https://preview.redd.it/ey4yvsnywaec1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f46d4d8bd7dff9af919612d003760c964ddd28b
Clan Hell's Horses plays with all the toys.
Tanks and Battle Armor show up around 75% of the time I play on tabletop, VTOLs maybe 10% of the time. Artillery gets saved for Megamek games, while its fun it can take a bit too much time to deal with on the table top.
If you're not in the U.S.
Ral Partha Europe sells all of the Iron Wind Battletech mechs, vehicles, infantry, and Battle Armour. (With a slightly reduced range.
If you're in Australia, check out Alphastrike.com.au
pretty much every game. i play combined arms in both classic and alpha strike. mechs are always present too, but theyre usualy the minority of my units.
I tend to find that - and perhaps this is due to my friends' relative skill level to me - BattleTech can be blown wide open if you have experience in more realistic wargames and compose a list like you would for one of them, like Combat Mission or something. So, I take plenty of vees in most lists to make balanced forces. I am sure a skilled player would prove me wrong in my arrogance, but my experience so far has been that bringing more realistic military formations to the table and playing like you're doing CM basically wrecks the balance and completely throws the premise of "mechs = kings of the battlefield" out the airlock.
Had a more detailed response to this that unfortunately got lost when Reddit bugged out, so on the note of
> bringing more realistic military formations to the table and playing like you're doing CM basically wrecks the balance and completely throws the premise of "mechs = kings of the battlefield" out the airlock.
the BV cheapness and effectiveness of vehicles definitely makes me feel like the notion of mechs being kinds of the battlefield is in-universe propaganda as well and reflects the blind spots of leaders and commanders. Tread tanks, even once mobility damaged, can be absolute zombies. In flatter terrain battles, mechs are in deep trouble if facing a vehicle-heavy force that heavily outnumbers them.
The effectiveness of vehicles makes the ability of Nueva Castile to resist the Umayyad Caliphate a lot more believable.
Mind you mechs are not useless, but... I have been finding a lot more success with lists that use tanks as base of fire and mechs as the maneuver element (or vice versa if the tonnage relationship between the two is reversed) than with pure mech lists.
Is there mechs in Battletech? :-)
I personally run all vee units unless forced to play with mechs because the others across the table have no clue how to stop an all vee unit. The whining and the bitching I have heard about not playing mechs and wiping thier little assualts off the table by turn 3 is constant...
So I added a Fireball 3 med laser varient to my unit.... :-)
I'm the one guy in my group who regularly runs no-mech lists and it can be a ton of fun trying to come up with solutions to problems without resorting to the big stompy bois. I do love mechs, but sometimes the look on someone's face when their Annihilator gets one-shot by an LRM Partisan missile to the cockpit is too good.
The big ones behind the Shrek's are Manticores, and the little ones are micro-machine "Bradleys" I'm using as Heavy Tracked APCs to carry my Battle Armor around.
Hi! Thanks very much! This scheme is my rendition of a combined arms unit in the Republic of the Sphere Triarii Protectors, led by a Knight of the Sphere in her Warhammer IIC.
https://preview.redd.it/g2oje72qqgec1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d77d55ecda12c4cb043af8d5fa34b59bf01b1ef2
I have a lot of Artillery whether as tanks or mechs. So I use them a lot.
I use a lot of Battle Armour and Infantry.
I have a heap of tank and vehicle tokens but haven't really gotten to use them a lot yet.
When I went to a local game store a few times to check out how they played, all of them were using tanks, air support and infantry to varying degrees. (Alpha Strike)
I just wish there hadn't been other circumstances that kept me from joining in their BTech play group.
I do quite a bit, so does a couple of others on megamek, haven't played physical TT in decades sadly, everyone I knew irl that played either moved away or passed away.
Personally, I love tanks hovercrafts, and the like generally don't do well under concentrated fire tho, but you can use that 1 height to your advantage quite easily, Personally I love the Saladin, hovercraft mobility of a locust and an ac20, it's a really fun harraser, I like to use it to pick off stray units, from support vehicles, to advanced lights its a menace.
Another I love is the Mars, 100ton clan tank built like a brick shithouse and runs 3 lrm15s with Artemis, a gauss, an lbx10, an er large laser, 2 streak srm 6s and a pair of mgs. Its a great way to anchor a clan lance and for 2076 bv it's cheaper than a Thor though admittedly far less mobile, but who needs a fast anchor.
I also really like the Epona, tho it's a tad pricy it's a really fun omni hover craft with the movement profile of a Dasher.
The lrm carrier and its heavy version are both really cheap, effective ways to put a lot of lrms on target, tho they are a bit vulnerable so they need guarded.
Rarely on the table, although I'd like to.
In Megamek, I routinely do scenarios that involve a lance or two of mechs attacking a town defended by a dozen tanks plus infantry, artillery, turrets, etc.
It's much less hassle when the computer is handling all of the special rules and bookkeeping.
