BATTLETECH INFANTRY | The unlucky men fighting at the feet of giants | Battletech lore

[@scienceinsanity6927]

For any one interested this Saturday at 9 am eastern time me and steve are going to be live streaming halo 3 and maybe halo reach on legendary. Come hang out, chat, ask questions and enjoy a day with SCI and Steve if you're interested. Check the link below to get to my twitch. 10K subscriber special stream on twitch: www.twitch.tv/scienceinsanity

[@lordmech]

you forgot the Anti-Mech Infantry.

[@braddl9442]

The guy on the left in that picture you were laughing at is in an InnerSphere Cooling suit and a mech pilot. This is what they used pre clan and Pre memory core cause they could not make star league era suits anymore. SO just put on a water cooled jacket take off all your clothing and go into battle on you mech that generates 20 heat but you only got 10 heat sinks.

[@quarkedbutt3957]

Please for the love of God cover the Mobile Infantry and their Drop Pods from the Novel of Startship Troopers.

[@TheSYLOH]

I think 40k has a great quote on the subject: "Despise infantry if you must. Crush them underfoot, by all means. But do not ignore them. Battlefields are littered with the wreckage of Titans whose crews ignored infantry." - Grand Master Ferromont, Ordo Sinnister, Colegio Titanica That's coming from people who pilot 33 meter tall war gods.

[@josephahner3031]

Ordo Sinister, not only 33 meter tall death machines, 33 meter tall death machines with devastating psychic powers on top of ludicrously powerful conventional weaponry.

[@Deridus]

Ah, yes. The Ordo Sinister. A force so cloaked in [All data redacted. Ave Omnisiah]

[@venerablebrothergoriate5844]

Ah, yes, the imperium’s biggest spooksters. Remember that one time an Ordo Sinister Psy-Warlord landed on a rebellious planet and quelled the rebellion just by walking around without firing a single shot? Damn spooky as all hell. Unfortunately, if any of them are left, they’re in the Emperor’s basement and there’s at most 5 of them remaining. Thank you, Legio Mortis, for being Horus’s favorite beat-stick and breaking all the cool toys.

[@ASNS117Zero]

40k is also a setting where infantry can potentially have weapons that cause gravity effects, which could potentially lead to a *really* bad day for a Titan if it hits them in the right spot at the right time. Can you imagine an Imperator taking a step, then all of a sudden one of their legs just shifts out from under them and they go straight to the ground?

[@MrWesleyDP]

Also, never forget Cadia broke before the Guard. Discount Infantry (well mostly infantry) at your own risk...

[@Cowboycomando54]

Clanners learned the hard way that infantry are not be fucked with at the Battle of Tukayyid. Nothing is more freighting than having your mech's legs blown off by satchel charges, laying on your back, and having two grunts standing on top your cockpit. One of them has a can of Inferno gel and a hose, the other has a drill and a lighter.

[@KodeeDentares]

Jfc, I have PTSD just from the image that evokes 😰

[@bthsr7113]

To describe a nightmare scenario of facing prepared infantry, imagine walking through a quiet deserted city between a high rise and a sky scraper, hearing nothing save the routine chatter on the radio. Suddenly, the windows on both buildings are shattered as inferno missiles erupt in thunderous salvos converging on your mech. The heat forces you to completely shut down the mech. Suddenly the ground beneath you gives way from demolition charges below the road, sending your mech onto its back. All you can hear now is your panicked breathing, the ringing in your head, and then the banging on the access hatch as they prepare to force it.

[@TheReaver1234]

…… welp I’m anxious now. Holy shit dude great description

[@andrewamann2821]

The only thing that would make this worse is being in the periphery, and hearing the faint sound of "Duelling Banjos" amidst the clatter of trying to force open the hatch... Assuming they don't just pop a couple of shaped charges on the cockpit windshield...

[@rafale1981]

@@andrewamann2821and when the hatch opens, you hear a deep gravelly voice: “hello pardner, how about y’all surrender before i blow your ass back to new avalon with this here grenade?”

[@777dragonborn]

XO: what do you mean you got your mech jacked? Commander: well uh they was this corridor and....

[@xxmattopsxx3931]

​@andrewamann2821 Dear god! not the dueling banjos

[@redman7775]

"Yeah, it's the Mobile Infantry" 'Wait, that's Starship Troopers, that's the wrong franchise' "Would you like to know more?" Putting the Insanity into the channel name, I see

[@BlackIce3190]

Funny enough, the Starship Troopers armor got used in artwork of Ghost Bear infantry.

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

IS infantry: Starship trooper Movie. Clan Elemental: Starship Troopers THE NOVEL.

[@codyconnor6981]

I mean your not far off since the Mobile Infantry pretty much existed to die in the movie.

