What the life and experiences of a mechtech are like and how they keep battletech running 

Astechs: The only people in the Inner Sphere who can see a Highlander Burial and respond with, "Does that asshole know what kind of inspections we have to do after that?!"

As an IRL mechanic and lifelong pretend Mech Pilot... Hell yeah. Props to the unsung heros of the Inner Sphere.

To paraphrase an event from the BATTLETECH PC game; "NO TECHS NO MECHS"-Blowtorched into the side of a Phoenix Hawk's left leg armor plates by a Work Crew on strike due to a pay difference between pilots and technicians.

😂🎉😂Did you just say “ kickstart a land mine “Lmaoooo!!!

I remember playing an entire game in the ‘90s where we were playing some version of mech-tech or support crew and our job was to hunt down and steal the parts to get our mech going. I think The guy running it preferred Shadowrun, Because things got really crazy when we ran into the WoBbies.

I feel for these guys because I know how it is to fix stuff after the soldiers go through stuff and gear.

The way you laughed after the "i guess he didnt manage his heat" explanation, I knew there was going to be a story about that happening.

Aside from playing just enough of one Battletech video game to get into trouble, all I really know of the setting comes from these videos. I really enjoy them. Thanks.

If this will become a series of some kind, please consider talking about the JumpShip crews and pilots. There's probably not very much info about it, but i feel like jumpship crews have a chance of being the actually safest and most prestigious work out there.

The high pay is Armorer Zach approved

As a self-taught IT guy getting into DevOps, the idea of trying to repair mechs with no formal training is the stuff of nightmares... Most would probably kill themselves via electrocution early on. I don't think you'd be given a second chance when you made a "whoops" and incorrectly connected the reactor's power output cables to the mech's internal components and caused it to self destruct on start-up.

I love how you (and steve when he hasn't escaped) talk about techs, labor, and logistics while talking about just how much of a pain in the ASS that it is/would be to do things. I've actually added in some of this glorious horror to a fanfic I've been writing, granted it has one of your hated things....aliens. But they're aliens with LOGISTICS! lol...I'm tired...more coffee...

And this is why when I had the options came up in the HBS Battletech game, I made sure my Mechtechs got their bonuses. Given that they were basically having to rebuild my Highlander because I kept jumping into the rear arc of enemy assault mechs and coring them with dual AC20's. They put in the work so I can do the silly that earns the C-bills to pay them to keep letting me do the silly.

I like the "life of" series. Well done. :)

As a person that plays a Warhammer while the rest of my crew in mech warrior 5 has rare mechs, Archer, maruder and centurion I have to thank Fahad for somehow fixing all that shit

Reminds me of a d&d campaign where one of our players kept creatively reporting what he made on attack rolls. A basketball size hole in the thorax courtesy of a small blue dragon showed him the error of his ways. 😂

You'd think the mech pilots could help with some repairs while running the mech. If it's got hands, you could have them lift components or hold armor plates in place for the tech to secure.

“Briefing boy… we need to talk…”

I enjoy all of SCIENCE INSANITY videos 🎉🎉🎉😅

If one could be transported to battle tech by truck kun could a mech tech be transported to our world by “kickstarting a land mine”?

Never trust a Mech-Tech that says they can do an Aero-Tech's job and visa versa as the subtle distinctions between the two make a world of difference. BA-Techs however are essentially Mech-Tech's with little to no experience with fusion engines, while Vee-Techs are basically the budget option.

Also love the tech shenanigans you covered should one mistreat those techs

I use to play as a mech tech in a 5 year long RP, and there were days I "wanted to kick start a landmine" so Yeah dead on! But, you did fail to mention one major downside of limb loss if a bundle snaps, or if you are testing a system when the jock just chooses to fully boot up a mech while you are using the diagnostic unit beside the foot or arm! lol.

Keep your friends close and your mech techs closer.

So, you know, at around 10:50, you mentioned that there are YES amounts of 'Mechs with YES variations and that medium laser A is different in design from medium laser B. Sometimes medium laser A is also different from medium laser A, if one is located in an arm versus one in the torso.

Yes please. I love engineer's. When ever i play some ttrpg thats based in science fiction setting this is my go to. Logistics and crazy ass tech weapon. Star wars - build mech, star trec - build mech, traveler - build mechs, ect. Because mech are king

Mech techs must hate Charger pilots. Melee builds must be a nightmare

I think if there was a game focused on the repairing aspect of things, that that might be pretty cool. Sort of like PC building simulator or Car Mechanic simulator

As a former military mechanic, I feel this so hard. Well, except the well paid part.

