If I have the box set for A Game of Armored Combat, with a couple extra Lances of mechs, what should be my next game book? I have no concept of eras and I'm unsure how it even matters either. I just want to make the mechs go pew pew pewPOWEXPLOSIONS!!!!.
So, let's talk about my favorite apocryphal #BattleMech in the #BattleTech universe: The Bull Shark.
For those who don't know, #MechWarriorOnline released the Bull Shark BattleMech from Harebrained Schemes's BattleTech video game from 2018; specifically, the ’Mech debuted in the Heavy Metal expansion about a year or two after the game came out.
So now, at long last, the Bull Shark makes a triumphant return as a playable BattleMech in MechWarrior Online, and honestly, I think it is fun as hell. Today, I'm going to spend time talking about the MechWarrior Online version of this ’Mech, and how they compare against the original variants from their debut video game; in MWO, there are seven variants including the hero, and I will cover them in order.
First up is the BSK-1.
This is the one that is most similar in functionality to the BSK-M3 variant seen in HBSTech's skirmish mode, and any career/campaign playthrough that has completed the Heavy Metal flashpoint missions and acquired the original BSK-MAZ – we'll come back to that – and it is every bit the killer that the Bull Sharks that came before were. Because the original BSK-M3 was an illegal configuration for both tabletop AND MechWarrior Online, the loadout had to be significantly altered. The BSK-1 lacks the endo steel chassis of the BSK-M3, but gains double heat sinks – and more of them – trades the AC/10s for two more AC/5s, adds an extra medium laser, and the quartet of LRM-5s became paired SRM-6s instead.
It is easily my second favorite Bull Shark in the game. I'm generally not in the habit of altering my BattleMechs unless it's for a specific purpose with actual stakes involved, like competitive play. In casual quick-play matches, at least at the level I tend to play, this thing is murderous.
I ain't gonna lie. I'm poor. So my first thing for a minis game is how open to proxies the community is. Which is a big part of why #Battletech is my main wargame. I use whatever detritus & extras are on hand and nobody blinks an eye if I got my sheets & army calced out.
I want to paint one Lance from A Game of Armored box as Carlyle's Commandos. What should the other Lance be painted? Draconis Combine colors? Something else? I'm not sure what color the mercs who ambushed them were.
⚖️Public Servant for 25 years
🎲Gamer of 40+ years, mostly as a #ttrpg GM. Favorite games include #dnd#BattleTech#Genesys#StarTrekAdventures#Alien#StarWars#FantasyAGE#13thAge
🔊Contributor to Our Turn: Gaming for Everyone podcast
🪑Former Gaming Chair, ConStellation
💡ENFP "Campaigner"
💪 Input, Connectedness, Communication, Learner, Positivity
My favorite #Battletech friends are the ones who twitch when they learn one of my default deployments is a couple protomech stars leading a horde of battle armor. Mostly equipped with flamers. Because they know what I'm up to. Triple psychic damage to missile loving friends.
I was thinking about the feudal technocracy my group might visit, and had an idea. What if it was a mechwarrior clan society? Only problem is, not high enough tech level. You only really start getting mechs at TL 12. So I wondered if there was a higher TL world on my map with that government type.
But I did find one that matches, and it’s not far from where they’ve been.
So I picked up the Battletech Alpha Strike Counters pack, and I’m very impressed. It comes with 15 of these cardboard buildings, which aren’t super fancy, but are pretty awesome for a $25 terrain starter pack. Only a few block line of sight for knights, but all of them are taller than tanks or infantry.
I plan to use these for Battletech, Legion Imperialis, and even Ogre miniatures.
I should mention that if you are interested in Epic/Battletech/Ogre scale miniatures, SJ Games is doing a project for a new set of tanks that I’m of course getting two of.
Made the mistake of reading the Battle of Tukayyid, and it’s making me tempted to play a Battletech campaign. I like their system of semi-random Mech generation. Of course I don’t have half the mechs on their charts, so I’d have to make my own. Still, it’s cool.
⚖️Public Servant for 25 years
🎲Gamer of 40+ years, mostly as a #rpg GM. Favorite games include #dnd#BattleTech#Genesys#StarTrekAdventures#Alien#StarWars#FantasyAGE#13thAge
🔊Contributor to Our Turn: Gaming for Everyone podcast
🪑Former Gaming Chair, ConStellation
💡ENFP "Campaigner"
💪 Input, Connectedness, Communication, Learner, Positivity
❓ Unitarian Universalist #UU with Zen and Neopagan leanings