I am aware Gray Noton was not in the Gray Death Legion. That mention was an error from an earlier draft which persisted and despite my notes to chop it - it remained. I accept all blame and redact it and will address it in the next episode. The emails I have received as of this morning indicate such errors are beneath my station. Thanks for the vote of confidence, ha ha.
I felt like an asshat even mentioning it in an earlier comment, but it was like that annoying song stuck in your head for hours working at my sanity. You and the BPL give so much of yourselves in making these videos, I do want to thank you for all you do.
thats such a small error, realy not even worth to bother with more than a short text poping up at that part of the vid (if thats doable) or even just make a pinned comment, given all the work and research and hours that go into one vid, its a small, negligable error at best ^^
I love how this has progressed The Awesome: Just shy of six and a half minutes The Rifleman: An entire hour, plus ten minutes of jokes, and five minutes just to fit in all the credits
@@theblackpantslegion it shows how much love and attention you give to these projects. You guys are a big part of keeping the hobby/universe thriving, by giving out quality content that is in a format that a newbie to Battletech can easily understand. Only twice have I ever made a reminder about a RU-vid channel releasing new content, the first being TTB releasing the Rifleman video and the second was the Marauder video. Please, do not stop putting this much dedication into your projects. Take the breaks you need, take your time , take care of yourselves and don't feel bad when you need to step away from a keyboard and take a breather, but deliver the premium content that RU-vid is lacking. The BPL team has set the bar high, with this and the Marauder video. To my knowledge there may very well NOT be another lore channel (for other sci-fi universes/settings that put forth this much effort. You and your team have encouraged me to try my hand at RU-vid, and I am very grateful that your videos are helping me through a very rough time.....just know that you and your team's efforts are appreciated and loved, and that your community supports you. Thanks for the great content, i look forward to what you drop next
@@theblackpantslegion Honestly.. the Awesome needs some love now. The level of in-depth background and examination you give these mechs should be heaped upon your favourite!
@@stevenraycopley8885 I'm a vet from the supernintendo game to the playstation and pc games, yet I love these just because I'm learning things even I didn't know. These videos are also funny as hell. Way better than the vids done by thegrimdarknarrator; not throwing shade,, but the voice is so much better on the ears.I came here looking for info on the mechs in mechwarrior 5 mercenaries.
Who knows... maybe someones family got taken out by an Aerospace fighter strike....and if so that dude got revenge in the end...pilots think twice before entering the A.O. of a fully armed and operational Rifleman...at least the SMART ones do.....
@@stevenraycopley8885 "Now witness the firepower of this Fully armed and Operational Rifleman, you may fire when ready..." *(DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA)*
See... in almost any other setting where players are ALLOWED to metagame hyper-maneuverable aircraft, it would be the most pivotal unit on the entire field. Just ask anyone in Planetside if Burster-MAXes are seen as "underrated". They ALL have an undying hatred of _anything that flies_
Rifleman III. The answer to the question "Is there a mech that makes the Fafnir look subtle, practical and affordable?" Credit where it's due: Amaris managed to out-Steiner House Steiner.
I was challenged to a batchall, terms specified were Summoner prime against any version of rifleman I wished. He was very surprised when I show up in a Rifleman III. By the end of the fight I had 3 gauss slugs left in the ammo bin and the armless summoner was laying on the field with the honorable whoever the fuck was pilot spread across a 30m cone as a thin red paste.
"When barely competent Mechwarriors would drive anything into anything, circle at point blank range and press buttons until one of them stopped moving." Well, when you put it like that, it's easy to see how they weren't terribly effective in the Mechwarrior games...
@@Schregger Well, there's Harebrained Schemes turn based game that came out a couple years back. With the last update bringing a lot of the Reseen Mechs to game it's well worth the download.
The Rifleman combined the best features of all four weight classes: Armament of an Assault, Speed of a heavy Mech, armor of a medium Mech and Heatsinks of a light Mech.
Yeah, everyone's entitled to go slow now and then, especially with the virus and now winter, I am just grateful than when stuff does get made, it's quality
Advanced.....I wouldn't go THAT far lol. To quote Tex: "....would pilot anything into anything and push buttons until one stopped moving..." That sounds like Modern Warfare 2 with your friends at 3am on Four Loko....not what I would say is advanced....
