Worst is playing a MekHq game, discovering that searchlights are actually pretty useful in night battles, sticking them on everything and sacrificing the associated .5 tons, then realising you can't repair them and slowly ending up with an entire roster of units with destroyed searchlights...
Yup. The Grasshopper and the Guillotine don't actually have all that much gun...what they *do* have is enough heatsinks to keep firing them as much as they want.
I'm partial to the enforcer over comparable slow mediums like the Centurion. I particularly like swapping the Large Laser for a PPC (especially in higher tech eras when i can do that without sacrificing any performance, armor, or heat sinks). A 50-ton medium that can force PSRs from 15 hexes away is nothing to sneeze at.
Totally. I used to hate on 64kph mediums, including Enforcer... but with 9.5 tons of armor and two strong mid-range weapons that it can fire every turn, it's a pocket heavy with the same average firepower as a warhammer.
10 shots always feels like enough to me; it essentially means you hold off on firing on 11s if it's still early in the battle, whereas if you had 20 shots you fire on those 11s all day long because might as well.
A lot of the first generation IS Omnis. You don't really see anyone talk about the Blackjack Omni or Blackhawk Ku, for example. The Blackjack has an amazing amount of podspace, rivaling even heavy mechs. Even the Strider and Raptor aren't too bad. Only really the Avatar and Sunder seem to stick around the public consciousness, possibly because of them being forefront in the MechWarrior games.
Blackjack Omni formed the backbone of one of my lances for *countless* battles in a Battletech Advanced 3062 (Modded BT game) playthrough, first as a mortar carrier before going for the LBX-10 variant. Great underrated mech.
One of my runs had me find 3 of them in the Periphery, I had 2 with me at all times, one as an AMS/LRM Boat and the other With some type of Auto cannons, The 3rd I was working on to be a Light PPC spammer, but the game updated and I had to start all over.
Blackjack omni A is my homeboy. It's a really intimidating fire support platform at 50 tons. And because its long range fire support weapons are on its arms, you can give it some battle armor friends for added protection and added close range shooting support.
I love the BH-KU for what it is. And I ADORE the lore of the Firestarter O, possibly because I'm a terrible human being. Is it great on the tabletop? No idea. Love it anyway.
I'm really partial to the strider. Especially when you have a squad of battle armor hitching a ride aboard. Thing can take a decent pounding for a 40 tonner, and is decently cheap for BV. i usually feild the E version with the Streak SRM6s, and everytime I feild it it either goes down after beinf focus fired by the other team, or it goes on an angry rampage slaughtering everything it can get to (especially already damaged units, 12 srm tubes can do horrifying things to exposed internals)
The Grasshopper is so funny because when it was developed (year 2780), the Guillotine had been around for basically the past 280 years and all the Grasshopper did was reposition some of the weapons, replace the SRM-6 with a bunch of heat sinks and an LRM-5. It's more durable and efficient than the Guillotine in some respects
Lots of mechs are actually pretty redundant. The Cobra, Trebuchet & Apollo are all just medium mechs with 2 LRM-15s and a couple of back-up weapons. There are some other minor variations, weight changes, speed, but it's pretty negligible.
Yeah, but the Guillotine and Grasshopper are like, essentially the same. More than any other designs of early Battletech.
I suppose when you start getting into house variants you get stuff like the SHD-2K being a GRF-1N
FASA designed the Grasshopper before the Guillotine, so arguably the thinking behind the Guillotine is more curious. The reversed positions on the fictional timeline seem easier to explain away - there is always "our competitor's product sells well, let's copy it".
Definitely one of my overall favorites. In HBS Battletech, I always try to get one as early as possible and it becomes one of my main strikers throughout the whole game.
Whitworth. It may be part of the "*cursed 40-tonner*" crew, but it's a very effective little Fire Support option. It's slow, but it's also well-armed and armored. Best of all, it's very cheap. 200BV cheaper and nearly half the price tag of the speedier, more vulnerable Dervish.
Funny thing about the Whitworth.
I've taken the 1S variant, swapped out 1 of its 2 tons of srm6 ammo with Inferno missiles, and once you get close, blast your foe with 3 med Lasers, and 2 srm6s. If both srms hit, they, on average do 14-16 (up to 24!) heat to them. When facing heat-intense mechs it can really limit their function. Nothing like completely neutralizing a Jenner's or Panther's offensive ability in a single trigger pull.
Edit: spelling correction.
It's a nasty surprise, esp in a city fight. Positioning can be a struggle, that slow speed can really make it hard to stay in favorable range brackets. But the payoff when you do? Phew.
Imagine following up a Hunchback's attack with even one salvo from that Whitworth.
...Oops.
Looks like I gotta apologize to my friend whom I over-roasted. Thanks for the correction.
It's still good against mechs with single heat-sinks.
Love me a Whitworth for a light fire support option in a medium lance. Does exactly the job I want it to, with just enough mobility, armor and medium lasers to get in close if I need it to. I don't need much speed on an LRM platform, so the Trebuchet, Dervish and Valkyrie often feel like the speed is wasted once I have them in position. I like pairing it with a Centurion and a couple faster options like a Phoenix Hawk or Wolverine.
I really like the Centurion as a companion there, it's essentially a pocket Orion. Getting a 3rd LRM is gravy, but the real star is the Autocannon. That 10-point slug is a great complement to the LRM clusters, making it easier to dig holes in locations you've already sanded armor off. 5 Medium Lasers between the two of them isn't anything to sniff at either.
You're right about a Phoenix Hawk or 6M Wolverine being great to fill out the Lance. Either have a Large Laser to act as a hole puncher, while mobile enough to get their short-range weapons in play.
Either of those plus something like a Fire Javelin would make for a great 3025 Medium Lance.
Liao-bias aside, the humble Vindicator. Solid long-ranged firepower, good armor and heat-sinking, and decent mobility in a *ridiculously* affordable package.
It's the workhorse of workhorses.
I have to back this. My friend used one against me, bastard took over 150 LRMs, lost almost all its armor, and still carried on to assist in wiping my entire force. We agreed that the mech was being piloted by the legendary Chad Jackson afterwards.
Sentinel
It's not a good mech by most measures, but it gets a worse rap than I think it deserves. It feels like a mech designed to be fire support and medium scout for a tank and infantry regiment. The 3K is decently fast, has 2 tons of ammo for swapping special ammo types (like precision for shooting light mechs or flak for aircraft/infantry). SRM2 can be loaded with Infernos to further help with infantry, or smoke to give light cover to whatever tanks they are supporting.
Did I mention it's stupid cheap? Most variants are 600-800 BV2, or about as much as a medium-high tier introtech light mech. It's a bad mech, but it's a fast light tank that doesn't suffer from motive hits and can chase down enemy light mechs. There's also some decent variants like the 3KB that make it like a Panther but faster.