Is Steve suspiciously unmentioned?

This will show my age but my uncle went from a farm boy never been off the family farm to working on the very first experimental F-16 Falcon, plus one time they had to be brought in by plane change out the engine in I can't even remember what type of aircraft all the while the North Vietnamese were trying to get a artillery piece up a hill and they were just barely off the ground with repair plane and the hole site took a direct hit 🎯.

...now I want that I-beam variant gauss rifle

The reason why that lense was cracked and the barrel was slightly bent was because the pilot was in a big, stompy robot and the enemy was in a big, stompy robot and the enemy was doing everything possible to kill the pilot. So shut the mech tech's mouth, tell him to get back into the mech bay and back to work. Contracts aren't won or lost on the quality of your mech techs, they are won on what you, the pilot brings to the table (so, it does have to do with the tech's but that is indirectly).

"What do you mean, the SRMs were welded into the launch tubes of the jockey that cheated me at cards?" ~Anonymous mechtech, spitefully

Pilot: Can I haz a plasma cannon? Technician: No, STFU, the reactor and the frame wouldn't be able to handle it. Pilot: Ok. :(

I remember a Mick Warrior campaign that I was playing in with some great friends. And I wasn’t just playing a mech pilot I also took some points in skills in being able to repair things somewhere down the road we wound up picking up a clan female warrior. We are all having dinner outside somewhere on some planet. I don’t remember where exactly and I don’t remember what campaign you’re playing, but I do remember that we were sitting around this guy. He’s pretty much an expert on the clans and decided to start a initiate team basically to assume dominance I’m assuming mind you I was my character was 135 pounds wearing glasses reading a book and having dinner and they have this almost 300 pound, clan female come at me I point the flame pistol and basically say get off me psycho. And then go back into the drop ships in my mech . because of that, I never let that clan woman. I never showed her my back again and I got my revenge.

Tell us about The Crab! Not The King Crab, The just Crab!

First impression: basically IT, but in space, and you get paid. After watching the full video: never mind, it's even worse.

I always assumed mech was short for/meant mechanical tech

IRL there is a simple rule: DO NOT act a fool with people handling or preparing your food and drinks, repair your car, or anything like that. That goes triple for people who keep your stompy warcrime-mobile in running order.

9:40 L O G I S T I C S

aNOTHER BANGER

I wonder if there is enough material to actually cover how the lower castes of the clans actually live.

Cheers

You better believe that the Black Dragons do not give a single frack about enemy mech techs because they consider giving up as cowardice and will behead you for such a hideous act.

do you think you could do a overview on the Black knight. (It was a personal favorite in mw5)

I think the worst thing that can happen to a mechtech is getting stranded on a clan-occupied Terra III without transportation or employment actually wait thats not true the worst thing is being stranded and unemployed while a madcat actively hunts you down

Mechtechs are the IT guys. Never screw over the IT guys.

Mechtechs, the real unsung heroes. I do not appreciate the Techs going on strike in the game. as pilots are supposed to be payed more than the techs just through the existence of hazard pay. But I do understand that they want proper wages. And since they are people who know how to fix stuff that was around when their granddad was a toddler, they do deserve a proper wage... Just not as much as a pilot. I also always feel bad for my Techs whenever start getting new and good equipment... I usually go on a freaking spree. The most monstrous workload I had them get in one modded playthrough of MW5 was 195 days, And what a setup it was. A 6b Black Knight, inner sphere endo-composite, heavy-ferro armor (non canon afaik, basically heavy armor with harjel), 2 Clan ER-Larges, 1 C-ER-PPC with a capacitor, 6 C-ER-MLasers(1 in the head, one in each side, 1 in the right and 2 on the left arm), 14 clan double heatsinks, a heat exchanger, and all the electronics I could fit. Took half a year but I didn't use any different 'Mech for the rest of my time with that playthrough.

No wonder it's so expensive to repair and reconfigure my mechs. I will henceforth, no longer, complain about the cost or time needed. Having been a former helo technician, you'd think I'd be sympathetic to their struggle.

2:17 So mech warriors are US crayon eaters confirmed.

i wonder what the difference is between IS and CLan technitions as far as training and actual work I mean i wonder if clan tech training is a little faster due to more advanced tech.

