Welcome back to the Alpha Strike 'Mech of the Week, folks. Last week we did the Vulcan, one of the speedier 'Mechs we've seen so far. This week, we blow it out of the water. Everybody not already familiar, please say hello to the Fireball. We're up to 3021 distinct 'Mech variants and configurations, so let's knock out another five.
Here we go with the second Light 'Mech covered under this new series of articles, the Fireball ALM-7D. This particular little guy stepped off the production lines in 3053. Let's give it the typical overview. Size 1, not a lot of melee power in this one. A TMM of +4? Wow, that's pretty up there. How's the spe- holy CRAP! The Fireball effortlessly takes the speed crown from that weird unique Dervish with a blistering 22” MV. That qualifies for a +4 alright! It's also one of the fastest 'Mechs in the game,
period.
That's certainly off to a good start! Let's take a look at the... oh. Whether we take a look at the guns next or the armor, we get pretty much the same bad news. Armor first, I suppose, since that's how most of the other articles went. Two points of armor and one point of structure. This thing folks like a wet napkin under the ASMOTW's Thud test. Not a good sign. Of course, it's pretty hard to
hit the damn thing, but this guy clearly relies more on the dice being kind than any intrinsic property of toughness. On the other hand, even at a +4 mod, two points of armor and one point of structure is pretty dirt cheap. If you like to ride the edge of fortune, this is the 'Mech for you.
At least, until we get to the guns. The Fireball handily takes the cake for the most anemic weapon loadout in the game we've seen. With a damage block of 1/0*/0 and no OV, you actually do less damage than most infantry platoons. There are single suits of battle armor that are more dangerous than a Fireball, without exaggeration. The maximum possible damage for a -7D to do is 2, and that's with a backstab. Now, that said, backstabbing is arguably easier in the Fireball than 99% of 'Mechs out there, but it's still something very difficult to pull off without your opponent helping or you having much, much more dangerous targets to draw fire.
Next up, Specials! Wait, what? Nothing? Oh, okay then. Not a particularly big surprise.
So what does all this cost us in terms of PV, and what can we use it for? Well, I'm happy to say that this question has a happy answer. The Fireball -7D costs a whopping 12 PV. That's it. You can get a Fireball for the same price as a skill increase for a high end assault 'Mech. You can get four of them for your favorite Recon Lance for less than a baseline Atlas. A -7D is exactly two points more expensive than the cheapest 'Mech in the entire game. Talk about a bargain! At 12 points, even with the abysmal stats, I can get behind this thing. If it draws fire from something big for even one turn, it has more than paid for itself. If it does a single point of damage along the way, congrats on your big win. After the Recon Lance comment (and the utter lack of any offensive or defensive capabilities beyond “gotta go fast”), it should come as no surprise that the Fireball -7D is a Scout. It is also primarily available to the member states of the Federated Commonwealth, as well as affiliated periphery powers.
Moving on to the next variant, we take a look at the Fireball -8D. What's changed? The speed has not. Good. That's the thing I like most about the original, so it's good that's still there.
Has the armor changed? No. Still a wet napkin waiting to be looked at angrily. Specials? Nope, no dice. So far, it looks like this Fireball and the last Fireball are effectively identical.
Weapons? Oh, hello! They're still not great, but what we have now is head and shoulders above the previous -7D. The -8D is capable of dealing damage to medium range reliably when it hits. The full damage block reads 2/1/0. This also means that the Fireball can actually approach meaningful levels of damage during a backstab. The Vulcan last week tended to have similar damage and much more armor, but I have to say that I like the Fireball more, especially when cost is considered. The extra speed and the all important TMM make it a royal pain in the ass to take out. For a little visualization, with a +4 TMM, an average pilot is going to need an 8+ in order to hit the Fireball at point blank range. 10+ at medium, and 12+ at long, before counting any terrain or jumping modifiers for the attacker. With a 22” move, the Fireball can be in long range one turn, and short range the next. If you have anything at all to draw attention, the Fireball can exploit it with a contemptuous disregard for your opponent's speed.
The improvements in firepower bring the -8D up to a total of 14 PV. It's still dirt cheap, but now it has some teeth, and it can respond even if the stars don't align for that magical short range shot. It's also still a Scout, which fits into Recon Lances easily enough. I'm a big fan of this one, but then I'm a huge fan of the fast buggers in the first place, especially the ones that can back it up with some teeth. The Vulcan doesn't quite measure up mostly due to its size, but this one can hack it. I wasn't particularly impressed with the -7D, but I think the -8D really works. You could probably find a Locust that does the same job, but I really like this one.
Once again, this particular Fireball is available to the component states of the Federated Commonwealth and appropriate Periphery allies, starting in 3054.
Next up, the Fireball -9D. I really like the helpful naming conventions we've got here. Easy to keep in order. The -9D showed up the same year as the -8D, 3054. Makes me wonder whether the naming conventions are purely for convenience or if they show a progression of improvements. Judging by the stats on this guy, I'd opt for the former. Everything is identical to the -8D, save exactly one difference. We still have no specials, the speed is the same, the armor and structure are the same.
The singular difference is the weapons, which have been changed to a 1/1/0 OV0 block. Exactly one point less short range damage. Still capable of engaging at medium range, which is really the category that determines to me whether it's worth using or not. This particular Fireball doesn't get the good backstab damage that the -8D does, so I'd probably instead use it as a midrange harasser that's impossible to hit. You can do some good flanking maneuvers with it, too, since it's so tiny and hard to hit it's barely worth shooting.
