Author Topic: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium  (Read 12063 times)

Scotty

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Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« on: 24 December 2023, 16:59:53 »
I realized yesterday that the links to the RecGuide review volumes are broken so while I was already fixing those I figured I should put these in a more appropriate topic that can be used for reference, classification, advanced analytics (read: me making shit up about numbers that mean nothing), and ease of access.  Further review and rating posts will be included in this thread as well as the RecGuide thread but the set that already exist are 'merely' going to be linked here.

Links to existing reviews:

RG IlClan Vol. 1
RG IlClan Vol. 2
RG IlClan Vol. 3
RG IlClan Vol. 4
RG IlClan Vol. 5
RG IlClan Vol. 6
RG IlClan Vol. 7
RG IlClan Vol. 8
RG IlClan Vol. 9
RG IlClan Vol. 10
RG IlClan Vol. 11
RG IlClan Vol. 12
RG IlClan Vol. 13
RG IlClan Vol. 14
RG IlClan Vol. 15
RG IlClan Vol. 16
RG IlClan Vol. 17 (Part 2)
RG IlClan Vol. 18
RG IlClan Vol. 19
RG IlClan Vol. 20 (Part 2)
RG IlClan Vol. 21
RG IlClan Vol. 22 (Part 2)
RG IlClan Vol. 23 (Part 2)
RG IlClan Vol. 24 (Part 2)
RG IlClan Vol. 25
RG IlClan Vol. 26
RG IlClan Vol. 27
RG IlClan Vol. 28
RG IlClan Vol. 29
RG IlClan Vol. 30
RG IlClan Vol. 31
RG IlClan Vol. 32
RG IlClan Vol. 33
RG IlClan Post-Facto Bonus Mechs

Beginner Box and Game of Armored Combat (Part 1)
Beginner Box and Game of Armored Combat (Part 2)
« Last Edit: 11 September 2024, 23:01:43 by Scotty »
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Scotty

  • Alpha Strike Guru by appointment to the FWLM
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  • Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 13899
Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #1 on: 24 December 2023, 17:02:13 »
As of today (Dec 25, 2023), there have been a total of 734 record sheets reviewd as part of either the Recognition Guide IlClan series, or the sheets for units that came in the Beginner Box+A Game of Armored Combat and TRO: Succession Wars.  These will be broken down by tonnage, then alphabetically (with the exception of Clan Omnis where Primes will be included first), with their rating and the review they were originally present in recorded for reference.

Mechs

Fire Moth G, B (RG08)
Fire Moth I, D (RG08)
Fire Moth J, D (RG08)
Fire Moth M, D (RG08)
Fire Moth P, S (RG08) (note: updated from B+)
Fire Moth R, F (RG08)
Fire Moth T, C+ (RG08)
Flea FLE-21, B- (RG26)
Howler (Standard), C- (RG08)
Howler 4, F (RG08)
Howler 5, C+ (RG08)
Howler 6, D (RG08)
Ion Sparrow Prime, A+ (RG11)
Ion Sparrow A, B- (RG11)
Ion Sparrow B, B (RG11)
Ion Sparrow C, A (RG11)
Ion Sparrow D, A- (RG11)
Locust C, A (RG16)
Locust LCT-1E, B (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-1L, D (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-1M, F (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-1S, D (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-1V, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-1V2, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-1Vb, S (RG16)
Locust LCT-3D, D (RG16)
Locust LCT-3M, C (RG16)
Locust LCT-3S, C- (RG16)
Locust LCT-3V, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-5M, A- (BB/GOAC01)
Locust LCT-5S, C- (RG16)
Locust LCT-7S, A (RG16)
Locust LCT-7V, A (RG16)
Locust LCT-7V2, A (RG16)
Mercury MCY-105, A- (RG19)
Piranha 5, C (RG13)
Stinger C, C- (RGBonus)
Stinger C 2, C- (RGBonus)
Stinger STG-3Gb, B (RG13)
Stinger STG-4G, B- (RG13)
Stinger STG-5G, C+ (RG13)
Stinger STG-5M, C- (RG13)
Stinger STG-6G, B (RG13)
Stinger STG-6M, B- (RG13)
Stinger STG-6R,   B- (RG13)
Wasp C, C- (RG04)
Wasp WSP-1S, C+ (RG04)
Wasp WSP-3M, D (RG04)
Wasp WSP-3W, C- (RG04)
Wasp WSP-4W, C+ (RG04)
Wasp WSP-5A, A (RG04)