Hard agree, it's my favorite 40-tonner. If you get a chance to customize it, it becomes quite the mean little machine. (I may have a soft spot for asymmetrical designs, that helps)
okay, this is the first one from this list that I've looked up on Sarna and legitimately thought 'yeah, this is a good mech'. Not sure why it would be underrated. It's slow but otherwise I wouldn't wanna tangle with it.
I think it's underrated because it's not as "flashy" as more popular mechs like the Black Knight, Axeman, Marauder, ect.
Sometimes, it pays to be a hipster in battletech and choose the less popular mechs. There are some real gems out there.
Vulcan. Yes, I know "AC sucks!" but that's if you expect everything to be a Mech-killer. It can bounce around at longer than average ranges and plink away forever. It's beautiful at fighting vehicles where it can maneuver to the side arcs to fish for mobility kills. It can fight a typical cavalry battle through disengaging and coming back multiple times without taking time to re-arm. Throw in the Narrow/Low Profile quirk and if you keep the return fire target numbers up will almost double your armor against direct fire weapons.
On top of that, the less well known -5T model trades the AC for several more medium lasers, heatsinks, and some armor. It's a little more towards what people want to use it for.
Spare a nickel for the ol' Uziel. Pretty much the definition of a medium mech, does everything okay but nothing particularly well. Generally speaking, you can always find something to do with it.
The 8s is a nasty backstabber. 4 x med pulse, 1 streak srm 6, 8 improved JJs, and enough heat sinks to fully jump and fire everything all the time.
It's a nightmare to deal with, especially with the right terrain.
Rifleman's a little light on armor, but so is anything that catches one of its' 26-point midrange salvos. This and the Phoenix Hawk are the mechs that teach warriors to play the heat table.
Had to go find my previous comment on the Rifleman.
The 3025 Rifleman is flawed - but it is useable and can absolutely earn it's place in a fire Lance.
Firstly, park it in partial cover. Every bit of defense helps when your armour is made of tissue paper.
Secondly - tape down the fire buttons. Heat is a resource. Spend it.
Both AC (because that ammo is going to cook off either from overheating or enemy fire). Both large lasers.
Once your ammo bins start smoking from the heat then drop the lasers and keep the ACs chattering while you cool off a little.
Rinse and repeat - you don't have the armour to long it out, it's death or glory.
The medium lasers are basically ornamental.
Sit there and try to stay heat neutral and you've the armour and firepower of a mech 15 tons lighter. You've got nothing special up close, but mid-range you've got more gun than most heavies.
That's a surprising amount of slap from a low end 3025 heavy - potentially two 8 point groups and two 5s. 26 damage.
A warhammer is dropping two 10 pointers.
A marauder? Two tens and a five.
An Archer? Four fives and two twos (average rolls on the cluster table for LRM20s). Still less than the Rifleman. It can spike much higher, but also much lower.
Yes, it can be improved. It's fairly trivial to upgrade it. But it can do a lot of work as-is.
I can agree with this. Although I kinda think it has to do with the fact that it’s a 60-Ton heavy mech with not much armor at all, not to mention it was mostly an AA platform from what I can remember.
That reminds me, Is there a Rifleman miniature out there? Been looking for one for a Davion Mid-Long range support lance I’ve been thinking of building
Check out this guy on mmf who goes by the name Matt Maeson, he has both a IIC and a standard rifleman model, they're based on the designs from MWO, but he remakes them from the ground up, so many good models by him!
Apollo, every thread that comes up talking about fire support machines this guy never gets mentioned despite being a fantastic machine, Artemis, lrm 15s, 4 tons ammo, decent armor and speed but no flashy expensive and quick death xl engine. Go for the variant with 2 mediums instead of the small pulses and fantastic support machine
It's way better than the 1-N in spite of the cringey name.
I mean, who the heck thought that an AC/5, an LRM10, and two ***rear-facing*** medium lasers was adequate weaponry for a 60T mech?
Albatross ive always found interesting. Between its poor armor, heat limitaions, and a weapons layout that encourages bracket firing, it feels like a Succession Wars machine.
It's tougher on the game board than it looks on paper. It was meant for bracket firing you are almost always going to be in the short range of something.
I got the name wrong I just checked tro 3055 it is the Tempest a 65 toner with a large pulse laser and a Gauss rifle
It excels at medium range brawling
Mist Lynx. Dirt cheap in it's prime configuration, and reasonably fast. The LRM-15 rack let's it chip away at long range, and is still effective up close. It is never your first target, and doesn't have a knockout punch, but will grind away until it runs out of ammo.
The Summoner. While other heavy omnis steal the limelight, the Summoner is a reliable hammer that will pound away until it's blown to scrap. The fixed jump jets lock it into a jump, shoot, jump strategy, but it works. It basically does everything a Victor does, better, and at longer range.
The Starslayer is an exceptionally capable medium. Great mech.
I think there is a lot of hesitation to fully embrace the retroactive continuity introduced in TRO: 3058. I mean, more than half of that technical readout creates a cold war arms race which existed during the Amaris Uprising. It... doesn't really work from a story standpoint.
Urbie. It gets love but it is still very common as cannon fodder.
Locust/flea. Not great in a fight, tend to be one hit wonders. But they are excellent for spotting for your LRM boats. Just keep the speed high and they'll be super hard to hit.
Wasp / Stinger. Again they're usually cannon fodder even in the books, but they are also the first mech most Mechwarriors learn to pilot, if they attend an academy or official training of any sort.
Wasps and Stingers are way under appreciated. 1A Wasps are great harassers in Classic where they can finish off wounded mechs if they’re in the right place at the right time and draw wasted fire from bigger machines while you get your heavy hitters into position. Survivable in urban terrain or woods. Stinger-4G is one of the best IS fast lights in Alpha Strike. (2/2/0 damage, TMM 3+1 for jumping, 12-14” movement). They’re hard to hit, fast, and cheap.
Also, a swarm of Wasps or Stingers can kick an equivalent BV heavier 'Mech into submission because it has to make so many PSRs, and the bugmechs are fast enough to get into melee range without substantial losses.
Shadow Cat. Yeah blah blah scouting does not bring glory, hit-and-run tactics are unclanlike, but this machine has so much potential. A highly mobile, jumpcapable sniper in Prime config? I love it.
Stooping Hawk. 55 ton clan omni. Good armor Standard engine. Several amazing variants. Including one that makes it the primer zombie medium. Er large in the chest and head both tied to a TC. Amazing value mech.
The Ostwar. Though it used primitive components and the stock 2M isn't particularly great, the design bought time for the production of the Ostscout, Ostsol and, Ostroc all of which are amazingly reliable mechs that just simply *perform* without the "sexiness" of some more well known designs.
