I've only recently gotten into Battletech, but I've started watching the 90s cartoon and just finished the episode that introduced Elementals yesterday. Holy shit, that was awesome. These little guys can hurt you...they kinda remind me of 40k Space Marines.
they kinda are... with all jetpacks :p And while the cartoon got retconned as being an inner sphere piece of anti-clan propaganda... thats how Elementals operate: jumping on mechs and starting to tear it apart at point blank range, even bashing the cockpit open if given the chance
A strange but effective tactic is to have lighter, faster battle armor, like a Slyph, ride your assault mechs, and the heavier armor, like gnomes, ride the light mechs. The strengths of each unit compliment the drawbacks of it's partner. One has the mobility, the other has the punch.
Lastly, be aware how easy it is to defeat a battle armor swarm attack. Once you swarm the mech, all it has to do is voluntarily drop prone in it's next turn and your battle armor will automatically be shaken loose. If it's smart enough to do this in water, or has jump jets that can carry it into level 2 water, your infantry will be automatically destroyed. Use leg attacks if your opponents start doing this to you on a regular basis.
@@KageRyuu6 Would surprise me if rules didn't cover that.. they are called Elementals precisely because they can operate in almost any environment (including vacuum) and their armor is basically redesigned diving suits :p
@@thorveim1174 They might be seriously reduced in mobility givent they would lose the ability to jumpjet and be slowed down. Basically taking them out of the fight. But they wouldn't die
Two words. Omni. Mech. Have your Elementals ride into battle on your light Omnimechs. A Firemoth suddenly becomes more useful as a Battle Armor taxi service than a flanker/backstabber. Load up a point of gnomes and drop them in the middle of the field, then go back for more. Some clan vehicles are also omni, but beware the default skill levels of clan vehicle pilots vs mech pilots. The Hephaestus scout tank is a beautiful little hover that can carry a point of armor on the outside as well as the inside.
The Firemoth was originally designed to carry infantry or elementals in pods under the arms the idea was scrapped but that doesn't reduce it's ability to have elementals riding on it.
I never understood the lore of why a mech had to be an Omni to Battle Armor. Weld some freaking rebar handles onto the side of a Wasp or whatever for some Cavalier Battle Armor to hang on to and go.
The inner sphere houses actually have battle armor infantry. They are just not as good as the Clan’s. It is nice to see that yiu have expanded beyond 3025 era tech.
Well the inner sphere doesn't have warriors bred specifically for battle armor either i think only aerospace clan pilots are worse at their job than inner spehere most of the other warriors are better at their job, usually.
My wife will auto rage at the mere suggestion that there are Elementals in play, LOL. I've had more than a little sadistic glee with BA on tabletop sessions...
Clan Hells Horses player, are we? -_^ (Seriously, the Hells Horses love standard armor teamed with Elementals. Played right, they're like the Zerg of StarCraft--endless waves of cheap, disposable troops that just overrun you like a swarm of army ants.)
Oh, Elementals! Used properly, they can either be your nastiest asset or your worst [CENSORED] nightmare. Playing as a Clanner with elementals mounted on my Omnis, they become extra disposable armor until they detach, then they become a nasty little surprise on the level of burrowed Zerglings in StarCraft. Playing as an Inner Sphere commander, they are EVIL little buggers! If I focus on the Clanner Omnis, the Elementals are running around slashing my mechs' hamstrings and making my life miserable. If I focus on the bloody Toads, it uses up my ammo, generates huge heat with my lasers and PPCs, and I STILL have to deal with the Omnis pounding the stuffing out of me while I deal with all the [CENSORED] ankle-biters!
