Battletech Tactics: Inner Sphere Vs. Clans

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[@taemien9219]

"You're Innersphere, and about to face the clans..." Load the RACs! "... early invasion." Well crap.

[@shadewolf0075]

Guess I’ll die because I refuse to be taken as a bondsman

[@glennferguson1265]

Ok Fritz Numbers is always a good thing when playing any type of Wargame 15 Sherman Tanks versus 4 tiger 1s Great. But when playing Clan you really need to include the Honor Rules that go with them and what it means for the Inners to mass fire on them.

[@rotwang2000]

If you want to really upset a Clan player, just let them pick the best of the best and then put up the equivalent BV in LRM carriers on the opposite side with a bunch of fast, cheap spotters. For each mech you'll have about 2-5 carriers on average. Put as many as possible in cover with maybe one or two Shreks to deal with any fast Clanner that tries to act as a spotter. Finish by drinking their sweet tears.

[@TheDaNuker]

The odds are really stacked against the Inner Sphere for the early invasion era (and leading to a lot of bad taste against win-at-all-cost Clan players) unless you are playing Comstar/Comguard. Even with recovered tech, most of the 3050 era upgrades seem to be designed in a knee jerk panic reaction and a large number are pretty awful. Remember that using Inner Sphere XL engines means that the Inner Sphere 'Mech is destroyed once they lose either side torso location and not just center torso! Keep this in mind when browsing through your TO&E. First tip of the day is NOT to pick any light IS 'Mechs. They simply don't have range and firepower combination against the Clans, and they are just going to get blown up against a hail of Clan Pulse Lasers and LB-X AC fire. In fact, from this era onward, light 'Mechs become increasingly obsolete. Stick with mediums or use vees as your cheapest screening forces. Second tip is to bargain your Clan opponent to fight in as small a map space as possible to negate their range advantage. Refuse to engage, stick to wooded areas, buildings, valleys and canyons to break LOS and then spring and attack. Smaller maps also give you more cover for the alternate strategy of rushing them.. The Inner Sphere player will no doubt have the advantage in tonnage and total amount of armor points combined, so make use of this to soak up as much damage while taking heavy losses in return. Especially so if the Clan player is forced to use Trueborn skilled 3/4 'Mechwarriors as that boosts up the BV2 costs significantly. Expect a bloody fight. No Guts, No Galaxy!

[@Magermh]

Ya someone that plays against the clans.

[@Mortvent]

Early invasion, best course is to get them in close quarters or use smoke/fire to limit vision. The edge is brutal but not insurmountable. Especially if they use clan tactics and battle methods (one vs one, no indirect fire, etc) vs someone using IS tactics and clan mechs There is a reason a lot of clan focus players want to use weight limits vs battlevalue. Which is closer to the clan's bidding (they only sent a star? The commander won the bid) My favorite equalizer is lrm carriers and srm carriers in close terrain..

[@bruced648]

planning to battle I.S. v clan. the I.S. player needs to use the three key elements: time, distance and cover. going head-to-head is a clan tactic. they know they out-class the I.S. equipment. the I.S. player must use unorthodox methods. thus, total war items. by using all types of units, can the I.S. maintain a consistent barrage. I would rather fire 20+ 5pt shots, than 5 shots at 20pts. more chances to hit and more chances for critical damage.

[@CrankyOldGamer]

I'm rediscovering Battletech and really enjoying your videos!

[@bruced648]

people tend to forget - upon Kerensky's order and 80% of the SLDF leaving the I.S., the Clans were not instantly created. the mechs and vehicles they had were 2786 or earlier. Omni mechs came much later. much of the tech they use, originated during the Star league era. they just improved it, instead of destroying society as the I.S. did. thus, you can play as clan circa 2850 using 2 clans with mix of I.S. mechs and 'prototype' omni mechs. the clan genetics and caste systems took time to establish. let alone the improved weapons and mechs.

