How to Play BATTLETECH - Weapon Guide

Learn how to play Battletech Classic with this in depth guide to the weapons phase.
TIME STAMPS
0:00 Introduction
0:26 Weapon Goals
4:58 Weapons Relationship to Lances
7:35 Piercing vs Critical Hit Weapons
10:34 Mech Archetype: Self-Sufficient
11:41 Ranged vs Efficiency Weapons
16:41 Mech Archetype: Flexible Range
18:17 Mech Archetype: Missile Skirmisher
20:48 Anti-Infantry Weapons
21:39 Tactic: Focus Fire
22:33 Tactic: Shoot for Knockdowns
23:59 Tactic: Effect of Damage
24:45 Tactic: Close to Medium Range
25:55 Tactic: Rotate to Weak Side
27:23 Tactic: Shoot High to Low
28:57 Tactic: Hold Heat Weapons
32:37 When will Clan Invasion/Memory Core Weapons be covered?
#battletech #mechwarrior #nerdyoveranalyzed
The style of this video is similar to Auspex Tactics. Content creators like Big Red-40TECH and the BlackPantsLegion Tex Talks series have had a large influence on this video.

[@Olorin323]

Thanks!

[@Olorin323]

I know it's not a lot, but I hope this helps with the content production. I'm new to Battletech this year (old fan of the video games. I played the super old rpg on PC!). This is all really helping me to learn the game quickly.

[@Olorin323]

Also, did you say the notes would be on the discord? I joined to try and find them.

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Hey Olorin! Thanks again for the Super Thanks. It's quite generous of you. It really does help with making content. Glad you're finding value out of the videos. I'm quite motivated to make more from the positive feedback from you and others. The notes will be on the discord! I just have to finish typing them up. Should be up in the resources section in a few days.

[@MichaelJCaboose013]

When in doubt, medium laser out.

[@peterfromaustria724]

I’m struggling with understanding the game now for almost 2 years (I also only have a mediocre teacher) but watching your awesome presentations made so many things so much clearer … thank you so much!!!!

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Happy to help Commander!

[@codius_dak5095]

It seems if your playing a campaign with persistent forces and supply; legging a mech would be a viable tactic so you can salvage ammo and replacement weapons. Or even taking one leg and one arm. Because a mech then can't fire from prone, because it can no longer prop itself up. That way if your a low tier group it would grant more salvage and weapons early on.

[@Spartaner251]

you can prop yourself up with one arm and fire torso weapons

[@lordilluminati5836]

@@Spartaner251 that's a houserule iirc

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Yeah! I've played a campaign like this. Very fun!

[@Atlas3060]

@@lordilluminati5836 "A ’Mech that has fallen or dropped to the ground may fire some of its weapons as long as neither of its arms has been destroyed. The warrior uses one arm to support the ’Mech as it fires, and so the weapons on that arm cannot fire. The warrior may fire all weapons mounted on the other arm, and the ’Mech may fire any weapons mounted in its head or torso (including rear-mounted weapons). A prone ’Mech may not fire any leg-mounted weapons." Total Warfare, pg 113 So yeah the 1 arm prop and fire is a house rule. Yet funny enough I don't recall THIS being a mission kill from Withdrawal damage.

[@MichaelJCaboose013]

Okay so hear me out, right? Outfit your mech with treads on the front of it's torso. Then if it falls, it simply becomes a tank. Boom, problem solved.

[@derekburge5294]

Just your opponent *knowing* you have Infernos will change how they play. If you have at least one SRM launcher and two tons of ammo, you should absolutely dedicated one ton as Inferno.

[@andrewamann2821]

A group of 4 Jenners isn't called a lance, it's called "Good times with war crimes."

