What tanks and batte armor should I look at?

[Archer_Wirth]

I'm interested in incorporating more ground support and battle armor into my regular MegaMek games, but I've no idea where to start. Perhaps you guys can post names of units you like, and why you think they're useful, etc...?

Inner sphere and Clans to be specific... I suppose any units before the WoB era cause I haven't played or read about that much.

[Leozack]

Most of my experience with armour has been in post Clan-invasion engagements. I personally have a liking for the Myrmidon. A straightforward tank with a turreted PPC for shooting at mechs, and a SRM-6 as a backup weapon or to engage infantry. Not big or clever, but I've found it fairly reliable. Pretty much my go-to for mid-weight armoured support.

Karl

[Kharim]

A few artillery TAG spotting BA:
-Kage, cheap and camouflaged.
-Fa Shih, also got mines
-Salamander (Anti Infantry), fire proof mech killers, just gotta swarm attack.
-Purifier BA, great for ambush and camping in woods because of its mimetic armour.

Nice vechicles:
-Rommel Howitzer, splash damage good for killing fast units.
-Padilla, fast Missile artillery.
-JES I, a good hovertank that carries enough SRM to blot out the sun.
-AC2 Carrier (LBX), best AA unit.
-Yellow Jacket VTOL, fast flying gun/artillery carrier.
-Saladin, a hover tank that carriers an AC20, fast enough to deliver.

[Crow Splat]

As for BA, I always liked the DCMS suits.

Raiden is a good all around suit. Jump jets let you move faster than some other medium suits.

Kage is a nice TAG spotter if you don't have Purifiers.

Kanazuchi is a beast in urban or heavily wooded maps. They're a little tough to use offensively but as ambushers, they're deadly.

If want a quad BA, Fenrirs are cool and pack a punch.

[Cryhavok101]

One of my favorite vehicles is the Schiltron: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Schiltron

Mostly anything with arrow IV or other artillery is something I really like, because vehicles are fairly easy to immobilize, and having artillery means you will still be able to hit them back for quite a while, even if you do get immobilized.
My other major use for vehicles is as infantry/battle armor transports

For battle armor, I am really out of date on what is out there, but my priorities with them are, in this order:

• Ease of Transport-They are slow, they need to get to the target fast, transports do this
• Stealth-How hard they are to detect and to actually hit after they are detected can make a big difference in their survival
• Mobility-How easy it is for them to traverse the field

After that armor value and weapon selection become important, but those are secondary to the other factors, in my opinion.

[Frabby]

If you're lore-oriented, the default vehicles seem to be Vedettes, Galleons, and Scorpions. Compared to these, every other type of vehicle is rare.

[Archer_Wirth]

I'm victory-oriented. LOL... I wanna crush my buddy with some "combined arms" as he calls it. I'm writing down everything you all are throwing my way, so I can try them all! Keep 'em coming, and thank you!

[Frabby]

In that case, I recommend oodles of LRM Carriers or Heavy LRM Carriers (to park behind a hill) and a small handful of hovertanks, preferrably Savannah Masters, as spotters - and then let the indirect fire LRM fest begin. Slow 'Mechs, especially assaults, can really look bad in this scenario.

Speaking of hovertanks, Saladins can be a pain as they're blindingly fast and can bring an AC/20 to the party.

And speaking of pains, bring helicopters. With AC/2s or gauss rifles. Yellow Jackets spring to mind. Your playing opponents will hate you. Some of the faster VTOL vehicles such as the Ferret, who will easily buzz across a game map at walking speed, also make terriffic spotters for the LRM Carriers.

[Greyhind]

The Aeron Strike VTOL is pretty good. Just zig a turn, then zag a turn and then repeat until you're close enougth to need to back up. Make sure you're using big maps.

[Cryhavok101]

You could always go with Fixed Wing Support Vehicles that drop human waves of paratroopers from high altitude. No one ever sees that coming, and ton for ton, infantry has higher damage potential than anything else in the game (to pair with it's highest death rate in the game lol)

[Archer_Wirth]

Has anyone made a YouTube tutorial on using vehicles, VTOL or elementals\infantry?

[sillybrit]

Has anyone made a YouTube tutorial on using vehicles, VTOL or elementals\infantry?

Not Youtube, but these general guides may help: Battle Armor of the Week - Introduction and Overview and Battle Armor of the Week - How To Kill Battle Armor.

Rules changes do negate the use of mine-clearance munitions to kill BA in the latter guide, and dunking a swarming squad in water only immobilizes them instead of killing them.

[Archer_Wirth]

Not Youtube, but these general guides may help: Battle Armor of the Week - Introduction and Overview and Battle Armor of the Week - How To Kill Battle Armor.

Rules changes do negate the use of mine-clearance munitions to kill BA in the latter guide, and dunking a swarming squad in water only immobilizes them instead of killing them.

