Author Topic: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?  (Read 16590 times)

Cryhavok101

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #60 on: 27 May 2017, 15:18:20 »
Also battle armor can swarm normal BattleMechs, so there are things to hold onto, as long as it isn't trying to get you off of it. Just declare a swarm against the friendly 'Mech and decline to inflict damage with it.

Charistoph

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #61 on: 27 May 2017, 22:42:44 »
So I am tired, and it's the end of the work week, but when I read a few comments above ending with Land-Air Elementals, for some reason in my head I got the idea you all were talking about a Bane that fired Elementals out of it's launchers as if they were ammo.

I may need to go to sleep.

That's the Bane-AGM introduced by the rather unknown, but very volatile, Clan Angry Marines who are always angry, all the time.  Their wartime salute involves a central digit upgraised at the enemy.  There is a rumor that they are the not-named clan returning from revenge, but it turns out that they were created to hunt them down.
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StoneRhino

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #62 on: 28 May 2017, 07:05:44 »
LRMs and more LRMs. >:D

Demon55

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #63 on: 30 May 2017, 17:01:46 »
LRMs and more LRMs. >:D

LRMs, yes. But have other things that can kill when your LRM equipped mech is closed with. 

I like 2 LRM-15s with 4 ML (I am a Catapult-C1 fan).

2 (er)LL plus a couple of medium lasers o medium pulse.

2 (er)PPCs and some back up weapons for in close. 

Kit deSummersville

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #64 on: 31 May 2017, 08:36:34 »
LRMs, yes. But have other things that can kill when your LRM equipped mech is closed with. 


Like another 'Mech 7 hexes away?  >:D
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Maxxx

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #65 on: 01 June 2017, 00:28:28 »
The Atlas AS8-D can unleash 134 points of damage at short range but hitting with the light PPCs at short range is tricky. On the Clan side of things the Turkina Z can unleash 144 points of damage with the ATMs alone.

Did you include any TSM melee attacks in that? Because weapon-wise I only see 2 Light PPCs (10 pts), 4 small lasers (12 pts), 2 MML 9 (max 36 pts), RAC 5 (max 30 pts), Snub PPC (10 pts), so in total a maximum of 98 pts at short range.

Kit deSummersville

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #66 on: 01 June 2017, 08:53:02 »
Did you include any TSM melee attacks in that? Because weapon-wise I only see 2 Light PPCs (10 pts), 4 small lasers (12 pts), 2 MML 9 (max 36 pts), RAC 5 (max 30 pts), Snub PPC (10 pts), so in total a maximum of 98 pts at short range.

Well yeah, a nice kick is part of it's package!
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Maxxx

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #67 on: 01 June 2017, 20:14:18 »
Well yeah, a nice kick is part of it's package!

I see, we have very different definitions of SHORT range.  ;)
In that case you would loose one of the small lasers and would be at 135.

Nightsong

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #68 on: 02 June 2017, 07:06:34 »
Old Days I love a nice combo of one or more large LRM racks, some medium lasers and maybe a PPC. I'm a huge fan of Indirect Fire.

Newer days: Large LRM racks, Medium lasers of some flavor, an LB-X and/or Standard or Large PPC. I'm also a big fan of a Narc-equipped spotter. See the previous entry for why. ;)

Clans: I just don't play them much, but the combo of Medium lasers of some flavor, LRMs, SRMs (preferably streak) and an LB-X and/or ER PPC is about the same.  HAGs are kind of intriguing, though require too much weight dedicated to ammo, and they're just not that great at range, which is what I love about gauss weaponry.

Re: Melee 'Mechs - I like backing them up with some medium to long range weapon (The AXM-2N's LRMs are a better choice than the AC/20, if the ammo bins weren't so shallow) though something that could come into play up close would be better. ER PPCs, or Large lasers of some flavor come to mind as working well but I'd avoid traditional-ranged PPCs (Light/Regular/Heavy) because you get crippled at the ranges you'd bring your axe to bear. I'm no fan of Snubnose PPCs, but those would actually work semi-decently on an axe-packer. I also wouldn't look down on a Large X-Pulse Laser, particularly if said 'Mech has TSM. Which makes me think about throwing together a TSM/Light engine modded Axman with X-Pulse lasers....