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

lol

[@iDEATH]

I always called the "flexible range" mechs "soldier" mechs. They're the everymech in a way, like when you don't know enough to deploy specialists, you deploy a well rounded lance/company built around well rounded "soldiers." A great example of that to me might be the Grand Dragon, with it's PPC and it's slight speed advantage. How well it plays out on the tabletop is a bit iffy, but conceptually I really like the idea (I think a 50 tonner - think AL Centurion with a bigger engine - would be the perfect "standard issue" mech). Whatever you call 'em, these types of mechs always make a solid foundation for a lance. I'm not too keen on the Clan stuff, personally (I really hate the Clans, truth be told), but that first line of more advanced tech was a nice shot in the arm for Battletech back in the day. I'm interested to see what you make of 'em. Keep the great videos coming. :)

[@Veretax]

The term I've heard for these mixes actually a trooper mech. I usually see them as kind of a standard staple able to do all the different roles that a unit might need but not particularly specialized. The more specialized units for Recon for long range or even for dedicated sniping almost feel like you need larger formations before you would start seeing them perhaps

[@iDEATH]

@@Veretax Yeah, I've heard that one too. I'm probably stuck on what my friends and I called them in our circle pre-internet. I agree with your assessment. It's the sort of thing we'd see if Btech dealt with that strategic layer more rather than the micro "squad" level engagements. Especially for the faster ones. Heavies are great in a fight, but they won't do much good if they can't be where the fighting is. That's not something we have to account for usually. Personally, I love the quasi-feudal post-post-apocalypse 3025 era, with the idea of many mechs being personally owned, like a knights armour and weapons, which lends itself to the hodgepodge company compositions. If we were to see more of a state owned military, though, with mechs being issued kit as the norm, then I think a soldier/trooper would make up a massive part of the mechforce. Kinda like the (Grand) Dragon and the DCMS (though whoever approved a version with an XL engine for the 3050 upgrade needs their head checked; too expensive and too vulnerable!). It's fun to think about this stuff, but it would make the game a lot more boring if that were something we had to adhere to, lol.

[@radwolf76]

30:18 "But everything changes.." when the Fire Nation attacks? "...when if you're able to get a Javelin with Infernos behind it." Might as well be the same thing.

[@mattkuhn6634]

That rule for infernos against battle armor, where every 3 missile hits kills a trooper, means that infernos are one of the best ways to take out clan elementals. Elementals otherwise fall into this annoyingly tough range, because they fight at full effectiveness until killed, and since they have 10 armor that means it takes 11 damage to kill one. Having 11 effective health means that an IS PPC or AC/10 will juuuuust barely fail to kill one. Another way people handle this is with cluster weapons like LBX autocannons. You pepper the squad with those first to damage each trooper a little, then fwap them with 10 damage attacks. But it's worth noting that anti-infantry weapons like machine guns or flamers don't do anything special against battle armor, they just do their normal damage.

[@warthog4430]

Only if the battle armor is hardened specifically against heat!

[@user-jq1mg2mz7o]

wow, this is super in-depth *and* understandable. this is great, thanks!

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed!

[@jasonfarley9025]

As someone coming back to the game after many years out, these videos are fantastic! Thanks for all your work!

[@da_BemBem]

Hey nerdy! You forgot for anti-infantry that the Small Pulse Laser is also anti-infantry! They're actually pretty good for that role too. I greatly appreciate that you called my love for the Dervish big brained, you're big brained too!

[@zahreel3103]

Best Battletech youtuber by far. Incredibly informative video.

[@TreyaTheKobold]

13:30 this is how i lost vs. Snow in tukayid heat, my lance was two marauders and a turkina with a Hussar for objectives. Too slow and just got eaten up by the cavalry.

[@joshfritz5345]

I love my ranged skirmishers. The Catapult is my signature heavy unit in a lot of my tabletop games, and I taught many players to fear and respect it. Even in games where I was out-matched by enemy BV, it always hit hard at all ranges. The constant pressure of LRM fire can allow you to play psychological games with the enemy and force them to play more aggressively than they would like to, forcing them to push into my CQC capable line units even when the engagement would not be favorable to them.