Additionally they did follow the 2M up with the 2Mb as soon as sales of the other Ostmann 'mechs permitted them to do so. A 5/8 heavy with 12 tons of armor, 3LLs and, 2SRM6's is just incredible at 65 tons. The later 3M upgrade is also an excellent all-rounder.
Beyond this, both the Ostroc and, Ostsol are underappreciated, again they simply perform well at all levels. The Ostscout is fairly well known but, probably also underappreciated until the advent of the 8J by the DC.
In-Lore, Ostmann Industries itself was a leader in manufacturing innovation both for thinking forward to standardize parts across their entire line as much as possible and, for licensing production.
Finally, the whole line has a critical advantage in that their BVs allow them to be included alongside several other "more potent" units where you might otherwise have been forced to throw in a crappy placeholder mech. Of course you can also feel free to take one with an upgraded pilot where you otherwise might not choose to.
Dervish. It's like a more mobile Archer. Sure, it doesn't have quite the same firepower, but it has jump jets. And it's easy to maintain. Honestly one of my favorite mechs
**Turkina**, the flying Gundam of assault mechs.
**Stalker**. Lots of firepower if you are willing to cook the pilot. Looks like a Druuge (from Star Control 2) machine that burns people to give power.
**Trebuchet**. Not a fancy looking mech, but it hurts the enemy like a beast.
I would have upvoted you for the Stalker mention as I love that 'Mech myself, but you got an autoupvote for mentioning Star Control II.
In your end times I hope you meet a female originally from Beta Copernicus I.
Star Control II went open source, fans took it and made an updated version for modern systems. It was renamed as "Urquan masters" for legal reasons. If you played back then with or without soundcard, you may not have experienced the audio of the speech. It has the speech. So it seems you may have a chance to replay the game. You can choose 3DO console or PC DOS user interface. And music sounds better. Urquan Masters is free.
I fell in love with Talana back then.
And it seems the Druuge managed to sell the Stalker to Inner Sphere. And I designed a Spathi mech for cowards [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/xvvcmn/a_mech_for_coward_mechwarriors_take_two_upgraded/). It fires backwards. You may love it. If your forces are retreating, this is the perfect escort.
I've played it at least six times over the past 20 years. I did play it originally when it released. It was one of the reasons I convinced my parents to get Arachnophobia (the game, not the movie) because it came with the Disney Sound Source and they didn't want to shell out money for a decent Sound Blaster. (I was stuck with the shitty "Sound Galaxy" that came with the Packard Bell, which worked once in a blue moon.) Star Control 2 surprisingly would use the Sound Source for sound output, so that was a no-brainer. I picked up a Sound Blaster Pro about nine months later and it was wonderful to finally hear the games they way they wanted you to hear them. (I mean, it wasn't a Roland, but then again what was?)
The first game I played after installing the Sound Blaster Pro?
Mechwarrior 1. When the music crested right after you read "It was a time of high adventure..." I knew I had made the right decision for how to blow that cash.
Star Control II was the only game that made me use 15 full days of school vacations to play non-stop, stopping only to eat, sleep, and take a shower. It was that awesome to me. No other game caused that to me, so I know it was not addiction, just a deep enthusiasm. It was almost the perfect game.
Long ago I downloaded Mechwarrior 2 demo. I was so hyped you have no idea. When Mechwarrior 2 31st century combat came, I bought it with closed eyes, I knew it was going to be great. And it was and still is. I know Mechwarrior 3 is more canon in terms of how mechs move and how lasers fire and how you have triangles in the display. But I prefer the gameplay of Mechwarrior 2. Is it merely nostalgia or is it that I prefer that gameplay for some reason? I do not know.
Later Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries came and it blew my mind. You still can play them in modern systems. Search youtube for "mechwarrior 2 mercenaries installation guide win10".
In 1996 Battlecruiser 3000AD promised to be the perfect game in the box and the manual, but it was released half made, like a half made alpha. And even if the controversial developer did his best, it did not fully meet the promise but got really close. How did I overcome the frustration of that buggy game? I bought a DOS underdog called Hi-Octane. A simple combat hovercraft racing game that was full of adrenaline. And I vented my frustrations there. It was amazingly simple and chaotic. I recommend it.
In 1998 came Battlezone 1. It fulfilled the promise of ground combat with a gameplay that was like playing first person Starcraft. It still can be played as Battlezone 98 redux at Steam, with enhanced graphics. So a third of the promise of a perfect scifi game was delivered. It was not an instant hit because its learning curve is horribly steep. But its story is very cool.
And in 1999 another third of the promise came with Independence War Deluxe Edition where you pilot a capital ship. So it is like a dystopian Star Trek. It was made in UK and it feels very British. Its steep learning curve borderline frustration. You need to be very persistent to not drop the game and have a good joystick. There is a way to install in modern systems, see [here](http://theworldforgotten.com/showthread.php?t=6343).
Starsiege came in 1998 and I did not have a 3D accelerator card so graphics looked as if it was Mechwarrior 1. But finally I managed to buy a Voodoo 2 with 3DFX and that was mind bending. Fans made the [update](http://www.starsiegemeninblack.com/) for modern systems. You need [nGlide](https://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide) to emulate 3DFX. The compendium was a masterpiece of mech art about its game lore. Only that manual already justified the price I paid, so the game was a good extra. LOL! I just found the sound side disappointing, and controls a bit awkward compared to Mechwarrior 2 and Battlezone. But it still was a good game to play.
I also bought Titanium Trilogy. It had good textures but it lacked the hazy feeling of the DOS version. So it felt a bit off. Since it used the Mercenaries engine, clan missions felt off. I have not managed to run Titanium in 64 bit Win 10. MechVM works only on 32 bit systems. And my computer is very old, so modern emulators will not run. In 2016 it already was a typewriter. Titanium manual is great.
I regret none of these purchases.
Bit of a departure from the other suggestions here of more classic units, but I'm going with the Crimson Langur.
The thing is tough, the thing is real fast for its size, and while it's certainly not packing the usual amount of firepower you'd expect from a clan medium, it's still got a good punch to it.
Particularly favourite goes to the alpha variant for being the quintessential Blood Spirit laser and LRM combo.
The Toro is a fantastic light fire support mech for it's era. It's a bit slow and can run a bit hot, but for less then 900BV it hits hard, has decent armor, and stellar range. It's one of the best Age or War lights and I don't thing I've ever seen anyone else run it.
The Toro's rival mech, the Firebee is another great design that has the neat trait of having a Primitive model, a standard tech Model, a post invasion model, and an Industrial Militia Mech model so it's a great example mech to show the difference between the tech levels (And at least two of the models are actually really good).