[@chenlee9835]

Yes

[@ishidan01]

"The crunchy's role--" "You did not just bring up Crunchyroll..."

[@bobskywalker2707]

People make fun of my infantry. That is until their mech gets absolutely smoked in an ambush or get a satchel charge attached to their leg by a jump trooper. Never underestimate the infantryman in battletech.

[@eddapultstab2078]

Swarm attacks are the stuff of nightmares for mechwarriors, once a unit swarms, and they don't have to be jump capable, get in a mech occupied hex, they can't fire at them and friendly mechs that try would most likely hit the mech as well if they tried. And the attack is punch hit locations which means a one in six chance that the head is going to take damage. All the swarmed can do is basically spend a turn trying to force the infantry out of their hex with the equivalent of a punch attack.

[@kairakuwaeldreor3868]

​@@eddapultstab2078you can stop, drop and roll and squish the infantry. Which is even supposing that the get to the upper body of the mech, which is a tough roll to do.

[@eddapultstab2078]

@@kairakuwaeldreor3868 that's basically what's happening with the mech. it deals 1 point of damage per 10 tons of mech and pushes the infantry unit 1 hex away on success.

[@brothersgt.grauwolff6716]

there have been times playing table top Battletech when Infantry absolutely FUBARed my Hunchback or Victor mech with a lucky SRM shot

[@bobskywalker2707]

@@brothersgt.grauwolff6716through armor critical! Floating crit! Ammo hit!

[@SulliMike23]

Never underestimate the uses of infantry in a Sci-Fi setting.

[@randomidoit9605]

Luke Skywalker throwing an explosive into an AT AT comes to mind.

[@null6634]

You're always going to need someone to stand on a hill or street corner to say, "This is mine". As far as infantry combat, look at Ukraine. Both sides are built up with anti air, anti tank and mines. It takes infantry to clear the way for the tanks. Tanks are giant targets and basically blind to things close up. Tanks without infantry support die. It isn't unreasonable for infantry to exist in sci Fi. Their use in BT makes sense.

[@fullmetalgamers1276]

Played a full infantry regiment against a guys reinforced mech lance on an urban hell defensive map. He didn't make it halfway through the city. Field guns holding streets srm teams ambushing from buildings. Jump laser teams blitzing his mechs. And flamer and rifle platoons jumping his armor. Icing on the cake was the ac20 field gun held up in a strategic point on the map that happened to be a hospital.

[@thehammer4607]

Infantry in battletech done right

[@justhecuke]

It's what infantry do IRL. The main benefits of tanks and mechs is their mobility paired with their firepower. If you take away their ability to maneuver, they are actually fairly fragile ton-for-ton since the infantry have no engine, no limbs, no armor, no structure. Only guns and ammo.

[@lechking941]

I think you gave the guy ptsd. XD btw suprsied ya don't have at lest a few urbies.

[@thosewhocando]

I played an infantry regiment once but it got smoked. Note: the rules for field guns didn’t exist at the time.

[@Yacovo]

If you feel too bad for the infantry, remember that they have been given nuclear weapons to play with in Battletech as well! The Davy Crockett-I is a one shot infantry support nuke manned by a group of infantry. The range is about a little over a kilometer, which as you can imagine, is not what most would call a safe detonation distance.

[@MrPikaGammer]

If you feel too bad for the infantry, remember they are a lot scarier than any of us think, and during the Clan Invasion, they gave the Clanners some of the most trouble.

[@Carnefice]

The Davy Crockett is a real weapon. I got to see an inert version at the infantry Museum at Fort Benning when I was there for my officer school

[@Tomyironmane]

@@Carnefice Is that the one that has "Have a nice day" painted on the warhead?

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

that's not even the worst man portable nuclear device. best one was a literal Nuclear Demo charge that had to be placed ON THE TARGET BY HAND.

[@bthsr7113]

@@IronWarhorsesFun One was used by yacht club militia to flood a river delta after being delivered by their custom patrol craft.

[@stevenclark2188]

I like how the Titanfall universe took one look at the infantry mobility problem and said: 'F that every gets a jetpack and it's pointed the wrong way most of the time so they don't get skeet shot.'

[@bthsr7113]

Actually no. The jet packs and grappling hooks are still reserved for specialists. Militia riflemen don't get those toys,

[@lechking941]

​@@bthsr7113yep. It just so happen the rebellion had a lot more surviving specialists.

[@matchesburn]

Battletech is one of the few sci-fi franchises with ridiculous vehicles like mechs where infantry are still valid, and I love it for that. Keep in mind that infantry can carry around anti-armor weapons like rocket launchers or ATGMs that aren't all that different of some of the missiles on mechs themselves that are used as anti-mech weapons. In an urban setting where you can hide and have lots of coverage, you can definitely quite quickly put the hurt on a mech and leave it a smoldering piece of scrap. There's a reason why gigantic flamethrowers on mechs are valid, especially for urban combat. When you can turn an entire building into fire, the infantry occupants aren't going to fair well.