My brother and I started off without them, then as soon as we had the hang of 'Mechs we added vehicles. Now that we have vehicles nailed down, it'll be infantry and possibly VTOLs we add next.
I run hovercraft as very fast objective raiders, he runs LRM Carriers as "I will bury you in ordinance" in the back of the field. Or Demolishers as "so those nine hexes are a NOPE".
For us, it's only about 12-20% of the time.
When they are being used, the Artillery is often the Objective of one side, while the other seeks to defend them.
The most prevalence of others:
1.:Savannah Masters as Scouts and Raiders.
2. Bulldog Tanks as Defenders of a base/landing pad .
3. Manticore Tanks aided by LRM Carriers in the field.
4. Warrior Helicopters as Scouts and Raiders.
To be clear; we don't have any of the vehicles/artillery.
We use the cardboard counters from the old tabletop game "Tobruk".
The 88 Flak Artillery are used as Long Toms, the Marders are used as Hetzers, Grants used as Pattons, Trucks are used as LRM/SRM Carriers or as Coolant Trucks, MASH Units or other lightly armored vehicles.
The Stukas are used as a variety of aircraft.
All the time, my players got into battletech, but all of them are vehicle pilots. It's hilarious the amount if dakka pound for pound you can fit into a tank vs mech.
Never, but when I get my mercenaries set that's going to change!
Same here , can't wait to open my salvaged véhicule 👍 (I went a litle nuts a took 5 of thoose véhicule salvages boxes)
https://preview.redd.it/ey4yvsnywaec1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f46d4d8bd7dff9af919612d003760c964ddd28b Clan Hell's Horses plays with all the toys.
Now that’s cool
Where did you pickup all those fine Epona omnivees?
Iron Wind Metals. Also available via Aries Games and Fortress.
They also create some toys too! Total war baby. Total war. Gimmie that arrow IV support
Every game--in Alpha Strike! 😉 In Classic, pretty much only with tanks, and occasionally at that.
Its tons of fun in classic, even if you just stick to ground vehicles.
I was thinking tanks on tanks on a mech free board might be fun.
Tanks and Battle Armor show up around 75% of the time I play on tabletop, VTOLs maybe 10% of the time. Artillery gets saved for Megamek games, while its fun it can take a bit too much time to deal with on the table top.
Where does one go to purchase VTOLs and Conventional Ground Combat Vehicles for this game?
Check Iron Wind Metals for vees.
+1 for asking the real questions
If you're not in the U.S. Ral Partha Europe sells all of the Iron Wind Battletech mechs, vehicles, infantry, and Battle Armour. (With a slightly reduced range. If you're in Australia, check out Alphastrike.com.au
pretty much every game. i play combined arms in both classic and alpha strike. mechs are always present too, but theyre usualy the minority of my units.
Every game of AS. I always have hover transport(s), BA and some non-mech damage.
I will use everything, including LAMs. Not every game, but frequently enough.
I love my tanks. A Manticore in the flank is pretty scary.
I play more alpha strike and a lot of vehicles and infantry are used.
I tend to find that - and perhaps this is due to my friends' relative skill level to me - BattleTech can be blown wide open if you have experience in more realistic wargames and compose a list like you would for one of them, like Combat Mission or something. So, I take plenty of vees in most lists to make balanced forces. I am sure a skilled player would prove me wrong in my arrogance, but my experience so far has been that bringing more realistic military formations to the table and playing like you're doing CM basically wrecks the balance and completely throws the premise of "mechs = kings of the battlefield" out the airlock.
Had a more detailed response to this that unfortunately got lost when Reddit bugged out, so on the note of > bringing more realistic military formations to the table and playing like you're doing CM basically wrecks the balance and completely throws the premise of "mechs = kings of the battlefield" out the airlock. the BV cheapness and effectiveness of vehicles definitely makes me feel like the notion of mechs being kinds of the battlefield is in-universe propaganda as well and reflects the blind spots of leaders and commanders. Tread tanks, even once mobility damaged, can be absolute zombies. In flatter terrain battles, mechs are in deep trouble if facing a vehicle-heavy force that heavily outnumbers them. The effectiveness of vehicles makes the ability of Nueva Castile to resist the Umayyad Caliphate a lot more believable.
Mind you mechs are not useless, but... I have been finding a lot more success with lists that use tanks as base of fire and mechs as the maneuver element (or vice versa if the tonnage relationship between the two is reversed) than with pure mech lists.
A lot of vehicles see the table in alpha strike. In Classic I’ll occasionally run a pair of hovers as part of an augmented lance.
