'Mech of the Week: HUR-WO-* Huron Warrior

[Empyrus]

Removed until further notice.

[Nightsong]

Not a Cappie player, but liked both the missile and gauss variants, whether you want your rain of pain or boom-headshots. The DHS refit on the R4O makes it a wonderful design that isn't afraid of taking the harder shots.

[The Eagle]

I've always had a soft spot for the Huron Warrior.  It makes for a decent pairing with the FWLM's 5/8/X-speeded 'Mechs, like the Wolverine, Trebuchet, and Anvil.  The fact that it's also the personal ride of my personal favorite canon mercenary of all time -- Colonel William MacLeod -- also helps a bit, I'm sure!

[Kidd]

A cheap way of getting more Gauss rifles to the field. Standard medium lasers would have been preferred but its okay.

[Wrangler]

The original was good sniper unit if you ended up rolling it for your force (for the era).  It's not bad machine not one i would seek out due to the heat issues.  Bracket fire is best thing to do with it.  I've not had chance to encounter the O variant, but i'd like give it another go.

I like how the original TRO:3055 mentions one the designers of the mech was Daniel Longfeather, which whom was a descent of Huron people. The original fluff help make the origin of the Mech make more sense. Its too bad that bit info was cut from the Upgrade version.  I suspect it was dropped  so make room for the recently returned Notable MechWarriors section.

Thanks for writing this up, Empyrus!

[misterpants]

I admit I was turned off at its initial TRO 3055 appearance, that headdress styling was too much of a turnoff at the time, but it has come to grown on me, especially since the R40 gave it DHS.

[glitterboy2098]

honestly i'm surprised we never got the obvious refit.. downgrade the ERLL to a standard. then it can guass, LL, and run for only 1 heat. and up close it can LL, MPL, and run for 4.

btw, i find it a bit.. weird. that the mech was named the Huron warrior.. but the Wyandot nation never used the style of headdress the mech imitates. that was more of a plains tribe thing, and the Wyandot (aka "huron's") are an eastern tribal culture.

[Empyrus]

I like how the original TRO:3055 mentions one the designers of the mech was Daniel Longfeather, which whom was a descent of Huron people. The original fluff help make the origin of the Mech make more sense. Its too bad that bit info was cut from the Upgrade version.  I suspect it was dropped  so make room for the recently returned Notable MechWarriors section.

Thanks for writing this up, Empyrus!

Interesting, that name origin tidbit. Is there anything else interesting in the original TRO that the Upgrade lacks?
Also makes me wonder if the 'Mech was originally intended to be a Capellan 'Mech, during TRO3055 pre-production. Because i left out a part on the article where i noted the manufacturing place: Corey. Corey is a FedSuns world during the 3050s... so basically we have a FedSuns world exporting 'Mechs to their enemy. Now, i figure there could be some legal trickery that allows this but i'm not sure that makes sense, though a lot of the Great Houses and their weapons suppliers are often quite respecting of legal design rights (i assume the Hegemony and later ComStar basically enforce these).

honestly i'm surprised we never got the obvious refit.. downgrade the ERLL to a standard. then it can guass, LL, and run for only 1 heat. and up close it can LL, MPL, and run for 4.

Well, the intended role is direct fire support so distance is kinda necessary. Personally i wouldn't be interested in a standard large laser refit (don't care for Rakshasa's laser downgrade either) since i see range as a core aspect of the 'Mech.
I reckon part of the reason for no such variant is that the 'Mech is likely a prestige unit at first. New tech is a status symbol of sorts after all. YMMV if this makes sense.

[Wrangler]

Interesting, that name origin tidbit. Is there anything else interesting in the original TRO that the Upgrade lacks?
Also makes me wonder if the 'Mech was originally intended to be a Capellan 'Mech, during TRO3055 pre-production. Because i left out a part on the article where i noted the manufacturing place: Corey. Corey is a FedSuns world during the 3050s... so basically we have a FedSuns world exporting 'Mechs to their enemy. Now, i figure there could be some legal trickery that allows this but i'm not sure that makes sense, though a lot of the Great Houses and their weapons suppliers are often quite respecting of legal design rights (i assume the Hegemony and later ComStar basically enforce these).

