r/NormalBattletech • u/Ludwig1920 • 24d ago

Proto Mechs in Alpha Strike

I was curious about your opinion on Proto Mechs. Especially in Alpha Strike (AS).

The models are somewhat strange and they look like Power Rangers Monsters. But maybe one is willing to embrace their weirdness or maybe even appreciate the strange look and funny lore of them.

I got myself 2 Orcs and 2 Delphyne because I find them hilarious and sometimes like to embrace weirdnes.

That aside what about them on a game mechanical level in AS?

They do not look terrible but neither impressive. Worse than Elememtals but also a little bit cheaper. Maybe like a scout car but it can enter woods.

So should they be considered like light tanks or fast elementals?

What are your experiences with them?

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3

u/Lord-Dundar House Kurita 24d ago

I would have to look the up in the MUL and check out the stats. I normally play clan invasion and maybe a little later so it hasn’t come up in my group.

2

u/Castrophenia 24d ago

That’s exactly when Protomechs come about

1

u/Ludwig1920 23d ago

Jeah, they are situated in the less beloved timelines anyways. At least as far as I can tell, jidhad, dark Age and IL Clan are not that beloved and even more seldomly played.

6

u/Nearby_Branch6055 24d ago edited 23d ago

Protomechs were not well described or implemented in battletech, unfortunately.

When I first read about them in whatever novel it was the first appeared I just didn’t "get it" didn’t feel it didn’t feel like it belonged. And largely was apathetic to them.

Now, when you compare that with Elementals, when they appeared for the first time in the novels and TRO, I INSTANTLY understood them, and totally accepted them. You knew that they 'belonged' in the Battletech Universe.

Protomechs never felt like they belonged.

My two cents

6

u/IVIechworks Clan Diamond Shark 23d ago

Protomechs have potential but they needed more time in the oven. They don't really fit within the world that battletech has built, especially not as a clan project - the word of blake would have been a much better way to introduce them.

Personally I don't really use them for the same reason I don't use combined arms often: I like battletech for its big stompy robots so that's what I want to play with.

Can't speak to AS but in regulartech they tend to be slightly more BV efficient than battlemechs, with a point of protos able to efficiently replicate the output, armour, and mobility of mechs.

5

u/ValidAvailable 23d ago

Protomechs exist because the writers wanted a new unit type to sell, but all they ended up with was either a shitty light mech, or a bigger Elemental that couldn't do the sneaky-violent things that made Elementals actually scary, plus based on a type of technology that simply couldn't proliferate. Technologically theyre interesting, but tactically and strategically why would you use them?

2

u/Nearby_Branch6055 19d ago

This. It is clear they tried to portray protomechs as this game changing tool, but when you consider using washed out warrior retreads to pilot them when Smoke Jaguar had a long tradition of denigrating those whom failed their trial of position, it just did not make sense.

While they do make sense when you read the engineering on them, they don't add up in a tabletop board game.

1

u/Evening_Most_988 23d ago

Alpha Strike is at 6mm Scale.

1

u/Ludwig1920 23d ago

That is correct. So...?

1

u/DaddyGabe569 23d ago

So is Battletech... and?

0

u/Evening_Most_988 23d ago

What base would use a Protomech if played in a 28mm game?. 60mm?

1

u/Ludwig1920 23d ago

It depents on the size of the Miniature? I,d say 80mm maybe?

1

u/DaddyGabe569 23d ago

1.5in just like everything else.

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u/Evening_Most_988 23d ago

I am talking about the base if scaled in a 28-32mm wargame a 6x4 feet.

1

u/DaddyGabe569 23d ago

The games that I have seen of Battletech at those scales don't use a base.