Operation Revival Omnimech Review: Nova (IS Code Name: Black Hawk)

[jklantern]

The jade falcons did something smart for a change lol

It kinda peeves me that the Horses weren't the ones to do this.  One, because the Horses invented the damn thing, and two, it means the Falcons have YET ANOTHER DESIGN that I really like.

[Trajan Helmer]

Join the Jade Side, we have all your favorite 'mechs...and talon-shaped cookies!

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Just say no to Angry Birds.

[grimlock1]

Designs like the H leave me scratching my head.  Yeah, seems like a "good" idea to design a mech to be heat neutral on a running alpha, we know that's not always the case.  Salvo patterns and bracket fire let you bring a lot more boom to the party and still keep the heat under control.  Others like the Warhawk Tara, you hold back  and save that big hit for good odds and hope the dice still like you on the shutdown roll.  I'm not likely to make that play but I understand the thought process.

The Nova H, on the other hand, or say the Hunchie IIC 2, I can't quite wrap my head around.  If you fire 9 of the 10 HMLs on that mech, you have a 42% chance of avoiding that shutdown.  Yeah, you'll be down looking at -4 MP and +3 TH, but if you planned well, you can at least waddle to cover. But if you fire that 10th laser, barring Tac Ops Expanded Heat Rules, you WILL shut down.  At that point, not only do you loose any ability to defend yourself, you also become an immobile target with that lovely -4 TH.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

It's a tactical choice: you use it when you've gotten yourself into  position where you can pretty much guarantee a kill against something that's bigger and more expensive than the Black Hawk.  The Clans are big on the idea of the Death Or Glory attack.

[Firesprocket]

The Nova H, on the other hand, or say the Hunchie IIC 2, I can't quite wrap my head around.

Pretty simply really.  If your enemy has been dissolved into primordial paste and/or otherwise evercerated by your lasers then there is nothing there to take advantage of the fact you are immobile for 10 seconds from a shut down engine.  In a society that was obsessed with the honor duel all you have to do is win.  Nothing else really matters.  Against an IS opponent that really is all out the window, and you are right it makes little sense to Alpha Strike unless you know you are going to immune from return fire.

The other thing to take into context about all of the Revival era mechs is the original H versions were published back in 1998.  Most of them are less than configurations and the Nova is certainly not a design that is min-maxed.  The Nova I is more or less what I would have chosen had I been working up the H.  Hitting hard with a ER PPC at range and Heavy Mediums for anything that got in short-medium range.

[massey]

This is running the risk of necromancy, but the Mech Of The Week threads have been linked in the Clan Kickstarter thread, and I came across this.

The Black Hawk/Nova is the first Clan omni I ever saw the stats for.  I took one look at 12 ER Medium Lasers, then looked up what they did, and my mouth fell open.  That has been probably my favorite omni ever since.  There's just something so uncompromising and brutal about it.  Insane, yes, but absolutely brutal.

[Colt Ward]

Does the Nova Prime have the crits left to mount a Radical Heat Sink System?  The ability to run, fire 10 cERML and be heat neutral . . . heheh.

[Firesprocket]

It does have the space, but I wouldn't rely on an RHS.  Plug in optional rules, dial back laser damage and you can fire all the lasers with 5 point damage instead of 7.  All the lasers at that point deal 3 heat.  That's still 60 damage.

[Colt Ward]

Eh, its the same as MASC, Supercharger and a few other things.  I would rather have the RHS b/c if I decide not to be neutral I can pump out 84 damage, to be 16 over heat which is a easier roll then jump into the trees to cool off.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Since the Black Hawk has standard armor and internal structure, it's got a very roomy interior.  The only restrictions it has on what it can mount is it's limited pod space.

[Kojak]

One of my earliest BattleTech memories was playing one of these in Mechwarrior 2, which was my introduction to the setting back in the '90s. It's been a very long time now, but I remember it being pretty savage as long as you were willing to ride the heat curve.