Finally gave the new Technical Readout a good, thorough read. They could have practically called it "TRO:Sea Fox" because of the amount of stuff we get in there. My thoughts:
Gossamer (selling, not making): Not something I'd use personally, but it's a nice little backstabbing VTOL. The variant, with the lb-x-10, is a lot more interesting to me.
Kite: Man, this thing beats the Odin in every way, shape and form. It might have a bit less firepower, but if you're fielding light hovercraft for their guns, you're doing something wrong. I can't wait to try it out.
Cardinal: Oh baby, this BA transport is a beauty. Makes me actually want to field Battle Armor for once, haha.
Koshi (standard): Welp, gotta have something to sell to the Inner Sphere. Its movement profile (7/11/6) doesn't make it fast enough for something so lightly armored, and a single large laser will tear off an arm at a time. The heavy rear armor suggests it's supposed to get in and get dirty, and with the 4 SRM 4s it can do that, but it looks like it's something that dies exceedingly fast.
Cadaver (selling, not making): This...is an interesting design. I'm really not sure what to make of it yet, I'll have to field it in battle to really get a feel for it.
Tiburon: Ah, I was wondering how our exclusive 'Mech would hold up. It's not too shabby, feels like a different flavor of Hellion. No masc, and with a bit less firepower, but more accurate, better armored, runs cooler and has that Watchdog CEWS. This thing feels like it's made for prolonged battles and campaigns. Probably something I'm going to tinker around with a lot.
Stalking Spider II: The design certainly screams Clan-tech militia 'Mech, so it's not surprising to see that it actually is one. Having the laser and SRM4s in the turret makes it interesting and worth considering, but it's slow and needs to jump to stay alive. Combine that with its short-range weaponry, and you better keep this in pent-up terrain.
Black Hawk (standard): It upgrades the internal structure to endo-steel and drops the armor down to fee up more mass for weaponry...and then spends that mass on some questionable stuff. I don't like having my 'Mechs act like critseekers, so that might be part of the issue. The model-2 does the "replace SRMs with ATMs" deal, while the 3 makes it kinda interesting - it turns it into a mini, jump-capable Stormcrow. Doesn't have the armor, though, and that's always been a big selling point for the Stormcrow for me.
Vulture Mk IV: *drool* It loses 3 tons of podspace over the original, but switches to endo and adds on 6 TONS of upgraded ferro-lamellor. I'm definitely cool with that. The configs are smart and well-done, so this is a 'Mech I'll be fielding all the time.
Jade Hawk (selling/supplying, not making): Herm. If Mercs want it, OK, but I'm not going to be fielding it. 10 tons used on claws (not a fan), with the 4 SRMs under-supplied on ammo while still being needed to keep the TSM running hot (and heat sinks have to be turned off for this to work). Another 4 tons used on an unneeded Partial Wing...this 'Mech is a sketchy one-trick pony. The -04 would be an interesting fire support model, but it still uses up 10 tons on the claws. The Jade Falcon models are a bit different, but we aren't producing or selling those AFAICT.
Savage Wolf/Mad Cat IV: I don't vastly prefer this 'Mech over the original. It's kinda even, they both win out in their own ways. The XXL makes it easier to kill, although if your side torso is out on a normal Timber Wolf you're probably about to die anyway. Converting the armor to ferro-lamellor and armoring the gyro toughens up the core and extremities. The big issue is that although it gains a 0.5 advantage in tonnage, it faces a dramatic drop in number of free crits. This makes a lot of the original configs impossible, and it's why we have a whole new slew of primary ones. The Prime = the old D, and pretty much does the job better. The A = the old E, and mostly does things better again, although I would have liked keeping the TAG around. The B is a brand new config, and looks like the devastating brawler of the bunch. The C = a new adaptation of the old Prime. The switchover from LRM20s to LRM15s+ArtV is definitely an advantage in my eyes, although I think dropping a ton of LRM ammo and a medium pulse for a targeting computer would have been cool.
Nagasawa: Wow, this thing is beautiful. I don't know anything about aero (yet), but from what I can tell, this thing is a lightweight though. It's pretty damn nimble. The armor is definitely solid as well, it has more than the 8,500-ton Isegrim. It seems to be built around the idea of long-ranged combat, with a lot of AMS systems to protect it from the myriad of ship-killing missiles out there. I'd love to hear some imput from someone who knows aero a bit more.
And that sums it up! We certainly are active in this era, I'm loving it. Looks like we might eventually face some splintering though, Fire Mandrill/FWL style T_T;; All that stuff comes from Twycross, Ingersol, Shimonita, Itabiana, Tukayyid and New Oslo, along with the Kraken and the Poseidon. No news on the Chainelanes at ALL in either the ER or the TRO...kinda makes me a bit nervous. The RPG part of the ER mentions Chaine characters getting Protocol/Clan as a freebee, and forces them to take Clan Warrior (Other)/Freebirth path while getting the In For Life/Clan Sea Fox trait at the same time. Hopefully that means the Chaines are still under our control and we're using them to pump out our own private goods.
LOL WALL OF BLACK.