Standard Salutations! Would you like to hear about our lord and savior, James McKenna? Nice video about the people who let the Mech Warriors do the thing with the other thing.

A mechanic who works on A fighting vehicle that utilizes sacrificial ablative armor would SUCK. Once the armor fails you are replacing entire structural components then there would be headache of trying patch or junk partially intact armor and all before the fun of removing the leftover parts and fluids of people you were recently acquainted with who are now spread around and embedded in parts of the cockpit. FUN STUFF!!!!!

Never. Screw with. Those. Who. Help. If Mechwarriors are the hands and feet of a company, the Techs are the skeleton. Without a good structure, nothing works.

Sometimes MechTech's are paid to sabotage the Mech's of a particular MechWarrior because they've insulted the person who wants that person Mech to be sabotage

Never trust a tech with all his fingers. Not enough experience yet.

Comment for Almighty Algo.

Do not anger tech support, for they can make your life... difficult. The type of tech being supported is irrelevant.

THE FLESH IS WEAK

86:Eighty Six Really made me appreciate mech technicians, and the work they do for their pilots. Now, whenever I watch Gundam and see someone do something stupid with their machine, I don't care how hype it may be, I get very mad at the pilot now.

I’d love to see a clan overview of life as a non-combatantant. Despite making up the vast majority of the clan population, I feel like there are barely any sources that give us an understanding of what being a clan labor caste is like other than “yea they’re basically just slaves that we don’t sell”

In a Mechwarrior TTRPG game I was in, we has a sub-plot where our most capable Mech Tech was discovered to be doing "midnight requisitions" to get the parts we wanted for our unit. He would beg, borrow, steal from anyone who had the parts he wanted... including the enemy. Down side being, he was giving them the parts they needed to continue to fight us. We decided that the benefits outweighed the risks, and gave him his bonus pay. As a side note, he once went toe-to-toe with an Elemental, and came out on top. Hell of a dirty fighter, lol!

