'Gorilla' huh? I see that Starship Troopers reference right there! Still, good looking armor, and a good baseline for inner sphere battle armor just as the Elemental is for the Clans. Think I like the Elemental more for performance and such, but love the boxy robot feel the ISS has.
Hello Frog. I have been a champion of Battle Armor for decades. I saw the usefulness of BA long before most in my playing group and used BA as often as I could, when I could. By adding a 'mule' (robotic ammo and equipment carrier) to each group of BA, I was able to extend their operational ranges enough to penetrate enemy lines, disrupt enemy remote sensors, raid depots defended with convention infantry, blow up ammo dumps, and many, many other uses. By using the BA to find ways past patrols of enemy lines, I could infiltrate more BA and supporting vehicles to set up hidden repair and replenishment bases behind enemy lines. If I could gain air superiority, I would drop such things deep behind enemy lines and located places to set up such bases for BA operations. In one particular campaign, run by a friend, I did this as I dropped on the planet. Using Leopards and making it seem that they found the landing zones either 'too hot' to land forces, or of no particular use. The Leopards would return to areas where I had dropped my larger drop ships. When in reality, the Leopards dropped vehicles via parachutes, along with Battle Armor also using 'chutes to land as well. By doing this, I had deployed quite a lot of BA and supporting vehicles behind the enemy's lines, with orders to find a good hiding hole and stay put for a determined period of time. Meanwhile, the BA would carefully scout the area for enemy forces, collect data, and establish a well-hidden and defensively sited 'base' of operations where suits could return to be repaired, re-armored, and in some cases, re-armed. The net effect was to have small raiding groups, deep behind enemy lines, that would disrupt the enemy's rear guard, and destroy ammo dumps, supply centers, and even infantry barracks. It also gave me quite the advantage in knowing where my foe was getting his supplies from, how often, and how much, as well as knowing precisely where his command and control areas were. By the way... having BA forces in such hidden locations allowed me to raid Mech Repair and Refit sites 'at will', which caused a LOT of enemy forces to be sent from supporting the front, to seeking non-existent Mech forces doing the raiding.
@franksmedley8619 Your story, I think, shows the real potential of Battle Armor in a planet-scale conflict. Battle Armor is the perfect guerrilla force weapon- it's nasty enough to take on 'mechs amd win, but fairly easy to hide and move around on a strategic scale (just throw a tarp and some trash over it and throw it in the back of a shipping container, problem solved!). Using raiding forces of BA with some vehicles to give them greater maneuverability can absolutely hamstring your foes, all while your own maneuver elements are free to range far and strike fast. On another note, how were you simulating such large-scale campaigns with your buddies? That sounds like a ton of fun, but it also sounds really time-consuming.
@@angryscotsman93 : It took a LOT of time back 'in the day' when all we had was paper, dice, models, and paper or cardboard counters. Some campaigns took as much as a year to play out, playing every weekend, at least 2 days during the weekend. Usually, almost all day Saturday, and most of the day Sunday. We had 'house rules' for players that didn't show up. Usually, some other player not in the campaign would run their forces that weekend.
@@worldoftancraft :totally all tabletop game play using the originally printed rules and a few of the first TROs. We were lucky that one person had access to large format printing, and could thus print out large hex grid maps of planets for us. We could RP general orders to our forces and move counters on the map (there were two maps. double blind game play, unless we had something in the area giving us real time updated reports). At least until we maneuvered to a meeting engagement, then the hex terrain would dictate what kind of maps we would end up using for the battles, played out on 'normal' hex maps. Usually, both sides would write out their moves for all units (lance size or larger) and the BM (Battle Master) would move the counters. Each side had its own map, which non one on the other side was allowed to look at, unless special circumstances, like direct orbital overview.
I was hoping frog would mention it, I've used it a few times on tabletop and while I doubt it would win against other BA, I've noticed that other players often forget the jump booster and assume it moves 1/3 like an elemental.
I adore Quad 'Mechs, but must admit Quad Battle Armor has always confused me. It isn't worn like a suit of armor, the pilot limbs are not lined up with the suit limbs. What makes it Battle Armor rather than an ultra-light 'mech or vehicle?
I personally prefer the Gray Death standard, but that's for a simple reason. Inner sphere standard basically sacrifices a lot of speed, firepower, and just overall versatility in order to have a limited jump jet system. The grey death on the other hand sacrifices jump jets on the other hand to be perhaps the most versatile and cost effective per unit power armored infantry unit in the game, period. Essentially the only reason why grey death standard costs more per unit is because it has a somewhat more limited production base, and at one point in the franchise was actually being produced for lower cost *then* the inner sphere standard.
The SISBA motto: "It doesn't matter if you are slaughtering us 9/1. We can produce 10 units for every one of yours, so we win in the end." Thanks for the video.
I LOVE using IS BA!!! I use lots of my own custom designs as well, but you can't go wrong with the basics. My preferred load out? Flamer. Especially in Alpha Strike. Another really fun video, Frog! Thank you!
I'll be getting a couple stands of them in a couple weeks, so I'm on board with them! I do like how its just "IS Standard", because there's so many different manufacturers making their own its not a single stock model, as opposed to everyone's second stab at battle armor in the years to come.
Controversial opinion - it's better than Clan armor because it doesn't require a custom made genetically engineered superhuman to use it. IS powers are in no shortage of expendable conscripts who might even survive the armor training!
I love the look of the IS Battle Armor, and cant wait to use all the ones i got from the kickstarter. (Probably didn't need 3 platoons' worth of models, though, lol).
Some of the power armor designs in the BattleTech universe are simply too "rule of cool" for me to dismiss, even as I turn my snobbish nose to LAM's and ProtoMechs. While I hope they never replace Mechs or even Tanks in the setting (and I doubt they will), they're a welcome replacement for infantry units that seem to only exist as an afterthought for a force sheet, or to reemphasize the idea that Mechs are expensive, but life is cheap.
I like Protomechs. Not all. But I have a softspot for some. Not the Erinyes though. The lightest and least effective Protomech, the one most deserving of the label, "Overgrown battle armor with delusions of utility."
Another solid video. The IS Stabdard is a bit of lore I do enjoy a lot. The only thing I find weird is how quickly they developed them after finding the Clans. I mean, couldn't they have made it before, if it could be done this quickly? I guess one or more years of development could make more sense within the setting's own logic, I think.
Another great vid, though I admit I'm not a BA fan (but I'm not able to play table top) due to my style of tactical play. In a nutshell they slow me down. I know it may seem silly in other respects, but its what I've seen in other youtube BTA/Rogue game sessions.
