WiGE - are they useful as combat vehicles?

[kaliban]

I am from a time that WiGE was non existent in Battletech.

My first impression was good as long you can make heavier units than vtols and hovercrafts but the movement restrictions prevented me to use it in actual combat.

Have anyone tried it?

[RoundTop]

I've used them in megamek.  They are quick, and can mount impressive firepower. That said, you need to treat them like hover units, use cover, and if they land, it has to be behind cover.

The Hiryo is a pretty good battle armor taxi, but it has to land before disembarking, so make sure to take cover when unloading.

The Nisos has great weapons. Most useful in the open, or canyon networks (since it can span gaps that even hovers can't)

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I think of them as a variant hovercraft.  In a tactical sesne, everything that's true for hovers is basically true for them too.

The distinction between them is hilly terrain.  Climbing or descending hills without paying MP makes them the kings of the right kind of hilly terrain.

Outside that right kind of hilly terrain though, they're just a complicated variant on what hovercraft do.

[maxcarrion]

Depends what you mean by useful.  They are reasonably similar to a hover, similar speed, firepower, armour, vulnerability to motive crits.  Tactically, there's a little difference around how they handle different terrain and the big disadvantage against flak weapons

Strategically is where WIGE really shine as Hovers cannot handle rough terrain or woods there's lots of places they can't go that a WIGE can (and nowhere they can go that a WIGE can't) and WIGE are the only combat vehicle that can be hot dropped which makes the WIGE a great go anywhere fast APC/IFV/Insertion platform - especially for jump troops where you don't need to land to drop off.

[Col Toda]

Other than the aforementioned battle armor taxi . A recon unit is also ok for it . But the big WIGE roll is Cargo carring over water . Speed is its big thing . As infantry and Battle Armor is Area denial units that ideally in position before the enemy gets past that postion .  I really think they should not be in combat .

[RoundTop]

A Hiryo carrying a squad of Kanazuchi is a terrifying thing. Those suits are slow, but they carry a LOT of weapons and armor for BA, especially the upgraded versions. Given mobility (and a snub-nosed PPC) they pose a real threat.

[AdmiralObvious]

I've used a custom WIGE before to great effect. Give it a MRM-40 on a turret, or an equal weight LRM system, and you've got a highly mobile hit and run vehicle, or a very good standoff unit.

As for cannon, as mentioned, the Hiryo can be terrifying if used correctly with a squad of infantry or BA.

Obviously they aren't useful on heavily forested worlds, but they can actually be very useful on hilly terrain, considering they can literally jump from one side of a canyon to another, provided the target side is low enough and you can go fast enough.

[BloodRose]

I designed a custom 5 ton Wige that could hit a stupid level of speed (15 or 16 all out IRRC but I'll check when I get home) that weighed only 5 tons and carried a Medium Laser and MG with half a ton of ammo. The best part? A redesign for it that dropped one of the weapons to turn it into an insanely fast APC with a 1 ton troop bay. Oh, and it was relatively well armoured too (enough to take a Medium Laser hit from all sides and keep going).

[Cannonshop]

I am from a time that WiGE was non existent in Battletech.

My first impression was good as long you can make heavier units than vtols and hovercrafts but the movement restrictions prevented me to use it in actual combat.

Have anyone tried it?

WiGEs are there to get around the tonnage limit on hovercraft, so go big,or go with something that has fewer restrictions.

[Hellraiser]

WiGEs are there to get around the tonnage limit on hovercraft, so go big,or go with something that has fewer restrictions.

DITTO

[Charistoph]

WiGEs are there to get around the tonnage limit on hovercraft, so go big,or go with something that has fewer restrictions.

Well, that and VTOLs, too.  While not as good at staying in one place, they can move pretty well while hugging terrain.

[CVB]

And the have orbital insertion capability.

[BloodRose]

Wiges need to keep moving really, if they stop they land. They are, however, excellent platforms for scouts, harassers and raiders.

[SCC]

WiGEs are there to get around the tonnage limit on hovercraft, so go big,or go with something that has fewer restrictions.

It's worth nothing that WiGE's have a higher Super-Heavy weight limit then they would normally have, they can go up to 240 tons, the highest of any non-navel ground unit.

[kaliban]

I tried VTOLs, WiGE and hovercrafts. Under current rules, VTOLs seems fairly superior for the way they manage terrain and the +1 to hit them

[The_Caveman]

It's worth nothing that WiGE's have a higher Super-Heavy weight limit then they would normally have, they can go up to 240 tons, the highest of any non-navel ground unit.

Pity cruise missiles are so ridiculously heavy. It'd be fun to build an expy of a Lun-class ekranoplan.

[Balkhan]

What exactly is a WIGE? Is there a modern Earth equivalent of a WIGE?

[AdmiralObvious]

What exactly is a WIGE? Is there a modern Earth equivalent of a WIGE?

There are some that exist. There's the Russian Lun class WiGE, which was designed to fire anti-ship missiles. It's a pretty good practical example of what a WiGE can do in combat, granted it was never actually used as such.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan

[Black_Knyght]

What exactly is a WIGE? Is there a modern Earth equivalent of a WIGE?

Yeah, there actually have been/are several versions of real world WiGEs in various stages of production and availability across the globe...