[@Funkin_Disher]

On head hits and knockdowns, those also injure the pilot which is another way to take a mech out of the fight if they fall unconscious, even temporarily. Too much heat and ammo explosions that are protected by CASE also cause pilot injuries

[@Veretax]

If it's is new Tech inner sphere mecg if they have extra light engines taking out one side torso and poof

[@JuNkBoYcaNNoN]

What advice would you give to someone who is looking to actually play Battletech as if their PoV was, actually, "in universe?" Vs. someone intensely committed to min-maxing every single aspect of the game & vehemently doesn't, "get it," and can't play w/o trying to turn everything into WoW or Magic?

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Hmm, roughly? Maybe use the Xotl RATs table as a start, ban customs, play a campaign with 12-16 mechs a side w/ some kind of persistent damage/ransom/salvage mechanic.

[@mattkuhn6634]

My advice varies depending on what you mean. If the problem is that you are struggling to keep yourself from going full min-max on everything, then what you really need are boundaries. Banning customs is a great call, and I definitely agree that picking a faction you want to rep and using that to limit your choices will help. You could use the Master Unit List to pick a faction and time period and get an exhaustive list of all of the tech that could have been available to them and when, but that doesn't limit your choices much. Instead, I think either restricting your choices to the 'mechs in an RAT is a reasonable choice, as it will limit you to the most common and iconic designs for any given faction.

[@Veretax]

Honestly I would consider if you're playing it and say a story mode what kind of unit are you representing or a part of. Does it belong to one of the houses or clans. Are you a mercenary perhaps. I have seen a lot of different ways that people take things these campaigns and it could be interesting

[@shadowfogkiller4532]

Great work! Can’t wait for the Ransom mechanic video just gonna be Otto with a AC/20 demanding our mech

[@scottmacgregor3444]

I suspect that from the IS perspective that the best new tech available once we tick over to Invasion Era is, bar none, double heatsinks. XL engines are really nice, but damn are they expensive.

[@BenTheKidd]

House Kurita would beg to differ about sending 4 panthers in a lance, they're also wrong. but they still beg to differ

[@WolfHreda]

For a decently flexible lance composition, I usually try to field two lights, a medium, and a heavy. My favorite combo of lights is a Wolfhound paired with a Commando. My heavy is usually a Thunderbolt. And the medium is where I try to balance the lance toward a particular playstyle. If I need more piercing capabilities and speed isn't a major factor, the Vindicator is a tough little cookie. If I need a bit more of a cavalry/brawler, the Wolverine is a rock solid classic. I'm especially a fan of the -6K if jump jets aren't super crucial. Short caveat for post-3025 play: Any unit you have with an AC/10, trade it for an LB10-X as soon as humanly possible. It weighs exactly 1 ton less than the standard AC, meaning as soon as you install it, you've freed up the tonnage for more ammo, whether you double down on standard ammo, or diversify by adding one ton of cluster rounds.

[@StarlightSocialist]

I just played a match where my Von Luckner tank demonstrared how valuable it is to have pierce + crit weapons in one unit. VNL-K90 model, so Hvy gauss rifle, 2 SRM 6, Streak 2, and 2 MG. The game is HBS Battletech with the RogueTech mod, so weapon ranges are a little different than classic. (MGs have a max range of 240 meters, optimal is 120. They still deal 2 damage but thats basically nothing when everything has 5x the amount of armor points. The Von Luckner has 1295 points of armor total, for example) Anyway, I managed to get the tank to the magical range bracket that was outside the Hvy gauss minimum but still inside max for everything else. Target was a Longbow that was completely untouched. The Heavy gauss opened one of the side torsos, and one of the crit weapons hit an ammo box. KABLAMO! "Self Sufficient" indeed.

[@odinplayzgamez8568]

Fantastic work

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Another great guide!

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Glad you think so!

[@Outlawcarl]

loving the content i have to see about these SRM heat things, i take a Kintaro and a modeifed Catapult C2 (the SRM one) so the kintaro can Narc and then they can both light up what they hit. Its gone so so but adding in this heat thing, might be a good idea for when the Narc misses so they both dont get so much fire at themselves

[@EBJ0]

Great vid, TY!

