The spider won my heart early on.
Just to give you a primer. I'd been a fan of Battletech since I was 8 years old, but due to reasons, couldn't really get into anything more in-depth beyond the CCG until I was 18. My first exposure past that was not actually the wargame as with most (There had not been a starter box on any shelves anywhere in my town since the 4th edition, long since phased out, and the 5th edition pre-Catalyst wasn't a common sight) but rather through Mechwarrior 2nd edition acquired through 5th-letter-cove (Not allowed to say it. Do the math). I created a GMPC due to lack of players, and ended up with a Spider. At first I grumbled and groaned because it had no guns or ejection seat, but quickly learned that TMM is a thing, and not being shot on anything less than 11 is frequently a bigger help than 12 tons of armor.
I still have yet to play a scenario where scouting is a real thing, but it was thanks to that early experience that I learned that simply strapping as much guns and armor onto a 100-ton chassis isn't the be-all-end-all. Official BT maps are usually much more generous than randomly generated ones, but there are times where jumpless mechs are hamstringed my terrain. I like that the Spider gives the option to run for +4 TMM, or jump for the same. Plus, the ability to 2ML, and choose between whether to take the -2 to hit to risk a PSR, or opt instead for punches without any cost during the shooting phase like you'd see with the Quickdraw, Clint, Assassin, or Stinger.
Later, someone on a megamek client would teach me that if you're playing Inner Sphere, anything more than 2000 BV is too many eggs in one basket. I don't remember the player, but I play by what he taught me to this day, if only because of his win/loss ratio.