[@bthsr7113]

And of course, flamers also force the other mechs to keep distance or suffer heat spikes.

[@piedpiper1172]

It’s the only setting that seems to understand that mechs only make sense if they *are* infantry. The lore describes mechs as way more dexterous than Mechwarrior has ever been able to render them. They move like a person in a suit of armor. Infantry can hide and conform to any available cover. A mech has to be able to do the same to be combat viable. In battletech, you get the unique challenge of “really small infantry” also existing, a thing we don’t entirely have irl. Though, we are seeing the proliferation of tiny drones, which aren’t all that dissimilar to how jump infantry interact with a battle mech.

[@Echowhiskeyone]

One thing I will always remember, big guns, missiles, bombs, tank, aircraft cannot hold ground and go door to door. You need boots on the ground, always have and always will.

[@lechking941]

Yep. A feild battle is for the big toys, and city side os for hell on planet.

[@warhiever1803]

When the mech goes into the city, every angle becomes available for the infantry to take advantage of. Also the two infantry men at 7:10 are there to shoot the enemy piolets that are downed.

[@angryscotsman93]

They could also be a forward recon team that were flushed out of their position and are simply trying to fight their way clear to a new position

[@KillerOrca]

A mech is expensive, complicated, and rare. Infantry on the other hand is basically free.

[@drakkenmensch]

Hey those rifles do cost money! So try and hand over your rifle to your buddy before you die, procurement would appreciate being able to reassign it to your upcoming replacement when you're a stain on the road.

[@spinetanium3296]

The dead cost nothing.

[@drakkenmensch]

@@spinetanium3296 So long as you recycle their gear!

[@robrib2682]

@@drakkenmensch the rifles can be pumped out en mass and cost little The squad missile launcher however

[@Apyr404]

Don't forget Capellan peasants with anti mech satchel charges

[@everyonethinksyoureadeathm5773]

Battletech infantrymen are what you get when you put all of earths special operation units (not special forces) into a blender and hit mix. Then battletech special forces are when you take all of earths special forces units (seal 6, sas, gng6, speznas) and hit puree. These mofos are nuts and the clans learned that while a mech is on par, nothing beats the sheer will of a anti-mecj unit that knows exactly where to place a shape charge.

[@eddapultstab2078]

I played with the mech factory app and I found out I can equip a platoon with radium snipers, they do 10 damage out 9 spaces and thought they would be very handy in various situations.

[@colbyboucher6391]

And then there's DEST commandos, who are literally space ninjas.

[@eddapultstab2078]

@@colbyboucher6391 I thought that was the kuritan super commandos, oh wait cyber ninjas nevermind.

[@axiomshift4666]

Everyone makes fun of infantry in battletech until they pull out inferno launchers. 😂

[@jamesricker3997]

Or until you run into an infantry unit in a city

[@inquisitionagent9052]

And then a bunch of firestarters pull up on them while relaying their current position to the local Catapult. You are chaff and you will forever be chaff 😂

[@leesouthcott8184]

My absolute FAVOURITE part of battletech, theres nothing more impressive than some guys with jumppacks falling out of a Karnov, with SRMs, before being blasted by a locust's machine guns. Thank you for this

[@bthsr7113]

A good reminder that the Locust is actually quite scary and useful in the right hands.

[@kelleymcmahan6457]

Tankers and likely mech pilots refer to infantry as crunchies. Due to sound made when you run them over

[@jameskallend4874]

My infantry usually own a battlefield if there's enough terrain. Gimme a couple heavy lasers for that 15 hex range and a building to hide in and I end up feeling sorry for the mech. Sure I can take 1 loss per turn while I peel off armor in droves. Jump-Laser infantry with support lasers can be NASTY when used correctly. Thanks for the video guys... hey steve.

[@josephahner3031]

In modern combat, infantry goes in front of tanks unless the unit is traveling through a piece of flat and empty terrain. Why? So that other sneaky buggers like them can't sneak up on the tanks with short range anti-armor weapons. To identify and locate minefields and other obstacles, and to find the enemy by pushing to contact before the heavy shit engages. I would imagine that the poster showing infantry leading the way is 100% accurate.

[@egoalter1276]

The poster shows heavy wepons actively discharging, suggesting active vehicle contact. It takes place on a flat plane. No way in hell would you have an infantry screen out there. Maybe CEVs if you are worried about minefileds.

[@wavegun]

They are called 'Crunchies' for a reason. That satisfying sound they make when you step on one with your Marauder.

