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I'm always fascinated by Mechs like this, that are supposed to have been designed for a job they're clearly unsuited for- the Snake's anti-Elemental role being another great example. That one at least had the excuse of being designed by a nation that had no experience dealing with battle armor at the time (and is a great Mech if you use it for tank-parking instead, but that's another topic entirely). This? The Compact knew what they were up against, they knew what they needed to make, and they made a thinly-armored, short-range-oriented Mech that can't realistically do better than pacing the Victors and such it's supposed to act as a 'bodyguard' for.
Which, let's stop for a moment and ask how often you've looked at a Pillager or Victor and said 'I need something to keep my giant-ass asssault Mech safe from harm'. That tends to be the role that assault is supposed to play for other units! Want to keep someone from irritating your Archers and Trebuchets? A Victor is a damned good 'go away' notice. Did the bodyguard need a bodyguard? A designated lancemate, I can see, if they'd gone with that I'd be a lot less harsh, but a BODYGUARD. That word specifically was used. Holy crap.
...Anyway, so for that role, we came up with something that has thin enough armor that Jagermech pilots aren't impressed, a weapons suite that only works at short ranges other than the Gauss (no complaints on that weapon, at least)... it's hard to find a role that this thing really works in, honestly, and sure as hell not 'bodyguard'. I do grant it this- the SRMs are nice to follow up with after the Victor/Pillager/whatever has opened holes in a target, but even then you only have a minute and change of firing before those give a loud 'NOPE' from the ammo bin. Did we maybe overreach a little here?
Let's rethink the bodyguard role for a moment. What is a threat to a Pillager? I mean other than Erinyes, because that's really the only major one. What kills a big assault Mech? Massed fire, etc., yeah, but it gives as good as it gets in that case. Airpower is a great way to get rid of an assault, and we see Pillagers, Victors... you know what, an 'escort' with an LB-10X would be a neat idea, wouldn't it? Drop that Gauss, slap on the clustergun, lose weight enough to get another ton of SRM ammo and some actual armor on board... is it a little bland? Yeah, but it's also not supposed to be flashy. It's weird to think that losing the best gun on the Mech- its only real selling feature, really- is the best way to improve it, but here we are. We already see a Gauss-heavy force coming out of St. Ives factories, so another Gauss isn't what they need- not a bad thing to have, but not a NEED. This? This would be good for exploiting Gauss holes, parking tanks, creating no-fly zones, you name it. THAT'S an escort Mech. Simple, rugged, capable, and focused.
Oh- the original miniature sucked too, to boot. I hear the resculpt in the Capellan lance pack was better, but the one on my shelf (resplendant in tan/orange camo based on the Arizona region's colors) is just wretched. Which seems to fit.
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