Finishing up the Beginner Box plus Game of Armored Combat sheets today. Up next will be one of the force packs from the kickstarter, including all the sheets from the Wave One and Wave Two sheet packs and anything else in RS Succession Wars and RS Clan Invasion. These promise to not exactly be small, but I think they'll be pretty reasonably scaled compared to some of the later Rec Guides which happily crammed 20 Assault 'Mech sheets into the back of some of those volumes.
Commando COM-1C: Starting alphabetically once again has me wincing because holy shit this is not a good first impression. The Commando is a 25 ton Light, and this version of it is armored adequately (not good) for its size, moves 6/9, and carries as its armament an AC/2 and a Medium Laser. Imagine paying for a Vulcan, but worse in every way and you get this Commando. There is exactly one thing good about it, and that's the BV of 458. If you absolutely, positively have to get something with an AC/2 that is going to be able to move on something resembling its own power, this is probably the cheapest way to do it without going to a VTOL. It is still pretty terrible. This is what you bring if you think your opponent is going to have some random ASF and you're 500 points from the BV limit. Maybe not even then. D
Commando COM-1D: Strip the armor by a third to fit a Large Laser and an SRM 6. This is the most dangerous thing of its size in its era, and it's still reasonably cheap to boot at 558. This and the Locust 1E are not a bad match for each other but that match is going to be over very quickly. Heat is actually somewhat of an issue for this one, with a +4 run and both guns, and the only way to sink that heat reliably is to leave the laser out of the next turn to get -4. Not a bad pattern, given you'll run out of 'Mech before you run out of ammo. I don't like how fragile it is, but I don't hate how aggressive it is. C
Commando COM-2D: The Classic. Ten SRMs and a Medium Laser. Better armor than the 1D, technically better damage, but worse range. Overheats with movement heat (+2 running) meaning that it has to drop any one gun to go back down to sinking heat and you can adjust to taste. BV is 541 and I like this better than the 1D overall and a lot better than the 1C, but at the end of the day the mystic order of numerology has determined that the combination of numbers “5-4-1” means “expendable” and there's an upper limit to how much use you can get out of it. Would be slightly more efficient dropping down to paired SRM 4s so that this could have a single ammo bin instead of mismatched bins for mismatched launchers. C+
Commando COM-3A: The armor of the 1D plus an upgraded weapon loadout of the 2D makes for the worst of both worlds. Two SRM 6s, a Medium Laser, and a Flamer is way too much gun for 10 single heat sinks, and the right torso has a lonely ammo bomb waiting to go off protected by four points of armor. Pass. The BV doesn't save this at 540. Take a 2D and live a little longer, then use those brief few seconds to reflect on how bad this must be that the 2D is better. D
Vindicator VND-1AA 'Avenging Angel': I hate that this has a nickname that has to be spelled out. Just call it a VND-1AA. Tacking 'Avenging Angel' on it is the wrong kind of edgy teen move. Speaking of, putting on this little armor in order to go a tiny bit faster is also the wrong kind of edgy teen move. This might seriously be the worst armored 'Mech given its relative size in the game, and its contemporaries include the JM6-S Jagermech. Five points on each arm and eight points on each leg for a 45 tonner is not merely bad. Bad is not suited to describe how insufficient that armor is. It moves 5/8/5 and the +3 TMM will not save you. Weapons include a PPC, LRM 5, Medium Laser, and Small Laser with 16 single heat sinks, which is enough to force a PSR. Technically. You can even still build up movement heat, which when jumping is actually meaningful (+5). The BV is 966 and I am not particularly exaggerating when I say I would hesitate to take this for half of that. F
Vindicator VND-1R: The only difference between this and the 1AA is that the speed is reduced to 4/6/4 and the balance of that tonnage is put directly into armor. All the guns are the same, heat is actually better thanks to only being able to generate +4 on a (terrible idea) jumping alpha, and the BV has skyrocketed to... 1024. If you needed another reason to put the 1AA in the garbage bin, there it is. That doesn't make this good, it just makes it not the worst. C
Vindicator VND-1R (Vong): Literally the only difference between this and the 1R is that the Medium Laser is in the arm instead of the head. Yawn. I resent this sheet for existing because of how pointless it is on top of being a named character “variant” so it gets an honorary F.
