Author Topic: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium  (Read 12178 times)

Scotty

  • Alpha Strike Guru by appointment to the FWLM
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 13899
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #30 on: 02 July 2024, 00:33:53 »
Recognition Guide: IlClan Vol 28

I'm going to be totally honest.  Vehicles aren't my strong suit.  I know substantially less about them than Mechs or battle armor and how they compare to each other, and frankly I do not in the slightest bit enjoy writing them up.  So I won't.  Apologies to those who were looking forward to my biting commentary about the Long Tom and its four children trailers, but it isn't happening today.  Maybe one day.  The difference between this volume with just 'Mechs and this volume with everything is six sheets versus 22 so I immediately feel vindicated by this decision.  In the meantime, here's battle armor and 'Mechs from the next volume.

TinStar Battle Armor: The Elemental has been the gold standard of battle armor since the introduction of the unit type in the original Clan Invasion.  This is not an Elemental.  That's not to say it's bad, I make commentary on unit BV all the time, but if you're expecting something as impressive as the Elemental III in volume 24, you are going to be disappointed.  Here we do not have jump jets, but we do have three ground MP.  This is fast enough to get an extra TMM on the ground, which is always good, since infantry don't have a facing and don't have to pay for facing changes.  It's pretty strictly inferior to three jump MP, however, due to not getting the extra +1 to TMM for jumping and still having to pay to enter terrain.  Two basic manipulators and MagClamps mean this suit can be fully mechanized regardless of your transport situation and can make anti-Mech attacks.  Swarm attacks are basically never good but in the unlikely event you get one off, or the much more likely event you get one off against something like a vehicle that can't just drive into water or fall over to knock you off, there are a Support PPC and a David Light Gauss, both in the arms.  Seven points of armor (plus the trooper) is the absolute bare minimum acceptable amount for a medium suit.  It's not a lot of damage (2+1), but the range for battle armor is acceptable.  The bigger advantage is cost, coming in at 272 for a squad of four suits.  This is cheaper than even the Elemental III [Flamer] for the same squad size, is similarly (but not equally) maneuverable, and significantly outranges the hardier suit.  Official verdict: Not bad, could be better.  C+

TinStar Battle Armor (Original): This is fundamentally the same suit as the standard, but cranks the armor up to 10 and replaces the David with a Magshot Gauss.  This might be the only time I've ever looked at a Magshot and thought “good”.  Going to 10 armor is an extremely important breakpoint and is almost always worth whatever it costs to get there.  On the weapons front your guns get slightly longer range and do slightly more damage.  The BV relatively skyrockets to 382 for a squad of four, but the durability increase can't be overstated.  I would take this over the standard whenever possible.  Realistically I'm going to be taking an Elemental of some variety, but sometimes that gets boring and this is hardly a bad suit.  I would say it's probably even pretty alright. B-

Firestarter FS9-N “Mirage II”: When you have multiple nicknamed variants, maybe they should just get to be the name and call it a different 'Mech that just looks the same.  Black Python/White Raven, looking at you.  Quips about the name aside, this is the most dangerous (non-Omni, which I am going to call a different 'Mech and not include for being 10 full tons heavier) Firestarter ever conceived and second place isn't close.  It's also the most expensive and second place is even further away.  Mobility is 6/9/6 thanks to a Clan XL Engine.  No weaknesses detcted.  Armor is maximum, favoring front protection, and is Reflective.  Some weaknesses detected.  Melee and artillery are going to ruin your day, but you have a solid chance against the ubiquitous Light-hunting pulse lasers out there.  Guns-wise, we start with a Plasma Cannon.  Not a Rifle, a Cannon.  No damage to 'Mechs, but much more fire.  Two Flamers forward, one rear also add more fire.  Then the actual offense is supplied by a pair of Clan ER Mediums and a pair of Clan ER Small Lasers.  Eleven doubles is... enough.  You can fire your offensive weapons outside of your Flamers at a run and be +1, but jumping will take you to a +5.  If you add the Flamers you can get to +11, which I do not recommend literally ever for any reason.  They are as vestigial as any weapons have ever been on a 'Mech.  If you want to do heat, the Plasma Cannon will average substantially higher than both Flamers will, and you almost never want to be using Flamers instead of Clan lasers.  The use case for these is extremely narrow.  I can already hear someone coming for me in the comments “but what if you really want to overheat something with TSM?” and I gotta tell you, you have better options than this.  You just do.  Because it costs 1660 BV, and crippling your own heat (or dropping not-insignificant damage) on a Light that costs that much is not the right side of the efficiency trade.  On its own, I can accept it as a not-particularly cost-effective way to put that damage on the table.  Not my first pick, though.  It might be my first pick for a Firestarter, though, which is not particularly high praise but it's not nothing either.  C+

