What is your opinion on the 4/6, 6/9, 8/12 movement curves?

[Iron Mongoose]

Oddly, I tend to be less in favor of the increase from 3/5 to 4/6 (that is, on the sort of really top assaults where I'd ever really consider 3/5 at all, and not on heavies, where its a choice of 4/6 or 5/8).  On those top assaults, I'm not normally moving to TMMs, but just to tweak the range by a hex or two to get from long to medium, or whatever.  Yes, sometimes you've got a Berserker or Kodiak that needs the speed to close, but with a Dire Wolf or a Hellstar, I don't really tend to see a huge benefit to 4/6, because my objective is often to spend as much time stationary, giving my massive weapons array optimal accuracy, as I can (and yes, I know the Hellstar has to be 4/6 so it can fit the heat sinks in the engine, but if not for that it would be better to be a 3/5).

On the other end of the scale, you can't afford huge long ranged batteries of guns, so you have to become more specialized, and speed helps employ that specialization the best, so I favor 8/12 over 7/11 by a fair bit (if I can get it with out too much hardship, that is).  Shoot, I'm a big fan of the 9/14 Phantom and Incubus, even though they can't hit higher TMMs than a 7/11, because they can get into position better for either attacking or defending. 

In the middle, it depends a lot on the mech.  The short range focused Stormcrow A and B really benefit from that extra MP vs a similarly armed Stooping Hawk or Septicemia.  Of the AC20 carriers, I'll have the Stormcrow over the 80 ton Gargoyle C or even the much more modern Septicemia D (the TC and jets make it so tempting, but I'll have the ground speed and just use it to push a range bracket closer to make up for it).  But, for me at least, its harder to pick the Stormcrow Prime or Linebacker Prime over a Stooping Hawk B or C, Septicemia Prime or E, Karhu D, Hellbringer Prime or Timby A in that ranged fighter role, since the TCs and other toys a slower mech can have, for me, are too tasty to pass up.

[Hellraiser]

Does the increase in mobility make up for the loss in fitting space compared to 3/5, 5/8 and 7/11 respectively?

I personally find that the answer to this question depends on a 2nd question.
Does the Unit have JumpJets ?

For example.
50 Ton Mech at 5/8/0 v/s 6/9/0 ....... Yes, I like the 6/9 for the Movement Point needed to keep up the +2/+3 TMM while dealing with Terrain/Turning.

Same Mech but debating 5/8/5 v/s 6/9/6.
Now I have Jumpjets to fall back on w/ difficult terrain so I'm less concerned about that 1 MP for facing changes & terrrain.

So basically I like Odd MP JJ mechs & Even MP Non-JJ mechs.

[Col Toda]

Depends on theater/environment of the game .  If you are fighting the Clans with Large Pulse
Lasers and Targeting Computers they are going to  hit you anyway so the best thing is to
have as heavily armed heavy and assault mechs to do on to them before they do on to you.
If you are fighting Militia and Pirates with 4 G 5 P you are better off with Cappellen light mechs
with ER Large lasers and stealth armor .  If you are fighting the WOB shadow division your
best bet is AP ammo on AC and replace melee weapons with lances . If you have a mech with
an Arrow IV launcher it is best to have MASC to get that extra speed to get your artillery on
board ( 17 Hexes ; Anvil 8 M ) . 

[I am Belch II]

I like the odd movement points because its rounds up. It's a extra bonus

[Fear Factory]

I like the odd movement points because its rounds up. It's a extra bonus

Rounds up?

[Wolflord]

Rounds up?

E.g. 1.5 x 5 = 7.5 rounds up to 8 movement

[Fear Factory]

E.g. 1.5 x 5 = 7.5 rounds up to 8 movement

Ah ok.

[HazMeat]

Odd-numbered is more efficient for run MP as Fear Factory pointed out, but even-numbered is more efficient in terms of more often getting all the TMM you're paying for since you can spend one more point on terrain or simply having more choices for where to end up without losing a point of TMM.  I like jump jets probably more than is healthy, which should shift things toward odd numbers since terrain is less of an issue, but in my very modest experience my engine, gyro, jump jet and actuator hits all add up to it feeling more efficient to be starting at the top of my TMM bracket.  ...I'm mostly sticking to Succession Wars tech, which might be important.  In the end, I find 3 Walk, 4 Walk and 5 Walk appealing for different uses on combat units.  For recon uses, faster is probably better, so my preference there is whatever I can get. 

For some big monsters, the idea is to stand still for optimal accuracy, and here 3-5-3 is where I end up wanting to be.  The Devastator and Annilhilator are aptly named, and I respect them appropriately, but for myself they're too unforgivingly committed and I prefer having more buttons and knobs to play with, like jump jets and bracket fire setups.  I also like a "cavalry" 'mech of the classic 55 tons @ 5-8-5 type, but any faster than that and I feel like I've got more speed than I can competently handle; I'm just not smart enough to anywhere near reliably get tactical bang in proportion to tonnage buck. 

OTOH, for general fighting 'mechs I find myself drawn to 4-6-4, not because I think it's the best answer, but because having "neutral" AMM/TMM tradeoffs on walk and run makes it "feel like" I have a toy that always asks me what I want to do with it rather than telling me what is best.  (as for the jump, it feels wrong for a 'mech to lack that for personal "rule of cool" reasons)  In terms of effectiveness, it means I'm more likely to be making a mistake on the most basic decision of movement mode, but for more competent players this kind of flexibility is a boon rather than a handicap. 

I'm also influenced by how the 4-6-4 movement profile is at least arguably sane for 50 to 85 tons, which is a huge range.  I have a weird thing for both too-frail mediumweights and overarmored assaultweights doing heavyweight jobs- such as Hunchback and BattleMaster, respectively.  The best words I can come up with are "cute" and "audacious" for mediums, "badass" and "sexy" for assaults.  (Wow, that sounds wrong!)  If I were messing with higher tech more often, it would probably be 4-6-6 over 5-8-*, considering my reasons for preferring 4-6-* movement.  Seventy-five tons is for optimised platform, 85 tons for command 'mech trying to dilute target priority influence of its cruciality, and 50 tons for "budget" militia flavour and/or audacious flight by seat of pants.