Zeus II

[Shadow Reaper]

I'm still of the belief that the ST is for priority transport, and that the extra turret is for the protection of VIPs.

I recall when they first offered the Scorpios they gave us a graphic that clearly showed a military application. Same here. There are two Zeus flying together in formation, firing and taking fire. Why anyone would want to take a ship this size into battle is beyond me. It’s pretty rare for a ship this size. Gotta be something like the reasons to fly Vanguard in wings rather than solo. Drop ship maybe? The only other thing I can think of is ::gulp:: a mid sized torpedo bomber.

 

[CRISS9000]

again, this is merely speculation. only time will tell what will become of the ST variant; whether it will be any of the above, or it will be memory-holed.

 

[Richard Bong]

I recall when they first offered the Scorpios they gave us a graphic that clearly showed a military application. Same here. There are two Zeus flying together in formation, firing and taking fire. Why anyone would want to take a ship this size into battle is beyond me. It’s pretty rare for a ship this size. Gotta be something like the reasons to fly Vanguard in wings rather than solo. Drop ship maybe? The only other thing I can think of is ::gulp:: a mid sized torpedo bomber.

I recall the Dire Hawk and the Shadow Hawk. That doesn't mean we'll get them.

As for "ship of this size" there are quite a few people that, intentionally take bigger ships, like the Connie and 600i into combat. The Retaliator, Hammerhead, Persesus and Polaris are designed to be taken into combat and are significantly larger.

I seriously doubt torpedo bomber is on the menu.

 

[Thalstan]

lol, guess I am too old school of a gamer. When I saw shadow hawk, my mind went immediately to the BattleTech mech of the same name.

 

[Talonsbane]

lol, guess I am too old school of a gamer. When I saw shadow hawk, my mind went immediately to the BattleTech mech of the same name.

As did I my friend, so don't feel bad.

 

[Thalstan]

I recall when they first offered the Scorpios they gave us a graphic that clearly showed a military application. Same here. There are two Zeus flying together in formation, firing and taking fire. Why anyone would want to take a ship this size into battle is beyond me. It’s pretty rare for a ship this size. Gotta be something like the reasons to fly Vanguard in wings rather than solo. Drop ship maybe? The only other thing I can think of is ::gulp:: a mid sized torpedo bomber.

Sometimes you find combat, sometimes combat finds you.

We have seen in the brochure of the polaris (page 9 graphic of the brochure) that the connie is attacking a Vanduul ship alongside the polaris (the connie is being shredded). That shows that you can and might have reasons for bringing a connie into a fight. Remember the original purpose of the connie was as the top end fighter capable of taking on 3 hornets and winning (with crew)

 

[Daak Gelrin]

lol, guess I am too old school of a gamer. When I saw shadow hawk, my mind went immediately to the BattleTech mech of the same name.

As did I my friend, so don't feel bad.

My personal favorite medium Battlemech of all time, along with the Phoenix Hawk on tabletop. I get you guys.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Cool we have some old Battletech gamers. You know the Shadowhawk from days yor had the same issue as the medium class ships in SC. Unless you build it fast enough to evade (like a fighter) it was doomed as soon as it met a heavy or assault mech. If you did build it light and fast, it really didn’t bring any fight to the battle. So although you could rationalize bringing light mechs for reconnaissance and to up-weight your heavy mechs to assault, there were almost no reasons to deliberately choose any medium Mech like the Hawks. Same with Medium class ships. Except perhaps for the Vanguards which can evade, Medium ships are often flying targets, easily removed from the field by something only slightly larger, like a Redeemer.

I would never go to battle in a Connie save for missile overwatch and the MIS is a much better choice for this because of its higher speed and ability to sneak in and out of the fringes of combat.

IMHO.

 

[Thalstan]

My personal favorite medium Battlemech of all time, along with the Phoenix Hawk on tabletop. I get you guys.

Phoenix Hawk LAM...Still have the old pre-lawsuit models of both including the one from the Crescent Hawk video game

Of course, the clan mechs along with the new tech updates made those things obsolete....

