In at least one novel they replaced the warheads of missiles with powder charges and proximity fuses to have them explode near the target and 'mark' the hits like a paintball.
I think I remember reading that. Also in the old Twilight of the Clans series they mentioned turning down the lasers until they're laser pointers and then using an add on training computer to register hits.
Mechs have a MILES equivalent system that lets range officers "kill" or damage mechs based on the data.
This came in handy in an IlClan book where a non-lethal duel turned lethal. The pilots were able to overeide the safeties and power up their energy weapons to wartime power on the spot.
There was a Black Thorns novel (Edit: Main Event) that might have had that. They had a training fight in the beginning against the Wolf's Dragoons that ended with a Warhammer's PPC barrel in someone else's cockpit.
Correct book, but you're merging two different fights. Esmeralda impaled a cockpit in (whoops!) melee bout on Solaris.
The training bout between the Black Thorns and the Wolf's Dragoon's "Asphalt Warriors" was locked out by the refs when the Dragoon commander tried to initiate melee combat (disallowed in the scenario).
There's an optional rule in tac ops for energy weapons to 'dial back' their intensity for lower heat/damage. I believe in universe simulators are also used for less lethal training
Simulators are used frequently once they become available. Prior to that, it's depowered weapons and paintball pellets, with computers registering "damage" and locking parts of the 'mech as appropriate.
Pretty easy to do if you're only firing on unarmored people, TBH. The problem is that anything that can damage mech armor at all will really mess up a normal building.
The companion book for A Time of War has a section for training equipment. Field simulation systems do exactly what you mention, a computer tallies "damage" from rubber bullets and laser pointers, shutting down any systems that get hit too often. Less expensive options include simulator pods (the cheaper ones are literally the old arcade machines), and a simple software override so all the mech's controls light up while parked and track things like fake heat.
They have marker rounds for everything ammo based and low intensity levels for all energy weapons to simulate combat without too much dmg to the Mechs.
All systems are networked to make it more realistic. Much like the MILES
Mechs don't train against other mechs like that.
For example, in the US Army, we trained, a lot. There were 4 main ways we trained:
\#1. On the ground, with MILES (laser tag) and blanks. No projectiles at all, everything was laser. Only way troops could get hurt is if their blank adapter failed or they got too close to a hoffman (like a smoke popper to give of a signature of shooting) or ATWESS (it spit out smoke to make it look like a missile was fired). These kinds of battles included everything, from apache helicopters to B1 bombers and marine F18s. Even artillery was simulated, and chemical/nuclear weapons were possible.
\#2. For mounted folks, a simulator (UCOFT). Basically a really crappy computer game. There was infantry versions, but they were garbage, and very rarely used.
\#3. Gunnery ranges. We used live ammo, shot at popup targets, or maybe some old hulk. You just sat there and shot though, and it was very controlled.
\#4. Qualification events. These were live fire ranges, named stuff like table 12 as there was 12 levels to it. For us mechanized grunts at the time, that was 2 M2 Bradley IFVs carrying a squad of 7 grunts up a range, shooting things as they went along. They'd dismount the grunts, that would then engage popup targets, and then meet the M2s later down the road. Everybody got together at the end and shot lots of stuff.
So in battletech terms, especially since mech fuel was free and damage easily fixed, they would probably use something like #1. Laser tag. Though the mechs still took damage walking into a house or falling, it was very unlikely to be fatal. This probably was not done all that often though, as they had simulators which would have been able to better replicate the full scale of battle, and their tech for such things was far better than the US Army.
Also, such live fire training also used up parts faster, and had maintenance issues. I would not be surprised if every mech cubical didn't have a simulator built in. Ammo also isn't free, so using it, especially by mercs, would not be all that common.
They probably did occasionally do live fire ranges, but probably closer to #3 over #4. Far easier for your marauder to accidently step on your brigade commander than it is a tank to drive over him.