Commando COM-1C, D (BB/GOAC02)
Commando COM-1D, C (BB/GOAC02)
Commando COM-2D, C+ (BB/GOAC02)
Commando COM-3A, D (BB/GOAC02)
Commando COM-9S, C (RG01)
Fire Falcon   F, B- (RG15)
Fire Falcon   G, C (RG15)
Fire Falcon   I, B (RG15)
Fire Falcon   L, B (RG15)
Fire Falcon   R, B (RG15)
Fire Falcon   T, B+ (RG15)
Hermit Crab HMC-13, B (RG10)
Hermit Crab HMC-14, B (RG10)
Hermit Crab HMC-15, C (RG10)
Locust IIC (Standard), S (RG16)
Locust IIC 2, B+ (RG16)
Locust IIC 3, C (RG16)
Locust IIC 10, A (RG16)
Mist Lynx I, D (RG07)
Mist Lynx J, C- (RG07)
Mist Lynx K, D+ (RG07)
Mist Lynx L, C- (RG07)
Mist Lynx M, D (RG07)
Mist Lynx N, D (RG07)
Mist Lynx T, C (RG07)
Mongoose MON-96, A (RG10)
Nexus NXS1-A, F (RG23)
Nexus NXS1-B, C+ (RG23)
Nexus NXS1-C, C (RG23)
Star Python (Standard), B- (RG23)

Arctic Cheetah E, D (RG21)
Arctic Cheetah F, C+ (RG21)
Arctic Cheetah I, C (RG21)
Arctic Cheetah J, F (RG21)
Arctic Cheetah T, D (RG21)
Cricket RWN-01, D (RG06)
Cricket RWN-02, D+ (RGBonus)
Devil (Standard), C+ (RG08)
Firefly FFL-5A, B- (RG29)
Hellion D, B (RG20)
Hellion E, D (RG20)
Hellion F, B+ (RG20)
Hellion P, A (RG20)
Hellion T, B- (RG20)
Incubus (Standard), B (RG07)
Incubus 2, D (RG07)
Incubus 3, C- (RG07)
Incubus 7, F (RG07)
Incubus 8, C (RG07)
Incubus 9, B+ (RG07)
Kit Fox G, C (RG11)
Kit Fox J, C+ (RG11)
Kit Fox K, C+ (RG11)
Kit Fox R, C (RG11)
Kit Fox T, C- (RG11)
Kit Fox V, F (RG11)
Pack Hunter 5, D (RG01)
Spider SDR-9M, A (RG19)
Urbanmech UM-R93, B (RG02)
Valkyrie C, A (RG09)
Valkyrie VLK-QD, C+ (RG09)
Valkyrie VLK-QD6, D (RG09)
Valkyrie VLK-QDD, B- (RG09)

Adder I, C (RG03)
Adder K, D (RG03)
Adder L, C (RG03)
Adder S, B (RG03)
Adder T, D (RG03)
Cougar E, B+ (RG19)
Cougar F, C- (RG19)
Cougar G, B (RG19)
Cougar H, B+ (RG19)
Cougar I, C- (RG19)
Cougar T, C (RG19)
Firestarter FS9-N "Mirage II", C+ (RG28)
Horned Owl (Standard), B- (RG11)
Horned Owl 2, C (RG11)
Horned Owl 3, C- (RG11)
Horned Owl 6, B (RG11)
Horned Owl 7, B+ (RG11)
Jenner JR7-N, B+ (RG18)
Jenner IIC (Standard), D (RG18)
Jenner IIC 2, D (RG18)
Jenner IIC 3, F (RG18)
Jenner IIC 5, D+ (RG18)
Ostscout OTT-12R, F (RG02)
Ostscout OTT-7K, D (RG02)
Ostscout OTT-8J, B- (RG02)
Panther PNT-14R, B (RG17)
Raven RVN-5L, C- (RG06)
Spector SPR-6F, B+ (RG28)
Wolfhound WLF-6S, B+ (RG17)