[@bruced648]

this is where total war comes into play! use of spotters, indirect fire, artillery, minefields and Aerospace. these are tools without honor and the clans rarely use at the beginning of the clan invasion. armor and infantry may not last long, but tactically, you use them to either draw attention or encourage to avoid. a Shrek is still 3 PPCs. Now the most important points, initiative, movement and terrain. I.S. needs to win initiative. making the clans move first is vital. as for movement and terrain, the I.S. should look to put themselves into cover until the optimal to-hit modifiers present themselves. DO NOT try to go head-to-head. that is the clans tactic! also, an I.S. prepared battlefield is best. setting up hidden units, minefields and pre-designated artillery hexes are a must. the clan forces can be beaten, you just cannot use their own tactics against then.

[@777dragonborn]

We played around made up a rule to use improsived field weapons using a tree as a club .or mech parts as clubs. It worked great when a clanner disabled all my weapons on my shadowhawk and ac5 run dry took a tree into the cockpit on my brother's mad cat .

[@kelanelam2638]

Welcome back! Glad I found you again.

[@androssthered1157]

I got a couple stars out of the kickstarter. Would love to see a small scale battle for my noob status.

[@cptncutleg]

I tend to hide behind buildings and trees to lure Clanners into range before concentrating on the second strongest with the hopes of crippling at least one Mech.

[@Magermh]

Clan honer code. Fire back when fire on. IDF I may use IDF too. The other mech fired at me now I have two opponents more glory for me to make star commander. Smoke Jaguar I can bomb the SURATS from orbit. As Innersphere player I am interested in what clan they are and the numbers yes. You really have to sucker them in. They do not have to be suckered like Wolfs or Falcons. Bad weather for them is bad weather to me. LOS ghosting works. Fire, smoking, Arrow IV, Mines. Traps on a prepared battlefield works for and against. The Innersphere has armored mechs and armor on tracks. The clans have XL engines and lack jump jets. Hidden units are countered by active probes. inferno missiles, and LRMs are spent by AMS. Thinking back to the clan days. Gauss Rifle was the best weapon. C3 network where wonderful. Infernos killed the Elemental. Mechs a lone never held up. Lots of players will show up with nothing but Elemental troops and rip companies of mechs to peaces. The best way to counter them is by playing and become a better player and learn from losing. But if you win over an objective or are doing a kill all. Victory. Clans will honer an agreement. Never play an Elemental team in foot ball its one sided.

[@wheresyourcave3412]

Hey fritz cheers for all the battletech vlogs. I haven't played battletech in 20+ years but with after getting my clan Kickstarter ill be looking to get back in. Any chance of a vlog about what mechs for a returning clanner to use to help relearn the game ? 🙏

[@wheresyourcave3412]

p.s Clan Ghost Bear FTW

[@jonbezeau3124]

I've never looked at the Clan mechs from BV perspective... the numbers are all over the map across the tonnage range. You really have to avoid picking machines with weapons bloating their point values and nowhere near enough heatsinks to fire a useful salvo. Playing against the Clans, you can't afford to feel comfortable against any machine you see. Every mech from 30 tons up seems to have an ERPPC variant that can lay out more and longer range fire than an Awesome.

[@mr.gunzaku437]

If you can get into their rear ark their armor is pretty poor and you can punch a hole in it pretty quick

[@oneproudbrowncoat]

OmniMechs are only tough up until the first time I fire the Thumper. (No, not "Thumpers", plural.) 😉

[@francescol.bellman9670]

Clans are extracheesy, but awesome mechs. I love and hate them.

[@kieranmalenoir8705]

i was playing a game with friends and i was playing IS and fighting against the clans 1st round of shotting my black kinght gets shot at by a War hawk, roll to hit...it hits...... rolls to see where it hits.......dubble 6 head shot 15 damage to the face. so yeah my best mech out of the fight in the 1st turn and to just rub the salt in alittle my black knight was not in range to shot back at anything! playing against clans for the 1st time a very rude awakening

[@lukedudley5030]

Clan onmi mechs have serious heat issues....make them shoot...give them 50 50 shots and most players take the alpha all or nothing shot and over heat...use their power against them make them shoot :-)

[@bruced648]

yes, 024

[@Sithikus]

Here's the problem with outnumbering clanners... The institute you focus fire on to one mech.. I throw honor out the window. The clans do not have to abide by clan honor levels. That's a courtesy that we clan players give the inner sphere players.. it's NOT a set in stone rule... 2 dire wolves focusing fire into one inner sphere mech... The point is don't concentrate fire and we won't either.