BATTLETECH: INFANTRY

This one took a while to make. It's kind of the first step outside of #Battlemechs into the world of #Infantry and #Vehicles for #Battletech. These soldiers are the unsung heroes of the setting. Though they are not #Mechwarriors, they deserve far more than they recieve.
From the times of ancient #Terra using spears and bows, through to the #StarLeague, #SuccessionWars, #ClanInvasion, #DarkAge, and #Ilclan era, troops in boots, on the ground, are the core of what warfare is. Whether facing off against the #Clans, or fighting in the #InnerSphere. Whether it be for the #GreatHouses, #Comstar, or #Mercenaries, infantry are something that should never be discounted.
This isn't a complete rules-overview, but I do talk about some of the rules regarding infantry in it. If you're looking for infantry's full rules, you'll need to grab a #TotalWarfare rulebook, which is linked here:
store.catalyst...
A huge thank you for the use of a #Marauder piece is in order that I used in the middle of this video. It was done by Jayden Morris and-
Bruce Patnaude: / @brucepatnaude
For Jayden Morris, who I missed in the audio! He did fantastic work on this as well!
It was commissioned by the ever great RenegadeHPG, as apart of the patreon he runs for community art for Battletech.
Renegade HPG's worth checking out here:
/ renegadehpg
And the patreon for these artworks can be found here:
/ gallery3025
#Tukayyid, #HouseMarik #HouseLiao #HouseDavion #HouseKurita #HouseSteiner
Join this channel in order to support this content:
/ @bigred40tech
Join us on the free Discord as well!:
/ discord
Note: I am not associated with the Battletech / Mechwarrior IP, and create this under fair-use. Ownership of the Battletech IP resides with several companies at this time. I support all official releases.

[@Somewhat-Evil]

You can blow up an objective, you can irradiate it, but you won't be able to control it until you send in infantry.

[@josephmitchelljr.4354]

Cool

[@jtjames79]

My Firestarter says otherwise.

[@franksmedley7372]

@@jtjames79 : With the 'right' terrain, Infantry can easily 'take down' your Firestarter. And walk away for beers.

[@jeremysaklad6703]

@@franksmedley7372 I don't think all of them would walk away.

[@135forte]

@@jeremysaklad6703 Depends on the set up. Hide the infantry in buildings and the mech might not even know it is in danger until it is swarmed by attacks. It's the same tactics that kill tanks in modern combat.

[@PRC533]

Many of the early Battletech novels make numerous references to Inferno SRM armed infantry being a Mechwarrior's worst nightmare, especially in built-up terrain like cities or forests. It's also important that infantry are relatively cheap to train and equip compared to mechs and mechwarriors.

[@jamesricker3997]

"Life is cheap, Battlemechs aren't "

[@torg2126]

@@jamesricker3997 Screw the meat, save the metal. "Aim for the cockpits boys!"

[@cargo_vroom9729]

Cheap in cbills starts going out the window a bit when you get past a bare bones foot rifle platoon. But they are cheap in terms of their other requirements. Basically any industrialized society pumps out people, food, rifles and light vehicles. You can more or less have as many grunts as you feel like paying for. Meanwhile mechs, and to an extent heavy combat vehicles can only be produced at a trickle and require rare and expensive resources worked in complicated ways. This is basically the case now comparing production of modern MBTs to Infantry. ...of course it takes ~20 years to 'manufacture' a human soldier, and it might only take weeks for a factory to make a mech. But the cool thing is we produce other humans massively in parallel from home.

[@donaldcampbell3043]

​@@jamesricker3997actually inner sphere ones generally are

[@Mglue3]

Rpgs would be standard issue. At least in real armys.

[@fatcoyote2]

I actually use infantry fairly often in city fights. Nothing turns your opponent's stomach more than realizing that his Assault Mech's heavy autocannon, gauss rifles, and heavy lasers are only exploding one grunt at a time as they get their armor pecked off from ten different directions simultaneously. Sure, I may not win if there's a time limit, but neither is he. "Tarpit" is my middle name.

[@44R0Ndin]

Armor? Who cares about armor? If a leg attack hits, it deals a crit. Doesn't take many leg crits to make the whole leg not work anymore. Do it again and the mech's inoperative, and better yet, if you have mech techs it won't be too much time before they can restore it to operation working for your side (after you drag the pilot out of the cockpit of course).

[@brothersgt.grauwolff6716]

@@44R0Ndin, exactly I remember playing in a mission back in 04-05 hidden infantry crippled one of my mechs legs forcing me to fall back least I get destroyed

[@reecedignan8365]

Or you hit em with enough infernos that it either becomes very very very uncomfortable for said pilot inside, they can’t fire their primarily weapons due to the residue heat, or your cooking them that much the reactor and ammo starts going crazy.

[@dmaxcustom]

Flamers. I put flamers on my mechs.

