Author Topic: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos  (Read 10899 times)

Weirdo

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #30 on: 15 July 2019, 14:34:23 »
Seems to me that firing the MRMs is best done on one of those turns when you're using those 8 running MP instead of jumping...or using the walking MP and the 13 tons of armor.
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Scotty

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #31 on: 15 July 2019, 14:39:57 »
Seems to me that firing the MRMs is best done on one of those turns when you're using those 8 running MP instead of jumping...or using the walking MP and the 13 tons of armor.

Bingo.  It's an incredibly rude surprise to someone when they make a move that puts them within 3 hexes of a friendly and your Thanatos just... doesn't move.
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Empyrus

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #32 on: 15 July 2019, 14:41:47 »
I think the Thanatos is intended to walk and run mostly. It has the option of jumping certainly, adding flexibility, but with only a token pulse laser in the 4S, it isn't really suited for that.
Suits me fine, i don't mind jumping as an option but i very much prefer staying on ground when possible.

The 4T is more of a jumper with its LB-X and pulse laser battery. Not to mention its slower speed making jumping perhaps more important.

Weirdo

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #33 on: 15 July 2019, 14:44:29 »
Bingo.  It's an incredibly rude surprise to someone when they make a move that puts them within 3 hexes of a friendly and your Thanatos just... doesn't move.

It's a bad sign when any cavalry design suddenly stands still...doubly so for MRM carriers. >:D
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JadeHellbringer

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #34 on: 15 July 2019, 15:14:13 »
It's a bad sign when any cavalry design suddenly stands still...doubly so for MRM carriers. >:D

...I'll admit, one of the most unpleasant experiences of my Battletech career was finding a Schiltron-A elected to park itself on a particularly messy movement phase... while pointed at my less-than-mint Turkina. My careful plan factored that thing doing something entirely different, and instead it filled me full of warheads until it stopped being funny. (Hardly a cavalry unit, but unpleasant in the extreme)

I do want to take a moment to defend the unique model though. I faced it once in Solaris Melee Challenge, and that thing is HEINOUS. Those rockets are just as inaccurate as the MRMs, and you only get one shot, but oh ye gods that shot hurts. Simple isn't always a bad thing, and while that's a simple weapon swap, it's a damned good one. In particular, on Solaris (with the rules to withdraw and reload any time you wish), it was a murder machine.
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Fallen_Raven

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #35 on: 15 July 2019, 16:31:56 »
Seems to me that firing the MRMs is best done on one of those turns when you're using those 8 running MP instead of jumping...or using the walking MP and the 13 tons of armor.

Its always fun to see the moment when someone remembers that MRMs have a 15 hex range and you're running a C3 network...
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Weirdo

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #36 on: 15 July 2019, 16:38:09 »
I suspect there are few worse feelings than noticing the Kurita company you're facing is rapidly coming to a complete stop...
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Starfury

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #37 on: 16 July 2019, 04:19:03 »
What's also scary about the Thantos is how well it works with other fast cavalry mechs like the Hercules.  The Marian Hegemony's Dark Ages list really loves hea y cavalry mechs...

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #38 on: 16 July 2019, 23:49:53 »
The Marian Hegemony's Dark Ages list really loves hea y cavalry mechs...
Chalk up another mech that I'm surprised, but shouldn't be, that the Marians have.  I'm glad to know though skimming through the MUL that they don't have the Devastator anymore on their list.

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #39 on: 17 July 2019, 15:40:47 »
The Marians have some other teammates that would work well with the Thanatos, except for using units that have a C3 Master,  which I haven't been able to find in their unit list for the Dark Ages.  The 7SE, 10E, and 9M Thunderbolts are all 4/6/4 or 5/8/x, the aforementioned Hercules, plus you also have the Tempest 3M and the Ostroc 2Cb.  That's a lot of jump capable or 5/8 heavies covering a nice mix of weapon types, and I can see the Thanatos as a lance or company command unit in that make up, or as a carrier for Marauder battle armor since they have magnetic clamps.

Empyrus

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #40 on: 17 July 2019, 15:45:08 »
except for using units that have a C3 Master,  which I haven't been able to find in their unit list for the Dark Ages.
Looks like the sole Periphery General list unit with C3 Master is... Zugvogel A??? Why on earth is a weird support Omni aircraft on Periphery General list?

I'd grab a C3 Master from the IS General list, i think it is reasonable to expect the Marians (and other Periphery folks) to have some units from that list, even if they're rare for them.

