MotW: Gyrfalcon

[Arkansas Warrior]

Apropos of nothing, it strikes me that the Gyrfalcon would be a useful AAA mech for formations that need a bit more speed (and/or jump capability) than a Rifleman or JagerMech provides.  Sure, LBX2s don’t provide a lot of clusters, but they and the cERLLs both have the range that’s so vital for good AAA, and the LBXs are still getting that cluster bonus.  Maybe not the best use of it, but useful nonetheless.

[marauder648]

The new Gyrfalcon looks GREAT! A vast improvement over the "I stole these laser barrels off a WarShip, they use to have NL-55's in them."

But, its also basically the same kind of look as the Hierofalcon, and the Jade Phoenix, and its lost some of its individuality. Assuming that a new Shrike is down the line I hope that looks different and keeps its lanky look rather than being an Angry Birb.

[Kerfuffin(925)]

I too liked the contrast between the Shrike/Gyrfalcon/Eyrie and the Ion Sparrow/Hierofalcon/Jade Phoenix designs. I also have an IWM version of this mech so I might be slightly biased.

[Demiurge]

The new Gyrfalcon looks GREAT! A vast improvement over the "I stole these laser barrels off a WarShip, they use to have NL-55's in them."

But, its also basically the same kind of look as the Hierofalcon, and the Jade Phoenix, and its lost some of its individuality. Assuming that a new Shrike is down the line I hope that looks different and keeps its lanky look rather than being an Angry Birb.

Maybe I'm weird, but I remember the MWDA minis looking OK.

And then I took another look at them recently, and I was wrong.  They're bad.



So... CJF in Dark Age and WOB in the Jihad have aesthetically unified mech designs.  Is having aesthetically unified mech designs something that only bloodthirsty maniacs do for some reason?

[worktroll]

Possibly. It's like uniforms - the side that has massive hat brims, acres of fruit salad, silver trim, dedicated marching bands, and fancy weapons tend to lose against armies wearing what look like dung sacks weilding uninspired weapons. Because one side prioritised looks, the other prioritised logistics ;)

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

And also the WOB in particular had significantly fewer different manufacturing sites than most other factions, so their equipment had a more uniform look.

[Demiurge]

Given the way manufacturing worked in the Homeworld clans, I'm fine with their not being unified, faction-wide aesthetics or design tendencies because the designs didn't usually stay clan-specific for very long due to trials for the designs rights or manufacturing facilities.  Sure, there were a few indulgent totem designs here and there.  The IS clans switching to a higher percentage of idiosyncratic designs based around their own particular needs and doctrines does make a lot of sense.  I guess for the Bears it's being tough and RIP AND TEAR, for the Falcons it's looking like a bird, for the Wolves it's anything they can get, the Horses are trying to hybridize llamas and motorcycles or something, the Ravens have fallen in love with ferro-lamellor armor and it's terrifying, and the Foxes are after your money.

[JadeHellbringer]

I wasn't expecting to see THIS one come back to life!

Yeeeah, the Gyrfalcon is... I love most of the look to it. The big wings, the talon-ed feet, the raptor-head, it's all very pleasing from an 'of COURSE the Falcons would do something like this' perspective. It all just fits. And then the arms are... absurd. The long barrels on the Rifleman, Jagermech, etc. make some sense- an autocannon probably needs to have some length to the barrels, so that's fine. The lasers here though... the Zeus managed to make a large laser into a mere blister on the side of its torso, but this needs a pair of howitzer barrels to make it all work? There was no need for those guns to be that big- the Mech literally doesn't work as it stands, the barrels would constantly be dragging their tips in the dirt or clanking off the sides of obstacles. Any change that drops that lunacy for a sane solution is a positive one. (And lest I come across salty about the art, that was only following the path already laid out by the DA miniature- no issue there.

As to the antiaircraft role... god yes. Absolutely. Sing it from the rooftops. LB-2Xs backed by large lasers, AND the ability to rapidly move to positions with good arcs of fire (or get out of trouble if those fighters get pissy)? Is there a BETTER choice for the job? It's got a pretty thin armor shell at the end of the day, so it's not a frontline fighter the way the Jade Hawk is, so it's going to be hanging back in the rear lines to provide its sniper work anyway- easy then to flip those absurd-looking guns skyward to get rid of a pesky Shilone. Fantastic Mech in that regard,don't leave home without them.

[SteelRaven]

The arms never bothered me but I guess making them closer to the Blackjack rather than the Rifleman would work but I'm guessing the original intent was to invoke the latter. Could also once again be the case of WK intended the guns being something bigger the BT construction rules wouldn't allow so a compromise was made. It does perform the fire support role quite well regardless.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I wasn't expecting to see THIS one come back to life!

Yeeeah, the Gyrfalcon is... I love most of the look to it. The big wings, the talon-ed feet, the raptor-head, it's all very pleasing from an 'of COURSE the Falcons would do something like this' perspective. It all just fits. And then the arms are... absurd. The long barrels on the Rifleman, Jagermech, etc. make some sense- an autocannon probably needs to have some length to the barrels, so that's fine. The lasers here though... the Zeus managed to make a large laser into a mere blister on the side of its torso, but this needs a pair of howitzer barrels to make it all work? There was no need for those guns to be that big- the Mech literally doesn't work as it stands, the barrels would constantly be dragging their tips in the dirt or clanking off the sides of obstacles. Any change that drops that lunacy for a sane solution is a positive one. (And lest I come across salty about the art, that was only following the path already laid out by the DA miniature- no issue there.

It gets worse when you think about the fact that the Zeus's ER Large Laser is 25% heavier and twice as bulky as the Gyrfalcon's.