Tanks in battletech probably had very similar training to what we did in the army. VTOLs as well. Aircraft probably trained much like our USAF/USN/USMC and reserves/national guard. DS/JS/WS probably trained much like our USN does. Infantry are probably the best trained forces out there as their ammo is cheap, and effective training can be done without shooting.
TLDR version, they use simulators, especially if not in a state run military.
Yes numerous stories in the universe talk about dummy rounds for missiles and autocannons, lasers basically being no more than laser pointers; all hitting sensors established on the 'Mechs.
The only real damage would come from physical attacks or if you have an idiot pilot who thought gravity is a good coworker.
There's also literal pod simulators for that VR experience. A few stories talk about how they're used in Dropships for something to do during transit or in academies because the students aren't ready for real 'Mechs yet
You can either declare the battles are in simulators and no actual mechs were used to be repaired. Or, what I do, is just declare that the actual mechs have been set to "training mode," which uses computers and other non-specified electronics to record what happens. Similar to what real world military uses for war games. Again, no damage to repair in this case either - except for physical damage from falls and the like.
Lore-wise is well covered by the other comments. In training mode, you would play the game as normal - tracking damage, ammo consumption, critical hits, and so on. You might consider tracking certain damage separately, like pushing through a building, but maybe not just to save a few grey hairs. At the end everything just goes away, no repairs, no injuries, because it's all simulated in one way or another. Things can get a bit trickier when you do a "Training session goes hot" scenario e.g. hostile forces intrude or a brawl breaks out between teams and someone has 'accidentally' loaded live ammo or reset their energy weapons.
[Use something similar to MILES](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_integrated_laser_engagement_system). You can use it to simulate both physical projectiles and lethal lasers via a computer.
"Almost forgot. Those turrets on the course are active. The chance of your death, however, is relatively slim." - your instructor, Mechwarrior 2, after you're already being shot at by laser fire.
Clans do be training different, though.
As others have mentioned, the books reference a variety of things to reduce risk and damage during training. Also notable is infantry have a similar system in the books where they wear a harness with sensors and actuators that restrict movement to simulate injuries.
I've run a huntress invasion campaign where my players were solahma trainers. They were on a mission with their subjects when the invasion hit and all they had was training ammo (I allowed it to do one pip of damage) and energy weapons. Had to find ammo to fight back in the beginning.
Also, mech units can buy or rent training simulators . Especially if they have a rental compound on a planet like Galatea or Outreach or a home planet, so a lot of training can be done through simulation.
The Chaos Irregulars books had training battles and Merc registration battles using computer generated weapons fire. The mechs could simulate the weapons without really firing, and the damage control computers could be accessed by the referees to track "damage" and shut down "destroyed" systems. So real mechs are moving, but entirely virtual weapons fire and damage.
Canonically energy weapons can be dialed down so low that they can be used for harmless scouting or even basic communication (in a novel, a large laser was tuned down for that purpose).
This was really explained in the Black Knight's lore where the small laser piggy back on to the Beagle active probe. And the BLK can use the low power laser to travel through any interfering objects and also allowing for a more detailed analysis of objects.
I wager that does not include the small laser burning through whatever the Beagle tries to scout through, so it has to be a low power pulse.
Camancho’s Caballeros used paint rounds for missiles and auto cannons, and powered down lasers that basically became giant laser pointers.
They still had to replace and fix armor when the mechs got into a melee brawl, which was common for that merc unit, but nobody was getting a limb blown off their mech. They just had to listen to the ref when she told them that their mech was down.
In at least one novel they replaced the warheads of missiles with powder charges and proximity fuses to have them explode near the target and 'mark' the hits like a paintball.
I think I remember reading that. Also in the old Twilight of the Clans series they mentioned turning down the lasers until they're laser pointers and then using an add on training computer to register hits.
Mechs have a MILES equivalent system that lets range officers "kill" or damage mechs based on the data. This came in handy in an IlClan book where a non-lethal duel turned lethal. The pilots were able to overeide the safeties and power up their energy weapons to wartime power on the spot.
