Their repair prices weren't granular enough for me though, I didn't think it should cost the same for a 1pt repair as a full repair (Tonnage amount in WP) so I houseruled: 1 armor = 1 WP 1 structure = 2 WP Component replacement = 3 WP per structure in component

Anyway it was a blast playing the OpFor and running this game.

[waluigis-biggest-fan]

So I wanted to explain some stuff for a friend who's not into Battletech so that he knows what I'm talking about.

Timeline

Pre-Star League

humanity expands out to form the Inner Sphere (basically the closest planets to Earth which is called Terra because sci-fi story) and the periphery (planets further than the Inner Sphere). Then humanity had a big war, like we do, and formed the Star League.

Star League (2570-2780)

Humanity forms space United Nations but this United Nations has an emperor and 5 great houses, namely House Steiner, House Merik, House Davion, House Kurita, and House Liao (we'll get to them in a second). It was all Star Trek and happiness (except for the fucks at House Kurita who kept trying to samurai duel people with mechs to the point there was an elite organization called the Gunslinger Program specifically trained for dealing with their bullshit). Then this fucker Ameris came along and tried to take it all over. This not fucker called Karensky kicked his ass then took all the Star League Defense Forces (space UN peacekeepers) and fucked off beyond the periphery where nobody heard about them for hundreds of years.

Succession Wars (2781-3049)

Ok so now we get to the most commonly used era in Battletech, the Succession Wars. Basically, every House wanted to create a new Star League with themselves as the leader. This is followed by two centuries of warfare encouraged by the fucks at Comstar (we'll get to them too don't you worry your pretty little head).

Clan Invasion (3050-3061)

OH HEY SO YOU REMEMBER KARENSKY AND HIS FUCKERS!?! So they came back but now they're a warrior cult based around fighting in Battlemechs. Whereas the rest of the galaxy was involved in war that destroyed all their tech production bases, the Clans were having a technological renaissance so their shit is better than the Inner Sphere shit. They fight a lot and kill a lot until eventually Comstar challenges them to a Batchal (their version of a duel but on a planetary scale with multiple armies involved). The clans all sent basically 2/3rds of their entire armies to fight Comstar...

and Comstar kicked their fucking asses.

The general who Comstar chose to do so was named Focht and that's exactly what he told the Clans to get. They retreated and could no longer threaten the newly reforged Star League.

Civil War (3062-3067)

So now the newly reforged Star League immediately started infighting and destroying itself. Go figure.

Jihad (3068-3080)

The Word of Blake, a religious cult offshoot of Comstar, starts jihading everybody after Star League 2: Electric Boogaloo falls apart.

Dark Age (3081-3150)

Nobody liked this era and it doesn't matter. Basically, the internet shut down and everyone lost their minds.

IlClan (3151-Present)

(Credit to KingsofWinter on Deviantart for the map)

The Clans form a massive big clan called the IlClan (pronounced ill-clan) who conquer Terra and form a new Star League but with tech-fetishism and batchals.

Everyone is still fighting.

The Big Factions

There are a couple big factions with a lot of lore to them so I'll get the main ones out of the way just so you know them.

House Steiner (Lyran Commonwealth)

Germans with attitude and no sense of stealth. Basically just take the biggest mechs possible and throw them at the enemy.

House Merik (Free Worlds League)

'Murica fuck yeah.

House Kurita (Draconis Combine)

You know japan? Its that but in space.

House Davion (Federated Suns)

Also 'Murica fuck yeah but with a more knightly aesthetic.

House Liao (Capellan Confederation)

China plus Soviet Russia.

Comstar

A cult that runs all the faster than light telephones. They basically stop technology from progressing and keep everyone at war with stealth operations. They also control Terra and nowhere else. Their plan is basically to blast humanity back to the stone age then everyone will have to follow their cult's teachings. Fun stuff.

Terms and Definitions

Battlemech: Just a mech designed to fight.

Autocannon (AC): An automatic canon. The higher the number after it, the bigger the rounds it fires.

Particle Projector Cannon (PPC): It takes a particle and accelerates it massively. Its the worst weapon you can get hit by in Battletech short of a Gauss Rifle or a Heavy PPC.

Extra Range (ER): Some weapons have extra range variants. It does what it says on the tin.

[doolallymagpie]

Roci in BattleTech?

Roci in BattleTech!

I may not even really have to modify a Roci STL too heavily, if I can find one that'll scale to BT Map Scale

[dragonessmiralis]

I'm referring to the Nelson, when using a battletech-scale map, actually!

When a Lancer gets stuck in Battletech

Meme by u/TheRealBoz

[sjrresearch]

Time as a Factor of Wargaming

By Blaine Lee Pardoe

I have played a lot of games over the years and one aspect that I see often overlooked is time as a factor of decision making. 

For example:  We have all played games where we or our opponents have picked a unit for movement and have sat there calculating out every possible permutation of a move possible, counting out hexes and factoring terrain in every direction, before making a decision to move that counter on what is believed to be the optimal route. It can take long minutes before some players move a single counter.