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

You're welcome!

[@kurtkells2653]

Great job, lot of useful information condensed into a 30 min video. The only thing I would have factored in are the worst weapons in the game, SRM2, AC2 and MG if you have any choice never play with them on your mechs. (I am sure you recognize them they are the Death by Ammo Explosion weapons)

[@josephbroseph3003]

What advice would you give someone who is having a hard time managing all of the moving parts of a classic BT game? I got into BT at the beginning of the year and tried playing Classic but found my brain would get fried keeping track of ammo, heat, figuring out which weapons to fire, which one not to fire, etc. and thats just for controlling 1-2 mechs. A full lance sounds like a nightmare. I love Alpha Strike because it abstracts and simplifies all that, but i still want to play classic. However, trying to manage a full lance during a game just feels like too much for me.

[@user-jq1mg2mz7o]

playing on MegaMek/MekHQ might be a good step- it automates much of the process but never hides the steps from you, so you still get a feel for the flow of the game. though i have not yet tried classic in person just yet so i don't know if this applies

[@andrewamann2821]

Take it 1 step at a time, and mark stuff as it happens. Remember, stuff only gets removed after all of the damage for the step is done. Also, if you're having trouble with the bookkeeping stuff, try learning with fewer mechs on the table, 1 or 2 per side, rather than a full 4-on-4

[@kudzuhive]

The best way to learn is to just play more. You can also make yourself a checklist to use, eventually you'll learn it all and not need it.

[@YoutubeCommenter369-ep8jk]

I would suggest MegaMek, but also keep in mind that if you build a lance as a team it’s a lot easier to manage than if you’re running 4 “random” mechs. Start with mechs that have clear roles. Take a lance that consists of an Awesome, a Grasshopper, a Thunderbolt, and a Spider. Every mech has a role. The Awesome sits back and punches holes. The only decisions are whether to move and how many PPCs to fire. The Grasshopper wants to get in close, but is very forgiving. It has good armor, good movement, and some long ranged weapons so if you aren’t at an ideal range you’re fine. The Trebuchet is your multi-purpose tool. It’s probably the most brain-power intensive mech of the list. The Spider just wants to threaten to get behind the enemy. It’s okay if it doesn’t. The threat restricts the opponents options. The easiest way for me to learn is to play MegaMek with different lance compositions. It tracks ammunition and heat, it tells you your hit % for each weapon, etc.

[@tychozzyx9439]

I agree with the one step at a time thing. Assuming you're playing basic A Game of Armored Combat with no carry between missions, there's a lot of shortcuts you can take. With ammo, my first suggestion is treat anything that can fire all associated weapons for more than 8 turns be treated as unlimited ammo. Games with a couple mechs on either side might get that far, but they tend to end faster than that. After getting accustomed to that, just mark how many shots you've taken next to the bin you shoot from until you run out the bin. For heat, calculate out how much heat is generated using everything after sinking what is available. Then come up with a couple near neutral shot calculations. It won't tell you when it's a good time to spike heat for a given turn, but it does factor out a lot of the math when you're trying to hold everything in your head at once. I mentally keep my sinking number as a target value and try to do everything I can to approach, but not cross, that number. Transitioning there into weapons, the everything free and consider the tradeoffs approach is nice. If you aren't hitting your heat and aren't straining ammo, fire everything. Once those start becoming factors, consider cost against likelihood and benefit. "Should I fire my last missiles at the unscratched opponent when I need a 12?" Probably not unless you expect the mech to die this turn anyways. "Should I worry about overheating from a possible engine critical when I am unscratched and can cool 5 more heat than I generate?" Also probably not, blaze away with another medium laser. With time, you'll start homing in on what decisions are important and which ones can be defaulted. You've got this

[@DIREWOLFx75]