[@inquisitionagent9052]

Diabolical 😂

[@KageRyuu6]

Remember mech jocks, infantry in Battletech have assault rifles capable of damaging your mech, while an AC20 can only kill 2 at a time. Also, TAG is 1t of extra equipment which is fired prior to the artillery phase to see if it designates, otherwise the mech jock has to forgo firing his own weapons to designate a target. While Heavy Jump Infantry are canon if rare, basically proto Battle Armor.

[@fullmetalgamers1276]

Towed autocannons and gauss rifles are not to be underestimated either

[@bthsr7113]

Good to address how inefficient mech weapons can be at killing infantry. In fact, some of the most feared mech weapons are the least effective against infantry. To my knowledge, the feared ERPPC and Gauss Rifle can each only kill one ground pounder at a time. Oh sure, that poor sap is atomized, but the rest of the unit can still rush forward with satchel charges, rocket launchers, and plastic explosives.

[@Vessekx]

@@bthsr7113, IIRC, a PPC does two damage to infantry. Double that if you catch them being stupid and standing in open terrain.

[@magni5648]

The whole assault rifles damaging Mechs thing is pure game mechanics so you don't have to roll every weapon in the platoon seperately and spend half an hour to resolve the shooting phase of a single unit. Down in the more granular systems (ol' Battletroops and the RPGs) you do need some actual AT if you wanna fuck with a Mech.

[@colbyboucher6391]

@@magni5648 I always thought of it as a consequence of the _extremely_ ablative armor mechs use. Lots of it but designed to slog off easily to steal energy from solid gauss slugs. IDK why TW rules wouldn't just be "small arms just can't attack armor" otherwise.

[@TsorovanZero]

Field guns are horribly underrated as a defensive unit. For less than a million c-bills, you can have a foot platoon with quad AC/2s.

[@H9092-2]

Back it up with an AC/20 and you get to give someone a spicy surprise whenever they come to kill your AC/2's

[@TsorovanZero]

@@H9092-2 You can get a platoon with 2 AC/20s, but I prefer tanks to do the job. Po is a good balance of cheap and durable, or you can be nasty and use Demolishers.

[@eddapultstab2078]

18:20 the one on the left is a mechwarrior with neuro helmet and cooling jacket, the one on the right is actually a technician, i believe that is from the capellan confederation hand book, and from that you may understand why.

[@Selbinkoll1]

Aye, was going to say this, myself. Inner Sphere mechwarriors, in particular, are known for going into battle almost or completely naked aside from helmet and vest, if they get a vest, due to degrading tech causing their units to run so hot.

[@rjhogan07]

7:58 For those curious, “crunchies”, in this case is a nickname members of the Mechwarrior Mafia (aka Mech pilots) use for infantry because of how stepping on them is like stepping of a twig or dry leaf, complete with the sound effects.

[@johannesmakila2459]

Infrantry might day in large numbers in open space but never underestimate those men and women in right terrain. Especially when they get to fortified position or inside house or forest. Good luck getting rid of them after that.

[@raifsevrence]

To be fair, the Gray Death Legion had quite a bit of success using specialized infantry units to fight mechs. Of course they did suffer a fair number of casualties doing so, but not as many as you would think. They are a bit of a special case though. Definitely not your average cannon fodder.

[@eddapultstab2078]

Another thing to note about infantry is that in innersphere warfare infantrys job is less fight and most likely die and more securing the real estate. Capured Cities need to be kept in check mechs and tanks need to be guarded when not in use and assets need to be put to work. infantry tends to either be the last line of defense or when you need a bunch of dudes with guns to do something a giant mech can't do delicately. Usually throwing them in suicide waves is peak steiner or liao move as even kurita knows better to do that, they are more slaughter the denizens of a city/continent to the last man women and child types and you can't waste your infantry until that's done first.

[@TheRyujinLP]

Keep in mind that in Battletech a Vulcan cannon, what WE consider a light auto cannon, would be considered a light machine gun. What Battletech calls an auto cannon we would call, "Holy shit, did that 120 mm tank gun do a fucking 5 round burst?!" So yeah, the idea that a machine gun can threaten a tank isn't as far fetched as you'd think. Also the armor in Battletech is very hard but brittle and was deigned to defeat HEAT and long rod KE rounds. It's almost impossible for a single hit to penetrate the armor but it slowly shatters and weakens as it's hit. Hence why high rate of fire weapons are favored in this setting.

[@venerablebrothergoriate5844]

Oh yeah. RAC’s are the coolest.

[@RavenWolffe77]

For context in regards to Machine Guns: The Timberwolf typically carries two to four "Nathan-Browning M2A4 .80cal (20mm) Anti-Personal Machine Guns" Even a millennia in the future, we're still using the Ma Deuce, just rechambered for 20mm.

[@torg2126]

The AC-2 is in the 25 to 60mm range. The GAU-8 Avenger is a perfectly normal AC-2. AC-5s are the 120mm range autocannons.

