Even with ICE you can do quite a bit better than the Warrior. I'd say most of the designs that I linked to on my last post (which all use ICE) are either comparable to the Warrior but with 2-3x more armor (meaning they don't die in 1 hit) or are a bit slower (only 7/11), like the final one and it has decent armor for a VTOL and 15 tons for weaponry. Which makes for a solid AC/20 variant or a lot of SRMs or an LRM20, etc etc.
All of them are pretty good for filling the role of Battletech gunships - either hanging back and sniping with high TMMs and long range weaponry or darting in to harass the backs of enemies before darting behind cover to repeat the process.
7/11 with a VTOL is still a suicide sled, even with the current rules-nerf protecting the rotors and creating that 50 point damage sink.
To be EFFECTIVE a VTOL needs to MOVE-as in a high CRUISE speed, not flank (Flanking means sideslip, which is a great way to experience Deconstructive Lithobraking in a VTOL.)
Further, Armor is still less valuable on a VTOL, than it is on any other type of unit-at least, in relation to the need for speed-prior to the 3039 "players can't handle math" nerf, the H-7 (for nearly 20 years real time) soldiered on with a 70 rated engine and a cruise of 10-which, combined with the AC/2 meant you could legitimately rack up +5 movement mod and +4 range mod for return fire-that is, a
+9 to be hit by anything but a Clantech ERLL, Light Gauss, or LRATM or HAG, while hanging
at the H-7's MEDIUM range...and that's BEFORE gunnery was applied. (for the h-7 driver, this means at base gunnery of 4, cruising, at medium range, what, a 6 to hit? 7? been a while for me...)at 10/15 movement, the SRM pack can actually be occasionally applied-don't do it too often, because the range drops to your opponent's favour-but at a cruise you can get some very good defensive numbers while having a relatively easy shot. That's VTOL
tactics. Also, high cruise means you can actually MAKE USE of terrain screening-because you're not having to flank all the time, at the risk of becoming one with the hills and buildings.
2 points that hit, do more damage than 30 points that MISS. This was always the problem with slowboats like the Jellowbucket, aka flying hollander, and the problems MAGNIFY in post-3050 eras where most of the 'new and shyny' VTOL designs turn up-once LBX's turn up on the field, if you're slow, you're dead.
In 3026, you might...MIGHT be able to get away with 9/14 IF you can keep the range up-but don't count on that, slow gunships are a death sentence for aicrew, though the Nerf to damage DOES mitigate that and make 8/12 ALMOST viable, assuming a heavy reliance on LRMs or other long-ranged but low-damage weapons in that era.
Urbies are Turrets, slow Tanks are really semimobile emplacements, VTOLs HAVE to work like what they are-fast harassers, it's just the nature of the limitations they work in, and the usual outcome of losing your motive system with one...which is 'dead.'