Spector SPR-6F: The Firestarter was a striker pretending to have a second role, this thing isn't pretending.  It's faster, at 8/12/8, though it has an IS XL and is correspondingly more fragile.  Armor is amusingly almost identical to the Firestarter, right down to the type and allocation, with the singular exception that one more point is front than rear (17/5 on this, versus 16/6 on the Firestarter).  Weapons, however, are substantially more dangerous, which considering the Firestarter was rocking multiple Clanspec lasers is saying something.  For guns we've got two Improved Heavy Medium Lasers, a Medium Variable Speed Pulse, and an ER Small Laser (Inner Sphere brand) all linked to a Targeting Computer.  It should go without saying that this is a lot of gun and it is devastating when applied in the appropriate manner.  The heat load for that is... substantial, and the natural tactic is a hit-and-run using the high jump speed to cool down between passes.  Ten double will take you to +11 on a jumping alpha, though only +9 if you leave the ER Small off.  Running with the three “big” energy guns is +3, which is more palatable but is still going to add up sooner than later.  It's very tempting to jump and use the mobility to setup a close range shot with the net -4 to hit from the VSP pulse bonus and the targeting computer, but your iHML hit numbers will suffer.  Like many other units of this kind, I think it's generally a better idea to use the jump jets to set up a long run where your TMM is still +4, but your accuracy is improved by the run mod compared to the jump mod.  This all costs 1476, and makes the Spector nigh-incomparably better at the striker role compared to the Firestarter, with the normal caveat that if you're bringing a Firestarter it's for other reason and you don't get that here.  I still like it better.  If not for the other fast striker in this volume, this would be a standout.  B+

Cicada CDA-4A: Oh baby.  Oh baby.  Behold one of the best striker 'Mechs in the game, full stop.  The mech is a classic Cicada shape, 40 tons moving 8/12 thanks to an IS XL engine, but we have the additional presence of a Supercharger (enormously preferable to MASC on fast units like this) to bump it up to 16 on a sprint.  Armor is a couple points shy of maximum, and the missing points are helpfully on the arms that are practically vestigial and serve no purpose other than ablative damage-soaking.  Armament is two Medium Variable Speed Pulse Lasers and a Medium Re-Engineered Laser.  Heat is exactly +2 at a run (and you will be at a run), which allows two turns at point blank with the triggers held down, or three if you're willing to get a little toasty and still be able to sink back to zero by dropping the RE laser.  All of the weapons are in the torsos so you lose a bit of firing arc flexibility but you gain durability in the arms not being even a tiny big necessary to keep intact.  That's a lot of damage with accuracy bonuses on a fast well-armored (for its size) platform.  There's got to be a catch, right?  Nope, not today.  BV sits at a frankly might-be-a-problem 1097, making it not just accurate and painful and fast but also cheap.  This is how you build a fast low-end medium striker, everybody.  Take notes.  S

