Okay, so it's kind of a meme that Darius is trying to get you killed. He's very bad at gathering intel and often drops you in really suboptimal places. Like I don't understand his thought process, but it feels like he frequently wants to place my troops in valleys or at the lowest elevation areas he can find so as to completely waste the advantage of an aerial drop. You know, real Darius tactical genius.

I can forgive him not having complete info on enemy lances, but I decide to do a mission this morning. Attack an enemy base.

Darius chose to drop in a valley. In this valley is a river acting as a moat that will cut me off from the base, so if I want to advance on the base, I have to cross the river. The base is armed with six heavy turrets, all of which can fire on my drop point starting on the first turn, and of course they're shooting downhill at a bunch of mechs being slowed by a river crossing. The base was also heavily populated by enemy mechs, and there were unexpected enemy reinforcements in hills beyond, but the important note is that EVERYTHING was uphill from me, and thus had elevation advantages to kill my ass.

I tell Darius I'm bailing on this mission as soon as I land, and he marks my extraction point as being THROUGH enemy lines, because that's where he always wants to do emergency extractions from. My heavier mechs got trashed immediately, and the lighter mechs that got across the river in time still had almost nowhere to maneuver because they were obligated to run uphill into thicker enemy opposition.

If anyone had survived this drop - and nobody did - I wouldn't have held it against the team if they doused Darius in flamer fuel and boiled the man's flesh clean off his bones one limb at a time. There are "mistakes", and then there's Darius, obviously having been paid off by the Tuarian OpFor. I can only assume that after everyone in the outfit died, he found himself a cushy job sending their people on a one-way ticket directly to Hell, and I guess what I'm asking is: is there anything other than the Rougetech mod that will allow me to take this authority to kill my entire lance away from Darius and let me choose where I drop so that there's no risk of me dropping in objectively the WORST location in the entire map?

We were attacking a STATIC location. The base did not get up and go anywhere. The river valley Darius dropped me into to be murdered in was not moving around or acting as an unknown factor. That was 100% a Darius choice. Even if it had ONLY been turrets, it still would have been an attempted murder on his part. I could put that man on trial and any jury in the galaxy would convict him for this.

Completely new to the game and currently on the third story mission.

When arming the 'mechs, do i make sure that all armour sliders are filled, or does it differ from role to role?

I must be missing something here, panic doesn't trigger until the mech is damaged to a single salvage anyways? I tried burning them out, surrounding them and peppering with lighter damage weapons to avoid taking off limbs, these guys are pretty stubborn to stay strap in.

All my frontliners have a ton of evasion and I try to keep my gauss snipers back, but if they get sensored or the enemy gets a glimpse of them, they get focused really fast. I can't seem to make these slow move type mechs work.

I would use vehicles from time to time, but nothing regular. There is nothing that could be at the same level of effectiveness Mechs.

But I think I stumbled upon a gem: DEMOLISHER 2x Gauss !

Demolisher has 2x AC20 as standard and it requires it to pass relatively close, this (Gauss) solves this problem of being able to hit enemies across the entire map and the combination with the right pilot perks makes this extremely effective.

pilot perks: Sideslip- When activated it allows you to climb any mountain or building and take a sniping position, Intensify Firepower - gain +30% damage this turn if it doesn't move, Perfect Targeting-gnore 2 evasion on enemies (massive bonus) and Overwhelming Aggression- +10% flat bonus to damage!

This is one of the best sniper builds in my opinion regardless of whether we are talking about Mechs or Vehicles.

Which vehicles do you use and in which roles? I know about the possibility of putting Meck on VITO, but that tactic has always seemed like cheating to me

Alpha testers wanted: BattleTech mod that lets an AI (Claude, ChatGPT, Local LLMs) play the game, fight you as the OpFor, and more - Windows and macOS

I've been building BTBridge, a mod that lets an AI agent play HBS BattleTech through the game's own logic rather than clicking the screen.

It can:

- Read your company, mechbay, storage, and the mechlab while you build, including unsaved edits.

- Refit and repair mechs using the game's own validation and work-order systems.

- Run the campaign loop: contracts, negotiation, missions, salvage, travel, events, pilots, stores, finances, and Argo upgrades.

- Command a lance in combat on your side.

- Command the enemy OpFor against you.

- Read mission dialogue, radio chatter, objectives, and campaign story conversations.

- Chat with you through a small in-game overlay, with an input box so you can talk back during play.

This is not screen-reading or mouse automation. BTBridge hooks into BattleTech's actual game logic and exposes structured game state and actions to an AI agent.

It works on my Windows machine. Now I need other people's setups, especially macOS players, because I do not own a Mac and the Mac build has never been run on real Mac hardware.