One thing... Totally disagree on the "Effect of damage", because trading down to HALF the chance of HITTING at all, means you're quite likely to hit absolutely NOTHING that turn. Being almost guaranteed to slice away some armor from the Awesome is far more useful there. If the difference in hit probability was SMALL, like 83% vs 75% or something nearby, then absolutely, aim at the Locust! But HALF? That's a terrible tradeoff. It means you notably bump up your own heat level, for the likelyhood of ONE weapon scoring a hit on the Locust and MAYBE a 2nd if you're lucky. Against the Awesome, 3 weapons are likely to hit and you might even get everything on target. So, 5-16 damage on Locust, or 18-26 on Awesome are the likely outcomes. But with the caveat that you actually have quite a fair risk at getting NO damage against the Locust. And the Locust only gets trashed if the LL hits.

[@prime3967]

I've always struggled with tactics and I've got a game coming up next week here's hoping my luck will turn around with this information 😊

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

You can do it Commander!

[@hanafihanafiah149]

A game that needs a phd to play with.. man battletech is one.of the most engaging and detailed game ever

[@jadegecko]

Is there an energy-based option for critical-seeking weapons? Maybe an array of medium (or, in a later era, er small) lasers?

[@Funkin_Disher]

For single weapon systems there kinda intentionally isnt (like the BT2018 version of the snub ppc), presumably because then you would have even less reason to pack ammo into your own mechs. But yes, bundles of small and medium lasers of most varieties.

[@typroneperka1779]

Medium lasers. Hunchback 4p is great for crit seeking once an awesome or other heavy hitter opens holes. Also punching on mechs when appropriate instead of legging - pirate

[@Corndog1]

Is that excel sheet available anywhere? Would like a look at those hit chances.

[@igorpankovic5214]

This video seems like a good place to ask a burning question ive been having. Is this lance combonation good: Awesome Archer Atlas Phoenix hawk I feel like i got all the bases covered. Piercing sniper Explosive sniper, Forcing mechs into brawl range of the atlas who is meant to tank and you have the PHX being a dex fighter threatening flanks. Also, "in general" is it better to field a wolverine or a phoenix?

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Looks like your lance is probably worth running! In general I think both are good. The Wolverine is the "premium" option and the Phoenix is the more cheaply priced. If you didn't like the original Phoenix Hawk you could try the D variant without machine gun ammo in the CT. Hope that helps!

[@igorpankovic5214]

@@nerdyOveranalyzed Thanks, if you had a dream team, what would it look like?

[@NemFX]

Step one: PPC. Step two: More PPCs. Step three: ERPPC. Step four: Clan ERPPC.

[@MagusThD13]

A MechWarrior after my own heart.

[@NemFX]

@@MagusThD13 Gotta go with a solid performer. Lasers are nice bread and butter, but PPCs are the steak.

[@gokbay3057]

Probably need some medium lasers to cover the minimum range on those PPCs (they are light, small, no ammo, no extra heat if you just use them when not firing the PPCs and don't try to fire both the PPCs and MLs).

[@NemFX]

@@gokbay3057 True, but I'm just saying, if I only get to pick one weapon, I know which one I'm after.

[@jonbongroovy]

What about a force with all range weapons that are a mix of pierce and crit and they keep themselves spread out? If you close with one target, the rest are still at range. If you spread out and close with multiple(or all) targets at once your mechs will be close with one target and still at range with the rest of the enemy, which can choose to fire at further targets rather than the mech closing in on them. Am I missing something?

[@Veretax]

The wolf Dragoon variant of the Archer has srms and big long-range missile racks which kind of fall into this. The thug what were the stalker have lrm racks plus weapons that can do crit

[@alfonsomateo9166]

I'm a little lost with one thing: the lowering of a mech accuracy after a knockdown is because the mech is going to walk or run to try to stand up? I can't find any other reason for a mech that just got stand up to have a lower accuracy...

[@alfonsomateo9166]

Sorry, you explicitly say it..I should pay more attention before asking :D :D

[@Balevolt]

Smokes are good in SRM-2s (had to check if somehow that was LosTech)

[@Lucian028]

What's that mech in front on artwork on 4:32?

