This is a pretty deep pull, but the scene in Me, Myself, and Irene where Hank tears up the guy’s car because he thinks the guy was parking illegally in a handicap space is the vibe I’ve always gotten from professional Elementals.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

"I understood that reference." - Steve Rogers

First time I ran a point of Elementals was so much fun. The Elemenals were classic SRM 2 and small laser configuration. By the end of the fight, the had destroyed, damaged, or captured over 20 times their combined five tons of weight with no losses. I had one that suffered all 10 points of armor destroyed, but, by the grace of God, he lived!

I had a friend put some Elementals on a Dasher and threw it at a Lance of 'Mechs, with them swarming a Pillager. It didn't last very long :s They can be horrifying to face and are generally very tough to kill. I also like them from a story POV, because again, they're scary! Great Vid :)

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Thank ya! Have a great weekend!

@nemamiah7832

Жыл бұрын

The biggest enemy of Elementals is artillery, actually. It just flops them out of existence, because it applies damage to every single model, instead of randomizing it. So one good hit can wipe out whole Point. Or if they are bunched up - even more!

As a fan of Clan Pretty Pony... I mean, Hell’s Horses, My love of Elementals can not be understated. Dropping a Nova (formation, not the mech) gives plenty of units on the board to keep up with Inner Sphere units, as the Clan player will undoubtedly be facing at least two lances (unless you play by tonnage, which is against Clan honor). I find ambushing and holding objectives are perfect jobs for Elementals.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

It's nice to know there is at least one fan of Clan Hell's Horses out there. :D

@rmcdudmk212

Жыл бұрын

I call them Clan Sparkle Unicorn 🦄

Funnily enough, the frog in a power-suit likes the Toad. :P

@MechanicalFrog

2 ай бұрын

A shocking turn of events.

Not much to say about the Elementals themselves as I’ve yet to play with or against them, but I just have to say all of those nearly 3000 subscriptions are extremely well-earned! Well-produced, informative (both in terms of the tabletop and the lore) content topped off with a dryly humorous narration style I greatly enjoy - you’re well on your way to becoming my #1 BT channel. Keep up the awesome work!

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much. We're on track for fun things in the new year.

@elroyscout

Жыл бұрын

As someone who has played with and against them, elementals will do one of 3 things. One: sit around and do nothing, effectively doing area denial as everyone stays WELL away from those little bastards. 2: get obliterated because the enemy force dropped a significant portion of their firepower on the little bastards for a turn or two. 3: those little bastards manage to occupy the same hex as one of your mechs, where they proceed to pepper it with small ammounts of lasers and missiles, or break the mechs legs like a bunch of mob enforcing midgets, or if you are monumentally unlucky, they'll crawl aboard your mech, and rip out all the important stuff while they make a nest in the carcas of your war machine.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

@@elroyscout Sounds about right.

Definitley looking forward to some Inner Sphere Battle armor, especially if/when they do some more types especially FWL suits.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. It'll be fun to incorporate them into play.

Hate for Clans in general falls into three categories: 1. People who fought Clans in them olden days where BV didn't exist yet and tonnage was the way to balance things, because that's not a very good way to fight Clans and the scars of those dark days stay with you forever, I'd assume. 2. People who just dislike them as an addition to the universe and think they are a terrible faction in general (and fair play, you can have that opinion and reasons to have it). 3. People who hate them "in-universe". As a long-standing "spheroid", I tend to say a lot, how much I hate the Clans, but I believe that overall they were a great addition to the setting. And an amazing way to play some really cool games. For Elementals: I am not a Clanner so I don't really use those, but BA overall can be really effective. Even IS BA. I have a soft spot for the atrocity that is Fenrir BA with ERMLs. A full Lance of those with 16 BA can majorly ruin someone's day just with manoeuvrability and their lack of need to be "bussed" towards the combat (so you don't have to rely on Owens or OmniFS to bring them anywhere). BA can be quite fun.

@rmcdudmk212

Жыл бұрын

I hate them in-universe mostly because they are almost as easy to hate as those damn dirty Capellans 😁

@nemamiah7832

Жыл бұрын

@@rmcdudmk212 And that dirty French Pirate Kingdom. Davions or smth like that. Pirates, I say. All of them.

