Which would you upgrade (Clan Invasion)?

[Colt Ward]

Situation
These mercenaries were on the League's periphery border with the Marian Hegemony when the Clan invasion kicked off.  They followed the news, got very sanitized LCCC briefings on the Clans, read the MercNet reports, and leadership knew a few people who got involved butting heads as the FedCom & Rassies were pushed back.  With the detente along the League-FedCom border during the Invasion and then after the Truce of Tukayyid, the League has decided not to renew the 4 year contract for the merc's garrison/cadre and occasional punitive raid contract.

As they packed up to head to Outreach, one of the League's mech builders sends a message requesting they divert to discuss a contract proposal.  The weapons manufacturer has had a retainer on the mercs for 'field testing' equipment & weapon systems produced form the Helm core for 'battlefield' evaluation.

The mech producer's representatives lay out the proposal.  They must have offended someone in the FWLM/LCCC as the few samples of Clan technology the League gets are NOT going to end up in their R&D facilities.  Instead they go to flagships like Irian & Kali-Yama.  The company does not want to be left behind.  They want the merc unit- using a company provided JS- to clip old Lyran space, travel the periphery and get "around" the House/Clan frontline to strike a world in the rear to raid for tech samples- the Jade Falcons according to ComStar's new maps.

As part of the deal, this company has a collection of old proto-type double heat sinks.  Of course, they cannot go in the engine but the company would use the stockpile to refit as many of the merc mechs as the command wanted with the 40 pDHS.  The company will even offer their own facilities and staff to expedite the refit to get the mercs moving as quickly as possible- the trip is going to be long enough, and they are already losing ground to the competition!

Additionally, they want the mercs to test their latest NARC Launcher and compatible LRM & SRM ammo.  Which mech would get refit to mount the NARC launcher in the company's facilities?


Command Lance
Marauder II         4A                               
Mauler                                             
Stalker                                                 

 

Heavy Company
Warhammer 6D                               
Marauder 3D                                     
Battlemaster 1G (mod- no MG)             
Crusader 3D


Zeus 6S                                         
Marauder 3R                           
Centurion 9-AL
Hunchback 4P
 

Victor                                                 
Merlin                                                   
Enforcer 4R
Vindicator 1R

 

Line Company
Marauder 3R
Archer 2S                                             
Hunchback 4H
Centurion 9-A


Cataphract 1X                                   
Whitworth 1
Thunderbolt 5S
Panther 8R

 
Striker Company
Cronus 3M
Griffin 1N
Phoenix Hawk 1 (mod half MG ammo for armor)               
Assassin

 
Dragon 1N
Trebuchet 5N
Commando
Javelin 10N
 

Scout Company
Firestarter
Wasp
Jenner 7-F
Javelin 10A

 
Locust x2
Cicada
Spider 5V

[MadCapellan]

Freezers for anything with a PPC. The Narc launcher would be conveniently damaged in transit & lost in a lake.

[glitterboy2098]

for the NARC, it ideally should be fitted to something fast. i'd honestly suggest the assassin.. you can swap the LRM5 and SRM2 for the NARC+2 tons of ammo, and the assassin has that 7/11/7 movement curve to get into position to deploy the beacons. though you should always make sure it has a good escort to ensure that the enemy is shooting at something other than it.

as for the pDHS.. the design's that will need them most are going to be the Marauder -3R (and to a lesser extent, the -3D), the Warhammer -6D, and probably the stalker (depending on variant)

depending on how many you have, i'd suggest the marauder 3R (as if you can replace the 4 SHS that aren't in the engine, you get 20 heat distribution, allowing you to fire both the PPC's near constantly, which goes a long way to making it more effective. you'll only be generating movement heat.. and you can afford to walk and fire the AC5 for about 3 turns before having to drop out a PPC to cool off. though you'll have to put the pDHS somewhere else in the mech, since the 4 SHS are in the legs.) and then the stalker. (where you have the crit space to replace up to 6 of the 10 external SHS, bumping your cooling to 26 and allowing you to fire off all its long range weaponry while running without generating any heat. or add a large laser to the 4 mediums and twin SRM6's when a target is up close.)