Vindicator VND-1SIC: This one is actually different. The PPC is replaced by a Large Laser, and the tonnage goes into upgrading the LRM to an LRM 10. Armor is the same, heat sinks are down by one to 15. I'm not sure how much better this is than the 1R thanks to the Large Laser + LRM 10 struggling to do enough damage with the Medium Laser to force a PSR, but it's still easier than praying that your LRM 5 on the 1R rolled an 11 or better on the cluster table. You only need a 9+ now. BV is down four points to 1020, so this gets a better grade but not by much. C+
Vindicator VND-1X: The theme for Vindicator variants outside of the 1AA is that they don't actually do much. Considering what the 1AA was trying to do this may be a blessing. This is the 1R, except the Small Laser and one heat sink has been replaced with two Machine Guns and a half ton of MG ammo. Huge props for using a half ton of ammo instead of a full ton, also big props for putting it not in the center torso. It is still a bomb, though, and on the balance this change doesn't feel particularly great. What I assume is the 'Mech Asset Denial Device in the arm drops the BV to 1008 so it's cheaper, but not by enough to want to double your chance of exploding spectacularly. C-
Shadow Hawk SHD-2D: Today's theme is apparently dogshit armor. The Shadow Hawk 2D has the impressive feat on its side of having even less armor on its limbs than the Vindicator 1AA did. Five points arms, five points legs, and 10 tons heavier. Gross. This goes toward: an AC/5, an LRM 5, two SRM 2s, and two Medium Lasers. Fourteen single heat sinks is enough to keep you cool with a +1 running alpha, which you will not survive long enough to actually succeed in overheating in a meaningful capacity because holy shit that armor is bad. Two tons of SRM 2 ammo is the icing on the cake. The BV here is 899 and you shouldn't pay it for any reason. This 'Mech would be a net negative to your force if you just outright cheated and brought it for free without telling your opponent. F
Shadow Hawk SHD-2H: This may be surprising to some of you: I love this 'Mech. It has flaws. It is horrifically oversinked and even pays for the privilege of mounting not just the 11th single heat sink but also the 12th, it is incapable of forcing a PSR with its guns alone. Its guns are not particularly efficient for bracket firing. It cannot jump a full five hexes, only three. This 'Mech costs 1064 for good armor, good ground speed, enough guns to be able to do damage without being enough to actually draw significant fire, has most of its guns in the torsos and head allowing for flexible physical attacks, and most importantly costs 1064. Did I mention that it's under 1100 BV for all of that? Surely I mentioned that. This 'Mech is the definition of a 'team player', in the sense that while it is difficult for it to do things on its own, it is rarely if ever out of a fight, and it can contribute to basically any single other lance composition without seeming out of place. It's an excellent skirmisher for a heavy lance, it's an excellent anchor for a light lance. Multiple of these are cheap and when combining fire are suddenly dangerous. It will last longer than you think it will and you will never, ever be seriously at risk of running out of ammo. All that said, I can't honestly say that it's an excellent design in its own right and no matter how much I want to give it a better grade it is at best a B.