@@stevenraycopley8885 You misunderstand OP. They are referring to the time when the Rifleman was originally developed, not its later misuse in the Succession Wars.
when I as 5 years old BATTLETECH wasn't even going to be a thing for 5 more years... then again I didn't get into it until 1989 when I started 9th grade and then only two or three of us had even heard of it then
Whenever we went camping we strapped rolled-up camping mats over our arms, extending them, and pretended to be Riflemen. If they are rolled up in the correct level of tightness you can thrust and pull back your arms together with the inner layers while the outer layers stay unmoved. This looks like a recoiling gun barrel. We kept on doing this even in our thirties.
"We make Homeless people fight for our amusement." "We have hamburgers and a .... reasonable amount of organized crime!" "What commercial ...... oh for Christsakes!" "Just pay me you fuck, I gotta go play Shadowrun."
After having hated them for 20 odd years, I am now officially a fan of the Taurian Concordat. They were always portrayed as just a bull headed aggressive enemy, but the "fuck around and find out" culture that says "hippity hoppity, get off my property" with nukes is now my favorite.
Grey Noton: **flips the arms around** Solaris commentators: "BAH GAWD DID YOU KNOW COULD FLIP ITS ARMS AROUND HOLY SHIT!" Audience: "Uh, yeah, he's pulled that stunt like 50 times, why are you astonished by it?"
I manufacture ammunition for a living. Private, public, and government contracts all pass through my plant and ultimately, my Hands. So 1:Tex keeps me entertained on the floor during my 12~14 hour shifts, but also makes me actually think about the work I do. God Bless Tex and TheBlackPantsLegion
@@theblackpantslegion They probably should get their version of the Battletech animated series, I think it'd fit better. Rather than being retconned as innersphere propaganda it should be based on some forgotten member of the outfit's disgruntled memoirs that were never proofread by anyone, let alone someone with the impartiality of a professional biographer or historian. It would be full of hilariously obvious bias, denial of accountability, and implausible slander against all involved.
A lot of Battletech can just be assumed to be very early in the DAoT and just records were lost if you really want to link it (Its actually Canon in 40k that other means of FTL travel existed during the DAoT, just that Warp travel was the most consistent and safe (this was also pre Slannesh Warp so the warp was far more calm) and wasn't discovered until Millenna after BT's setting. I mean 40k did somewhat rip it off, and then just went full rip off with Epic Adeptus Titanicus. (Then again Battletech also ripped off a lot, and both just end up tracing back to Dune or 70s-80s Popculture/Anime so)
@@weldonwin Well except in 40k its highly implied their made up religion isn't as made up as it seems. Either is all according to Big E's plan as its hinted he intended for the AdMech or its the Void Dragon's intentions after Big E sealed him away and only used him to kill Space Carthage That and with machine spirits being actual things
Rifleman, Warhammer, Marauder, Phoenix Hawk and Archer. Those five are the Original Anime Gangstas of Battletech. I want to see Reservoir Dogs remade but with pilots of those five mechs talking about a heist gone wrong! They are so iconic in looks my eyes just explode in joy every time I seem them.
I would listen to Tex lecture on my beloved P'Hawk until the end of time. He's already hit on my Warhammer side piece, so I'm waiting with baited breath for him to show my main squeeze some love.
As I said in the Warhammer comments, I feel that at least part of the appeal of the Unseen is that at the time of BT’s launch, the US mech artists just… weren’t as skilled as their Japanese counterparts. A question of experience, really, but until the 2000s, those designs just looked cooler out of the box.
The production quality on this is fucking phenomenal. I thought that the Mackie was insanely well done, and you've matched, if not exceeded that here. It was worth the wait and then some.
Yeah. Tex doesn't understand good enough. I'm pretty sure he has a compulsion to make these bigger and better every time. (I mean, we are not complaining.)
@@theblackpantslegion 92+k views in Feb 2021. It's happening bud. Just a slow roll. Course this is my fourth view. Had to show it to some friends. We did a binge weekend whilst kinda playing tabletop. But mostly watching.
Tex there isn’t a soul out there better to grace us with Battletech lore and content. You are the goddamn man sir. We freaking love you and you better take some R&R after this. Look after yourself.
@@Dracobyte True. Scary fucking thing. First time I tried to play the tabletop game, one nailed my Atlas in the face repeatedly and murdered it deader than a clanner at Tukayyid. Granted I've only played about three times and don't quite fully get all the rules, but that thing spooks me.
