'Mech of the Mid-Week: GST-XX Ghost

[iamfanboy]

In Alpha Strike, the 10 and 11 have a niche:

Namely, they're tough and fast-moving BM units that carry ECM and PRB, have RCN, and... are Snipers. The Sniper category's a weird one, but it's a strong plus in the Ghost's book because in order to have a Fire Lance, you have to include a certain amount of Snipers or Missile Boats. This is a pseudo-Scout unit for Fire Lances, with not-terrible firepower at 3/3/2. Also, STL use doesn't prohibit ECM or PRB, making the -10 actually reasonable...

Except, of course, the price. I'm too tired to do the WAAY overly complicated PV math right now, but I think they're overpriced at 39 and 36 for the -10 and -11 respectively. My Alpha Value method (which matched the PV within 1 point 95% of the time, and only required basic addition and looking at the damn card) rates them at 35 and 32. Ratha' large difference.

Oh, and don't look at the -50 and -90. They sacrifice WAAAY too much to gain absolutely nothing. Even at bargain-basement PV they're worthless. Maybe if the chainsaw-one had triple-strength myomer installed it might be fun as a crazy cheap melee attacker, but as is? Nope.

[GreekFire]

Now that's interesting.

For all of their faults, the Ghost -10/-11 don't cost *that* much BV. I'm rather surprised they have such a leap in cost once the AS conversion is made; a quick search of the MUL puts them as some of the cheapest (in BV) IS 'Mechs for how much they cost (36-39) in PV. They're also rather small for their cost, too. It looks like its a point cost more typically associated with Heavy 'Mechs.

What could boost their PV so much? Their armor, combined with their speed? And what would be a good alternative to the Ghost? In tabletop, I'd always be sorely tempted to take a B2-HND Bloodhound instead, is the same true in Alpha Strike?

[Scotty]

Stealth combined with their TMM combined with the relatively high armor points.  With six points armor and two points structure, you're looking at a DIR of 14 base and a multiplier of 1.4 (+0.2 for TMM, + 0.2 for STL), which rounds to 20 PV just for the defensive side of things.  ECM, PRB, and RCN combine for another 5 PV (2 for ECM, 2 for RCN, 1 for PRB).  That's 25 PV before even looking at the guns, or including SZ or regular MV into the equation.  Guns are 12 PV (IF0* adds 1), SZ is 1, and MV is 1.5

Add it all up for... 40?  I must be missing a rounding point somewhere, but STL is a significant points premium.  Maybe IF0* doesn't actually cost anything.

Offensive: 13.5 (14.5?)

Guns: 11 (3 + 6 + 2)
SZ: 1
MV: 1.5 (0.25 * 6)
Specials: IF0* (1?)

Defensive: 20

DIR: 19.6 -> 20.  (12 for armor, 2 for structure, multiplied by 1.0 plus 0.2 (speed) plus 0.2 (STL))

Specials: 5 (ECM, PRB, RCN)

Total: 38.5 (39.5?)

Given its effect on the battlefield, STL should probably be +0.15 instead of +0.2 on the DIR, but that's not really an egregious difference.

[Weirdo]

In Alpha Strike, the 10 and 11 have a niche:

Namely, they're tough and fast-moving BM units that carry ECM and PRB, have RCN, and... are Snipers.

Oooh, that *is* useful. Gotta remember that in the future.

For those who aren't familiar with Alpha Strike's force building rules, Fire Lances(and their variant, Fire Support Lances) gain very powerful special abilities(SCARY long range accuracy), but are also very specialized. Three of your mechs need to be Snipers or Missile Boats, leaving only one slot in a standard IS lance for you to add anything else, like a bodyguard, a forward spotter, or anything else you might want. As a result, Fire Lances really have to operate as part of a larger force if you want a well-rounded group, they really shouldn't go into battle alone. Because the Ghost is classified as a Sniper, the rules treat it as one of your main support units(and Battletech players will be surprised to find out that it hits the various rounding marks in all the right ways during conversion, so in Alpha Strike it packs pretty solid long-range power) but has all the gear needed to do a recon mech's job, so you don't need to reserve your fourth slot for a dedicated recon machine.

Finally, finding actual Snipers that move quickly is sometimes easier said than done, so having a Ghost available to you is very handy if you want to equip a recon or cavalry company with a Fire Lance that can keep up with everyone else.

[marauder648]

I always thought as the Ghost being a kissing cousin and more modern take on the Stealth, the Stealth was a raider/harasser (although more geared towards running down Scouts) whilst the Ghost seems to fall into this category as well.  I didn't realise though that it had quite so many weird and wonderful variants.  I suppose the base chassis is useful (everyone loves Stealth armour when its on their side) and it can door ding away at big things and keep the range open for Stealthy goodness and whilst its not that hard hitting it can go after Mediums, but the others..hrm :s

But a great article, well written and darn amusing :)