Shadow Hawk SHD-2K: Someone got some Vindicator in my Shadow Hawk! The only guns are a PPC and an LRM 5 and honestly I don't like it. Yes, you get a 10 point hit at range, but you're horrifically oversinked for the privilege (17 singles for 14 heat running and 15 heat jumping). Armor is still good but all the versatility of the 2H is practically gone and it does even less damage while the BV jumps to 1147. Pass. This variant of Shadow Hawk and the Wolverine 6D can go keep each other company, somewhere I'm not using them. D
Thunderbolt TDR-5D: This is a relatively new take on the Thunderbolt, and honestly I like it. It's 4/6 with no jump jets, a brick wall of armor, and exactly two guns: an AC/20 and an LRM 10. I am reasonably sure this is the only AC/20 anywhere in the space between the Hunchback and the Orion, and honestly there are reasons to take this over either. I am slightly peeved at 14 single heat sinks for a maximum heat of 13, but there's not much else you could do with it outside of some random Medium Laser. BV is 1231 and that feels pretty much exactly where it should be. The relative inflexibility of this one keeps it from being one of my favorites, but it's definitely Good. B-
Thunderbolt TDR-5S: The 5S is 4/6 like the 5D, and has LRMs, but that's about where the similarities end. Weapons are a Large Laser, LRM 15, an SRM 2, three Medium Lasers, and two machine guns. These guns have two, one, and one ton of ammo between them, making for four explosive crits, two of which are in the center torso. I have lost more Thunderbolt 5Ss to center torso TACs than to every single other cause of death put together, enough that I Do Not Like this 'Mech. With 15 single heat sinks it gets toasty, though there are a handful of brackets that are useful if not universally good. At range we have the laser and LRMs for heat neutral, up close you can switch the LRMs for the Medium Lasers and end up at +4, or swap in SRMs to taste instead of Medium Lasers to fine-tune heat. It's not particularly difficult given the number of weapons and their heat, but it does mean that firing everything is Not How It's Done. BV is higher than most of what we've seen so far in this bonus content at 1335. This feels like a very solid counterpart to the Catapult, both as an ally and an adversary, and in that light it's Okay. C
Thunderbolt TDR-5SE: Take the 5S, remove the SRMs and Machine Guns, downgrade the LRM 15 to an LRM 10, and put on four jump jets. You also get two bonus heat sinks in the trade to go to 17. This is for my mileage significantly better than the 5S. Addition by subtraction, and all that. Unfortunately the LRM ammo is still in the center torso. Heat management is a bit more difficult now too, though not in a bad way. Jumping and firing the LRMs plus Large Laser is -1 heat, while up close all the lasers are heat neutral at a run or +2 jumping. Dropping basically any weapon up close will get you back down to neutral even if you're jumping. This makes it arguably oversinked but I can't find fault with it on this one. BV has climbed to 1414 and I think this is an appropriate amount more than the 5S. It's better than the 5S and deservedly so. It's still not likely to make my lances on purpose. C+
Thunderbolt TDR-5SS: The armor and movement profile of the 5S is the same, and the Medium Lasers are still there, but everything else moves around. Supplementing them is now a PPC and an SRM 6, plus a Flamer. The Flamer I could take or leave (usually leave), but the PPC and SRM make this a very definitely token long range but very not token short range brawler. We're up to 21 single heat sinks, meaning this is a prime candidate for the best kind of upgrade where you just switch to doubles and put on endo steel or something and it gets absurdly more dangerous, but for now is merely decent. Running and firing all 'main' guns (i.e. everything but the Flamer) will get you to exactly +4, which is pretty much perfect. Drop whatever you need to get down to a comfortable heat (I don't recommend the PPC unless you're 6-10 heat behind the curve) on turns after you spike, and otherwise you can keep up a very consistent very high for the era damage stream. Long range damage is your only pitfall, but the BV has somehow come down to 1337, two whole points more than the 5S. Take this instead. C+
Thunderbolt TDR-7SE: This one is even more my speed than the last, but it starts to have to pay for it. The engine is still standard and there are jump jets here, but the weapons have been completely redone. There's a Gauss Rifle in the right arm and four Medium Pulse Lasers total in two locations on the left side. There's also ECM in the center torso. That's a good chunk of firepower, and the Gauss has two tons of ammo to keep going. The base 10 doubles keep it cool, even a jumping alpha will generate +1, and since there's no extra tonnage spent on sinks I don't mind that much that it's cool running. Where the bill comes due is BV, which is the highest we've seen of any 'Mech in the bonus content at 1809. It is probably worth it, but it's less of a sure thing than it would be at, say, 1650-1700. Not particularly controversial to call this one the most dangerous variant so far. B+