@KillerOrca

Жыл бұрын

Similar to the Tau in 40k then, to a certain extent?

@nemamiah7832

Жыл бұрын

@@KillerOrca Not a 40k player, so I can't comment on Tau tbh. I've played 40k 3 times in my life. In 8th edition. It was very... Boring. So I decided not to. Probably saved my wallet a lot of money :D

@malusignatius

2 ай бұрын

Yup, everything here about Toads applies to the Standard IS Battle Armour, you just have to acknowledge taht with the IS suits you have to choose between the SRMs and jumping, and your squads are less durable (Mainly due to having only 4 troops per squad, though from memory IS Standard Power Armour also has one less armour pip than the Toad, though I could be wrong there).

Never underestimate the terror a star of fast omnis carrying Elemental points can inspire in your opponents. As a fast strike, flanking force or lethal distraction, mech commanders ignore such a force at their peril. 5 points of elementals ganging up on even an Atlas is going to be a very bad day for the Atlas, and that is without factoring for whatever damage the transport 'mechs unleash.

Gotta love that genetically engineered snu snu.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

The mind is willing, but the body is spongy and bruised.

I played a campaign, and as my contribution I chose a mixed Battle Armor force with supporting vehicles and a single mech. One squad of Kuzinachi Assault Armor, 2 squads of modified Raiden armor, and 2 squads of Infiltrator Mk2 armor. Deployed by 2 Maxim Hover APCs, modified appropriately, and 2 Karnov VTOLs. It forced me to learn how to maximize the Battle Armor effectiveness and compensate for their weaknesses. The single mech was a Phoenix Hawk 6D.

@MechanicalFrog

4 ай бұрын

Sounds like an interesting mixed force. I hope it performed well for you.

@No_1OfConsequence

4 ай бұрын

@MechanicalFrog it performed pretty well. The Kazanuchi proved to be extremely effective in the battlefield control role, as nobody wanted to go anywhere near them, channeling enemies into less advantageous positions. They even proved remarkably resistant to ARROW IV and Thumper artillery fire.

I came up with a pretty effective battle armor-centric force once, but not with Elementals. It was a Word of Blake force intended to be usable in the FedCom Civil War era with a mix of Purifier Adaptive Battle Armor and modified Karnov Battle Armor Transports (replacing two tons of cargo space with a TAG and a targeting computer) and then running these with something like LRM carriers with semi-guided LRMs.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Sounds wild.

@AAhmou

11 ай бұрын

Sounds insane, and an absolute pain to deal with.

@z3r0_35

11 ай бұрын

@@AAhmou Especially on the turn the Purifiers first deploy from the Karnovs, in which they have a +5 modifier against enemy fire.

I used to use 40k epic scale space Marines for elementals for tabletop in the 90's. Five on a stand and a good scale.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Good idea.

Have used them a few times, but I find they work better as a threat than an actual attack. GREAT zone control. Can also be fun to imagine the sheer pants-shitting fear an IS pilot must feel when they score a hit against an Elemental with a large laser, and it just keeps coming. Nasty little things!

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Spicy infantry.

Interesting thing is that defending from swarm attacks gets more dangerous the larger the 'mech is. I once swarmed an Atlas, which took itself out by attempting to brush off my BA: it missed. One guess where that punch landed...

@MechanicalFrog

7 ай бұрын

Tulsa, Oklahoma?

@oneproudbrowncoat

7 ай бұрын

@@MechanicalFrog It was definitely one of the funniest 'mech wrecks I ever saw, when that 100-tonner's fist smashed right into its own face, since it'd taken 2 SRMs to the head already...

@MechanicalFrog

7 ай бұрын

That'll leave a mark

Although this is a year old, my wife's utter HATRED of Elementals is... Elementary, my dear.

@MechanicalFrog

29 күн бұрын

:)

As amazing as Toads are (Both in terms of lore and their efficiency in terms of their role), I cannot imagine ever seeing them in a Mechwarrior game. They'd be an exceptional pain in the ass for players to shoot and considering their size, what they're used for, and how they carry out their job, I suspect a lot of people would find them much more annoying to deal with than a pure-'Mech combat group.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

I would love to see a stand-alone Elemental PvE game.