[@44R0Ndin]

@@dmaxcustom Flamers are nice and all, but small lasers or machine guns kill Elementals and other battle armor just as well as normal infantry. If you wanna be really mean, you use Inferno SRMs. But I'm not that mean, and I'm not in the business of shutting down mechs with heat (that causes ammo explosions more often than I'm comfortable with, much rather take out the legs with infantry of my own or the cockpit with a high damage weapon like a PPC, AC-20, or gauss rifle instead)

[@117Aster]

"Take on a 'Mech with a satchel charge? Sure, it's been done. But they don't know how often some hotshot 'Mech pilot does see someone hiding in a bush and goes ahead and steps on the guy because he just might be carrying an inferno launcher, satchel charge, or a portable SRM - or just for the hell of it!" -Sergeant Ramage, Grey Death Legion infantry (from Mercenary's Star by William H Keith, Jr.)

[@franksmedley7372]

And this is where being 'sneaky' comes in to play. You leave obvious heat sources that 'look' human for the Mech to stomp or waste heat firing upon, and ambush from covered positions. 'Getting inside the head' of the Pilot, can often sway the battle in your favor.

[@angryscotsman93]

@franksmedley7372 I distinctly remember reading an article talking about insurgent forces in Iraq attempting to ambush US convoys at night. Now, the insurgents had a problem- the convoy escorts were equipped with thermal imaging that could pick up on the heat signatures of ambushers out in the cool desert nights. So what did the insurgents do? They simply covered themselves with layers of blankets to insulate their body heat and make them harder to spot. Infantry will always find some hairbrained scheme to outsmart a fancy gadget, if you give them enough time.

[@117Aster]

@@angryscotsman93 Reminds me how the Yugoslavian army hid their tanks in railway tunnels while using logs and burning barrels to fool NATO. To quote Malcolm Reynolds - "Advice from an old tracker. You want to find someone? Use your eyes."

[@angryscotsman93]

@117Aster yeah, that'll do it- modern tech really is amazing, and it can be a serious war-winner in the right circumstances, but clever bastards with a lot of time on their hands can find some surprisingly ingenious countermeasures. And speaking of, have you heard about the Marines fooling DARPA tech with cardboard boxes?

[@117Aster]

@@angryscotsman93 Mission accomplished! That's why you're the best, boss!

[@ryanjones6384]

Battletech Infantry: When the Awesome with 3 PPCs is considerably less terrifying than the Locust 5T (Moving at 129 km/h with 6 light machine guns paired up to arrays).

[@psychkosys]

No joke! I was running an Awesome and it took a CT crit (snake eyes location) from an infantry SRM and gave me 2 engine hits before the mech fight even began. That tuned infantry turned its firing capabilities into a medium mech with 2 points of damage.

[@franksmedley7372]

Against Infantry, I would prefer the Locust 4M UV (LCT-4M UV). Which mounts EIGHT ER Small Lasers and a single Medium Laser, for a total of 27 damage potential. With 10 IS-DSHS, it can 'run and gun' all day and never overheat. Yes, I know, actually 'running' and using all weapons would generate 21 heat, but my point stands. 8 small lasers would devastate Infantry, even in 'cover'.

[@KageRyuu6]

@@franksmedley7372 Lot of wasted tonnage really, just get an ER Flamer, 1t 2d6 dmg at 7 hex vs 4t 8 dmg at 5 hex. You can then put the other 3t into ERMLs to better deal with armor.

[@44R0Ndin]

@@KageRyuu6 Why go with ERMLs when you could choose small VSP lasers instead? Who needs range when you're fast enough to get into an enemy mech's back arc, fire, and get back out of their range, all while having such a high TMM that you're nearly impossible to land a hit on unless they have something like a targeting computer AND clan pulse lasers?

[@phantam23]

@@franksmedley7372 That's less damage than the standard Locust when fighting Infantry though, you'll be killing 9 Infantry for 21 heat, where the stock LCT-1V kills 4d6+1 infantry for 3 heat. If you really want to shred infantry though, the Locust 5T and 1Vb are where it's at. 6d6+1 with the 5Ts 6 LMGs, and 4d6+7 from the 1Vb's twinned small pulse and medium pulse lasers (and a single standard medium which doesn't contribute much).

[@jasonashman9534]

Always listen to Captain Ramage of the Grey Death Legion: "Your training as an infantry recruit involves rifle practice, trench digging, and hole digging. Here is your rifle, and here is your shovel: Dig a damn hole, infantryman!"

[@Moritat-XIX]

Always loved how they had games for different forms of combat for that extra level of granularity. BattleTroops for Infantry, BattleSpace for WarShips/DropShips, BattleForce for hex and counter style games and Succession Wars for Strategic level play.

[@Marinealver]

Aerotech for Space combat.