Devastator DVS-11: Here at Scotty's Mech Review Emporium, wacky speed profiles are generally bad.  This one isn't.  Moving 3/5 is slow enough to be a liability at exactly the wrong time, and this Devastator decides to never be in that position by choice.  Both MASC and a Supercharger push this to 3/5[8] on the turn you decide that over there needs to be over here immediately.  On a traditional Devastator, this would likely not be a big deal.  This one, however, has a pair of Snub-nose PPCs to go with its pair of Gauss Rifles, meaning that deciding what range you're at is slightly more important for effective use.  The ability get a +3 TMM is expensive and the overall grade is going to suffer for it, but if you are already using one of these it's a nice benefit.  Two Clan ER Medium Lasers forward, and a Clan ER Small each forward and back round out the offense, which is prodigious.  Armor isn't anything to sneeze about either, it's not maximum but it's close enough to pretend.  All explosive components are in the arms, and while there's no CASE II  to prevent that from turning into a disaster, it's unlikely enough that I'm not going to count it off.  If there's a major issue, it's the heat.  Twelve doubles is enough to handle both Gauss and both Snubbies at a run at a chilly -2, but adding both ER Mediums takes you instead to a toasty +8, hotter than you want to be.  You can drop one of the Snubbies and be back to -2, and adding the ER Small takes you to neutral, but there's no way to cycle consistently with a mild (+1 to +4) overheat and back to neutral without leaving guns off the table at their optimum range.  You can drop one ER Medium and be at +3, but extremely unsatisfying.  The Snubbies and the ER Mediums have an odd overlap in general, with the Snubbies being more efficient at exactly 6-9 hexes and the ER Mediums being significantly more efficient at 10 hexes and 1-5, and then both of them being a weird heat-and-accuracy-and-damage push at 11-13.  There's something satisfying to be said about slamming both speed boosts and jamming yourself into someone's line with a very large very tough brick with a bunch of scary guns on it, but there's not really an elegant way to pilot that to maximum efficiency.  You're going to leave capability on the table no matter what you do.  That's fine for plenty of people, but at 3170 it's not fine for me.  Devastators aren't a unit I've used a lot of, so I don't know off-hand if there are worse Devastators, but I'm very certain there can be better ones.  C-

'Mechs by rating:

F: none
D: none
C: 3
B: 2
A: none
S: 1

Cumulative 'Mechs by rating (Including bonus content):

F: 42
D: 104
C: 225
B: 235
A: 117
S: 19
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

MarauderD

  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4279
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #31 on: 02 July 2024, 12:31:37 »
I'm not here for the vehicles!  Here's to your work and thanks for posting again!

Weirdo

  • Painter of Borth the Magic Puma
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Major General
  • *
  • Posts: 41427
  • We can do it. We have to.
    • Christina Dickinson Writes
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #32 on: 03 July 2024, 09:03:03 »
I will answer any and all questions you PM me about vees, if that's what it takes to prevent them from being left out in the cold. :smilie_happy_thumbup:
My wife writes books

Sixteen tons means sixteen suits. CT must be repaired.

"Damn you, Weirdo... Damn you for being right!" - Paul

Maelwys

  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4893
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #33 on: 03 July 2024, 21:58:27 »
One thing not mentioned about the TinStar (Original) is that the armor is Clantech, which might be the first Clantech production in the Periphery..way back in 3086 (Not building the armor, they had to buy that, but assembly).

And puts it pretty early for non-prototype Clan/mixed anywhere in the Is (not counting Clan factions).

MarauderD

  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4279
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #34 on: 11 July 2024, 11:35:47 »
Looking over Rec Guide 29, I'm not expecting many kind reviews from Scotty.  The only mech I like (the Dervish) has absurdly high BV for a medium, so despite its ballistic resistant armor, I'm anticipating a C+ to B- grade. 

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 27130
  • Need a hand?
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #35 on: 11 July 2024, 18:10:33 »
The Ontos ought to get a decent score.
Warning: this post may contain sarcasm.

"I think I've just had another near-Rincewind experience," Death, The Color of Magic

"When in doubt, C4." Jamie Hyneman

Rince Wind

  • Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 186
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #36 on: 17 July 2024, 05:43:59 »
I doubt we will see vehicles anytime soon.  :wink:

DragonKhan55

  • Master Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 314
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #37 on: 17 July 2024, 21:35:59 »
I am giddily awaiting Rec Guide 30 because the Mech that introduced me to Battletech is on the cover of it.

MarauderD

  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4279
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #38 on: 25 July 2024, 10:51:41 »
The Ontos ought to get a decent score.

Ontos does look bang on terrific, but Scotty confessed he might not be down to do all the vehicles any time soon, so may be ages (if ever) we see reviews on the armor. 

