Classic BattleTech Battle Report | Clan Burrock vs Clan Wolf | Post-Battle of Tukayyid Era

[@AnjinDiceCo]

Not only are you playing my favorite flavor of Battletech, but you're also fielding some of my favorite machines! The Marauder IIC? The Stone Rhino? The Summoner? What a treat! Love both Alpha Strike and Battletech, but I love all the narrative that's baked into the mechanics of "Classic"! Love this game!

[@misterbeeps]

Dan should initiate a Trial of Grievance against whomever gave him those dice.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Would he have to use the same dice? If Y he would lose said trial 😂

[@misterbeeps]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I think he has to lose. At this moment we're in the Empire Strikes Back phase of the Dan redemption arc. Thom has been frozen in carbonite and Dan just had his hand cut off by Aaron. Obi-wan Kevinobi sacrificed himself for Dan in the first movie, so Dan is mentor-less and alone. All our heroes are at their lowest point. Well, the lowest point until Dan finds out the girl he has a crush on is his sister.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

LMFAO

[@crusignatioutremer791]

No piloting skill rolls for mechs getting hit with 20+?

[@jeremiahclark3084]

I'm sure it just got forgotten. Happens with me and my son when we play too.

[@nyandyn]

A Game Of -Armored Combat- Falling Down

[@HouseMasterPoDing]

Excellent video Battle Report as always, gentlemen. Keep the good content coming! House Po enjoys this content!

[@jasonames145]

So says master Po Ding, and so it shall be :)

[@derekburge5294]

Oh, I know what Dan's dice problem is! Just recently fixed it for myself. Go into the System Settings, and change them from D4 to the correct D6. Last update reset everyone's dice back to lowest value, for some bloody reason.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Bwahah I will let him know. Or will I??

[@derekburge5294]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Gasp! Treachery!

[@lt.danhooper1635]

I mean while I've got the settings open . . . . . . . *changes to D12s*

[@derekburge5294]

​@@lt.danhooper1635 Ey! Smart move! Can't wait to see you roll a 21 to hit.

[@lt.danhooper1635]

@@derekburge5294 Makes rolling for target location fun too. I've got like a 50% chance for a headshot

[@grandloser28]

Your battlefields are top notch, very thematic and good to watch

[@jahwinston9327]

Love the Marauder IIC, beautiful beast

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Really slick design! I enjoyed painting it.

[@greatjonumber4958]

The guy who built the first castles Brian was one Brian Cameron (I think)

[@lesjames2478]

Loved the crystal forest! Glad I could inspire a cool use of your terrain. Very fun BatRep guys, keep up the good work

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

You know who you areeeee 😆❤️

[@WoWoverlord]

37:55 a ghost orb floats diagonally in a perfect line (not affected by gravity) to the right of Aaron.

[@verysilentmouse]

First lord Brian Cameron devised the idea of the Castle Brians

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Why “Brian” though.

[@verysilentmouse]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Brian Cameron before being Director General of the hegemony was ambassador to Kurita the castles were a response to historical Kurita shinnagens while the current kurita was a softy Brian knew it was going to be same old same old after Nihongi passed. The implication was that the boss' idea the boss' name goes on them

[@Ragnaroknrol]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming400+ years after his death, almost no one knows his policies, diplomatic moves, etc…. But the MOMENT someone asks “Why Castle Brian” some nerd in that universe (and ours) pipes up explaining their origin and his name. The man gained immortality by simply being conceited, makng incredibly tough defensive fortifications, and having the good idea to marry the two.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I love it!!!! Thanks guys!

[@brianhenry152]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming because he wasn't the Messiah, he was a very naughty boy!

[@hectorc7080]

Clasic is the best mode... is absolutely cinematic in nature :-D

[@youtmeme]

awesome battle guys!! thanks!!🙂👏👍🤙🤟✌✌

[@redbaronsnoopy2346]

"Castle Brian" - Named after Director-General Brian Cameron, yeah, it what it is. I asked decades ago about lackluster name for these nasty citadels, just a chuckle for an answer. Just another Cameron... blah... ;) "I wanna feel bad, but I don't..." to quote Dan, I have to admit I cheered his lucky arm removal role upon Aaron's Dire Wolf. Hoot! I'll never play Classic Battletech, Starfleet Battles, Traveller, Gurps, D&D, Champions, and We have all been there, table flip and dice throws and/or destruction/burying... ;-P

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

LOL! I forgot about Traveller! Take me back.