[@franksmedley7372]

City Tech, for urban combat

[@jeremysaklad6703]

@@franksmedley7372 RogueTech, for making you fear helicopters

[@Sk0lzky]

We need scamtech for blockchain

[@Moritat-XIX]

@@Sk0lzky Oh absolutely lol

[@phantam23]

One of my favourite things about Infantry in Battletech's ruleset is that they're not treated as disposable fodder for pitched fights (though you can use them for that if you so decline). Instead they're amazing for holding ground, and utility purposes. Combat Engineers let you lay down bridges, clear minefields, and do a great number of other things that Mechs and Vehicles can't do easily. That same infantry unit can spot for indirect fire, load ammo/cargo, and more.

[@nathanhook8351]

In 40k, charging *titans* with bayonets is a meme, because sometimes it works. At least battletech handles such conflict in a more plausible way.

[@kalashnikovdevil]

To be fair, Titans make mechs look like tinker toys.

[@Demicleas]

@@kalashnikovdevil Yeah in 40k titans don't tend to last very long in the battlefield once there void shields pop. Once there gone they bassicly usually get pelted into becoming molten slag. The seige of vraks and the invasion of Armageddon are 2 good examples.

[@psychocrysis2]

@@kalashnikovdevil Imperators yeah, but the more common Warhounds are "just" the same size as an Atlas.

[@nemamiah7832]

My love for BT infantry was born when I saw a dude in SRM Squad hit a Wolverine in the back and straight into the feelings, doing 3 Engine Crits. 60 BV well spent.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Infantry are just so damn effective, really.

[@Chris_Sizemore]

The Mech Myth: Most leaders in Battletech pay careful attention to the mech forces on each side. When the mech forces of one side are routed, the other military assets are either pulled back to cover them, or thrown at the enemy to create an opportunity to recover and repair the retreating mechs. Mechs are powerful, and they are the spear of any strike force. That said... both the military and civilian leaders in the Battletech universe put too much emphasis on mechs. Often, when the mech forces are routed, the leaders will give up without considering the use of tank and infantry. While using just conventional military to defend against a mech force will lead to a huge number of casualties, conventional forces will grind down mech units and force them to retreat for repairs, or over commit and lose mechs. On lightly populated worlds, such casualties should stop the leaders from using infantry to stop an invasion. On worlds that have populations in the millions on the other hand, as long as the leadership is determined to win infantry can hold until the invaders grind themselves to dust. What stops that from happening is hundreds of years of mech tactics taught to every commander in the inner sphere, which is ironic since there are plenty of notable exceptions. Especially in the history of the Cappellan Confederation during the succession wars where it used poorly armed but desperate infantry units to prevent the loss of strategically important words when the Cappellan's own mech forces couldn't do the job.

[@jakeg3733]

@@Chris_Sizemore For the -Emperor- Chancellor!

[@temp3608]

i once ran into an infantry using the MW5 infantry mod, all my CN9-ALs lasers were on cooldown but it was modified i dont think the PPC left much of that poor man behind, R.I.P. MW5 infantryman

[@Scriptedviolince]

". . . full strategic mobilization does its own wonders to warfare so infantry did then what all infantry do when time gets hard they dug a hole and they started stacking bodies. If anything other than infantry showed up these weapons were their patron saints: the Demolisher, the SRM carrier, the Manticore . . ." ~tex

[@argokarrus2731]

I read this in his voice

[@jakeg3733]

@@Scriptedviolince SRM carriers are scarier than any mech

[@Dragonspirit223]

Infantry: When you want to remind people why Light Mechs exist and heavier mechs carry machine guns

[@michaelkeha]

no matter how advanced technology gets during combat you will need boots on the ground to hold ground or go into areas the big toys simply can't get into

[@Dracobyte]

Or caprure impotant objectives.

[@KillerOrca]

For as long as there is war; there will be the infantry. For as long as there is infantry, they shall walk in the mud. All hail to the infantry, most flexible of all military forces

[@fatboy7609]

You know all those Machine Guns you ripped out of your Mechs... Honestly though, nice to see love spread outside the machines in the setting.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

How can I fit in the Flamer without removing the machinegun? THINK, man, THINK

[@magni5648]

I mean, I did rip the machienguns out of the Firestarter? It's not been that much of an issue, tbh.

[@krullachief669]

Small pulse lasers go brrrrrr

[@Diarmuhnd]

I loved using infantry versus other players on tabletop back in the day. It annoyed them something crazy and made me smile. *Great lore channel, thanks.*

[@theQuickining]

I've never played the tabletop game so I don't know anything about it, but would you just use infantry or did you have a mix of vehicles and mechs as well but heavily based you army around your infantry?

[@Diarmuhnd]

@@theQuickining I would supported my mechs with annoying infantry and a little armor. It was just fun, plus I loved painting mini's. Been doing table top since the 80's, started with Micro Armor Tackforce.

[@level98bearhuntingarmor]

I sometimes think about how some of the House uniforms and gear would look like

[@claytonhollowell4488]

Many of the old sourcebooks have this artwork.