@TheRealNightmare9

8 ай бұрын

I'm too old school, I guess... When I see 'Mechwarrior Game' I think of the old tabletop pen and paper RPG set in the Battletech Universe. But, that being said, if I played the vidyagame I imagine you'd be 100% right. In the RPG, they were FAR more than annoying. Shot an Elemental in the head with an autopistol and just pissed her off. Had to spend the next few game sessions in the ICU. I was lucky.

@raychua5178

8 ай бұрын

A VR game about a Point of Battlearmor. BR vs BR, infantry and tank swarming and of course mech hunting operations.

@danwehmeier9717

5 ай бұрын

They were in Mechwarrior 3! You fight them when you travel to the underground mech factory in Act 1

Thanks for this video, it further explains why I should have Elementals and use them a lot

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

They're great! Glad it could be helpful.

@spacewolfblackmane19

Жыл бұрын

If you want some really crazy one the new technical readouts got some very good ones

The Clan Invasion boxset mini Rulebook has a better rundown for JUST the Elementals ruleset than the Total Warfare book in my opinion.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

You're probably right. Total Warfare is a mess though.

biggest thing i hope they do is add alot of the I.S. battle armor in plastic, elementals are great and all but i would really want to have the other side with SO MANY awesome options... like the new Tinhat armor from fronc

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

We need more Elementals vs. IS Battle Armor fights.

@dukehector

Жыл бұрын

@@MechanicalFrog yes we do, i really want to see this new tinman power armor from fronc, and longius and all kinds of other IS armor

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

@@dukehector Agreed.

Ty

Everyone forgets Elementals can make an anti-personnel weapon attack eg auto-rifle

@MechanicalFrog

6 ай бұрын

Rapid inter-personal conflict resolution.

I once got an Atlas to punch itself in the face due to Elementals swarming it. It then fell down and got it's cockpit knocked on by the Elementals. They politely asked if if the pilot has heard the good word of Kerensky.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

hah!

@H9092-2

Жыл бұрын

@@MechanicalFrog I decided that this batch of Elementals were Nova Cat who kinda... fried their brains. Now they say stuff like "Guten Tag" and continuously ask if pilots have heard the good word of Kerensky, the Founder not the General, as they knock on cockpit glass.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

@@H9092-2 Oh... oh dear.

@H9092-2

Жыл бұрын

​@@MechanicalFrog GUTEN TAG, FREEBIRTH SCUM! WOULD YOU CARE FOR FASTING AND THE GOOD WORD OF KERENSKY? I'M NOT HEARING A NO~ Also, what do you call Elementals holding onto a Light Mech? Ablative Armor!

The only thing worse than a Taurian, is a Clanner. And the only thing worse than a Clanner is a Cappellan.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

At least you have the order sorted out.

@nemamiah7832

Жыл бұрын

*Angry LBX/10 noises* Though I guess I am more of a Canopus Enjoyer..

@chrisbingley

Жыл бұрын

@@nemamiah7832 Canopus is like Las Vegas. A great place to blow off steam, and burn some C-Bills, but I wouldn't want to live there.

@nemamiah7832

Жыл бұрын

@@chrisbingley You just don't get the beauty of Canopus. When you try and conquer Canopus, you lose, even if you win. That's the lesson that FWL had learnt in Reunification Wars. And I find this absolutely glorious. "You've defeated our army and occupied our palace! Oh no. What are we gonna do."

@chrisbingley

Жыл бұрын

@@nemamiah7832 I think you've missed the beauty of Canopus. Genetically modified cat-girls, and marching powder on tap.

I'm more afraid of elementals when I send out my hordes of meat than I am of most mechs I see on the table

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Justifiably.

I like to plop my Battle Armors in lightly armored fast APCs and unload then behind enemy lines in larger scale engagement, they are great at distracting the enemy while the heavy hitting mechs get in position.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Distraction with good cause.

