MotW: Celerity

[Moonsword]

T-Augs. They can't jump and their armor is paper-thin, so the damage reduction won't really matter as much as sheer coverage will.

It's also worth noting that five points will snap a leg off your average Celerity (possibly all of them but definitely the Republic variants). That's not as crippling to quads the first time but it doesn't do you any favors, especially since drones pick up a PSR penalty.  Use a big enough stack of T-Augs and you can guarantee the Celerity's legs are blown away, crippling it completely for someone with a spare PPC or large laser to finish off.

[UnLimiTeD]

Well, if you can force the enemy to curtail their own approach with minefields for fear of your one or two Celerities, haven't you already won the battlefield?

[Arkansas Warrior]

If they weren't so big, i'd say they could add Cosmetic components to make them look like Clydesdale Horses or some other big animal to fool people into what they were seeing.  Solaris Mechs use Cosmetic  components like false turrets, weapons barrels etc.

Elephants.  Really fast elephants.




(If that doesn't work, there's probably also some sort of extraterrestrial fauna native to some world some where that it about the right size and shape.)

[Weirdo]

Well, if you can force the enemy to curtail their own approach with minefields for fear of your one or two Celerities, haven't you already won the battlefield?

The idea isn't to blanket the whole map with mines and make it unusable. You use the mines to encourage/force approaching enemies(and not just the Celebrities) to come at you along the routes you want them to use, and those are the ones where you've got pulse boats ready, and/or pre-plotted artillery shots. Either the drones charge in and get mowed down(and you're free to advance), or they're held back and don't attack, which is just as good as destroying them, at least in the short term.

Also, is anyone else having oodles of fun coming up with nicknames for these things? :)

[UnLimiTeD]

Well, I see that, but Celerities fill a niche. They are fast, they work best in open terrain. Unless you use them for the electronics, I guess, in which case they work nearly everywhere on the basis of being too fast to care for a few wood hexes or a hill or two.
If the opponent brings pulse boats or extra arty and spreads minefields around, they are curtailing their options just as much. I suppose clan pulse lasers or LTCs are always good to bring, but everything else demands sacrifices somewhere else, which strikes me as quite the investment to ward off 30 tons of mech that, at least IC, are pretty much an afterthought to the RAF force composition.
Btw, are there any rules for boobytrapping BA? I think the Fidelis would like that.  >:D

[Weirdo]

Well, I see that, but Celerities fill a niche. They are fast, they work best in open terrain. Unless you use them for the electronics, I guess, in which case they work nearly everywhere on the basis of being too fast to care for a few wood hexes or a hill or two.
If the opponent brings pulse boats or extra arty and spreads minefields around, they are curtailing their options just as much. I suppose clan pulse lasers or LTCs are always good to bring, but everything else demands sacrifices somewhere else, which strikes me as quite the investment to ward off 30 tons of mech that, at least IC, are pretty much an afterthought to the RAF force composition.
Btw, are there any rules for boobytrapping BA? I think the Fidelis would like that.  >:D

Who said it's just to stop the drones? The RAF fields plenty of stuff that really hates minefields. See their entire non-mech ground arsenal, for example.

And if you're putting mines in the path of your advance, you are VERY doing it wrong. You put them where you don't want to go, but don't want your enemy going there either.

[sadlerbw]

I messed around a little with an Ajax D and two of the TAG-equipped variants, and it worked out quite well. The tank just sat back behind a hill lobbing homing Arrow IV rounds, and the two celerys would take turns tagging the enemy. One would run in using as much movement as possible, get into some non-adjacent trees behind the target, and go prone. The other one, would use running movement to bail out to someplace where no one could see to hit it to let the MASC/Supercharger rolls reset to minimums. You could say they were TAG-teaming the enemy  ^-^

I did miss one or two shots when TAG didn't hit, but overall it worked really well. Even when a lucky 12 got rolled and mangled one of the two celebrants, they other still managed to keep calling in rounds for a couple more turns before it got popped. These little doggies were fantastic TAGers.

[Iron Mongoose]

Who said it's just to stop the drones? The RAF fields plenty of stuff that really hates minefields. See their entire non-mech ground arsenal, for example.

Quite right.  If I'm the Cappies, I'll tend to have a few dozen tons of Thunders no matter what.  Its just a matter of swapping them into the LRM mechs I have anyway (even old Vindicators can work) and going to town.  And if either my opposition or the terrain doesn't speak to the tactic, I can swap regular LRMs back in.  Artillery too is always useful; historically one of the best targets for it has been big slow units, so carting a few tubes around is a reasonable idea any day of the week.

A well rounded unit should be able to protect itself against fast mechs.  Now, granted for most folks that means Fire Moths and high end Locusts, but its mainly a matter of degree, and in some ways some of the most fearsome Celeritys are easier to counter since they each have but a single tactic they can employ.

The Celerity by contrast is always what it is, save mixing up the Omni pods on the units so equipped.  They take up their slot in the mech bay, they have huge expensive engines with foil armor in every battle.  They're the ones who need to be coming up with tactics to counter any of the various tactics they may encounter. 

 I'd be a lot more afraid of the TAG variant (as sadlerbw explains its use so well above) or others that needn't get quite so close to their enemies; even a 1/2 pilot in a Vapor Eagle would be hard pressed to hit a prone Celerity in a patch of woods coming off a 27 hex run at long range, even if it would be simple to swat away a charging one at point blank. 

[Maingunnery]

What about oil slicks from fluid guns?

[Weirdo]

Even with the quad stability bonus, you're talking comedy gold. ;D

[blitzy]

On a sorta related side note, the Primary works great against enemy supply bunkers and especially ammo storage, although you might need to use inferno, depending.