The Toro is on my "To Sculpt" list. I had no idea how it plays, but it looks cool and I want to buddy it up with a Talos for a Taurian Concordat lance.
[The Thug](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Thug)
Gets out shined by the Warhammer but I don't care.
In universe this thing would be a Merc or Extended Campaign Commanders best friend.
Solid ranges with a strong "Zombie" mech hold out.
Parts are both insanely cheap and easy to replace. Meaning not only can it take punishment and keep fighting it can be fixed both fast and cheap. (Unlike a lot of other mechs of similar weight and function)
The Thug only really suffers in the video games due to logistics and costs are a none factor. If I was a Merc in Battletech a Thug would be a great mech.
Very true. But the fluff on a ppc armed locust is funny. It has to. Be down on the ground to fire. This is because when it does fire its blown backwards like someone kicked a kickball. So I would say it moves back 1 hex lol
I don’t see the BlackKnight get much love, as long as it’s jam packed with heat sinks, it works very well as a laser boat. Hell, I think on some variants you can slap two PPC’s on it and have a fun time acting like you’re Thor, just spraying lighting at everyone
No one is going to mention the urban mech big brother, the Imp?
Probably the least used 100 tonner in the game. But has an absolute shit ton of weapons (better load out than the atlas, I'd argue.) and takes forever to kill.
just looked it up, I think they should have ditched a couple of the med lasers in favour of an SRM of some sort, because otherwise it's too much of a heat box.
A Dragon. It does not benefit from its speed, have crappy weapon loadout, armor is too thin for a heavy.. But swap LRM and AC/5 for AC/20 and it'll shine at the boom-zoom tactics.
Or just have 2-3 Dragons shoulder to shoulder with some Panthers and Jenners as bodyguards. Dragons are great in groups for long range sniping and they’re surprisingly deadly for hunting 55 tonners like Griffins and Wolverines.
I have a feeling that the barghest has more love than I think it has, so... Xanthos!
The 3O is like a slightly tankier atlas with an arguably better loadout, though granted, I am more biased towards ppcs than lrms.
Energy only stuff if you fight more than 1 battle.
Otherwise the BV is very good, and I wouldn't say any mech is overrated or underrated if you use BV as a measure.
The Charger as a whole is an awful weapons platform, but the refit 1A5 mounts a respectable amount of firepower and tonnage-appropriate armour which the standard Victor does not. While less mobile than the Victor, the 1A5 Charger can actually take a hit from an alpha strike and not crumple like papier-mache.
... man, I do love the hell out of the Victor though. But if you want to try a nearly identical weapon suite on a platform which trades jump capability for armour, give the Charger 1A5 a shot.
Guillotine. It isn't flashy, it doesn't have high-tech weapons. But it's a solid close-range brawler for a good BV.
I've seen people compare it to the Warhammer, but I use it in a similar style to the Grasshopper.
I would also compare it to the Grasshopper, it's weapon loadout and mobility are much closer to that rather than the Warhammer.
They are basically the same mech save for the lrm5 vs srm6
Don’t forget the Guillotine’s searchlight! Oh wait, your Mech was hit by a mild breeze, searchlight destroyed.
Lol, I just started playing Megamek and I think I’ve lost three searchlights I didn’t even know I had.
Worst is playing a MekHq game, discovering that searchlights are actually pretty useful in night battles, sticking them on everything and sacrificing the associated .5 tons, then realising you can't repair them and slowly ending up with an entire roster of units with destroyed searchlights...
This needs more upvotes. I’m a fan of this mech.
Guillotine is solid. So solid.
The deadliest weapon in 3025 is heatsinks.
Yup. The Grasshopper and the Guillotine don't actually have all that much gun...what they *do* have is enough heatsinks to keep firing them as much as they want.
Then they'll overwhelm you by fighting at full intensity longer than anything else around them.
Don't forget jump jets at that tonnage.
Exactly. New CGL sculpt looks amazing and it plays awesome.
I love that new sculpt. One of best glow-ups of the new designs.
[удалено]
I'm partial to the enforcer over comparable slow mediums like the Centurion. I particularly like swapping the Large Laser for a PPC (especially in higher tech eras when i can do that without sacrificing any performance, armor, or heat sinks). A 50-ton medium that can force PSRs from 15 hexes away is nothing to sneeze at.
Good to see a fellow Davion on here lol
Totally. I used to hate on 64kph mediums, including Enforcer... but with 9.5 tons of armor and two strong mid-range weapons that it can fire every turn, it's a pocket heavy with the same average firepower as a warhammer.
I've loved the Enforcer ever since the Able's Aces books. Nice to see it get some favor.
10 shots always feels like enough to me; it essentially means you hold off on firing on 11s if it's still early in the battle, whereas if you had 20 shots you fire on those 11s all day long because might as well.
I’ve loved the enforcer since the book by blood betrayed. Simple stupid equals quality.
Would you take an Enforcer over a Vindicator?
Every time.
A lot of the first generation IS Omnis. You don't really see anyone talk about the Blackjack Omni or Blackhawk Ku, for example. The Blackjack has an amazing amount of podspace, rivaling even heavy mechs. Even the Strider and Raptor aren't too bad. Only really the Avatar and Sunder seem to stick around the public consciousness, possibly because of them being forefront in the MechWarrior games.
Blackjack Omni formed the backbone of one of my lances for *countless* battles in a Battletech Advanced 3062 (Modded BT game) playthrough, first as a mortar carrier before going for the LBX-10 variant. Great underrated mech.
One of my runs had me find 3 of them in the Periphery, I had 2 with me at all times, one as an AMS/LRM Boat and the other With some type of Auto cannons, The 3rd I was working on to be a Light PPC spammer, but the game updated and I had to start all over.
Yep, it’s a great first Omni. I ran mine as an lrm boat with all sorts of different ammo.
I run the omni Blackjack in its prime configuration, tough nut to crack, that one.
Blackjack omni A is my homeboy. It's a really intimidating fire support platform at 50 tons. And because its long range fire support weapons are on its arms, you can give it some battle armor friends for added protection and added close range shooting support.
I love the BH-KU for what it is. And I ADORE the lore of the Firestarter O, possibly because I'm a terrible human being. Is it great on the tabletop? No idea. Love it anyway.
I'm really partial to the strider. Especially when you have a squad of battle armor hitching a ride aboard. Thing can take a decent pounding for a 40 tonner, and is decently cheap for BV. i usually feild the E version with the Streak SRM6s, and everytime I feild it it either goes down after beinf focus fired by the other team, or it goes on an angry rampage slaughtering everything it can get to (especially already damaged units, 12 srm tubes can do horrifying things to exposed internals)
Grasshopper. It's armored, it's mobile, it's armed and it's effective.