(SMD)MadCow

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #69 on: 05 June 2017, 16:03:29 »
I'm a big fan of the 5-10-15 range bracket because there are so many weapons that can pair up nicely:
LL, AC/10, Plasma Rifle, RAC/5, Blazer, LAC/5,  RE LL, HLL, Thunderbolts, Bombast Laser, LXPL
« Last Edit: 05 June 2017, 16:10:43 by (SMD)MadCow »

Cryhavok101

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #70 on: 05 June 2017, 16:33:50 »
I'm a big fan of the 5-10-15 range bracket because there are so many weapons that can pair up nicely:
LL, AC/10, Plasma Rifle, RAC/5, Blazer, LAC/5,  RE LL, HLL, Thunderbolts, Bombast Laser, LXPL

Don't forget TAG  :D

Kit deSummersville

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #71 on: 06 June 2017, 08:58:28 »
Don't forget TAG  :D

TAG isn't 5/10/15.
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Kit deSummersville

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #73 on: 06 June 2017, 09:56:49 »
It pairs well with the Snub Nosed PPC, trying to stay at 9 hexes exactly.
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Vonshroom

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #74 on: 21 July 2017, 13:46:25 »
I play almost exclusively 3025 - early clan invasion into level tech. In that late succession wars era my favorite weapon combos are:
PPC at range, medium lasers in close       
LRM's at range, medium lasers in close     
Large lasers, they go with everything       
PPC,LRM,Mlaser                                     

I really like to pair inferno SRM's with all of these combos.

Any design refits or custom builds lean on a PPC and LRM as long range firepower backed up by as many Medium lasers as I can efficiently fit for once things close.
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Minemech

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #75 on: 22 July 2017, 10:07:18 »
LRM 15 + a main gun. The main gun may vary by the mech, and its role.

truetanker

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #76 on: 22 July 2017, 11:50:54 »
LL + SRM IS forces.

ERL + MPL clan forces.

But just about anything, really!

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« Last Edit: 22 July 2017, 11:52:48 by truetanker »
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Col Toda

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #77 on: 03 October 2017, 10:34:18 »
GAUSS RIFLE , and Homing Arrow IV to make holes and LB-X 10 and LRMs to exploit them.

SCC

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #78 on: 11 October 2017, 03:51:51 »
I prefer something that allows me to mess with the enemy, especially with their heat levels. Plasma weapons, infernos, even flamers. The more my opponent is unsure what he can shoot at me the better.
Couple this with a Centurion Weapon System for extra fun as that functional means any 'Mech is actually 14 heat further up the scale.

Another combo I'm toying around with is ER Large Laser & RISC Pulse Module + MML9 on a tank, as a sort of upgraded Manticore.

grimlock1

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #79 on: 12 October 2017, 17:36:41 »
So you'd call the Nova Prime or Turkina D a critseeker?
Take a look at the Turk E.  The HAG 40 is almost superfluous.

I don't see as there is any reason it shouldn't be a thing in universe either.  The explanation that is out there for why normal mechs can't simply be modified the same way has to do with some blanket reasoning about weight distribution and the way omni mechs are constructed and possibly gyros calibrated as compared to a standard battle mech.  I could be wrong and someone can feel free to correct me.  That is part of the reason we have magnetic clamps rules that we have now.  Even if they don't really make sense.
Or swarm a friendly in one turn then and then simply elect not to fire any weapons in the following turn.  If you note TW, page 223, "If the swarming infantry unit stays on the ’Mech, it may make normal arm-mounted weapon attacks."



Based on some simulations I ran a while back, there is an appeal to massed LRM-5 racks over the larger launchers, especially 20's.  In both IS and Clan tech, there is always a weight savings in using an equivalent number of LRM-5's over 10's, 15's or 20's, and in the case of the IS LRM-20, you also save a crit. Caveat, the weight/size advantage does not apply to eLRM's or nLRM's.

