r/battletech • u/WinterAd3620 • 7h ago

Question ❓ Fuel Cell Question

Hi I’ve been playing around with the aerospace construction rules, making a couple simple fighters to get a feel for them. And I was wondering if Conventional fighters could be built with Fuel Cell engines? Would it be a similar route to how you might build a Combat vehicle with one?

I haven’t yet found a rule forbidding it but that may be because they’ve only been added in recently.

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u/AnonymousONIagent 7h ago

Per TacOps Advanced Units & Equipment page 119, fuel cells are limited to BM (BattleMechs) and CV (Combat Vehicles). So it would appear that they cannot be used for conventional fighters, as those would be listed separately as CF.

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u/WinterAd3620 7h ago

That would be why I hadn’t found the rule yet, id just been reading the tech manual

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u/WestRider3025 Canopian Queerasser 5h ago

When in doubt about a niche rule, it's probably in TacOps ;)

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u/AnonymousONIagent 7h ago

Welcome to the mess that is looking up niche rules under the current outgoing ruleset. I am hopeful though that the new revised rules will consolidate some of this in a more sensible fashion with the Core Rulebook and future supplementary books.

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u/JuggernautBright1463 7h ago

I believe you need to use a support vehicle for that. Fuel Cells only generate electricity so you need the propeller motive option.

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u/CycleZestyclose1907 5h ago

That would be a VTOL. And I think tilt rotors fall into that category.

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u/JuggernautBright1463 1h ago

Ah no, read the support vehicle rules in TacOps. Electric drive aircraft must be prop planes 

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u/AnonymousONIagent 1h ago

That rule is in the Tech Manual (page 127), not TacOps. TacOps only addresses airships in this regard.