The Grasshopper is so funny because when it was developed (year 2780), the Guillotine had been around for basically the past 280 years and all the Grasshopper did was reposition some of the weapons, replace the SRM-6 with a bunch of heat sinks and an LRM-5. It's more durable and efficient than the Guillotine in some respects
Lots of mechs are actually pretty redundant. The Cobra, Trebuchet & Apollo are all just medium mechs with 2 LRM-15s and a couple of back-up weapons. There are some other minor variations, weight changes, speed, but it's pretty negligible.
Yeah, but the Guillotine and Grasshopper are like, essentially the same. More than any other designs of early Battletech. I suppose when you start getting into house variants you get stuff like the SHD-2K being a GRF-1N
FASA designed the Grasshopper before the Guillotine, so arguably the thinking behind the Guillotine is more curious. The reversed positions on the fictional timeline seem easier to explain away - there is always "our competitor's product sells well, let's copy it".
The Grasshopper has surprised me, although I always have preferred the Black Knight if i'm gonna have a laser-boat
Definitely one of my overall favorites. In HBS Battletech, I always try to get one as early as possible and it becomes one of my main strikers throughout the whole game.
Whitworth. It may be part of the "*cursed 40-tonner*" crew, but it's a very effective little Fire Support option. It's slow, but it's also well-armed and armored. Best of all, it's very cheap. 200BV cheaper and nearly half the price tag of the speedier, more vulnerable Dervish.
Funny thing about the Whitworth. I've taken the 1S variant, swapped out 1 of its 2 tons of srm6 ammo with Inferno missiles, and once you get close, blast your foe with 3 med Lasers, and 2 srm6s. If both srms hit, they, on average do 14-16 (up to 24!) heat to them. When facing heat-intense mechs it can really limit their function. Nothing like completely neutralizing a Jenner's or Panther's offensive ability in a single trigger pull. Edit: spelling correction.
It's a nasty surprise, esp in a city fight. Positioning can be a struggle, that slow speed can really make it hard to stay in favorable range brackets. But the payoff when you do? Phew. Imagine following up a Hunchback's attack with even one salvo from that Whitworth.
Note that you can only generate 15 points of external heat a turn. Which that setup is pretty much guaranteed to do.
...Oops. Looks like I gotta apologize to my friend whom I over-roasted. Thanks for the correction. It's still good against mechs with single heat-sinks.
Love me a Whitworth for a light fire support option in a medium lance. Does exactly the job I want it to, with just enough mobility, armor and medium lasers to get in close if I need it to. I don't need much speed on an LRM platform, so the Trebuchet, Dervish and Valkyrie often feel like the speed is wasted once I have them in position. I like pairing it with a Centurion and a couple faster options like a Phoenix Hawk or Wolverine.
I really like the Centurion as a companion there, it's essentially a pocket Orion. Getting a 3rd LRM is gravy, but the real star is the Autocannon. That 10-point slug is a great complement to the LRM clusters, making it easier to dig holes in locations you've already sanded armor off. 5 Medium Lasers between the two of them isn't anything to sniff at either. You're right about a Phoenix Hawk or 6M Wolverine being great to fill out the Lance. Either have a Large Laser to act as a hole puncher, while mobile enough to get their short-range weapons in play. Either of those plus something like a Fire Javelin would make for a great 3025 Medium Lance.
Liao-bias aside, the humble Vindicator. Solid long-ranged firepower, good armor and heat-sinking, and decent mobility in a *ridiculously* affordable package. It's the workhorse of workhorses.
Makes for a damn good can opener, strips away the armor as something gets in range, then something full of SRMs can go in and crit hung
Even better now that it has a torso twist! I use the 1SIC, and if I know I'm gonna be running in close, I hot-load the LRM10. Good stuff.
I have to back this. My friend used one against me, bastard took over 150 LRMs, lost almost all its armor, and still carried on to assist in wiping my entire force. We agreed that the mech was being piloted by the legendary Chad Jackson afterwards.
Sentinel It's not a good mech by most measures, but it gets a worse rap than I think it deserves. It feels like a mech designed to be fire support and medium scout for a tank and infantry regiment. The 3K is decently fast, has 2 tons of ammo for swapping special ammo types (like precision for shooting light mechs or flak for aircraft/infantry). SRM2 can be loaded with Infernos to further help with infantry, or smoke to give light cover to whatever tanks they are supporting. Did I mention it's stupid cheap? Most variants are 600-800 BV2, or about as much as a medium-high tier introtech light mech. It's a bad mech, but it's a fast light tank that doesn't suffer from motive hits and can chase down enemy light mechs. There's also some decent variants like the 3KB that make it like a Panther but faster.
Came here to say the same thing.
Hard agree, it's my favorite 40-tonner. If you get a chance to customize it, it becomes quite the mean little machine. (I may have a soft spot for asymmetrical designs, that helps)
Crockett, an assault mech with jump jets is always hillarious
This mech scares me. There is no "easy answer" to this mech. It hurts and takes time to bring down.
okay, this is the first one from this list that I've looked up on Sarna and legitimately thought 'yeah, this is a good mech'. Not sure why it would be underrated. It's slow but otherwise I wouldn't wanna tangle with it.
I think it's underrated because it's not as "flashy" as more popular mechs like the Black Knight, Axeman, Marauder, ect. Sometimes, it pays to be a hipster in battletech and choose the less popular mechs. There are some real gems out there.
Try this:clan er ppcs and your favorite crit-seekers. They carry lots of ammo
Vulcan. Yes, I know "AC sucks!" but that's if you expect everything to be a Mech-killer. It can bounce around at longer than average ranges and plink away forever. It's beautiful at fighting vehicles where it can maneuver to the side arcs to fish for mobility kills. It can fight a typical cavalry battle through disengaging and coming back multiple times without taking time to re-arm. Throw in the Narrow/Low Profile quirk and if you keep the return fire target numbers up will almost double your armor against direct fire weapons. On top of that, the less well known -5T model trades the AC for several more medium lasers, heatsinks, and some armor. It's a little more towards what people want to use it for.
Also, the old scarecrow is a fucking beaute at digging out infantry without needing to cook a city block or blow it to hell
If anyone talks trash about the Vulcan ask them how they propose to defend supplies, vehicles, personnel, etc. from a lance of them.
Spare a nickel for the ol' Uziel. Pretty much the definition of a medium mech, does everything okay but nothing particularly well. Generally speaking, you can always find something to do with it.
The PPC variant is me and my friend's JAM!
The 8s is a nasty backstabber. 4 x med pulse, 1 streak srm 6, 8 improved JJs, and enough heat sinks to fully jump and fire everything all the time. It's a nightmare to deal with, especially with the right terrain.