If I’m playing clans against IS, il likely have the disadvantage in numbers; Elementals really help with target saturation and distracting so I don’t get completely focus fired or spread to thin that I can’t hold or take an objective
got 2 battlegroups of roughly 14.4K BV 2.0, wobbies at 12 units (6 mechs, 4 tanks, a karnov, and a purifier terra unit) and the scorpion empire (clan goliath scorpion) at 10 units (5 mechs, a mars combat vehicle, a bandit H, and 3 elementals). i was only able to get it this "equal" by using C refits of mechs (a battlemaster and a griffin), and using a SLDF royal variant of the shadow hawk. my two remaining mechs are the mad cat TC (i want a mad cat that can get in there and do good damage) and a hellhound (using a dougram blockhead 1/285 mini... yeah going with a dougram style force)
The lack of Clan variety is literally hard wired into their design (and getting a later start didn't help either). You see it in later books as writers have to work harder to come up with reasons bring in more Clan designs. The very nature of the Clans' Omni tech quickly reduces the need for a large variety of mechs as only a couple in a given tonnage are really needed as they can be configured to work in so many different roles. While this started as "feature" it does seem to have become a major "bug" in the Clans' lore.
Yup. And add to that that non-omnis are relegated to second line duty where they wont see as much action under normal circumstances, even awesome stuff like the Kodiak (which is basically a Clan version of the Atlas)
Clan tech is better in every way, but that means they have to pay for it in higher BV and c-bills. this is why they balance by BV unlike in the video games. Though as a person who has only played the games and only mektek i have to ask do clan mechs have equal armor to their inner sphere counterparts of say the same weight say does an atlas have the same CT armor as a Dire wolf or a Kodiak? because i'm getting confusing messages, from what i've read, Clan armor can take more of a beating.. at least when ferro fiberous is invovled.
it means with clan FF armor, you'll spend less tonnage on it than IS counterparts. The total amount of armor you can put on mechs are determined by their weight as a balance system(they're called pips, like 100 ton mech has 47 pips on CT front and 15 pips on rear CT by default). You can pay 19.5 tons for using standard armor, or use more efficient system like clan Ferro-Fibrous and cover the mech in same level of protection for 16 tons of clan FF. thats what they mean clan armor protects better.
I've only recently gotten into Battletech, but I've started watching the 90s cartoon and just finished the episode that introduced Elementals yesterday. Holy shit, that was awesome. These little guys can hurt you...they kinda remind me of 40k Space Marines.
they kinda are... with all jetpacks :p And while the cartoon got retconned as being an inner sphere piece of anti-clan propaganda... thats how Elementals operate: jumping on mechs and starting to tear it apart at point blank range, even bashing the cockpit open if given the chance
A strange but effective tactic is to have lighter, faster battle armor, like a Slyph, ride your assault mechs, and the heavier armor, like gnomes, ride the light mechs. The strengths of each unit compliment the drawbacks of it's partner. One has the mobility, the other has the punch.
Lastly, be aware how easy it is to defeat a battle armor swarm attack. Once you swarm the mech, all it has to do is voluntarily drop prone in it's next turn and your battle armor will automatically be shaken loose. If it's smart enough to do this in water, or has jump jets that can carry it into level 2 water, your infantry will be automatically destroyed. Use leg attacks if your opponents start doing this to you on a regular basis.
Pretty sure the last bit only applies to standard infantry as BA are sealed.
@@KageRyuu6 Oof.
@@KageRyuu6 Would surprise me if rules didn't cover that.. they are called Elementals precisely because they can operate in almost any environment (including vacuum) and their armor is basically redesigned diving suits :p
@@thorveim1174 They might be seriously reduced in mobility givent they would lose the ability to jumpjet and be slowed down. Basically taking them out of the fight. But they wouldn't die
@@DIEGhostfish but then, even when stuck shouldnt they be able to still at least operate their weapons?
Two words. Omni. Mech.
Have your Elementals ride into battle on your light Omnimechs. A Firemoth suddenly becomes more useful as a Battle Armor taxi service than a flanker/backstabber. Load up a point of gnomes and drop them in the middle of the field, then go back for more. Some clan vehicles are also omni, but beware the default skill levels of clan vehicle pilots vs mech pilots. The Hephaestus scout tank is a beautiful little hover that can carry a point of armor on the outside as well as the inside.
Toads also make for great ablative armor.
The Firemoth was originally designed to carry infantry or elementals in pods under the arms the idea was scrapped but that doesn't reduce it's ability to have elementals riding on it.
I never understood the lore of why a mech had to be an Omni to Battle Armor. Weld some freaking rebar handles onto the side of a Wasp or whatever for some Cavalier Battle Armor to hang on to and go.