Those are very detailed articles that I will read and take notes from when I get back from fishing today, hopefully. That being said, I noticed the intro had a "next up" section, and elementals and Gnomes were on that list. When will that be coming? (or is it out already)

[sillybrit]

There's 93 articles in the Battle Armor of the Week series that were written over the course of nearly 5 years, so some of the older ones do contain some inaccuracies now due to errata. I might someday go back and update the older articles, but don't have any firm plans right now. The list can be found here.

[Cryhavok101]

There's 93 articles in the Battle Armor of the Week series that were written over the course of nearly 5 years, so some of the older ones do contain some inaccuracies now due to errata. I might someday go back and update the older articles, but don't have any firm plans right now. The list can be found here.

I wish all the lists of the different "X-unit-type of the week" articles would get stickied in their respective subforums.

[Colt Ward]

So you are looking pre-Jihad . . .

For the Clans that means Elementals, Salamanders, Gnomes and maybe Sylph & Golem- understand that for most of that time its the Elemental.

For the IS you have the GDL Standard & Scout, IS Standard & its factional flavors of Cavalier/Raiden, Infiltrator Mk I & Mk II, Sloth, Fenrir, Kage, Kanazuchi (or whatever), Achileus, Longinus, Fa Shih and Purifier.  Of that the Infiltrator Mk I and Sloth are generally felt to be duds, but they may perform better in RP than TT.  Once you are near or at the Jihad the Phalanx, Trinity BAs, Grenadier, and a few others become available.

The Cavalier (SRM) is the ONLY IS suit that jumps with a missile launcher . . . because its in the arm.

Medium BA are the generalist designs, with the best IS ones of the era being the Infiltrator Mk II, IS Std/Raiden/Cavalier, GDL Std, Purifier and Longinus being the top in the field.  I put the Longinus last because it mounts a backpack SRM2 launcher which restricts it to the walk of 1- it needs transport or to fire its SRMs to move faster.

GDL Std will be superior in a city because its movements will not be inhibited by the buildings

For IS vehicles of that time frame . . . it depends on what you want them to do.

As someone said the Myrmidon is about the best line tank, it has a PPC on a turret, good armor & moves 5/8.  For campaign play it has a SFE which means you do not have to worry about the fuel so it can travel with mech forces without needing refuel like ICE vehicles.

And while there are a lot of Vedettes, Scorpions and Weapons Carriers (AC/2, LRM, SRM) in canon they are typically 3rd rate militia forces . . . so unless you are fighting off a swarm invading Podunk you will not be seeing them fighting a regular unit.  If facing the Capellans you might consider the Po Heavy Tank in the same category.

With TW rules changes heavy and assualt tanks are no longer BV sucking wastes waiting for inferno love.  Which means that Alacorn VIII is great in the backfield for killing other heavy armor or mechs.  Following the paradigm (slightly mobile pillboxes) would be vehicles like the Schrek, Gurti, Demolishers and a few others.

Best hovertank is probably the Regulator . . . movement with a BFG on a turret.  Its range makes it acceptable since it can stand off a bit to keep up the movement mods against a target while still having minimal targetting penalties.

[Wildonion]

I am a big fan of straightforward, so I would suggest the following. For your battle armor needs, the Inner Sphere Standard with the Light Recoilless Rifle is a favorite. The Infiltrator Mk. II (Magnetic) is also great, since it can hitch a ride with a larger number of units than other suits. When it comes to vehicles, the Myrmidon and the various flavors of the Manticore are my favorites when it comes to generalist tanks. The Goblin Upgrade and Goblin II Infantry Support Vehicle are also nice support units for carrying around troopers (whether standard or battle armor) and providing modest firepower.

[The Eagle]

Something else you might want to consider when talking about the Clan Invasion and Civil War periods -- which is basically what we're talking about, yes, OP? -- is faction availability.  If you are for instance a Marik player, the Regulator isn't a canonical option; about the closest you can get is probably a Stygian (fast hovertank with long range main gun).

Now I do want to reiterate that I started with "might want to consider" because I know that not everyone cares about MUL availability and just plays with whatever's best or whatever they want to.  And that's okay.

[Colt Ward]

Lol, or cries 'Salvage!' if anything is said . . . honestly, the Regulator screams for the fluff bit we get about vehicles- that other Houses have generic clones of what we see in TROs since they are just a slice of all the available options.  Only other thing I can think of that comes close is the AFFS Musketeer . . . and the RAC has shorter range, chassis is slower though it does have back up weapons.

[Demon55]

Myrmidons, striker light tanks, manticores, drillsons.

[truetanker]

You want evil?  O:-)  And these are NOT Heavies either!  ;)

1x APC-Standard, Hover
1x APC-Sensor, Hover
2x APC-SRM, Hover
  4x Battle Armor

TT

{Edit} 2 Machine Guns, 30 Remote Sensors, and twin SRM-2 Packs.