Greatclub

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 3132
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #39 on: 25 July 2024, 23:16:45 »
If any tank deserves an exception, 'the thing' is it.

XenopusTex

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 60
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #40 on: 07 August 2024, 23:42:52 »
Meh... the Ontos.  It's an 1K17 "Szhatie" not a former US military "thing," at least in its original version. 

These posts create real head scratchers for how Clan Wolf, or any other competitor clans actually took Terra.  Carpe fiat I guess.  Of course, to be fair, RoTS wasn't exactly a brain trust for equipment either. 

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 27130
  • Need a hand?
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #41 on: 08 August 2024, 00:35:52 »
Except that like the M50 and unlike the 1K17, the BattleTech Ontos actually works.
Warning: this post may contain sarcasm.

"I think I've just had another near-Rincewind experience," Death, The Color of Magic

"When in doubt, C4." Jamie Hyneman

Starfury

  • Lieutenant
  • *
  • Posts: 928
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #42 on: 08 August 2024, 22:03:44 »
Marik swears by the Ontos, and they're still around. The 3053 variant, the Fusion variant, and the rest are solid sniper or brawler tanks, especially if they have good support mechanisms.

BrianDavion

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 2182
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #43 on: 09 August 2024, 16:05:57 »
Meh... the Ontos.  It's an 1K17 "Szhatie" not a former US military "thing," at least in its original version. 

These posts create real head scratchers for how Clan Wolf, or any other competitor clans actually took Terra.  Carpe fiat I guess.  Of course, to be fair, RoTS wasn't exactly a brain trust for equipment either.

remember Battle value doesn't exist in the universe. so some of the clan wolf designs are a little better in universe then scotty's reviews here
The Suns will shine again

Scotty

  • Alpha Strike Guru by appointment to the FWLM
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 13899
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #44 on: 09 August 2024, 18:18:43 »
Only some.
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

Scotty

  • Alpha Strike Guru by appointment to the FWLM
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 13899
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #45 on: 11 September 2024, 22:59:59 »
Recognition Guide: IlClan Vol 29

Witty intro goes here.

Dragoon Battle Armor: I will be completely honest, I read the TRO entry for this one and then did not even look a single time at the record sheet.  This was a good choice by past me, because I am immeasurably disappointed.  With one Ground MP and three Jump MP, the mobility is fine but everything else here is not great.  Five points of armor is just Not Enough for a medium suit.  A Flamer is an alright battle armor weapon in a vacuum, but the Light Mortar is not.  If the range was triple what it was, it'd be okay, but having effectively no short range is awful (Minimum and Short are the same range, meaning we're looking at +1/+2/+4 for ranges), and on reflection I have a really interesting question about what happens when you shoot it at range 0.  I feel like my instinctive conclusion is “+2 to hit” which I even worse.  The BV at 167 for a squad of four and 225 for a squad of five is very aware that the offense on this unit is writing checks that its offense can't cash, let alone its defense, but that doesn't stop it from being a “try a different unit” level of bad. D

Dragoon Battle Armor (Upgrade): This is absolutely an upgrade in every sense and meaningfully competes with some other Medium suits that don't go hard into armor.  Seven points of armor is enough to survive most secondary weapons, which is The Benchmark for a decent Medium suit even if it's light for the maximum potential of the class.  The Flamer has been replaced with a Micro Pulse Laser.  The Mortar is still bad, but the MiPL is an extremely good battle armor weapon and I'm here for it.  There's even a credible answer for “why should I use this instead of an Elemental III?”, that being that it's over 25% cheaper.  In real terms that's only about 90 BV, but sometimes you're crunched for points and this can be where you find it.  It's not better, but it has a use and sometimes you can't ask for more.  C+