I for one can't wait for them to arrive. One box will be cut up and painted as 3 stars for my comstar invader galaxy stars and the other one will become elh. I just hope they will arrive soon. I hope yours will arrive soon too!!!
No shame in respecting competition that comes close to you. Heck, there's often defeat in failing to do so, especially when your enemy can outproduce you.
Looks like the new design is slightly altered to invoke more of a Nightstar/Marauder-like vibe with that backpack. I would not be surprised if they did that to distinguish it a little more from the shapes of Warhammer 40K spacemarines.
I'm not super familiar with the intricacies of the lore, but couldn't Battle Armor forego the arm mounted weapon to carry something like a medium laser hooked into it's power supply as a "heavy weapons guy"? If they have good enough hand actuators, I don't see why that wouldn't work. A whole array of Battle Armor sized weapons could be made. Single Tube inferno SRM launcher with reloads carried by the wearer, or by another member of the squad of armored guys. Heavy machine gun a ton of ammo split amongst the lance(?) like a modern infantry squad. I might be drifting into space marine territory with all that, though.
An actual Medium Laser would be a serious weight increase. And frankly too big to not have it's own integrated shoulder mount. A battlesuit ML is 500 kilograms, literally half the total weight of an IS Standard. You really want a heavy or assault suit before even thinking about something that big. Team-operated heavy weapons are a thing for BA, just a rather niche one because actually using them seriously restricts their tactical mobility for lighter suits, and the big ones don't really need it to carry some big guns.
@@magni5648 Interesting. My entire knowledge of power armor is based on a couple of TH-cam videos, including this one, and the variety of weird suits you could use in MW4 Mercs. Suppose I'll have to read through the info about power armor on Sarna.
@@DoubleWhammy It's also worth noting that there are crew served weapons operated by more conventional infantry, sometime with pretty barebones exoskeletons to do things like load ammo with better speed and less fatigue.
personally, i think the IS standard battle armor has better aesthetics than the elemental. i also like the arm just doesnt dissapear into the laser in the new cgl design. little things i know, but little things mean more when your infantry among the feet of giants
Always here for more Battle Armor content! I tend to run Elementals and Gnomes for Battle armor, but if I am using an Inner Sphere force, my battle armor of choice is the Cavalier. Cavaliers are rugged, mobile, and only slightly (one pip) less resilient than the standard Elemental. As always, MF, thanks for the upload.
My friend and I play Davion, so Cavaliers are a common sight in our forces, along with the Infiltrator Mk. II (Puma), which is my personal favorite. A team of either MG or Flamer equipped Cavs and a Puma team can work wonders in the field!
I think the IS Standard battlearmor is lovable because it combines three things: 1) It's the plucky underdog compared to the fearsome Toads; 2) it is entirely sober and reasonable from start to finish and avoids the bonkers nonsense later battlearmor designs escalated to; and lastly 3) It kinda looks like it's wearing a trucker hat.
I only found out about Digimechs (Protomechs? Whatever, they're just Digimon power fantasies) a couple of days ago and I'm not impressed. _Livening Steel_ was a good power-armor game; lots of rules for falling through floors due to ground pressure, walking through walls for ambushes, and working out whether the building might collapse because someone just walked through a supporting wall
The availability is very nice, since you must fight a war with tools you have, but what truly shines from the Inner Sphere Standard Battle Armor? Its legacy. With the ISSBA, the Sphere realized that it could make effective battle armor of its own, and do so in mass production. And then some people started to ask the next question after "how do we make more of them more efficiently?" and "how best do we use these new tools?" They asked, "How do we do we make a better version?" or "How can we innovate the suit itself?" And while the Word of Blake would narrow the gap with the Elemental even further, others began to stop obsessing with chasing the Elemental, and started to focus on building the best battle armor they could to serve their needs. Where truly bold innovation and invention began.
My long time opponent and I made a spin off game we dubbed ronin at the time - what we did was took any humanoid shaped mechs - think Black Knight, Centurion etc- and stated they were battle armor and ran it as a location based armor in an RPG war game that blended shadowrun esk rpg and battle tech style combat - with far more mobility than mechs. once BA was intro'd to battle tech we both started wielding them when appropriate. I set raids for his unit to try and capture Battle Armor as he wanted so badly to field it. it was a great campaign again here i felt that IS Standard BA is like a SRM Carrier or SRM Carrier - stats happen to be the same, but probably all made different
The I/S Battle Armor always seemed to fall in an odd category for me. I WANT to like it. The idea is great. I'm OK with not having the SRM. The speed is acceptable for what it is. I even like the artwork. Unfortunately the 9 points of armor makes it so that few of the players I game with use them instead of standard infantry. There are SO many weapons on the field that do the 10 damage to take out a trooper with 1 hit that it really needs 1 more armor to be viable. JUST 1 more armor point. JUST 1 more. Meanwhile if you take a standard Jump Laser Platoon and hand out a Grenade launcher per squad they have they same movement profile as the Battle armor but can hit for 10 damage out to range 6. For less then half the BV. It is nice to not be wiped out by a pair of MGs or a flamer though.
@@sim.frischh9781 ... now I'm just imagining Elemental Skipping as a hobby of some garrison during the Clan Invasion... "Yeah we just toss em out across the lake, whoever's bounces most wins a case of beer."
Why do we like it the generic, House brand IS BA? Good enough to get the job done, cheap enough that a thousand unit lot is a rounding error when it falls off the back of the dropship. It's mil-spec with all the mindless, drooling adoration from fanboys and the dread from professionals that that term brings. We don't love it, we just like it enough to use it. And upgrade as soon as possible.
IS Standard, along with the Gray Death Standard is where it all began for the IS battle armor development. (wich took some weird turns.. like the sloth..) As the name suggests this is the IS BA all other IS BAs are measured against. Firepower, while highly flexible, is limited (and in no way comparable to the clan elementals who pack SRMs in addition to their arm mounted weapon wich is a huge chunk of firepower) and thus has to rely on getting close and personal with enemy mechs and vehicles, wich means the IS standard is an ambush predator BA in general really shine in City combat, being able to use buildings as cover but still being armored enough to resist small arms fire, wich means they are excellent at flushing out dug in infantry platoons without having to destroy entire buildings. Logistics wise IS Standards are easy on the bank account and are relatevily easy to maintain and support wich is the biggest plus. Basically anyone in the merc biz can afford them To note though is that Battlemechs can not carry BA, only omni mechs have the necesary equipment for BA to ride them. Wich is a bigger issue for the IS then for the Clans, so a dedicated transport vehicle would be a good idea if you dont want to splurge on omni mechs. The IS standard is a worthwhile addition to any mercenary force, adding more flexibility and are an excellent addition to any combined force doctrine
@@WolfHredaMag clamp BA also hinders the carrying Battlemech in speed and agility, where an OmniMech is unaffected. According to the Cargo Carying movement penalties, a mech carrying up to 25% of it’s total weight (but no less than 10%) suffers a -3MP or 1/2 MP (round down) penalty to walking speed, whichever is less. That means that a 20 ton Locust carrying a squad of ISSBA (Four 1-ton troopers) would drop from 8/12 to a 5/8 movement profile until it ditched its charges. Carrying less than 10% has no movement penalty, so heavier mechs would have an easier time of ferrying MagClamp BA into the battlefield, especially the heavier BA models. Omnimechs discount 3 tons of passengers before applying movement penalty calculations. There’s a bit more to it than that, but those details only really apply when considering Protomechs or non-quad assault BA.