[SCC]

Gotta agree with the comment about Drones not really being usable post-4th, basically requires the ECCM rules.

Unless there's something in universe about ECM not being on all the time to avoid putting time on the clocks and wearing out equipment I can't see ANY reason why they would be used, too easy to take out (Looks at TSEMP cannon wearily) as for the Narc version, if I was fielding these I'd want ARAD missile (Which get Narc bonus[es]), but getting a Celerity to hit anything carrying ECM with a Narc pod is dangerous.

As for killing it, has no one heard of the Destrier?

[UnLimiTeD]

You mean that big, slow tank that's totally not going to be within range, of a faction the republic tentatively isn't at war with?
I think the Thunders are more likely, given that yes, if a Capellan player doesn't have any of those he's in the wrong army.
At least in fluff, I've read instances of military ECM being visible on scanners ways off, so I suppose having it on all the time will give your position away; That said, if you use the Narc version, your ARAD missiles thrive on the very thing that'll disable the drone, so I see no issue there.
I mean, from the books it looks to me like this one is for clandestine operations and scouting, we probably shouldn't assume they'll be deployed where counters are expected. At least not in combat, that is.
... and now I wonder why the Republic hasn't developed an ERTAG.  ;D

[sadlerbw]

... and now I wonder why the Republic hasn't developed an ERTAG.  ;D

Wow...that could be table-flippingly frustrating, but it would certainly get more people to add artillery to their games!

[SCC]

At least in fluff, I've read instances of military ECM being visible on scanners ways off, so I suppose having it on all the time will give your position away; That said, if you use the Narc version, your ARAD missiles thrive on the very thing that'll disable the drone, so I see no issue there.

Narc is compatible with ARAD, the bonuses stack, so you still want to Narc a ECM emitting target

[mbear]

Good thing we can't do "bearings launches" of these things. If we could you could be a total ******* and refit the ECM carrying drone with a composite structure to free slots, fit Stealth Armor, then send it hurtling at a DropShip. 32 MP + Stealth Armor? Ugh.

[Nightsong]

I now have this image in my head of an -05-X blasting clean through a Jenner and leaving noting behind but a couple of twitching legs. Time to fire up MegaMek!

I actually did that to an Avatar with an Ostscout. Final move of the game, shoulder tackled him in the back, and focused enough damage to shear off the left torso. Was a beautiful hit that would have looked awesome on the Sportscenter Top Ten of the Night.

[Sabelkatten]

I actually did that to an Avatar with an Ostscout. Final move of the game, shoulder tackled him in the back, and focused enough damage to shear off the left torso. Was a beautiful hit that would have looked awesome on the Sportscenter Top Ten of the Night.

I can one-up that. Damaged Wildcat (30 ton custom quad) realizes its only useful attack left is a charge (sensor damage, one leg destroyed) and charges a damaged Mad Dog for ~20 damage. Somehow survives the shooting phase and completely destroys its center torso.

With a Celerity you can almost do it to an undamaged mech! :o

[Scotty]

Charge damage is applied in groups of five, so it'll take some damn good rolling to do it to an undamaged 'Mech.

[sadlerbw]

That is exactly why I mentioned hitting a Jenner. The armor is thin enough that with 10-12 clusters, you have a shot at coring out the CT. Anything much bigger or better armored, and it isn't all that likely to blow right through the CT in one charge.

[misterpants]

The following amused me far more than it should have, but:

Under BV 2.0, 3 -05-Xs are only 72 BV more than a HAG-40 and 3 shots  :D

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Worst is, there's little you can do to stop it.  Unless you're in a Black Python or Sagatire type mech, or a hyper elite pilot (or both; they do sometimes go together), with a +6 TMM it will be hard to reliably kill one before it can do its damage.  If you find a mech with minimum ranges (imagine going after a Thunder Hawk) then even a 1/2 pilot might not get the job done (TN of 9 with the GRs even if the THawk stood still, if I did my math right).

Are there any mechs that combine VSPLs with Targeting Computers or AES?

[Firesprocket]

There is an Enforcer that has a Large VSP and TC.

[UnLimiTeD]

Well, or as people said, Artillery cannons.
Pulse Lasers and a tarcomp are good, though, and a bit more prevalent. You're not really aiming anywhere specific, you just want to hit at all.

[Wrangler]

How does one actually use one these things in game play.  I think the intimation of using a "Drone" would be best server if how you normally use one.  You need a Drone Control system? Does the Mech have penalties to being used?

[Weirdo]

The rules for drones are in TacOps.

[Feign]

before anyone asks, yes, there are battle armor attachment points. I don’t know if it was some joke by the guy working up the mockups, but lo, there they are. I have yet to talk to a suit jockey willing to give it a go.

Challenge Accepted.
Not only that, but I am fairly sure i could find at least three other friends as crazy as I am.
I mean, who doesn't want to ride a giant mecha cheetah into battle while blasting 90s speed metal through the comms?

[Maingunnery]

Challenge Accepted.
Not only that, but I am fairly sure i could find at least three other friends as crazy as I am.
I mean, who doesn't want to ride a giant mecha cheetah into battle while blasting 90s speed metal through the comms?

Even if it goes Bambi at full speed over ice?

[UnLimiTeD]

The ablative armour might well allow it to survive a charge, now that I think about it.
How roomy is the visor of the suits, anyways? Is there room for puke?

[Pa Weasley]

How roomy is the visor of the suits, anyways? Is there room for puke?

There's always room for the first instance. I make ni promises for the follow ups.