Hello Sci. I know, I've said it before, but I've been playing B-tech since 1984, when the game was released. Shortly after playing a few battles on the tabletops, the group I was playing with, nearly every weekend, decided to keep track of the battles fought, damage done, salvage, ammo, etc. This, as you can readily imagine became a real headache at times. Especially when you need to keep track of parts, supplies, contracts, personnel, equipment, vehicles, etc. It goes on and on. Well... When this was happening, I had the bright idea of NOT keeping every little thing gotten in salvage rights after a battle. Instead, selling everything that didn't fit my unit's needs. 325 Engine? I don't have anything using that, so I'd either swap it for a 300 and some cash, or pay a bit to trade up for a 350. Ditto for weapons, ammo, etc. This lead to me pairing things down to only a few Engine types and sizes (remember, were were playing with 3025 tech). The 300 VLAR engine was a staple of my unit. Easily divisible by 20, 25, 30, 50, 75, and 100 tons. I had a bit less than half a dozen such engine sizes that I used most often, all subject to the same logic for tonnages of mechs that could use them. But, by far the VLAR 300 was my 'go to' Engine size. Yes, this meant that I didn't field Warhammers, but I could easily repair and refit any Marauder I could lay my hands on. Trading Mech frames between players was a 'thing' as well, so I took the laughter of buying up 100 ton Mech frames and then building up modified Atlas Mechs. One of which, the GRU-5M 'Grusome' mounted a total of 17 LRM-5s! And enough ammo to fire them all for at least a dozen combat turns. The laughter stopped, when a guy fielded three Awesomes against a pair of Grusomes, and the missile 'rain' literally melted the armor off this Mechs before they could cross into short range of my Mechs, which, I helpfully had sitting in light forest, behind a level one hill, also covered in forest. Since I knew the battle was going to happen, I chose my firing position with malice aforethought, and armored the torsos and arms fully, while skimping upon the leg armor. I killed all three of the Awesomes and only took moderate damage to the Grusomes. The salvage from that battle alone was sufficient to keep my company running in the green for months. now, I bring all this up because I am actually getting to the point here in relation to your video. When I built the company, I hired twice the number of Mech-techs and Astechs as anyone else. Yes, this cost me in yearly salaries and bonuses, but I was able to repair, outfit, refit, etc, all my Mechs and vehicles FAR faster than anyone else. By limiting what Engines I thought useful, and weapons types, I didn't have the 'overhead' that others did. And I could 'bodge' designs up that scared the crap out of my fellow players. An example: I mentioned the VLAR 300, but that was not the only thing. I tended to favor Missile weapons like LRMs, SRMs, as well as Medium Lasers, and even the MGs that everyone else thought were pretty useless... that is, until I fielded the Effigy, a 100 ton 'atlas' variant... which mounted ONLY Med Lasers and MGs. A dozen Med Lasers and 40 MGs to be precise. The Effigy was designed as a strictly Defensive City Fight Mech. Being concealed inside a building until one desired to just 'walk' through the walls and attack a target. The Effigy would fire off it's lasers, then 'spam' the MGs, which did wonders 'crit seeking', even before the phrase was coined (If memory serves, the first outing of the Effigy Mech occurred sometime in the middle of 1985). Another, similar Mech was used as well, the KTT-3N 'Kitten' Mech. 40 tons, 4/6/4 movement, 3 Med Lasers, and 10 MGs. The Mech would leap over buildings to get behind an Enemy Mech and scour it's rear armor, then leap away, to maneuver and repeat the back-stabbing attack later. But, back to the Techs. I never stopped hiring them. At one point, over half my available 'non-combat' forces were Techs of various types. But, by that point, I was running an 'enhanced' Battalion of Mechs and vehicles, and owned several drop ships, and had a jump ship that owed me 'big time'. I eventually bought out the shares of the family owned jump ship and made it an asset of the Legion. I kept the crew and paid them well, and had them train up replacements, so that when I later was able to take over other jump ships, I would have crews to operate them. Or, at least, put my own people in charge of the 'former owners / operators'. I also built specialized tanks for my Techs. I think I ended up with 7 designs. One of which was very similar to what was later seen in Mech Commander and Mech Commander II as the 'Repair Vehicle'. I had 'tanks' that were lightly armored carriers for parts and supplies, one for field housing for the Techs, Another for hauling off entire Mechs, and even one with 3 cranes with 'gripper' claws. I also specified that ALL vehicles had to have mountings for 'tube ways'. Flexible tubes that would link the tanks together, allowing free movement between them even in the harshest environments. Its kinda nice to think that I thought of the Repair Vehicle before it was used in a computer game. Or, at least, I give myself that conceit. Techs... not just needed, but BADLY needed to keep one's Company afloat. And yes, before you ask or mention it, the other players often had more Mechs than I did, but they sadly never had the Tech backup that I did. This allowed me to field freshly repaired units against partially repaired Mechs so often that the other players HAD to follow my example. But, due to my Mercs hiring all the 'best' talent for years, the pickings were rather 'slim' and their results never matched my efficiency. Col. Leonidas Granger, Ghost Lions Legion Corps.

Kickstart a landmine is now my favorite phrase.

WOO YEAH THE MECH MECHANICS, THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT BABY! In more seriousness, I'd love to see a game about being a mech tech or salvage team, in a similar fashion to Hardspace Shipbreaker.

I've never seen coffee machines mentioned, therefore they're Lostech.

One of the things I loved about the Fox Patrol stories is that for the first, like, 2 or 3 stories, their entire mercenary "company" is like, 3-5 pilots, and their only mech tech is their lance leader, company leader, and chief tech, Katie Ferrero, who is also just a huge dork where mechs are concerned, and fangirls over Clan tech. It's adorable.

My current Battletech: A Time of War character is actually an amateur mechtech himself. He's skilled enough to perform all the required maintenance on his own mech, replace spent ammunition as well as replace destroyed/damaged armor. He cannot repair damaged structure or swap out weapons/etc. It's actually really useful if ever you're in a situation where you don't have access to your support crew but can get into a machine shop or, if you're lucky, a mech bay. It requires no small amount of investment though. You have to be proficient in four different tech skills. Nuclear, mechanical, electrical and myomer.

I imagine people could still do it if it’s a “my parent(s) were mech techs and I’ve been in the shop as a jr tech since I was 5 and just handing them tools.” Like, more than just main characters and stuff. I look forward to more of the “life of a [BattleTech thing]” series.

The true heros of battletech, especially on Solaris games 😊

Still waiting for the bagpipes, you owe us one, i keep count.

i understand the pain mechtechs go through as a car mechanic

As a irl combat arms dude (19D) in my younger days and having to do basic 10 level repair on bradleys, fuck being a mechanic/mech tech, do not want the level of BS involved in doing the real work of keeping a combat vehicle FMC. I'd be a "we didnt follow the propper turret shutdown procedure and fried the CITV again, can you fix it before tomorrow morning's mission" or 2 away from losing my job...