@@ericfeatherstone776 I just love the picture of mag-clamping a bunch of battle armor to a Phoenix Hawk, and every time it lands you hear, "Head count!"
Well, then, I have a follow-up question... How well d'you think a hovercraft would handle a boarding party of Battle Armor launching off of it to tackle a Clanner 'mech? Specifically, at incredibly high speed?
Eager to get my hands on some of this armour. Half thinking of doing a full drop company of this stuff. Basically jump capable Mechs & Battle Armour unit.
@calumdeighton My thoughts exactly. My other idea was essentially a "crisis response force" for the Republic of the Sphere- a rapid-deployment spec ops unit of Battle Armor and 'Mechs that can stealthily deploy to pirate or insurgent-controlled worlds and utterly destroy said enemy's entire logistic and command infrastructure before they can react, thus leaving an easy target for more conventional follow-up units. Against more powerful foes, like the Falcons or the Wolves, they're instead tasked with logistics raiding deep inside enemy territory, using stealth DropShips and JumpShips to strike logistical targets and vanish.
It’s one of those things where I think with the trade-off from IS tech to clan tech dropping the SRM2 in favor of the reasonable amount of armor makes much more sense. And as they fleshed out battle armor weapons I think the IS standard gets some nice upgrades, probably do more to close the gap for itself whereas for elemental suits are kind of already in a great spot from the start.
I guess I’m odd man out and found little use for elements or battle armour. Light and medium mechs just ran around them. Heavy mech ignored them and battle armour was vulnerable to artillery. 🤷♂️ It never occurred with my local group but I imagine battle armour would do well vs conventional infantry. But that’s a guess. 🤷♂️
They do. The machine gun option for ISSBA? That's putting out damage like a mech's Machine gun. Then there's the Grenadier variant with two mech scale flamers.
The IS Standard might be one of my favourite Battle Armours. It just _looks_ right, something actually worn made of purely functional parts with no extraneous features or aesthetics. It looks great because it doesn’t look good, right?
@@brothersgt.grauwolff6716 Exactly. It’s also easy to how someone would wear it, like there’s obviously a person shape as the core the armour is an extension from rather than some armours where it’s hard to tell how a person could put it on without contortion or amputation.
It feels like a decent solution to Clan Elementals in a defensive role rather than offensive. Shooting them off a friendly mech with another mech would likely cause a lot of damage but having your own BA's jump out from cover after the Elementals are distracted with the larger prey could give them the edge. If nothing else you've forced a choice from them and dropping off the mech leaves them vulnerable to the heavier weapons. It doesn't need to be as good as an Elemental, just good enough.
Definitely better for a mobile force than conventional infantry. Nothing stopping you from filling the SRM with inferno and keeping an ammo truck and transport choppers handy
The Elemental even after all this time both real world and in universe is still the gold standard for general purpose medium battle armor, even the Elemental III is only an incremental improvement over the original, and the modular weapon mount allows it to continue to keep up with advances in battle armor scale weapons. My favorite IS battle armor is the Longinus, which is the closest the IS has come to developing a copy of the Elemental battle armor, and its only major disadvantages compared to the Elemental is that it has slightly less armor protection, only one shot for its SRM2, and the biggest issue is it can't jump while it has its SRM launcher attached.
The IS Standard, much like the Rakshasa battlemech, represents the Inner Sphere reacting to the incursion of Clan technology into its consciousness, and are logical jumps in IS technological development in response. They are both solid and serviceable designs that deserve more respect than the meme humor that they both tend to attract. Do they match 1-to-1 to their Clan counterparts? No. But are they perfectly functional when you've grasped their limitations? Yes. Considering how quickly the researchers and engineers in the Inner Sphere had to scrabble these developments together in the face of an unforeseen, almost alien invasion force, I think the Inner Sphere did a pretty good job in creating the IS Standard.
@@bthsr7113 That is arguably true; the IS Standard is definitely a more versatile platform for its intended role compared to the Rakshasa which is a rather costly and failed attempt at emulating a Clan Omnimech. But it can be argued that the Rakshasa isn't a BAD 'Mech platform, just not a successful one in the context of its intended goal.
3:42 i read Wiliam Keith's Warstrider novel series. Like Battletech but with the Starleague replaced by a resurgent Japan (this was written in the 1990's when US fears of Japan overtaking its economy was real). Interface with almost everything was via direct neural connection to the brain of the user ("jacking"). Later books had more nanotech. Really a good read.
While slightly below the Elemental in raw stats it does make up for that narrativeluy in The IS can crank out a battle armor pilot a lot faster and in greater numbers than the Clans can. They have always had a place in my long running Mercs list since I first could get them but darn it I need to get some minis XD
Something to consider: part of the design constraints of IS Standard armor was the wearer wasn’t expected to be an 7ft+ tall wall of muscles and whoopass, instead the pilot is a fairly average soldier. This exacerbates the “how much shit can I bring?” Problem even more than the bulk of IS tech alone.
The Merc unit I ran in the 90s and 00s eventually got a company worth of the armor. In my specialization of city fighting the armor is nasty. Either as an ambusher or spotter.
The artwork is grand. Its mostly MechFrogs fault I'm even thinking of playing with them. Didn't have the pleasure yet, need more time with the rules. Cheers
Wait, no MF version with Flamer? FRAUD! XD Jokes aside, the IS Standard is the very beginning of Inner Sphere BA development, and thus will always have that shine that is the title of "the first". It might get overtake, it might get relegated to the rear, it might fall out of favor, but it will ALWAYS be "the first". Creating the foundation that is every following IS BA.
