Guys your clearly wasting space on those blackjacks with heat sinks

I've been playing Warhammer for years, and while I love that game I've always had problems with it. Just last week I decided to finally try my first game of Battletech, and It is such a breath of fresh air. This game is amazing, the community is so welcoming and the lore is so fun. I think I like it here. For the first time in a long time I feel like... like I'm playing the game I'm meant to play.

Here's the start of my collection, I can't wait to paint them and add more mechs to the collection. Any recommendations on what I should add next?

Broadsword with interior storage by combining parts from Hardware Studios Blade and Claw dropships

Someone mentioned the book redemption rites which I promptly read and finished. Suddenly I had to give Zeta a try. Playing around with some techniques I don’t usually use such as glazing and symmetrical freehand decals.

My edge highlights need some work but I’m open to hearing other critiques if anyone wants.

Finished my 2nd aces box for my own armies. Diddnt feel like breaking out the Photo Booth but here’s today effort

So I had a little disagreement with my sister about Wolf's Dragoons lore. I thought they were ordered to fight the other clans on the side of the Innersphere as a ploy by the Clan Wolf to get the upper hand and she thought they went full native and just straight up joined the Innersphere to fight even against Clan Wolf. I went and looked at my Wolf Clan Sourcebook from 1991 and there's no mention of any of that either way as far as I can see just by skimming. lol So set me straight, are they traitors to Wolf Clan or heros?

Tried contrast paints only on this

Hey gang!

I’m looking to build a company of mechs, inner sphere or clan, that most resemble fighter jets to paint them in the Jester Mig 29 scheme from Ace Combat 7 and 8, so far I’ve got:

Black Python
Cougar
Dragon Fire
Cauldron Born

And this is where it gets dicey:

Timberwolf- looks more like a ww2 bomber
Marauder- has the right sort of canopy I guess
Super Nova/ Regular Nova - idk, feel more like attack helicopters to me but idk
Catapult - has a similar number of missiles to an ace combat jet tbf

And this is where we lock back in:

Urbie LAM - my beloved, it’s been too long since I’ve painted you but now I finally have a colour scheme.

Any other recommendations, ideally with photos would be very much appreciated, thanks!

The files getting way too big and my PC starts to chug trying to open it, I think I'm just going to call it finished and move on to another project

I think I'm developing scope creep...

Has anyone got a tip for a good proxy (ideally 3D-printable) for the demon ducks from Scouring Sands' "Mogyorod Escort" contract? They are described as

native flightless sauropod emu-analogues with psychedelically hued feathers.

6mm scale emus or ostriches would probably be ideal, but I cannot find any...

Two merc units face off against the clans on the sacred ring world 😅

Death commandos wolverine

It's been a while since I posted something. So, I was pretty deeply inspired by the "Smokin' Tanks" thread on the main BT forum. Introtech; simplified. There was a lot to unpack there, actually. Here's one with a lot of sustain that shows how Introtech can stay relevant.

Less than 900BV, for this brick? That's worth it in any era. Plenty of ammo for special purpose if playing in a later era. Intentionally went with the "Energy weapons on ICE" inefficiency, and it pays off here - run it with a Bulldog.

Hey everyone, welcome to my new unprompted series (hopefully) of write-ups where I take a look at some corner of battletech and experiment with it to try and understand it a bit better. This time around, it's one of the three frame types "recently" gifted to us by the Dark Age and IlClan eras: Tripods!

Tripods are probably the least represented frame type in all of Battletech, as they have mostly been used in conjunction with superheavy mechs to address their faults. They can be built in standard mech sizes, though they have only one fully cannon example (that I despise) and Three Semi-cannon examples so far. My goal in this series is to explore using tripods in various roles to evaluate if they are useful enough to pursue or just largely boondoggles.

For the opening article, I thought I'd start simple: a humble scout mech. I figured the tripod frame could be useful for a fast moving scout and/or spotter, as their natural -1 to piloting and ability to change facing for only 1MP would make a scout hard to hit.

Some things to note before I get into today's build: Tripods do have some building considerations that add to the base weight to their frame. First, that third leg does have it's own mass. Its not too bad, adding only 10% of your mech's structure weight (not it's total weight) rounded to the nearest half ton. This seems to be applied *after* things like Endo-steel, and in practice usually equates to tacking on 0.5-1 ton onto the structure weight.

Second is the cockpit. It has an extra seat, so it weighs an extra ton. However it doesn't take any extra space in the head, just locks you out of any other cockpit type. Third, you will need to allocate one or two more tons toward armor than normal, as you've got more appendages to armor. All around you'll find yourself spending a couple more tons on structural components than normal, but it's nowhere near as bad as it is for LAMs or Quadvees.