The older 3055 wasn't as extensive as the Upgrade. However it was big improvement from original TRO:3050, which which had less written up per unit.  Only significant information the Huron Warrior entry has in the original that differs (aside descent Huron engineer gearing up the mech look more like Native American Indian warrior) it's detailed more slightly when it comes to the Mech's mechanic fluff and article also has a color picture of the Huron Warrior. The old TRO info mentions that the Huron Warrior's updated creation was result of the partially of the Capellan's economy improving with release of the Helm Core technology & captured Clan technology. It does mention House Liao were also profiteering from Clan Invasion the same way the Free Worlds League were. 

The old entry gives the impression of the alliance between the League and the Confederation as both factions are jointly purchasing the Mech.

[Iron Mongoose]

I have always liked the Huron Warrior.  The SHS bug me, to be sure, and I invariably use the DHS upgrade in eras where available, but I do concede that it is one of the few modern SHS mechs that is still pretty usable and that doesn't drive me totally berserk with its inefficiency (like the Grasshopper J, for example). 

I do think it has a very period CC feel.  Though their development of some cool missile tech has made them a bit LRMier over the years, looking at the Cataphract and Vindicator I always got the feel of the big but mismatched direct fire main guns.  Even the Liao Marauder matches this, with the odd PPC and LL combination.  It could just be some sort of odd conformation bias, since doubtless every other house has examples of mechs like this (War Dog, Dragon Fire, Albatross) but I think it feels right.

I don't really like the LRM/Stealth variant, even though I've used the LRM/Stealth tactic a few times and dropped it into such lances, it feels, as is rightly pointed out, more like a Trebuchet than a Huron Warrior.

I've never used the new variants, though I'm gratified that it survived into the Republic era, since there are so many unfamiliar faces running around.  Stealth and a GR sound promising, and depending on the PPC it could have some good takedown power at need.  Though I'd probably just as soon take the R4O and call it good.  Even with all the new toys these days, sometimes a good simple set of big guns and stout armor is what you really need.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

This mech sponsored by Mutual of Omaha.

I've never really gotten much into this mech.  As I've said before, there's nobody in my play group that has significant interest in the CC so we don't run too many Capellan games.

[Vegam Ranger]

I have always liked the Huron Warrior.  The SHS bug me, to be sure, and I invariably use the DHS upgrade in eras where available, but I do concede that it is one of the few modern SHS mechs that is still pretty usable and that doesn't drive me totally berserk with its inefficiency (like the Grasshopper J, for example). 

I do think it has a very period CC feel.  Though their development of some cool missile tech has made them a bit LRMier over the years, looking at the Cataphract and Vindicator I always got the feel of the big but mismatched direct fire main guns.  Even the Liao Marauder matches this, with the odd PPC and LL combination.  It could just be some sort of odd conformation bias, since doubtless every other house has examples of mechs like this (War Dog, Dragon Fire, Albatross) but I think it feels right.

I don't really like the LRM/Stealth variant, even though I've used the LRM/Stealth tactic a few times and dropped it into such lances, it feels, as is rightly pointed out, more like a Trebuchet than a Huron Warrior.

I've never used the new variants, though I'm gratified that it survived into the Republic era, since there are so many unfamiliar faces running around.  Stealth and a GR sound promising, and depending on the PPC it could have some good takedown power at need.  Though I'd probably just as soon take the R4O and call it good.  Even with all the new toys these days, sometimes a good simple set of big guns and stout armor is what you really need.

Curiously enough, I just realized today while reading this article, that the Huron Warrior is the upgrade to the Trebuchet 7K I always wanted.

[The Eagle]

This mech sponsored by Mutual of Omaha.

I've never really gotten much into this mech.  As I've said before, there's nobody in my play group that has significant interest in the CC so we don't run too many Capellan games.