[@jamesc.7216]

It looks like a Vulcan

[@TheFezmond]

Not sure initiative is calculated correctly in the second example of the 5 vs 3. If B moves first that leaves 2 mechs remaining against A's 5 meaning A has to move 2 not 1. It should look: B AA B AA B A Not an experienced player so maybe I'm wrong.

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

f, did I screw that up? D: I'll have to check in a bit

[@kudzuhive]

Standard initiative the example is correct, front loaded it would be: B AA B AA B A

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Just checked the rulebook. The video appears to be correct. The key phrase is that you check if one team has twice as many mechs. So the activation would play out like this: Scenario: 5 vs 3, A wins initiative so B goes first 1st pair of movement: Check for Doubles > 3 vs 5 > False > B A 2nd pair of movement: Check for Doubles > 2 vs 4 > True > B AA 3rd pair of movement: Check for Doubles > 1 vs 2 > True > B AA Final Activation sequence: B A B AA B AA Hope that clears things up!

[@starbournehero771]

Basically it's calculated in rounds, not activation by activation

[@TheFezmond]

@@nerdyOveranalyzed Thanks for taking the time to clear that up for me. We were playing that wrong the whole time so. Good news for me as I like to bring quantity rather than quality. I let my opponent worry which way to face that rear armour of his assault 'mechs when the junk patrol surrounds them.

[@devonfrayne8226]

30:20 everything changes when the fire nation attacks

[@ObiwanNekody]

Mmmm, the PPC, the awesomeness of TL1.

[@aetherial87]

*drops bottle* Oh man, what was in this Canopian brandy? The orange candy is talking to me...

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

yeet yeet Commander!

[@fob9843]

How about dueling, like fighting clanners one on one?

[@mattkuhn6634]

There are guidelines for how to run zellbrigen in combat in the rulebook, but the clans broadly differ in their interpretation and application of their own honor system. As such, it's more of a roleplaying thing than a tactics thing. That said, a lot of clan 'mechs are very clearly made for that kind of combat, like the Nova Prime's ridiculous 12 ER medium lasers with only enough heat sinks to cover half that, and light 'mechs with gauss rifles or clan er ppcs that can just play keep away while sniping you forever.

[@fob9843]

@@mattkuhn6634 I see, thanks

[@Funkin_Disher]

You need to be hyper aggressive. Clanners on average enjoy more range, speed and firepower than your typical IS equivalent but not necessarily better armor or heat management. Many if not most clan mechs also dont happen to feature hands and mount most of their weaponry in the arms so it may be possible with positioning to focus down one side or close into melee, especially with swingy 1v1 initiative. But really, you should be playing dirty.

[@typroneperka1779]

Because of how initiative works, there's a lot of mind games on 1v1. Give your opponent as few shots as possible if you lose init, go hard core to exploit their movement if you win -pirate

[@gammafighter]

Otto! I put up a video showing some of the mechs that i painted (my first miniatures ever!). No pressure, but feel free to check it out!

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

Hey! Grats on your minis and your creator journey! Just a small thing on etiquette: It's generally seen as rude to promote your channel in other creators content. That being said don't worry about this this time. Glad you're getting into the hobby!

[@gammafighter]

@@nerdyOveranalyzed Thanks Otto! My bad, I didn't even think of that. I don't have plans to grow a channel or anything. I was just happy with how they turned out and wanted to share them. Thanks for gently pointing that out!

[@ObiwanNekody]

Clan Pulse Lasers? Clan Pulse Lasers.

[@KeystoneCarcajou]

I thought the double moves came first.

[@nerdyOveranalyzed]

If you're using the "front loaded initiative" rule!

[@EnderPryde]

5:18 thaaat's not true. You can totally get away with just spamming CLPLs all day, every day ;P (Do not listen to this advice, while CLPLs are indeed some of the best weapons in the game and basically do every role you really need, they're also kind of BV expensive and you can probably get more out of your force if you just use a different set of weapons)

[@WurstHans666]

Pathetic. Do one with RogueTech Weapons.