Firefly FFL-5A: There are a handful of 'Mechs I really want to like but that are just absolutely crippled by some design choices that keep them from being something that I will actually pick for a serious effort.  Every kind of Firefly prior to this one is one of those.  The 5A is one I might take on a lark sometimes, having overcome the worst sin of its forebears by adding more jump.  This 'Mech is 30 tons and move 6/9/8, thanks to a Partial Wing.  This gets it over the critical threshold to reach +4 TMM while jumping, so it'll have use as a scout and skirmisher even if that's the only thing you're getting out of it.  Offense is mixed, with a decent if not spectacular battery of ER Mediums (three, one in each torso), supplemented by a single LRM 5s with a ton of ammo.  Unfortunately, the ammo is in the opposite torso from the launcher, but the impact here is mitigated by the fact that if you're taking crits in either torso you're basically done for already, thanks to the XL Engine.  The LRM and AMS ammo is CASE'd, which means precisely dick in a pick up game but might make your pilot feel better.  Ten doubles and the Partial Wing dissipation bonus is enough for an exactly heat neutral jump when you're only using jump and offense.  You can just barely heat up if the Anti-Missile System in the left arm triggers.  Between the extra TMM you get from jumping over running and the almost exactly heat neutral nature even in optimum range, this is... honestly this is kinda boring, but it's an effective kind of boring that contributes little offense and even less sudden inescapable tragedy like the older 5/8/4 Firefly variants do.  BV is 996, which is low enough that I'd consider it even though I'd probably rather take something still cheaper that also jumps 8.  Short list candidates include the Javelin 12N and Wasp 5A, right off the top of my head, putting this solidly in “not first place”.  You can definitely do worse.  B-

Assassin ASN-109: Oh hey, it's worse.  Okay, that's a bit unfair, but my initial impression of this sheet is not great.  You still get the +4 TMM from jumping with a 7/11/7 profile, that's positive.  There's Stealth Armor here to make you that much harder to hit, also a solid thing to have, and it's powered by an Angel ECM which is great when you don't have it active for disrupting advanced electronics.  The big problem there is you're mostly going to be using the ECM effect on yourself while the Stealth is active, and you probably want the Stealth active most of the time for defensive benefit.  The armor amounts, to their credit, are not awful, typically a point shy on each location and full on the head, so we're exactly seven points short of max and using eight point half ton lots.  I'd probably have sprung for the extra half ton of armor but I can't complain too hard about its absence.  What I will complain about is the offensive capability on display.  We have a Light PPC in the Right Arm, an MML 5 in the Right Torso, and an iOS SRM 2 in the Left Torso.  This is an art-driven weapon loadout, and it's not great, but I'll also be completely transparent and say I don't really see a good way to improve it, either.  The original Assassin's loadout was bad, this is still bad.  We have a small fringe benefit that the two tons of MML 5 ammo are both in the Left Torso and protected by CASE II.  We have some massive fringe downsides with having to take a Small Cockpit to even fit this amount of gear.  There are 13 free crits on this design, so Ferro-Fibrous is out of the question, but Ferro-Composite could have been, and I'd be leaping for a variant that did that and had a regular size Cockpit instead.  Things get worse when we contemplate heat.  We have the base 10 doubles, which can jump with Stealth and fire the MML and be neutral.  Adding the Light PPC takes you to +5, on the turn you fire the SRM 2 you could go all the way to +7.  There's not really anything that will reliably stop you from jumping away to cool down again, but an every-other-turn cadence might be good if you were going to do more than 11 damage a turn if you hit with both weapons.  This is all capability we've seen before, and I've even given good grades to before, so the kicker is naturally the BV.  You pay 1158 for this 'Mech, which is not ideal.  I feel like I'm pretty consistently harsh on designs that cost over a thousand BV but fail to force a PSR even if the stars align, and this one doesn't even come close.  D-

