OBT Forum

I'd say anything standard or advanced that's available in 3050 experimental stuff was left at home

I have used AP Gauss Rifles as being intro'd early; but it does make a LOT of difference, especially when fighting infantry-heavy FedCom RCTs.  The thing is, with the exception of the APG, almost none of the other advanced tech Clan weapon are game-changers.

ATMs?  The rules are cumbersome to use, and requiring three tons of ammunition for all three types of missiles hurts; plus, even with the integral Artemis IV, they have smaller tubes than Clan LRMs and generally weigh as more if not more.  Only ER munitions match or exceed LRM range, and they do 1 point of damage per missile.  In close, Streak SRMs are far more efficient, even though HE munitions can really mess up someone's day.  And SRMs are better at crit seeking, since standard (2 point warheads) and HE (3 point warheads) have their damage divided into 5-point groups (idiotic rule, but it is there).

For example, the ATM-12 weighs 7 tons; with ammo that means 10 tons in practice (for 15 shots).  For that same 10 ten tons, you can get an LRM-15 with Artemis IV and two tons of ammo (6.5 tons) and a Streak SRM-4 with one ton of ammo (3 tons), giving you 16 shots and 25 shots.  Nineteen tubes versus 12, with a lot more endurance and the same heat and one less critical space, and still save a half-ton in weight.  Or you could get an LRM-20 with Artemis IV and four tons of ammunition, and STILL come out ahead in everything but range for those five shots with ER munitions.

Heavy Lasers?  Range of IS Lasers, a penalty to hit, and tremendous heat?  Please.  I hate these things because they seem useful.  They aren't.  If I were a Clan Bloodnamed Officer, and I met the Scientist who invented them, I'd kill him.

HAGs?  Clan LRMs do it better in everything but range and potential ammo explosions (for multi-ton ammo bins; if you have just one or two tons of LRM ammo, it is a wash).  Still HAGs aren't all bad, they are good solid weapons that can deliver a LOT of scatter damage down-range.

Micro Lasers?  Please, these are ProtoMech weapons, not something you put on OmniMechs.

Plasma Cannons?  Great for killing infanry and vehicles; just about useless (due to heat limits for externally applied heat) vs. 'Mechs.  They have a short range, use ammo, and inflict ZERO damage agains 'Mechs.  Want to fry infanry and vehicles and 'Mechs?  Load a ton of Inferno SRMs and a ton of regular SRMs.  And you've got a better weapon.

Really, the APG is the only new Clan weapon introduced that really changes the battlefield of 3050 if you move it forward.  Everything else?  It can already be done with existing weapons.

Now, if you want to make Ferro-Lamellar Armor standard in 3050, that's a different kettle of fish!   

MA

The Heavy Medium Laser is a nasty one, the Heavy is near useless the small is alright

I like ATMs personally give more options overall than LRMS if your using multiple launchers of same weapon

I kind of agree the APGauss is a game changer overall it's easily the nastiest weapon kicking around against infantry and an armour threatener

HAGs same I like them they have their place

But talking 3050 available what's not

After reading over the last of the background documents (and finally understanding the whole O, O2, OM series), there's a few questions that I didn't find answered.

1. The O series example for the Wolverine seems to indicate pod space based on Inner Sphere weaponry (Star League weaponry to be precise). If O series units are still being manufactured, why in the world would the Clans split their tech base to have both tech trees of weaponry? I understand the balance needs and the design philosophy behind having the three series of OmniMechs, and I think it's a brilliant implementation. I'm just curious on the decision on the weaponry choices there. For the resource poor Clans (and they still are, even with the Exeter Cluster, compared to the IS powers), having two entirely different weaponry pools seems slightly off. Note: Blacknova, I realized you've told me before that most of the units were not designed down to specific tabletop level, as that is not the needs of the KU game system. I'm asking more for curiosity and because I may throw some of these things into MegaMek and give some Warchest tracks in the KU Invasion a whirl. Obviously, I'd post anything (all of which would be entirely unofficial) here for all to use.

2. Clear this up for me? So O series is IS-tech base (apparently on weapons also), set pods in set locations (like the Mechwarrior computer games, at least in 3 and 4), and cooling system cannot be upgraded. O2 is the same as O, but cooling system can be upgraded with pod-mounted heat sinks. OM is full on Clantech Omni re: TRO3050. Is that right? Am I missing anything there?

3. Somewhat related, but what exactly is the Inner Sphere's tech level in 3032? And where would I find that info on the KU?

All Omnis use 3050 tech + AP Gauss.

The section regarding the Omni's needs a bit of a re-write as the idea I had does not fit the rules well.  I will post the corrected information soon.

In the IS, the Terrans have SL tech and by 3032, a few other powers probably will as well.

For RP purposes you can probably go with mixed tech, the way I've still managed to work into "2nd Line" forces.

I've just been looking over the industries thread, and a thought struck me. It may be too late in the planning/preparation stages to do this, but I wondered about something that might set the KU Clans apart from canon a little bit more. Many of the "usual suspect" Omnis ended up being produced by the appropriate factions. There are definitely some changes, but I'm wondering if there are more changes possible. I realize that Nova mentioned the whole -O, -O2, -OM set up may be changing, but here's my random thought based off the Omni rules as they exist now.

Rather than immediately go to the same old 3050 Omnis as the default, what about pushing some of the more traditional Clans into resurrecting the designs of the Star League on a wider scale? An example would be the Wolverines with the Wolverine O2/OM. But let's take that idea a step further. Looking at the Falcons, the Jaguars, the Star Adders, and the Goliath Scorpions as prime examples, what if they sought to emulate the SLDF paradigm with the "new" Clan tech and Omni tech? We could still use some of the Omnis, but perhaps we could shake things loose a bit by having more upgraded SLDF Omnis. It will also cause some rather interesting responses in the Inner Sphere. In the canon Invasion, the IS forces came up with their own names for Omnis because their warbooks had no idea what they faced. In the KU, how fascinating would it be to see a short fiction blurb where the IS opponents do get a positive ID that they are facing an enemy Grasshopper? And when that Grasshopper runs faster, jumps further, and hits well outside maximum (even out of the range of those newfangled ER models) laser range with the same throw weight of particle cannon? How much more terrifying is it to believe you know what you face and be proven so horrible wrong?

It would also allow some of the 3050 Omnis to be pushed back, and possibly come out as responses to problems in the Invasion, leading to a nice second generation group. No idea if it is too late in the game to do so (and I'm more than willing to throw a list of suggestions together, to cut down on work for the Boss-in-Chief), but I figured I would share it.

On a related note, the whole O/O2/OM thing is absolutely brilliant, Nova. I truly wish I had thought of it on some of my own Clan AUs. It's a perfect compromise.