Likewise in combat – we count ranges, check terrain, and consult tables, trying to find the perfect target that will get us in the best possible column for dice results in battle. I can remember playing Terrible Swift Sword one summer and each artillery barrage took 5-10 minutes for a player to figure out which target he would be shooting at based on range, terrain, etc. Firing all of the artillery for a player could take hours, but the game scale was that each turn was 20 minutes of simulated time. It took us a summer’s worth of weekends to duplicate roughly a day and a half of the battle.   

The issue this poses is that it doesn’t simulate real-life well. In reality, commanders make decisions quickly, without the luxury of consulting tables or range-finding. There are implications to those decisions, good and bad. In the real world, a battery might take a shot at a target, not coordinating its barrage with another one to get better results. Games often fail the capture the pressures that a real commander might suffer from a snap decision. Instead, games often foster simulating every variable of a move or shot to achieve optimal results – something that actual military commanders do not get the benefit of. 

War is not the result of making a series of perfect decisions. It is about making command decisions based on experience and adjusting to optimize the results of those decisions…even the bad ones. 

I would contend that time is the key to simulating this. In fairness, I got the idea from watching a chess match with a timer. Time pressures can drive players into a more realistic gaming experience. 

I write for the science fiction game BattleTech. BattleTech is a wargame for all intents and purposes, and as such can suffer from some of the same issues I have outlined above. Players will spend countless minutes figuring out every move possible or calculating the perfect shots to balance both damage and heat. It can sometimes turn into a game where you spend six hours simulating a 12-minute battle. 

To fix this, I implemented time restrictions for moves and for declaring fire that I dubbed “Speed Tech.” You have one minute per ‘Mech to determine and make your moves. Thus, if you have four ‘Mechs, you have four minutes to make your moves. If you opt to waste all of that figuring out one miniature’s move, well, the others don’t get moved. This forces the player to make snap decisions, just like what would happen in real life, or risk not completing their move. 

The same applies with combat. In BattleTech you must declare your shots. Under my Speed Tech rules, you get 30 seconds per ‘Mech you control to declare your firing. Sometimes this means you call a shot and discover it is out of range…but you still must take the shot and expend the ammo. In some instances, this causes players to fire too many weapons and generate too much heat, which is a big factor in the game. If you don’t get around to declaring shots for a miniature because time elapsed, then that unit does not get to fire in that turn. Again, these decisions simulate real life split-second decisions. 

This time-based gaming also forces players to know the rules. There is no ‘pause’ in my system to rifle through rules. Thus, your time spent looking up a specific advantageous rule comes out of your movement or firing time. There is an exception to this. I do recommend treating challenges to rules as a game-pause point. If someone does something that you are sure is against the rules, you can call for a pause to check the validity of that move/shot. 

The result is that the game play is much faster. Both players are going to make bad decisions or miscalculations. It forces players to think and act decisively. The game, even a big game, flows faster.

Some players cannot cope with this. They are masters of war when they have an hour or two to plot out the perfect movement of their forces – but fail miserably when forced to act quickly. Some prefer to play their games the way they always have. As such, this is not a solution that can be applied to every game system. 

Implementing a Speed Tech solution to your game is as simple as both sides agreeing up front as to how long they will allow for moves and combat, and utilizing a timer. The time allotted is going to vary based on the game you play, the number of units on the map, etc. You wouldn’t want to play SPI’s War in the Pacific, for example, with a 10-minute move time. 

I have not found any games that limit timing as part of the rules sets, but I am sure they exist. I welcome you to introduce this system to your games. I believe you will find that it alters the flow of your games and presents new and exciting challenges for players on both sides. 

If nothing else, you may actually get to the end of a game!

--

At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

 --

(This article is credited to Blaine L. Pardoe. Mr. Pardoe is a long-time gamer and has written material for numerous RPG’s and game systems over the years and is an award winning author and historian. He is a New York Times bestselling author and has presented on historical subjects at the US Naval Academy, the US National Archives, and other prestigious venues.

[instanttitta]

Battletech urban warfare story

BATTLETECH URBAN WARFARE STORY UPDATE

BATTLETECH URBAN WARFARE STORY MODS

than an epic story of adventure it is a testament to the rewards of hard work.

BATTLETECH URBAN WARFARE STORY MODS

Most 'content' mods just do the "add more variety" thing - more mechs, more equipment, more enemies. Battletech Tech Kit Catalyst Game Labs Tired of hunting for a. especially in an urban combat environment, where damage and death were often at close. Haven't heard of any story mods - I know some people were working on making their own Flashpoints, but that's all I've heard of. The housing was compromised, his damage display blared the story. Tangent: Are there any mods that add new campaigns, and if so, do any of them use content from the DLCs? Urban Warfare - Urban, Attack & Defend, Javelin/Raven BattleTech: Urban Warfare is a Strategy game, developed by Harebrained Schemes LLC and published by Paradox Interactive, which was released in 2019. This Tumblr has been packed with brilliant BattleTech news the last few months 49 Dark Heaven Miniatures Battletech War Games, Battletech War Games. These are available while playing the Campaign, but as mentioned - they're just more variety in the random contracts.įlashpoint - Jungle, Target Acquisition, Cyclops/Hatchetman/Crab Which get mixed into the normal random contracts on planets, as appropriate. Urban Warfare brings Mech combat to the vast cityscapes of the Inner Sphere Electronic warfare, large-scale building destruction, environmental mechanics, new enemy units and more make the urban sprawl a whole new battlefield. The DLC add new terrain maps (Jungle, Urban), new mission types (Target Acquisition, Attack & Defend), and new Mechs. In Campaign mode, Flashpoints are only active after the Story is completed. The Flashpoints themselves are little 2-4(?) mission mini-stories, with branches/consequences The DLC add no new "campaign" story missions.