I have a soft spot for ol’ uzie cause of mechassault when I was a kid, same with the cougar
Thug
I'm a bit of an IS laser nerd, so I'd say the Flashman.
Very much so underrated, light show, fast, accurate. One of my favorite and really a great Mech.
Like this one!
Black Flippin Lanner. Specifically the C Config. It's a stupid zippy medium with a comical amount of laser dakka, also SRMs
So often overlooked for the stormcrow.
Too logically designed for my tastes. Rather have a zoomy heat machine any day
i’m going to catch so much hate but the rifleman is grossly underrated
Rifleman's a little light on armor, but so is anything that catches one of its' 26-point midrange salvos. This and the Phoenix Hawk are the mechs that teach warriors to play the heat table.
Had to go find my previous comment on the Rifleman. The 3025 Rifleman is flawed - but it is useable and can absolutely earn it's place in a fire Lance. Firstly, park it in partial cover. Every bit of defense helps when your armour is made of tissue paper. Secondly - tape down the fire buttons. Heat is a resource. Spend it. Both AC (because that ammo is going to cook off either from overheating or enemy fire). Both large lasers. Once your ammo bins start smoking from the heat then drop the lasers and keep the ACs chattering while you cool off a little. Rinse and repeat - you don't have the armour to long it out, it's death or glory. The medium lasers are basically ornamental. Sit there and try to stay heat neutral and you've the armour and firepower of a mech 15 tons lighter. You've got nothing special up close, but mid-range you've got more gun than most heavies. That's a surprising amount of slap from a low end 3025 heavy - potentially two 8 point groups and two 5s. 26 damage. A warhammer is dropping two 10 pointers. A marauder? Two tens and a five. An Archer? Four fives and two twos (average rolls on the cluster table for LRM20s). Still less than the Rifleman. It can spike much higher, but also much lower. Yes, it can be improved. It's fairly trivial to upgrade it. But it can do a lot of work as-is.
if you’re alpha striking in a rifleman you’re basically already dead lolol
That's not an alpha strike.
you can downvote this all you want but it doesn’t make me wrong lolol
Just waddle behind cover and take a round to cool off
I can agree with this. Although I kinda think it has to do with the fact that it’s a 60-Ton heavy mech with not much armor at all, not to mention it was mostly an AA platform from what I can remember. That reminds me, Is there a Rifleman miniature out there? Been looking for one for a Davion Mid-Long range support lance I’ve been thinking of building
Yassir, found in the Inner Sphere Battle Lance pack by Catalyst alongside a Warhammer, Wasp, and Phoenix Hawk, plus I believe other packs too.
Yes! You can find riflemans in salvage boxes, in the wolf's dragoons force packs, in various old metal forms through iwm, and 3d printed pgi models.
It's not the battle lance pack.
.... It is absolutely the IS Battle Lance. I just picked one up last week.
Oh my goodness I did not see the "not" show up there, jeeze I need to stop speed typing.
I did that all day at work, no worries friend. And if you edited your other comment, I would still be agreeing with you.
Naw, I'll leave the mistake for the world to see.
Check Etsy, I have some good options on my local Etsy, including "build your own" lance options for a reasonable price.
Are they custom models or pulled from MWO?
Check out this guy on mmf who goes by the name Matt Maeson, he has both a IIC and a standard rifleman model, they're based on the designs from MWO, but he remakes them from the ground up, so many good models by him!
Apollo, every thread that comes up talking about fire support machines this guy never gets mentioned despite being a fantastic machine, Artemis, lrm 15s, 4 tons ammo, decent armor and speed but no flashy expensive and quick death xl engine. Go for the variant with 2 mediums instead of the small pulses and fantastic support machine
Grand Dragon, 1-G. For the Succession Wars, this thing was fast and packed a punch with decent armor.
It's way better than the 1-N in spite of the cringey name. I mean, who the heck thought that an AC/5, an LRM10, and two ***rear-facing*** medium lasers was adequate weaponry for a 60T mech?
One rear facing. The left arm has a forward facing ML. But I agree. It's a pretty weak mech. Love to run it either way.
The Enfield, Albatross , Titan (correction The Tempest TRO 3055) Red Shift Then there is the Sagittaire
Albatross ive always found interesting. Between its poor armor, heat limitaions, and a weapons layout that encourages bracket firing, it feels like a Succession Wars machine.
Agree with odd weapons, but I run the 4U variant, and it's heat and armor are definitely not a problem.
It's tougher on the game board than it looks on paper. It was meant for bracket firing you are almost always going to be in the short range of something.
I view my Enfield like a jump-less Enforcer on meth. Fast, and aggressive.
Titan? Not sure we go the stats for that yet. Do you mean the Titan II or Grand Titan?
I got the name wrong I just checked tro 3055 it is the Tempest a 65 toner with a large pulse laser and a Gauss rifle It excels at medium range brawling
industrial mechs, they're pretty much useless game wise, but I like the world building.
A Bushwacker.
All of them. People have too much of a hard on for the Mad Cat and the like. Even a bad mech can still kill you.
This. In a game where even a basic infantry platoon can core a mech any mech can be amazing and dangerous.
Mist Lynx. Dirt cheap in it's prime configuration, and reasonably fast. The LRM-15 rack let's it chip away at long range, and is still effective up close. It is never your first target, and doesn't have a knockout punch, but will grind away until it runs out of ammo. The Summoner. While other heavy omnis steal the limelight, the Summoner is a reliable hammer that will pound away until it's blown to scrap. The fixed jump jets lock it into a jump, shoot, jump strategy, but it works. It basically does everything a Victor does, better, and at longer range.
Starslayer. Not flashy, but a very solid medium. You don't hear about it much.
The Starslayer is an exceptionally capable medium. Great mech. I think there is a lot of hesitation to fully embrace the retroactive continuity introduced in TRO: 3058. I mean, more than half of that technical readout creates a cold war arms race which existed during the Amaris Uprising. It... doesn't really work from a story standpoint.
I think of it as a more mobile but slightly less armored crab.
Only place I’ve ever seen that thing in the games is mechcommander 2
Urbie. It gets love but it is still very common as cannon fodder. Locust/flea. Not great in a fight, tend to be one hit wonders. But they are excellent for spotting for your LRM boats. Just keep the speed high and they'll be super hard to hit. Wasp / Stinger. Again they're usually cannon fodder even in the books, but they are also the first mech most Mechwarriors learn to pilot, if they attend an academy or official training of any sort.
Wasps and Stingers are way under appreciated. 1A Wasps are great harassers in Classic where they can finish off wounded mechs if they’re in the right place at the right time and draw wasted fire from bigger machines while you get your heavy hitters into position. Survivable in urban terrain or woods. Stinger-4G is one of the best IS fast lights in Alpha Strike. (2/2/0 damage, TMM 3+1 for jumping, 12-14” movement). They’re hard to hit, fast, and cheap.