[@redbaronsnoopy2346]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Aaron, for goodness sake, give Dan your dice. Holy moly...

[@Redmow51]

MechWarrior 2 music. Oh, the memories!

[@omegavulture8379]

This is why I prefer mechs where the guns are spread more evenly, if they get one of your baskets they wont break all the eggs.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

All my eggs got broken here. 😖

[@Ichaerus]

Oh boy! It's DFA Wargaming Wednesday! Best day of the week! Loving the Classic BatReps, although they need more PSR checks when high damage happens, to avoid 'Mech-tipping, if you're playing RAW. Excited to see Clan Wolf against Clan Murderpede here though! Is that a Deep-Cuts Studios map, or a Frontline Gaming map? I'm hoping that eventually, Hardware Studios will restock their Emerald Drake 'Mech. It's going on a year since I have seen even a single one in a store. :(

[@jasonames145]

love it! Clan Murderpede!

[@nathanmunson1586]

Love the soundtrack choices! Classic indeed

[@EricVulgaris]

Castle Brian is the sci fi equivalent to the trace italianne of 16th century fame. Also if you like 40k at all, of course a site like Blackstone requires a fortress

[@228R_LavaDa1shi]

Now that is a lot of Gauss LPL on the field.

[@richardolierii5419]

I believe in Classic if you have partial cover and you hit an area that is in that cover it is a miss (ie right leg hit and the leg was behind cover it would be a miss. That is why the partial cover modifier moved to -1 from -3 like it used to be.

[@richardolierii5419]

Oh and I love your stuff. Y'all keep my battletech fix going!

[@TheAchilles26]

Actually, by RAW you just get the Cover and then roll on the punch chart.....which is brutal and makes cover less worth it. What you described is a common house rule

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

You are both correct - the one rule is in strategic ops for use with hexless/miniature rules. The RAW rule is also correct, because on the hexmap you can only be in partial cover via a level 1 hill. You both win 😁 We play a bastardization of both of these rules - simply because arguing over which limb is in cover etc is not worth it. So we take the +1 and go!

[@TheAchilles26]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming did y'all ever implement the "1 hex = 2 inches" movement and weapon range conversion in your Classic BatReps?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

@TheAchilles26 we play everything 1:1… we even “downscale” Alpha Strike to 1:1. The tables aren’t big enough (my opinion) for 2:1 … fast mechs are at point blank in a couple turns which changes the feel of the game significantly.

[@DevianID]

You near that i95 philly collapse too? If you are ever playing with the community at local stores or what not, Id love to 'school' ya in classic haha.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Where do you play?

[@DevianID]

​​@@DeathfromAboveWargamingI usually drive north to gregs games or IRL in hightstown to play with my buddies in NJ, but there are a lot of stores like top deck on the jersey side too. In Doylestown PA I just play at my friends house. We moved to trenton so I have to travel anyway.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Yeah I am like right across the river from you, and maybe 10 minutes north up River Rd in Washington Xing. Not much up here in terms of stores.

[@Marlena_M]

Yes! Another batrep!

[@johnw5154]

Not playing pilot checks for 20pts of damage changes the game dramatically. It's not that lasers do impact damage. It's about the pilot trying to continually dodge the incoming damage while also driving. The nerohelm and brain cannot cope with too much. The risk of falling is small. But later in the game it matters more.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I don’t think it changes it “dramatically” unless you have trash pilots. But your point is valid - it’s part of the game.

[@kevinappel6184]

Noticed they were not doing piloting checks after more than 20 pt of damage delivered.

[@gavincross2902]

BUrrock, not BArrock. :P Can't wait to watch this whole thing. Very excited. Burrock would likely be Upsilon Galaxy (according to Wars of Reaving source book.) Hey, don't be giving up on classic (though I don't know why you are skipping the piloting checks) but I think we all like all your game styles with Destiny and others. Great Video. Thanks. :)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

WUDDER. NOT WATER. Welcome to Philly.

[@gavincross2902]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming LOL

[@Kaiju-Driver]

Painting Battlemechs while I listen to the boys. It's a good night. ;)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Which faction are you painting up?!

[@Anthony-ve3dy]

I looked in the merch store but did not see how to get those DFA banners that you have in the background.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Those are not for sale! CGL artwork isn’t mine to sell unfortunately.