Dervish DV-11DK: I will admit immediately and up front that this is another design I'm disappointed by what kind of batshit insanity we could have gotten.  But that's not fair to this 'Mech, which I'm not thrilled with but is a damn sight better than the Assassin we were just looking at.  Starting off, 5/8/5 is solid speed for a 55 tonner, powered by an Inner Sphere XL that is vulnerable but your alternative is worse.  Armor is very good, with good coverage (2-3 points shy of maximum on each location) but gets high marks for using Ballistic-Reinforced, one of my favorites.  Weapons are a bit of a mixed bag.  We have two Medium Re-Engineered Lasers, one in each arm, two Clan Streak SRM 2s, one in each arm, and two Clan LRM 10s, one in each side torso.  All three tons of ammo (one Streak, two LRM) are in the Right Torso, protected by CASE II.  That's the most efficient way to do the ammo so no complaints there, but that's not the end of the equipment.  AES is in both arms, which is a bit of an odd duck here.  Your accuracy is improved, but the things you've improved the accuracy on are... Streak SRM 2s.  These do not inspire fear.  If Streaks were available, and the art weren't what it was, I'd take Streak SRM 6s and no AES every single day of the week and twice on Sunday.  AES in the arms without hands to punch with is also a bit of a miss, but that likewise is down to the art.  Other interesting things include the Compact Gyro, which is necessary on the sheet to even fit all this stuff without running out of crits.  Ten double handle the lasers and LRM 10s with just movement heat, which is slightly more than would be ideal with this jump speed.  Holding the trigger down on the Streaks is probably pretty safe as far as heat goes, just drop a laser on the turns you need to cool down and you'll be fine.  If there's one problem that this design has, it's that it's got weapons built like it should have two distinct brackets, and then it just... doesn't.  This is a problem not unique to Clan LRMs but certainly more on display here than elsewhere.  Your most effective weapons at every single range outside of 3 hexes are your LRMs, and you should be holding the trigger on them down all day long until you run out of ammo.  Your Streaks are fairly inconsequential next to those, and purely in terms of optimizing the design they'd be the first thing I tweak.  That brings us to BV, which at 1919 is not unreasonable but it's definitely more than I'd like.  At this cost you're competing with efficient brick shithouse Heavies or fast striker Mediums that will match better into more opponents than an admittedly pretty durable Medium trooper.  C

Charger C: There are a small handful of 'Mechs that point to a particular thing I talk about making for a bad design, then make me eat the page it was on.  Introducing, the Charger C.  Not to be confused with the Charger CGR-C.  This is a Clan Assault 'Mech (usually too expensive) with multiple speed boosts (usually too expensive) that can only do 7 damage outside of 9 hexes (usually pitiful) on top of what is historically a pretty lackluster chassis.  By all of those measures, this should be dogshit.  It is one of the most finely tuned and horrifically optimized designs to come out of this series and it will eat the lunch of most (not all) things that it shares a weight class and BV band with.  First, it dodges the worst of the speed boost BV by being able to actually make it to a +4 TMM reliably when both are in play.  Second, it cakes damn near maximum Ferro-Lamellor armor onto an 80 ton frame that's already outrunning most Light 'Mechs.  Third, it takes the very limited tonnage it has left after doing that and pours it into only the most ruinously damage efficient guns that tonnage can buy.  Four Improved Heavy Medium Lasers and a Clan ER Medium, supported by a (one ton) Targeting Computer.  Hey Dominator?  This is how you do a Targeting Computer.  This puts the Charger C at 47 short range damage with good accuracy and it will be in range to use it, you cannot prevent or meaningfully dissuade it with firepower from doing so.  It also brings with it a Bloodhound Probe (ehhh) and an Angel ECM Suite (much better), meaning not only is it going to be in your face performing an unkindness in your direction it's going to do so blasting radio static at max volume into your missile guidance systems and C3 networks.  Fifteen doubles is Enough but this thing can still get a bit toasty, climbing to +5 on a run with all weapons firing.  The speed boosts are probably enough to keep it moving the next turn without suffering significant penalties, but it's something to be careful of when playing.  There is one actual honest to God downside here, and that's the Inner Sphere XL engine.  When you have this much Ferro-Lamellor that's fragility by degree, though, and you will almost certainly live long enough to do awful things to your opponent.  At 2756 BV, it's expensive but it also embodies the very essence of a good diversionary piece: your opponent must deal with this, or they will simply lose the game, and it is a hell of a thing to have to deal with.  A