[@TheRyujinLP]

@@torg2126 Yep. Kinda wished they communicated this a little better just to give you an idea how just how advanced and scary these weapons actually are.

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@torg2126 From my understanding, AC-2s are *_not_* in any caliber less than 40mm, as 12.7-30mm is *_vehicular machinegun range._* AC-5s tend to be somewhere around 60-90mm, AC-10s tend to be 90-120mm, and then there are the AC-20s, which top out at about 203mm. Oh, and the AC line's 'inspiration' is AAI's 75mm autocannon design (created by Eugine Stoner himself) for the HTVL, which could fire up to 5 rounds a second (though its more common firing mode is a 3-round burst).

[@blacknwhitehound]

I’ve always looked at mechs as uncommon on the battle field in planet wide campaigns. Always used for major assaults . They are expensive to maintain. The original canon was post star league weapon systems and ammo types were difficult to manufacture and maintain due to decade of war , and remoteness os some planets .

[@stephenwood6663]

In particular, many of the more advanced mechs are difficult or impossible to replace. Sending a mech battalion is always going to be a high-stakes gamble. Sending a force of tanks and infantry... well, it's much less of a disaster if everything goes pear-shaped.

[@Wildcat144]

On the topic of infantry designs, I'm actually working on redesigns for them! Next up for me is Capellans! Also hey! Thanks for using some of my art ^-^

[@bobskywalker2707]

Oh hi wildcat. You seem to pop up just about everywhere

[@Wildcat144]

@bobskywalker2707 I am very where and no where. Thus is my goal

[@davemilner5504]

Mine is a U.S. Army family including combat Vets from WW1 through Vietnam. MAD respect to the infantry, real and fictional.

[@IronSuns]

"thats a nice mech there partner unfortunately i have here a davey Crockett" - Jim Bob

[@therakshasan8547]

Time Stamp 18:00 : The person in the Large helmet , and no pants with a cooling vest on is a Mech Pilot .

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

fun fact: ww2 the City of Sevastopol held out against the entire Nazi army for 8 months entirely due to well dug in infantry conscripts. Also a unique case of extremely effective use of an armoured train as a mobile FOB and gun battery that even managed to shoot down 3 aircraft before 6 months later the train was finally trapped in one of the tunnels it took shelter in. the nature of the terrain and fortifications was used to maximum effect by the defenders/ It took 40,000 tons of shells and the destruction 90% of the city before "victory" was finally claimed. then Stalingrad happened and we all know that story. point is it sucks to by the PBI until the enemy attacks a city or other chokepoint.

[@RavaalekDreamblade]

You are on patrol in your mech Lance, and then you hear Bagpipes

[@MonteKowalsky]

7:01 “I’m doing my part!”

[@alphaecho3094]

Conventional infantry are one of the most effective units in the tabletop game, Ive had several games where Ive downed half a lance using SRM platoons then sent in a mech to finish off the survivors. When in urban areas or dug in they are a nightmare for an unprepared mechwarrior to deal with, and render the most powerful weapons in the game functionally useless if they either neglect or are too arrogant to bring a flame thrower or machine gun. The infantryman in battle tech is not unlucky, he is the bravest man on a battle field full of smug cowards hiding behind tons of armor. He is more than happy if given the chance to show a self proclaimed god of the battlefield his/her own mortality. Half of them will not wait for your mech to fall, there are more than a few with the raw cojones to try and scale your mech to pry you from the seat.

[@jamesricker3997]

At the end of the day , it is all worth it when you get to bayonet in ejected mech warrior

[@null6634]

I know you said you were not going to comment on the art too much, but the guy at 23:13 is hilarious. Hes throwing a WWI potato masher grenade.

[@EisIzo]

18:30 the man on the left looks like an IS pilot in a cooling vest and neuro helmet, while the one of the right appears to be a tech or mechanic based on his equipment.

[@vojtechpribyl7386]

Guys, the SRMs totally are guided and infernos are proximity fuse, so they can hit fliers if they are stupid enough to get that close. Also the "dude to the left" without the pants is not a PBI. That's a 'Mechwarrior or vehicle crew with a cooling vest and a neurohelmet. The 'Mechs were uncomfortably hot and the old neurohelmets were enormous in the old days.

[@marvinjohnson2488]

Even today,tanks hate infantry. Russia is finding out what happens when you move without infantry support in urban areas. Give them some cover they are a terror for mechs. Also they are cheap.(you can get a whole lot of infantry that hides until you're in their hex and gets first shot).

[@Cha-Khia]

Infantry is the reason I always bring inferno/incendiary ammo on every unit I field in the table top.

[@jacebralor71]

The "Crunchies" do what they've always done, take and hold ground.