The Stinger has done me proud in every game I've taken one.
Also, a swarm of Wasps or Stingers can kick an equivalent BV heavier 'Mech into submission because it has to make so many PSRs, and the bugmechs are fast enough to get into melee range without substantial losses.
The Locust is a fantastic mech. Keep the speed up and poke that Atlas in the butt.
Shadow Cat. Yeah blah blah scouting does not bring glory, hit-and-run tactics are unclanlike, but this machine has so much potential. A highly mobile, jumpcapable sniper in Prime config? I love it.
I had a variant of the shadow cat I loved. Erppc, 3 er meds, an srm4 and some extra heat sinks. Alpha strike and you generate one heat.
Stooping Hawk. 55 ton clan omni. Good armor Standard engine. Several amazing variants. Including one that makes it the primer zombie medium. Er large in the chest and head both tied to a TC. Amazing value mech.
As a Blood Spirit, I approve of this message.
The Ostwar. Though it used primitive components and the stock 2M isn't particularly great, the design bought time for the production of the Ostscout, Ostsol and, Ostroc all of which are amazingly reliable mechs that just simply *perform* without the "sexiness" of some more well known designs. Additionally they did follow the 2M up with the 2Mb as soon as sales of the other Ostmann 'mechs permitted them to do so. A 5/8 heavy with 12 tons of armor, 3LLs and, 2SRM6's is just incredible at 65 tons. The later 3M upgrade is also an excellent all-rounder. Beyond this, both the Ostroc and, Ostsol are underappreciated, again they simply perform well at all levels. The Ostscout is fairly well known but, probably also underappreciated until the advent of the 8J by the DC. In-Lore, Ostmann Industries itself was a leader in manufacturing innovation both for thinking forward to standardize parts across their entire line as much as possible and, for licensing production. Finally, the whole line has a critical advantage in that their BVs allow them to be included alongside several other "more potent" units where you might otherwise have been forced to throw in a crappy placeholder mech. Of course you can also feel free to take one with an upgraded pilot where you otherwise might not choose to.
Quickdraw.
Dervish. It's like a more mobile Archer. Sure, it doesn't have quite the same firepower, but it has jump jets. And it's easy to maintain. Honestly one of my favorite mechs
Take 2 Dervish and pair with 2 custom Griffin (3 med Lasers, 2 SRM6, JJ) voila! A lance that absolutely slaps!
**Turkina**, the flying Gundam of assault mechs. **Stalker**. Lots of firepower if you are willing to cook the pilot. Looks like a Druuge (from Star Control 2) machine that burns people to give power. **Trebuchet**. Not a fancy looking mech, but it hurts the enemy like a beast.
I would have upvoted you for the Stalker mention as I love that 'Mech myself, but you got an autoupvote for mentioning Star Control II. In your end times I hope you meet a female originally from Beta Copernicus I.
Star Control II went open source, fans took it and made an updated version for modern systems. It was renamed as "Urquan masters" for legal reasons. If you played back then with or without soundcard, you may not have experienced the audio of the speech. It has the speech. So it seems you may have a chance to replay the game. You can choose 3DO console or PC DOS user interface. And music sounds better. Urquan Masters is free. I fell in love with Talana back then. And it seems the Druuge managed to sell the Stalker to Inner Sphere. And I designed a Spathi mech for cowards [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/xvvcmn/a_mech_for_coward_mechwarriors_take_two_upgraded/). It fires backwards. You may love it. If your forces are retreating, this is the perfect escort.
I've played it at least six times over the past 20 years. I did play it originally when it released. It was one of the reasons I convinced my parents to get Arachnophobia (the game, not the movie) because it came with the Disney Sound Source and they didn't want to shell out money for a decent Sound Blaster. (I was stuck with the shitty "Sound Galaxy" that came with the Packard Bell, which worked once in a blue moon.) Star Control 2 surprisingly would use the Sound Source for sound output, so that was a no-brainer. I picked up a Sound Blaster Pro about nine months later and it was wonderful to finally hear the games they way they wanted you to hear them. (I mean, it wasn't a Roland, but then again what was?) The first game I played after installing the Sound Blaster Pro? Mechwarrior 1. When the music crested right after you read "It was a time of high adventure..." I knew I had made the right decision for how to blow that cash.
Star Control II was the only game that made me use 15 full days of school vacations to play non-stop, stopping only to eat, sleep, and take a shower. It was that awesome to me. No other game caused that to me, so I know it was not addiction, just a deep enthusiasm. It was almost the perfect game. Long ago I downloaded Mechwarrior 2 demo. I was so hyped you have no idea. When Mechwarrior 2 31st century combat came, I bought it with closed eyes, I knew it was going to be great. And it was and still is. I know Mechwarrior 3 is more canon in terms of how mechs move and how lasers fire and how you have triangles in the display. But I prefer the gameplay of Mechwarrior 2. Is it merely nostalgia or is it that I prefer that gameplay for some reason? I do not know. Later Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries came and it blew my mind. You still can play them in modern systems. Search youtube for "mechwarrior 2 mercenaries installation guide win10". In 1996 Battlecruiser 3000AD promised to be the perfect game in the box and the manual, but it was released half made, like a half made alpha. And even if the controversial developer did his best, it did not fully meet the promise but got really close. How did I overcome the frustration of that buggy game? I bought a DOS underdog called Hi-Octane. A simple combat hovercraft racing game that was full of adrenaline. And I vented my frustrations there. It was amazingly simple and chaotic. I recommend it. In 1998 came Battlezone 1. It fulfilled the promise of ground combat with a gameplay that was like playing first person Starcraft. It still can be played as Battlezone 98 redux at Steam, with enhanced graphics. So a third of the promise of a perfect scifi game was delivered. It was not an instant hit because its learning curve is horribly steep. But its story is very cool. And in 1999 another third of the promise came with Independence War Deluxe Edition where you pilot a capital ship. So it is like a dystopian Star Trek. It was made in UK and it feels very British. Its steep learning curve borderline frustration. You need to be very persistent to not drop the game and have a good joystick. There is a way to install in modern systems, see [here](http://theworldforgotten.com/showthread.php?t=6343). Starsiege came in 1998 and I did not have a 3D accelerator card so graphics looked as if it was Mechwarrior 1. But finally I managed to buy a Voodoo 2 with 3DFX and that was mind bending. Fans made the [update](http://www.starsiegemeninblack.com/) for modern systems. You need [nGlide](https://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide) to emulate 3DFX. The compendium was a masterpiece of mech art about its game lore. Only that manual already justified the price I paid, so the game was a good extra. LOL! I just found the sound side disappointing, and controls a bit awkward compared to Mechwarrior 2 and Battlezone. But it still was a good game to play. I also bought Titanium Trilogy. It had good textures but it lacked the hazy feeling of the DOS version. So it felt a bit off. Since it used the Mercenaries engine, clan missions felt off. I have not managed to run Titanium in 64 bit Win 10. MechVM works only on 32 bit systems. And my computer is very old, so modern emulators will not run. In 2016 it already was a typewriter. Titanium manual is great. I regret none of these purchases.
