Ever wonder why we have a 6 Mechbay Leopard, but can only drop 4 Mechs into Battle?

[Fragilehardass]

The catch is the Aerospace bays on the Leopard are configured as such that you can't actually get a mech out of them.

You see Bay 2 towards the front, sandwiched between the weapon pods? That's one of the aerospace fighter bays. 4 and 6 beside it are the mech bays. I'd have a tough time imagining what you'd have to do to convert the ship into something that could field 6 mechs.

Compressed Quads? ^^

 

[TaurianMerc]

Compressed Quads? ^^

Quad Battle Armour CONFIRMED*!!!!!!




*Quad Battle Armour not actually confirmed

 

[Timaeus]

I think what @Prussian Havoc was saying, is that there is no sign of any fighter bay doors forwards of the standard mech bay doors. And even though the fighter bays have been converted to makeshift mech bays, they have not bodged in any doors. So clearly only 4 mechs can drop at a time.

Thats assuming this Leopard variant doesn't have the fighter bays in that rear portion of the ship.

While the doors to what would originally be the aerospace bays aren't known, there are four doors for the 'mechs. Which was mentioned to not exist. As for where the the ASF bay doors could be? My guess is the bottom. Also, this is a PGI model.

A Harebrained Schemes Leopard Dropship has a different shape, though apparently this example has neither Mechbay doors nor Aerospace Fighter Bays forward of the Starboard MechBays:

Actually looking at it, ASF bays are probably the slits forward the two grarage doors in this pic.

Spoiler

 

[TaurianMerc]

Actually looking at it, ASF bays are probably the slits forward the two grarage doors in this pic.

Spoiler

View attachment 352330

though apparently this example has neither Mechbay doors nor Aerospace Fighter Bays forward of the Starboard MechBays

My emphasis added.
We had already seen a diagrammatic view of the leopard earlier which clearly showed the location of the fighter bays.
PH was noting that aside from the starboard mech bays which could clearly be seen on the PGI/HBS model there was no clear indication of the fighter bays, which makes sense if they have been converted into space to house mechs. But at the same time, when the bays were converted nobody added extra doors for the new bay to enable extra mechs to drop. Thus disputing someone elses earlier claim that we will be dropping five or six mechs at a time.

Am I making sense? (I aks that seriously, I am not being sarcastic, because everything is clear in my head but I'm probably not expressing well).

My comment of the location of the fighter bays was merely absent speculation on where they could be on this (IMO much better) take on the Leopard. Although they are probably still forward of the stock mechbays.

 

[Timaeus]

My emphasis added.
We had already seen a diagrammatic view of the leopard earlier which clearly showed the location of the fighter bays.
PH was noting that aside from the starboard mech bays which could clearly be seen on the PGI/HBS model there was no clear indication of the fighter bays, which makes sense if they have been converted into space to house mechs. But at the same time, when the bays were converted nobody added extra doors for the new bay to enable extra mechs to drop. Thus disputing someone elses earlier claim that we will be dropping five or six mechs at a time.

Am I making sense? (I aks that seriously, I am not being sarcastic, because everything is clear in my head but I'm probably not expressing well).

My comment of the location of the fighter bays was merely absent speculation on where they could be on this (IMO much better) take on the Leopard. Although they are probably still forward of the stock mechbays.

I stand corrected. It is poorly worded.

 

[TaurianMerc]

I stand corrected. It is poorly worded.

No worries, actually I was starting think I was losing it
(Not to mentioned concerned that someone might think i was arguing with a Mod )

 

[Timaeus]

No worries, actually I was starting think I was losing it
(Not to mentioned concerned that someone might think i was arguing with a Mod )

It's not yellow.

 

[Lardaltef]

My emphasis added.
We had already seen a diagrammatic view of the leopard earlier which clearly showed the location of the fighter bays.
PH was noting that aside from the starboard mech bays which could clearly be seen on the PGI/HBS model there was no clear indication of the fighter bays, which makes sense if they have been converted into space to house mechs. But at the same time, when the bays were converted nobody added extra doors for the new bay to enable extra mechs to drop. Thus disputing someone elses earlier claim that we will be dropping five or six mechs at a time.

Am I making sense? (I aks that seriously, I am not being sarcastic, because everything is clear in my head but I'm probably not expressing well).

My comment of the location of the fighter bays was merely absent speculation on where they could be on this (IMO much better) take on the Leopard. Although they are probably still forward of the stock mechbays.

But I never said more then 4 dropped just more then 4 on the mission just for the 5th and 6th mech they would either have to move to drop later or the dropship would have to land. Could very easily be a reinforcement mechanic that HBS has never mentioned. Otherwise why state they had been converted to specifically mechbays and not cargo bays?

I may have said start a mission with more then 4 mechs on the field but I think I was talking about how many mechs you would have on a mission total.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Thank you, good @TaurianMerc. :bow: Sorry to have sown words poorly, good @Timaeus. So much for posting at nearly 3:00am!

I really, really like the DeviantArt Leopard that @imperialus posted. : ) But when it comes to HBS we already had the example of a Leopard that I posted above, And while DeviantArt (and many other sources) clearly show Bay Doors forward of the dual-MechBay Doors on the starboard side, the HBS Leopard example shows no such doors IMO (the relatively small hull marking towards the bow is to me not a bay door.)

Of course there is the possibility that rather than four non-contiguous Inner "Bays" that the Leopard opens up on the inside into one large cavernous Bay, that simply has six rather than four repair gantries/bracing rigs, retaining the four original doors and just extending forward into the superstructure of the Dropship, eliminating the Aerospace bay doors.

