----- Original Message -----
From: Technomancer <farmerb@msoe.edu>
To: <ffml@fanfic.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 1999 9:57 AM
Subject: [FFML] Re: [FFML][Idea][Ranma/BattleTech]
Standard Inner Sphere mechs need to outnumber Clan Omnimechs by a
ratio of
4-1 (by tonnage) in order to have a reasonable chance of victory.
Inner
Sphere Omnimechs need numerical superiority of 2-1 in order to equal
the
Clan's technological and skill advantage. That means that the DCMS
must
field about 720 omnimechs in order to achieve the odds you state.
That
sixteen regiments and one lance of omnimechs. I think not even the
Federated Commonwealth at its height could field such a force at any
one
place.
Bwa? I don't know where you got the 4-1, since any decent tactician
can take
out a clan force with half again the clan's tonnage. It's a hard
battle,
but for normal inner sphere mechs and mechwarriors can take out a clan
force
with only light casualties at the 2-1 ratio, as long as they have a
good
tactician calling the shots. The problem is that in Merc units, you
usually
can't get a 2-1 tonnage ratio against the heavier clan stuff, because
it's
fairly rare for mercs to have more than one or two heavy class or
higher
mechs.
Ranma:
Worse, some Clansmen regard sex as something you do with your sibko.
That's
as close as you will get to a family in the Warrior Caste. Makes me
wonder
what Nicholas Kerensky was smoking when he instituted this. Sex in
Clan
society is an affirmation of closeness (in the Warrior Caste at
least) not
of love.
Thankfully, much of this is not true among the freeborn, even if they
are
still warriors.
Good interpretation of what Ranma would be like if he were raised in
the
Battletech Universe.
Very good interpretation, but I really don't see Ranma ever piloting a
mech
as ungainly as a heavy or assault. Even the Thor is pushing it.
Pilots a captured Thor
A Thor? A captured merc has a heavy omnimech?
Not only this, but the captured Omnis are usually reserved for unit
commanders. This would be good to give Soun.
My personal favorite mech, the Phoenix Hawk, would much better suit
Ranma's
style, IMO. Lots of agility, and still enough room for a big gun.
And it's
not a very hard mech to get.
Lt. Akane Tendo:
Lost her mother during the Clan invasion of the Inner sphere.
Harbors an
Um, exactly when is this taking place? I know that the date of Mrs.
Tendo
is not given in the original, so that doesn't matter, but it would
help to
have a better idea than just "after Tukkayid, but before the
Twilight."
can. Pilots a WarHammer II C.
A Warhammer II C is a fairly new model assault mech, where did they
get
the
money for one?
No kidding, especially since the IIC version is a clan mech. While an
Assault mech suits her, it's probably better to give her an old IS
standby,
like the Atlas.
Sgt. Ryoga Hibiki:
Has fallen for Akane. Believes the only good Clanner is a dead
Clanner.
Pilots a Marauder.
Another Assault Clan Omnimech. Man, even Wolf's Dragoons do not have
that
many. Princes in the Inner Sphere pilot Daishis, not grunts in merc
companies.
Um, the Marauder isn't a clan mech. This is another person who
definitely
suits the assault class. I would lean toward giving Ryoga a
Warhammer, or
at least something that can take a lot of punishment.
Captain Soun Tendo:
Why is Soun piloting a mech designed to hunt down command mechs? I
would
think that with the money that they seem to have, he could have
afforded a
command mech like the Sunder or at least a Commando.
Yah, Tendo should really be in something like the Cyclops, especially
if he
can manage to get one of the newer versions, with C3. This unit is
getting
a little heavy on the assault class mechs though, since they _are_
fairly
hard to get.
Nabiki Tendo:
At least Nabiki's piloting a Scout mech. Information gathering was
always
her strength anyhow. As a bit of curiousity, does Nabiki's Raven
have the
NARC retrofit?
I can think of no mech that suits Nabs better than the Raven. As long
as
it's not a DeathRaven.
Moral Officer Kasumi Tendo
Same old Kasumi. Maybe she can man the point defense systems or an
Arrow
IV
battery. Imagine a really creepy smile as she mans the Long Tom
Batteries.
Now this would be interesting, I've always had a thing for the evil
Kasumi's
Mechwarrior Ukyo Kuonji:
The pride of the DCMS is the Sunder. In the Otomo, there are only
THREE
Sunders and the Otomo are arguably the best of the elite units of
the
Draconis Combine (like the Ryoken and Sword of Light). The fact that
it
was
given to an unranked mechwarrior of a MERC outfit boggles the mind.