Any FWLM players?  They field it too, even have their own variant (which I honestly prefer; the little extra armor comes in handy from time to time).

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Nope, we're all either FedCom, Lyran (that would be me), Snakes, or Clanners.

[The Eagle]

Sad face.

[garhkal]

I admit I was turned off at its initial TRO 3055 appearance, that headdress styling was too much of a turnoff at the time, but it has come to grown on me, especially since the R40 gave it DHS.

I am opposite.  I liked the head dress styling of the mech, more so than its actual in game play (especially the earlier single heat version), and loved both the look and the freezers in the updated version.  The ER large and gauss give it some decent 'reach out and touch someone' capacity, but i would have preferred paired mls than a singular mpl..

Though one option i am surprised we never saw..  Drop the ER large entirely, put on a LRM-10 with art and 1 ton of ammo, drop off the MPL, and just sit back.. 

[Arkansas Warrior]

Nope, we're all either FedCom, Lyran (that would be me), Snakes, or Clanners.

House troops or mercenaries?  An Outreach-native merc in a FedSuns-based command pilots one in KevinK's Chaos Irregulars stories.

[Skyth]

I remember in one of the novels, a Huron Warrior is gifted to the Northwind Highlanders by the Chancellor.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

It's not that there's no way to justify using it, it's just that nobody in the group has any serious interest in doing so.

[The Eagle]

aaaaaaand there's really no answer for that.  I'm not particularly interested in running a Rakshasa (just as an example), so I can see the point.

[sadlerbw]

Even if you don't play it much, this mech is probably the poster child for re-sculpting existing mechs. The current version is headdress and shoulders above the original.

I've used it occasionally as opfor, and it isn't half bad. Not a whole lot different than an Enforcer 5D, which I've run plenty of times. I don't think I've ever used the LRM version, but the standard version, with or without doubles, is a nice, middle of the road mech.

[cavingjan]

The camospecs link isn't working because it is an old style link from before the migration a few years ago. This link should work.
http://camospecs.com/IWM/Details/1077

[Darkwing]

I always had a soft spot for it. It was simply efficient. I was surprised the FWL never slapped a light Gauss rifle into it. Doing so you could have upped the laser into a PPC (if you could steal one from an Awesome), or with double heat sinks and dropping the med pulse (and a more demand on the heat sinks) finessed a second ER large laser into it.

It was a fun mini to paint as well.

[Nightsong]

I always had a soft spot for it. It was simply efficient. I was surprised the FWL never slapped a light Gauss rifle into it. Doing so you could have upped the laser into a PPC (if you could steal one from an Awesome), or with double heat sinks and dropping the med pulse (and a more demand on the heat sinks) finessed a second ER large laser into it.

It was a fun mini to paint as well.

If you're going for range, go LGR, DHS and ERPPC in that case.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Given the FWL's fetish for sticking Light Gauss Rifles onto everything in the early 60s, I'm guessing that the HW never got one because there was a supply shortage.

[garhkal]

I wonder how it would work with an LB-10x instead of the gauss. 

[Arkansas Warrior]

Well, if nothing else you'd free up some tonnage.  Maybe add some electronics, turnit into heavy scout?  Wouldn't be a bad concept.

[Giovanni Blasini]

I find it interesting it went from basically being a Trebuchet using Intro tech to a faster, Enforcer-style direct fire support 'Mech. They could easily have gone with an AC/5, ton of ammo, large laser, LRM-5 and ton of ammo at 5/8 with 9.5 tons of armor.

[glitterboy2098]

I find it interesting it went from basically being a Trebuchet using Intro tech to a faster, Enforcer-style direct fire support 'Mech. They could easily have gone with an AC/5, ton of ammo, large laser, LRM-5 and ton of ammo at 5/8 with 9.5 tons of armor.

so instead of trebuchet to enforcer, you'd prefer trebuchet to Shadow Hawk?  :)

[SteelRaven]

I was never too impressed with the Huron but it's solid mech. I guess the sensor array makes sense when you look at the Rifleman and such but talk about doubling your profile.