[@terrinils3165]

The newer House Handbooks has detailed descriptions of various battle dress. Sadly, there are fewer illustrations than the FASA books.

[@danmorgan3685]

According to the old source books they look bad. They look really, really bad.

[@franksmedley7372]

Catyalyst Games really needs to invest in artworks to 'update' the looks of the various House and Mercenary Infantry uniforms and their gear. The original artworks are, indeed, horrible.

[@terrinils3165]

@franksmedley7372 Well, we have the updated Force Manuals and the BattleTech Universe book coming out. Let's hope those cover the infantry to some extent.

[@JS-kr8fs]

I just imagine mechwarriors hesitating at the sight of infantry. Not because they're the biggest threat on the field, but they're weighing which weapon system they can waste the least amount of combat power on, against the possibility that they're missing the squad with the Inferno SRMs lining up on their ass from some window.

[@Mofflin1]

Infantry has to be without a doubt an essential feature in our group’s Alpha Strike and Classic games. I have fond memories of printing out a jump platoon for my buddy and then later tearing my hair out as the buggers leapt from building to building when I tried to pin them down with my mechs in the next game.

[@ryankruchowski1951]

Atlas pilot: AWW look at the whittle infantry with aaAAA NUCLEAR DEVISE!!! AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

[@Archangelm127]

I remember this one crazy lady who ran into a mech fight with a sword and won.

[@Jager1967]

Infantry shall always be needed to take and hold ground.

[@trippyulyanov2012]

i love the image of infantry fighting mechs so much that its actually what convinced me to try get into tabletop tbh, and im pretty sure ive 3d printed more squads of infantry (and APCs to carry them) than actual BattleMechs so far 😅

[@BigRed40TECH]

Get a GUN battlemech, ultimate Infantry Support Mech too :D

[@Cbabilon675]

The one thing that I enjoy more than anything about playing with infantry, is the fact that regardless of what the weapon is, it does one point of damage to a mech. Whether it be an assault rifle, a pistol, a laser rifle, or even a recoilless rifle.

[@Archangelm127]

With those rules, might as well just throw a bunch of AKs into the hands of peasants, blow a bugle, and have them run at the enemy going full dakka. (I think the technical term is "crit seeking.")

[@yeungscs]

@@Archangelm127 I'm suddenly reminded of that one scene from the Animatrix where massed infantry is up against one Machine

[@BigHugsFromHell]

One of my favorite examples of infantry in Battletech comes from the novel, "Ideal War," where a member of a newly christened order of mechwarrior knights under House Marik is sent to investigate a dirty, old-school guerrilla war with none of the honor they were meant to promote, and where mechs had been mostly useless. It's a pretty brutal story in parts, but the grizzled infantry it portrayed as the only ones having any sense was pretty funny at parts, with them looking at most mechwarriors as naive idiots and crazies while they are left busy doing all the real work. The audiobook version is something I could put on at any time, and considering it is one of the few that can be found here on KZbin I frequently do. Highly recommended.

[@ghoulbuster1]

Let us remember and respect every brave soldier that fought valiantly against thousands of years of warfare.

[@edwardsantiago9109]

o7

[@StigmaNYC]

Oh! Bruce Patnaudes creations are freaking AWESOME! I found him while looking up Battletech line art. Been following Renegade HPG since if found the video titled “ Tex, Michael Stackpole, Blaine Lee Pardoe and Renegade HPG Talk BattleTech.” I’m currently reading “Warrior: En Garde”

[@BigRed40TECH]

Jayden Morris also did the art piece too, I just forgot to mention in the artwork. Though he doesn't have any social media accounts for me to reference :(

[@StigmaNYC]

@@BigRed40TECH Jayden Morris and Bruce Patnaudes can both be found on Artstation

[@brothersgt.grauwolff6716]

I remember playing in a TT Battletech VIP Capture/Assassination mission were we had to prevent the VIP from escaping in a transport shuttle at the spaceport it was players vs the GM we had to move through the city to get to the spaceport hidden infantry units would make it difficult I had to fall back after suffering crippling damage from a swarm attack but we won when a teammate remembered we could attack the launch rail itself damaging it so the VIP couldn't escape

[@Captain_Draco]

No mention of the founding of the Gray Death Legion? Such a prime example of infantry and combined arms.

[@ScarredCitizen]

Thank you so much for this. My group played a good amount of combined arms back in the day. Brought back many very good memories. Thank you for that.

[@franksmedley7372]

Ditto here, my friend... ah, the fond memories of other Players howling that I was 'cheating'! *snerks*

[@dapperbardgames1041]

Thank you for this video, as a FWL and DC player I feel that infantry and battle armor are key components of my light mech and Vega teams.

[@SommersetStriker]

In my houserule battletech games, infantry gain bonuses when fighting 'mechs in urban settings. Nothing quite like losing a Highlander to a platoon of srm troopers hidden on the 7th floor.

