Author Topic: Mech of the week: Gunslinger  (Read 17227 times)

Greatclub

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Mech of the week: Gunslinger
« on: 17 November 2019, 21:27:26 »
Gunslinger. The lovechild of an Awesome and a Battlemaster.

During the election lull in the clan invasion, FedCom and DC engineers helped Rasalhague move a factory. On their off-hours, the groups found time to design a battlemech. Somehow. Guess there were too many of them or they were goldbricking. When they parted ways, both groups kept a copy of the plans.

At eighty-five tons, it is at the low end of the assault spectrum, and while it is superficially a min-maxed dual gauss boat, the original model has some really odd/wasteful features on second inspection.

Movement profile is fifty K an hour max. It has a real hard time making its target movement mod match the attacker movement mod, but it’ll get where it wants to go eventually. Two jump jets mean you can hop small buildings or streams and they give your actuators some padding. On the other hand, one more jet would have put it over an TMM threshold, and they’re in the legs so you can’t jump out of water.

Two medium pulse lasers are in the legs, facing the rear. At first this seems odd, but then you realize that they’re always facing rear, even after a torso twist. It means that you can shoot that backstabbing bug with two MPL and a gauss. This is one of two features that make taking one from the rear a relatively unappealing prospect.

The other anti-backstab measure is the armour layout. It shares the Awesome’s bias towards rear armour. Everything on the back can take a large VSPL without internal damage, something I’m sure a few pilots appreciated during the jihad. Only the front center torso and legs pass the dual gauss test, and neither by much, while the side torsos and arms all can soak three inner sphere large lasers and still have tinfoil left. I’d prefer to move around a couple points to add some protection over the gauss rifles and XL engine, but what we have isn’t bad.

Electronics wise, this thing looks like it was designed to be part of a Steiner Scout Lance; a beagle probe means it can find the enemy, and a guardian ECM prevents them from reporting you. Combined with enough guns to pulverize anything it runs into, it really is well designed for that philosophy. More seriously, it can disrupt C3 and gets a slight bonus in woods when in medium laser effective range.

Offensively, there are, as mentioned, two gauss rifles with five tons of ammo. One viable tactic is to pretend you’re an Awesome – find a sniper perch, and send steel watermelon downrange. It's enough ammo to take a few shots against long odds without being excessive.

Secondaries are four torso mounted medium lasers, similar to a Battlemaster. This is respectable, and while dated by the 3060s, it can  be worth moving up so you can use them in any era. It also runs cool, with excess sinkage on a jumping forward alpha.

End analysis, one of the best inner sphere mechs in TRO:3055, even with the odd bits.

Moving on, in 3062 both the Combine and Fedsuns roll out the GUN-2ERD. This deletes the rear medium pulse lasers, the small laser, and beagle probe. This is generally acceptable.  For this it gains third jump jet and a C3 Master. The medium lasers are upgraded to ER mediums. It makes the mech run hot, but can get you a couple more hits; I consider it a sidegrade. If you aren't running a C3 net the choice to take the new or old model is debatable in BV balanced matches.

End analysis, it loses little it truly cares about and gains better mobility, range, and a whole new role on the battlefield it is well suited for.

Post jihad there is the -2ERDr, basically the same thing exchanging the ECM to boost the C3 master. End analysis, the worth of this compared to the -2ERD depends on the electronics environment you operate in and against .

Last we have the -1ERD (Jared). This isn’t a Gunslinger, it’s a frankenmech with the body and legs of an original Gunslinger. The rifles go with the arms. The biggest drawback of the thing is the massive amount of ammunition unCASEed in the arms. Three tons of LRM ammo give decent endurance to two LRM 15s, and sixteen streak tubes make getting in next to it an unattractive prospect. The short range bracket can be a bit short for the 3060s. If you’ve got a great gunner or a streak on the dice it can run hot, but that isn’t likely.

End analysis, this last 'variant' is a bit of an oddity that is circumstantially decent for the BV. Plays more like a Stalker than a Gunslinger.

How do you fight one? In all variants, the front torso armor is a bit thin over an XL. Shoot it lots and hope you manage to dig a hole into the squishy bits. The arms have similar armour and explody gauss in them. Big guns followed by critseekers is, as ever, the ideal recipe.



UPDATE


OK, new gunslinger in RG27, the -3ERD. Somebody looked at the previous gunslingers and said to screw the electronics, make it tough.

They succeeded. Armor is the same – just in Ballistic Reinforced.  Case II on the gauss rifles means that after one goes off the atacker still has to tear through any remaining arm internal structure. A clan-tech XL engine massively increases the average lifespan by itself. The loss of the ECM means that it is fractionally more vulnerable to a couple things and an XL gyro increases the chance of bad luck being really bad... but I’d expect an IlClan era Gunslinger to be active turns after an invasion era one would have fallen.

