Alright everybody. It's been a while since I've done one of these, so I'm going to take it slow. Um, sort of. The subject isn't exactly the kind to let me just sit here and chat about it. In my quest to cover all of the Original 16 Omnimechs and their family trees, I'm going to start with one that has only a couple variants. For some perspective on how gargantuan a task that is, two of those units have been covered so far: the Mad Cat Mk IV, descended from the Mad Cat; and the Warhammer, progenitor of the Loki. Forty seven remain, counting this one.
But that's enough blathering about things that aren't the Alpha Strike Mech of the Week: Dasher II.
The very first thing I did with this 'Mech, before I even started writing the article, was check out the availability on the MUL. I didn't actually do this for the first few articles, but since then I've come to appreciate just how well Alpha Strike models the tactical doctrines of the various factions in BattleTech, and I think it adds a fair bit to the article. Sometimes you can get a good idea of a 'Mech's quality by seeing who fields it.
Every rule has an exception. What does that mean? Well, I'll be blunt. The Dasher II (Standard) sucks. Really, really badly. Behold:
That's the unit card for the Dasher II (Standard). By now, I'm going to assume most of you are familiar with how an Alpha Strike card is put together, and skip the basic definitions of certain terms. Instead, this variant will get a quick overview, and then I'll go back to some of the background.
The first thing that pops out in my appraisal is the 20” of movement. That's fast. Even for a Light 'Mech, that's fast, and a quick scan of the Size category clocks the Dasher II at a Medium, Size 2. Twenty inches of movement bestows a generous +4 TMM to attacks made against it. If you know me at all by now, that kind of thing is the kind of thing that normally sends a pleasant tingle down my spine.
Then we look at the weapons. Two damage at short range, zero damage beyond that. It's like someone tried to build a backstabber, and instead of budgeting weight for the actual stabbing implements, just sort of assumed that the user would have a set of sharp fingernails to get the job done. It is an anti-tank gun with dummy rounds, a missile launcher filled with training paint ammunition.
The armor and structure are not particularly good either, though the latter half of that is necessary. The Dasher II goes all out in the equipment department, fitting a stupidly massive 400 XL engine into the chassis for the fastest it's possible to make a 'Mech this size go without additional, non-engine enhancements. That means that the structure, which would otherwise be fine for a 'Mech of 40 tons, is a mere two points. Two points of structure is forgivable, the two points of armor is not.
Locusts mount that much armor. Succession Wars Locusts, that go nearly as fast and do as much damage. The combined total of four points will stop one mediocre hit, and crumple like tissue paper to one decent connecting shot.
It is, in this author's estimation, one of the less useful 'Mechs ever devised. It's fast, yes, but it's not fast enough to dictate an entire game by itself. It can't get from very short to long range in one turn, it loses fights to scout hovers. Part of my harsh judgment is because of the
rest of the Dasher II family of variants, but there are absolutely better 'Mechs to take.
Fortunately, the AS balancing system (as of right now) agrees with me, and values the Dasher II (Standard) at a mere 15 PV. Per discussion elsewhere on these boards, there's a nearly certain chance that the points are going to jump up, though the Standard's
relative value among its peergroup is going to plummet, thanks to the lack of medium range damage. That's a look at it I'll take once any changes happen.
We round out our look at the Standard by noticing ENE in the Specials box and promptly ignoring it. For those keeping track at home, the Dasher II (Standard) is a Scout, which makes a certain amount of sense because it's not going to be striking anything hard enough to notice.
So, a little bit more background on the Dasher II. Seems like a decent enough time for it. Introduced near the end of the Jihad, the Dasher II first strolled off the production lines at Itabaiana in 3077. As such, it is a Diamond Shark (now Sea Fox) produced machine, and the massive XL makes sense from the stance of maximizing revenue per unit. It also explains why everyone and their brother field numbers notable enough to be included in their availability data. By the end of the Jihad, the only factions coreward (“north”) of Terra that don't field it are the Falcons, Wolves, and Horses on the Clan side. Through the Early Republic era, its availability has spread to the entire Sphere via the Inner Sphere General list, and it even makes an appearance in Mercenary units. The reason why is an utter mystery to me, since we went through why I think it sucks terribly above, especially for traditionally cash-strapped mercenary units. That, by extension, means that you could run into on literally any battle field in the modern Sphere. At least it looks pretty.
And that's enough about that. Let's see what this thing can do to redeem itself with its next three variants. We'll go in order.
Here we go. This is where I start to climb all the way on board the Dasher II fanwagon. A brief survey of the differences: Move speed is up (what?), damage is up (way up), armor is up (what?). What the hell? If you're as curious as I was to see how the hell that works, look no further than the structure. It's been reduced to 1, to account for the Clan XXL engine under the hood. That frees up a not insignificant amount of space, and improvements have obviously been made across the board. MASC facilitates the speed boost, which isn't
quite enough to attain the mythical +5 TMM. Oh well, not a huge deal, because the guns are now significant enough to matter.
