Welcome to the HeavyMetalPro Forums

When I was here the first time around, I created a wide variety of alternate timelines and factions, merc units, and so on. I wrote lots of stories and created many new designs. But things have changed a lot since then, both in the canon and on this board. There doesn't seem to be as much activity around here as used to be. So what I want to know is this: what do y'all want to see now? I'd like to help liven the place up if I can, but I'm not going to bring back old stuff if that's not where people's heads are anymore. Give me some hints, people...

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.

I'd like to see the Concrete Dragons again

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[b][color=#BC851A]Wielder of the Ferro-Carbide Bat of Doom™[/color][/b]
[color=#400080][i]I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.[/i] - Confucius[/color]
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I was always partial to the Veiled Republic myself.

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Doc
"An artist is never appreciated until he's dead."

Battletech completly lost any interest for me with the end of the FedCom civil war. The Jihad, while neccesary is just 'wrong'.
Massive armies of goofy looking omni-mechs appearing from secret, hidden bases to rain cleansing fire on the IS. BLYECCHHHHH.

Nevermind the (IMHO) crappy/silly looking mini's that have been released to support this timeline.
I took a long break and have been slowly drifting back into the game. But, I'm more interested in 2750-3039 timelines now. The universe is pretty much wide open for me to do anything I want between those years.

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Proud member of that peculiar sub-species of humanity know as U.S. Marines.
[img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img]

Cynickle: You're in luck. I have revised all my Concrete Dragons' stories, and will be posting the new versions. Two are up already. I also have new stories about them in the works.

Schriv: Like you, I despise the Jihad; in fact, I've developed a whole game timeline where the Wobblies never existed. It's 3069 in that timeline, and my Grey's Shadows merc unit is on its way to what might turn out to be the start of the 5SW. Also, the Concrete Dragons are a small merc unit in a low-tech setting just after the 4SW. You might like their stories.

Doc: The Veiled Republic is still a work in progress. I am trying to put that faction ahead in time, past the Jihad, where I have more room to develop them. It's been a struggle, but I haven't totally given up yet.

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.

Cool. I'll check out your alternate timeline fiction.
My new DA scale merc unit is in need of a good back story to explain its aquisition of 3067 mechs to go along with it's 3025/3050 base. I might just have to dovetail into your timeline.

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Proud member of that peculiar sub-species of humanity know as U.S. Marines.
[img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img]

I enjoyed all of your stories, especially Grey's Shadows. Welcome Back.

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I'm new here so I don't know you. So you're writer... anything else BT related? I would LOVE to read something about battles of Hesperus II (before 4th SW). Something about pirates too with some silly pirate songs. And with pirates in main part: how do they live, how do they fight, what they fight with, how they keep 'Mechs and JumpShips in working order... And no silly love stories, unless there are M rated stuff on it

And something more about your days in Enterprise, like what did you shouted to your Chief.
...and I thought captain Kirk's Enterprise was trashcan

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[i]You know what they say, don't you? About how us MechWarriors are the modern knights errant, how warfare has become civilized now that we have to abide by conventions and rules of war. Don't believe it.[/i]

[url=http://www.mekwars.org][u]MekWars[/u][/url]

Whatever happened to that small periphery state you were working on? You know, the one that made its lving on selling letters of mark.

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General Brett "Hitman" Coote S.L.M.H., P.H. w/9 Clusters, S.S.B.
S.L.A.F. (Retired)
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Yeah, he writes a lot of fanfic. Pretty good stuff, I might add, though admittingly I haven't been flipping through too much fanfic with RL getting to me.
Yeah, it happens.

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Ah yes, the Regency of Albion. I've been working on their timeline off and on, and have the bare-bones start of a Field Manual. I don't have nearly enough detail yet though.

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.

I can't help but love a name like that : )

More of the Shadows, especially since it's Jihad-free!

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"So, Chief, you think the blood stains will come out of that command couch? I mean, that B-mer is preemo salvage!"
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Grey, I just took a look at a few of the world profiles for the Veiled Republic.

That was all it took, I'm hooked now. And I see there are multiple threads for me to get my fix!

There are those all the way to 2004 (or even 2003). Unfortunately forum search is STILL broken, and can find entries only from this year

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[i]You know what they say, don't you? About how us MechWarriors are the modern knights errant, how warfare has become civilized now that we have to abide by conventions and rules of war. Don't believe it.[/i]

[url=http://www.mekwars.org][u]MekWars[/u][/url]

There's already a movie about them...

Oh We're the Pirates
Who don't do anything...

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[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l52 ... 0a8555.jpg[/img]
[url]http://www.murphyslawgaming.com[/url]

Luckily Medron Pryde has archived some Grey's stuff in one of his WWW sites: Pryde Rock Industries.

Medron, I hope my scribbles about Lagerlöf's Grenadiers qualify to be added there.

Grey, I've send you private message. Did you receive it?

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[i]You know what they say, don't you? About how us MechWarriors are the modern knights errant, how warfare has become civilized now that we have to abide by conventions and rules of war. Don't believe it.[/i]

[url=http://www.mekwars.org][u]MekWars[/u][/url]

I'd like to see more flashback stories about Grey's Shadows before Clan Invasion. I'm particularly interested about Grand Theft BattleMech campaign. Not only stories about it, but also how did you set it up and played it out. Did you have trucks and salvage vehicles on the board loading stuff while under fire? What if scenario would exceed acceptable losses, and how did you define acceptable? Information like this would be invaluable help for rest of us

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[i]You know what they say, don't you? About how us MechWarriors are the modern knights errant, how warfare has become civilized now that we have to abide by conventions and rules of war. Don't believe it.[/i]

[url=http://www.mekwars.org][u]MekWars[/u][/url]

Acceptable losses = gaining significantly more than you lose.

Let's say that the target is a forward supply dump for a Mech unit. It has a nice cache of ammo, some spare parts like heatsinks for field repairs, and basic military supplies like rations and ICE fuel. The defenders include an infantry company (the supply guys who run the place) with a few flatbed trucks and some light prepared defenses, such as a few minefields and bunkers. There is also an enemy Mech lance hanging around, freshly reloaded. This is could be a worthy target for a small merc unit. You may lose a few units (most likely as mobility kills) but you could gain more than you lose IF you end up holding the field.

You see, that is the key: holding the field. As mercs, the Shadows are always after salvage, and are more conscious of their losses than a regular military unit. So I always play them with holding the field in mind. And if I can't hold the field, I will retreat if I can, to cut my losses.

Obviously, the retreat option isn't always available, especially when I am on the attack or heavily engaged. When the Shadows invaded Goat Path, they took heavy losses that I would not normally consider acceptable. But the Shadows won the world and ended up holding a lot of Clan tech salvage, so the losses were not wholly in vain. That battle was a true example of the living owing the victory to the dead...

As for how to play out a campaign for a growing merc unit, it isn't that hard. In the Shadows' case, they simply volunteered for every mission that held an acceptable risk and reasonable promise of salvage, and spent their money wisely as they went. Making sure they had good techs was a big thing; many merc leaders overlook that when starting up their unit. You can take a few more risks when you are more confident that you can keep your machines running...

Hope all that helps.

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.