[@brianhenry152]

Yes! Been waiting on your take on PBI. The most common and least appreciated element of 31st and 32nd century warfare, and proof that life in the Inner Sphere is cheap.

[@murgel2006]

Back in the early days of BT when infantry/combined arms were first implemented in the game we jumped at the chance to do that. And we did so because we knew how much of a deciding factor combined arms and especially infantry would be. We did so because my whole playing group were infantrymen themselves.

[@zorkwhouse8125]

I actually still have my old "'Battle Troops" box set, though its been a loooong time since I've played. Really neat to hear about this again. :-)

[@kierdalemodels]

Good stuff. Nice to see the art for FWL Achileus battle armour in there (Purple Bird Strong!). If you do dive deeper in the future I’d love to hear about different units/regiments, models of battle armour, etc. Keep up the good work👍

[@BigRed40TECH]

Thanks!

[@johnstevenperez4186]

As a Mercenary Combined Arms Player,. Knowing the capabilities of your Infantry, Battlearmor and Light Armored Vehicles in a city or forested area is very important when supporting one another. Hopefully, more than your opponent. Compared to most, I enjoy dense city or forested environments. Hopefully after a rout or victory, there is enough salvage to compensate for the repair or losses.

[@yigitmut6465]

All glory to Cassandra "Cassie" Suthorn, member of the 17. Recon "Camachos Caballeros". The one man Army who kills Mechs for fun! Best example how infantry can indeed overcome the threat of Battlemechs.

[@kanderson772]

I remember the lovely crunch that infantry made under your mech's feet in Crescent Hawks Inception. I also remember that every once in a while a lone infantryman will survive a direct hit by a medium laser. I can't imagine he looked very pretty after, though.

[@InquisitorJack]

Thousands of feet March to the beat It’s an army on the March Long way From home Paying the price in young men’s lives

[@alphaone5406]

What’s the price of a mile (sabaton)

[@theomnissiah-9120]

Thousands of feet march to the beat It's an army in despair Knee-deep in mud Stuck in the trench with no way out Thousands of machineguns Kept on firing through the night Mortars blazed and wrecked the scene Guns in the fields that once were green

[@Cha-Khia]

I played a game of classic BattleTech against a friend that loved using infantry, we usually play by BV and unit organization (ex. 8000 bv2 and lance V lance) in this game we decided to just do whatever, I brought 3 locusts 2 phoenix hawks, a Warhammer, and some aircraft for bombing, he brought, only infantry. I won because of a few lucky rolls, but it was a slug fest. I wouldn't do it again, but the game was fun.

[@flakbait5771]

Infantry-- when you need to retain that terrain Great video, Big Red. Thank you!

[@ALECOS44]

Awesome video on my favorite units in any setting, the humble infantryman. Never underestimate well-positioned and well led infantry to ruin your mechs day!

[@franksmedley7372]

Agreed. Although, one should keep in mind the saying of General Lee in the Civil War. 'To be a good General, you must love your troops. To be a great General, you must risk that which you love'.

[@cobalt968]

The exotic types of infantry are pretty cool too. The FWL has their own unique troop variant called the Branth Irregulars. While rare and largely restricted to their home planet, they ride giant flying lizards named Branth into combat. On top of the traditional infantry weapons, Branth themselves are strong enough to damage light Battlemechs, to say nothing about the standard infantryman on the ground.

[@franksmedley7372]

Although not ever specifically mentioned 'in game', old style Calvary, with satchel charge tipped 'lances' could take down Light Mechs fairly easily, and be hidden even from IR sensors with a little effort. Such an attack would be 'unconventional', and would usually take a Pilot by utter surprise... at least for the first few attacks. This would have the net effect of 'slowing' the advance of such fast moving Mechs, making them 'fear' such a 'charge', and allowing emplaced gun batteries to have a 'field day' picking them apart from range. Follow this up with Jump Infantry in buildings the Mechs have to pass by, or Battle Armor, and you can get away with mixing up these kinds of attacks and keep an attacker off balanced and on the 'defensive' as they attempt to press their attacks.

[@williamjanak2013]

War, War never changes. It will always need boits on the ground. Great video.

[@squirrellordsgaming2772]

I've never even considered Infantry in this game. Thanks for this video, you've given me something to think about. Good stuff!

[@observationsfromthebunker9639]

This video was an excellent overview of the role infantry units play in Battletech. the PBI rarely gets the spotlight, but if they're not present then nothing is ultimately at stake. It should be noted that combat infantry units were present in the Gray Death Legion trilogy early on in game history. So, the grunts have a pretty deep legacy in the game. Being able to use infantry well to harass and hinder the enemy force is the sign of a veteran Battletech player.

[@hentaioverwhelming]

Huh, I didn't think I'd see Battlefield 2142 art in the background for the Standard Infantry segment. That was such a good game.

[@BruceEverett]

17:40 - the Mechwarrior 4:Vengeance music and the topic of infantry has me reminded of Melissa Steiner.