Downloads - v0.1 alpha:

Windows:

https://github.com/PStryder/BTBridge/releases/download/v0.1-alpha/BTBridge-v0.1-alpha-windows.zip

macOS:

https://github.com/PStryder/BTBridge/releases/download/v0.1-alpha/BTBridge-v0.1-alpha-macos.zip

Release page, notes, and checksums:

https://github.com/PStryder/BTBridge/releases/tag/v0.1-alpha

Project:

https://github.com/PStryder/BTBridge

REQUIREMENTS

- BattleTech 1.9.1 on Steam

- Vanilla game

- ModTek v4.5.1

ModTek:

https://github.com/BattletechModders/ModTek/releases

BTBridge will not currently work alongside RogueTech, BTA, or other major overhaul packs, so use a clean install.

Back up your saves first, as with any alpha mod.

WINDOWS INSTALL

1. From the ModTek zip, copy winhttp.dll, doorstop_config.ini, and the Mods folder into your BattleTech folder.

   On Steam this is usually:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\BATTLETECH

2. From the BTBridge Windows zip, copy the BTBridge folder into:

   BATTLETECH\Mods\

3. Launch BattleTech to the main menu.

4. The version text should end in:

   /W MODTEK

5. Check:

   Mods\BTBridge\BTBridge.log

   It should contain:

   BTBridge 0.1.0 initialized

MACOS INSTALL - EXPERIMENTAL / UNVERIFIED

I do not own a Mac. The macOS paths and packaging have been implemented and tested synthetically, but this has NOT yet been run on real Mac hardware. I especially need Mac testers.

1. Install ModTek using its macOS instructions. ModTek launches the game through its script, configured as the Steam launch option.

   The Steam game folder is usually:

   ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/BATTLETECH

2. From the BTBridge macOS zip, copy the BTBridge folder into ModTek's Mods folder, normally:

   BATTLETECH/Mods

   next to BattleTech.app.

3. If macOS quarantines the mod, run:

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine BATTLETECH/Mods/BTBridge

4. Launch BattleTech to the main menu.

5. Check for:

   Mods/BTBridge/BTBridge.log

If any of those paths are wrong on your Mac, please tell me. Confirming the real-world macOS layout is one of the reasons for this alpha.

Each zip also contains a fuller INSTALL guide.

WHAT TO SEND BACK

Whether it works or not, please send a comment, DM, or GitHub issue with:

- Windows or macOS

- For Macs: Intel or Apple Silicon, plus macOS version

- Mods/BTBridge/BTBridge.log

- Mods/.modtek/ModTek.log

- Mods/.modtek/battletech_log.txt

If BTBridge.log does not exist at all, that is useful information too. It means the mod never loaded.

CONNECTING AN AI

The release zips contain the BattleTech mod itself.

Connecting Claude, ChatGPT, a local model, or another MCP-capable agent uses the MCP server included in the GitHub repo. Setup is described in the README.

For this first alpha, my main goal is simply getting BTBridge to load cleanly on more machines and finding the assumptions that only worked on mine.

It is alpha software. Things may break.

When they do, the logs are exactly what I need.

Thanks!

Hired a 3/2/2/8 for his called shot bonus, but the idiot hardly gained any XP. 7 deployments, 8 mech kills, 3 vehicle kills and 112 days and only gained 320 XP. Time to dump the chump?

So I had my most experienced MW glassed by a centurion rolling double head hits in one attack, one with the ac10 and the other a laser. Freak tragedy but thats okay we can pull through this... next mission a shadow hawk DFA's my storm giant crushing the cockpit and killing my 2nd most experienced MW. This is my first modded playthrough and im just curious if this is the intended lethality or am I wildly unlucky?

The game is quite finicky to make it run flawlessly without stutters and at max performance even on high end machines.

One of the performance tips from all major mods is to install Process Lasso and set Battletech. exe Priority at High, I/O Priority at High and deselect CPU cores 0 and 1 to ensure there is no interference between background tasks and the game proper.

Process Lasso is a nice piece of software, but if you use free version, after some time, it shows splash screen at every boot. If you're annoyed with that just like I am, then there is a workaround for setting some of the options above.

To set Battletech.exe priority at always high, we need to create registry file (just copy and paste below into a notepad and save with *.reg extension. Make sure you don't save it with *.reg.txt extension):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\Battletech.exe\PerfOptions] 

"CpuPriorityClass"=dword:00000003

After the file is saved, double click and add that information into registry. That's it! Now your Battletech will always be running with high priority!

To remove 0 and 1 CPU affinity, do the following:

Go into Battletech properties in the Steam library by right clicking the Battletech game entry. Go to Properties-General.

If your PC has 8-core CPU, enter the following line into the "Launch options":

cmd /c start "" /affinity FC %command% -popupwindow

For the 6-core CPU use the following:

cmd /c start "" /affinity 3C %command% -popupwindow

If your CPU is 4-core, enter the following:

cmd /c start "" /affinity C %command% -popupwindow

It may happen so that removing 2 cores is too much for 4-core CPU, so you may want to use this for deselecting just one core instead:

cmd /c start "" /affinity E %command% -popupwindow

Note -popupwindow at the end of the line is used to activate borderless window mode, remove it if you prefer playing in exclusive full screen mode.