Honestly some of these new elements that come with ER medium lasers, 4 SRM's, or Stealth armor can do some serious bang for the buck. If you can get them some place.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

They can be super nasty on the tabletop. Can't ignore them and you can't easily wipe them out without a mech equipped for the job.

@Peanuthamperlives

Жыл бұрын

Coronas with their MPL's are fairly nasty area denial units. :)

Recently, in alpha strike. I had a point of Elementals, with their melee auto crit, get a unit destroyed critical on my fresh Summoner. Never been so traumatized in table top game before

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

It really is a transformative experience.

Hello Frog. Oh, how I HATED the Clans when they were introduced into the game. Players that chose to play Clans over anything else, and refused to play anything else, were a bane of my existence for a long time. And that was not even the worst aspect of things. Some Players touted that they were 'great generals' due to their many victories over 3025 Era Mechs and machines. Not once considering that they had an 'unfair' advantage of better pilots, better technologies, and things like Elemental Battle Armor suits. Given the same Tech, playing a different Clan faction, I would almost always end up winning about 60% of the battles I played. More, if the tech was limited to 3025 Era. I would not be until much later that the Inner Sphere could field similar technologies, even though they took up more space and weight in the Mechs and other vehicles. Even later, the Inner Sphere could boast some technologies that the Clans could not, or would not, produce for themselves... like TSM (Triple Strength Myomers). This returned 'parity' to the game, somewhat. IS tech is always bulkier, heavier, and less capable than Clan Tech. But, the Inner Sphere could access some recovered Clan Tech to add to their machines as well, by that point. Again, adding to the 'balance' of the game overall. The inclusion, and later refinement of the Battle Value system, would further level the playing field so that various factions were more 'evenly' matched, for the most part. But the Elementals were a 'bane' to the game for a long time, before BV began to even things out. I cannot name the number of games where the opposing Player fielded 'Toad' suits against my forces. Or the number of times that those Elementals would rip apart my battlemechs in combat. I was even accused of 'cheating', by using Mechs to lure Battle Armor into 'kill pockets', where I would rain down missiles and artillery upon them to reduce the threat enough to turn my attention to the Player's own Mechs and vehicles. Why is it considered 'cheating' to use common sense tactics? I think it is because the clan Players didn't like combat scenarios where they were less than the dominating force upon the battlefield. Once the Inner Sphere fielded their own Battle Armor designs, things again started to 'balance' themselves to the point where the game is today. Clans still hold an 'edge' in technology, and space-saving, or weight saving, or both, technological equipment. But the 'edge' is far thinner than it was during the early days of the Clan Invasion. Battle Armor, the bane of my existence, at one time... is now something I actively try to add to any large unit I field in combat. Be it captured Clan Elemental Suits, or Inner Sphere versions, or both. Like any other technology used in battle, it is up to the Player to balance their forces for the expected Enemy's actions. And how one deals with unexpected Enemy actions, can often spell the difference between Victory, and Defeat.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. While I do consider myself a clan player, I end up playing IS mechs most of the time as 3025 is a little easier for my kids to digest.

@franksmedley7372

Жыл бұрын

@@MechanicalFrog : I play, mostly, my 'homebrew' Mercenary Company (well, regimental sized, really), the Star Lions Corps when playing 3025 tech Era. Post 3060, I play my other 'homebrew' Merc unit: the Ghost Lions Legion. I have found that playing 3025 Era tech is easiest for new Players to get a handle on things. Once they are well and truly familiar with all aspects of the game, THEN it is time to introduce more tech advances, and the Clans as opponents. Make sure your kids learn how to alter Mech designs. I cannot stress how useful it is to be able to rip out 'useless' weapons and replace 'em with armor, heat sinks, or different weaponry. Just don't knock 'em over the head with things like my Effigy Mech design. 100 ton, 1-2-0 speed, 20 MGs, 1 ton ammo, and several medium lasers. THAT was designed as Maskirovka for a City defense game. 'Statues' lining the main street and around the edges of the main plaza. Enemies come in, and never leave. And, usually, the 'battle' is over in ONE game turn, so no radio messages out to warn others of the danger. Something you might hit them with might be the 'Kitten'. Also, a city-fight Mech... KTT-3N, 45 ton, 4-6-4 speed, 3 medium lasers, 10 MGs, 1 ton ammo. Designed to jump over buildings, backstab attacks at 1-2 hex ranges, and if that don't kill the opposing Mech, jump away and maneuver to attack again. Just a few thoughts.