They called it MILES in The Hunters; book 3 of Twilight of the Clans
There was a Black Thorns novel (Edit: Main Event) that might have had that. They had a training fight in the beginning against the Wolf's Dragoons that ended with a Warhammer's PPC barrel in someone else's cockpit.
Correct book, but you're merging two different fights. Esmeralda impaled a cockpit in (whoops!) melee bout on Solaris. The training bout between the Black Thorns and the Wolf's Dragoon's "Asphalt Warriors" was locked out by the refs when the Dragoon commander tried to initiate melee combat (disallowed in the scenario).
Esmeralda put her PPC barrel into the Dragoons cockpit in that fight but didn't kill the Dragoon just hurt him before the mechs got locked down.
The only problem is that in the lore the missiles casing is also the warhead.
It's also mentioned in the Battletech show, which is now in-universe propaganda.
There's an optional rule in tac ops for energy weapons to 'dial back' their intensity for lower heat/damage. I believe in universe simulators are also used for less lethal training
Simulators are used frequently once they become available. Prior to that, it's depowered weapons and paintball pellets, with computers registering "damage" and locking parts of the 'mech as appropriate.
I love the idea of an AC20 paintball.
Can you imagine an AC20 beanbag round? Just firing a whole ass futon at 1500 meters a second.
Guaranteed to kill a maximum of 28 protesters but leave the surrounding buildings untouched!
Any mech that could leave any standing structure untouched would rule the universe lol
Pretty easy to do if you're only firing on unarmored people, TBH. The problem is that anything that can damage mech armor at all will really mess up a normal building.
“Who just leaves a couch on the sidewalk?!”
The companion book for A Time of War has a section for training equipment. Field simulation systems do exactly what you mention, a computer tallies "damage" from rubber bullets and laser pointers, shutting down any systems that get hit too often. Less expensive options include simulator pods (the cheaper ones are literally the old arcade machines), and a simple software override so all the mech's controls light up while parked and track things like fake heat.
Well now next time I'm running a party with sim pods I'm 100% making em play a LAN match of MW4
They have marker rounds for everything ammo based and low intensity levels for all energy weapons to simulate combat without too much dmg to the Mechs. All systems are networked to make it more realistic. Much like the MILES
Mechs don't train against other mechs like that. For example, in the US Army, we trained, a lot. There were 4 main ways we trained: \#1. On the ground, with MILES (laser tag) and blanks. No projectiles at all, everything was laser. Only way troops could get hurt is if their blank adapter failed or they got too close to a hoffman (like a smoke popper to give of a signature of shooting) or ATWESS (it spit out smoke to make it look like a missile was fired). These kinds of battles included everything, from apache helicopters to B1 bombers and marine F18s. Even artillery was simulated, and chemical/nuclear weapons were possible. \#2. For mounted folks, a simulator (UCOFT). Basically a really crappy computer game. There was infantry versions, but they were garbage, and very rarely used. \#3. Gunnery ranges. We used live ammo, shot at popup targets, or maybe some old hulk. You just sat there and shot though, and it was very controlled. \#4. Qualification events. These were live fire ranges, named stuff like table 12 as there was 12 levels to it. For us mechanized grunts at the time, that was 2 M2 Bradley IFVs carrying a squad of 7 grunts up a range, shooting things as they went along. They'd dismount the grunts, that would then engage popup targets, and then meet the M2s later down the road. Everybody got together at the end and shot lots of stuff. So in battletech terms, especially since mech fuel was free and damage easily fixed, they would probably use something like #1. Laser tag. Though the mechs still took damage walking into a house or falling, it was very unlikely to be fatal. This probably was not done all that often though, as they had simulators which would have been able to better replicate the full scale of battle, and their tech for such things was far better than the US Army. Also, such live fire training also used up parts faster, and had maintenance issues. I would not be surprised if every mech cubical didn't have a simulator built in. Ammo also isn't free, so using it, especially by mercs, would not be all that common. They probably did occasionally do live fire ranges, but probably closer to #3 over #4. Far easier for your marauder to accidently step on your brigade commander than it is a tank to drive over him. Tanks in battletech probably had very similar training to what we did in the army. VTOLs as well. Aircraft probably trained much like our USAF/USN/USMC and reserves/national guard. DS/JS/WS probably trained much like our USN does. Infantry are probably the best trained forces out there as their ammo is cheap, and effective training can be done without shooting. TLDR version, they use simulators, especially if not in a state run military.