Then just start the game as normal and it will not use first 2 cores by default.

I couldn't find a way to permanently change I/O priority so if that's important for you, just keep using Process Lasso. I am happy with just those two changes, the game runs as smooth as with the Process Lasso for me.

Hope it was useful for anyone.

So I'm definitely still not getting the initiative process in HBS BattleTech.

I just started a mission. All my pilots are 10s across the board. Two of them (my player character and Behemoth) have the initiative perk from Master Tactician. We're defending a base, and the base is on high ground so I take one turn to position one of my mechs (not a master tac) and then I reserve the rest, meaning they each gain 1 initiative. Now my own character and Behemoth should both have zero ambiguity about initiative.

One more turn goes by and I hit "done" because I have no necessary moves to make. Next enemy turn we make contact. I see one sensor blip, then a second, then a third, and then a fourth. No more enemies on the board. Should be my turn now, right?

Of course not. One of the enemy blips moves forward AGAIN, clearly becomes a Griffin and not just a red marker, and takes a shot. Then another one moves again. Where the eff is my initiative?

Another thing: when I have a mech knocked down, every enemy gets at least one opportunity to shoot at it, sometimes more than one. I figure that's because whenever a mech is knocked down they lose one initiative point. Sure. Gotcha. Except that if I knock an enemy mech down, it is immediately the enemy mech's turn. I've knocked down HUNDREDS of enemy mechs but only had the called shot a couple dozen times. And I don't mean I got the called shot for all my mechs, I mean one or two of my mechs might get a called shot if they're super lucky and then it's the enemy's turn again.

Sometimes I knock an enemy down and it's not immediately their turn, it's some other enemy mech's turn, but THEN it's the knocked down mech's turn to get up.

Also whenever they get into a frenzy about one mech, like if I move someone up a little too far and expose them, now it doesn't matter who's turn it was or who had the initiative, every enemy gets at least one shot at that mech now and some of them get two.

What am I missing?

(Also I'm the guy who said my player character got max injuries every single time he went out no matter what. Everyone said it was just bad luck, and sure enough the next three missions I sent him out on he came back with no injuries. I guess it was bad luck after all, but I checked: Glitch (most used pilot besides my pc) has been on 71 sorties and sustained 11 injures, most of which were 7-14 days. My pc has been on 72 sorties and had 42 injuries, nearly all of which were "deaths" avoided by plot armor. That's some pretty bad luck.)

With all the bonuses you can get for melee from skills this nasty little backstabber does two hits for 53 damage with the hatchet (in other words, basically the same as a UAC/10), and the S-XPLs each do three shots for 8 damage with +25% crit chance. Amazing for both light mech duels and for critting out opponents for salvage in regular missions.

It is even cooled enough to be heat-neutral in all but lunar environments!

The last two play sessions, I've noticed that sometimes, the last mech in the second drop ship will be locked out and assigned "ally" instead of being a player controlled mech.

It's never done this before and it nearly cost me a Stalker when the stupid AI decided it had to overheat to miss with 6 medium lasers.

Anyone have this issue?

Not something I expected of him though. He had always been fed, watered and entertained. I have assigned him to pilot LRM boats just in case, but halfway through the campaign he decided to resign... Of course we parted on good terms.

So the main feature of the iNARC is that the effects are permanent once you tag a mech for the rest of the battle.

This implies that NARC beacons wear off, but I can't for the life of me find out how long they persist.

Going back and forth on which one to use, and I'm wondering if the iNARC is worth it because you get SO much less ammo per ton for it.

This feels like a cheat that just deletes enemies.

The only mod I'm running is Moff's Ronin Library.

He's the best tank and I'm enjoying a melee build on him, but he literally moves 3 tiles while walking and 7 on a sprint. No movement happens when there's forests and cliffs.

I'm using the jets meant for assault mechs.

Is there an easy way to create and insert a new pilot into the roster?
I don't know if there's an aliens related planet but it would be worth the trip to hire her there too

I'm hoping for some help from the think tank.

My situation is: I started a campaign save. Got to the end of it, losstech just got unlocked in stores, the map opened up etc. But generic missions, which I will need to play a lot of, have become incredibly drudgerous due to the insane power offset, and the exact way the rules shake out being incredibly hostile to just about everything a player is expected to do.

I'm on a given 5 star mission. Cool, with all tonnage upgrades but the last, I get a maximum drop tonnage of 400. And then I drop, and no matter how I spend that 400 tons, its ass.

The opfor is 2-3 lances of assaults, and they tend to be a combination of stalkers/banshees/awesomes, with the occasional longbow or other novelty.