I ran some monte-carlo simulations that randomly selected a THN, rolled 2D6 for one LRM20.  Misses were treated as 0 damage, but hits were checked against the Cluster Hits table.   Then it used the same THN number for 4 LRM-5's, and treated the results the same. I don't recall which one came out on top but I do recall that difference after a million or so comparisons was on the order of 0.1 points of damage.

This scheme also has some advantages.  Instead of a single 4 crit Clan LRM-20, you now have 4, 1 crit weapons.  You can take a critical hit, lose a launcher and keep sending hate and discontent down range, albeit at a lower volume.

The size and weight advantages break down once Artemis comes into play.  The weigh/size advantage holds for MRM's and Streak LRM's but there is still some testing to see if the MRM's +1 THN, or the Streak-ness changes the results.

The downside, however is heat. LRM-15 and-20 racks are cooler than equivalent LRM-5's. This becomes a bigger deal if you replace a Salamander's IS 3 LRM-20's at 18 Heat with 15 LRM-5's at 30 heat :o .


Which brings me to something else that I haven't seen mentioned.  TSM has it's uses on non-melee 'mechs.  Use it on heat hogs, to get out of dodge.  Instead of designing so that you can alpha or fire several brackets and stay under +5 Heat, so that you can run away and cool off, aim to be +10-13 Heat after a salvo.  Instead of being -2MP, you are now +1.  The GTFO maneuver just got a bit easier.
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Getz

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #80 on: 16 October 2017, 18:44:49 »
Personally I'm a big fan of using IS LBX-10s and standard PPCs together.  They have matched ranges and give you a nice one-two punch combined with the ability to both hole poke and crit-seek at the same time for not a lot of heat.

Once the tech level advances, replacing the PPC with an HPPC gives a nice increase in firepower.

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CrossfirePilot

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #81 on: 16 October 2017, 22:22:40 »
Give me something in 3025 with an LRM15 and SRM4 mix.  Or LRM 15, SRM4, PPC, Maybe some sprinkles and MLs on top.

Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #82 on: 16 October 2017, 22:40:07 »
MRM-40s and C3 slaves.

grimlock1

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #83 on: 17 October 2017, 00:59:28 »
Personally I'm a big fan of using IS LBX-10s and standard PPCs together.  They have matched ranges and give you a nice one-two punch combined with the ability to both hole poke and crit-seek at the same time for not a lot of heat.

Once the tech level advances, replacing the PPC with an HPPC gives a nice increase in firepower.

If you have the heat sinks, I would vote for the ER PPC.  That gives you extra turn or two to make some holes for the LB clusters to fill up.

Give me something in 3025 with an LRM15 and SRM4 mix.  Or LRM 15, SRM4, PPC, Maybe some sprinkles and MLs on top.
That seems oddly familiar....
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Easy

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Re: What Are Your Preferred Weapons Combinations?
« Reply #84 on: 17 October 2017, 01:42:54 »
There is a Clan Invasion Era combo that I tend to gravitate to:

1x ERPPC              (arm)
1x Gauss Rifle        (arm)
4x Medium Lasers  (torso)
1x StreakSRM6      (torso)

I can sub a LB10-X for the GR if it's an OmniMech or something, but I really try and avoid more than one ammo location on a 'Mech if I can help it. GR ammo sorta doesn't count as much because it doesn't explode and GR weapon explosions might usually only cost you a limb if you arm-mount it.

You will probably recognize this as your basic 3025 evolutions upwards in 'Mech weights and class from Phoenix Hawk to Wolverine to Cronus to Star Slayer to Falconer/Lynx to Lau Hu progression. The ability to be effective in multiple range bands has always been something I look for. This can get you wasted sometimes, though. :D As the 'Mech weight goes up or down, I just like to substitute lighter or heavier versions of this basic default pattern if I'm assuming no other mission requirements.
« Last Edit: 17 October 2017, 01:50:09 by Easy »