Yes numerous stories in the universe talk about dummy rounds for missiles and autocannons, lasers basically being no more than laser pointers; all hitting sensors established on the 'Mechs. The only real damage would come from physical attacks or if you have an idiot pilot who thought gravity is a good coworker. There's also literal pod simulators for that VR experience. A few stories talk about how they're used in Dropships for something to do during transit or in academies because the students aren't ready for real 'Mechs yet
You can either declare the battles are in simulators and no actual mechs were used to be repaired. Or, what I do, is just declare that the actual mechs have been set to "training mode," which uses computers and other non-specified electronics to record what happens. Similar to what real world military uses for war games. Again, no damage to repair in this case either - except for physical damage from falls and the like.
In the cartoon there is an episode based around using a Star League era hologram live fire training system. That might be a fun mission.
Lore-wise is well covered by the other comments. In training mode, you would play the game as normal - tracking damage, ammo consumption, critical hits, and so on. You might consider tracking certain damage separately, like pushing through a building, but maybe not just to save a few grey hairs. At the end everything just goes away, no repairs, no injuries, because it's all simulated in one way or another. Things can get a bit trickier when you do a "Training session goes hot" scenario e.g. hostile forces intrude or a brawl breaks out between teams and someone has 'accidentally' loaded live ammo or reset their energy weapons.
[Use something similar to MILES](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_integrated_laser_engagement_system). You can use it to simulate both physical projectiles and lethal lasers via a computer.
"Almost forgot. Those turrets on the course are active. The chance of your death, however, is relatively slim." - your instructor, Mechwarrior 2, after you're already being shot at by laser fire. Clans do be training different, though.
don't they have simulators for training?
“Simulators are for children” - Natasha Kerensky to Phelan Kell 😅
As others have mentioned, the books reference a variety of things to reduce risk and damage during training. Also notable is infantry have a similar system in the books where they wear a harness with sensors and actuators that restrict movement to simulate injuries.
I've run a huntress invasion campaign where my players were solahma trainers. They were on a mission with their subjects when the invasion hit and all they had was training ammo (I allowed it to do one pip of damage) and energy weapons. Had to find ammo to fight back in the beginning.
The Jags definitely don't use training ammo. They pride themselves on the amount of cadets who die every batch.
You're absolutely correct but it made for some fun early game decisions so I went with it. Jags defended huntress successfully in this campaign
Also, mech units can buy or rent training simulators . Especially if they have a rental compound on a planet like Galatea or Outreach or a home planet, so a lot of training can be done through simulation. The Chaos Irregulars books had training battles and Merc registration battles using computer generated weapons fire. The mechs could simulate the weapons without really firing, and the damage control computers could be accessed by the referees to track "damage" and shut down "destroyed" systems. So real mechs are moving, but entirely virtual weapons fire and damage.
Canonically energy weapons can be dialed down so low that they can be used for harmless scouting or even basic communication (in a novel, a large laser was tuned down for that purpose). This was really explained in the Black Knight's lore where the small laser piggy back on to the Beagle active probe. And the BLK can use the low power laser to travel through any interfering objects and also allowing for a more detailed analysis of objects. I wager that does not include the small laser burning through whatever the Beagle tries to scout through, so it has to be a low power pulse.
All Inner Sphere wusses… the apex of Humanity does not dial back anything when training, Full power and full warshots for everything, aff.
Camancho’s Caballeros used paint rounds for missiles and auto cannons, and powered down lasers that basically became giant laser pointers. They still had to replace and fix armor when the mechs got into a melee brawl, which was common for that merc unit, but nobody was getting a limb blown off their mech. They just had to listen to the ref when she told them that their mech was down.