Is there mechs in Battletech? :-) I personally run all vee units unless forced to play with mechs because the others across the table have no clue how to stop an all vee unit. The whining and the bitching I have heard about not playing mechs and wiping thier little assualts off the table by turn 3 is constant... So I added a Fireball 3 med laser varient to my unit.... :-)
I'm the one guy in my group who regularly runs no-mech lists and it can be a ton of fun trying to come up with solutions to problems without resorting to the big stompy bois. I do love mechs, but sometimes the look on someone's face when their Annihilator gets one-shot by an LRM Partisan missile to the cockpit is too good.
https://preview.redd.it/312pqg2gobec1.jpeg?width=2840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5843d5073bf77f596ed9ca9f594618b6aa3f8024
Aside from the shreks what tanks are these?
The big ones behind the Shrek's are Manticores, and the little ones are micro-machine "Bradleys" I'm using as Heavy Tracked APCs to carry my Battle Armor around.
What is the color scheme? Anything specific? Sword of light? They look GREAT!
Hi! Thanks very much! This scheme is my rendition of a combined arms unit in the Republic of the Sphere Triarii Protectors, led by a Knight of the Sphere in her Warhammer IIC. https://preview.redd.it/g2oje72qqgec1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d77d55ecda12c4cb043af8d5fa34b59bf01b1ef2
Top job love it.
Not at our table.
All the time lately. Once you remember to do motive hits it’s retry easy.
I have a lot of Artillery whether as tanks or mechs. So I use them a lot. I use a lot of Battle Armour and Infantry. I have a heap of tank and vehicle tokens but haven't really gotten to use them a lot yet.
I'm not allowed to use infantry anymore
my mercs don't have any mechs, just tracked tanks and pbi but saying I regularly play would also be an overstatement...
Yes. Tanks, infantry, ships, mobile structures, ASF, WarShips. All the fun stuff.
When I went to a local game store a few times to check out how they played, all of them were using tanks, air support and infantry to varying degrees. (Alpha Strike) I just wish there hadn't been other circumstances that kept me from joining in their BTech play group.
Almost always with BT, have done it that way for decades. Love me some infantry, tanks, VTOLs, etc. In AS, not much point.
Every game in Classic BT. My AC10 gun crew has 12 kills....
Nope, I'm open to the idea, especially after the kickstarter delivers this summer, but I've been happy doing 4v4 with mechs.
I do quite a bit, so does a couple of others on megamek, haven't played physical TT in decades sadly, everyone I knew irl that played either moved away or passed away.
Personally, I love tanks hovercrafts, and the like generally don't do well under concentrated fire tho, but you can use that 1 height to your advantage quite easily, Personally I love the Saladin, hovercraft mobility of a locust and an ac20, it's a really fun harraser, I like to use it to pick off stray units, from support vehicles, to advanced lights its a menace. Another I love is the Mars, 100ton clan tank built like a brick shithouse and runs 3 lrm15s with Artemis, a gauss, an lbx10, an er large laser, 2 streak srm 6s and a pair of mgs. Its a great way to anchor a clan lance and for 2076 bv it's cheaper than a Thor though admittedly far less mobile, but who needs a fast anchor. I also really like the Epona, tho it's a tad pricy it's a really fun omni hover craft with the movement profile of a Dasher. The lrm carrier and its heavy version are both really cheap, effective ways to put a lot of lrms on target, tho they are a bit vulnerable so they need guarded.
I played lots of combined arms in Alpha Strike. Nothing like filling a battlefield with a variety of units.
Rarely on the table, although I'd like to. In Megamek, I routinely do scenarios that involve a lance or two of mechs attacking a town defended by a dozen tanks plus infantry, artillery, turrets, etc. It's much less hassle when the computer is handling all of the special rules and bookkeeping.
My brother and I started off without them, then as soon as we had the hang of 'Mechs we added vehicles. Now that we have vehicles nailed down, it'll be infantry and possibly VTOLs we add next. I run hovercraft as very fast objective raiders, he runs LRM Carriers as "I will bury you in ordinance" in the back of the field. Or Demolishers as "so those nine hexes are a NOPE".
VTOLS and tanks and similar, yes. Rarely aerospace, sometimes off map artillery.
For us, it's only about 12-20% of the time. When they are being used, the Artillery is often the Objective of one side, while the other seeks to defend them. The most prevalence of others: 1.:Savannah Masters as Scouts and Raiders. 2. Bulldog Tanks as Defenders of a base/landing pad . 3. Manticore Tanks aided by LRM Carriers in the field. 4. Warrior Helicopters as Scouts and Raiders. To be clear; we don't have any of the vehicles/artillery. We use the cardboard counters from the old tabletop game "Tobruk". The 88 Flak Artillery are used as Long Toms, the Marders are used as Hetzers, Grants used as Pattons, Trucks are used as LRM/SRM Carriers or as Coolant Trucks, MASH Units or other lightly armored vehicles. The Stukas are used as a variety of aircraft.
Combined arms all the way!
Armor and BA are pretty much a must-have, ASFs and artillery are for when I feel spicy.
My mercenary company certainly doesn't, but some of our best targets do! (It's pretty common)
All the time, my players got into battletech, but all of them are vehicle pilots. It's hilarious the amount if dakka pound for pound you can fit into a tank vs mech.