BATTLETECH URBAN WARFARE STORY UPDATE

This has been made after the Urban Warfare update so this is current with all new content. Originally posted by Altonu:What does the DLC offer that the normal patches do not AND is available in the main campaign? This is the only guide I know of that is about events, so far made. Buy Battletech Urban Warfare - Instead of going to war in wide natural landscapes, in this game expansion your mechs will now battle within massive cities.

[owlbear33]

I think spaceship hull battle maps would work better in a more fighter-scale game ( the X-Wing miniature game, Battletech aerospace stuff, sorta 1/270 ish)

with your second idea, you could build a game not unlike the space combat missions in classic Star Wars Battlefront, have a marked point on each hull where a player could launch new fighters from

maybe not allow landing in your opponent's capital ship to attack it from the inside, or maybe do, that could be fun

one of the big problems for spaceship miniature games is for the most part you're stuck with ships in a small range of sizes

a lot of space opera fiction will have just a stupid range of spaceship sizes, like everything from little one-person fightercraft, only a few metres in their largest dimension, up to multi-kilometre behemoths

Armada and X-wing (more so Armada) got around this by having a very flexible and variable scale, but failed by having their largest ships unplayably huge, it seems impossible to represent both the vast scales of space combat and have practical miniatures to play with

[ariesgamesandminis]

A huge BattleTech restock is in from Catalyst!

A Game of Armored Combat (2024) A Time of War Alpha Strike Box Set Battle of Tukayyid BattleMat - Aerospace BattleMat - Grasslands Alpine BattleMat - Cities HPG Engineering / Business District BattleMat - Grasslands Desert BattleMat - Grasslands Lunar BattleMat - Grasslands Savanna Clan Invasion CountersPack: Alpha Strike Hot Spots: Hinterlands Interstellar Operations Alternate Eras Map Pack Battle of Tukayyid Map Pack City Map Pack Deserts Map Pack Grasslands Map Pack Savannah Map Scale DropShip - Overlord Class Mercenaries Box Set Mercenaries ForcePack - Battlefield Support: Assault & Cavalry Lances Mercenaries ForcePack - Battlefield Support: Battle & Fire Lances Mercenaries ForcePack - Clan Direct Fire Star Miniature ForcePack - Clan Ad Hoc Star Miniature ForcePack - Clan Striker Star Miniature ForcePack - Clan Support Star Miniature ForcePack - ComStar Command Level II Miniature ForcePack - House Davion Cavalry Lance Miniature ForcePack - Inner Sphere Battle Lance Miniature ForcePack - Second Star League Assault Lance Miniature ForcePack - Snord's Irregulars Assault Lance Miniature ForcePack - Star League Command Lance Miniature ForcePack - UrbanMech Lance Recognition Guide Vol. 1 - Classics Recognition Guide Vol. 2 - ilClan Tactical Operations: Advanced Rules Tactical Operations: Advanced Units & Equipment Tamar Rising Total Warfare

[priceabate-blog]

Iron Wind Battletech Fortress Dropship (Map Scale) Box MINT

$64.95

BUY IT NOW

[aztoysgames-blog]

Iron Wind Battletech Union Dropship (Map Scale) Box MINT

$32.95

BUY IT NOW

[ariesgamesandminis]

Restocks are in from Cross Electric Designs including 2 new items!

New: Building Pack: Large, AS-Style Power Station

Restocks Aerospace Hangar Bunker 3-Pack (Aries Exclusive 4 Color) Circular Objectives Pack Guild Dropship - Map Scale Lampart Dropship - Map Scale Twelve-Unit Company Display Stand

[ariesgamesandminis]

Restocks are in from Cross Electric Designs!

Aerospace Hangar Belisarius Hover Tank Beluga Dropship Beluga Dropship (Aries Exclusive 4-Color) Bunker 3-Pack (Aries Exclusive 4-Color) Factory Facility Beta (Aries Exclusive 4 Color) Factory Facility Delta (Aries Exclusive 4 Color) Fuel Pod X3 Guild Dropship - Mech Scale Guild Dropship - Map Scale Hex Bridge Muse Missile Turret Stationary Cannon 6-Pack (Aries Exclusive 4-Color)

[ariesgamesandminis]

New Terrain & Restocks from Cross Electric Designs are up and ready to go!

New: Factory Facility Gamma Factory Facility Delta

Restocks Bunker 3-Pack - Blue Control Tower Map Scale Beluga Dropship Vehicle Ops Center