Recent content by Kannik

One, love reading these after-action reports! Two, wow, I am seriously envious at how much BT and RP-BT you're getting to play. :) I don't think I'll be able to reply to CGL about these changes as they request only playtest reports and without a standing group of players I doubt I'll have a...

-nodnods- Back in MechWarrior 1, when you fired your TIC (Target Interlocking Circuit -- and you only had one!) rather than fire everything at once, it would rapid-cycle chainfire through each weapon in turn, and targeting, even with lasers, wasn't 100% always accurate to the centre of the...

Class initiative was interesting but it broke down in some places, namely that it made many mechs just beyond the limit break decidedly worse than lighter mechs. This was especially noticeable with the classic 80 and 85 ton assaults. That Zeus or B-Master doesn't get enough extra armour or...

Well, depends. As Payn notes, if we're talking about the Mechwarrior games, in the more recent games the ability to pinpoint your fire leads to breaking a lot of the BT paradigm, as boating weapons becomes very potent. The classic Discoback (or the Ontos) is semi-frightening when it fires 8...

Natch, but those are vehicles and not a stompy mech game. ;) An ammo explosion in a limb (depending on the type of limb design, which is one area where BT doesn't distinguish) feels like it ought to vent most of its energy outside of the mech and damage all sorts of the mech's exterior armour...

Thanks for the playtest report. That is a worry I had -- if as a tactic staying in the side arc becomes buffed (as you're guaranteed a side hit), then then it narrows the game because there's one "right" choice to make. And it could privilege initiative even more. A long time ago, the first...

You're not taking my "Headshot at 22 hexes! The kid's a natural!" first roll, first kill of the session away from me. ;) :D

When it comes to the side tables, at first blush I'm less keen on the revision. A lot of what I would consider firing to the side of the mech is in the front firing arc right now. To make a side firing arc, where you can't hit the opposite side/structure, feel 'right' to me would need the arc...

Investigations, Complications, Italy, Violins... Ghosts? (And, spoken as the GM of the above session:) Negative karma - what to do?

I had to check, but there are at least a few 3025-era 'mechs that carry ammo in their arms: the Stalker, Zeus, and Thunderbolt all do, for example. :) And even if you do run into infantry, a quarter ton of MG ammo is likely to do you, let alone a full ton and the smallest you can stock is a...

I'll start with ammo explosion, as it's quicker and something I've also toyed with over the years. Firstly, because it has always seemed way too dangerous and too much of a penalty for the mech (not to mention the poor pilot also takes damage due to Neurohelmet feedback!). Secondly, because...

Colour me very interested! I was lucky to be able to contribute/comment to FASA back in the day (would've been around 93-95 IIRC) on potential rule revisions. I'll look at the rules when I get home tonight and comment back. :)

FWIW, I have been playing RPGs continually since 1985 (and tabletop tactical games too). I went to my first gaming convention in January of this year. Con attendance wise, I would be considered a non-gamer/non-participant/non-enabler-of-golden-age. Purchasing and hours played wise though I...

Classic Battletech in the "still playing" camp. A small smattering of Car Wars, but that was trying out the new 6e rules from the recent-ish kickstarter so not the old black box/compendium game. Been thinking about Renegade Legion but haven't played. Would love to do Top Secret, but would use...

Heh, there is that, but D&D also has a disparity between different phases of play (encounter vs exploration, etc), and so while Lancer has even more of a switch I was practiced enough to switch modes that it didn't feel all that jarring. (Though also take it FWIW that I love Battletech/Heavy...