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Fan Articles / Re: Mech of the Week: Deimos
« Last post by Arkansas Warrior on Today at 20:31:04 »Thanks for taking the request! (I should also note that Sarna shows there being a H model as well, apparently from TRO: Jihad. I don't have it so I can't check.)
Ah, the Deimos. What an odd beast. Lots of tons, not a lot of crits. Weird fixed gear. Slightly younger than the Scylla, which is weird if you know your Greek mythology. What?
The fixed AMS and extra DHS suggests strongly to me that the test pilot and/or head scientist behind the design had a phobia of infernos. I almost wonder if it was designed by Outworlders, who were new to clantech and omnis. That might explain some of the weirder design choices. Or maybe the Ravens just haven't designed a new mech since the Stormcrow and assign dumb, lazy scientists to the mech programs while the smart ones design important things, like WarShips, Aerospace fighters, battle armor, and WarShips.
Thoughts on individual configs:
Prime: It's interesting. Not to say *good*, mind you. More autocannons than the average Davion company (no mean feat!). Kerensky help JHB if he ever has to drive one, though. I put the over/under on jammed UACs at 4. Seems like LBX2s would've made more sense, especially for a mech with AAA targeting, but there's not actually room in the arms for 3 LBX2s. Remember what I said about crits? On the plus side, the more ACs jam, the less you need to worry about heat! (Then agai, the more jams they have to fix, the more your techs will hate you; swings and roundabouts, I guess.) Also, this is one of the few AC2 mechs I've ever seen that might run out of ammo before it runs out of armor; you can theoretically drain the bins in just over 11 turns, if nothing jams, which, lol. Good luck. It's weird that this config's "hole punchers" are its shortest-ranged weapons. BV of 2188, which is near that of a Loki II Prime or Summoner F. I think I'd prefer the Loki II, but I also don't play on the tabletop much, someone more experienced at that should probably weigh in.
A: Devastator, eat your heart out. Really good design, at least by Deimos standards. Probably my favorite. Just don't use all the guns at once. BV of 2785, near that of a Jupiter, Blood Kite, or War Crow B.
B: Someone welded a Mandrill to an Ebon jaguar B? I mean, the ERPPC/LPL combo is a classic, just look at the Warhawk C. Then count its heat sinks. 23. tHe Deimos B has 16. Yeah. Good luck! Your LRMs are your close-in sandblast guns, I guess? Again, that feels backwards. Overall? Usable, but finicky. BV of 2965, just below that of the Shrike.
C: Was the designer a Coyote Abtakha? (If he was a scientist, purge him just to be safe.) Because this thing reminds me of the Canis. You could also compare it, if perhaps not favorably, to the Kingfisher C. Thankfully, it can actually use all of its lasers, unlike the Canis. And, as a bonus, you have SPLs! Clan mechwarriors tell me they're highly effective at getting solahma infantry moving when they need extra motivation. BV of 2737, identical to the Mad Cat Prime.
D: Like the Prime, but better. Please use the CT ammo first. BV 2682, same as a Mad Cat D.
E: is for Eclectic, apparently. It certainly isn't for ATMs. Streak ammo seems a touch low, but at least you know it'll all hit. Let's see, fixed MASC, Supercharger, RHSS, boy are your techs going to love how many systems on this design are increasingly likely to fail with over-use! You blow your supercharger, start generating more heat, which means you need to use your RHSS more, and soon enough a tech brains you with a wrench. Accidentally, of course. He slipped in the leaking coolant, officer, honest. BV 3620(!), just higher than the Dire Wolf C. Yikes.
S: It's a Space C. BV 264, around that of the Nova Prime. That seems wrong to me, but again, I'm mostly here to read fiction, which is why I request articles instead of trying to write them.
2: Less ammo, bad. Laser AMS, good. More armor, good. Faster, good. Fewer heat sinks, bad. No reconfiguring to other loadouts, bad. Look, if I'm an Outworlder or second-liner I'm happy to have it, probably. If I'm a trueborn frontliner, I'm probably pissed. That's the biggest thing separating it from the Prime, honestly. BV of 2394, in the neighborhood of a Berserker-C3 or Sun Cobra 2.
In sum, the Deimos is...conceptually flawed. Reminds me of the Avatar, with those fixed lasers. Maybe that was an OOC plus, to differentiate it from the Savage Coyote, another 85 ton 3/5 clan omni? I don't know. Some of the configs are pretty good. None of them are great. The chassis still has potential. I do wish they'd put that AMS ammo somewhere else, and not added so blasted many fixed heat sinks outside the engine. Also, you notice how none of them carries a gun bigger than a UAC10? That crit layout really hurts. You *could* fit a gauss in the arms, but would have to split any AC20 or HAG bigger than a 20.
