Mechs absolutely need to be matched to the correct pilot, AND the correct play skill.
Short ranged, slow mechs NEED a normal pilot. They actually arent as efficient with a 0/0 pilot, as they are supposed to be shooting at short range with little movement, as their slow mech doesnt benefit much from movement TMM. With them, you want quantity, not quality. 2 hunchbacks are better then 1 really good pilot hunchback. Games with this style of mech and pilot tend to resolve quickly, as once engaged neither force can really disengage as everyone is so slow, so its 'shoot until you die' which goes pretty quick.
Faster mechs with long range guns NEED a great pilot. They also need lots of turns. Since they paid for mobility and long range guns, they need to be moving AND keeping out of range of the enemies short range more efficient guns. This means you need a good pilot as you are going to be firing with multiple modifiers even before the target or cover get counted. An elite phoenix hawk SHOULD always beat any number of hunchbacks on a large enough board, but it also will take FOREVER as you skirt at range 10 sniping with your large while the AC/20s are kept out. At medium range, with a +2 enemy TMM and +2 from running, you need at least a 6 with a 0 gunner. A 2 gunner needs an 8, and a 4 gunner needs a 10. In 36 turns, the 4 gunnery phawk does 48 damage, the 2 gunner phawk does 120 damage, and the 0 gunnery phawk does 224 damage. So a 4 gunnery phawk playing keepaway versus a hunchback literally just ruins your game night, as nothing happens for 36 turns. A 2 gunnery phawk cripples a hunchback, so at least the game had a result. The 0 gunnery phoenix hawk kills stuff, so it actually does something in a reasonable amount of time.
So, back to the OP, the falconer is a 5/8 that needs to be jumping and sticking to range. So unless it was a super elite gunner, its no wonder why it feels underwhelming--either you arnt using its mobility (thus why you feel like a warhammer or marauder is just as good or better since both just sit and shoot) or you are moving it and missing all your shots in a 10-16 turn game with a 3 or worse gunnery, or are putting it in short range where it just dies too fast cause everyone can hit it at shorter ranges. The falconer needs a very long game at skill 2 to use all the mobility and range you paid for, or it needs to be skill 0 to see results with it in a real world game of 10-15 turns for 1 game session.