@@PaulGaither making it so elementals could only use clan mechs in the beginning. Inner sphere started developing their own omni’s in the mid 3050s
The inner sphere houses actually have battle armor infantry. They are just not as good as the Clan’s.
It is nice to see that yiu have expanded beyond 3025 era tech.
Well the inner sphere doesn't have warriors bred specifically for battle armor either i think only aerospace clan pilots are worse at their job than inner spehere most of the other warriors are better at their job, usually.
My wife will auto rage at the mere suggestion that there are Elementals in play, LOL. I've had more than a little sadistic glee with BA on tabletop sessions...
Im running an all mechanized army of elementals in vtols, and ground transports. Plus some heavy tank support
Beware of the LBX-5
Clan Hells Horses player, are we? -_^ (Seriously, the Hells Horses love standard armor teamed with Elementals. Played right, they're like the Zerg of StarCraft--endless waves of cheap, disposable troops that just overrun you like a swarm of army ants.)
Oh, Elementals! Used properly, they can either be your nastiest asset or your worst [CENSORED] nightmare. Playing as a Clanner with elementals mounted on my Omnis, they become extra disposable armor until they detach, then they become a nasty little surprise on the level of burrowed Zerglings in StarCraft. Playing as an Inner Sphere commander, they are EVIL little buggers! If I focus on the Clanner Omnis, the Elementals are running around slashing my mechs' hamstrings and making my life miserable. If I focus on the bloody Toads, it uses up my ammo, generates huge heat with my lasers and PPCs, and I STILL have to deal with the Omnis pounding the stuffing out of me while I deal with all the [CENSORED] ankle-biters!
If I’m playing clans against IS, il likely have the disadvantage in numbers; Elementals really help with target saturation and distracting so I don’t get completely focus fired or spread to thin that I can’t hold or take an objective
got 2 battlegroups of roughly 14.4K BV 2.0, wobbies at 12 units (6 mechs, 4 tanks, a karnov, and a purifier terra unit) and the scorpion empire (clan goliath scorpion) at 10 units (5 mechs, a mars combat vehicle, a bandit H, and 3 elementals). i was only able to get it this "equal" by using C refits of mechs (a battlemaster and a griffin), and using a SLDF royal variant of the shadow hawk. my two remaining mechs are the mad cat TC (i want a mad cat that can get in there and do good damage) and a hellhound (using a dougram blockhead 1/285 mini... yeah going with a dougram style force)
Thx for this Video about clan battle armor.
They're the best way to add 55 points of torso armor to a mech lol
The lack of Clan variety is literally hard wired into their design (and getting a later start didn't help either). You see it in later books as writers have to work harder to come up with reasons bring in more Clan designs. The very nature of the Clans' Omni tech quickly reduces the need for a large variety of mechs as only a couple in a given tonnage are really needed as they can be configured to work in so many different roles. While this started as "feature" it does seem to have become a major "bug" in the Clans' lore.
Yup. And add to that that non-omnis are relegated to second line duty where they wont see as much action under normal circumstances, even awesome stuff like the Kodiak (which is basically a Clan version of the Atlas)
then they added omnivehicles aero and tanks.
Clan tech is better in every way, but that means they have to pay for it in higher BV and c-bills. this is why they balance by BV unlike in the video games.
Though as a person who has only played the games and only mektek i have to ask do clan mechs have equal armor to their inner sphere counterparts of say the same weight say does an atlas have the same CT armor as a Dire wolf or a Kodiak? because i'm getting confusing messages, from what i've read, Clan armor can take more of a beating.. at least when ferro fiberous is invovled.
it means with clan FF armor, you'll spend less tonnage on it than IS counterparts. The total amount of armor you can put on mechs are determined by their weight as a balance system(they're called pips, like 100 ton mech has 47 pips on CT front and 15 pips on rear CT by default). You can pay 19.5 tons for using standard armor, or use more efficient system like clan Ferro-Fibrous and cover the mech in same level of protection for 16 tons of clan FF. thats what they mean clan armor protects better.
The whole clan is Flawed
Living universe? 😂
What's so funny?