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[ZebAbirul]

I would also like to join in this x3

I am ZebAbirul on steam as well if you do end up making a group.

[Anvilfolk]

Are you up for joining right now? Just added you on Steam. I should just make a group and make everyone admins.

STEAM GROUP GO!

[Sharp]

For lore and other stuff I would recommend http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

Can't say I've tried Mekwars but I did try MegaMek for a bit and also Neveron, but in Neveron I ended up losing most of my troops in the arena....

[tryrar]

joined the group. Also got in a test battle or two in my favorite mech(the Nova Cat. Can't beat the beam-spammyness of fitting as many ppcs and large lasers as humanly possible on a 70-ton frame!) against the test bot to remind myself how to play megamek

[Anvilfolk]

Sweet!

We should be trying to get a game running soonish, so make sure you're on chat!

Whoever's most comfortable with MegaMek and OK with voicechatting gets to do the tutorial!

[tryrar]

umm, I DID mention I didn't have access to voicechat atm right?

[Anvilfolk]

Heheheh, yeah, no worries, I was planning on sharing the little I know about MegaMek and the even less I know about MekWars

[Shooer]

Ahh good old MegaMek.  I was building a campaign at one point, had like 6 scenarios done.  All gone now though.

I am signed up for the current main mekwars server but I haven't played on it yet.  May get on soonish.

Edit: Also at them removing merc groups.  Oh well, I know the reasons why and they are good ones.

[Kanil]

Perhaps Kanil can give us a bit more information, I'd also be happy to hear about it.

Can't guarantee this is accurate, but basically each faction has build tables. When you buy a unit, it rolls and compares to the build table. This lets LC get Commandos, while DC gets Jenners and FS Valkyries, etc.

In Solaris, you get 8 'mechs from the Solaris build tables at random (I believe it's 4 lights, 3 mediums, and a heavy? Could have changed!) and after every battle you can reset your 8 'mechs. Or keep them for the duration of Solaris. It's basically the training faction. Your 'mechs don't take permanent damage or die, so you can lose them freely. A typical game is lance v lance (4v4.)

Once you choose to leave Solaris, you get the same 4/3/1, but this time from your faction's tables, so you don't keep your Solaris 'mechs. These new 'mechs can (and will) get damaged and die (except fighting players still in Solaris), and replacing them costs c-bills, which are earned from fighting. Generally players will surrender once they feel they cannot win in order to preserve their remaining units, lowering their repair/replacement costs. Your opponent doesn't have to accept this surrender, but it's quite rare for them to decline.

If you're careless, you can run out of 'mechs, but it's pretty hard to do. Especially considering that, since 'mech production is random, there's usually a few 'mechs people are literally willing to give away to you. 'Mechs require support (termed "bays"), and sometimes you get something from the factory that it's just not worth keeping to you (but might be useful to someone else, depending upon their playstyle. UrbanMechs, for example.)

Factions have a pool of units (some donated by players to free up bays, the others autoproduced by factories with resource surpluses) that you can buy from at a discount compared to a new unit from the factory. Only catch is that you only will get (at random, of course) what's already in the surplus pool. It's generally a good idea to buy these things, if what's in the pool is worth using, since they're discounted.

Kind of broken as fuck explanation of a few concepts, but if you have any specific questions, feel free to post them or PM me and I'll try my best to explain. But, most importantly, while you're in Solaris you cannot fuck anything up, so just have fun.

[Sensei]

Well, I'll totally have to get into this. I've played plenty of Mechwarrior, always wanted to get in to actual Battletech.

[Anvilfolk]

No, that's a great explanation of the situation! It's precisely the easily digestible information that us beginners need!

If you download MekWars and open up the Map (bottom row of tabs, right side), you can also right-click one of the 2000+ planets and each of them has a buildings and stuff and lots of stats on it. The size of these campaigns is becoming more and more staggering!

We ended up playing a little 1 mech vs 1 mech game which was a blast For people who already know some BattleTech, and are versed in the ways of the DF interfaces, it appears to be a breeze learning it.

Looking forward to catching up with the rest of you sometime! We could do massive battles, or start doing 1v1s over on MekWars! Whatever people are up for!


I have another half hour before I go in case anyone wants a quick tutorial I'm on Steam


--- edit ---

Added a better galaxy screenshot. Should give you an idea of how vast it is

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[RedKing]

Joined the Steam group. Not sure how much free time I'll have to play this, but I'm an olllllllld hand at both Battletech and MegaMek. 
I actually have all the Tech Readouts (up through 3060, before shit starting getting weird), bunches of field manuals, scenario packs, etc.

[Rabid_Cog]

Any way to join you guys without messing around with steam?

[Anvilfolk]

A couple of us are pretty interested in doing the whole MekWars thing, so perhaps the best thing is to just get into that directly. It has a lobby system where everyone can chat, so we could meet up over there and play tutorial games to train up the newer people!

I'm mostly EST (American timezone), but we can also just use this thread for whenever we are up for a game. That keeps it up in the list so other interested people might be able to join in as well


This is pretty funny, 'cause everyone I'm meeting here already knows tons about Battletech... turns out I'm the total newbie! I'd still love to get some new people into it though. I thought I wouldn't enjoy it that much, but got hooked as soon as I started playing and saw the mechsheets, haha

[Girlinhat]

For those unaware, Battletech/MechWarrior/Commander runs off a few basic principles when doing an outfit.  The CORE worry is weight.  Every 'Mech has a weight rating, listing how much weight the chassis can carry (and 99% of the time, the weight of the stock equipment).  Every piece of armor, heatsink, and weaponry adds weight.  When building a 'Mech, the rundown is basically as follows:
Engine (if the game version includes engines) to determine the speed at which you want to travel.
Basic Armor as a foundation, a minimum you're comfortable with.
Weaponry to fit how much damage type and rate you want to put out.
Heatsinks to make sure you can actually use your 'Mech at all, and to fit your weapon's heat.
Ammunition for your weapon, if not using beams.
Fill the rest with armor.

Heat is also the big other concern, as 'Mechs will rapidly overheat under normal circumstances, causing them to force-shutdown.  Energy weapons generate enormous heat, as well as missiles, while ballistics generate less heat (normally).  Handling your weight in the 'Mechbay and your heat on the battlefield is the real core of gameplay.  You try to get both of these as streamlined as possible, and combat equipment comes naturally from the excess space/heat you learn to shave down.  Energy is generally not a concern, as it's assumed beam weapons have their own generators (probably nuclear) with enough charge to last through any given battle.  Ammunition for ballistics and missiles, however, is a very real concern.