[@cavemanbum]

Combined arms makes for the best Battletech games, IMHO. Sure, mechs are sexy; but including infantry, tanks, artillery, and VTOLs into a force make it much more flexible.

[@kathilmechworks4895]

Jump infantry, SRM troops and Mechanized atv spotters are among my favorite. Can't say how often atv spotters have ruined some ones day. Can't take ground till you have boots on it.

[@wellhello1575]

Good video, There are a lot of people who need to be reminded that these integral unis exist in Battle tech. Best example is the The Battletech (2016) vidoe game. in base capture or recovery missions a mech rolls up to a building waits a round and whatever needs to happen, happens. Would they not need troops to enter the building to capture it or to recover the prisoner, to get them to the mech. I really hope there is a mod for the game that will add Infantry units.

[@gkeaton9755]

I love the "wait... WHAT?!?" when an enemy stumbles across elementals dropped off by speedy omnimechs!

[@Archangelm127]

IIRC in the early days of the Clan Invasion the Inner Sphere was so thrown by Elementals that people legitimately wondered if they were fighting aliens.

[@GhostBear3067]

@@Archangelm127 especially when they shrugged off .50 cal fire like confetti.

[@KG-jm1zl]

Big reason I love combined arms battles, a company or 2 of infantry with arty support & some IFVs, tanks and maybe helos can take on lances of mechs for the same point value or if using C-bills punch way above its value

[@mikewarden5777]

I love this video and I'm excited to see what comes next. I find that infantry keeps mech deployment honest in my campaigns. We all love PPCs, but they don't do much against a platoon of 28 dudes. My players know that they have to bring a lighter mech or two with MGs and flamers just in case.

[@TheMirkxD]

Yes! I love this. Now I also NEED a battletech / mechwarrior game where I am playing as an infantry soldier. Could be an awesome experience. Can't wait for you to reach air fighters / space fighters. So hyped for some air/space supremacy lore.

[@wheturangi]

Titanfall isnt a bad choice. Titanfall 1 and 2 are great games and have a semi-Battletech feel.

[@andrewamann2821]

Mechassault (or maybe Mechassault 2?) had segments with Power Armor/Elemental armor, iirc...

[@geoff-lukebihler6157]

Mechwarrior living legends if it is still going

[@toddkes5890]

Infantry running at ~11 kph, while the slower assault Mechs move at ~30 kph. You are not going to catch up with them. Instead you should grab a laser designator for your LRM buddies, and hope nobody fires lasers at you (lasers because they have no ammo limits so can random-fire for the entire game).

[@thebaumfaeller1477]

@@andrewamann2821 It's very old but the game that in my opinion gets closest to battle armor is Terra Nova Strike Force Centauri. while I would not say that it aged well it is definitely worth a look since it is cheap and feels a bit like visiting a museum.

[@Linkous12]

I'd hate to be an infantryman in a universe of Battlemechs.

[@TimberWulfIsHere]

May as well get a free coffin when you join the milita as a bonus.

[@cptncutleg]

@@TimberWulfIsHere I unironically set up a Widows fund for my fallen men and women for my Megamek campaign.

[@kalashnikovdevil]

I'd hate to be an infantryman anywhere! I flew for a reason.

[@jamesholcombe675]

There's tanks and bombers in this universe, not much better.

[@jk3jk35]

All infantry in the Inner Sphere must have dropped to their knees and thanked Kerensky when Elemental armor was captured and reverse engineered to the Inner Sphere Standard :)

[@Excedis125]

As a grunt who loves grand strategy myself I appreciate this video and its viewpoints and explanations. Goes back to an old adage of mine "The war isn't over until some Grunt's boot is in someone's chair"

[@Doomer1984]

Fantastic coverage of "the poor bloody infantry"

[@BigRed40TECH]

Thank you!

[@lucendacier6851]

If you look at the energy of 'Mech weapons, even a small laser has enough power to turn a human being into red mist. Think about what that must be like for the ground troops. A 'Mech even looks in your direction and one or more of you just don't exist anymore.

[@shadowslayer205]

The MW5 Infantry mod shows this pretty well. Shoot an infantryman with a laser and he'll flat out disintegrate.

[@angryscotsman93]

Even worse, if it's a normal laser, the mech can sweep the beam across a position and possibly take out multiple infantry with a single pass. Imagine watching an entire fireteam just get burnt out of existence by a weapon that most Mechwarriors wouldn't even bother to laugh at. Of course, the fact that your platoon probably has some crew-served or throwaway launchers on-hand that can ruin said 'mech's day might make the loss a little easier to bear. I wouldn't be surprised if there're some INFAMOUS light infantry units from the Inner Sphere that specialize as 'mech hunters.

[@lucendacier6851]

@@angryscotsman93 I think the Gray Death Legion had a few such infantry units.

[@mill2712]

Though it is star wars, I think this shows in amazing detail to what you're saying. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4eYooNof5ybipI

[@lucendacier6851]

@@mill2712 Good one! Though I'd say dino-droid's weapon is more of a PPC than a small laser...