Speaking of Clantech, you remember the medium or ER medium lasers on the old versions? They’re now clantech ER mediums, a massive increase in both range and damage. The old smol laser on the -1ERDs head becomes a small X-pulse, for eXtreme infantry clearing, and the rear leg lasers become a pair of same; mooning an infantry platoon is a reasonably practical tactic, especially as SRM infantry are going to have a nigh-impossible time getting through the armor.

You lose a ton of gauss ammo for 16 turns of fire, run hot with only 10 DHS, there are no electronics, and BV goes up by hundreds of points. I still think I’d take the upgrade version.



In the event of forum crash or post loss, this post may be restored by any who have it.
« Last Edit: 19 March 2023, 18:21:02 by Greatclub »

Luciora

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #1 on: 17 November 2019, 22:12:44 »
I did a kitbash of the Jared, and the fluff text was sheer awesome to read. 

worktroll

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #2 on: 18 November 2019, 01:30:14 »
Pics please, Luciora!

Yes, the Jared was very deliberately suboptimal, coming out of the Record Sheets: Unique 'Mechs contest, many years ago. More flavour than an iced watermelon vindaloo lollypop.

The mini's decent, except a) static pose, and b) pathetically small arms. I did kitbash some better ones, but still hope to see this in the Fan Finance options.
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Greatclub

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #3 on: 18 November 2019, 02:30:43 »
Pics please, Luciora!

Yes, the Jared was very deliberately suboptimal, coming out of the Record Sheets: Unique 'Mechs contest, many years ago. More flavour than an iced watermelon vindaloo lollypop.

The mini's decent, except a) static pose, and b) pathetically small arms. I did kitbash some better ones, but still hope to see this in the Fan Finance options.

I still think it, the berserker, or the naginata  should've got a kickstarter mini instead of the Nightstar. /bitter

Could you re-up pics of the gunslinger kitbash in your old post? they're broken.

worktroll

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #4 on: 18 November 2019, 04:16:44 »
Ow! Ah! You twisted my arm! ;)



Arms taken from DA Valiants, with gun muzzles from DA exhaust pipes O0

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* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Greatclub

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #5 on: 18 November 2019, 04:59:32 »
Yeah, that works. I think I'd also replace the bitty flash it has for medium lasers with some 1/16 OD tubing.

edit - thinking about it, I have some Mantic bits that might work if I pick one up; not that I'm likely to, as I have a Cerebrus to proxy in.
« Last Edit: 18 November 2019, 05:26:20 by Greatclub »

SteelRaven

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #6 on: 18 November 2019, 13:03:14 »
Always thought the Gunslinger shared more DNA with the Highlander than ether the Awesome or Battlemaster but the comparison makes sense in the combat view. Wasn't very impressed by the Gunslinger's looks until Plog's artwort (though Steampower Mike J made a awesome piece of Gunslinger art for the CCG that you can find on DA) It looks slot more impressive once you beef up those Gauss Rifles as Worktroll was cool enough to show us. :thumbsup:
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #7 on: 18 November 2019, 13:21:40 »
I'll never forget the time I was in a game when someone got a Dragonfly behind the Gunslinger I had on a hill and I caught him with the gauss rifle and MPLs both.  There was a lot of indignant squawking about how unfair it was to have rear mounted guns in the legs.

I love the 2ERD as well, it's one of my favorite C3M choices for assault lances.
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Luciora

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #8 on: 18 November 2019, 13:43:16 »
I'll have a pic up when I'm back from work later!

Wrangler

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #9 on: 18 November 2019, 14:56:14 »
I wanted see a Gunslinger kitbashed with the Zeus Arms since that's whart fluff of the Jared version suppose to be packing. Which i think hilarious, since the mother-law trying to get him killed since he not thr proper man for her daughter.  ;D
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Luciora

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #10 on: 19 November 2019, 00:40:19 »
Here is the unlucky Mechwarrior.

And yes, I have kitbashed all the mechs from RS: Unique Mechs.  Was my first large scale try at themed kitbashing.

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #11 on: 19 November 2019, 00:53:07 »
A mech fit for Bill the Galactic Hero.
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Firesprocket

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #12 on: 19 November 2019, 01:16:31 »
My only complaint about the Gunslinger it usually ends up on the chopping block when I finalize a force list.  I really wish the original had that 3rd jump jet and the other variants focus around C3.  The C3 variants are nice in their own right, but difficult to justify their dead weight if I'm end up building a incomplete C3 lance.  There isn't to much bad to say about the design otherwise.

worktroll

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #13 on: 19 November 2019, 11:51:19 »
Luciora - cool! Any chance of a group shot (or shots) sometime? RS:UM was my baby ...

Firesprocket - the Gunslinger's always felt like a Davion design, but more useful in the Dragon's armies.
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Luciora

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #14 on: 19 November 2019, 16:59:45 »
Will do.  A number of them are a bit lacking in the paint department, due my inexperience, but they'll get their own post, yes.