“Oh man, I only ride ‘em, I don’t know what makes ‘em work!” - Oddball

Legends has it that mechtechs and MechWarriors is not so Stressful as to be a Raging Canadian Who Streams World Of Warships 😉

Speaking of medium lasers being different from manufacturers, hell the same manufacturer might have changed a pin layout for power between the start of a production run because they found that a different way was less problematic and had less down time in repairs or even had less issues overall for betger realibility. Or when you have certain models of the AC/10, some unless heavily maintained will jam up because of a lack of maintence (see the AC/10 on the CN9-A Centurion).

I feel like a book series on a singular mektech's life from childhood all the way up to retirement would be insanely cool. Like imagine they've been passed around like 20 different units in 5 factions over the decades, all the weirdos they'd meet, all the strange mechs they'd work on, it'd be hella cool

In my last campaign, we made sure to share the good stuff with our techs and security infantry. You can buy a lot of loyalty with good coffee.

Trained logistics personnel in the inner sphere are all worth their weight and gold. They are all often captured and convinced to work for a new employer. This includes technicians of all stripes, and any crews that know how to use spacecraft of all types. This is an especially true of jump ship crews. Murdering them or God forbid destroying the ship is actually a war crime.

I love logistics and one of the things I liked about how they wrote mech support is each Mech Tech would lead a team of 5-7 Astechs (Assistant Mech Techs). No magical one-man mechanic keeping a platoon running. It frustrates me when in the novels some authors forget just how large the support team is. And none of the drop ships make sense when you consider how large they are and how many people they really need to accommodate.

As someone who was in Signal Corps in an Infantry unit. This felt so relatable.

"drowning in morons" I love that line 😆. I think i have a new addition to my favourites.

I agree. Only exception I can think of is The Grey Death. Grayson had his pilots cross trained to help the astechs keep things running.

As an engineer, i always loved the idea of mech techs

Ah yes, the beating heart and soul of the Battletech.

It’s funny how the sci-fi engineer is pretty much universal across every IP. Basically a space wizard.

Love these "life of" videos in the BattleTech universe. Great work lads!

My bad Fahad. Anyways, get yo ass back to work. The entire lance got decimated and someone's gotta clean sargent Blecker off the walls and control panels. I ain't payin you 1000000 c bills per mech for nothing -me

I enjoy your takes on different aspects of the life in science community. Please keep them coming, VERY entertaining!

When played The battletech roleplaying game mercenaries. All the pilots had to be techs in their field . Mech warriors had to be med techs /Aerospace pilots had to be aerotechs as well. When you have to fix your own mech changes the entire gaming experience .

Thank you for giving us a glimpse of the life of a mech tech

I need to thank you for all of these insights into the battletech universe, as they've allowed me to take a lot of inspiration for creative writing. I really appreciate what you do and how you do it. Please keep doing do the doing thing!

This may be one of my favorite videos you have ever done, and I love your content.

Im a Red Seal Heavy Duty Tech/ Mechanic ,and this hits really close to home, i get guys bring me all kinds of things to fix from drills that have bin dropped from a cat walk ,to anything that can and will, brake on a 4 mill. excavator...and everything in between.

I was in a campaign where we came across a lost tribe and it turned out that they had a few tecs with star league era understanding and the GM was absolutely flabbergasted when after figuring out how good they were, we just dropped a Mach to bring them along, not even blinking an eye to do it

This makes my inner maintenance technician happy

I don't agree. You'll have MW who are technically able as well. And hey, I strapped enough lasers to my madcat to blow myself up when I pressed fire in mw3 sooo. So no, mechtechs can only suggest but the mwarrior has final say for their configs.

Yes, pilots should not piss off their techs. Once upon a few decades ago, a sierra hotel USAF pilot known as Lt Arse--le did a full bags, full live ammo alert mission. On postflight insection his ejection handles were found to be safetywired ..... safe. No one ever admitted knowing anything about the safetywire. The Lt was said to have recieved consul from the Commander. That I don't know, I do know that he was much easier to work with after.

Would you be interested in doing a Lorix Order/ Capellan Warrior House Orders video? I know how much fun you’d have bashing the capellans once again.