No, it's "If it's stupid, but it works, it's still stupid, you just got lucky" That said, the Rifleman is an excellent mech in its designed role, and I would definitely include one in a fire-support lance, maybe two if it's in support of a company in a theatre with a high level of hostile aerospace activity. It's one of my favourite 'mechs of all time (being just beaten by the Catapult and the Dragon, and coming in just ahead of the Marauder), and this video just reminded me that hell yes the Rifleman 3 needed a full production run...
@@atmosdwagon4656 Everyone loves the Dragon. Very Chesty...impossible to miss on the training range when you're teaching the Plebe Locust Pilots to Suicide Dakka.
@@CharlesUrban Doesn't have to be space sakes. I really liked my days of running a Dragon as 3rd Succession War era merc mech at my local gaming table. Plenty of ham and heatsinks on a budget, and gentler on your drop weight tolerance than an Awesome or Stalker. It's highly moddable and if nothing else, it's good for loading your most expendable merc pilot into for splat-duty when no Catapults, Hunchbacks or Centurions are available.
“Floats like an urbanmech, fights like Florida man called to jury duty” lost it harder then I do a bic lighter loaned to the sketchy smoking coworker who swears they will give it back this time after “losing” the last 10 lighters. I don’t even smoke, I just like burninating the countryside.
Worth noting Tex, Legend-Killer was actually just canonized as a stock RFL-3N in the new BattleTech: Legends book. There's an entry for it that specifically calls out its loadout. May want to check that book out, it's good stuff and worth a read.
While I appreciate CGL's "Maybe something was up with this guy" take on the Legend-Killer, I much prefer that the truth is Gray Noton was just a skilled son of a bitch with a Rifleman.
@@WolfHreda No. In that story he's forced to fight with a bog-standard Rifleman, INSTEAD of his souped up one with Star League or Clan tech, and it might not even be a Rifleman at all but a Franken Mech with Warhammer legs (visually identical to a Rifleman).
I don't understand - were people's loadouts on Solaris not publicly available? Logically it seems like they would be. But there are all these references to gladiators having secret loadouts, even though I think it'd be pretty easy to tell what's coming out of their mech
"Ok so we have this new version of the Rifleman..." "With functioning heat management? All we wanted was for you to add a few more heat sinks." "Nah mate, we slapped PPCs on this time! Can you imagine how much cooler it will look when shooting down aircraft now?" Yes, the clanners really are completely insane. They took one look at this thing and immediately saw the problem, and what did they do then? They FIXED it, despite knowing full well that it would cost more to produce! Heh heh... Silly clanners...
@@mbailey7701 More like "Brother-Father" since the Jenner is basically a runt inbred Rifleman with thalidomide arms and no bling spoiler for the speedzz...
I absolutely love the Amaris lunacy section. I just keep going back to it over and over and over because it is so well written and narrated that it make my heart soar a bit every time I watch it. Just keep clicking 41:58 . Trust me, you'll understand what I mean.
The artwork in this video is absolutely STUNNING. I wish I could capitalize that more and cannot overstate it enough but the depictions of the rifleman on display here are truly breathtaking. Many kudos to the contributing artists. And Tex didnt doo too bad either ;-)
@@TheStraycat74 I feel you friend...these are the few things that make me laugh on RU-vid It will get better.......at least that's what I tell myself....stay strong
I find it difficult to describe just how much I love the adventures of the Steiner Scout Squad. I also 100% expected... issues... With space at&t as I was watching the Argo take flight (while still being awed by one of the coolest cut scenes)
I've loved the Rifleman since I first saw it in MWO, pick it up whenever I can in HBS-Battletech and ended up with like 6 at one point in my run of MW5, but had no idea there was two heavier variants. The IIc has always been a bit of an abomination to me, like one shot down an AWACS plane that remained somewhat intact and thought, "I can haz hat." I really hope the Rifleman 2 and 3 are either in Roguetech or make their way to it, they sound amazing.
I see what you did there....have a like. For those who don't know its a pun on the rifleman's OG artwork and the copyright clusterfuck surrounding it and several other 'Mechs.
Best Periphery state out there. You'll never get them to like you, but in most situations, they won't attack you unless you attack them. More of a porcupine than a bull.
@@WB1813 What a pity. Such is the way of any superpower, no matter how dedicated they may (try to) be to citizens' rights and technological advancements. Why pick on the Taurians when there are perfectly-good Kuritans to oppose, anyway?
1:09:31 It needs to be said that Goat is a real joy to listen to. His folksy guitar music really sets the mood, I can picture his music actually being played in shady merc bars all across the Periphery.