All true. Besides, just to stay in theme, you should give her a mech
with a
big weapon. Like the Hatchetman, or the Axeman, if they can swing it.
The Amazons - A mostly female merc group, has ties to Wolf's
Dragoons.
Lt. Shampoo:
One of the best Mechwarriors in the Amazons. Grudgingly respects
Ranma
for
being able to take her out that quickly. Pilots a Mad Dog.
Another Clan Heavy Mech. I do not remember them being so prolific in
the
Inner Sphere even during the "Twillight of the Clans" saga.
I can't say that I like the idea of having so many clan mechs floating
around. Personally, I'd give her something small and manuverable, and
commonly available, like the Wolverine. Small, common, and still
packs a
hell of a punch.
Sgt. Mousse:
with the Nerima Maulers and away from his girl. Pilots a Phoenix
A phoenix is not so bad.......
Yes, another person piloting a Phoenix Hawk would just be too cool.
You
could also give him a heavily modified Griffin.
Draconis combine forces
Captain Kuno
Ha, make him pilot a Hachetman but replace the axe with a giant
bokken and
you'll be all set.
Oy, the Draconis Combine has already started making mechs with swords
instead of hatchets. Functionally the same, but it looks cooler.
I like this idea and would very much like to see it done. Although I
do
disagree with your parts of your scripting though. I would rather
have
Akane as the Truebirth that Ranma tried to save. The Dropship could
not
get
to them due to LRM fire and they were left behind. Thus not only
does
Akane
hate Ranma for being a Freebirth, she hates him because its
naturally his
fault they are in this mess. Have Ukyo put down Ranma and Akane's
mechs.
Then both of them must obey a girl that hates them. Yes I'm evil.
Ranma
could start paying a fair bit of attention to Ukyo as he is an
honourable
bondsman. Akane on the other hand would rather gnaw on ferro-fibre.
it's always good to have a reason to hate someone.
This story has a lot of potential, but I do agree that the mech
choices
should be toned down a bit. Assault mechs are bloody expensive, often
taking more than ten missions just to pay for a used one, let alone
new.
Remember, an average mech plant turns out one type of mech, in the
number of
about 3-4 per year, less for heavy and assaults. In addition, in my
experience, a slightly larger force of small, manuverable mechs will
almost
always tear a less manuverable but larger foe into small, bloody
pieces
suitable for drying into jerky. As any good mercenary knows, jump
jets are
your friend.
In general I agree with your comments. It's just not normal to find that
many assault mechs in the situation as outlined (let alone Clan assault
mechs). You can try to fudge a bit by having a couple be salvage from
the mission where Ranma (and possibly the truebirth he tried to rescue)
gets captured, but that might be stretching things a bit far. Also,
despite his skills they would/should be rather wary of trusting him in
combat. Even though they may be familiar with the concept of bondsmen,
they'd still have to overcome some of their preconceptions with regards
to captured warriors. Intellectually they may know that as a bondsman
he'd give loyal service, but on an instinctual level they'd still be
expecting him to make escape and/or sabotage attempts (after all that's
what they'd probably do if the situation was reversed).
As far as the advantages of smaller mechs go, I can recall one memorable
experience I had while playing Mech Warrior 2. I wound up creating a
Fire Moth variant (which I called a HellMoth J) which was stripped down
to the bare essentials and equipped with MASC and jumpjets along with 2
lasers in the legs (I _think_ they were ER Medium lasers, but it's been
a while and my memory isn't that good). Top speed was around 350 - 400
kph. I managed to take out several larger mechs and complete the mission
successfully.
Switching the focus of the story slightly is also a good idea. Having
Akane, or (better yet) Kuno or Ryouga as the trueborn mech pilot would
provide some fairly good opportunities to explore the intense
hatred/dislike inherent in something like this (you'd probably have to
tone down Kuno's or Ryouga's reaction to Akane to make it a bit more
believable).
Overall I'd say go for it. There haven't been too many Ranma/Battletech
stories done (or even done well), so it'll be great if you can pull it
off successfully. On a further note, aside from reading thru some of the
Battletech novels, you might want to track down a couple of the
sourcebooks (or even visit some of the Battletech sites on the net) for
additional information/ideas depending on how detailed you'd like the
story to be.
Maurice.