Assassin ASN-109, D- (RG29)
Battle Cobra F, A- (RG22)
Battle Cobra G, C- (RG22)
Battle Cobra I, B+ (RG22)
Battle Cobra J, C- (RG22)
Battle Cobra T, B+ (RG22)
Battle Cobra X, A (RG22)
Carrion Crow Prime, A (RG12)
Carrion Crow A, A+ (RG12)
Carrion Crow B, S (RG12)
Carrion Crow C, S- (RG12)
Carrion Crow D, A+ (RG12)
Cicaca CDA-4A, S (RG28)
Griffin IIC (Standard), B- (RG14)
Griffin IIC 2, B- (RG14)
Griffin IIC 9, D (RG14)
Hermes II HER-7A, A- (RG26)
Kontio (Standard), D (RG21)
Phantom F, C (RG27)
Phantom G, D- (RG27)
Phantom I, C+ (RG27)
Phantom J, C (RG27)
Phantom K, C (RG27)
Phantom L, D+ (RG27)
Phantom R, C+ (RG27)
Phantom T, D (RG27)
Pouncer F, D (RG25)
Pouncer G, B- (RG25)
Pouncer I, B (RG25)
Pouncer T, C- (RG25)
Pouncer W, B (RG25)
Pouncer X, C- (RG25)
Sentinel STN-6S, B (RG14)
Viper J, B (RG08)
Viper K, C+ (RG08)
Viper L, D (RG08)
Viper M, A (RG08)
Viper R, D (RG08)
Viper T, C (RG08)

Blackjack BJ-5, C- (RG04)
Grendel F, D (RG02)
Grendel G, B+ (RG02)
Grendel I, D- (RG02)
Grendel J, C+ (RG02)
Grendel M, D (RG02)
Grendel T, C+ (RG02)
Hammerhead (Standard), S+ (RG05)
Hatchetman HCT-8S, C (RG12)
Hierofalcon Prime, A (RG03)
Hierofalcon A, A+ (RG03)
Hierofalcon B, A- (RG03)
Hierofalcon C, C- (RG03)
Hierofalcon D, C+ (RG03)
Ice Ferret F, A (RG04)
Ice Ferret G, B (RG04)
Ice Ferret I, C- (RG04)
Ice Ferret J, B (RG04)
Ice Ferret K, B (RG04)
Ice Ferret T, B (RG04)
Phoenix Hawk C, D+ (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk C 2, C- (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-2K, B+ (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-3D, D+ (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-3K, C- (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-3M, F (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-3S, C (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-4M, C+ (RG11)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-9, A- (RG11)
Shadow Cat D, C- (RG09)
Shadow Cat E, B+ (RG09)
Shadow Cat I, B+ (RG09)
Shadow Cat J, C+ (RG09)
Shadow Cat M, D (RG09)
Shadow Cat T, A (RG09)
Shadow Cat III Prime, B+ (RG03)
Shadow Cat III A, C (RG03)
Shadow Cat III B, C (RG03)
Shadow Cat III C, B- (RG03)
Shadow Hawk IIC (Standard), C+ (RG20)
Shadow Hawk IIC 2, C (RG20)
Shadow Hawk IIC 10, B+ (RG20)
Shadow Hawk IIC 11, A- (RG20)
Vindicator VND-1AA, F (BB/GOAC02)
Vindicator VND-1R, C (BB/GOAC02)
Vindicator VND-1R (Vong), F (BB/GOAC02)
Vindicator VND-1SIC, C+ (BB/GOAC02)
Vindicator VND-1X, C- (BB/GOAC02)
Vindicator VND-7L, A (RG25)