As a Rifleman pilot, I have to thank you for understanding her. Maybe a few more commanders will see this and start employing them correctly. They wouldn't let me fly, so I don't let anyone else have the air, either.
...I was not aware that the Capellan's had so much territory at any point in their history, especially compared to the other great houses. I always assumed that they always had very little space.
This may get lost in the comments, but he is a sure-fire way to improve the Rifleman III with its mega small ammo supply. 1. Remove 1 Gauss Rifle in the Left or Right Arm 2. Install a Standard PPC from where you removed the Gauss Rifle 3. Switch to Double Heat Sinks 4. Install 1 extra heat sink and 2 tons of additional Gauss Rifle ammo to install in the head and CT. 5. Downgrade the Engine from a 180 XL Engine to a 180 Standard Fusion Engine to save on crit space and lower the cost drastically, and prevent your Gauss Rifle's citing your XL engines.. (You can go to a 270 XL engine as well to up the speed: though if you do stop here). 6. The remaining 1.5 tons should be put into armour, preferably in the rear arc or left and right torso's. Though spending 1 ton to increase the ammo supply may be wise. This rebuild is rather simple in that it just takes the existing mech and lowers its insane long range punch by 5 points. In addition it helps massively with heat creep from the Null Signature system, as standing still and going full auto will only build 1 additional heat point a turn which is easily adjusted for. Moreover the removal of the XL engine, for a standard makes the mech more crit redundant, as it will less likely see the Gauss damage the XL engine. Not to mention it lowers the insane cost price of 16 million to around 9.8 million, which is more affordable for better ammo conservation and redundancy. Still the drop in range from the PPC does seriously hurt it's max range damage which is its main attraction. I would have gone for a ER PPC, but with the Null Signature system there is no way in hell you can adjust for that with a ER PPC.
I find it hard to believe you can hide something as large as a mech with a goddamn fusion reactor because of how much heat they put out in general. Does the inner sphere not have heat seeking missiles?
They do, or did and now do. That confusing statement ties into the idea of technology being available, then lost and then rediscovered. However the Null Signature system is the same sort of system that Stealth armour is, and is the same as same sort of system the Normandy in Mass Effect has. It traps heat in the mech, Preventing it from leaving and most likely shunts it out of a small easily concealable location like feet with the Stealth Armour. This masks its heat signature, the easiest thing to pick up with mechs due to a fusion reactor. As such detecting it at long range is difficult, and in a urban setting line of sight becomes difficult.
I love the way you presented the Rifleman III. I'd realized a monster like that could exist, while I was trying to break the BV system, but it's something else to actually see it. To know the stealth gauss quartet is not just a product of bad math on paper, but a thing that existed.
Not gonna lie, the Rifleman 3 variant...completely got me, what a friggin BEAST. Wish they somehow bring it to modern times! Splendid battletech lore video Tex! Keep up the amazing work!
Be careful what you wish for, because the people most likely to achieve that in the present day are the Capellans, who can already create stealth AC/20 tanks...
Ha! It is amazing to be playing HBS Battletech and seeing that end scene. Like literally playing as watching... in the mech bay on one screen, watching ComStar coming to kill me on the other screen.
@@CowCommando “They’re on to you. Start the stomping!” Subterfuge is a form of scouting. I’d argue those Steiner boys are actually getting a little sneaky👍. Have a good evening Tim.
I laughed so hard during the end adverts that my neck popped ... Duncan Fischer loves this explosions. "You EXPLODE!" I can only imagine what Discount Dan's Defense of Tukyyid would look like ...
The clanners thought it was just a supply run. Little did they know, _the supplies were not secure._ "Why is your ammo dripping?" "Hmm, I'll have to check my documentation for that! Stay _exactly_ there, while I go check local salvage rules." This spring, you will fear all but beer. Beer Run 2021: The Beer-ening Continues.
I love the Rifleman specifically because it's so second rate. It's cheap, easy to upkeep, practically ubiquitous, quick for a heavy, and can engage at extreme range. In a franchise where we're used to seeing multiple lances of assault mechs going at it regularly, we forget that such wild engagements are comparatively rare. Most engagements are limited affairs of combined arms over specific targets. And for that, the Rifleman fits a beautiful lore niche. It's like an old transam or firebird; a first time mercenary's first heavy mech. Second hand, busted, not special, but yours. And you make it yours. It's that double UAC5 action that suddenly takes you out of the drudgery of Jenner slapfights and make those first hesitant, faltering steps into the bigtime. A heavy investment for a plucky young merc outfit. Not optimized or efficient. Not an omni mech. But damn it, my Rifleman is special.