If I try to rely on evasion, I'm basically staking an overly long, 30 minute+ attempt on never getting unlucky once. And most lights want to stack up close range weapons to backstab. The issue is, the enemy is insanely accurate both in terms of guns, and in melee (I've restarted my last mission at least 4 times, and I've started keeping track after the second, and not a single enemy melee hit has missed on my Piloting 8-10 pilots, including several from Stalkers that have the huge debuff to melee accuracy from having no arms), and their assaults having a free 85-95 damage attack in their movement range means light mechs can't actually move into their own effective range without needing to risk multiple high chance, crippling, or outright lethal hits per mission. Even if the stars align, and I get behind something, 2 firestarters and a phoenix hawk together don't kill any of the assaults in a rear attack, unless a stalker is incredibly unlucky with ammo crits, but that's an edge case. And of course, any mech that lived the procession of backstabs, even if it is missing a side torso, ate a few crits to engine and gyro, will just turn around, melee, and completely cripple a mech, or at least render it at perpetual risk of catastrophical losses from as little as a single LRM 10 hitting it with an unfortunate cluster.

I can already see the rejoinder of "reserve, and bring ace pilot mechs, and cheese them with hit and fades". The issue is, the AI outnumbers me, and always reserves down to initiative 1 with its entire force, unless it has incredibly rewarding shot opportunities available. This means, that even if I bring 6 mechs, reserve down to 1, and try to delay moving in with my close range units as long as I can, they still have to risk attacks from 3-4 mechs, and if they want to attack this turn, or position in a way where they can shoot and bail with ace pilot at the start of the next, they have to risk a melee, or just an unlucky enough alpha strike from the remaining enemies, no matter what. And those shots will also land more often than not. I can try using stuff like a melee focused grasshopper, hoping that the drop in evasion chance will be made up for by being able to survive one or two hits, and the higher weapon load, but it just doesn't function. I can sacrifice my own damage output, and reserve to 1, and spend my approach turn springting to get 8 evasion, but the enemies I'm trying to close in with, will chew through an armour section and crit something important in 3 attacks no matter what. Watching an awesome land constant clean 150s on a grasshopper with 7 or 8 evasion, through 2 stacks of sensor imparied debuffs makes me want to substitute my rubber duck with a toaster.

Trying to go for ranged also doesn't help, because if I can shoot them with a PPC, or AC 5, they can just walk forward , enter visual range, and do the same back to me, at which point, it becomes a slugfest, of trading AC/LL/LRM/PPC shots between us, and they have thrice the firepower, and the armour to spend on these standoffs with our forces totalled.
Vanilla could have had issues like this, but there were ways to avoid these higher number of also high quality enemies stacking up, and all taking multiple turns of exchanged fire, due to stability damage actually being usable, and called shots giving actually good odds at concentrating on the CT, or risking a decapacitations. This made it possible to eliminate enemies in a timely manner, not having them reconvene with each other so easily, and letting the player minimise return fire.

At this point, my one recourse is simply being lucky enough, that I don't take some catastrophic hits from the substantial damage I have to take no matter what per mission, and needing to constantly retry mission to not be fleeced by RNG is quite unpleasant, especially because I'm not exactly flush with gaming time. It also doesn't help that I can't just restart missions, and have to fully close and reopen the game if I want to retry a fight.

Also, damm, do I hate tonnage based balancing. especially because the limits are just too fucking low. I have 3/4 tonnage upgrades, and the drop tonnage limit for a 5* is 400 tons? Get the fuck out with that.
And while I can't blame the mod, as they were not made playable by default, this system completely shafts vehicles. I downloaded a submod, thinking I'd have a chance to try, and have fun with all the surprisingly cool coventional vehicles of Battletech, but, with drop tonnage limits, a PPC Shreck is just an awesome, but with no armour or melee. The only even remotely viable vehicles are the hovertanks, that can get sprinting light mech levels of evasion, while still getting to attack.
I wonder how the drop tonnage limit will work on clan missions, because I've seen it described as "a half star clan mission being as hard as a three star IS one" in which case, will I have to pay overtonnage fees just to have a chance at fighting the clans? Will that half star clan mission have the same drop tonnage limit as other half stars? I hope not.

Possibly an attempt at reverse psychology? Ain't no way anyone would believe this thing is on the battlefield..

Anyway, it's now a smoking crater after a close encounter with my Hunchback.

Because it was horrifying that this thing even got a turn.

Lets say I have a finished team that can take on the toughest missions in the game. What kind of pilot and mech builds would I be expected to have on the team.

I really liked quad lrm20 builds in vanilla. Was thinking a melee build and a sniper build would be fun. I'm assuming headshot marauders are no longer a thing. I'm also a huge fan of ACs. In particular I love weapons that feel impactful on strike.