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

For the Marauder, stick the heatsinks in the side torso bomb.

[Metallgewitter]

As Glitterboy said the NArC might only be fitting for the Assassin. The other Scout Mechs (Spider, Cicada) have no room for it or lack the jump jets for that extra mobility. You might use the Jenner as alternative but you would loose a good striker Mech in return. And in terms of armor protection the Assassin is the most "robust" though not by much

[glitterboy2098]

As Glitterboy said the NArC might only be fitting for the Assassin. The other Scout Mechs (Spider, Cicada) have no room for it or lack the jump jets for that extra mobility. You might use the Jenner as alternative but you would loose a good striker Mech in return. And in terms of armor protection the Assassin is the most "robust" though not by much

i considered the jenner, but the model cited is the 7-F, the one that sacrifices the SRM4 for three more tons of armor. it would take way more effort to refit it than it would be worth as a NArc platform. not when the Assassin is already there.

and finding uses for the pDHS is tricky since you've done a good job of collecting fairly heat balanced designs already, so the simple heat sink swap refits aren't all that needed. there are a few where you might be able to use the pDHS to reduce the amount of SHS and fit on a couple tons of extra ammo or armor (the crusader for example) but for the most part they're semi-redundant.

i'd also be wary of using the full supply for refits, especially if you are going to be facing the clans. ideally you should hold back some of them for repair work.

[Colt Ward]

The Narc launcher would be conveniently damaged in transit & lost in a lake.

Man, that is some hate for the NARC . . . before ECM even proliferates on canon designs.

[Minemech]

 NARCs have some rough disadvantages against Clan machines piloted by warriors who are better shots. Their weapons are quite brutal with better damage and range bands. NARC Beacons have a medium Laser range bracket, which is not where you want to be.

[House Davie Merc]

I'd convert the 2 MAD-3Rs into MAD-3Ds.
I don't feel like doing the math right now-but I'd put as many PDHS
as I could on the MAD-3Ds first , followed by the MAD-4A.
You want to get rid of the explosion risk of the MAD-3Rs while
increasing the rate of fire of those PPCs.
If possible swap the Large Laser on the Mad-4A for a PPC.

I want to put the NARC on the Assassin but it's so thin skinned that it's
a death trap against clanners.
The next fastest and best armored candidate is the PXH-1.

I'm with MadCapellan here and would rather loose the NARC
in a "Boating Accident" but using it is part of the mission.
I'd try not to hurl while removing the large laser from the Pixy
and put a NARC and 12 pods in it's RT.
I think the Pixy has the best chance to survive getting close enough to
make a successful hit and still escape.
The thought of de-Large lasering the Pixy for NARC still disgusts me so much
that I might still stick it on a stripped Assassin out of principle.

You know what-forget that. It was gross and now I feel like I need a shower.
Strip an Assassin 101 and give it no weapons. Just a NARC and 12 rounds.
Put the rest into enough armor to get in there and land a NARC pod for the test.

[glitterboy2098]

MAD-3D's can already fire both PPC's, they have 20SHS, 8 of which are outside the engine. it can fire the PPC's and only generate movement heat.. and if it alternates between twin PpC and PPC+Large Laser in the right fire pattern it can avoid building up any heat penalties. changing out the external SHS to pDHS would put you at 28 though, letting you fire the 2xPPC's and LL at the same time, only generating movement heat. but that also basically fills up the majority of your crit spaces.

the main issue i see there is that is a lot of pDHS to sink into one chassis. especially if you refit the 2nd marauder to the same spec. ideally you'd want to spread them out a bit more, for maximum effect. especially since ideally you'd want to retain 10-15 of the pDHS as spare parts for repairs.

[Hellraiser]

Situation

Additionally, they want the mercs to test their latest NARC Launcher and compatible LRM & SRM ammo.  Which mech would get refit to mount the NARC launcher in the company's facilities?