Started a Merc campaign with my friends after I found this series. Can't get the guys to watch this stuff, might introduce them to the Steiner scout squad to shake things up...
@@TustlePlays Man, they are so sneaky. Did you see how they infiltrated that House Kurita meeting? I don't think anyone can stop them, even with a million Blackjacks.
Per Era Digest: Age of War Timeline the Archer was the 5th Battlemech put in production. The list up to that point being Mackie, Kyudo, Banshee, Orion, Archer.
Pretty much the 1st mass produced missile carrier who worked to the point that it became stupid good at serving a niche when the mech is multi-purpose able to play all roles with the right weapons
i have to admit that as far as MechWarrior/BattleTech fans go, there really isn't much better than this on RU-vid. The quality and craftsmanship that goes into these longform discussions is impressive.
Great as always, though I must say you missed a golden opportunity to talk about Capellan pain relief, Capellan Aspirin (tm) may not work on your pain, but the state says it does so it will.
Capellan aspirin, it takes away your pain because we say so! *if the product doesn't work please tell your local maskirovka officer that you aren't loyal enough to the state for a refund of your purchase
Might seem like a strange and minor thing to comment about, but I have to thank whoever does the sound mixing on these vids. I love the fact that you don't do like so many others and make sure that sound comes through evenly on all speakers, so I can listen with only one earpod in. This means I can listen while at work and not miss anything said in the vid. So again, thank you for this.
Tex knocks it out of the park once more. Delivering a superb glance into the universe of battletech and highlighting an otherwise unnoticeable Mech. 10/10 would overheat and die in a ammo explosion.
I'll say, that's the prettiest rendition of a Rifleman III I've ever seen. Last depiction of it I saw, it looked like congress between half a dozen industrial air conditioners and a pair of legs.
@@MrSourceMan 365.25 days in a year and 7818 views as of me watching (it's my birthday too, well in 3 hours, but hey birthday!) That means statistically something like 20-30 people should comment "hey it's my birthday" with 3 times that if fuckers like me born 4 hours after this premiers say "what a nice birthday present" do so as well
@@300lbsNick I also love the birthday paradox. My comment was more tongue-in-cheek but text doesn't convey that at all. Don't worry, I realize that they didn't pretend to be rendering just for me or the rest of us born on December 17th. Anyway, happy birthday.
Man, these videos make me miss my old gaming group from high school. So many good weekend nights of Mechwarrior/Battletech... anyways, thank you guys for the excellent work on the hobby and sparking good memories.
...Lost track of the number of variants of this 'Mech that I toyed with over the years. Among the most common: 1= Replacing the AC/5s with LRM-10 racks (1 ton of ammo each), & replacing the AC ammo in the center torso with a Flamer (after all, who doesn't love the smell of cooked enemy infantry in the morning?) & 2= Replace the AC/5s & Large Lasers with a quad battery of Medium Lasers, while swapping out the torso-mounted Medium Lasers with PPCs, with extra Armor & Heat Sinks. This variant worked pretty well in the BattleTech PC game that was released not too long ago (haven't tried it with RogueTech yet though). ...Ah, memories! Keep up the good work Tex.
@@malachai1381 my.. mechfu (mech Waifu) was the.. catapult. She's to me the perfect example of what a real life modern mech would be. A gunpod on legs with a Russian t-34 like mentality of interchangeable weapon systems, easy to build and maintain, cheap in cost and reliability. the damn thing is like a modular snap together model set mech (the ones where you don't even need glue).
The Capellan Officer training joke still gets me hard every bloody time I listen to it. 15:20 for those who want a giggle. Jokes aside, always lovely to see these impressive works of art, both in their immense detail and commitment to showing the lore for this oft-neglected universe, and the comedic value they offer as well. I have to give a lot of credit for the format, being primarily a long-form lecture on a subject of the lore, and then following it up with what basically amounts to a handful of chuckleheads making in-universe gags. Very clearly showing that the setting can be incredibly serious, examining the long-term ramifications to short-sighted decisions such as Kerensky's well-meaning Exodus leading to the Clans, or the Ares Convention leading to trivialized warfare. And then afterwards embracing the utter goofiness of the setting with Discount Dan, Duncan Fisher gags, and the ghost of Stefan Amaris. Love the work all these guys do, and by god do I hope you keep up the work if you lot are enjoying it.