Chameleon CLN-8V, C+ (RG25)
Chameleon CLN-9V, B- (RG25)
Chameleon TRC-4B, D (RG25)
Conjurer (Standard), B (RG05)
Conjurer 7, B- (RG05)
Conjurer 8, F (RG05)
Crab CRB-54, B+ (RG05)
Enforcer ENF-5R, B (RG18)
Eris ERS-2H, B (RG18)
Eris ERS-2N, B+ (RG18)
Eris ERS-3R, C+ (RG18)
Firestorm (Standard), D (RG13)
Fujin RJN-301-F, B- (RG23)
Hunchback C, B+ (RG21)
Hunchback IIC 5, B (RG13)
Huntsman E, B (RG12)
Huntsman G, D (RG12)
Huntsman I, C+ (RG12)
Huntsman T, D (RG12)
Nightsky NGS-7S, A- (RG27)
Nova G, C (RG14)
Nova I, B (RG14)
Nova J, C (RG14)
Nova K, D (RG14)
Nova L, D (RG14)
Nova R, B+ (RG14)
Nova T, B+ (RG14)
Raijin RJN-101-A, B (RG23)
Raijin RJN-101-B, C (RG23)
Raijin RJN-101-C, C (RG23)
Raijin RJN-101-X, F (RG23)
Raijin RJN-301-B, C- (RG23)
Starslayer STY-4C, D+ (RG26)
Stormwolf Prime, F (RG16)
Stormwolf A, F (RG16)
Stormwolf B, F (RG16)
Stormwolf C, F (RG16)
Stormwolf D, F (RG16)
Trebuchet TBT-9N, A (RG04)

Black Lanner F, S- (RG15)
Black Lanner G, B- (RG15)
Black Lanner I, A+ (RG15)
Black Lanner J, B (RG15)
Black Lanner T, B (RG15)
Black Lanner X, C (RG15)
Bushwacker BSW-X4, D+ (RG02)
Centurion CN10-D, B (RG10)
Dervish DV-11DK, C (RG29)
Griffin C, C- (RG01)
Griffin GRF-1DS, C+ (RG01)
Griffin GRF-1N, C (BB/GOAC01)
Griffin GRF-1N “Sparky”, A (BB/GOAC01)
Griffin GRF-1RG, B- (RGBonus)
Griffin GRF-1S, B+ (BB/GOAC01)
Griffin GRF-2N, C+ (RG01)
Griffin GRF-3M, C+ (RG01)
Griffin GRF-3N, D- (RG01)
Griffin GRF-3RG, B (RGBonus)
Griffin GRF-6R, C (RGBonus)
Rawhide RWD-R1, B- (RG15)
Rime Otter Prime, B (RG19)
Rime Otter A, C (RG19)
Rime Otter B, B (RG19)
Rime Otter C, C- (RG19)
Rime Otter D, C (RG19)
Scorpion C, C+ (RG19)
Scorpion SCP-1BR, C- (RG19)
Scorpion SCP-1O, D (RG19)
Scorpion SCP-1TB, D+ (RG19)
Scorpion SCP-2N, B- (RG19)
Shadow Hawk C, B (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-2D, F (BB/GOAC02)
Shadow Hawk SHD-2D2, F (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-2H, B (BB/GOAC02)
Shadow Hawk SHD-2Hb, A- (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-2K, D (BB/GOAC02)
Shadow Hawk SHD-4H, C+ (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-5M, C (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-5R, B- (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-5S, B (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-6D, A- (RG12)
Shadow Hawk SHD-7H, A (RG12)
Skinwalker Prime, A- (RG24)
Skinwalker A, B- (RG24)
Skinwalker B, A (RG24)
Skinwalker C, B (RG24)
Skinwalker D, S+ (RG24)
Skinwalker E, C+ (RG24)
Skinwalker F, C (RG24)
Stormcrow I, C (RG07)
Stormcrow J, C (RG07)
Stormcrow K, S (RG07)
Stormcrow P, A (RG07)
Stormcrow T, A (RG07)
Vapor Eagle (Standard), A- (RG09)
Vapor Eagle 2, B+ (RG09)
Vapor Eagle 5, B- (RG09)
Vapor Eagle 6, D- (RG09)
Vapor Eagle 7, D (RG09)
Wolverine WVR-6D, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-6K, B (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-6M, B+ (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-6R, C (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-7D, C (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-7K, B (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-7M, C- (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-7M2, C (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-8C, A (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-8D, D (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-8K, B+ (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-9D, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Wolverine WVR-9R, B (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-10D, C (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-10R, B (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-10V2, B (RG18)
Wolverine WVR-11M, B- (RG18)
Wraith TR5, A- (RG25)