[@bubbasbigblast8563]

@17:00 The Fed Suns do actually use infantry with mechs more often than other factions, since their weaker economy during the Succession Wars forced them to diversify their forces, and the idea just kind of stuck. Combined arms warfare isn't as great when you're trading Mechs and Fighters for APCs on a dropship, mind, which is why other factions are less likely to do the same.

[@zorkwhouse8125]

I actually still have the box set, titled I think "Battletroops," that covered infantry and I think vehicles. Didn't play with them too many times admittedly, but they did get some use and it was fun. I haven't played Battletech in forever now though, but its still interesting to hear the lore on here. Thanks. :-)

[@robrib2682]

an episode over the footsloggers and the opening slide is 2 king crabs teaching someone the meaning of dakka.... magnificent

[@scottwalker6947]

Infantry do die in droves in BT, but they can be a real pain to Mechwarriors. "Kick the Can" is a real thing. There is nothing more annoying to have a squad sneak up on your mech, and suddenly realizing you just had your mech's knee blown out. And, now you are on your face, sucking dirt, with a shit ton of his angry friends swarming over you, knocking on you cockpit window.

[@devinmitchell4170]

Russia is currently learning WHY you mix your infantry with your armor

[@jorenvanderark3567]

Funny thing is, they already knew. But as most infantry formations in Russia are conscript forces who can't be used as this "isn't a war," it has resulted in the Russians having an infantry shortage. Vladi really didn't think this whole thing through.

[@richroll9894]

Fuckin loved starship troopers too, cheers

[@richroll9894]

Oh shit, I was just being a dumb ass when I commented this right when the video started, I didn’t even realize y’all would drop SST references a few minutes into the video lmao

[@matthewwoods6972]

You can't run out of ammo for your bayonet

[@chrismath149]

Why do I have the feeling that MANPADs and the survivability onion are not a thing in the Battletech universe? A giant machine walking on two legs...the wet dream of any AT soldier.

[@gman1515]

MANPADs and the survivability onion are actually kind of a thing in Battletech. Higher tech mechs have ECM and stealth tech to help with the not being detected part, but mobility and terrain have always been useful for avoiding being targeted and being hit by the long range missile weapons that infantry carry.

[@eddapultstab2078]

Well they have towed mech grade weapons but those are advanced rules. Still, I would put a company of fortified infantry crewing ac 5 or 10s with tanks backing up that line.

[@ashtiboy]

well thers the arrow iv lunchers on tanks is that waht you mean they do kinda fit the manpad stuff.

[@ashtiboy]

thers also warship ar missle ships and subcapatal missles as well. heck the battletech warship navl lasers in the battltech tactcal ops rule book even has a AAA mode for dealing with aerospace fighters.

[@Cowboycomando54]

Thats why there are light mechs with machine guns and flamers. Some even have Anti-Personnel Gauss Rifles. To quote Professor Randolph P. Checkers, "Nothing says fun for infantry like being exploded."

[@gilmadreth680]

PBM's: If you want to get to your objective you're going to have to go through us! Mechwarrior: Quick question: Do you happen to know the amount of damage my Warcrime on Stilts would suffer if I were to, oh I don't know, let it walk right over you and all your friends right now? PBM's: Uh....no? Mechwarrior: None at all.

[@angryscotsman93]

The lack of disposable, one-shot AT weapons in Battletech is rather interesting, given that it's a remarkably common concept in the real world. I'd expect every single infantryman in the Battletech universe to be carrying around the equivalent of three M72 LAWs, but with the punch of ATM HE rounds.

[@Vessekx]

Infantry units in the BattleTech universe *do* carry those weapons. They just don’t carry one-shot versions. If they need to throw missiles at something, they need to be able to do it more than once, so they are equipped accordingly.

[@angryscotsman93]

@Vessekx If you need more than one, you carry more than one- ever seen those images from 'Nam of US soldiers carrying literal armfuls of M72 LAWs? Anyways, dusposable launchers like that are easier to mass-produce, and tend to be pretty easy to use, like how the LAW had a pictographic guide on how to fire it printed on the side. They'd be an excellent option for equipping planetary militias, who aren't exactly Death Commandos, and would probably find a way to fuck up loading a hand-held SRM-2. Just give'em a Boom Tube that has an edutainment comic printed on it and tell them to die gloriously!

[@magni5648]

Erm, generic LAWs are absolutely a thing in Battletech. Serious anti-Mech oriented infantry just tend to prefer heavier, reloadable SRM launchers. LAWs are not nearly as powerful as ATMs. Which makes sense, given an ATM missile without any launcher or anything weighs in at like ~30 pounds, while a LAW comes in at ~8-10.