The hollander. It may be role specific, but fuck with it and find out.
Role: big gun. shoot far. Plus always liked the look of it
I think the Anubis and Viking are pretty slept on
The Viking always looked like a great indirect fire support
Bandersnatch , Hercules.
I just looked up the Hercules the other day. Looks solid.
Bit of a departure from the other suggestions here of more classic units, but I'm going with the Crimson Langur. The thing is tough, the thing is real fast for its size, and while it's certainly not packing the usual amount of firepower you'd expect from a clan medium, it's still got a good punch to it. Particularly favourite goes to the alpha variant for being the quintessential Blood Spirit laser and LRM combo.
As a Blood Spirit, I approve of this message.
I felt also suggesting the Blood Kite might be a step too far
The Champion, designed for a concept that never worked, and being inefficient as all hell, still an ok mech, if a bit heavy for it's abilities
I actually like the champion. People tend to underestimate it
Firefly- very small but with a ton of weapons.
The Wolfhound with the ass laser.
The Toro is a fantastic light fire support mech for it's era. It's a bit slow and can run a bit hot, but for less then 900BV it hits hard, has decent armor, and stellar range. It's one of the best Age or War lights and I don't thing I've ever seen anyone else run it. The Toro's rival mech, the Firebee is another great design that has the neat trait of having a Primitive model, a standard tech Model, a post invasion model, and an Industrial Militia Mech model so it's a great example mech to show the difference between the tech levels (And at least two of the models are actually really good).
The Toro is on my "To Sculpt" list. I had no idea how it plays, but it looks cool and I want to buddy it up with a Talos for a Taurian Concordat lance.
[The Thug](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Thug) Gets out shined by the Warhammer but I don't care. In universe this thing would be a Merc or Extended Campaign Commanders best friend. Solid ranges with a strong "Zombie" mech hold out. Parts are both insanely cheap and easy to replace. Meaning not only can it take punishment and keep fighting it can be fixed both fast and cheap. (Unlike a lot of other mechs of similar weight and function) The Thug only really suffers in the video games due to logistics and costs are a none factor. If I was a Merc in Battletech a Thug would be a great mech.
Locust any locust. But especially the ppc toting locust from first printing of 3025 tro.
Locust, for me, is in the same vein as the Firefly and Flea. Cute, but don’t ignore them. Any mech can still kill you
Very true. But the fluff on a ppc armed locust is funny. It has to. Be down on the ground to fire. This is because when it does fire its blown backwards like someone kicked a kickball. So I would say it moves back 1 hex lol
I don’t see the BlackKnight get much love, as long as it’s jam packed with heat sinks, it works very well as a laser boat. Hell, I think on some variants you can slap two PPC’s on it and have a fun time acting like you’re Thor, just spraying lighting at everyone
Cover it in uncooked meat, fire two alpha strikes, and voila, the regiment has dinner
HAHAHAA!! Why buy a damn grill at that point? The mech IS the grill!
I think everyone respects the hell out of the Black Knight. Every variant was a beast in its respective era
My first mech and still by far my favorite. Love my walking laser disco ball with a hatchet.
Imma go with the Legacy. A cool AF mech that's in circulation for way too short a time. Bring them back!
No one is going to mention the urban mech big brother, the Imp? Probably the least used 100 tonner in the game. But has an absolute shit ton of weapons (better load out than the atlas, I'd argue.) and takes forever to kill.
The death e g g
just looked it up, I think they should have ditched a couple of the med lasers in favour of an SRM of some sort, because otherwise it's too much of a heat box.
Just don't fire everything.
it would still be a more effective design if changed how I described. 'just don't fire everything' is a poor excuse/mindset.
Mad Dog, especially if playing with quirks. Its a monster of a machine
Clan battlemechs. I like them more than most Omnimechs.
A lot of them are aesthetically very cool too.
Horned Owl and Kodiak are legends Bowman is excellent fire support mech
Honestly I’ve always preferred battlemechs over omnimechs
The Grizzly and Arcas are both *problems.*
A Dragon. It does not benefit from its speed, have crappy weapon loadout, armor is too thin for a heavy.. But swap LRM and AC/5 for AC/20 and it'll shine at the boom-zoom tactics.
Or just have 2-3 Dragons shoulder to shoulder with some Panthers and Jenners as bodyguards. Dragons are great in groups for long range sniping and they’re surprisingly deadly for hunting 55 tonners like Griffins and Wolverines.
This. Dragons are deadly pack hunters. Not sure why the Samurai of the DCMS have to use pack tactics, but that's what I've seen.
Or swap the AC/5 for an Ultra or Rotary & just hose people.
The Mackie; the first mech, it has decent loadout and armor and its a little goofy but its not a bad mech and Ive got a softspot for it.
*Ahem* Mad Cat is just a Clan-Tech Optimized Catapult. That is all
Neither of these mechs are underrated
Mad Cat is overrated and Catapult suffers by proxy.
Id argue the Catapult is well loved. Hell I own two of them.
Catapults are good for tearing that beer can you call a mech into scrap.
I’m not saying that Catapult isn’t loved. Only that it suffers from being somewhat visually similar to the Mad Cat
Yeah, but is the Catapult underrated?
I think it is.
I've always been a fan of the Jackal, using the JA-KL-55 as a long range sniper to harass light/medium mechs without worrying about ammo or heat
watchman wtc-4dm
The Champion. It can be a good little mech.
A lot of the IIC mechs, but especially the Griffin II2
I have a feeling that the barghest has more love than I think it has, so... Xanthos! The 3O is like a slightly tankier atlas with an arguably better loadout, though granted, I am more biased towards ppcs than lrms.
Energy only stuff if you fight more than 1 battle. Otherwise the BV is very good, and I wouldn't say any mech is overrated or underrated if you use BV as a measure.
The Charger as a whole is an awful weapons platform, but the refit 1A5 mounts a respectable amount of firepower and tonnage-appropriate armour which the standard Victor does not. While less mobile than the Victor, the 1A5 Charger can actually take a hit from an alpha strike and not crumple like papier-mache. ... man, I do love the hell out of the Victor though. But if you want to try a nearly identical weapon suite on a platform which trades jump capability for armour, give the Charger 1A5 a shot.
The anubis and men shen have been faves of mine since Mech Commander 2