The design makes me think of the Prototype suit from Halo Legends: Prototype but unfortunately I think the Prototype would outclass these boys due to it having multiple missiles, a dome energy shield, some sticky grenades and a heavy gatling gun on its arm………oh and the crazy nuke it’s got as a last resort 😂😅
I'm a little sad we didn't get a MF variant. Granted it would just BA armed with a plasma rifle. Its almost a crime how underutilized the Battle Armor Plasma Rifle it is.
This is one of the units in the game that has deep legacy. The need to always improve on the ISSBA spurred so many excellent designs. I love BA and the ISSBA holds a special place in my heart.
Even though im inner sphere forever i have a soft spot for the original clan elemental armour...not sure why as im pretty much always on the receiving end of them lol :-) the inner sphere copy is decent enough but give me a few companies of infantry and im happy...no need for the fancy armour flesh is cheap :-)
I've been rocking a lot more BA since I've started playing Alpha Strike. Can't wait to grab some of these so I can stop having Elementals stand in for all of it
You forgot the best variant! The Andurien Fa Sure. It may be the poor man's Fa Shih, but it's still a reliable unit, that can be a heck if a surprise on the field
Since I've started reading stuff further down the timeline, I've begun to notice a severe and INEXCUSABLE lack of focus on Battle Armor in most stories, especially amongst Inner Sphere armies. I mean, seriously- even with their peacetime equipment drawdowns, how does the Republic of the Sphere not have SWARMS of Battle Armor-equipped troops? They're cheaper to operate and maintain than BattleMechs, they can be used for plenty of lower-intensity missions like crowd control or counter-terrorism, and they can be transported over great distances much more easily than Battlemechs. Every time I read about Malvina Hazen overrunning multiple regiments of Republic militia during the Desant, I just wanted to scream, "WHERE IS THE INNER SPHERE BATTLE ARMOR!?" I'd like to see the Butcher of Wotan get anything done when her stupid bird 'mech is buried under a full company of Inner Sphere Standards.
I like that the IS tended to specialize armors. Look at the DC Kage and Raiden. Ones a stealth suit the other is heavily armored, and both look better than Elementals.
IS Standard is pretty crap when compared against Elementals. Just having Harjel gives the Clanners a huge advantage when it comes to fielding effective units. Plus Elemental standard has enough armour to tank a PPC hit (IIRC), and heal from it while (IIRC) a large laser is enough to take out standard. There's few weapons that can fully KO a clanner, while that's much less true for the Standard. It might have done well enough on the Clan front, but where it really held its own was in fights against other IS powers. There it was often fearsome when used in small unit tactics, which was much more of a possibility when you're facing larger tank and infantry forces.
I am kinda surprised that there was no Hale memory core version or something from the age of war. Since having something for troppers to cross radioactive area would have been useful.
The SLDF was juuuuuust dipping its toes into the concept in its twilight years. And mainly for special operations. The tech didn't have time to mature or spread to general combat use. Though there were powered exoskeletons for specialized infantry, such as loaders on heavy crew served weapons in the succession wars. And jump infantry. So Battle Armor isn't as much of a revolution as first seeming.
When seeing this image at 1:40 the first thing coming to my mind is: Wow, this suit has a massive thigh gap. The legs are 4 inches or more apart. Never seen that in a human. No human anatomy can fit in this thing. (same with clan elementals and W4k space marines).
While it is inferior compare to the Elementals or Toads they were perfect for supporting Mechs and Harassing Light Mechs who wanted to perform a flanking position. I love this Battle Armor because it is Underrated and I love the design of the Suit.
Because it's the standard? What more else is there to say? Considering that IS units field less troopers in a BA squad than their clan counterparts it's almost apples and oranges to compare them head to head.
![PASULOL รามเกียรติ์ ตอนที่ 4 นนทกพบรัก [Ramakien Ep.4: Nonthok in love]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMUQgmZzf_A/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TH] 2024 PMGC League | Survival Stage วันที่ 1 | PUBG MOBILE Global Championship](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FVFT-PFwU80/mqdefault.jpg)
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [1/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vLGjxFL6U_I/mqdefault.jpg)
"Hey mom, can you get me some Elementals?"
"We have Elementals at home"
The Elementals at home:
As long as the "Elementals at home" can still jam a satchel charge into a 'Mech's hip actuator and cripple it almost off the bat, I'll take 'em.
Are they at least able to cling on to out Madcat at home?
@@christianholzschuh6853 Davion Rakshasa: "My moment of destiny is here!"
'Gorilla' huh? I see that Starship Troopers reference right there!
Still, good looking armor, and a good baseline for inner sphere battle armor just as the Elemental is for the Clans. Think I like the Elemental more for performance and such, but love the boxy robot feel the ISS has.
Hello Frog.
I have been a champion of Battle Armor for decades. I saw the usefulness of BA long before most in my playing group and used BA as often as I could, when I could. By adding a 'mule' (robotic ammo and equipment carrier) to each group of BA, I was able to extend their operational ranges enough to penetrate enemy lines, disrupt enemy remote sensors, raid depots defended with convention infantry, blow up ammo dumps, and many, many other uses.
By using the BA to find ways past patrols of enemy lines, I could infiltrate more BA and supporting vehicles to set up hidden repair and replenishment bases behind enemy lines. If I could gain air superiority, I would drop such things deep behind enemy lines and located places to set up such bases for BA operations.
In one particular campaign, run by a friend, I did this as I dropped on the planet. Using Leopards and making it seem that they found the landing zones either 'too hot' to land forces, or of no particular use. The Leopards would return to areas where I had dropped my larger drop ships. When in reality, the Leopards dropped vehicles via parachutes, along with Battle Armor also using 'chutes to land as well.
By doing this, I had deployed quite a lot of BA and supporting vehicles behind the enemy's lines, with orders to find a good hiding hole and stay put for a determined period of time. Meanwhile, the BA would carefully scout the area for enemy forces, collect data, and establish a well-hidden and defensively sited 'base' of operations where suits could return to be repaired, re-armored, and in some cases, re-armed.
The net effect was to have small raiding groups, deep behind enemy lines, that would disrupt the enemy's rear guard, and destroy ammo dumps, supply centers, and even infantry barracks. It also gave me quite the advantage in knowing where my foe was getting his supplies from, how often, and how much, as well as knowing precisely where his command and control areas were.
By the way... having BA forces in such hidden locations allowed me to raid Mech Repair and Refit sites 'at will', which caused a LOT of enemy forces to be sent from supporting the front, to seeking non-existent Mech forces doing the raiding.