[@obsidiananubis1017]

Great to see another game of classic! Really enjoying the content. Looks like you are playing on 4x4 ft map, are you doubling the mechs speed to compensate for the larger map size? Might be why you need such high rolls as you spend more time at long range.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Movement time between ranges wouldn’t change really… just swapping hexes for inches. I think our playstyle is probably not as much “chaaaarge!” as it should be with Classic though!

[@paulshealy1863]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Yeah I think classic predates objective based combat so it was built around Team Death Match. when playing CBT I've found that objectives should be on the center line to promote the the Brawl Fest that CBT is meant to be.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

This makes sense to me!

[@youtmeme]

love the size of the map!! really allows any type of game play u want!!😃🙂✌

[@androssthered1157]

FIRST! Clan wolf for the win!

[@cargo_vroom9729]

If that's lava I think those buildings are in serious trouble. :P

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Hahaha it’s 3150 or whatever. Buildings are lava proof, right? 😂

[@Boseeinsteinshake]

Kick the puppies! I am rooting for Burrock. Gorgeous machines on both sides tho.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thank you!

[@shaneflickinger]

Xmas gift idea for Mr Dan: set of loaded dice!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Some days I feel bad for him. Usually I don’t though. Haha

[@joshblack2362]

Absolutely love clan wolf!

[@CarameltheMoo]

You are fighting like inner sphere Dezgra! Clanners do not focus fire on each other! They line up and fight one on one till one side is dead!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

It’s 3151… clans are over it 😛

[@korvusknull1447]

I remember the old non hex miniature rules was 3" inch per hex for range, are you playing each inch is range still on hex? Basically x3 all weapons range.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

We are just playing 1:1 per Strategic Ops. 1 hex = 1 inch.

[@elijahsnow3119]

No clan Meth Weasel? For shame.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Currently in rehab after their last Trial of Possession.

[@elijahsnow3119]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I’d be shocked if they were sane enough to abide by Trial rules generally. Not sleeping for months on end causes…. Unpredictable results. And short term memory loss.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

LOL

[@SalamiTactical]

What was the song from the Turn 4 Status report? Sounds like one of your guys but don't think it was on the 2nd album collection. Ooooo does that mean a third soundtrack album is on the way?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Hahah no third soundtrack yet! I’d have to go back and listen…

[@l3momsshark]

Any day a clanner dies is a good day

[@carpenoctem82]

Which rules are you using? Mixture of Classic and Alpastrike?

[@kevinappel6184]

"Damn you Adam Stiener...."

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I can see Malthus saying it in my mind’s eye.

[@marvinjohnson2488]

Dan had such badluck with his rolls. I have never seen such rolls. That was a good battle report though.

[@stuarttarsey6094]

Interesting you were not being true clanners with each warrior only targeting one mech in a duel like fashion, think they were still doing it at this time period. Great game though and my favorite Dire Wolf variant with the modifiers for pulse lasers.

[@corrinald2971]

So many epic Clan machines and such an anticlimactic battle. Hopefully Dan will play classic again. If not I understand why lol

[@Linkous12]

For some reason a Wolf in a Summoner just feels... wrong. lol

[@rickusjamesus]

Why aren't you guys rolling piloting rolls?

[@jasonrucker4722]

I am never playing classic again...I agree.

[@kylejohannessen7830]

Still using those range modifiers?? Come on, guys! Give us some long range hits!! 😛

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Had to complete the three game promise.

[@kylejohannessen7830]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming you guys are either saints or masochists, lol

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

The latter for sure. Or I may have been trying to ruin Dan’s evening.

[@sebastiang.5032]

Clan 🐺 all the way! It's.... Destiny... 😅

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I see what u did there

[@sebastiang.5032]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming And here I was thinking to be super sneaky... ^.^

[@kereminde]

Dan's dice may be acting funny, but at least one thing is consistent... Aaron is still losing initiative. (Well, and Classic being Classic. Poor Dire Wolf.)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Ugh I was super bummed. I was amped about those clan LPL. Dan denied me!!

[@kereminde]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming You just *know* if it'd been Inner Sphere LPL he'd have taken the other arm instead. :)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Hahaha 100%

[@Blaster__CA]

'Classic' Battletech... without Hex's... Isn't Classic Battletech. D'oh! False Advertising.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

🙄 strategic ops says otherwise.