The arms never bothered me but I guess making them closer to the Blackjack rather than the Rifleman would work but I'm guessing the original intent was to invoke the latter. Could also once again be the case of WK intended the guns being something bigger the BT construction rules wouldn't allow so a compromise was made. It does perform the fire support role quite well regardless.

IIRC, WK just designed the minis and then backfilled in stats for them.  Or didn't even do that much, in the case of minis that didn't get Unique stats with pilot cards.

[Colt Ward]

I am looking forward to this thing coming out in plastic simply b/c I was trying to figure out how to remove the falcon head and replace it with a wolf to make it more 'Anubis' style to be isorla in a Warden Wolf cluster.

[Cannonshop]

I am looking forward to this thing coming out in plastic simply b/c I was trying to figure out how to remove the falcon head and replace it with a wolf to make it more 'Anubis' style to be isorla in a Warden Wolf cluster.

find a buddy with a 3d printer who can do CAD and make your own?

[Colt Ward]

I have a head, or several options- though I like the Rabid Coyote's head a lot- but I want to use it at all events.  Which means official mini.

[JadeHellbringer]

find a buddy with a 3d printer who can do CAD and make your own?

Which is where the discussion about printing reproduction bits starts and also needs to stop, please. 

[Cannonshop]

Which is where the discussion about printing reproduction bits starts and also needs to stop, please. 

My apologies on that one.

[Scotty]

The standard Gyrfalcon at first seems ideal for AA but then it had to go and use an armor that takes double damage from bombs.  Not ideal.

I'm a decent fan of the 5, ammo shortage and all.  The improvenent in short term burst damage (I don't recommend double ROF on numbers worse than about 7s) and the ability to get in and add the threat of a kick without putting yourself at a disadvantage.  I'd call it more aggressive than the Standard, which very much wants to stay at range and laugh at anything with a puny long range of 'only' 23 hexes.

[Arkansas Warrior]

Yeah, the 2 strikes me as a better design than the original most of the time.  Unless you’re facing a pulse-TC boat or need that active probe for some reason.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The Gyrfalcon 5 reminds me of an extremely mobile Rifleman.

[MarauderD]

The Gyrfalcon 5 reminds me of an extremely mobile Rifleman.

I didn't think of it that way but you're on the money.  Maybe less durable than the up armored models, but speed is life?

[JadeHellbringer]

I didn't think of it that way but you're on the money.  Maybe less durable than the up armored models, but speed is life?

I'd touched on that in the article, yeah. With four ridiculously long-ranged guns the comparison is easy to make, but the Gyrfalcon pairs that range with the ability to move remarkably quickly (jump jets and partial wing!) to good firing positions- or escape danger. The armor is, like classic Rifleman models, kind of suspect (the reflective plating helps on the standard model a bit), so speed and range are your best protection. Heat is obviously a little less eye-poppingly bad than the RFL, leaving a large laser quiet every so often helps on that front, particularly if you're using the jets a lot.

There's definitely a family resemblance here- maybe not to the point that it's based on the Rifleman per se, but like the Jagermech there's a very noticeable role duplication and layout similarity to be appreciated. The Falcons simply added a new dynamic to the formula with that mobility- and it makes an otherwise very dangerous Mech into what I still believe is the single most dangerous and under-appreciated Mech of the Dark Age era. I say that even with the Falcon fan-hat taken off my head, a Gyrfalcon is a SCARY thing in the hands of a good pilot (and a smart player), and a force containing a few of them- backed by Eyries, Jade Hawks, etc.- becomes all but unstoppable if used right.

[MarauderD]

I just primed my next 5 Falcon mechs--and now I"m wishing there was a Gyrfalcon in plastic....so many fun options to play with that....

[Kerfuffin(925)]

I just primed my next 5 Falcon mechs--and now I"m wishing there was a Gyrfalcon in plastic....so many fun options to play with that....

It’s probably coming here soon if it’s in a Rec guide.

[BrianDavion]

Jade falcon star of Gyrfalcon, Ion Raptor, Jade Pheonix, Heirofalcon and jumping Thor please?

[Bren]

Summoner is old news. A Catalyst-redesigned Jade Hawk please. :)

I will accept Grand Summoner as a consolation prize.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

How about a variant of the Thor, like the A or B?

[Cannonshop]

How about a variant of the Thor, like the A or B?

It's hard to go wrong with a Summoner/Thor.  I mean, to get a bad build you really have to concentrate on getting a bad build.  Gyrfalcon seems like a 'mech suited to the stereotype style of the Jade Falcons when they aren't being led by a psychotic headcase.

Though, to tell the truth, I'm not sold on the partial wings thing, it feels like a gimmick, regardless of how well it helps performance, and clearly it wasn't come up with by someone who's had to learn about aerodynamics, but then, the setting is ruled not by physics, but by Fasafiziks, which has less to do with mechanics or science, than the outright skateboard art of the Rule of Kewl.

("Looks Kewl, so we'll decide it works!!"  40K Orks have nothing on what passes for engineering in the Battletech setting-Orks, after all, still have to believe it works...)

[BrianDavion]

Summoner is old news. A Catalyst-redesigned Jade Hawk please. :)

I will accept Grand Summoner as a consolation prize.

well I figured we'd need at least ONE "repose" of a design we already had :)

[marauder648]

Throw in a Flamberge 2 or 3 and then ya talking :D

[marauder648]

Jade falcon star of Gyrfalcon, Ion Raptor, Jade Pheonix, Heirofalcon and jumping Thor please?

Or a plastic Eyrie instead of the Thor.

[jklantern]

Since the Falcon Remnants have become a thing, I've been turning into more of a fan of the Falcons (which, let's face it, I've always been jealous of some of their toys).  The Gyrfalcon wasn't one I'd looked at much, but it has joined that group of "Small Bastard Mechs I love".