@franksmedley8619 Your story, I think, shows the real potential of Battle Armor in a planet-scale conflict. Battle Armor is the perfect guerrilla force weapon- it's nasty enough to take on 'mechs amd win, but fairly easy to hide and move around on a strategic scale (just throw a tarp and some trash over it and throw it in the back of a shipping container, problem solved!). Using raiding forces of BA with some vehicles to give them greater maneuverability can absolutely hamstring your foes, all while your own maneuver elements are free to range far and strike fast.
On another note, how were you simulating such large-scale campaigns with your buddies? That sounds like a ton of fun, but it also sounds really time-consuming.
@@angryscotsman93 : It took a LOT of time back 'in the day' when all we had was paper, dice, models, and paper or cardboard counters. Some campaigns took as much as a year to play out, playing every weekend, at least 2 days during the weekend. Usually, almost all day Saturday, and most of the day Sunday. We had 'house rules' for players that didn't show up. Usually, some other player not in the campaign would run their forces that weekend.
What's the way you employed to play this campaign? Just table top or something complicated in MegaMek?
@@worldoftancraft :totally all tabletop game play using the originally printed rules and a few of the first TROs. We were lucky that one person had access to large format printing, and could thus print out large hex grid maps of planets for us. We could RP general orders to our forces and move counters on the map (there were two maps. double blind game play, unless we had something in the area giving us real time updated reports). At least until we maneuvered to a meeting engagement, then the hex terrain would dictate what kind of maps we would end up using for the battles, played out on 'normal' hex maps. Usually, both sides would write out their moves for all units (lance size or larger) and the BM (Battle Master) would move the counters. Each side had its own map, which non one on the other side was allowed to look at, unless special circumstances, like direct orbital overview.
The updated ilClan IS Standard is one of my favourite pieces of art in Battletech. Look at that thing. Badass.
I was hoping frog would mention it, I've used it a few times on tabletop and while I doubt it would win against other BA, I've noticed that other players often forget the jump booster and assume it moves 1/3 like an elemental.
I love all types of Battle Armors! Can't wait to paint the new CGL ones for the Inner Sphere powers.
Saaame.
I'd really love some Amazon battle armor honestly.
Same same, tho Imma have to do some reposing. The copy and paste armors are slightly dissapointing imo
I enjoy the IS standard, but the Quad BAs are my true loves on the table top. The Rottweilers and Shen Longs taking the top spots.
I adore Quad 'Mechs, but must admit Quad Battle Armor has always confused me. It isn't worn like a suit of armor, the pilot limbs are not lined up with the suit limbs. What makes it Battle Armor rather than an ultra-light 'mech or vehicle?
@@keeganm139 There is that... but just look at the firepower!
I personally prefer the Gray Death standard, but that's for a simple reason. Inner sphere standard basically sacrifices a lot of speed, firepower, and just overall versatility in order to have a limited jump jet system. The grey death on the other hand sacrifices jump jets on the other hand to be perhaps the most versatile and cost effective per unit power armored infantry unit in the game, period. Essentially the only reason why grey death standard costs more per unit is because it has a somewhat more limited production base, and at one point in the franchise was actually being produced for lower cost *then* the inner sphere standard.
The SISBA motto: "It doesn't matter if you are slaughtering us 9/1. We can produce 10 units for every one of yours, so we win in the end." Thanks for the video.
I LOVE using IS BA!!! I use lots of my own custom designs as well, but you can't go wrong with the basics.
My preferred load out? Flamer. Especially in Alpha Strike.
Another really fun video, Frog! Thank you!
I'll be getting a couple stands of them in a couple weeks, so I'm on board with them!
I do like how its just "IS Standard", because there's so many different manufacturers making their own its not a single stock model, as opposed to everyone's second stab at battle armor in the years to come.
Controversial opinion - it's better than Clan armor because it doesn't require a custom made genetically engineered superhuman to use it. IS powers are in no shortage of expendable conscripts who might even survive the armor training!
I love the look of the IS Battle Armor, and cant wait to use all the ones i got from the kickstarter. (Probably didn't need 3 platoons' worth of models, though, lol).
Some of the power armor designs in the BattleTech universe are simply too "rule of cool" for me to dismiss, even as I turn my snobbish nose to LAM's and ProtoMechs. While I hope they never replace Mechs or even Tanks in the setting (and I doubt they will), they're a welcome replacement for infantry units that seem to only exist as an afterthought for a force sheet, or to reemphasize the idea that Mechs are expensive, but life is cheap.
I like Protomechs. Not all. But I have a softspot for some.
Not the Erinyes though. The lightest and least effective Protomech, the one most deserving of the label, "Overgrown battle armor with delusions of utility."
Love battle armour my favourites gotta be the Wobbie Purifier Adaptive stealth armour SNEAKIE BOY
Another solid video. The IS Stabdard is a bit of lore I do enjoy a lot. The only thing I find weird is how quickly they developed them after finding the Clans. I mean, couldn't they have made it before, if it could be done this quickly? I guess one or more years of development could make more sense within the setting's own logic, I think.
Another great vid, though I admit I'm not a BA fan (but I'm not able to play table top) due to my style of tactical play. In a nutshell they slow me down. I know it may seem silly in other respects, but its what I've seen in other youtube BTA/Rogue game sessions.
Folks in suits of armor are a great way to humble a mech jock
Very true
I for one can't wait for them to arrive. One box will be cut up and painted as 3 stars for my comstar invader galaxy stars and the other one will become elh. I just hope they will arrive soon. I hope yours will arrive soon too!!!
Excellent plan.
@@MechanicalFrog what's your plan for them?
This is big talk for a frog wearing Clan Elemental armor.
I'm innocent. Can't you see my halo?
No shame in respecting competition that comes close to you. Heck, there's often defeat in failing to do so, especially when your enemy can outproduce you.
Looks like the new design is slightly altered to invoke more of a Nightstar/Marauder-like vibe with that backpack. I would not be surprised if they did that to distinguish it a little more from the shapes of Warhammer 40K spacemarines.
another good battlearmor video, and all the other battlearmor videos which noone else has really covered. thanks man
Glad you enjoyed!
Great introduction to IS battle armor. Thanks Frog!
My pleasure!
I'm not super familiar with the intricacies of the lore, but couldn't Battle Armor forego the arm mounted weapon to carry something like a medium laser hooked into it's power supply as a "heavy weapons guy"? If they have good enough hand actuators, I don't see why that wouldn't work. A whole array of Battle Armor sized weapons could be made. Single Tube inferno SRM launcher with reloads carried by the wearer, or by another member of the squad of armored guys. Heavy machine gun a ton of ammo split amongst the lance(?) like a modern infantry squad. I might be drifting into space marine territory with all that, though.