Crossbow E, C- (RG17)
Crossbow F, C+ (RG17)
Crossbow G, D (RG17)
Crossbow J, B- (RG17)
Crossbow T, D (RG17)
Crossbow W, B- (RG17)
Glass Spider (Standard), B (RG13)
Glass Spider 2, B+ (RG13)
Glass Spider 4, C (RG13)
Grand Dragon DRG-12K, B (RG24)
Lancelot LNC25-09, B+ (RG23)
Mad Dog DD, D (RG10)
Mad Dog G, C (RG10)
Mad Dog I, F (RG10)
Mad Dog T, A (RG10)
Mad Dog V, F (RG10)
Merlin C, B+ (RG26)
Merlin MLN-1D, B (RG26)
Merlin MLN-1E, B (RG26)
Merlin MLN-1P, B+ (RG26)
Ostroc OSR-2D, B (RG21)
Ostroc OSR-3M, D (RG21)
Ostroc OSR-6R, C+ (RG21)
Ostroc OSR-9C, D+ (RG21)
Ostsol C, C (RG14)
Ostsol OTL-5M, D (RG14)
Ostsol OTL-8E, B- (RG14)
Ostsol OTL-8E3, B (RG14)
Ostsol OTL-8F, C+ (RG14)
Quickdraw QKD-9G, C- (RG26)
Rifleman C, D (RG08)
Rifleman C 3, A (RG08)
Rifleman RFL-5D, C (RG08)
Rifleman RFL-5M, D (RG08)
Rifleman RFL-7G, B (RG08)
Rifleman RFL-7N, B+ (RG08)
Rifleman RFL-7N2, A+ (RG08)
Sojourner Prime, C (RG02)
Sojourner A, F (RG02)
Sojourner B, B (RG02)
Sojourner C, B- (RG02)
Sojourner D, C+ (RG02)
Thresher Mk II, F (RG04)

Axman AXM-5N, D (RG12)
Catapult CPLT-A1, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Catapult CPLT-C1, C (BB/GOAC01)
Catapult CPLT-C1 (Jenny) “Butterbee”, D- (BB/GOAC01)
Catapult CPLT-C1b, A (BB/GOAC01)
Catapult CPLT-C4, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Catapult CPLT-K2, B- (BB/GOAC01)
Catapult CPLT-K3, B (BB/GOAC01)
Catapult CPLT-K6, B (RG05)
Crusader CRD-3R (Crael), D (RG17)
Crusader CRD-4BR, C (RG17)
Crusader CRD-4D, D+ (RG17)
Crusader CRD-4K, C- (RG17)
Crusader CRD-5M, C (RG17)
Crusader CRD-5S, C (RG17)
Crusader CRD-6D, C (RG17)
Crusader CRD-6T, B- (RG17)
Crusader CRD-7D, B (RG17)
Crusader CRD-7M, B (RG17)
Crusader CRD-7M2, C+ (RG17)
Crusader CRD-8R, B+ (RG17)
Crusader CRD-9BR, B- (RG17)
Crusader CRD-9R, B (RG17)
Crusader CRD-10S, A+ (RG17)
Dominator (Standard), F (RG01)
Dominator 2, D (RG01)
Ebon Jaguar E, A- (RG16)
Ebon Jaguar F, S- (RG16)
Ebon Jaguar G, B (RG16)
Ebon Jaguar T, B+ (RG16)
Ebon Jaguar X, C+ (RG16)
Exterminator EXT-7X, A- (RG14)
Hellbringer F, B (RG01)
Hellbringer G, B- (RG01)
Hellbringer J, C+ (RG01)
Hellbringer T, B (RG01)
Linebacker F, C+ (RG06)
Linebacker G, C+ (RG06)
Linebacker I, C (RG06)
Linebacker T, F (RG06)
Rifleman IIC (Standard), B+ (RG23)
Rifleman IIC 10, F (RG23)
Rifleman IIC 2, F (RG23)
Rifleman IIC 9, B (RG23)
Thunderbolt C, B- (RG15)
Thunderbolt C 2, B+ (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-5D, B- (BB/GOAC02)
Thunderbolt TDR-5S, C (BB/GOAC02)
Thunderbolt TDR-5SE, C+ (BB/GOAC02)
Thunderbolt TDR-5SS, C+ (BB/GOAC02)
Thunderbolt TDR-7M, B+ (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-7S, B+ (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-7SE, B+ (BB/GOAC02)
Thunderbolt TDR-8M, A- (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-9M, B (BB/GOAC02)
Thunderbolt TDR-9S, B (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-9SE, B- (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-9W, A (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-10SE, D+ (BB/GOAC02)
Thunderbolt TDR-11S, B+ (RG15)
Thunderbolt TDR-12R, B (RG15)

