Interesting discussion so far guys. I think everyone brings up some good points, and I would kind of like to touch on some of them.
one of the important things to remember is that the Shadow Hawk originated in a time with a different military dynamic.. one where mass combat was much more common, and lances and even companies of the same mech design were the norm. it was also a time when infantry and vehicles played a bigger role in combat as well.
Glitterboy, I agree with this, and I don't. As one of the original mechs, the Shadow Hawk actually originated in 3025 (even though it was fluffed to be an ancient design) so it actually was designed to be one of the original 3025 era mechs. This means that it was pretty much
designed to be a mech fighter, even if the in universe fluff, and what not has been changed since.
It does however fill the role of a Jack pretty well. In the succession wars, particularly the early 3000's as some others have pointed out, you are lucky to have a mech. You are even luckier if it something other than a bug mech or at the best a light. Against these mechs, the stock 2H equips itself very well. Further during this time huge mech formations were very uncommon, lance sized was pretty large, and company was enough to take multiple planets and hold them. Much as Mongoose says.
But, really, in 3005, just having a medium mech was a win from the get go, when the three most common mechs in existence were the Locust, Wasp and Stinger. So it depends what your battles look like. If one tends to run with companies and battalions of fully functional high end mediums and heavies and assaults, then the Shadow Hawk will look pretty crummy, and rightly so. But, if I sat down across from such a person, would I scratch my head, and think that it looks more like 3065 than 3025?
With this in mind, it means that the Shadow Hawk is if not designed as an infantry / conventional support mech, used as one. If for no other reason than the fact that mechs are rare, so most of the time, the forces on both sides of the conflict are going to be conventional forces. In this role, as you stated, it equips itself fairly well. Especially with the availability of specialty ammo, i.e. flak, infernos etc.
I always thought the old S-Hawk should have had the Chameleon's fluff as a trainer mech. The S-Hawk has a little of every weapon type to train on, some modest jumping, and a newb/trainee can't easily roast themselves alive in it unlike most pre-freezer designs. Trainer flavor better fits the S-Hawk's actual capabilities. And it would help explain why so many of this rather sucky design exist but were pressed into service during the Succession Wars.
Even with special ammo in play, I personally avoid the old S-Hawk. With three deep ammo bins and a very slow rate of fire consuming each, the old S-Hawk is a large, triply redundant bomb -- it will go off.
Peepers and medium laser banks and bigger missile packs and RACs/LB-X when they come online can obviously turn the design around. But then the design becomes more a Griffin or a Swayback or a Dervish or a Centurion/Enforcer than an S-Hawk
My 2 C-bills... YMMV.
Natasha, I agree about the trainer mech, makes much more sense to me than the Chameleon does as a trainer mech, with the only drawback being teaching the rookies heat management. ;)
As far as modifying it goes, I feel that my original post Shadow Hawk redesign keeps the feel of the machine while making it much more viable in combat. Further its a fairly straightforward refit, or at least I think. Swapping the SRM-2 and a heat sink for 3 more mediums.
I quite like the 4 medium laser idea. Works well enough for the Catapult in the same era.
Personally I like to remove the AC5 and replace it with a PPC and medium laser (I like to 'fix' the jump jets at the same time but that is highly optional). I find the same modification dramatically improves the Wolverine 6R and Clint as well...actually more or less any medium/light mech with an AC, I really don't like that weapon.
Challenger
All true Challenger, but keeping the feel of the stock machine and the low heat output are kind of what I was looking for. Definitely more effective upgrades though.
One area I see the Shadow Hawk excelling is in extremely hot or volcanic environments, think of somewhere that adds a +5 heat or more per turn. This is a great playground for the Shadow Hawk where it can run and slap someone with most of its weapons and still manage its heat, whereas a more damaging design would overheat too fast. For this niche too, I see the stock Shadow Hawk as an excellent option.
