One of the choppers that really came into its own under the new rules is the Mantis Light Attack VTOL. The combination of high speed, a surprising amount of firepower for its size and the ECM suite allow it to swarm large targets and take them down in a single turn.
Funny, I found the Mantis (prior to the rotor damage nerf) to be THE cure for removing the "Big Gun" VTOLS on the other side-because it had the mobility to close range without going into Flank, and stay on their 3 or 6 o'clock positions pretty much at will, pecking at their rotors every turn until they fall out of the sky. (Usually only took
ONE turn..) and it still works that way now-provided you read the fractions as single points.
With the TW rules changes to VTOLs and hovercraft we now often say they have sort of changed places. It definitely makes air assault infantry and battle armor more viable as we move into more combined arms play, but this topic is not about the transports. Its about attack birds.
Previously the Hawk Moth, Warrior and Donar were your most survivable attack birds. Each has a big(ish) gun with lots of range and mobility to keep that gun in play. The other attack birds were useful, but their lives were short . . . which was sometimes ok, like when you trade that Cavalry SRM for the Schilitron C3master hiding behind a L1 terrain change from your forces.
In order of survivability (BMR era) it would be Warrior, Cyrano, Donar, Hawk Moth, and then a choice between fast scouts and suicide sleds (too slow to survive the first round of fire-typified by the trashtastic Jellowbucket, or needing to be "In your pants" like several VTOL designs we can name out of the 3058 book...)
Now however, VTOLs have taken over the rushing knife fighter role that light hovercraft used to have. Now that Cavalry SRM is much more survivable . . . and its bite is worse because of it even if Infernos are not automatic vehicle kills. Using masking terrain, your VTOL can zip into the rear of some assault and if it packs enough high power short ranged weapons you can rip the back open to gut the assault. Even more interesting was the Yasha, supposed to be an Omni VTOL- which I hope we end up seeing that version, especially since we have ones in the MWDA material up to Bonfire of Worlds that have different armaments (2 MPL, a 'chaingun' -RAC? LAC?).
Will we see more backstabbing close air support VTOLs than stand-off snipers like the Hawk Moth or Donar? What old sorts of Hovercraft do you want to see converted to being VTOLs?
Out of the knife-fighter designs, the Cavalry is the one that works for more than just hunting other choppers-it's fast, and the warload works on vees and suits. The Mantis is still one of your best "anti-VTOL" designs, and the Yellowjacket still sucks rocks aside from the Arrow IV version that allows off-board fire so it can't be hunted by other VTOLs, fast hovers, or anything that can get out of its own way.
The new rules made the Hawk Moth a viable attack bird, whereas before it was somehting that had to have a bodyguard to work, and they made the Donar not QUITE as crippled by that 9/14 movement curve, while the TPTB decision to change the movement profile on the Warrior was a downrate to make the Donar look...frankly, Better than it really was-look ye to the engine size and calculations difference between TRO's 3026, and 3039. Not only did they change the art for the Warrior from something that looked like a combat chopper to something that looked like a Chibi (anime term, infantilised BESM fetish), but they took a full cruise MP away-thus making the newer designs look better, since prior to that, the H-7 was about the best mix of speed, range, and warload of ALL the VTOLs published.
Including designs hyped as "more advanced" (eg the Donar).
Teh basic tactics that worked with VTOLs before Total Warfare still work- stay at arm's length, preferably at the sweetspot where your medium intersects with your target's long, keep your Movement up and stay out of easy arcs, Move every round, try to hang at 'cruise' with a minimum of +4 for your movement if you have the go-juice. Canyon Carving still works best if you're fast-the less you flank, the less you become one with the terrain you're using to screen with. Close only when you can either get into an arc he can't shoot you accurately at, or when you can do something bigger than you are in on a single shot or salvo.
Never, NEVER hover. staying in one spot is BAD. Sure, you might be safe from the 'mech whose hex you're hovering out of reach in, (they can't target things in the same hex, even fi they're at Level 15), but that doesn't stop his buddies from targeting you-and elevation doesn't count for range mods, only horizontal distance, and elevation changes don't count for TMM, only horizontal movement. When you win intitiative, you can close, try to cruise at your max hexes-covered rate when possible, limiting elevation and turns to the bare necessity needed to get into your shooting spot. When you disengage or lose initiative, flank your ass off, and try to avoid sideslip situations that coudl put you in the weeds.
Plan your moves before initiative is rolled-have at least TWO moves for losing, and at least two for winning initiative-why? because even if you're using the VTOL for an initiative sump, and you lose that initiative, you can 'steer' your poor opponent by putting your armed asset in a spot he HAS to move or be hit.
Shots that hit count, shots that miss, don't help you-again, CRUISE....CRUISE...when you're attacking. The difference between an 11 to hit, and a 9 is a hell of a lot of difference. Even a 2 point hit is still a hit, whereas a 15 point miss is just a whiff. Flank speed is for get-out-of-dodge movement, it's best reserved for when you lose initiative and the other guy has LBX's or HAGs.
Angle your movements-don't run straight at the guy, run at a tangent and turn to face him. Remember you're working in 3 dimensions, not 2, elevation allows you to ignore terrain penalties, then drop behind cover if you have to, or to skim behind a hill , then pop up at the last second. VTOLs aren't best used as knife-fighters, they're fencing foils, speed and precision, not brute force is the rule to using them.
Work in Pairs. One VTOL can be a hassle if it's the right sort, two and you've got a game-changer, now that doesn't mean keeping them both in the same hex-far from it, use two to pick at one target from different directions, and try to keep your modifiers equal between 'em, force your enemy to show his back to one or the other as often as possible, and it 's good to get him wasting his ammo or burning his heat capacity trying to engage one, while the other is picking at him. If you can get his whole lance worrying about the two helicopters, that leaves them open to your other ground forces.
When the other guy ALSO brings VTOLs:
This is where the Mantis, and the Cavalry really shine-they're GOOD for hunting other choppers. Evn if you never get that Mantis into range, he's got to move that big-gun helo of his to avoid the little knife-fighter with the cumulative bonuses to avoid being hit. Mantis vs. Yellowjacket, for instance, is Hummingbird vs. Condor, or Crow vs. Eagle- a Mantis can, and will, kill a Yellowjacket on the rotor. It takes longer now, but it still works about the same way. Ditto for killing a Hawk-moth, although tougher-the HM still has to flank in most cases for that nasty +4 to his gunnery, which added to his base gunnery and your Mantis' speed at cruise, can usually end up breaking 12's for the HM to hit, while the Mantis is still in a realm where it's POSSIBLE to hit the slower bird, creating a situation where he either deals with the little harasser, or he runs a very strong risk of dying to it clean.
Advanced Construction Materials (Hardened armor)
Yeah...well, I guess they had to do something to appease the guys who only play assault 'mechs in fixed positions. Inferno them with your SRM racks from the Cavalry AH or Warrior (or Marten). Crit the bastard to death, you're not going to strip that rotor with less than a 20 point hit for each point of damage it actually takes, the Rotor-damage-nerf is one of the doofier decisions made, er...rather, ported without comment from Maxtech, the former book of all Canon Munckinism for the game, adding an armor type without restrictions that doubles the damage needed means that rotor has gone from a vulnerable balancing factor, to a fifty point shield, to, with hardened armor, a 100 point sheild (10% damage nerf x2 on a 5 pt. structure). If your oppo wants to bring in that HA'd Donar from the XTRO? Counter with an Eisensturm.
Armed with nukes.
See him survive that shit.