[@LordHasek]

Battletech armor is basically layers of magic solid "ERA" So the Sabot and EFP warheads of modern weapons dont work. So you have to bash it repeatedly with HE

[@Animalover205]

Never, ever, bet against Jim Bob and Emanuel to survive in any situation they stumble into

[@gabrielmirandahurtado6539]

7:20 that's private Ramirez, he's gonna singlehandedly take on the opposite 'mech army

[@sammehlberg6664]

My best memory of battletech infantry is that mw2 mercs mission where you get to borrow a stalker and if you lure enemies close enough to a certain building, there is an infantry squad shooting a fucking ppc to help you out

[@ero9841]

Combine arm units are probley the most scary units in battletech.

[@robinburt5735]

The old artwork with the guy "Not wearing pants" is a mechwarrior not infantry. They arn't wearing pants because it it is fecking hot in a mech.

[@tomleon4272]

For some reason, i fucking love the term "super, space vietcong"

[@bohba13]

Even in battle tech, if you ain't infantry, you ain't shit. (infantrymen's motto for the US Army.)

[@benrudolph5582]

20:21 "Ohh frak! battalions". Perchance "FART"; fast attack, rapid transit, mechanized, high skill infantry used for everything to plug holes in the lines, deep insertion / scout / recon, anti-vehicle, etc?

[@williamleslie295]

"The guy without pants" in the old artwork is actually a mechwarrior in a cooling vest.

[@jamesmccrea4871]

18:26 the guy on the left is a Mechwarrior, not a soldier. No sleeves and no pants because it's frigging hot sitting on top of a nuke reactor. The vest is a cooling vest, not armor, and the helmet is a neuronet helmet that connects his brainwaves to the computer of the mech.

[@777dragonborn]

And this my friends is why i pack a fs-9 firestarter in my lance. Makes short work of infantry.

[@eddapultstab2078]

Maxim, packrat and goblin: "hey man we carry infantry! No words for us?!!?"

[@magni5648]

Heh, I used that as a bit of a funny prank on an old orbat for a merc unit. They had a mechansied infantry company. What the orbat didn't list was the 12 Goblins they had as transport. Fun times when the asshole reading your MRB entry sees "infantry company" and thinks his light Mech lance can totally take that.

[@xxxlonewolf49]

No, infantry weapons do NOT need a TAG to fire a rocket or a missile.

[@maggot9572]

You have no idea how long ive been looking for lore on the infantry of Battletech. Thank you. Im the kinda person that likes the regular joe-shmoes of a given universe, case in point, my damn pfp, an Imperial Guard helmet.

[@HWolfpaws]

Man this is awesome channel. I love the Battletech series here. Keep it up!

[@RomLoneWolf23]

Honestly, the #1 reason to have Infantry even in the Age of Mechs, is because while Mechs dominate the battlefield, if there's building infrastructure you want to take from a hostile force WITHOUT destroying it, you're going to need to send in infantry to clear it out.

[@FunkThompson]

"This sucks." - Infantry in Battletech

[@stephenbond1990]

Thanks for the digestible breakdown of Battletech lore, your series is making my dive into the lore much easier, but I have a question: Is there an equivalent of naval marines in Battletech?

[@Cowboycomando54]

Yes. I definitely recommend you look up the Black Watch Marine infantry.

[@magni5648]

In terms of dedicated amphibious troops, the SLDF had a specialised branch. Also, hovercraft are very widespread in Battletech, and Mechs themselves are quasi-amphibious in that they can cross rivers and costal waters by just walking along the bottom. Amphibious assault is a very niche thing in Battletech, given that DropShips allow large-scale airmobile operations with heavy equipment under mot circumstances. Though what most people in-universe would think of when hearing Marines would be specialist troops trained and equipped for fighting in zero-G environments. IE, boarding space ship and stations.

[@Speeddrat]

Death korps of krieg fighting titans with a combat shovel yelling while muffled by gas mask: "Amatures !"

[@shibe_on_the_bounce]

Listen, Jim-Bob and Manuel are great dudes doing their best. A couple of little bros trying hard.

[@spiderbugbear3721]

Happy Dalek noises: -"You are only good at one thing: dying!"

[@yureinobbie68]

I love how the "Light rifle jump trooper" looks. I know his visor is supposed to epically reflect the scenery in front of him, but it took me way too long, to not think of him as "depressed uni-brow man".

[@magni5648]

Eye protection also makes sense when you're on a battlefield featuring laser weapons powerful enough to straight up melt a couple hundred pounds of armor on a decent hit.

[@koaga645]

Jim-Bob and Manuel are doing what infantry is supposed to do. Engage other infantry so they don't deploy cheap anti-armor against your expensive mechs.

[@ascendingGhost2501]

7:00 how could you miss the continuation of starship troopers joke of " I'm doing my part"

[@ManBearSquirrelGuy]

You both make some of the funniest commentary ever about sheer terror. Love it. I WOULD like to know more! I'm doing my part!

