'Mech of the Week: T-IT-NXXX Grand Titan

[Don Lunardi]

It isn't so much that they were 'short on PPC production', it's just that they were pouring all of them into making more Awesomes. Sorry, Marauder fans, but we have PRIORITIES here in the League!

(humor, before someone decides to correct me. I know.)

Ironically creating a Marauder that can Walk *AND* Chew Gum at the same time in the process ;D

[Rage]

I swear, if I weren't a Capellan right down to my shriveled black heart and rotten soul, I'd probably be a Leaguer if only because their designs make you think; and the Grand Titan is a fine example of that being a monster at short to mid range and possessing a token, but welcome, long range option. I'd probably be happier with ER lasers and heat sinks over Pulse, but relying on your lancemates to shoot you in and those lovely -2 TNs negate that issue. Though people tend to forget just how fast most League Assault 'Mechs are and how well they slot in with the average heavy 'Mech, allowing you to slot them in among the more common Orion, Archer or Warhammer. My personal favorite, though, is a Lance made up of a Grand Titan, Albatross, Awesome and either a BattleMaster, Cerberus or a second example of the first three 'Mechs. Gives you a nice, flexible Lance with short, mid and long range options that can keep up with and bully lighter non-cavalry formations or pick at and harass slower units.

As for that example of Optimus Prime smacking down an Atlas? That was, iirc, fought on Solaris VII in Ishiyama, which won them the attention of Earthwerks FWL who purchased both it and the Jackal schematics. Assuming regular pilots for them both and a dash of luck, I could see how the GT could bring down ol' skullface.

[Welshman]

A late drop in, sorry been off dealing with the dragons of the real world.

The N13M has an interesting parallel evolution and you can all thank Ombudsman Worktroll for its existence.

The Design: I think most folks are familiar with the Battle Corps Mercenary unit. This canon merc unit came about through the efforts of BattleCorps Subscribers creating a rich story line in the subscriber forums. Worktroll was the man who got that all started and his character there was one of the unit's senior officers.

Major Al'Hawad loved big mechs, in part because he was so rough on them. After brawling to death one Mech, the unit's Tech put him in a Berserker in hopes of longer survival. That worked for about three years until Al'Hawad re-enacted the Alamo single handed.

His next Mech was a captured Grand Titan, because the rules of the fan regiment was it had to be available and the Legion was stuck in the FWL running from pretty much everyone. Worktroll sent me a kitbash he'd done with a Grand Titan with a big sword. I loved the imagery and looked for the right time to introduce it. When the time came, I set out to make a design that was as indestructible as possible. No matter what you told Major Al'Hawad, he was going to close with the enemy and brawl, hence the armored components.

And thanks to the tradition of Old is the New New I started in 3085, we had a chance to slip this into a TRO (which memory fails me on right now) so it was a Jihad design.

The Art: Complete and absolute total coincidence. I had no hand in the art in JHS:Terra with the GT stalking the streets with a big sword. However, as soon as I saw the art proofs for Terra, I was pleased. I designed the N13M that version that very day and waited for a TRO to slip it into.


So just to be clear, the N13M has one and only one purpose. To keep it's manically aggressive commander alive long enough for the rest of his lance to drag his butt out of the fire. On that count I think it more than succeeds.

[Wrangler]

Thanks for adding that, Welshman!   I completely forgot about that Sword wielding Grand Titan from JH: Terra.  Slicing that Tempest side torso was pretty awesome image, especially with those glowing eyes on the GT.  :o

[hive_angel]

World a Grand Titan pair well along side a Grand Crusader? It seems both would give goos amount of longd range to short range firepower. Or is this pair up too heavy/slow?

[GreekFire]

World a Grand Titan pair well along side a Grand Crusader? It seems both would give goos amount of longd range to short range firepower. Or is this pair up too heavy/slow?

That's not a bad idea. The Grand Crusader would be able to cover the ranged aspect of the duo, while its own pulse lasers would add to the Grand Titan's to create something truly immune to harassing lights and mediums. I would say the biggest problem would be against other assaults...you'd have plenty of LRMs to throw around, but no real holepunchers beyond what the LPLs can accomplish. And in the world of Assaults, where Gauss Rifles and ERPPCs are king, I'd be hesitant to say that those are enough.

Things really start getting interesting if we look at the variants. Both the Grand Crusader II and the Grant Titan -11M have OK ranged firepower, but they're both quick for their size and want to close into brawling range as soon as possible. If that happens, the GCII would most likely be attracting the most attention because of its TSM, allowing the GT-11M to really get to work at carving up its chosen target. Very pricy duo, though. I'd give it a shot in a non-BV game.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I finally got a chance to play a 13M tonight.  Was a one-on-one battle with a 5S Colossus.

Hell of a fight.  The Colossus was pretty nasty at long range but had poor luck with its PPCs and kept missing.  The tide changed, funny enough, when he jumped behind me.

He cut loose at my rear armor and didn't hit with anything but the medium lasers (which struck my arms), then I torso-twisted and said hello with a TSM-driven sword, taking out most of the armor in his right torso.  At that point he started losing initiative and I got a floating crit to his left arm with my Small Pulse that knocked out both guns there.  We blasted each other for a few rounds, he got the worst of it, and then I shot one of his legs off and wound up delivering a 40 point kick to the head.

[Weirdo]

Sounds like quite a party. :thumbsup:

[Colt Ward]

Tell me flashed this type of pic to your opponent when the sword connected-

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

No, since he was behind me I went with "Right turn, Clyde!"

[lucho]

@MoneyLovinOgre4Hire:   Sounds like a memorable fight  :thumbsup:

Back in the day, we had a Grand Titan mod of our own. Or, more precisely,the GM sprung it on us. We lost two medium mechs before learning  not to close with it https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=64993.msg1495031#msg1495031