Stalker   
                                             
Battlemaster 1G (mod- no MG)             
Crusader 3D
Griffin 1N

Centurion 9-AL
Centurion 9-A
Assassin
Javelin 10N

Victor                                                 

Panther 8R

Questions:
What Year is this?
Does this group have a history with other nations?, because that is a long list of other house mechs for a FWL unit.


Group/Option #1:
My first suggestion is to tell them to quit being cheap & just upgrade the Stalker-3F to the 5M model using a Field Refit Kit directly from the factory.

Group/Option #2:
The next 3 mechs are examples of where I would for sure put the Homing Ammo as each has multiple tons of ammo & can carry a variety of standard or NARC loads.

Group/Option #3:
3rd Group is a mechs that could work well as either Refits for the NARC Launcher &/or NARC compatible Ammo carrying mechs.

Group/Option #4:
The Victor is purely a mech for where I would put the NARC launcher,  Close Ranged, Jumper, Plenty of Armor, & an SRM waiting to swap out along w/ extra SHS.

Group/Clarification #5:
I've never heard of that Panther.
Do you mean 8Z or 9R?

PS.  Outside of the Stalker as a "legal/canon" refit for the NARC, I'd probably pick the Javelin out of the other suggestion I gave purely because of the Lance make up.
The Lance as a whole has a solid mix of LRM/SRM & Mobility to be able to use the NARC as a single unit & not be dependent on the rest of it's company &/or the entire battalion.

[Colt Ward]

No conversions or refit kits, they are lucky to be getting prototype DHS.  Question was just which ones get the two mentioned bit of gear.

Right now I am leaning the Marauder II, Marauder 3D, Marauder 3R, Stalker 3H, and Warhammer 6D . . . the two standard Marauders cut back on overall # of sinks to get a bit more armor.  Especially the -3R.

As for the NARC . . . yeah, Javelin or Assassin seems the best choice to me that does not compromise anything else, as long as the lance is around the LRM heavy machines.

[Hellraiser]

Question was just which ones get the two mentioned bit of gear.

Right now I am leaning the Marauder II, Marauder 3D, Marauder 3R, Stalker 3H, and Warhammer 6D . . . the two standard Marauders cut back on overall # of sinks to get a bit more armor.  Especially the -3R.

Your original post didn't ask for where the DHS would go. 
It just asked for NARC, so I didn't comment, but as someone else noted you have quite a bit of heat balanced designs already.
I certainly wouldn't touch the Mad-II as its basically perfect already & at best you'd be adding some JJ heat while sniping which isn't a good idea already.
Its a Walk & triple tap baby already.

Going back & looking at the list again.....  added comments in red

Situation

Stalker   +2
Warhammer 6D       +2
Marauder 3D     +2
Crusader 3D      +2

Marauder 3R            +4
Hunchback 4P   +2
Victor      +2                               
Enforcer 4R      +2

Marauder 3R           +4         
Cataphract 1X    +2 
Whitworth 1      +2
Thunderbolt 5S      +4

Cronus 3M      +2
Griffin 1N   +1
Commando   +2
Javelin 10N      None if you NARC this one, otherwise +4
Spider 5V   +1

This gives you 4 lances, assuming NARC on the Javelin, or 17 mechs if you do the Assassin.

The remainder of them I'd save for battle repairs.

A lot of designs your limited in the # of external slots, unless there is a rule for voluntarily NOT having the max # of heatsinks in the engine, which I don't think I've ever heard of.
Like the Mad-3Rs, your sitting at 12+4, so I did all 4 to allow for 20 "vent" but your not getting more armor there w/o also loosing the PPC double tap ability, so, that's a trade off to be sure.

[mmmpi]

I'd actually put the NARC on the hunchback.  Give it enough pDHS to mitigate the weight.  It already wants to close to me range, and most of the longer ranged Mecha hopefully will draw most of the attention.

For the rest of the doubles, I'd put them in the worst heat hogs, starting with the heavy marauder.