Author Topic: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.  (Read 23288 times)

Coriendal

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #60 on: 30 January 2018, 18:12:38 »
The Shadowhawk is over sinked by 1.  If you drop the SRM 2 and ammo and add 2 ML's you can jump and fire all 3 ML's, run and add the AC 5, or sit still and alpha by adding the LRM 5.  I always used it as the Magistracy of Canopus mod.

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #61 on: 01 February 2018, 15:44:11 »
The Shadowhawk is over sinked by 1.  If you drop the SRM 2 and ammo and add 2 ML's you can jump and fire all 3 ML's, run and add the AC 5, or sit still and alpha by adding the LRM 5.  I always used it as the Magistracy of Canopus mod.

That's a brilliant idea, but you can take it even a step further:  drop the AC/5 and ammo for a PPC and two more heat sinks.  A medium in thr head and CT is a straight tonnage/crit swap, as are a PPC and two heat sinks in the RT.  That makes for an easy field refit, and you can fire the PPC and LRM together while running and stay heat neutral.
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CrossfirePilot

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #62 on: 01 February 2018, 21:23:30 »
Well switching out AC for PPC and SRM2 for more MLs.  Well that just makes it a bigger and faster Vindicator.  And who hasn't done this refit at some point?

massey

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #63 on: 02 February 2018, 10:23:17 »
Any mech can be made more efficient by making it a bracket firer and adding medium lasers.  But that gets boring.

I head-canon it so that the Shadow Hawk was intended to be a jack-of-all-trades trooper mech.  Anything that reduces that versatility would be a loss.  Think of it as an Omni before they invented Omnis.  Does your force need some anti-air defense, and you don't have any Riflemen or Jaegermechs?  Give your Shadow Hawks flak ammo for their ACs.  Need to kill some vehicles?  Inferno ammo for their SRMs.  Get reports that there are several regiments of infantry protecting that city?  Fragmentation and flechette rounds for your ACs and LRMs.  It can fulfill a lot of different roles, all in the time it takes to load ammunition.

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #64 on: 03 February 2018, 01:42:37 »
No matter what the role is, the Shadowhawk can do it badly.
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Demon55

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #65 on: 04 February 2018, 01:16:59 »
No matter what the role is, the Shadowhawk can do it badly.

The ShadowFail!  I have never run the Shadow Hawk in MWO for that reason it just sucks!

Nahuris

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #66 on: 18 February 2018, 15:02:19 »
Personally, I am fond of the 2H, and have had great success with the 2D..... although it requires players that actually think and play like the succession wars, rather than checkers with guns ..... where they only take the "optimal" units and play to the last small laser, in classic Pyrrhic Victory fashion.

Now, about 20 years ago, I was asked to mod one --- AC for PPC added 2 jump jets, and SRM 2 up to SRM4 ... still had the 4 guns, but  a better damage profile ... and no more heat woes than most other 3025 designs.......  but over the years, I have come back to using the standard designs, and making them work for me......

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massey

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #67 on: 19 February 2018, 09:16:47 »
Personally, I am fond of the 2H, and have had great success with the 2D..... although it requires players that actually think and play like the succession wars, rather than checkers with guns ..... where they only take the "optimal" units and play to the last small laser, in classic Pyrrhic Victory fashion.

Now, about 20 years ago, I was asked to mod one --- AC for PPC added 2 jump jets, and SRM 2 up to SRM4 ... still had the 4 guns, but  a better damage profile ... and no more heat woes than most other 3025 designs.......  but over the years, I have come back to using the standard designs, and making them work for me......

Nahuris

The standard designs are my favorite.  I figure there are good reasons for a lot of the design choices that don't necessarily get reflected in the game rules.  For instance, the Phoenix Hawk doesn't have max head armor, but it's supposed to carry some kind of advanced communication equipment.  Maybe armoring it up would interfere with the signal for some reason?

It's easy to click a button marked "maximize armor" when making a mech on paper, but I doubt it's that easy in the "real world" of mech design. 

Charistoph

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #68 on: 21 February 2018, 22:42:58 »
I believe the Shadowhawk was well noted for its battlefists, which would be a consideration beyond its otherwise lackluster (if flexible) armament.
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Kit deSummersville

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #69 on: 22 February 2018, 09:39:48 »
Actually I think it had hand actuators with the best control and could pick up fragile objects other 'mechs would crush.
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Wrangler

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #70 on: 22 February 2018, 10:58:28 »
Hope you guys don't mind me jumping in to the conversation late.  The Davions did try fix the problem with the 2D with the 2D2, which wasn't much improvement. Adding Streak-2 launcher, adding 2nd Laser to the Left armor and bring up the armor slightly. this is a 3049 machine. 

Maybe IF it ever comes out, there a third Davion variant of the Shadow Hawk they tried to get in production in XTRO: Succession Wars II.  Maybe...doubt it...usually most of those are failures or experimentals (for era).  Blazer would been cool see mounted on the Shadow Hawk for that time period, but i don't know if it would have heatsinks to handle it unless their using a 2K model Shadow Hawk as basis.

So far, modern Shadow Hawks go, i like 3K and 12C models.
I'm not so much into the 12C because i don't think it's as common as the Kurita one and it has big XL engine in it. 
Both packing Heavy PPCs and single ER Medium Laser.
A missile goes, the 12C has MML7, while the 3K has MML5.

Armor goes 3K has Heavy Ferro-Fibrous (w/case), which is nice. 12C has  Light FF armor, but it's much faster, going 90 kph.

I still like utilitarian-ish 3K better for Merc campaigns since (aside from the armor) it has easier chance of getting parts and being fixed.   
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Kit deSummersville

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #71 on: 22 February 2018, 11:22:57 »
The third Davion ShadowHawk came with a RAC/5. Then they moved on to a LAC for the fourth and made it more of a jack-of-all-trades again.
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Wrangler

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #72 on: 22 February 2018, 15:59:33 »
The third Davion ShadowHawk came with a RAC/5. Then they moved on to a LAC for the fourth and made it more of a jack-of-all-trades again.
Sorry, I meant another version of the 2D.
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House Davie Merc

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #73 on: 13 March 2018, 00:32:05 »
Also what are some custom variants of the mech that you have ran in this era, or feel would have been ran (in universe).
In our 3025 games that allowed customs I ran 2 Shadow Hawk variants .
Both had the same armor as the 2H but lost all of the extra heat sinks .

#1. 2 medium lasers , AC/10 with 20 rounds , and add 2 more jump jets
to make it 5/8/5 .

#2 . 1 medium laser  and an AC/20 with 10 rounds .

#1 . Was an all around excellent trooper mech . Having a full 20 rounds for the
A/C 10 lets you shoot all the time . The AC/10 combined with it's mobility made
it a serious backstab threat for the heavies of the era .

#2. A no frills way to get an AC/20 on the board that might actually
survive to get to the enemy . Other AC/20 mechs just weren't as fast .
Lacks the overall utility of version #1  but adds a shock and awe element .

The #1 variant was a fun way to play a Shadow Hawk without being overly
munchy about it . Wish variant #1 was the canon Davion variant as
it can pair up with the Rifleman RFL-3C and share ammo .

As is the actual Davion variant-just doesn't make any sense .   :o

winters_night

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Re: The ShadowHawk and Alternate Loadouts.
« Reply #74 on: 26 March 2018, 15:47:11 »
Late to this but a variant we have used to try and keep the flavor while giving the Shadow Hawk a bit more oompf is to swap the AC/5 for a medium rifle and use that 3 tons for an extra ton of rifle ammo, another medium laser and either 2 more JJs or an extra ton of armor.