UnLimiTeD

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #41 on: 17 July 2019, 15:56:25 »
I'm sure the Lyrans sold.
How reliable is a Master computer on a support aircraft?
And is that really still worth it if the bird isn't contributing its own firepower?
I mean, having a C3 Lance of only 3 mechs sure makes it lose its lustre.
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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #42 on: 17 July 2019, 16:07:23 »
Much like the C3M Skulker, just think about how cheap that force will be, compared to a regular C3 lance.
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Empyrus

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #43 on: 17 July 2019, 16:20:45 »
The BV cost is a good point. Unfortunately it needs Total Warfare, can't run that with just BattleMech Manual.

This reminds me, gotta check what is the cheapest C3 Master 'Mech... EDIT Uh, Daimyo. Gotta make something custom then i suppose.

Scotty

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #44 on: 17 July 2019, 16:30:31 »
The BV cost is a good point. Unfortunately it needs Total Warfare, can't run that with just BattleMech Manual.

This reminds me, gotta check what is the cheapest C3 Master 'Mech... EDIT Uh, Daimyo. Gotta make something custom then i suppose.

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Empyrus

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #45 on: 17 July 2019, 16:33:49 »
Strider M.
Ain't a normal C3 Master though. Plusif one is building boosted C3 lance only, the Strider, while cheap, is a bit of waste. Useful for a boosted C3 company to be sure.

(Currently trying to build a cheap master carrier, but that is tricky. Too cheap and it doesn't contribute anything but the C3 computer itself, a dubious proposition for lance.)

Scotty

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #46 on: 17 July 2019, 16:37:42 »
Ain't a normal C3 Master though. Plusif one is building boosted C3 lance only, the Strider, while cheap, is a bit of waste. Useful for a boosted C3 company to be sure.

(Currently trying to build a cheap master carrier, but that is tricky. Too cheap and it doesn't contribute anything but the C3 computer itself, a dubious proposition for lance.)

Boosted C3 can be used to link regular C3 slaves.  The Strider can function as most of a company master by itself on a budget.  :)
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Empyrus

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #47 on: 17 July 2019, 16:43:00 »
Boosted C3 can be used to link regular C3 slaves.  The Strider can function as most of a company master by itself on a budget.  :)
Yes, it can work but now we're running into tech level/rules level/era issues. I mean, i'm flexible about Omni configs if they don't use any special tech (eg Loki F pre-Clan Invasion), but boosted masters are a bit tricky (prototype '71, production '100).
Not a problem in "anything goes" game of course, but those aren't quite my thing.

This reminds me, the Thanatos does not have post-Jihad variants. A boosted slave variant happened to few 'Mechs with C3 variant, but the Thanatos didn't get one.
Did StarCorps stop making Thanatos during/after the Jihad? Or are we just running into "Record Sheets have limited space" issue?

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #48 on: 17 July 2019, 19:10:44 »
i think it was more "the guys making the designs can't help but forget a few 'mechs" problems.....
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Tyler Jorgensson

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #49 on: 17 July 2019, 20:17:39 »
Was a real fan of the MW4 Thanatos. If I was trying to avoid having an uber Omni force (or didn’t have enough money for them) I’d always seek out one. It was a solid machine for the game and equipped with Clan tech weapons it was brutal (see my custom in my sig for an example).

Now on the other hand I’ve never been a fan of C3 systems. The weapons load of the
three primary variants are not the best IMO but I don’t know how to fix it and keep the flavor. An Omni version would fix the problems IMO but you would have to fix the speed.

An interesting mech overall.

Starfury

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #50 on: 17 July 2019, 20:51:31 »
The Thanatos is also a natural match for a fast Davion cavalry lance of a Raksasha, a Falconer, and. a Jagermech III, or a Maelstrom.  I could see it working well with Thors and other fast moving Clan units.  So many mechs, so little time. 

Colt Ward

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #51 on: 20 July 2019, 20:41:19 »
Chalk up another mech that I'm surprised, but shouldn't be, that the Marians have.  I'm glad to know though skimming through the MUL that they don't have the Devastator anymore on their list.

The Marians went around after the Dark Age buying up salvage/scrap quality mechs and vehicles (and maybe some just marked in the books as 'sold as scrap') to take home to repair.  Honestly they should have pretty good refit/rebuild facility & crew because of the decades of experience.
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Wrangler

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Re: 'Mech of the Week: TNS-* Thanatos
« Reply #52 on: 31 July 2019, 18:08:15 »
I'm not huge fan of it.  Mainly CASEless and thin armored for Heavy scout. 

I've finally warmed to MRMs, but i need case make it not fire-hazard issue for my pilot.

« Last Edit: 31 July 2019, 20:28:52 by Wrangler »
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