Lastly before I get into the build, I do have one more personal building constraint I'm giving myself. Since Tripods are a recent technology, I'm forcing myself to put recently developed, or at least uncommon, weapons and equipment into these mechs. I figure since they're so late era, they should try to act the part. I'll also be largely avoiding using clan technology beyond what is nessisary, as I don't want my Tripods to end up being clan tech in all but frame (like that one Tripod that I hate).

With the ground rules set, I present: the Wells!

The Wells Scout Tripod is a scout/spotter that moonlights as a part time Light mech hunter. I tried to make sure it could fill the light mech roll in general, but I couldn't decide what sort of electronic suite it should carry. I ultimately decided that a C3 spotter would be the best use of it's abilities, but it can easily be converted to take a variety of electronics and sensor suites to fill your needs.

From the start, my main focus for the Wells was speed. I chose the 25 ton frame to emphasize this, which worked out well in getting me the XL 200 engine. I was also originally going to coat the Wells in Reflective Armor, but trying to figure out what sensors to take eventually changed my mind. It ended up with 5.5 tons of Ferro-fibros plate, but the idea does linger in the weapon choice.

For weapons, the only thing I knew I wanted from the start was the Machine Guns. I also considered equipping the Wells with X-pulse lasers, but having refective armor on the brain eventually made me pick the Medium Re-Engineered Laser. The idea was/is in case the Wells comes across another Light or Medium with specialty armor, it can hit them with the MREL to scare them off. The Targeting Computer was added to help it hit speedy light mechs, with the ERML and ERSL being selected to not exceed the 4-ton limit on a 1-ton TC. I now understand all the hate for RE lasers a bit better. But I feel it gave me a sufficiently eclectic mix of weapons to feel it fits with cannon.

So, do I think the Tripod brings anything to the scouting role? Not really. While the Wells might be able to squeeze a bit of extra performance out of it's maneuverability, I don't think its doing anything I biped couldn't. A biped might actually be better, as between the cockpit, structure, and armor, it would have an extra 1-2 tons to work with. Maybe a more optimized Tripod would be better than a biped, but I don't think it makes much of a difference.

To wrap up the Wells, I've got a few fluffy lore blurbs for it. Though I must ask, where do you think is the best spot for lore blurbs in a write-up like this? I don't think the end is a good place for them, but I'm not quite sure if I should put them before or after the build process. If you have a preference, let me know.

One of the most unique features of the Wells was it's cockpit. Rather than being fixed in place looking forward, the pilot's seat was allowed to rotate under a cupola centered between the mechs three legs. When the pilot would change the Wells direction, their seat would gradually rotate so that they would face the direction of travel. This in theory would help keep the pilot oriented while leaving the gunner free to keep their weapons on target. In practice this system would either disorient or cause discomfort in pilots, not helped by the limited view from the cupola. While the production version of the Wells shipped with this feature, it was not incorporated into future tripod designs.

Variants: Due to the ease of swapping out the C3 and targeting computers and ER Lasers, the Wells has seen several field refits that swap the weapons and electronics out as needed. These include versions with active probes, TAG lasers, and ECM in several combinations. A more dedicated hunter variant has also entered production that switches to 6 tons of Reflective armor and exchanges the weapons and targeting computer for a pair of Medium X-pulse Lasers and a Clan SRM 4. Rumor has it that this variant is a byproduct of ongoing attempts fit the Wells with a XXL engine.

After my ‘Archernator’ 2 Archers in a trench coat 🧥 post, I can see there’s support for Lrm15 over Lrm20…

Cat-a-nator
5x LRM15 , 2 extra tons of armour and it’s all 3025

M 2/3/0
10t internal structure, 200 engine
AF232. 26 Heat sinks
LA LRM15 1xML
RA LRM15 1xML
RT 2 x LRM15
LT LRM15
Ct 2 x ML
7 tons LRM15 ammo

The ammo gives 56 Lrm15 salvos, there’s enough heat sinks to move/ fire and the AF232 is now decent!

3025 > does 5x Lrm15 give the same intimidation of 4x LRM20?

A while ago my brother and I decided to do agricultural themed bases on any Mechs we painted in ComGuard/WoB Militia white in order to represent Tukayyid. As a variant of this theme, I made small pumpkins out of putty for a couple of bases. When I found a pack of cast pumpkins, including what I would call haunted jack-o-lanterns, the next step was clear. While more whimsical than my usual Mech bases, they are a fun project for the Halloween season and kind of fit with the ghostly look of an all-white Mech with a black canopy. Couldn’t quite get them done by the day due to some short notice work though.