Thankless heroes

[u/1001WingedHussars]

[u/glacial_penman]

They need a good tank novel series for Battletech. In the vein of the gray death legion. Start with a Savannah master and the hero makes his way up to a behemoth or von luckner. 40K does this but I think it would fit great in btech.

[u/1001WingedHussars → u/glacial_penman]

I think a Band of Brothers type story that follows an armored company through the Hinterlands would be pretty dope. Especially with the vets interracting with new recruits as attrition eats the crews away, could be an interesting way to humanize the inner sphere a bit.

[u/TheEvilBlight → u/1001WingedHussars]

Hammers Slammers but battle tech

[u/Honestybomb → u/glacial_penman]

Yeah, pure tank crew novels are rare for sure. There are chapters/characters that use them like Calamity Kell or that one dude that fails training as a mechwarrior and gets bumped down to a tank crew until the mechwarrior that takes his spot gets injured and he has to step up

I’ve never read these but allegedly there are a handful of vehicle-focused stories out there. I say allegedly because doing more research, I can’t find shit on either of these so this might be another AI fabrication lol

"The Longest Day" (by Blaine Lee Pardoe): Available in various anthologies, this story dives deep into the gritty, unglamorous life of a conventional armor crew tasked with holding a defensive line against a Mech assault. It perfectly captures the anxiety of a vehicle crew knowing that a single motive hit could immobilize them and turn their tank into a metal coffin. [1, 2]
"Heavy Elements" (by Kevin Killiany): This story spotlights the crews of massive demolisher tanksand heavy artillery vehicles. It strips away the romanticism of the MechWarrior and frames the battle strictly through the claustrophobic, high-stakes lens of a multi-person armored crew. [1]

40k has a handful of books that focus on vehicles and they’re a nice deviation from the standard fare

[u/Dragonspirit223 → u/Honestybomb]

I've read the mechwarrior one, it came in the Mercenaries Box (just a short story). It was good, showcased how vehicle crews support their more glamorous mech brethren, but it's entirely written from the perspective of a mechwarrior. Still a good story and it gets the message across though.

[u/OpacusVenatori → u/Honestybomb]

that one dude that fails training as a mechwarrior and gets bumped down to a tank crew until the mechwarrior that takes his spot gets injured and he has to step up

In case you were wondering, [probably] Book 1 (Threads of Ambition) & 2 (The Killing Fields) of The Capellan Solution.

[u/Honestybomb → u/OpacusVenatori]

Thank you, those are definitely it

[u/Lunar-Cleric → u/glacial_penman]

Alacorn rocking crewmates too

[u/Magical_Savior → u/Lunar-Cleric]

Naming the Alacorns "Tut," "Knut," "Lut," and "Samira." Edit: Hmm. This is decent, being a pharoah, a goddess, a female pilot, and a nuclear physicist - but it would be another joke to have Pharoah, Pharoah, Pharoah, NUCLEAR PHYSICS!

[u/theACEbabana → u/Lunar-Cleric]

>Alacorn

<PICTURE IT! ONE MILLION ~~LIVES~~ GAUSS SHELLS!>

[u/Vehement_Vulpes → u/theACEbabana]

"You gotta hand over the anime and the nuke..."

[u/theACEbabana → u/Vehement_Vulpes]

<…WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY!>

<IF I CAN’T WATCH MARINE-CHAN ON YOUTUBE DOT COM, THAN NO ONE ELSE CAN!>

[u/1001WingedHussars → u/theACEbabana]

7 HUNDRED THOUSAND GAUSS SLUGS

KILL THIS MAN

[u/Nickthenuker → u/theACEbabana]

It's main gun is a giant railgun iirc. But then again those are apparently common enough in Strangereal that by AC8 "Railgun Warning" comes standard in every Bitchin' Betty on every fighter jet.

[u/ericph9 → u/Lunar-Cleric]

Alacorn

Every time I read "Alacorn" my brain thinks "plumicorn" and I think of it as the cute little tufts on some owls' heads.

[u/blizzard36 → u/glacial_penman]

Having recently done a campaign playing a Manticore, it really does need to feature in a story. That thing 100% lived up to its reputation in the classic era.

[u/Some_Quality6796 → u/glacial_penman]

I'll have to do some checking sometime, I think there's a chapter in one novel about a vehicle squad in harassers.

[u/GunnyStacker → u/glacial_penman]

Team Yankee is one of my favorite novels, so I would love a Battletech version of that.

[u/Aickavon → u/glacial_penman]

Best I can do is a short story staring 15 Hetzers and a bewildered Mad Cat

[u/SCDannyTanner → u/Aickavon]

Don't threaten me with a good time

[u/TheLamezone]

Exactly how my mekhq is going except its a lance of manticores

[u/Armored_Shumil → u/TheLamezone]

Manticores are solid main tanks, one of my favorites.

[u/1001WingedHussars → u/Armored_Shumil]

More frontal armor than an Awesome and enough hurt to stop most heavy mechs dead in their tracks.

