’Mech of the Week: CRK-500*-* Crockett

[Colt Ward]

Well, we did not get one with the RecGuide . . . unless I missed it somewhere?

[Empyrus]

Well, we did not get one with the RecGuide . . . unless I missed it somewhere?

RG23, a Katana variant. Under moratorium still, i believe.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

IIRC, the moritorium period only lasts six weeks, which means it expired about a month ago.

[Colt Ward]

IIRC, the moritorium period only lasts six weeks, which means it expired about a month ago.

Which is why when it was not on Sarna I figured it had been missed, as odd as it seemed.

SO . . . since moritorium is up, what is it?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The Katana CRK-5006-1 uses IJJs to give itself a 3/5/5 movement profile, swaps the autocannon out for a Gauss Rifle, upgrades the SRM pods to streaks, and swaps out the large and small lasers in the arms for a Light PPC and an ER Medium laser.  Armor's still on the thin side like the original Katana, but at least it's got double heatsinks and CASE II protecting the side torsos where the Gauss Rifle and SSRM ammo is located.

[Colt Ward]

Not bad, it would not my favorite, BUT absolutely fluff appropriate for the Combine with the use of Light PPCs, Streaks and to a lesser extent the Gauss swap.  Oddly, while I normally dislike the desire to put LPPC on stuff- especially when Clan lasers have spread in the Dark Age- this does not bug me.

I figured if we got one it would be 3/5/5 . . . but I was not able to mentally resist the siren call of replacing the arm large lasers with Snubs while keeping LBX & SRMs.  But the only way I figured something like that would have happened was if the Republic had rolled it out as part of their post Fortress re-armament.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

It's really a variant of the CRK-5003-CJ from TRO 3050 Upgrade, except it dumps five heatsinks and the the C3 slave and adds Endo-Steel to swap out the autocannon and SRMs for a Gauss Rifle, Streaks, and CASE II.

[Ian Sharpe]

The Crockett has usually held up decently for me, and in built up terrain its very nasty.  Not really a stand out design, though, and in the modern era a built underwhelming in firepower. 

[wildkadabra]

It's really a variant of the CRK-5003-CJ from TRO 3050 Upgrade, except it dumps five heatsinks and the the C3 slave and adds Endo-Steel to swap out the autocannon and SRMs for a Gauss Rifle, Streaks, and CASE II.

It also MASSIVELY jacks up the BV value! Not sure if the upgarde over the CJ is worth the cost. For a little bit over the BV of the newer one, a CJ with a gunnery 2 pilot can be fielded.

The new model adds headcapping and more consistent srm hits but the loss of heatsinks turns a beautiful alpha striker into a bracket fighter which to me seems like a bit of a downgrade.

The biggest improvement is the addition of CASE II, drastically increasing survivability. Very welcomed addition but alas not one that I feel is worth the cost of admission for this mech in particular.

[Colt Ward]

Unless you are a Hellstar or Awesome, taping down the fire button is overrated.