Archer (Wolf), B+ (RG10)
Archer ARC-2Rb, A- (RG10)
Archer ARC-4M, A- (RG10)
Archer ARC-4M2, A (RG10)
Archer ARC-5R, B- (RG10)
Archer ARC-5S, D (RG10)
Archer ARC-5W, C- (RG10)
Archer ARC-7C, B+ (RG10)
Archer ARC-9R, C (RG10)
Archer C, A (RG10)
Archer C 2, A (RGBonus)
Caesar CES-5R, A- (RG26)
Cataphract CTF-5L, C (RG06)
Cataphract CTF-5LL, D+ (RGBonus)
Doom Courser Prime, A+ (RG22)
Doom Courser A, S- (RG22)
Doom Courser B, B (RG22)
Doom Courser C, A- (RG22)
Doom Courser D, B+ (RG22)
Grasshopper GHR-8K, C- (RG01)
Guillotine GLT-7M, B (RG23)
Lightning LHN-C5, C+ (RG14)
Nova Cat E, A (RG23)
Nova Cat F, A- (RG23)
Nova Cat G, C (RG23)
Nova Cat H, B (RG23)
Nova Cat M, A (RG23)
Nova Cat T, B (RG23)
Summoner AA, A (RG03)
Summoner F, B+ (RG03)
Summoner J, C+ (RG03)
Summoner Q, C (RG03)
Summoner T, D (RG03)
War Crow Prime, A+ (RG07)
War Crow A, A- (RG07)
War Crow B, A (RG07)
War Crow C, S (RG07)
Warhammer C, D (RG07)
Warhammer C 2, D (RG07)
Warhammer C 3, B (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-10K, A (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-7A, A+ (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-7K, C (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-7M, F (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-7M-DC, F+ (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-7S, C (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-8R, A (RG07)
Warhammer WHM-9K, A- (RG07)

Black Knight BL-18-KNT, A+ (RG12)
Black Python (Standard), A (RG12)
Black Python 2, D (RG12)
Black Python 5, B (RG12)
Flashman FLS-10E, C- (RG24)
Inferno INF-NO, A+ (RG09)
Inferno INF-NOA, B (RG09)
Inferno INF-NOB, B+ (RG09)
Inferno INF-NOC, C (RG09)
Inferno INF-NOR, A- (RG09)
Marauder Bounty Hunter 3015, B- (RG06)
Marauder Bounty Hunter 3044, B (RG06)
Marauder Bounty Hunter 3138, B+ (RG06)
Marauder C, C (RG06)
Marauder MAD-2T, B+ (RG06)
Marauder MAD-5D, C (RG06)
Marauder MAD-5D-DC, C (RG06)
Marauder MAD-5M, F (RG06)
Marauder MAD-5S, D (RG06)
Marauder MAD-7C, B (RG06)
Marauder MAD-7M, D (RG06)
Marauder MAD-7R, B (RG06)
Marauder MAD-7S, C- (RG06)
Marauder MAD-11D, A (RG06)
Marauder Red Hunter 3146, A- (RG06)
Night Gyr G, C- (RG22)
Night Gyr I, C (RG22)
Night Gyr T, A (RG22)
Night Gyr X, C+ (RG22)
Orion C 2, C (RG19)
Penetrator PTR-8D, B+ (RG27)
Timber Wolf M, D (RG05)
Timber Wolf N, C+ (RG05)
Timber Wolf T, A- (RG05)
Timber Wolf W, D (RG05)
White Raven (Standard), A (RG12)
White Raven 2, B (RG12)