[@RyanEX2000]

Isn't there a mercenary company that perfected the art of using infantry to basically hijack light and medium mechs?

[@dothanwhite]

have had amazing luck hiding srm troops in urban areas... really sucks when stray srms hit cockpits due to the cockpit damage and injury rules also been fairly good at taking out limbs

[@raciischronicles6826]

When I think of infantry in Mechwarrior, Minus the Blackwatch, I only think of the cinematic in Mechwarrior 3 where one poor solo was crushed by a thor/summoner.

[@josephmontanaro2350]

Why is there no unguided man portable AT in the lore? Its weird, like we got full on crew serviced at guns and crew serviced guided missles but we dont got the space javalin or space rpg-7 or even a space AT4?

[@apathymanthemundane4165]

LAWs and VLAWs (light and very light anti armor weapons) do exist within the settings, but it's hard to find a unit that actually uses them in the gameplay. I tend to make them in Megamek for my own use.

[@harvestblades]

You got lucky when you're Fed Sun infantry vs DCMS or Cappellan!

[@john-dominicheim8734]

The "Would you like to know more?" lmfao

[@xxxlonewolf49]

The no pants with huge helmet is a Mechwarrior & makes sense in world. Tech loss making helmets bigger to work & no clothes to not over heat. Heavy infanty like the MC? No no no...not even close. You have confused power armor with heavy infantry.

[@scottwalker6947]

You can blast a piece of ground from orbit, hit it with artillery, strafe it with aircraft, roll a tank over it, have a mech stomp all over it, but you don't "own" it until you have an 18 year old with a rifle standing on it.

[@Jizzfrosti]

I feel like infantry, especially guerilla tactics are kind of underrepresented. Especially in the modern era, infantry tactics like guided rockets are devastating against armor to the point where people are wondering if tanks are obsolete in a modern battlefield

[@michaelw6277]

The problem with infantry in Battletech is the fact that heavy machine guns can’t shoot beyond 90 meters. By that I mean the scale of combat just doesn’t work for infantry in this game, which is fine because I like it for the stompy robots. If we wanted to have a hard look at this and try to inject some realism into the rules infantry would be a whole lot more capable.

[@logandaley1544]

I like that there is some place for infantry in Battletech, I do want to try running them on tabletop sometime

[@Mrwednesday84]

I love stomping on crunchies! greases the joints in my feet.

[@michaelkimberling7307]

Mechs do use tag systems. There’s a bit of technobabble explaining their use but in a nutshell, a mechs standard anti-electronic warfare systems prevent standard laser designators from targeting them. A tag cuts through this defense.

[@Cowboycomando54]

ECM suites kinda disappeared after the Amaris Coupe untill the end of the Third Succession war.

[@magni5648]

@@Cowboycomando54 Those are more specialised, heavy duty ECM that goes beyond what's considered baseline on Mechs and tanks and asusmed to be omnipresent.

[@UnnamedThinkTank]

In lore, TAG systems replaced the standard laser designator because every mech or tank has a base line laser spoofing systems (not even counting Guardian ECM or Angel ECM) that emits the same frequency any designator uses. So that completely throws off regular laser designators as a weapon with a fixed or preset laser frequency will get confused by a defensive system that is emitting at the same frequency. TAG however is a laser designator that operates on a multi-frequency and will auto switch frequencies once it detects spoofing or ghost targeting, thus insuring high accuracy. Hence that justifies its 1 ton weight, though infantry/BA variants are lighter at the cost of some range.

[@apathymanthemundane4165]

Building garrisons, forest ambushes, swarming tripped up mechs, setting mines to do the tripping up, field guns, jump infantry blitzing etc... Infantry can be absolutely nasty if you're clever with them.

[@TheSpectralFX]

I am happy Steve got conscripted for this video.

[@yourseatatthetable]

PBI...also known as cannon fodder.

[@lorenzolara1148]

Just follow Titanfall’s lead: 3d combat and Jump-packs for maneuvering around the Mechs.

[@Azraiel213]

6:58 - The dropship markings confirm that that image is of the Eridani Light Horse. Like their SLDF ancestors and the FedSuns, the Light Horse uses a Regimental Combat Team structure throughout most of their history. Essentially they're a professional army that fields battlemechs, armoured vehicles and mechanised infantry as the mission warrants instead of, you know, the absolute mess most of the great houses call a standing army.

[@MrJack556]

Play me on table top. You can use mechs and I'll use infantry then you'll see just how terrifying they can be.

[@Puffie40]

"You choose the inferno missile launcher. Your commander says that is a good idea, as there are some mechs in the area and we need to be prepared for them. The thought that we would be using it on *people* has not yet entered his darkest dreams"

[@Dragonspirit223]

Can't wait for the memes of the Elementals next videos, or the IS attempts at replicating them. Also the funny football game.