@Peanuthamperlives

Жыл бұрын

I remember someone going ballistic when they learned that going prone insta disloged swarming elementals when they swarmed a mech of mine, I went prone, stood up and walked backwards and erased the squad. Apprantly their normal groups would just let them swarm and then die cause they thought there was no way to dislodge them.

@franksmedley7372

Жыл бұрын

@@Peanuthamperlives : Yup. Stop-drop-and roll, works just fine on Elementals and other Battle Armor.

I like to run a binary of elementals and gnomes in alpha strike.

@MechanicalFrog

9 ай бұрын

Why not trinary? Go big.

I like them cause there's a 50/50 chance of there being a big lady inside

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Solid reasoning.

We love horrible jumpy demon frog mechlice

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

...yes!

ive been recently gettin into battletech and honestly. the level of brain anuerisms you get from understanding the subtle nuances of literally everything is absurd. but compared to 40k, its honestly refreshing and enjoyable. sure you can go with prefab builds that are solid and are good fluff wise but unlike 40k, battletech enables the players to build and customize their own list to their exact specifications which is fantastic. albeit brain hurting at times.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

It's so much easier than 40k even just based on the fact that once you do know a rule, that's the rule. You aren't going to have to relearn everything with a new edition every 2-3 years.

TOOOOOOOOOADS

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Ribbit.

Best luck ive had with any battle armmor was with Corona paired with Novas or Rottweilers with light guass rifles.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Good times had by all.

That opening scenery is a little too cold for toads they’re cold blooded afterall.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Hopefully the battlesuits have toe warmers.

I know you could pilot elementals in mechassault multiplayer but i dont think they were fully fleshed out enough to use seriously.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

I've always wanted to see Elementals show up in Mechwarrior games. It would be hilarious.

@rainyvideos3684

Жыл бұрын

@@MechanicalFrog They do in some levels of MW3

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

@@rainyvideos3684 True true.

Elementals and battle armor in general are pretty badass if you use them properly.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Quite brutal, as you can see in the megamek footage.

Battle armour is both surprisingly tough in-game, and the most realistic use-case for this sort of technology. I seriously doubt that building-sized mechs will ever be a real battlefield weapon, so something like an elemental or protomech is about the most realistic that the concept can get.

@MechanicalFrog

Жыл бұрын

Agreed.

@witherrose1566

7 ай бұрын

Oh yes, just like how people will never fly; those crazy inventors with their flying machines are just plain silly. Or how those silly brits with their metal boxes on wheels will never beat the good old horse cavalry, right? Using current period lenses for things that haven't happened yet is fucking pointless. You don't KNOW where the next generation of technology will go.

@sangomasmith

7 ай бұрын

@@witherrose1566 That argument could be applied to anything. Meaning that, by your logic, Evangelion is a realistic depiction of warfare.

@danwehmeier9717

5 ай бұрын

@@witherrose1566the issue with mechs is more to due with physics and materials science. An Abrams MBT is already about 65 tons and is about 2.5 meters tall, with armor just barely able to protect it from an incoming tank round. But a thunderbolt is also 65 tons and 12 meters tall, which suggests an insane amount of materials science to maintain armor protection and movement in a much larger volume. This could be addressed by the thousand years of materials science so is marginal, to be fair. The bigger issue is one of ground pressure. Tanks don’t sink into the ground from ground pressure because their treads spread the weight over a larger area. With a mech, you could have 100 tons of ground pressure split between two 10 square meter areas. This would have mechs sink into the ground in all but the most reinforced areas. Thank you for joining my speculative fiction vs. applied physics TedTalk 😂

We don't. They're horrifying.

@MechanicalFrog

5 ай бұрын

Aww...

how many elementals can fit in a hex?

@MechanicalFrog

10 ай бұрын

5.