[@Blaster__CA]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming 🤣 'Classic' BattleTech pre-dates Strategic Oper by decades...😂

[@kereminde]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Oh, Strat Ops is the book that's in? I've been racking my mind on where I saw that optional rule section. Though I understand it's been sort of 'chopped up' in recent releases... going to need to look for it. And look, if you're going to go hexless and draw this kind of incoming fire, you should just buy a couple lots of the clix minis for an April Fools episode or something. :)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha fantastic

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Cool story @Blaster__CA. Welcome to 2023!

[@oleksaderzybis9052]

If you don't like missing -- use pulse lasers, precision ammo and get close. Artillery plus BattlefieldSupport also are doing great. Or use TSM and go for a head strike with your fists (no range modifiers, -1 to hit, only 1d6 for locations, tons of damage). Or use formations / pilot abilities with -2 to hit. I really like your paint job and terrain, but I can't get exited for an "epic pulse laser fire that cuts off a whole mech arm!", 'cause 75% of the video is just whining about Classics being too random, while you are trying to play it like AlphaStrike. :< Yes, it is random, but it's because it is created in an era of wargames stepping out of rpg genre, that's the point. It is NOT streamlined, and that's why it generates so many memorable moments, like rolling snake eyes on your first piloting check after headshot, or cutting off enemies sensors with a crit, which makes him withdraw, or lucky-shoting a Goliath while playing Urbanmech, and so on.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

OR - and stay with me for a minute - Classic could be modernized. Memorable moments aren’t exclusive to an outdated, cumbersome gaming system. That’s nostalgia.

[@oleksaderzybis9052]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming, I am 24, two years in Classic, started with half a year of AlphaStrike, what nostalgia we are talking about? :D The biggest plus of BattleTech as a whole (Classic and AS) is it's options-reach rules. Wanna better aim? Formations, pilots special abilities and TacOps rules like Bracing + Careful Aim (p. 82) are pretty good options to start with. If you don't like your arms severed with a 12 - use Advanced Determining Critical Hits table (p. 74), where only 16+ damage weapon can really do that to you. If you want the weapons phase to be faster -- there is a Linked Weapons rule (p. 83), and you should definitely try using more than one pair of dice for rolling your weapons. Sometimes, it is also better to roll first, and count Target Number later. I do not say it can't be modernized, BattleMech Manual simplifies a lot of fun rules (like drops or weather) in a competent way, which is wonderful, I would gladly see more of that. But it is not necessary to make a whole video of Classic, repeating every 30 seconds, how you "love" it, to make a BattleTech: Destiny Batlle Report, if it really is that good (and I should say - there are a lot of nice ideas in it, which should be resonated through community to walk the same way from home-rule to rulebook stuff as floating crits did).

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

These are all great points - but the last three battle reports were an experiment in playing the basic rules. If you check out our website (and our older classic batreps) we do typically employ a plethora of house and optional rules to make the game a little more fun (diff range mods help a lot). So totally get what you are saying. My big issue is a brand new player isn’t necessarily going to know about the 857 optional rules in tac ops… and if they are playing “out of the box” it’s not really AS great as BattleTech can be. Also, v. jealous of your age hahahah I miss my 20s!

[@oleksaderzybis9052]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming, yeah, I watched them. I even try to spread the idea of simplified cluster hit rolls amongst our community. Thanks to diagram you presented in one of your videos, people accept it pretty easily. :D And yeah, I should agree on Classic basics being a bit too unwieldy and random for a new player, especially if he starts with another newcomer. I myself found it too much at first, that's why jumped to Alpha Strike, and came back for a tournament only, where I met all those options to make a game better for me personally. OK, if the point of the video is to say that flat Classic is too much for a newcomer -- than perhaps I take it too close to the heart, and it is making it's job. Though, I would personally be happy to hear more stuff like "this one rule should be basic, do you hear me, Catalyst?!" :DDD P.S. I would say "thanks for a compliment", though my age is not something I achieved, and I already feel I'm gonna miss my 20s too really soon. xD

[@jasonames145]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming i think you are right, and mechwarrior destiny is that future, at least the way you guys played it. i thought it simplified without trashing the narrative feel of classic battletech. that being said, thanks for feeling the cbt pain so we can watch clasic on your badass terrain :)

[@EricVulgaris]

20 minutes into the video and this is why i don't play Classic. Tactics play second fiddle to the critical variance casino.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

You are I are on the same page!!