WELL . . . if they were viewed negatively b/c being a hybrid it makes sense they were in the Caches- "One day we might need this." The Scorpions dusted off all their archived material from the Temple, which may have included information on the LAMs. So their practices could have all been from live fire training with the Scorpions via 'learn as we go' which makes you wonder how many of them died in that process. The dying is not something that would have deterred the Clans from doing it anyway.
If you did have Clans that used them . . . perhaps the Mongoose? Thus giving the LAMs a bit of a taint? Otherwise I see the three big aero Clans doing it- Mongoose, Snow Raven and Cloud Cobra. I think you can also safely say none of the founders were LAM pilots, so its not like they would have been represented that way.
Their being a hybrid would definitely limit their use but I don't think it would have stopped it entirely. At least not initially, and not with all clans. The Scorpions with their love of the SL would have kept using them. I can see the Aero Clans using them and the Hell's Horses along with the Wolves. I can also see some clans not using them at all. I think it'd depend on how "traditional" the clan is. I also think it'd depend on how many LAMs the clan has. I can see some clans having more than others.
I can't see trainees being thrown into live fire training like that. I don't think any would have survived the training and the Dragoons were the equal to other Clan frontline units. Plus it'd be very wasteful. The Clans do use live fire training but they at least train their warriors to pilot their machines first. That would take time. A good example that "on the job training" didn't happen is Kurt Brunner. He was already a Goliath Scorpion Mechwarrior when the Dragoons were formed and tested into them. Another would be unless they're Zombies or Ghosts, the dead don't fight.
The Scorpions probably kept several active just out of their love for all things Star League. That said, their LAM's were probably not included in their Touman once the Pilot genotype created a definite split between Mechwarriors and Pilots. Then the bias grew over the years into outright hostility towards them. That is, of course, unless darling Nikky had some sort of bias against them earlier. Either way, the Scorpions would keeping them, maybe even trading for those of other Clans. Personally, I always saw LAM's as a tool for Special Forces, like Death Commandos, lacking a Clan equivalent.
Wasn't the Heartvenom Cluster, Clan Goliath Scorpion's special forces unit? They also fit with the Clan's use of precision over brute force. I think bias varied among the clans, similar to the use of vehicles, foot infantry, and free births. I also think bias changed after LAMs were no longer in use, or too expensive to maintain. Once they're use is out of active memory their value gets distorted.
Thing is that LAM were unseen which was part of the problem and was way too strongly channelling Macross vibe. thus it died. I wish it wasn't the case.
Canon wise, Clans don't work together well except for the Hell's Horses Tankwarriors etc. Had they gotten over their problem, perhaps LAMs would had chance.
Caches are problemly very few left by time Home World's problem dust had finally settled.
I guess it's a Cache 22.
Their being Unseen has been a big problem. I wish it wasn't the case too.
Clan members not working well together is why the Jade Falcon LAM program died. Of course they're also pretty strict about maintaining roles, so their LAMs had to have separate aerospace and mech pilots. I would have thought the Falcons would have traded them to the Horses to gain something out of the research. Then again maybe they did and they led to the QuadVees?
That I can see being why the Clans stopped using LAMs. They would have been maintained solely on spare parts, salvage, and expensive fabrication. I can see even the Scorpion's leaders saying no more, and replacing them with Fire Moths and other really fast mechs.
Lol