Gone is the piddly 2 short range damage. Now, this thing manages 3 at both short and medium, with OV 2 to boot! Now capable of a 5 damage (six with the extra damage from a rear attack) backstab without dropping below 22” movement (I hereby dub thee: Fast Enough), the Dasher II 2 is the kind of backstabber that induces sphincter clenching when spotted on the field.
The armor is improved, and the overall health is up, but the loss in structure means it's still vulnerable to big 5 damage hits that most big things can throw around in the Republic Eras. The speed keeps it safe, somewhat, and if you're not diving in for backstabs you can usually pretty effectively play the numbers game at medium range, trading 10s for 7s with most things your size or even a bit bigger.
In conclusion: Yes.
Bonus round: The Dasher II 2 is also on the IS General list, plus mercenaries, Diamond Shark/Sea Fox, Rasalhague Dominion, and Raven Alliance. It, once again, can pop up literally anywhere in the Sphere at just about any time, and with any sort of skilled maneuvering or pilot whatsoever, eviscerate a couple things and then speed away like the Roadrunner. It also shows up around 3084, so it's entirely possible to run into one or two (or four) during conflicts like the Second Combine-Dominion War, Victoria War, or Capellan Crusades before Gray Monday ever happens.
Unit role bingo: Striker
The Dasher II 3 shows up much later, after the HPG networks largely collapse. As such, it hasn't proliferated nearly as far. As of 3145, it's still only present in notable numbers in mercenary hands.
The Dasher II family has this weird tendency to be completely different from any other variant. The 3 is no exception. The speed drops down below the 2, and even the Standard, to land at a still-fast-but-not-blistering 16”. It also regains the lost point of structure, so even without looking at my books I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the design swapped down to a 320 rated XL, putting it on par in speed and tonnage with ye olde Cidada.
The Dasher II 3 is significantly better than ye olde Cicada. No, it doesn't matter which one. The speed dropped, and the amount of guns and armor went up. This is the first Dasher II variant to have a long range option, and it comes out swinging. Two points across the board is what I expect from an Uziel, not an overgrown Locust.
In the armor department it just gets better. Five points is the highest benchmark by a Dasher II, and the combination of that plus two structure means that it can handle the big 5 point punches so common in the Dark Ages and keep on trucking, without even hitting the forced withdrawal threshold if you use those rules. It also beats the Succession Wars Thud Test twice, and still keeps moving. It's a pretty sturdy little trooper.
Then things get weird. This guy has the MEL Special down there, for reasons that I cannot even begin to fathom. It actually increases the damage done by a physical attack to 3, so there's a damage increase in base contact. That's not the most common thing ever, and it might make a viable tactic out of rushing up to your opponent in callous disregard for firing arcs, because even the mightiest of mace-wielders can't kill you in one hit from a physical attack unless they get behind you (in which case you have chosen.... poorly), and you might just drop that 7/7/5 Mad Cat Mk II down to a maximum of 4 short range damage if you have to get close.
Alright, three down, one to go. The Dasher II 4 is probably the weirdest of the bunch, by virtue of being a Solaris design.
Notably, it is not unique.
Unit role bingo: Striker (x2 points!)
This guy is... special. A combination of Hardened Armor and Improved Jump Jets do all sorts of bizarre things to the movement profile, eventually stabilizing around 14”/16”j. I
suspect that there's a problem with the Hardened here, because that ground movement on a normally 7/11 (actually 7/10) design shouldn't still be 14”. I'll bring it up in the MUL thread after I post this.
Weapons are similar to the Dasher II 3, but now the OV 2 is back. That helps once you get into position, and jump jet movement is not affected by heat, so it can be useful to soften up your target on the way in with little worry. Melee attacks don't count as weapon attacks for heat purposes, and neither does heat affect to hit penalties for physical attacks, so overheating the turn before closing to melee range can be surprisingly effective, and leave you the most bang for your buck
and the most options in your toolbox available next turn.
Durability is down, back to the Dasher II 2 level. One addition in the special box deserves special mention, just because of how pointless it is. The hardened armor grants the CR special, which as you may remember from the Mad Cat Mk IV article, means critical hits are more difficult to get good results with. The only problem is that the Dasher II 4 has one point of structure, and will die to its first internal damage. CR is literally and completely useless, with the edge case exceptions of the Sharpshooter SPA, AP AC ammo, DFAs, and battle armor Anti-'Mech attacks. None of those things are common.
This one also has MEL, but adds TSM to the mix. That means it's entirely possible to be doing 4 damage in base contact, where your fragility is protected from the big guns of modern heavies, and it's easier to evade lumbering behemoths.
IF1 is also included, though I doubt it will be used in any appreciable sense. Like the previous two variants, the Dasher II 4 is a Striker (Bingo!), and should be used as such.
One thing I haven't touched on these last few variants is the PV cost. I alluded to a potential upcoming change in the PV calculations for fast units during the Standard, and I think it'd be a bit counter productive to talk about them right now. The Dasher II 2, 3, and 4 are basically poster children for the issue it's attempting to solve, and will change precipitously.
This was supposed to be a “short” article and is currently well onto its fourth page, so I'm going to call it here. Have a good upcoming week, everybody.