At 13 PV it's one point more than the -7D, making it a much better buy, and one point less than the -8D, which is a better buy than this for a single point. In terms of Fireballs, it's middle of the road. In terms of everything else, it's still blazing fast and a pain in the ass to hit, just remember that a single shot is more than likely to take it off the field. Because spotting doesn't require closing to short range, if you intend to do your spotting from afar, I'd say this is your best bet today. As a Scout, you can put it into a Recon Lance and give it Forward Observer for those extra accurate indirect attacks.
Just like every other Fireball so far, this one is available to the component nations of the Federated Commonwealth, and finds its way to common Mercenary use by the Republic era.
Moving right along, into the Jihad era, 3076. So far we've had a lemon, an average pick, and a pretty good one. I wonder which we'll get this time? Let's take a look at the – HELLO! Now
this is what I'm talking about! The armor and structure are the same. You're never going to get much better on a fast low-end Light, so I'm not even upset at this point.
The first wow moment is the speed. We already had a damn fast 'Mech, but the -10D makes it
even faster. How does 28” sound? Sounds damn fine to me. This is, hands down, the fastest 'Mech we've gone over so far, and is actually very nearly faster than any 'Mech can go. Nearly. More on that in a bit. I think there's exactly one Locust that outpaces this baby, and nothing else even comes close. A pretty high bar to beat, with a 'Mech that can go from long range to four inches
behind an opponent in one move. Sign me up!
Then we get to the guns. Once again, I'm impressed. The block is up to 2/2/0 OV0, making this the most heavily armed Fireball yet. I like it. I like it a lot. You keep the damage at short range that makes a good backstabber, but the medium range damage is increased. Now you don't have to dance on the razor's edge quite so nimbly in order to get that back shot, and you can keep your distance any time it's not already a good shot while keeping the same damage output. I like it a
lot. This is a sublime example of a perfect Light Striker. It quite simply does not get better than this without more damage that's already hard to match on a frame this small. ENE makes an appearance in the Special box, but on something this small ammo explosions can only happen after you're dead anyway so it's a non-issue. In fact, the biggest thing it does is cut your damage in half against Reflective Armor (which is what effectively would happen anyway, but hey).
The fragility of it means that the Fireball -10D is also cheap still. The Vulcan from last week clocked in between 19 and 25 points, but even this shining example of Everything Right With Backstabbing costs 17 PV. That's a steal, a bargain, whatever you want to call it it's good. Plus, it's a Striker. My favorite. I love Striker lances, and in this case an extra 2” from Speed Demon might not sound like much, but it's the difference between short and medium range on a backstab, it's the difference between being a target at long range after a successful backstab and being out of range altogether.
The -10D is available to the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth upon its debut, and to mercenaries and the Republic in the Republic era. I didn't have any idea this particular Fireball existed before I started the article, so I'll call that a major win.
And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, and the entire
raison d'etre for this article. The Fireball -XF came into existence in 3077. It is a unique 'Mech, featured in XTRO: Most Wanted. As such, it's not particularly available to anyone in large numbers. Which, in my humble opinion, is a damned shame.
Why is that a damned shame? Just look at that speed. Drink in its glorious power. Stand in awe of that speed. Forty eight inches. Four feet of move. This 'Mech goes from beyond long range to behind you in one run without breaking a sweat. This is, without question and without hyperbole, the fastest ground unit in the entire game (matched by the Celerity 05-X, which has exactly zero weapons and miraculously less armor). It is capable of outrunning an artillery shell fired from the same position as it on a reasonably sized table. Single turn flight time distance for an artillery shell (or missile) is 42” inches. Think about that for a second. It is one of exactly three exclusively ground units to hit that mythical +5 TMM. An average pilot needs a 9+ to hit this thing at point blank. An average pilot is incapable of hitting the -XF at long range. Considering that this thing can go from long range to
long range on the other side of you in one turn, nothing should ever hit the -XF without being a sight better than a normal pilot, or you screw it up.
The armor is the same as all other Fireballs. No surprises there. Two armor and one structure. In the context of how hard it is to hit, that should be entirely superfluous. The Specials box once again gets ENE, and in this case it means literally nothing. Fortunately it doesn't increase the PV cost.
Speaking of which, the Fireball -XF comes in at 19 PV. That's a steal. The armor you have won't hold up against anything, but barely anything will be able to hit you. So, essentially, you're paying for 1/1/0 and 48” of movement. All that for 19 PV? Sign me right the hell up. It's also back to the Scout role. I'd personally prefer Striker, but it's still definitely workable, and being so fast and hard to hit lends a lot to a lance type where losing members is relatively easy in the grand scheme of things. A Fireball -XF will survive a lot longer, and therefore keep your lance bonuses active. Definitely a good thing.
Using a Fireball is pretty simple and self-explanitory. Shoot and scoot, never ever ever ever stand still, go for backstabs, and try not to get shot. That's true of all Fireballs, though some are better than others. I'm a pretty big fan of them, though to be sure I'm a big fan of fast things with teeth. In this author's not so humble opinion, the Fireball is a much better play in Alpha Strike than in the normal game.
There are two different sculpts of the Fireball,
both featured on
CamoSpecs.
Since I missed a couple weeks due to conventions and other work stuff, figured I'd catch up a bit on the schedule! There will still be an article this Friday. It is scheduled to be the Catapult.