Thunderbolt TDR-9M: Still 4/6/4, this takes a small hit on armor to fit a Light Gauss with one ton of ammo, an LRM 15 with two, and three ER Mediums on. The LRM ammo is protected by CASE in the right torso, where the Light Gauss ammo is also located. The overall damage on this one compared to the 7SE is both better and worse. Obviously the headcapper is gone, but it's been replaced by two weapons that combine for an average of 17 damage, and the Light Gauss has better range bands. Up close, the ER Mediums are twice the range but put out much less damage than the quad MPLs. On the balance, this means the BV has dropped to 1648, which is still higher than I'd like but is much better than it could have been. The 7SE is pretty undisputed in terms of sheer ability, but I like to think this one is better at midrange and is more likely to be less of a significant target early. B
Thunderbolt TDR-10SE: Well this certainly is a series of choices that has been made. ER PPC, LRM 10, three ER Mediums is not a bad place to start with the guns. The movement profile is definitely different, though, with 4/6[8]/4. Double dipping is going to make this one expensive. There's also ECM and a Targeting Computer to really pile on the BV. Bucking tradition, it's also the first undersinked Thunderbolt, at minimum in this set but I can't remember one that really ran hot in the other group either, capable of hitting a whopping +14 if jumping and firing all weapons. Do not recommend. It's accurate, it's dangerous, it's uncommonly fast for its shape, but all of this gets it to a really unfortunate BV of 2008. I would consider taking this at 1700. Three hundred points higher this one is staying in the binder. D+
Battlemaster BLR-1D: I think I'm going to surprise a number of people when I say I like the next variant of this 'Mech better than this one. The Battlemaster 1D makes a number of choices that are very good, but almost too much. The weapons here are a PPC, four Medium Lasers, and a pair of Machine Guns with a ton of ammo, supported by a full 24 single heat sinks and a lot of armor. This is honestly oversinked to me, with a full running alpha being heat neutral. BV is excellent at 1522, so this is more me wondering what could have been than complaining about the variant. It's good. A-
Battlemaster BLR-1G: The Classic Battlemaster. Compared to the 1D it has less armor and only 18 single heat sinks, but it has an additional two Medium Lasers facing rear and an SRM 6 in the torso with two tons of ammo. This lets infernos be a real threat, and I'm a big fan of that use. Heat is rougher on this one, but the PPC plus two Medium Lasers and the SRM 6 is exactly +4 at a run, and as the range closes under minimums the arm mounted PPC can be left out for the other two Medium Lasers for exactly neutral and good melee options. The rear lasers won't come up often but I've found them useful often enough that I don't actually want them gone. Even reduced, the armor is still good. The BV at 1519 puts the ball squarely in the 1D's court for effectiveness, but I would rather field one of these. A-
Battlemaster BLR-1G (Red Corsair): Surprise Clantech! This is basically a Clan version of the Royal Battlemaster and it's pretty phenomenal. All Clan equipment, including an XL Engine with two ER PPCs, a Large Pulse Laser, and a total of six Medium Pulse Lasers with the traditional four forward two rear arrangement. Enough heat sinks (21 doubles) to fire the three big guns at a run and be neutral, and replace on ER PPC with quad MPLs up close for +1. Disgusting. Armor is not max but it's very close. Finally, there's a Command Console of all things meaning this also brings an initiative bonus to the field with it. All of this combines to punt the BV into the stratosphere to 2745, but honestly it's a good pick even then. It won't win every fight but it's going to win a lot of them, and this honestly feels comparable to some Marauder IIC variants in a good way. Superb. A
Battlemaster BLR-1S: Going from the Red Corsair to this feels like a punishment. The armor and movement are identical to the 1G, but the weapons are completely different. The four forward Medium Lasers are still here, this time supporting an LRM 15, an LRM 5, and two SRM 2s. All weapon types have one ton of ammo, meaning the 15 is woefully under ammo'd and the other three are pushing it for too much, not that you can go lower. Twenty singles is enough to fire everything and walk for +4, but honestly this feels horrifically oversinked given the number of times you're going to be firing both groups of weapons. I'd have been happier with the base 18 from the 1G and some more LRM 15 ammo, or even 16 sinks and some extra armor. What might have been. BV is comparable to the 1G at 1507, and I would take the 1G every single time. C
