If you want some CBT stats for the MW units check over at classicbattletech.com. The Commando's were running this years Grinder at Origins using them, both common mechs and uniques

Howdo
Well at least the Phantom understands.
This game has been CONSISTANT from day one,it never
has,is not and never will be,based on Logic,common sense
or any magic formula known only to WK .

Any attempt to make this game follow any kind of logic
will probably result in PERMANENT INSANITY.

MECHLUBE MAN.

I would have thought it was pretty obvious by now that Wizkids has assigned extremely arbitrary values to any mech stat line that have no other basis than they wanted a figure with those stats. None of their stats have any "real" basis for their values. Even based on fiction, their stats represent absolutely nothing more than them wanting to slap certain numbers on certain mechs because it looks neat.

I personally dont think that Wizkids should read their own books. That would do more harm than good.


Have em go read the older Battletech novels.

Actually ............

They should go read the old Source Books, Major Houses and Field Manuals. Then re-read the Rules of War. Many of the oddities we see in the wide variety of mechs common to several factions is that WK had assigned certain abilities and weaknesses to each faction.

Sure the SC Marauder has a Heavy Gauss Gun, but, how often have we heard that the Cats are not fond of ballistic weapons?

I think you're misunderstanding something about the way they want to design units. Firstly the stats are totally abstract and follow NO pattern whatsoever, and the stats of an Atlas in MW are not intended to be an accurate representation of how it would perform in CBT or the fluff. A mech with purely pulse lasers in the dossier could have nothing but armour piercing on the dial.

You may want it to be an accurate representation, but there are reasons against it and WK feels it would be too restricting.

This is because the design team first asks what kind of unit they want and what kind of purpose or theme it will have. To restrict themselves to applying similar stats to the weaponry in the fiction or CBT, all across the board, severely limits what kind of units they can create.

Also, what you may not be considering, is that the lack of SE's, or inclusion of useless/inappropriate SE's, is to boost/shrink the points cost to a desired amount. Classic example being camouflage or ECM on a towed Arrow IV. Near useless, but is an easy way to prevent the unit from being far too cost efficient. Likewise, a lack of SE's can help keep the cost down.

WK could just juggle around the points cost however they want without manipulating the stats but they seem to like doing it this way msot of the time.

Don't bother even comparing the dials to the weapons load outs, it's a waste of time. It's also not wrong of WK to go about it this way either, as it has its merits and doesn't need to follow the mechanics of CBT, since how many and what kind of weapons your mechs have and in what part of the mech are they located actually matters in that game.

So no, WK does not need to read any source books. Those only matter for CBT. I think they haven't been completely untrue to some of the units though.

Easy to explain. MWDA is not CBT, and Wizkid$ does not care even a tiny bit what they write into their dossiers.

Look at all the Catapult dossiers and the SC Ocelot with Jump Jets mentioned, Mikel Nova Cat with an Ultra AC20 that does fire as far as any ER PPC, and the DF Panther with a ballistic shooting PPC.....

Actually I have to disagree with the idea that having fixed stats limits the ability to produce a decent. Read the Stating of the Shrike for example. According to what she said the stats were coverted from something and then Faction advantages and disadvantages were tossed on top.

That being said using CBT stats to make MWDA units is not a bad idea. It does not limit the design or purpose of the units. Just look at the sheer number of different varients for standard mechs.

Centurion
AC 20 Varient with LRM rack
AC 20 varient with lasers
Large laser varient with more heat sinks
Ac 10 varient
Rac 5 version
JJ version
etc.....

Catapult
Lrm 20 with lb 2x
Lrm 20 with medium lasers
ER PPc version
Arrow IV version
etc....
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