[Brother Jim]

I actually like the Fulcrum more than the Regulator, even if the damage isn't all in one place.

[Col Toda]

The Shiltron Prime is nice C3 Master and 2 ARROW IV launchers and 8 tons of ammo plus 2 med lasers in a turret . Regulator hover tank , Warrior S9 and maybe the Sheck PPC carrier.

[SCC]

You want evil?  O:-)  And these are NOT Heavies either!  ;)

1x APC-Standard, Hover
1x APC-Sensor, Hover
2x APC-SRM, Hover
  4x Battle Armor

TT

{Edit} 2 Machine Guns, 30 Remote Sensors, and twin SRM-2 Packs.

At TW level play you only have transport for one BA squad

[Colt Ward]

You are transporting a single suit per hover?

[theothersarah]

BA squads that jump 4 like the Kage, Void, or Afreet are my favourites for doing leg attacks, which are one of the most useful things you can do with BA in my experience. Fast quad BAs with a bunch of weapons like the Shen Long, Fenrir, or Buraq are probably among the better options for actually shooting. I've never really liked slow BA because even if you bring transport it's easy for the enemy to play around them. (Edit: That said, if you want to have decent weaponry as well as anti-mech options, the basic jump 3 troopers like IS Standard and Elementals plus their regional variants like Fa Shih, Cavalier, and Amazon are still worth a look even if they're not as exciting.)

As for transport, consider the Karnov (BA) or Anhur (BA). They are both fast, carry two squads, and have decent weapons and ECM so they're continuously useful after deploying their squads. While BA with jets can disembark without the vehicle landing, Tactical Operations provides rules for BA without jets to fastrope out with a risk of some damage; the risk isn't very severe so it may be worth looking into.

Also, if you are playing Canopus or just want to have a laugh give the Theseus "Killshot" a look - 3 ground MP and 9 rockets for only 35 BV per suit. They only have a grenade launcher for backup but a few groups of them together can put out a scary damage potential for one turn.

[Colt Ward]

Heck, the Theseus RL with its RLs and recoilless was enough to rip a Timberwolf that did not give the BA squad enough respect.

If we were to talk about the 3140s . . .

The best tank is the Pixiu, Capellan.
The best BA VTOL is the Shun, Capellan.
The best BA transport IMO is the RL10, Leaguer.
The best medium IS BA is the Amazon, Canopian though they give it as a benefit to their friends.

Notice a theme?

[Kovax]

Vehicles fall into several major categories (as well as several minor ones and plenty of blurred crossovers), so depending on what roles you deem important, the vehicles you select should reflect that.

I'm very fond of the Manticore as a close support unit for my 'Mechs.  The Myrmidon is another option, or the Po if you're playing Capellan.  A cheap wheeled Hetzer with its frightening AC/20 will draw almost every gun on the table away from your more expensive toys.  Then there are the assault tanks, which I rarely use, much preferring a more maneuverable force.

In a fire support role, either the Bulldog LRM variant (mainly against 'Mechs, or for laying and clearing minefields), the Bulldog AC/2 variant (for immobilizing vehicles at extreme ranges), or the light Hunter (cheap and durable LRM-20 rack on tracks) all provide decent support.  There are many other options.  If you expect to have hard cover and the ability to keep enemies from engaging your vehicles, the LRM carrier is the ultimate source of LRM spam, but extremely fragile and a top priority target.

For maneuver and skirmishing, the Drillson hovertank, or the lighter Saracen and Scimitar, are quite viable.  You can often intimidate an opponent into making purely defensive moves with the scary but thinly armored Saladin as a threat-in-being, but it rarely lives long if you actually send it forward to attack.  The Pegasus or lighter and cheaper J. Edgar can spam SRMs to immobilize other vehicles, or crit-seek against damaged 'Mechs later in the battle, but are wasted if you send them into the teeth of massed enemy firepower early in the game.

Then there are APCs of various descriptions, to deliver infantry and BA to areas where you want the enemy to avoid, or so you can infiltrate them to where the enemy is and won't be for long.

There are also self-propelled Artillery vehicles, both for conventional rounds and Arrow IV rockets.

Ideally, vehicles are best used in a supplemental role, where the more durable 'Mechs and the massively armored assault tanks deliver and absorb horrific amount of firepower, while the more vulnerable support and maneuver vehicles do their respective things around the perimeter of the action and avoid making easy targets of themselves.

[truetanker]

At TW level play you only have transport for one BA squad

You are transporting a single suit per hover?

Yes but for 442 BV2 for the entire lance. What can you do with that?

TT

[theothersarah]

Yes but for 442 BV2 for the entire lance. What can you do with that?

TT

Ehehehe >:3



edit: for 2 BV more (for an even 444 BV total) you can use vibroclaw Kages who can be better at those sweet, sweet leg attacks or at slicing and dicing infantry