Sagittaire SGT-14R: In many ways, this 'Mech is the opposite of the Charger C.  It's still big (it's meaningfully bigger), but it is slow (3/5/3), its weapons are massive and not nearly the compact efficient killing machines on the Charger.  It is, however, still very dangerous and I'm a big fan of the design philosophy in play.  Armor is very close to max (I count five points short), which for a 95 ton 'Mech is no joke.  There's a Light Engine, so on top of having more armor it's also going to survive losing a side torso a good amount of the time, making it pretty categorically more durable.  Weapons on this beast include two Large Variable Speed Pulse Lasers, and that's where the Inner Sphere equipment ends (also the Targeting Computer, but that's less important).  The rest of the weapon load is a Clan ER PPC, three Clan ER Medium Lasers, and three Clan Small Pulse Lasers (one forward, two back).  That heat load is handled by 17 Clan doubles, which makes for a fairly interesting set of brackets.  At long range you have the ER PPC, of course, but at 15 hexes the choice is not as easy as it looks.  The Large VSPs have a built in -1, but each of them is the heat of two Clan ER Mediums.  With both Large VSP and the ER PPC at a jump, you build +4 heat.  I haven't had time to put the math to paper yet, but I think whether you fire both Large VSPs or one VSP and two ER Mediums is going to be something that varies by base target number and will not always be the same output at the same ranges.  Up close the calculus gets much easier: you drop the ER PPC for all of your ER Medium Lasers, and you tear someone to pieces with hideously accurate laser fire.  There's a space in between 6-8 hexes where the exact most efficient combination of weapons is not immediately apparent, but fortunately for whoever is using this thing there's not an inefficient combination as long as you're minding your heat.  Being all energy, that's less impactful than it could be otherwise, but you still don't want to be shutting down in the middle of the street.  The BV here is high, at 2626.  When you pay that much on an Assault, you better be getting something that can go toe to toe with anything else in the game on even footing.  I think this manages.  B+

Units by rating:

F: none
D: 2
C: 2
B: 2
A: 1
S: none

Cumulative Units by rating (Including bonus content):

F: 42
D: 106
C: 227
B: 237
A: 118
S: 19
« Last Edit: 11 September 2024, 23:15:02 by Scotty »
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

Greatclub

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 3132
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #46 on: 12 September 2024, 03:17:54 »
Small cockpits largely disappearing is something I was very happy to see in the recguide. Who knows knows how much better the WOB could have done without all the cyborg-optimized cockpits.

Weirdo

  • Painter of Borth the Magic Puma
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Major General
  • *
  • Posts: 41427
  • We can do it. We have to.
    • Christina Dickinson Writes
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #47 on: 12 September 2024, 10:01:23 »
I'll always be sad whenever I look at the a Firefly that has abandoned the core design philosophy of heavy point-blank firepower via clusters of small lasers. Fireflies aren't scouts or harassers, they're muggers meant to catch another light mech in an alley and eviscerate it. Sadly, I know of no way to remedy this without compromising other core Firefly qualities or that vastly improved maneuverability. They say adapt or die, and I do the latter often enough in my games, maybe I should actually try the former once in a while.

What's really funny is that by role, the new Charger *is* a scout, opening up some absolutely hilarious options for folks who like to use the Lance Formation rules. :cheesy:
My wife writes books

Sixteen tons means sixteen suits. CT must be repaired.

"Damn you, Weirdo... Damn you for being right!" - Paul

DragonKhan55

  • Master Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 314
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #48 on: 14 September 2024, 19:34:25 »
What's really funny is that by role, the new Charger *is* a scout, opening up some absolutely hilarious options for folks who like to use the Lance Formation rules. :cheesy:

Lyran Scout Lance is now not just a meme anymore!

Arkansas Warrior

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 9294
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #49 on: 16 September 2024, 17:01:25 »
Lyran Scout Lance is now not just a meme anymore!
If the Homeworlds hadn’t been cut off for decades, the Coyotes would be positively *drooling* over this thing.  Well, the second-line Galaxies, anyway.  The front-line Galaxies have been scouting with Gargoyles for ages.   :cheesy:
Sunrise is Coming.

All Hail First Prince Melissa Davion, the Patron Saint of the Regimental Combat Team, who cowed Dainmar Liao, created the Model Army, and rescued Robinson!  May her light ever guide the sons of the Suns, May our daughters ever endeavour to emulate her!