[u/Armored_Shumil → u/1001WingedHussars]

Even though there are plenty of variants, the original stock version is still the best in my opinion.

[u/TheLamezone → u/Armored_Shumil]

The original has such a great spread of weapons that really pairs well with... More manticores. You can have too many LRM carriers, demolishers, or saladins, etc. But never enough manticores. 

[u/Armored_Shumil → u/TheLamezone]

It is the tank version of Thunderbolt

[u/acksed → u/TheLamezone]

Sometimes outgunned, never out of the battlefield.

[u/1001WingedHussars → u/TheLamezone]

Ditto. My armored company is the glue holding my mech companies together.

[u/XJ_Recon95 → u/TheLamezone]

3025 mercenary campaign. What's holding the line and kicking the most ass?

Not the MAD-3R. Not the GRF-1S. Not the TDR-5S.

It's the effing Manticore.

[u/RealFornsworth → u/TheLamezone]

Doing a 3151 run myself in MekHQ, and it’s (customized) Vedettes and Manticores for my armored companies. nasty buggers, RAC/10s and C3i for days 

[u/Magical_Savior]

Not as much a fan of the Rommel, though I do like it for customs - it gives me an excuse to cut loose. I'll build a nice, sensible Patton. And then I'll build a Bizarro-Patton in the Rommel that trades in on some insanity or other. A sample.

[u/AnInfiniteAmount → u/Magical_Savior]

Aren't the Patton/Rommell basically variants of the same tank?

[u/Magical_Savior → u/AnInfiniteAmount]

Yes. The differences are mostly philosophical. But the Rommel will go all-in giving up range and armor for damage, or mount rare equipment like the Long Tom Cannon. Environmentally Sealed with a Torpedo system for aquatic combat, is a thing. There aren't many variants, but the Rommel will swing for fences.

[u/Vegalyp]

I know the Pikes are memes/bad but I deployed a squad of 8 of them for shits and giggles with a Blackjack Lance and the combined might of 32 AC/2 really shredded for a quite low BV

[u/TheLamezone → u/Vegalyp]

AC/2s and AC/5s are extremely underrated on tracked vehicles. Tonnage matters less and heat, range, and bv matter a lot more than on a battlemech. 

[u/Magical_Savior → u/Vegalyp]

Pikes are great? The LRM Pike sets a very high standard, and the LB-X is a no-fly zone in a can. The standard AC/2 Pike can take every specialty ammo, so you can have Precision, AP, Flechette, Incendiary, and another ton of Precision just as a flex.

[u/acksed → u/Vegalyp]

If squint and tilt your head, a Pike is a long-range SRM6 turret with armour and more ammo.

[u/TheStrykerRat → u/Vegalyp]

Plasma pikes are hilariously good for the PV in Alpha Strike, I very much enjoy them.

[u/MagicMissile27]

Tanks always carry me in Alpha Strike, I love my combined arms units.

[u/Mal_Dun]

Rough Re-imagining of the Battle

[u/Gold-Visual8751]

Battletech Tanks need more love in the novels even a short story. The only one I can think of is "Sniper" where it follows the crew of a shrike ppc carrier. Truthfully if it weren't for the handicap of how BT space travel works conventional armor would be far more prevalent.

[u/-techman-]

I mean do they have a choice? They're immobile turrets after 4 rounds of combat.

[u/Lazy-Sergal7441]

Tanks are actually a serious threat in numbers and when they get the terrain advantage or are dug in defensive formations ... Like mechs ls are indeed the largest most powerful mobile units on a battlefield, but they aren't invincible and they can be crippled by anything with a good enough weapon or numbers to swarm. So yeah the MechWarrior 5 and Battletech complaints about vehicle spawn rates being a bit overwhelming at times is totally realistic, as in actuality, governments and local militia units would definitely have a hell of a lot more tanks and light armored units rolling around than actual defensive mech units. And static turrets count here too... Far cheaper to install a light or medium armed defense battery than a unit of mechs or vehicles. Especially if the turrets are practically designed to deal quick single strike or harassment damage then be killed, then get salvaged and easily replaced later, that's actually BT lore for many turret systems lol...

[u/CommandantLennon]

"If they wanted glory, they wouldn't drive a lawnmower." - A quote from myself after stealling kill credit from a pair of tanks.

[u/va_wanderer]

Conventional armor is the backbone of local defenses everywhere. The Mechwarrior campaign I ran had tons of armor showing up as defensive units, to the point where it was as common as not to see PC units coming in with inferno missiles to improve the odds of rapidly crippling tanks (or boxing them in with enough fire).

[u/Leafy0]

I’m sure we’re going to get your wish with a ilclan Kell hounds novel.

[u/Castrophenia]

Leaving out my darling Axel again I see

[u/AsleepYam4096]

Better thankless than tankless!

[u/Fishfins88]

Pattons and Rommels are legendary tanks.