[@KageRyuu6]

Field Guns, the great equalizer, it's all fun and games till the PFI reveal a Gauss Rifle pointed back at you. Especially if those PFI are Dug-In to Heavy Woods with Camo Sneak Suits, for a +7 Hit mod. Though don't discount Ballistic Plate either, being able to cut a Flamer down from 24 max damage to 12 can be a godsend.

[@geffreysarna3502]

I'd rather be an infantryman than a member of a vehicle crew. At least an infantryman has a chance of being beneath the notice of a battlemech. A tank/vehicle crew is either at least somewhat of a threat, or target practice.

[@CapnArrich]

Yeah. Infantry are overlooked for the big stompy robits, but they are just as deadly in the right circumstances. I got a Merc company put together, finally. One version is just 'Mechs for simplicity's sake, while another has a Behemoth tank and a handful of battle armor dudes. Not quite infantry, but close enough for a start, I suppose. Anyhow, great work as always, BR40K.

[@yeetbirdo]

I love that the thumbnail is a picture of soldiers from Halo.

[@kalashnikovdevil]

God love the poor bloody infantry. I certainly do. In the right setting, with the right tactics, your grunts can absolutely shape and control a battlefield, punishing your opponent for daring to try to break out of the killing fields you've set up with your mechs and armor.

[@seannorthern8854]

Just a thought: We may pay the butcher's bill, MechJock; but never forget, we also get the choicest cuts of the meat. Ducimus!

[@AGS363]

Infantry is really not well represented in BT. There are barely any Models for the Table-Top out there (to my knowledge). And most Artworks and pictures have this cheese 80s/90s look, because they were made in these years! Nice to see that the humble ground-pounders now at least have a good documentary to do them justice.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Very limited models sadly.

[@kevinmulkey9774]

Buying the old mini's at three very well stocked gaming stores call it 1995 to FASA going under. I only managed to get one Kanazuchi squad, Longinus Squad, and pack of DCMS Foot infantry. That's all I ever was ever able to find none tank and mech. MechBusters, my VTOL fleet, Stuka's and ASF's in general were hard to find. But even the Clan vehicles I thought were cool np. Hard not impossible. But never even saw Clan Elementals, and the stores asked what we wanted them to keep a eye out for. Hoping the Merc Kick Starter brings some love.

[@trippyulyanov2012]

DeathRay Designs has a pretty decent range of infantry and battle armour id recommend checking them out

[@gary9346]

AMAZING video Red, as ever. Never underestimate infantry!

[@wagonmaker5509]

that was AWESOME!!!! starting up battletech.

[@michaelmorford3932]

Ultimate fear as an infantry platoon, Firestarter. 🔥 🔥 🔥

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

Mmmm. Rear mounted flamer and jump jets, for when there's infantry in every building

[@michaellaramee1965]

Great video! I kinda thought HBS Battletech could use some infantry in it. You could just have the infantry squad represented by a hex or square and only typically fight in urban areas hoping between different covers. As the mech you just need to get close enough to know where they are and just destory the building to wipe out the squad. Maybe Battletech 2? Haha

[@BigRed40TECH]

Sadly, I don't think we're getting BATTLETECH 2 :(

[@michaellaramee1965]

@Big Red 40k Thats a real shame! Battletech was one of the few PC games I happily bought all the DLC for and the one PC game I come back to every other year. Well at least they got mods haha

[@sharlin648]

An excellent video, I was deployed with a Mech Inf unit in Iraq, bit different from these guys though! :D Superb stuff and great art too!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Most of the art in this video, sadly, isn't for Battletech :( They have very limited art of infantry atm, at least that's not extremely dated

[@sharlin648]

@@BigRed40TECH Aye but it still works fine and you did a great breakdown of the infantry.

[@Dracobyte]

Nothing can replace good 'old infantry!

[@victor227]

Great as always! The uses of infantry really puts the Gùn video into context by outlining the sort of forces it might come up against and be used in support of.

[@oldmankatan7383]

Wow, I was trying to look up infantry rules and tactics about 2 days ago and it's a desert out there. Then this comes along! Colorful, educational, and timely. Cheers!

[@jakerooke174]

I can imagine a bucket of paint in a city is very useful when a mech walks by

[@viktordickinson7844]

This channel is the only one that does both TT rules here-and-there AND lore in the same spot. I love it. Keep it up.

[@cptncutleg]

Battlemechs take control of an area, but it's infantry who hold it.

[@donaldcampbell3043]

Just found this video, actually had a few fun games just using the Mechwarrior book and played as infantry and special ops kind of adventures rather than just stompy robot jocks... also used to convert another game systems stats and combat into these kind of games. The system was a game xalled Psi World. Its a great cover all game. Its one of the few games i still have from back then

[@johnw5154]

Infantry are great fun. Add a real dynamic to games

[@rh352]

SO good! I am extremely excited to try combined arms play

[@baker90338]

Take a look at a srm or LRM carrier or two. For 800 ish points you get a piece that shoots 60 of either for which moves 54kph.