Ah, the Deimos. What an odd beast. Lots of tons, not a lot of crits. Weird fixed gear. Slightly younger than the Scylla, which is weird if you know your Greek mythology. What?
The fixed AMS and extra DHS suggests strongly to me that the test pilot and/or head scientist behind the design had a phobia of infernos. I almost wonder if it was designed by Outworlders, who were new to clantech and omnis. That might explain some of the weirder design choices. Or maybe the Ravens just haven't designed a new mech since the Stormcrow and assign dumb, lazy scientists to the mech programs while the smart ones design important things, like WarShips, Aerospace fighters, battle armor, and WarShips. Thoughts on individual configs:
Prime: It's interesting. Not to say *good*, mind you. More autocannons than the average Davion company (no mean feat!). Kerensky help JHB if he ever has to drive one, though. I put the over/under on jammed UACs at 4. Seems like LBX2s would've made more sense, especially for a mech with AAA targeting, but there's not actually room in the arms for 3 LBX2s. Remember what I said about crits? On the plus side, the more ACs jam, the less you need to worry about heat! (Then agai, the more jams they have to fix, the more your techs will hate you; swings and roundabouts, I guess.) Also, this is one of the few AC2 mechs I've ever seen that might run out of ammo before it runs out of armor; you can theoretically drain the bins in just over 11 turns, if nothing jams, which, lol. Good luck. It's weird that this config's "hole punchers" are its shortest-ranged weapons. BV of 2188, which is near that of a Loki II Prime or Summoner F. I think I'd prefer the Loki II, but I also don't play on the tabletop much, someone more experienced at that should probably weigh in.
A: Devastator, eat your heart out. Really good design, at least by Deimos standards. Probably my favorite. Just don't use all the guns at once. BV of 2785, near that of a Jupiter, Blood Kite, or War Crow B.
B: Someone welded a Mandrill to an Ebon jaguar B? I mean, the ERPPC/LPL combo is a classic, just look at the Warhawk C. Then count its heat sinks. 23. tHe Deimos B has 16. Yeah. Good luck! Your LRMs are your close-in sandblast guns, I guess? Again, that feels backwards. Overall? Usable, but finicky. BV of 2965, just below that of the Shrike.
C: Was the designer a Coyote Abtakha? (If he was a scientist, purge him just to be safe.) Because this thing reminds me of the Canis. You could also compare it, if perhaps not favorably, to the Kingfisher C. Thankfully, it can actually use all of its lasers, unlike the Canis. And, as a bonus, you have SPLs! Clan mechwarriors tell me they're highly effective at getting solahma infantry moving when they need extra motivation. BV of 2737, identical to the Mad Cat Prime.
D: Like the Prime, but better. Please use the CT ammo first. BV 2682, same as a Mad Cat D.
E: is for Eclectic, apparently. It certainly isn't for ATMs. Streak ammo seems a touch low, but at least you know it'll all hit. Let's see, fixed MASC, Supercharger, RHSS, boy are your techs going to love how many systems on this design are increasingly likely to fail with over-use! You blow your supercharger, start generating more heat, which means you need to use your RHSS more, and soon enough a tech brains you with a wrench. Accidentally, of course. He slipped in the leaking coolant, officer, honest. BV 3620(!), just higher than the Dire Wolf C. Yikes.
S: It's a Space C. BV 264, around that of the Nova Prime. That seems wrong to me, but again, I'm mostly here to read fiction, which is why I request articles instead of trying to write them.
2: Less ammo, bad. Laser AMS, good. More armor, good. Faster, good. Fewer heat sinks, bad. No reconfiguring to other loadouts, bad. Look, if I'm an Outworlder or second-liner I'm happy to have it, probably. If I'm a trueborn frontliner, I'm probably pissed. That's the biggest thing separating it from the Prime, honestly. BV of 2394, in the neighborhood of a Berserker-C3 or Sun Cobra 2.
In sum, the Deimos is...conceptually flawed. Reminds me of the Avatar, with those fixed lasers. Maybe that was an OOC plus, to differentiate it from the Savage Coyote, another 85 ton 3/5 clan omni? I don't know. Some of the configs are pretty good. None of them are great. The chassis still has potential. I do wish they'd put that AMS ammo somewhere else, and not added so blasted many fixed heat sinks outside the engine. Also, you notice how none of them carries a gun bigger than a UAC10? That crit layout really hurts. You *could* fit a gauss in the arms, but would have to split any AC20 or HAG bigger than a 20.
