WiGE construction is it worth it or doable .

[Col Toda]

I noticed an 80 ton WIGE  has a top speed of 5/8 . You need to maintain a minimum speed of 5 so ANY motive crit may prevent movement at all so I figure you have to add armored motive systems And Hardened armor to eliminate the +4 modifier to motive criticals in the first  place . My question is short of making them light,  fast with stealth armor and long range weapons  is it really possible to make a real effective combat unit at all ?  I am sold as to its cargo support role but not combat . The +4 modifier or + 6 from a side hit just makes it a lawn dart waiting to happen  . I designed an 80 ton ,  43 million C Bill boondoggle WiGE armed with a PPC ,  Thunderbolt 10 in the Front and 1 LS , 1 RS light AC /2s in sponsens  with a targeting computer.  So everything can shoot directly forward  . Even with 80 points of hardened armor  cost vs effectiveness  truly sucks 1005 BV where I can purchase  about 4 ;  10.7 million of my Solaris VII specials Shadowhawks at 1367 BV each .

Can anyone sell me on the idea of WiGE combat vehicles?  Am I missing something  ? The above WiGE  I designs as a wet navy unit as I could not justify the expense otherwise .

[worktroll]

WiGEs are more or less halfway between VTOLs and hovers. Speed is life, because rotor hits or motive hits, respectively, kill those units - motive hits kill WiGEs. And with all three, you can't make a slugger work. So don't design a slugger. Snipers or skirmishers/backstabbers are the go.

Snipers need a turret, enough MP to control the range, and a long-range weapon or two. Sniper WiGEs can't ignore terrain by climbing like VTOLs do, but outside dense hills you ought to have enough MP to find a fire zone.

Skirmishers need the speed to stay out of contact until the perfect moment for unloading an alpha strike, and then the speed to get out of Dodge soonest. Weapons load could vary between one big stick and a bunch of smaller weapons.

So instead of your 80-tonner, try a 40-tonner with a turret-mounted PPC, or a bunch of medium lasers and SRMs.

Alternatively, WiGEs make great transports for your infantry and BA.

[kaliban]

Every time I tried to make a useful WiGE I end up preferring to use VTOLs instead.

[monbvol]

1.  You can get an 80 ton WiGe up to 6/9.  True it doesn't leave much room for anything else unless you go XL but it helps mitigate the lack of mobility a little.

2.  Are you remembering to apply their free elevation change and bonus MP rules?  The right terrain and a 6/9 WiGe can out maneuver an 8/12 hover.

[Simon Landmine]

Yeah, with WiGEs it's better to aim for the middle of the weight band, rather than trying to build something big (unless you want something to act as wet navy, as you mention). And they are also excellent, as stated, as infantry/BA transport - excellent as fast skimmers to drop units off where you want them.

[Goose]

  WiGEs have a 100% markup at 25 tons, and by extension, a 200% 50 tons.

Seems kind'a limiting …

[maxcarrion]

There's lots of things you can do with a WIGE chassis that is worth doing.  Trying to replace tracked chassis in things tracked chassis is really good at isn't it.  It's all about the right tool for the job.  They are probably closest in usage to a VTOL as they are fast, capable over mixed terrain, require atmosphere and highly vulnerable to motive crits and flak.  They are also, IMO, more useful in the mid range than at either extreme.  But, as worktroll noted, they also share a lot of similarities with Hovers. 

I would not bother with an 80T combat WIGE, it does not give value IMO, a 50T combat WIGE on the other hand can be an excellent fast strike unit.  A far better tank than a VTOL, far more capable on rough terrain than a Hover, far faster than a track and with a unique capability of being tossed out of a dropship in flight and glide in without the vulnerability/stealthlessness of coming down on jump jets/drop cocoon.  An aerodyne small craft could easily drop 2x50T WIGE IFV packed full of battle armour and toting heavy anti armour weapons like PPCs and present a really bad day to anyone, anywhere while comfortably outpacing just about anything that tries to chase them. 

In many cases you could toss a coin to choose between VTOL, WIGE or Hover, they are all excellent high speed combat chassis.  Each has a niche where it is the best choice of the 3, each has weaknesses that can leave it crippled and useless.  I did a project on a Navy Special Operations Command unit that was heavily WIGE based and they were absolutely the right tools for that job.  A civilian presenting dropship carrying 28x50T WIGE and 120 suits of battle armour,  WIGE were absolutely the right chassis for that project. 

Project: https://bg.battletech.com/forums/non-canon-units/navy-special-operations-command-rapid-tactical-response-unit-re-titled/msg1475360/#msg1475360

WIGE design:  https://bg.battletech.com/forums/combat-vehicles/design-requests-nsoc-wige-ifv/