Author Topic: Time to buy a mech  (Read 5297 times)

Colt Ward

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Time to buy a mech
« on: 22 January 2020, 13:14:23 »
Back on Galatea after a successfully executed contract for the League (or some faction thereof) to raid the AFFC's supply chain in the Sarna March, your merc group- a reinforced  mixed company- got paid off, walked away with a share of the loot in prototype & new production weapons (LB-X-P, UAC/5 prototype, ER weapons, etc) the AFFC was moving to refit regiments, and have a reimbursement check for the loss of a heavy mech.  The command's admin managed to track down four mechs that are for sale in the price range the group can afford.  You are the purchasing agent and had the chief tech look over the four for any lemons someone was trying to offload.  Which do you recommend to the boss that the group buy make up the loss?

Banshee 3MC-  This mech made its way from the Periphery somehow to Galatea.  Along the way someone refit it with the new Double Heat Sinks, but currently its missing the PPC and AC/10 so its chest has cavities where weapon systems should go . . . but you have weapons to mount . . .

Cronus 3M-  Shiny new rare mech from the Free Worlds League, it was supposed to go to a Solaris gladiator but he and his career were both washed out of the cockpit of a fallen mech while waiting on this mech to arrive.  Nice thing is a Cronus will share a lot of parts with Dervish, Griffins, Wolverines, and Shadow Hawks that are pretty common in the IS.

Orion 1K-  Someone took this old familiar design and tweaked it . . . the AC/10 was downgraded to a AC/5 while keeping the same number of ammo bins while the LRM15 was upgraded to a LRM20 and gained a 3rd ton of reloads.  No armor or heatsinks were added to the design, just a shuffle of the firepower for more range.

Centurion 9A-  You can see the old AFFS paint on this mech, but with that history comes a surprise.  The Centurion had to have been refit for the War of 3039 before it fell into merc hands- its got a prototype LB-10X instead of the Luxor AC/10 and put CASE into each torso during that refit.

All of them are in the merc's price range and are functional provided the Banshee gets big guns from the merc's stockpile.

Your the purchasing agent, which do you buy?
Colt Ward
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Ruger

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #1 on: 22 January 2020, 13:34:05 »
Depends on the rest of the unit, but you said this is a replacement for a heavy, so likely either the Banshee (nice upgrade potential) or the Orion.

If you want more mobility, the Cronus.

Ruger
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smcwatt

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #2 on: 22 January 2020, 13:45:28 »
Well, the Orion doesn't seem to have expensive new-tech parts to maintain, which is good for the budget minded mercenary. It is also in high rate production (for post SW era that is) so replacement parts should be easier to find, and there are 500-ish years worth of old chassis to strip from boneyards. Logistically, the Orion is the way to go.

SMc.

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #3 on: 22 January 2020, 15:08:54 »
I’d go for the Banshee.  It makes for a solid anchor for a small force.  If you’ve got an ERPPC among those ER weapons, it’s pretty much a straight swap to drop that and the LBX cannon in, and with DHS you should have 0 heat worries.  Good long range damage, the flexibility of an LBX, and if they close they catch haymakers.  And the big guns, since neither has a minimum range.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #4 on: 22 January 2020, 15:26:41 »
Yeah, that's a solid choice with the Banshee.
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Starfury

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #5 on: 22 January 2020, 16:32:03 »
The Centurion, simply due to cost effectiveness and survivability with CASE. The Banshee, even with DHS, is more expensive to both refit and maintain then any of the other machines. The Orion is an excellent choice, but you lose out on survivability.  The Cronus his too focused on medium range brawling, and lacks the more focused ballistic punch of the other 3.

 

Dave Talley

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #6 on: 22 January 2020, 17:09:54 »
Go big or go home
Or go big and go home

Take the Banshee and buy the centurion,
Put the fancy AC in the centurion, put the old one in the Banshee
add a PPC or whatever you have and you have two nasty troopers
who can keep up with the unit and the Banshee can still pimp slap as he wishes
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Daryk

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #7 on: 22 January 2020, 17:12:18 »
The Cronus is the newest 'mech, and will likely have the longest service life.  That said, it really depends on the rest of the unit...

Wotan

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #8 on: 22 January 2020, 17:20:46 »
Normally i would prefer the Orion - but as a small merc unit i tend to have as many hands on the mechs as possible. So i vote for the Banshee.

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #9 on: 22 January 2020, 17:22:25 »
The Cronus is the newest 'mech, and will likely have the longest service life.  That said, it really depends on the rest of the unit...

Service lives in Battletech can be hundreds of years.  It's not really a factor to most prospective buyers.
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Daryk

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #10 on: 22 January 2020, 17:34:54 »
Let me rephrase: the Cronus has an active factory, so it will likely be easy to obtain replacement parts...  ^-^

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #11 on: 22 January 2020, 17:47:03 »
The Cronus was hand-built until the 5M was developed in 3060.

But it was built to use with lots of common parts, so that's true.
Warning: this post may contain sarcasm.

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Dave Talley

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #12 on: 22 January 2020, 17:50:30 »
So the salvage pile of Griffin/shadowhawk/wolverine parts is a Cronus assembly line
😜
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“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
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Daryk

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #13 on: 22 January 2020, 17:54:23 »
So... Let me explain... no, there is too much, let me sum up: repair parts will be easiest to obtain for the Cronus.  :)

Colt Ward

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #14 on: 22 January 2020, 17:55:33 »
So the salvage pile of Griffin/shadowhawk/wolverine parts is a Cronus assembly line
😜

To me, its one of those logistical benefits to the design . . . sure, its like the Wolverine with the weapons load, but its a design that can hang in the fight like the -6M.
Colt Ward
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"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

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Dave Talley

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #15 on: 22 January 2020, 18:10:39 »
Had to look it up
Damn it's ugly, but I love the load out,
Slowly convert any 55s to that
Or one I want to try in the online version
AC10 2 mediums maybe Srm2 or just another laser and a sink
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“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
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Daryk

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #16 on: 22 January 2020, 18:12:21 »
I prefer the WVR-6M personally, but the Cronus isn't a bad design.

massey

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #17 on: 22 January 2020, 21:40:59 »
I have a bias against the Cronus because it's a backdated design.  And, you know, because it's ugly as sin.  But it's actually a pretty good mech.