An actual Medium Laser would be a serious weight increase. And frankly too big to not have it's own integrated shoulder mount. A battlesuit ML is 500 kilograms, literally half the total weight of an IS Standard. You really want a heavy or assault suit before even thinking about something that big.
Team-operated heavy weapons are a thing for BA, just a rather niche one because actually using them seriously restricts their tactical mobility for lighter suits, and the big ones don't really need it to carry some big guns.
@@magni5648 Interesting. My entire knowledge of power armor is based on a couple of TH-cam videos, including this one, and the variety of weird suits you could use in MW4 Mercs. Suppose I'll have to read through the info about power armor on Sarna.
@@DoubleWhammy It's also worth noting that there are crew served weapons operated by more conventional infantry, sometime with pretty barebones exoskeletons to do things like load ammo with better speed and less fatigue.
personally, i think the IS standard battle armor has better aesthetics than the elemental. i also like the arm just doesnt dissapear into the laser in the new cgl design. little things i know, but little things mean more when your infantry among the feet of giants
Are there more battle armor vids coming? Would love to see the Longinus
I have covered a few in the distant past.
Always here for more Battle Armor content! I tend to run Elementals and Gnomes for Battle armor, but if I am using an Inner Sphere force, my battle armor of choice is the Cavalier. Cavaliers are rugged, mobile, and only slightly (one pip) less resilient than the standard Elemental.
As always, MF, thanks for the upload.
My friend and I play Davion, so Cavaliers are a common sight in our forces, along with the Infiltrator Mk. II (Puma), which is my personal favorite. A team of either MG or Flamer equipped Cavs and a Puma team can work wonders in the field!
I think the IS Standard battlearmor is lovable because it combines three things: 1) It's the plucky underdog compared to the fearsome Toads; 2) it is entirely sober and reasonable from start to finish and avoids the bonkers nonsense later battlearmor designs escalated to; and lastly 3) It kinda looks like it's wearing a trucker hat.
I only found out about Digimechs (Protomechs? Whatever, they're just Digimon power fantasies) a couple of days ago and I'm not impressed.
_Livening Steel_ was a good power-armor game; lots of rules for falling through floors due to ground pressure, walking through walls for ambushes, and working out whether the building might collapse because someone just walked through a supporting wall
The availability is very nice, since you must fight a war with tools you have, but what truly shines from the Inner Sphere Standard Battle Armor?
Its legacy.
With the ISSBA, the Sphere realized that it could make effective battle armor of its own, and do so in mass production. And then some people started to ask the next question after "how do we make more of them more efficiently?" and "how best do we use these new tools?" They asked, "How do we do we make a better version?" or "How can we innovate the suit itself?" And while the Word of Blake would narrow the gap with the Elemental even further, others began to stop obsessing with chasing the Elemental, and started to focus on building the best battle armor they could to serve their needs. Where truly bold innovation and invention began.
Where is the MF variant? :D
Sort of is what it is with the battle armor.
My long time opponent and I made a spin off game we dubbed ronin at the time - what we did was took any humanoid shaped mechs - think Black Knight, Centurion etc- and stated they were battle armor and ran it as a location based armor in an RPG war game that blended shadowrun esk rpg and battle tech style combat - with far more mobility than mechs. once BA was intro'd to battle tech we both started wielding them when appropriate.
I set raids for his unit to try and capture Battle Armor as he wanted so badly to field it. it was a great campaign
again here i felt that IS Standard BA is like a SRM Carrier or SRM Carrier - stats happen to be the same, but probably all made different
Why? Grey Death is why.
Hard book to forget; if I’m remembering correctly, someone got PPC’d after his cockpit was breached for being such a Chad.
Fair point
why does the picture look like it has a chest/'torso' mounted laser on the battle armour...?
Some sort of optics package
this looks like a planetside 2 new conglomerate max
but with a jumpack
love it
The I/S Battle Armor always seemed to fall in an odd category for me.
I WANT to like it. The idea is great. I'm OK with not having the SRM.
The speed is acceptable for what it is. I even like the artwork.
Unfortunately the 9 points of armor makes it so that few of the players I
game with use them instead of standard infantry.
There are SO many weapons on the field that do the 10 damage to take out
a trooper with 1 hit that it really needs 1 more armor to be viable.
JUST 1 more armor point. JUST 1 more.
Meanwhile if you take a standard Jump Laser Platoon and hand out a
Grenade launcher per squad they have they same movement profile
as the Battle armor but can hit for 10 damage out to range 6.
For less then half the BV.
It is nice to not be wiped out by a pair of MGs or a flamer though.
What? No MF Variant of the Battle Armor with a Plasma Rifle or gauss Rifle? xD
What a missed opportunity
Sadly, one must content themselves with the Shen Long's 4 BA scale gauss weapons in a turret mount.
The IS Standard armour has one true advantage over elementals. The guys inside are way less wierd and annoying to speak with
Hah
Yeah but the Elementals are way better at football.
@@jordanhampton7144 I instantly believe that, the Clan Elemental is much more streamlined, so if the mech throwws them, they will fly way bettter XD
@@sim.frischh9781 ... now I'm just imagining Elemental Skipping as a hobby of some garrison during the Clan Invasion... "Yeah we just toss em out across the lake, whoever's bounces most wins a case of beer."
@@mistformsquirrel Definitely sounds like a worthy past time event! XD
They seem a bit bigger then I thought they were going by the picture with the Crab. Great video as always.
Why do we like it the generic, House brand IS BA? Good enough to get the job done, cheap enough that a thousand unit lot is a rounding error when it falls off the back of the dropship. It's mil-spec with all the mindless, drooling adoration from fanboys and the dread from professionals that that term brings. We don't love it, we just like it enough to use it. And upgrade as soon as possible.
Sorry, team elemental all the way. Only time in BT you have to wonder who is more valuable. The metal or the meat?
I do so love me some battle armor. I think the GDL have the whole doctrine perfected.
That intro music was hawt
I am not that strog ar tall, so where can I get MY battle armpr ? Leona.thanks for the vid.
Plans on doing a (likely long) dive into infantry? Lot of material to work with on the topic.
Huzzah!!
I'm willing to bet in Frog's garage are 6 standard IS battle armor suits ready to go all armed with flamers 😎. Peace of Blate be with you Adapt.
Elemental all the way
IS Standard, along with the Gray Death Standard is where it all began for the IS battle armor development. (wich took some weird turns.. like the sloth..)
As the name suggests this is the IS BA all other IS BAs are measured against. Firepower, while highly flexible, is limited (and in no way comparable to the clan elementals who pack SRMs in addition to their arm mounted weapon wich is a huge chunk of firepower) and thus has to rely on getting close and personal with enemy mechs and vehicles, wich means the IS standard is an ambush predator
BA in general really shine in City combat, being able to use buildings as cover but still being armored enough to resist small arms fire, wich means they are excellent at flushing out dug in infantry platoons without having to destroy entire buildings.
Logistics wise IS Standards are easy on the bank account and are relatevily easy to maintain and support wich is the biggest plus. Basically anyone in the merc biz can afford them
To note though is that Battlemechs can not carry BA, only omni mechs have the necesary equipment for BA to ride them. Wich is a bigger issue for the IS then for the Clans, so a dedicated transport vehicle would be a good idea if you dont want to splurge on omni mechs.
The IS standard is a worthwhile addition to any mercenary force, adding more flexibility and are an excellent addition to any combined force doctrine
If they have mag clamps, any 'mech can carry battle armor. They might fall off, though.
@@WolfHredaMag clamp BA also hinders the carrying Battlemech in speed and agility, where an OmniMech is unaffected. According to the Cargo Carying movement penalties, a mech carrying up to 25% of it’s total weight (but no less than 10%) suffers a -3MP or 1/2 MP (round down) penalty to walking speed, whichever is less. That means that a 20 ton Locust carrying a squad of ISSBA (Four 1-ton troopers) would drop from 8/12 to a 5/8 movement profile until it ditched its charges.
Carrying less than 10% has no movement penalty, so heavier mechs would have an easier time of ferrying MagClamp BA into the battlefield, especially the heavier BA models.
Omnimechs discount 3 tons of passengers before applying movement penalty calculations.
There’s a bit more to it than that, but those details only really apply when considering Protomechs or non-quad assault BA.
@@ericfeatherstone776 I just love the picture of mag-clamping a bunch of battle armor to a Phoenix Hawk, and every time it lands you hear, "Head count!"
@@WolfHreda Indeed but IS BA in general rarely have them, and the IS standard only has battle claws
Well, then, I have a follow-up question...
How well d'you think a hovercraft would handle a boarding party of Battle Armor launching off of it to tackle a Clanner 'mech? Specifically, at incredibly high speed?
Eager to get my hands on some of this armour. Half thinking of doing a full drop company of this stuff. Basically jump capable Mechs & Battle Armour unit.
@calumdeighton My thoughts exactly. My other idea was essentially a "crisis response force" for the Republic of the Sphere- a rapid-deployment spec ops unit of Battle Armor and 'Mechs that can stealthily deploy to pirate or insurgent-controlled worlds and utterly destroy said enemy's entire logistic and command infrastructure before they can react, thus leaving an easy target for more conventional follow-up units. Against more powerful foes, like the Falcons or the Wolves, they're instead tasked with logistics raiding deep inside enemy territory, using stealth DropShips and JumpShips to strike logistical targets and vanish.
@@angryscotsman93 Love the idea. And my Drop Company can be the emergency response force for help.
I need to pick up a couple of squads for my GDL & Silver Hawk Irregular forces. Both the flamer and laser option have potential in AS at least.
It’s one of those things where I think with the trade-off from IS tech to clan tech dropping the SRM2 in favor of the reasonable amount of armor makes much more sense. And as they fleshed out battle armor weapons I think the IS standard gets some nice upgrades, probably do more to close the gap for itself whereas for elemental suits are kind of already in a great spot from the start.
2:38 what is that Gray Zone on the map?
Very contested zone
i just think it looks neat
Truth
Cool armor
I hope it is, must get pretty warm with those jump jets :V
Ah yes, itty bitty murder machines
I guess I’m odd man out and found little use for elements or battle armour.
Light and medium mechs just ran around them. Heavy mech ignored them and battle armour was vulnerable to artillery. 🤷♂️
It never occurred with my local group but I imagine battle armour would do well vs conventional infantry. But that’s a guess. 🤷♂️
They do. The machine gun option for ISSBA? That's putting out damage like a mech's Machine gun. Then there's the Grenadier variant with two mech scale flamers.
Battle armor is just plain cool.
can't wait until the IS BA comes out as I didn't select it as part of my KS
The IS Standard might be one of my favourite Battle Armours. It just _looks_ right, something actually worn made of purely functional parts with no extraneous features or aesthetics.
It looks great because it doesn’t look good, right?
Function over Form
@@brothersgt.grauwolff6716 Exactly. It’s also easy to how someone would wear it, like there’s obviously a person shape as the core the armour is an extension from rather than some armours where it’s hard to tell how a person could put it on without contortion or amputation.
I heard 'Froggo One' at first at the start and was surprised how fitting that was until I realized I misheard.
It feels like a decent solution to Clan Elementals in a defensive role rather than offensive.
Shooting them off a friendly mech with another mech would likely cause a lot of damage but having your own BA's jump out from cover after the Elementals are distracted with the larger prey could give them the edge.
If nothing else you've forced a choice from them and dropping off the mech leaves them vulnerable to the heavier weapons.
It doesn't need to be as good as an Elemental, just good enough.
Definitely better for a mobile force than conventional infantry. Nothing stopping you from filling the SRM with inferno and keeping an ammo truck and transport choppers handy
The Elemental even after all this time both real world and in universe is still the gold standard for general purpose medium battle armor, even the Elemental III is only an incremental improvement over the original, and the modular weapon mount allows it to continue to keep up with advances in battle armor scale weapons. My favorite IS battle armor is the Longinus, which is the closest the IS has come to developing a copy of the Elemental battle armor, and its only major disadvantages compared to the Elemental is that it has slightly less armor protection, only one shot for its SRM2, and the biggest issue is it can't jump while it has its SRM launcher attached.
The IS Standard, much like the Rakshasa battlemech, represents the Inner Sphere reacting to the incursion of Clan technology into its consciousness, and are logical jumps in IS technological development in response. They are both solid and serviceable designs that deserve more respect than the meme humor that they both tend to attract. Do they match 1-to-1 to their Clan counterparts? No. But are they perfectly functional when you've grasped their limitations? Yes. Considering how quickly the researchers and engineers in the Inner Sphere had to scrabble these developments together in the face of an unforeseen, almost alien invasion force, I think the Inner Sphere did a pretty good job in creating the IS Standard.
They did a much better job with ISSBA than the Rakshasa.
@@bthsr7113 That is arguably true; the IS Standard is definitely a more versatile platform for its intended role compared to the Rakshasa which is a rather costly and failed attempt at emulating a Clan Omnimech. But it can be argued that the Rakshasa isn't a BAD 'Mech platform, just not a successful one in the context of its intended goal.
3:42 i read Wiliam Keith's Warstrider novel series. Like Battletech but with the Starleague replaced by a resurgent Japan (this was written in the 1990's when US fears of Japan overtaking its economy was real). Interface with almost everything was via direct neural connection to the brain of the user ("jacking"). Later books had more nanotech. Really a good read.
While slightly below the Elemental in raw stats it does make up for that narrativeluy in The IS can crank out a battle armor pilot a lot faster and in greater numbers than the Clans can. They have always had a place in my long running Mercs list since I first could get them but darn it I need to get some minis XD
I love IS armour, it's one of the main things convincing me to finally start playing further into the timeline
Something to consider: part of the design constraints of IS Standard armor was the wearer wasn’t expected to be an 7ft+ tall wall of muscles and whoopass, instead the pilot is a fairly average soldier. This exacerbates the “how much shit can I bring?” Problem even more than the bulk of IS tech alone.
I've primarily used tanks, Vtols and battlemechs… it would be interesting to try a battle armor.
The Merc unit I ran in the 90s and 00s eventually got a company worth of the armor. In my specialization of city fighting the armor is nasty. Either as an ambusher or spotter.
Great stuff, and your colour plates are, as always excellent. I love the Lego battle armour too!
The artwork is grand. Its mostly MechFrogs fault I'm even thinking of playing with them. Didn't have the pleasure yet, need more time with the rules. Cheers
Wait, no MF version with Flamer? FRAUD! XD
Jokes aside, the IS Standard is the very beginning of Inner Sphere BA development, and thus will always have that shine that is the title of "the first".
It might get overtake, it might get relegated to the rear, it might fall out of favor, but it will ALWAYS be "the first".
Creating the foundation that is every following IS BA.
Precisely. This set the stage for ALL the ones that came after.
The design makes me think of the Prototype suit from Halo Legends: Prototype but unfortunately I think the Prototype would outclass these boys due to it having multiple missiles, a dome energy shield, some sticky grenades and a heavy gatling gun on its arm………oh and the crazy nuke it’s got as a last resort 😂😅
I'm a little sad we didn't get a MF variant. Granted it would just BA armed with a plasma rifle. Its almost a crime how underutilized the Battle Armor Plasma Rifle it is.
This is one of the units in the game that has deep legacy. The need to always improve on the ISSBA spurred so many excellent designs. I love BA and the ISSBA holds a special place in my heart.
Even though im inner sphere forever i have a soft spot for the original clan elemental armour...not sure why as im pretty much always on the receiving end of them lol :-) the inner sphere copy is decent enough but give me a few companies of infantry and im happy...no need for the fancy armour flesh is cheap :-)
In a world of giants, the little guy is made more powerful by these suits. Cool Video MF:) 👍 Oh, and Happy 4th folks!
Thanks! You too!
I've been rocking a lot more BA since I've started playing Alpha Strike. Can't wait to grab some of these so I can stop having Elementals stand in for all of it
You forgot the best variant! The Andurien Fa Sure. It may be the poor man's Fa Shih, but it's still a reliable unit, that can be a heck if a surprise on the field
Planet stuart: look what i can do!
*Produces knock off battle armor*
Since I've started reading stuff further down the timeline, I've begun to notice a severe and INEXCUSABLE lack of focus on Battle Armor in most stories, especially amongst Inner Sphere armies. I mean, seriously- even with their peacetime equipment drawdowns, how does the Republic of the Sphere not have SWARMS of Battle Armor-equipped troops? They're cheaper to operate and maintain than BattleMechs, they can be used for plenty of lower-intensity missions like crowd control or counter-terrorism, and they can be transported over great distances much more easily than Battlemechs. Every time I read about Malvina Hazen overrunning multiple regiments of Republic militia during the Desant, I just wanted to scream, "WHERE IS THE INNER SPHERE BATTLE ARMOR!?" I'd like to see the Butcher of Wotan get anything done when her stupid bird 'mech is buried under a full company of Inner Sphere Standards.
Battle armor references in the newer novels are few and far between. It's quite sad.
I like that the IS tended to specialize armors. Look at the DC Kage and Raiden. Ones a stealth suit the other is heavily armored, and both look better than Elementals.
I have 36 of the Inner Sphere Standard Battle Armour myself.
Those things are looking funny!
Awesome!
Thank you 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿😊😊😊
Short and sweet
IS Standard is pretty crap when compared against Elementals. Just having Harjel gives the Clanners a huge advantage when it comes to fielding effective units. Plus Elemental standard has enough armour to tank a PPC hit (IIRC), and heal from it while (IIRC) a large laser is enough to take out standard. There's few weapons that can fully KO a clanner, while that's much less true for the Standard.
It might have done well enough on the Clan front, but where it really held its own was in fights against other IS powers. There it was often fearsome when used in small unit tactics, which was much more of a possibility when you're facing larger tank and infantry forces.
I always preferred the "specialized" battle armor that the IS had... Mostly the the Kage because it looked cool and was special ops
We're closer to REAL battle armor now. 2024
First! Can't wait to try these out on the tabletop!
I am kinda surprised that there was no Hale memory core version or something from the age of war. Since having something for troppers to cross radioactive area would have been useful.
The SLDF was juuuuuust dipping its toes into the concept in its twilight years. And mainly for special operations. The tech didn't have time to mature or spread to general combat use.
Though there were powered exoskeletons for specialized infantry, such as loaders on heavy crew served weapons in the succession wars. And jump infantry. So Battle Armor isn't as much of a revolution as first seeming.
Isn't it state outright that the IS standard, like many early IS omnis, were jointly developed by IS forces?
Q: Are the weapons carried by the Standard Armor (Flamer, SL, Machine Gun, SRM2) the same as the ones on mechs?
If not, what's the difference?
When seeing this image at 1:40 the first thing coming to my mind is: Wow, this suit has a massive thigh gap. The legs are 4 inches or more apart. Never seen that in a human. No human anatomy can fit in this thing.
(same with clan elementals and W4k space marines).
So, what *is* the laser in the CT?
While it is inferior compare to the Elementals or Toads they were perfect for supporting Mechs and Harassing Light Mechs who wanted to perform a flanking position.
I love this Battle Armor because it is Underrated and I love the design of the Suit.
any BA with a jump value is also a paratrooper
I feel like word of blake get a whole bunch of silly battle armor which is fun too
Because it's the standard? What more else is there to say?
Considering that IS units field less troopers in a BA squad than their clan counterparts it's almost apples and oranges to compare them head to head.
What no plasma rifle variant?