What makes a 'Mech fun?

[Ferrit]

For me it's often a matter of speed, and a variety of weapons that surf the heat curve hard. At least a 4/6/4 (or 5/8/0) move gives options on where to go and weapons enough to get toasty in the cockpit allow for numerous attack options. And there's always the panicked alpha strike in to the high heat scale for those desperate moments!

[Fear Factory]

The designs that are 'horrible' but can still be useful are my favorite.  ASN-21 is one of them.

[whistler]

plenty of things.

1. sometimes units are just quirky and well loved... by some at least.  (i still don't understand everyone's infatuation with the Urbie. ???)
2. sometimes you come across a mech that is not perfect but still intriguing for one reason or another.  finding a way to turn it into a useful unit can be very fun.  the Blitzkrieg is a perfect example.  i love the way the Blitzy looks, and i enjoy playing them because they make my opponents panic more often than not.  even if they dont do a whole lot of damage their effect on the battle can be huge.
3. personal attachment.  we all have stories about a particular design or mini that has single handedly won a battle, or was our first ride, has the most headshots... all sorts of stuff.  i've always been a huge fan of the Thunderbolt because not only was it my first mech but also because they've always served me well.  i also have a soft spot for the Lynx thanks to GenCon.  you get this kind of active nestalgia, swapping stories over particular units.  and then whenever you win or pull off something incredible it feels like you are adding to your own personal legacy with the mech.  it can be quite rewarding.
4. raw effectiveness.  obviously some mechs are simply better than others.  mowing through everything your opponent throws at you in your Devastator is pretty fun, lets face it.  we're all in it to win it, so getting to run units you're familiar with and that are very effective is pretty fun.
5. that being said the opposite can also be true.  getting handed a force full of what you perceive as crap mechs that cramp your style forces you to change your strategy.  but, if you can adapt and pull off a win... man, nothing feels better.  being in such a situation is what made me learn to love the Hellbringer.

there are plenty of other reasons why some people find certain mechs fun.  what it really comes down to is experience and personal preference. 

[Wrayth]

I have an unhealthy love for heavily-armored, TSM-enhanced mechs with hatchets (as long as they're able to control their heat properly, anyway).  Getting one into position to hack at someone can be extremely difficult, but that's half the fun.  The other half is pushing your opponent around the map and watching him move to try to take out your axe-wielding monstrosity while simultaneously trying to stay out of its potential melee range.  It's a threat that simply can't be ignored, and that gives you a significant tactical and psychological advantage.

Sometimes your opponent will be so busy trying to avoid or kill just that one mech that he will forget about the rest of your units or assign them much lower threat value than they truly represent.  I once played against someone who was so worried about my Banshee BNC-8S and its 38-point axe that he overlooked a Templar C, which then closed to point-blank range with one of his units.  Eating an LB-20X slug and 4 of its 5 medium pulse lasers was probably a rude awakening for him.

Of course, then there are those times when you actually get to use the melee weapon.  On another occasion, the look on a certain fellow forum denizen's face when I informed him that the same Banshee mentioned earlier was torso twisted left and would be hacking at the Firestarter Omni behind it on 8's was priceless.  Rolling 11 was just the icing on the cake.   :D

In a larger sense, I think mechs that allow me to either do something unusual, dictate the terms of engagement, or both, are what I find fun.  Oh, and outright ridiculous firepower.  I guess that part makes me Lyran.   ;D

[Lysenko]

Maybe I'm just a kid at heart, but anything I can stomp around in and have. I'm the guy who DBA's and Atlas with a Wasp, knowing it won't end well, but still makes the "Wheeee!" sound while moving my 'Mech to the attack.

Another good example: I love the Stalker, the maligned "Goodyear Blimp on Legs." First game of tabletop I played in 1989 was with the CityTech set and a cardboard standee. There were buildings and I just had a grand old time crashing through buildings and shooting at anything that moved! Are there better 'Mech? Of course! But I have nostalgia factor built in and love to have on the table. :)

[mutantmagnet]

A mech that allows me to win is fun. I will min max mobility, defense, offense, special rules anyway I can.

[StoneRhino]

For me a Mauler is fun, the vehicle I find fun is also an ac2/lbxac2 carrier. Why is it fun? Because its this big assault mech that is using a cluster of the lightest weapons possible. It does not have full armor. Because if it fired everything that is considered a long range weapon, it will overheat itself considerably. Because it is not the fastest thing in the world. Because it has no hands.

What makes it a fun mech for me is that it is a challenge to run when compared to other mechs of it's size and tech level. Keeping it alive is part of the challenge. One needs to move it into a position so that it can do damage,but prevent it from becoming an easy target. If it becomes an easy target then it is going to become a dead one soon after due to the armor, xl engine, and ammo bins.

There are designs that are just horrible, to me, and have little potential without major upgrades. Other mechs are just to damn easy and straight forward, if I wanted that I would be a serious clan player. I find the mech to be a bit frustrating and cannot remember how many times I kicked around modifications that greatly improved upon the design but at the same time lost the soul of the design, in my opinion, similar to a guass rifle armed KingCrab. It is not the same.

Something that is hard to hit, has full armor, does a truck ton of damage per turn and has zero heat might appeal to a particular kind of player, just not me.

[Kret69]

I think it's that stomping thing Mechs have. ;)

I like classic Battletech - I like my Mechs damaged, malfunctioning, overheating and being and equal enemy as the opponent's Mech. I want to feel frustration before victory leaves me standing unsure if this is really over or - more likely - I get liberated by "game over". ;)

[Pyro]

What makes a 'Mech fun?  Not so much when it wins, but when it keeps you from losing. 

Everything's gone to hell in a handbasket, your main force is all still trying to stand up on one leg so it can limp off the field, and there's this one Jenner or Phoenix Hawk or similar mech bouncing around going "look at me, look at me" as it keeps raining destruction on a larger force.

It's the Guillotine that wouldn't die, and survives the enemy's best attempt at an ambush, limping off the map with a gyro hit, 2 engine hits, and only two points of internal structure remaining in its center torso.

It's watching your opponent struggle to adapt when you're playing on an open terrain map, and your demi-company of Lightrays starts imitating mongol tactics.  (My players hated my guts for that, but not nearly as bad as when I discovered the Preta...)

It's the legless Vindicator that props, fires, and lands a single LRM on an approaching, fresh Cauldron Born and crits its engine out.  (Wasn't my story, happened to a friend).

It's the Savannah Master that took down a Condor all by itself through nothing more than guts, persistence, and luck.  Vehicles can be fun, too.

It's when your opponent accidentally leaves his mech one terrain level below yours in a place where you can run up to it, and you kick his head right off, imagining a couple of trees as goalposts...

It's seeing a force that you know can still beat you surrender or withdraw because they think you're doing a lot better than they are, when all that's holding your mechs together are wishes and force of habit.

It's all the little moments when, by some combination of unfathomable luck, tactics, or just bloody-minded persistence that you turn an inevitable failure into something epic.  Just about any mech can be fun.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

  What makes a 'Mech fun?

  Killing one. Mostly using another 'Mech but even more fun using infantry.