Luciora - cool! Any chance of a group shot (or shots) sometime? RS:UM was my baby ...

Firesprocket - the Gunslinger's always felt like a Davion design, but more useful in the Dragon's armies.

Wrangler

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #15 on: 20 November 2019, 09:00:51 »
Great kit bash Luciora.
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Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #16 on: 20 November 2019, 12:34:20 »
Why do you compare it to a BattleMaster?  I don’t really see any similarity beyond some broad similarities in backup armament.


At any rate, it’s an interesting take on the trend of dual-Gauss assaults we saw so much of in response to the clan threat.  The electronics are a nice feature, and the jump jets can come in handy occasionally.  The focus on threats from the rear seems a bit excessive to me, but I can see how that would be a major concern to slow, heavily armed assaults.  I can’t help thinking that switching to standard MLs to get that third jump jet (and a ton of...armor?  Ammo?  Something.) would be a better use.  The -2ERD and -2ERDr aren’t really my cup of tea, I’m not a big C3 user.  But the changes seem sensible enough.  I enjoy the fluff for the Jared, but since it’s not really intended to be produced, or even to be good, it hardly seems fair to evaluate it the way you would one of the production models.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #17 on: 20 November 2019, 19:41:27 »
The Gunslinger is the first dual-Gauss mech in the Inner Sphere, beating out the MR-V2 Cerberus by a year (3053 vs 3054).
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Caedis Animus

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #18 on: 20 November 2019, 20:15:29 »
The Gunslinger is the first dual-Gauss mech in the Inner Sphere, beating out the MR-V2 Cerberus by a year (3053 vs 3054).
Why does everyone forget the 3048 Devastator?

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #19 on: 20 November 2019, 21:14:16 »
Because it showed up in a later TRO and got retconned into predating the Clan Invasion.
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Maelwys

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #20 on: 20 November 2019, 23:13:14 »
And the Clanbuster King Crab variant (001) was deployed in 3052.

Greatclub

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #21 on: 20 November 2019, 23:35:43 »
Again, later sourcebook, borderline retcon, and I'm not sure if it made it into a TRO until the 2000s.

To clarify, the gunslinger was the first non-retcon and the earliest published mech with dual gauss.

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #22 on: 21 November 2019, 00:02:50 »
I actually remembered the Clanbuster King Crab and meant to say that the Gunslinger was the first widely available dual-Gauss mech.
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Colt Ward

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #23 on: 21 November 2019, 12:34:31 »
You know, for a 1-off game it might be fun to do a grinder style of dual gauss designs- call it the 'Steiner Stomp' so . . .

Devastator 2
Devastator 3
Cerberus V2
Cerberus V3
King Crab 0001
Carronade 7M
Mad Dog C
Blood Asp Prime
Dire Wolf H
Turkina A
Mad Cat Mk II
Tundra Wolf 5
Cyclops 11-B
Fafnir 5B
Nightstar 9J

Maybe-
Vanquisher (LGR)
Emperor 6M/6M2 (LGR)
Templar D (LGR)
Sirocco 5C (LGR)
Dire Wolf D (HAG)
Cygnus 2 (HAG)
Fafnir 5 (HGR)
Thunderhawk
Gausszilla

I am sure there are more . . .
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SteelRaven

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #24 on: 21 November 2019, 16:04:55 »
Gaussapoluza!
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Sabelkatten

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #25 on: 21 November 2019, 16:07:47 »
Let's-red-mist-all-the-pilots-fight... ::)

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #26 on: 22 November 2019, 07:49:13 »
By Dark Age id figure the Kuritas would retain what Gunslingers they had and perhaps update them. I see the Mech way too slow in Era has alot Clan Tech and has alot of fast moving Mechs and vehicles.
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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #27 on: 22 November 2019, 13:20:53 »
Still plenty of 3/5 mechs, it's the fact it's a 3/5 mech with a IS XL. Allot of Designs seem to focus on durability or speed while the Gunslinger is one of those 3050 Gauss platforms that depends on sharing armor. Those tactics still work post 3100 of course.
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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #28 on: 22 November 2019, 21:28:39 »
Do the Dracs really have anything to replace the Gunslinger? The Suns for example can swap out the Nightstar and Devastator. The Dracs not so mcuh. It might be worth keeping them as is, rather than trying to fiddle with them.

Caedis Animus

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Re: Mech of the week: Gunslnger
« Reply #29 on: 22 November 2019, 21:35:56 »
Do the Dracs really have anything to replace the Gunslinger? The Suns for example can swap out the Nightstar and Devastator. The Dracs not so mcuh. It might be worth keeping them as is, rather than trying to fiddle with them.
I guess they've got Orochis, but those might have the solid punch the Dracs could be looking for.

Other options would be the Tai-Sho, maybe custom Sunder configs?
« Last Edit: 22 November 2019, 21:39:36 by Caedis Animus »