This would somewhat resemble the take PGI is using in MW5 videos, of which the following pic is a MW5 screen capture:

 

[TaurianMerc]

Otherwise why state they had been converted to specifically mechbays and not cargo bays?

Because they are mechbays for storing, maintaining and repairing Mechs - remember we start with 5 mechs so the only way they could get that to work with a leopard is the conversion.

 

[Lardaltef]

Because they are mechbays for storing, maintaining and repairing Mechs - remember we start with 5 mechs so the only way they could get that to work with a leopard is the conversion.

Would still allow for more then 4 mechs to deploy on a mission. Assuming they are operational.

 

[Jack Frost]

You're never going to have more than 4 mechs operational at one time anyhow. So, moving on...

 

[TaurianMerc]

Would still allow for more then 4 mechs to deploy on a mission. Assuming they are operational.

But if they wanted that they would have modded in some extra doors to allow them all to drop at once.
None of the screenshots have given any hint that we can have more than a lance of our own mechs (temporary story mission specific additions aside), the selection screen when choosing your force only has four spaces available iirc.

 

[_Sohei_]

You could potentially carry 6 with only 4 doors just by having them move around internally. 4 by the doors and another 2 either forward, aft, or in the center of the ship.

 

[KnightCole]

Because you might accidentally drop 5 mechs and be a filthy clanner.

Im not a filthy clanner, but I will thoroughly enjoy driving a grimy clan Warhawk.

 

[Kovax]

So, 4 'Mechs per mission, but 6 can be carried. The remaining 2 would need to be loaded and unloaded via crane (either built into the Leopard or an external vehicle), and not that good of an idea to deploy on a raid if you can't reload them in a hurry. In theory, they'd be usable on a longer term garrison contract in friendly territory, but that's not something that will be implemented in-game.

Forget the measly Union Dropship (12 'Mechs + 2 Aerospace fighters), I want an Excalibur for combined arms operations (including 'Mechs, vehicles, infantry, and built-in heavy artillery), if not an Overlord for pure overkill (36 'Mechs + 6ASFs(?) capacity). A Mammoth Dropship would make a good compliment (insane amounts of cargo space), but you can't use it for combat drops (no 'Mech cubicles, so they have to be "mothballed" and stowed as cargo, then unloaded and "un-mothballed" for use).

 

[Harmattan Assassin]

Don't they usually field two stars of five against an IS company of twelve though? It's been a long time since MW2, so I don't remember how all that works.

I think the reason is a)the 4-mech lance is the basic unit of the BT universe and b) the other two bays are converted from Aerospace use, so they are more for storage than for deployment. There's probably no ramp down if they were designed for fighters to fly in and out for one thing.

And let's not forget that the clan preferred individual combat. That one star deployed only intended one mech to fight, the others were there for backup. Their goal was to challenge one IS mech to a duel. Problem was that no one told the IS about this. Inner Sphere lances would attack as a group, violating the 'duel', triggering a response from the entire star of 5.

Really, really hated the introduction of clans into battletech/mechwarrior (talking tabletop here). Talk about unfair. Weapons that did more damage, used less heat, had more range, better targeting systems, and oh by the way, the enemy outnumbers you too. Granted it eventually allowed better weapons on the Inner Sphere side as well, but still. Clans royally upended balance in Battletech (read as "broke" balance).

 

[dulahan]

Possibility 1: Bringing back Salvage! Kinda useful to have that room.

Possibility 2: Maybe there'll be a mission or two we'll have NPC mechs along on our side. Unless things have changed (I never watched a stream past character creation) I seem to recall there are missions that can happen on. So maybe at some point Lady Arano and someone else will drop in mechs alongside us too. Helps to have ways to bring them along!

 

[SnzKGB]

Two burning, four turning ))

 

[stjobe]

'Mech Bays are a subset of Transport Bays that may or may not have Bay Doors:

"BAY DOORS
Bay doors are a veritable necessity for any Support Vehicle, DropShip or other capital spacecraft that intends to carry large cargo items or other units such as BattleMechs, fighters and such within internal bays. As simple in function and design as personnel doors, these larger versions require little more than an equalizing of internal and external pressures before they can be opened to enable the transfer of units or cargo. This simplicity allows bay doors to be mounted as part of the unit’s structure, though doors this large are rarely seen outside of truly large Support Vehicles and DropShips."
- TechManual, p.209

"TRANSPORT BAYS
Even before they became the standard by which all military DropShip amenities are now known, various military and civilian support vehicles—from armored personnel carriers to motor homes—have devoted internal spaces to short- and long-term human habitation or cargo. Today, "bays" is the generic term used to describe a cluster of similar storage spaces for vehicles, personnel or bulk cargo carried by larger vehicles and spacecraft (as opposed to quarters, described earlier in this section). To further differentiate them, transport bays are often clearly defined in the vehicle’s or vessel’s statistics, to express the personnel or equipment they can service and maintain, based on the dominant number of cubicle-style facilities."
- TechManual, p.239

"’MECH/FIGHTER BAY
‘Mech and fighter bays consist of one or more cubicles designed for the long-range transport of ’Mechs, aerospace fighters, conventional fighters or Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles massing up to 100 tons. Because the cubicles are quite heavy and large, ’Mech and fighter bays are much more common to DropShips and truly large support vehicles. Each component cubicle in these bays includes maintenance and/or launch facilities for a single ’Mech (or aerospace craft, as appropriate), as well as basic facilities and bunking for said unit’s crew and technical support personnel."
- TechManual, p.240

From the stats and the images, it isn't unreasonable to assume that the Hysteria has six Transport Bays of type 'Mech Bay, but only four of them have Bay Doors (i.e. launch facilities).