 

[Talonsbane]

Initially, I got interested in Battletech, because in my youth I loved the animated show Robotech, which I later learned was derived from Macross V. In the DFW area in the early 90s, there was a game center where 32 players could play Battletech in groups against each other in what the called Virtual Pods, which were basically flight simulator setups in closable boxes that had all sorts of buttons, switches & toggles that controlled various functions of the Mech that the player would be piloting. Battles were set up for 1 hour matches & were not cheap, but wow, back then it seemed to be as VR as non-millionaires could experience. I believe that the place was called Virtual World & was an official Battletech Center.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleTech_Centers

 

[Thalstan]

Cool we have some old Battletech gamers. You know the Shadowhawk from days yor had the same issue as the medium class ships in SC. Unless you build it fast enough to evade (like a fighter) it was doomed as soon as it met a heavy or assault mech. If you did build it light and fast, it really didn’t bring any fight to the battle. So although you could rationalize bringing light mechs for reconnaissance and to up-weight your heavy mechs to assault, there were almost no reasons to deliberately choose any medium Mech like the Hawks. Same with Medium class ships. Except perhaps for the Vanguards which can evade, Medium ships are often flying targets, easily removed from the field by something only slightly larger, like a Redeemer.

I would never go to battle in a Connie save for missile overwatch and the MIS is a much better choice for this because of its higher speed and ability to sneak in and out of the fringes of combat.

IMHO.

medium mechs are not for slugging it out toe to toe with a large or medium mech like a warhammer, atlas, battlemaster or Zeus, nor are they designed for scouting like a light mech. If you use them as they as designed, they are very deadly. Present the lance a target they can't refuse, watch the lighter mechs go scrambling after that target, then swarm the heavy or assult mech they just left behind. Four medium mechs will gut that assault mech like a fish before it kills even one unless it gets a lucky headshot (back torso armor is very weak). By the time the lighter units can return, they are outgunned and out numbered. You might not get them all, but that lance is effectively neutralized without its heavy element.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Initially, I got interested in Battletech, because in my youth I loved the animated show Robotech, which I later learned was derived from Macross V. In the DFW area in the early 90s, there was a game center where 32 players could play Battletech in groups against each other in what the called Virtual Pods, which were basically flight simulator setups in closable boxes that had all sorts of buttons, switches & toggles that controlled various functions of the Mech that the player would be piloting. Battles were set up for 1 hour matches & were not cheap, but wow, back then it seemed to be as VR as non-millionaires could experience. I believe that the place was called Virtual World & was an official Battletech Center.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleTech_Centers

Very cool. I was playing with the cardboard cutouts of Mechs in the 90’s. Very low tech but still great fun. In the late 90’s, my twin actually bought me a copy of Mechwarrior Mercenaries: Ghostbear Clan? I think it was, and sent me my first joystick so I could play. I was instantly addicted and still recall all falling before my down-armored Black Knight with a single jump jet installed so he could turn on a dime, and 14 medium pulse lasers that killed anything in a second or so, as I sprinted by untouchable to AI targeting.

Those were the days. Building the Mechs was half the fun, as we still see with our spaceships here. More to come. I hear batteries and life support components are soon to be added to our ships.

 

[AccidentProne8]

My personal favorite medium Battlemech of all time, along with the Phoenix Hawk on tabletop. I get you guys.

Mad Cat/Shadow Cat for life.

If any vatborn are here I'll call it a Timber Wolf.

 

[CRISS9000]

... aaaaand we've gone off topic.

 

[Talonsbane]

... aaaaand we've gone off topic.

We're TEST Squadron, of course we have, I'm just surprised that it hasn't shifted towards beer yet. LoL

 

[CRISS9000]

?

 

[Daak Gelrin]

We're TEST Squadron, of course we have, I'm just surprised that it hasn't shifted towards beer yet. LoL

?

Beer and Battletech have always gone together, from the beginning. It's a natural progression that was inevitable.

 

[Talonsbane]

Beer and Battletech have always gone together, from the beginning. It's a natural progression that was inevitable.

Perhaps we should form an invasive force to hijack Battletech to create our own Battlemech? I believe that the best starting point for that should be the Behemoth Drop Ship, converting it into being as much transportation quarters as it is a mobile distillery, for the glory of TEST, of course. Cheers!

 

[CRISS9000]

 

[Daak Gelrin]

Perhaps we should form an invasive force to hijack Battletech to create our own Battlemech? I believe that the best starting point for that should be the Behemoth Drop Ship, converting it into being as much transportation quarters as it is a mobile distillery, for the glory of TEST, of course. Cheers!

Interesting Merc unit here. Our sort of fellas.