[@Marinealver]

Ah yes, the Doormats of Mechwarrior/Battletech. Don't forget to wipe your feet.

[@nonya1366]

This reminds me of the fact that, while yes. The Clans have battle armor. [Elementals.] There was no doubt *still* IS infantry willing to throw down with the technologically superior [at the time] Clans...And some of them even won those fights. I think they'd make the Star League Proud.

[@hentaioverwhelming]

One other thing about mechs waltzing into an infantry unit's range is that the Attack on Titan song starts playing in the background

[@a.h.1358]

I always wondered why Grayson Carlisle’s stick of anti-mech infantry tactics was such a big deal; mechs have been around for almost 600 years by the time he debuted, don’t know why no one thought of firing an RPG at an exposed actuator joint till he showed up.

[@tryagainbragg2569]

Been waiting for this one for awhile

[@BigRed40TECH]

It has arrived! Thank the KZbin Members :)

[@csnation]

Some people do question why does only 1 guy die in a platoon if you shoot him with a PPC. Well BT works on a 30mx30m hex (at least on the ground). That is a 900m square area. That is roomy enough for 28 guys (1 platoon). Now factor in typical squad tactics (4, 7 men squads = 1 platoon), the platoon is now dispersed, making even harder to catch them all in 1 fell swoop. So when your mech/tank attacks a platoon on the Table Top, it is likely engaging single squad. So hence casualties are low on the inf side. Now for MG/Flamers/Small Pulse lasers/Plasma/Missiles with frag warheads or incendiary, that changes a bit. In my "head canon" I believe MGs and small Pulse lasers have an armor penetrating mode and anti-personal mode. For MGs it could be smart munitions that airburst and shreds every trooper in the open while the Small Pulse simply dials down its power which in turn, speeds up it's ROF to deal with infantry. Then when facing vehicles/mechs, the MG simply switches back to normal rounds and the small pulse goes back to its default power. Plasma/incendiary/inferno/flamers are kinda self explanatory, they simply burn the entire area. While frag missiles simply saturate the area with fragments.

[@jamesoakes192]

Great video, really interesting topic and really well delivered, I loved the care and humanity that went into it!

[@haroldcarfrey4206]

Field Gun equipped infantry dug in is a tough nut, and if Battletech reflected the effectiveness of Shoulder fired anti-armor weapons, elementals would be dead meat

[@jonathanj.3695]

Realistically, if you treat a mech like a tank, infantry are their worst nightmare. Tanks and mechs are limited by the space that they're allowed to occupy. If they're too big to fit down a road or a corridor, that limits where they can be positioned. Additionally, the weaknesses of any tank and mech are infantry with portable anti-vehicle weaponry ambushing them and air to ground aircraft that can bombard the crap out of them or heavily eat away at their armor.

[@bthsr7113]

Can't have lords, kings, or gods of the battlefield if you don't have the less fortunate commoners en masse. But lords and kings should remember that peasants have felled their ilk before.

[@tapioperala3010]

Heinlein had a great point about the need for "the humble infantryman" in Starship Troopers, but dammit, I can't find it. In any case, infantry is always needed. Even the greatest 'Mechs are worth nothing if the supply lines are raided. Infantry can infiltrate so much easier than ie. 'mechs, or even vehicles. Sure infantry can't carry as heavy weaponry as ie. 'mechs, but they can blow up the ground under a 'mech, bringing it down and then blowing up the cockpit. Trust me. The only way to dig out a determined enemy from their bunkers, trenches, dugouts, etc., you'll always need infantry.

[@Kattbirb]

That solder at 4:00 rocking a rifle with no scope, dot or rear sight on their rifle has me dying. XD Tangent aside, I love how a couple platoons of dug-in SRM infantry can just shut down a whole corner of a map. Or you can just go full Eragon with Aerial Beast Infantry.

[@channelcatfish7862]

Goddamn the MC2 soundtrack is absolutely the best battletech soundtrack

[@raychua5178]

Infantry is another realm in which the SLDF surpassed the Great houses and Comstar even through to the Dark Age. Theirs was a time when Mauser Pulse laser rifles were standard issue, infantry kits had 360° sensor coverage where comstar only retained 1/3 capability. Making them almost like ODSTs to the great houses militia

[@rylanddungan8797]

Ah Infantry. Reason number 4692 why I bring Artillery vehicles to every game

[@BlizzardTerrak]

Fascinating to see non-mech videos here. And I'm hear for it!

[@kentellis5384]

Outstanding subject and another example for combined arms warfare that 40k still only dreams of have this in there system.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I do consider doing. Every day. :P

[@BraindeadCRY]

"Infantry? I prefer the term Toasties" - Firestarter Pilot