Still I'd go with the Banshee.  They've been around forever, so there should be a lot of spare parts you can find.

snakespinner

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #18 on: 23 January 2020, 00:33:25 »
It would depend on the unit.
You want to replace the heavy go team Banshee.
If you want more ease of maintenance and don't care about firepower go Team Cronus.
But i must admit last time i went with something that ugly i'd been on a 3 day binge. >:D ;)
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RifleMech

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #19 on: 23 January 2020, 11:18:36 »
How much captured equipment did you get?

I'd get the Orion and then use the lack of weapons on the Banshee to lower the price and trade/sell some of the equipment you don't plan to use to make up the difference.

I wanted say the Centurion since it's already upgraded but that'd also make it more expensive. The Cronus is also new and shiny, thus a higher price tag. The Banshee is without weapons. If you got it you'd still have to spend time and money to arm it before you can use it. That leaves the Orion. Sure its a heavy but its not upgraded which means it wouldn't be as expensive. Plus its fully operational. It'd give you something to use while your units are being repaired/upgraded and the Banshee is being put together.

Kovax

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #20 on: 24 January 2020, 11:09:14 »
I was under the impression that the OP had sufficient cash for ONE of the 4 'Mechs, not two.

As said, the Banshee has the most potential as a long-range fire support platform, but it's going to require down time and some repair rolls to put your salvaged high-tech weapons onto it.  Good if you have a long wait until the next contract, or bad if you need to put something in the field in the short term.

The Orion is ready to rock & roll, and can probably be upgraded at some time in the future with what you've managed to salvage (like an LBX).  A good choice to replace a lost heavy if you need something soon.  Possibly a better all-around choice if you can come up with 10 DHS to stuff into it when it becomes convenient to do the upgrades.

The Cronus is a good "cavalry" design, but probably isn't a great functional replacement for a Heavy.  Depends on your other units and what the force needs.

I'd leave the Centurion, since it's the lightest of the bunch, and the cost already includes high-tech upgrades.

RifleMech

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #21 on: 25 January 2020, 02:31:32 »
I was under the impression that the OP had sufficient cash for ONE of the 4 'Mechs, not two.

Yes. That's why I said to see some of their captured equipment. To get more cash to buy 2.

I also don't know what kind of damage the OPs units suffered and if any repairs may still need to be done. That's why I said to get the Orion as its ready to go while the Banshee gets weapons.

Von Jankmon

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #22 on: 25 January 2020, 20:21:52 »
Orion, hands down.  Its less of a monster than the Banshee which is woefully inefficient, the Orion is also a tinkerers mech making it a better mount for the nice guns you picked up.
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blackjack

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #23 on: 25 January 2020, 21:14:26 »
AS much as I love the Banshee the Cronus 3M would be my choice. Solid mech, good movement, armor readily available parts. As a merc you need a mech for all occasions.
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Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #24 on: 25 January 2020, 21:19:25 »
Orion, hands down.  Its less of a monster than the Banshee which is woefully inefficient, the Orion is also a tinkerers mech making it a better mount for the nice guns you picked up.
How do you mean inefficient?
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Charlie Tango

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #25 on: 26 January 2020, 05:04:46 »

I'd lean towards the Banshee myself.  You're replacing a heavy, and without knowing the composition of the rest of the force,  the Banshee seems the easiest to plug into that tactical hole.  Especially with the DHS in place, that gives you a lot more flexibility in what weapons systems to put onboard to make that mech formidable.


The Orion just feels like even more of an ammo bomb in that configuration.  Would only pick if the heavy you lost was a similar fire-support unit like an Archer

The Cronus would be good if the rest of your force (or some element thereof) is designed to be heavy cavalry.

The Centurion seems to be more of a logistical issue waiting  to happen with supplying the LB-X ammo.
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Von Jankmon

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #26 on: 26 January 2020, 07:49:44 »
How do you mean inefficient?

It would cost the most to buy and the most to repair.  It's a walking engine.  Yes it has very good armour, but internals will bleed C-Bills to fix.  The Orion cuts the top edge a lot by dropping 20 tons and loses minimal performance in doing so.

Now the inefficiency doesn't translate onto the tabletop, but in an RP setting such as the OP gave I am certain it will.  Banshees are great for sleepy planets nobility to work for centuries so long as they don't have to fight much.  Mercs seek out trouble, they need efficient fighting machines.  75 tons is as big as you want to go without considering a speed drop, and a small merc unit doesn't want to sacrifice mobility.
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Daryk

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #27 on: 26 January 2020, 08:04:20 »
The Banshee COULD fit a Thumper and a Large Laser... Those DHS really open up options, even if it would be the most expensive to maintain.

Dave Talley

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #28 on: 26 January 2020, 11:55:26 »
The Banshee COULD fit a Thumper and a Large Laser... Those DHS really open up options, even if it would be the most expensive to maintain.

if you go that route just use a long tom cannon or just go blazer
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“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
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Daryk

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Re: Time to buy a mech
« Reply #29 on: 26 January 2020, 13:18:24 »
There's not quite enough tonnage available to do a Long Tom Artillery Cannon properly (i.e., with enough ammo), but a Blazer Cannon would totally fit!  :thumbsup: