Battletech: HPS-222 HOPSCOTCH
December 19, 2017 battletech boardgames mechs scifi
Continuing to take the Battletech 2e mech design rules out for a spin, this time I opted to make the tiniest little tse-tse fly of a mech I could. Ladies and gentlemen, the HPS-222 Hopscotch. It’s job is just to run around every turn, outflanking the enemy, running in and out of cover with its decent running MP’s, and Alpha Strike1 every turn with its dual Medium Lasers. Not a ton of damage, but incredibly annoying. However, it has barely any armor, so it’s kind of a liability on the field if it can’t stay alive.
Type: HPS-222 Hopscotch
Tonnage: 10 tons
Internal Structure: 1 ton
Engine: 60 Leenex - 1.5 tons
Walking MP’s: 6
Running MP’s: 9
Jumping MP’s: 0
Total Heat Sinks: 10
Gyro: 1 ton
Cockpit: 3 tons
Armor Factor: 24 - 1.5 tons
| Internal Structure | Armor Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Head: | 3 | 3 |
| Center Torso: | 3 | 4/1 |
| Rt./Lt./ Torso: | 3 | 4/1 |
| Rt./Lt. Arm: | 1 | 1 |
| Rt./Lt. Leg: | 2 | 2 |
Weapons and Ammo:
| Type | Loc. | Critical | Tonnage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Med. Laser | Head | 1 | 1 |
| Med. Laser | Lt. Torso | 1 | 1 |
There’s no guidance in the rulebook about how to balance your forces against each other, so for now I’m just going with tonnage. You can field, say, 1 100-ton mech, or 10 10-ton mechs. That could be wildly out of proportion, but I think it tests something interesting, which is essentially how efficient a mech designer are you? This is the type of thing that Pathfinder players like - you can spend all week on your own, tweaking your units, and then when it comes time to field them, how well do they do? Did you really want that jump capability for that mech? Or would that have been better spent on weaponry that could Alpha Strike every turn? How much armor on the back of the mech is enough? How often are you going to have your back exposed to the enemy?
As usual, I rolled up a MechWarrior for this little beast. Kyla is a decent shot and pilot, which she’ll need to be, since she is in one of the least armored little creatures out there.
Name: Kyla Maes
Gunnery Skill: 4
Piloting Skill: 5
Hopscotch’s sheet. Can ten of these take down a Falstaff?
Alpha Striking is when you fire all of your weapons at the same time. Hard to do if your weapons generate more heat than your heat sinks can dissipate every turn, so there’s a balance there.↩︎
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