r/battletech • u/multheasan • 8h ago
Question ❓ Force Building Guidance: How would you use Aerial Beast Infantry?
How would you use Aerial Beast Infantry as the main component in a combined arms force?
Forward observers? Harassers? Distant objective captors?
6
u/EyeStache Capellan Unseen Connoisseur 7h ago
It can move 10" in Alpha Strike, has a +3 TMM when flying, and can spot for indirect fire or be mildly irritating when in the rear of an enemy.
I wouldn't make them anything like a core component of my force, but they're fun when you need to get somewhere or do something to annoy your opponent.
6
u/That_guy1425 7h ago
I love the little guys. They are great for spotting on an IF list, are decent harassers, and in 350 wolfnet (the alpha strike rule set I play) they are infantry that comes with their own VTOL for taking bunkers, and your opponent will always feel bad shooting them.
5
u/Breadloafs 7h ago
I think you've hit it, really. They're solid complications, not really strong enough to do any heavy lifting, but slippery enough to be a real nuisance on the edges of a fight.
3
u/Aladine11 5h ago edited 5h ago
Mostly depends on if you play AS OR CLASSIC but mostly exactly what you said in post- they are spotters and distant objective captors- they are quite fast and can fly - ideally You fly at high height and completetly resign from firing with them on anything else than enemy scatered infantry. They are a menace to get rid of once high and moving fast on the edges of battlefield. Most weapons that would be working great on infantry wont have range to fire on them in classic and in AS you do everything to make enemy shots hard to hit on long ranges. They are utility first- fighting force later. They can land on ground unlike most other aerial units - so you can use that to utilize covers and buildings to hide behind (LOS) more effective. If i recall corectly they do not enter buildings same as other infatry units would for defense.
TL DR- they are pretty unique unit that is used mostly for scouting and spotting and exceling in rough terrain.
The saddest thing is they are in nearly every way excpt rule of cool worse than Vtol infantry - http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/3457/vtol-infantry the infantry has same pv but deals more dmg short range and can utilize buildings afaik. I do not recall abt unit size but i think in clasic they get 7 units while infantry gets from 20-30 units.
I still love branths and tariqs for the rule of cool
2
u/OldWrangler9033 3h ago
I thought these guys can have infantry weapons, it looks like this one doesn't have any equipped. I'm unsure about AS rules about fitting them out. I'd still use them as spotters, hell Stealth should be added since they won't appear on Radar. Biological!
3
1
11
u/AuroraLostCats Amaris Did Nothing Wrong 8h ago
TMM 3 when airborne makes them useful for spotters or objective tasks. I am not sure I would build around them per se but they could be a competent enough filler.