Does the Shadowhawk have access to a wheelbarrow and a holocaust cloak? ;)
If it does, then I feel that I have been denied critical,
need-to-know, information!
Here's a crazy option, assuming you aren't fighting on a drop port tarmac, there's going to be
some cover. When ever I picture any match up I almost always assume the standard map sheet. Get your butt behind one of those hills in the corner. Use the trees and partial cover to stick to a walk, while maintaining higher defensive mods. Post TW partial cover rules aren't as helpful here but it's something.
Also, if you break LOS, the Griff has to move to require. As they do that, you orbit the hill/woods patch with them. Think about chasing your sibling through the house. They are on the opposite side of the dining room table. If you move clockwise, they match you. You double back, they do the same. But in this case, as the Griff orbits, they run into the edges of the map and are forced to close the range, which brings them close enough so you could be up their nose in 2 turns. Or they could reverse direction, just like your sibling. Or they could just park in some trees and plink with the PPC.
For the record, is talking about alternate ammo loads getting into the "what you want, not what you have," argument? If it is, then just ignore the next couple paragraphs.
What at about AP ammo for the Shad? But the +1 TH and the half size ammo bin are big downsides. Caseless will give you 40 rounds but will jam up on snake-eyes.
Inferno SRMs won't cripple a Griff, but they will make wooded hexes unattractive hiding places. The shad can
jump into a burning woods hex, fire the LRM and AC/5 and not even need that 12th heat sink.
Are we considering SW era munitions from TO?
Tandem charge SRMs are certainly attractive. As many as 2 crit checks per turn, TH penalty of the AP autocannon ammo. The bin size is still cut in half, but the SRM isn't your primary weapon.
We've already talked about using smoke to reduce the Giff's long range advantage, but that works both ways. Smoke does allow you to create mobile cover. And if you are willing to give up both missile bins, you can create 2 light smoke hexes, or 1 heave per turn.
Incendiary LRM ammo is also a viable option. It keeps the LRM as an offensive weapon, albiet as effectively an LRM-4, but it also lets you start fires. As we've noted, burning hexes don't bother the Shad all that much.
After thinking about it, Wolverine fight scares me more, which is a bit of a surprise. Wolverines never impressed me much... You all have the same ground speed, but you give up 2 hexes of jump to both. You have the same armor. The Griff has double your long range fire power and no ammo limits on the big gun, but on a single map, you have a chance to force a close range fight. the problem with the Wolvie is that on a single map, they have a chance to force a close range fight. The Wolverine has half your long range fire, which isn't much to begin with, but does have a 57% advantage in close range power. Between the Wolverine's armor and your minimal firepower, the Wolvie could just charge straight in, weather the "storm" of AC/5 and LRM-5, and bring you into close range.
