Actually Good Introtech Mechs

[Geg]

"Good" may be relative but "BV efficient introtech you would use in later eras" is significantly less so.

For my money BV, the list isn't very long:

Awesome 8Q
Battlemaster 1G and 1D (1D definitely fits better for OP's intent)
Orion 1-V
Wolverine 6M
Shadow Hawk 2H (it's the most efficient armor at this speed for BV for a long time)
Crab 20
Wolfhound 1
Javelin 10F
Mongoose 66

And that's basically the list.  Any of the 20 tonners that is even passably efficient is wholly outclassed by better versions of themselves in later eras and the BV savings just don't cut it at sub-600 BV.

EDIT: There are definitely more than I've listed here but those are what come up off the top of my head.  Even if I go browsing through every introtech design I don't expect to get more than five or six others, though.

This is sort of what I am looking for!  Thanks.
Mechs on the high end of the BV efficiency scale.
Mechs that are good in 3150 (not just 3025).

[CrossfirePilot]

This thread makes no sense.  It was Introtech, the Mad Max of 1000 years in the future.  You inherited a Banshee, where half your family line died in at one point or another and you loved it! because no one else had anything besides an old Mosin rifle that they found in a museum. You find yourself driving a Shadowhawk, but you don't care because the other guy is in a Stinger...

[SteelRaven]

This thread makes no sense.  It was Introtech, the Mad Max of 1000 years in the future.  You inherited a Banshee, where half your family line died in at one point or another and you loved it! because no one else had anything besides an old Mosin rifle that they found in a museum. You find yourself driving a Shadowhawk, but you don't care because the other guy is in a Stinger...

It is a game, the objective is to have fun. If you give a new player a mech just based on the roll in the RAT, they may not have the highest option of the game as their success rate depends on the luck on the RNG before they ever start playing.

[Paul]

It is a game, the objective is to have fun. If you give a new player a mech just based on the roll in the RAT, they may not have the highest option of the game as their success rate depends on the luck on the RNG before they ever start playing.

I think you both make a good point. CFP's approach is RP focused, and it covers some of the background that I enjoy playing in, or GMing players in.
But to your point: the actual game experience has to be good as well. For me, getting a Hermes II with an AC5 that only works some of the time and a busted leg actuator might be a good experience, but that's because I get my fun 'points' from the RP side of it. The actual gameplay of having to still defeat, say, a Jenner F could be very unpleasant if the RP side means little to you.
So you have to tailor the game to what the players expect, not to what you dictate, since you and them may be on different pages.

[Nerroth]

Would the likes of the Hound or Surtur, the (non-RetroTech) HawkWolf. and/or other Periphery BattleMech designs built with "standard" technologies in (or just before) the 32nd Century, be up for consideration?

My understanding is that, of those newer "standard" 'Mech designs, the Hound in particular is considered to be both popular and easy to maintain in-universe. Would that transfer over to Total Warfare and/or Alpha Strike play, though?

[CrossfirePilot]

Yeah I was being a little factious.  Sorry if it fell flat.   

[Scotty]

The Hound isn't Introtech, it's got an LBX and Light PPCs.

[Nerroth]

The Hound isn't Introtech, it's got an LBX and Light PPCs.

On a side note: according to a post in this thread, the prototype Hound (out of universe, at least) was going to have an AC-10 and a PPC, until the production model was "upgraded" to the current design.

I suppose it would be interesting to see an official Record Sheet and/or Unit Card for that "prototype" variant; perhaps for use in parts of the Periphery where, even as of 3152, more advanced tech is still at somewhat of a premium.

But, in Total Warfare scale at least, might the rest of the design yet be "IntroTech-adjacent" enough overall to allow it to serve as a starter 'Mech for the Dark Age and ilClan eras?

[Scotty]

The impression I got was the intent was to start in the Succession Wars and introduce tech around the players while they can keep the same units for a hand on the familiar.

So... no, not really.

[SteelRaven]

Yeah I was being a little factious.  Sorry if it fell flat.

Sorry, tone can be hard to pick up on the Internet and I have read a similar post in the past by someone whom was seriously calling out folks who didn't prioritize Stingers and Wasp in their games.

[CrossfirePilot]

Hey, no problem.  I like some of the old/broke trying to make it work.  Also like the pristine battle royale...

[mitchberthelson]

I would actually, unironically, suggest the CGR-1A1 Charger. Helped me out a bit when I was first playing beyond the old box set.

Point at enemy. Run at them. Absorb fire and crush lighter Mechs in physical combat, destroy buildings, step on tanks, survive to get off the other side of the board, spot for indirect fire, or hug objectives. Only 981 BV. Plenty of room to pump up that Piloting Skill in order to bring the pain. Yes it can get obliterated by the greater firepower in later eras, but most of the other Mechs in the same price range will go down even easier because Pulse/TC/etc. negate the protection that their speed offers and they're not as durable.

Bully/objective hugger/spotter/physical combat specialist covers enough tactical bandwidth that I don't think it qualifies as an edge case. I always find a use for one, even later on.

[Starfury]

Orion 1K and 1VA
Stalker 4P
Battlemaster 1D
Charger 1A9
Charger 1A5
Charger-SB
BL 7 Black Knight
Zeus 6S and 5T
Dragon 1G and Grand Dragon
Wolverine 6K
Wolverine 6M
Griffin 1S
Wolverine 6R
Phoenix Hawk 1R and 1K
Warhammer 6D
Warhammer 6K
Trebuchet 5M
Trebuchet 5S
Centurion (All variants)
Highlander 733 and 733P
Thunderbolt 5S, 5D, 5SS
Cataphract 1X
Catapult C1
Catapult K2
Archer (All variants)
Wolfhound WLF 1
Rifleman 3C
Hammerhands
Emperor 5
Atlas 7D and RS
Banshee 3S
Mongoose
Kintaro 18
Crab 20
Blackjack 1 and 1DB
Enforcer
Ostroc (All variants)
Ostol (All variants)
Thug 10E
Guillontine 4L
Awesome 8Q
Hunchback (All variants). The Swaybacks are nasty, especially the beam spam and the LRM version
Longbow 7Q and 8C
Vulcan 5T
Javelin 10F and 10N
Valkyrie
Vindicator 1R
Dervish 6M
Locust 1E
Locust 1M
Stinger ST3G
Marauder 3D and 3M
Viper VP5
Spider 5V
Titan 1A

[mitchberthelson]

Four more that function as budget versions of some of the others that have already been mentioned, making minor tradeoffs in exchange for somewhat lower costs.

HER-2M "Mercury"
HER-4K "Hermes III"
FS9-M "Mirage"
CP-10-Q Cyclops