Battlemaster BLR-4S: This is a very different take on an upgraded Battlemaster from the Red Corsair, but it's honestly a pretty good one too. An Inner Sphere Light Engine is effectively as durable as a Clan XL but provides less free tonnage. Weapons include a Gauss Rifle in the right arm with a mighty three tons of ammo, an SRM 6 with Artemis IV and two tons of ammo for space for infernos as needed, two Small Pulse Lasers in place of the Machine Guns (excellent), and then four ER Mediums and two regular Mediums forward. Mixing different kinds of Medium Laser isn't common but I like it here, because it lets you more easily fine tune heat as needed. Thirteen doubles is enough to handle the main gun, the SRM, and the ER Mediums at a run for +1 heat, and swapping out a single ER for a Medium laser is -2. At point blank you may want to swap two ER Mediums for the SPLs and regular Mediums if there's no difference to hit, which likewise is +1 heat at a run. With a huge number of combinations of 2, 3, 4, and 5 points of heat it's very difficult to end up in a situation with this variant that isn't easy to get out of, and all of them are going to hit like a truck. The BV is 2018 but you get what you pay for, and I will take this over the Thunderbolt 10SE every single day of the week and then some. A
Battlemaster BLR-5M: I like Light Gauss Rifles but this is just worse than the 4S. The Light Gauss is joined by an ER Large Laser, and the rest of the weapons are four ER Mediums forward and two backward. There is one big upside which is a standard engine, so even with a few points less armor this one is more durable. I'd just definitely rather pay the price for the 4S. There's one ton of Light Gauss ammo, which is enough, but the heat sinks (14 doubles) start to struggle up close and there's not a good way to keep them up without suffering movement penalties. All four forward plus the ER Large is +6 at a run, so generally you'd be looking at just one, plus the Gauss, for a total of +2, dropping a second one every third turn, or swapping the ER Large completely out within 4 hexes for a frigid -5. It could definitely be worse. The BV is 1766 and while this is a better long range fighter than the 1G I am not a fan of the extra cost compared to the 1G or the lack of capability compared to what you pay for in the 4S. C+
Battlemaster BLR-CM: The 'CM' in the variant designation stands for “Company Master”, if anyone was wondering. This is honestly a pretty well designed double master, even though I'm unlikely to use it much. The speed is reduced but maneuverability boosted by going to a 3/5/3 movement profile, though a standard engine is kept. Weapons include an ER PPC, an MRM 30 with three tons of ammo, and two ER Mediums forward. MRM-30s are beefy and the nature of a C3 network means this one is more likely to be able to find good numbers for them than most. Two C3 Masters lets it link a full company with a pair of other masters somewhere in the formation. Heat is infrequently a problem; you should probably be trying to keep range around 15 hexes, but on the turns you get closer than that you can add the ER Mediums if you have good spotting range. If you do, running and firing all guns is +5 heat, so be careful about slowing down too much since the speed is already limited. BV is 1883 for this, which is honestly not a terrible place to start for what is obviously an Assault 'Mech still while being the company command unit. It's more difficult to use in direct combat, but by no means impossible. It takes a specific kind of play, and not one that I play often, but there are definitely worse to use. Pairs excellently with the Wolverine 8C from part 1. B
Battlemaster BLR-K3: Scaling things back just a little bit, the K3 is just a single C3 Master but still moves 4/6. It manages that with an XL Engine, making it the most fragile variant so far but not necessarily worse off for it. It runs inconveniently hot at range between an ER PPC and two ER Large Lasers (18 doubles, +5 running), to say nothing of the two ER Mediums and Streak SRM 6 forward plus two more ER Mediums rear. Not a fan of rear ER Mediums, they're too hot to use effectively on a bad secondary target and the range doesn't make up for that. There's not a good way to sink heat that isn't sinking all heat with some excess sinking to spare. Up close it's easier to manage heat gain, fortunately, just drop an ER Large and add other guns to taste until things get too toasty, then drop one of those too. The ER Larges are definitely the weak links here for their high heat compared to relatively low damage. BV at 1851 is barely lower than the CM but if you need a Master for only a single Lance this isn't bad. I'd probably pick something else, if given the choice, but it's not a terrible 'Mech to end up in. C
'Mechs by rating:
F - 3
D - 4
C - 11
B - 5
A - 4
S - none
Total 'Mechs by rating (bonus content):
F - 5
D - 8
C - 23
B - 12
A - 9
S - none