Awesome AWS-11H, A (RG04)
Awesome AWS-8Q, A- (BB/GOAC01)
Awesome AWS-8R, F (BB/GOAC01)
Awesome AWS-8T, C- (BB/GOAC01)
Awesome AWS-8V, C (BB/GOAC01)
Charger C, A (RG29)
Gargoyle F, C- (RG11)
Gargoyle I, B (RG11)
Gargoyle J, A (RG11)
Gargoyle K, A (RG11)
Gargoyle P, C (RG11)
Gargoyle T, D (RG11)
Goliath C, B- (RG01)
Goliath GOL-3M, C- (RG22)
Goliath GOL-3M2, C (RG22)
Goliath GOL-7C, B- (RG22)
Goliath GOL-7K, C+ (RG22)
Goliath GOL-7R, B- (RG22)
Grand Crusader GRN-D-01, C (RG23)
Grand Crusader GRN-D-01-X, B- (RG23)
Grand Crusader GRN-D-02, C (RG23)
Grand Crusader GRN-D-02-B, C (RG23)
Naga II Prime, D (RG26)
Naga II A, D (RG26)
Naga II B, C- (RG26)
Naga II C, D+ (RG26)
Naga II H, D+ (RG26)
Naga II W, C- (RG26)
Phoenix Hawk IIC (Standard), A- (RG15)
Phoenix Hawk IIC 2, C+ (RG15)
Phoenix Hawk IIC 9, B (RG15)
Phoenix Hawk IIC 10, A- (RG15)
Star Crusader Prime, C (RG23)
Star Crusader A, A (RG23)
Star Crusader B, B (RG23)
Thug THG-13U, A (RG14)
Victor VTR-12D, A- (RG18)
Warhammer IIC (Standard), B (RG04)
Warhammer IIC 2, B   (RG04)
Warhammer IIC 13, A (RG04)
Zeus ZEU-11S, S (RG02)

Battlemaster BLR-1D, A- (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster BLR-1G, A- (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster BLR-1G (Red Corsair), A (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster BLR-1S, C (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster BLR-2C, C (RG03)
Battlemaster BLR-3M, C (RG03)
Battlemaster BLR-3M-DC, C (RG03)
Battlemaster BLR-3S, D (RG03)
Battlemaster BLR-4S, A (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster BLR-5M, C- (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster BLR-6C, A (RG03)
Battlemaster BLR-6G, C+ (RG03)
Battlemaster BLR-6R, B- (RGBonus)
Battlemaster BLR-CM, B (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster BLR-K3, C (BB/GOAC02)
Battlemaster C 3, A (RG03)
Gunslinger GUN-3ERD, C- (RG27)
Jade Phoenix Prime, A+ (RG22)
Jade Phoenix A, S+ (RG22)
Jade Phoenix B, A+ (RG22)
Jade Phoenix C, S+ (RG22)
Jade Phoenix D, A+ (RG22)
Jade Phoenix E, A+ (RG22)
Katana CRK-5006-1, B- (RG23)
Longbow LGB-02W, D+ (RG20)
Longbow LGB-0H, D (RG20)
Longbow LGB-10C, B- (RG20)
Longbow LGB-10K, C- (RG20)
Longbow LGB-14Q, B- (RG20)
Longbow LGB-14V, C- (RG20)
Longbow LGB-8C, C (RG20)
Marauder IIC (Standard), B (RG06)
Marauder IIC 8, B (RG06)
Marauder IIC 9, C (RG06)
Marauder IIC 10, A+ (RG06)
Stalker STK-9F, B- (RG24)
Warhawk F, C- (RG20)
Warhawk G, B (RG20)
Warhawk I, B (RG20)
Warhawk L, F (RG20)
Warhawk T, B+ (RG20)

Alpha Wolf Prime, B- (RG24)
Alpha Wolf A, C- (RG24)
Alpha Wolf B, A (RG24)
Alpha Wolf C, B+ (RG24)
Cyclops C, C- (RG21)
Highlander HGN-740, B+ (RG10)
Kingfisher F, A- (RG18)
Kingfisher G, B+ (RG18)
Kingfisher I, A (RG18)
Kingfisher T, B+ (RG18)
Kingfisher X, A+ (RG18)
Regent Prime, A (RG21)
Regent A, D- (RG21)
Regent B, B (RG21)
Regent C, B- (RG21)
Regent D, D (RG21)
Supernova 5, S (RG13)

Banshee BNC-12S, S- (RG17)
Executioner F, F (RG09)
Executioner G, F (RG09)
Executioner I, D (RG09)
Executioner J, C (RG09)
Executioner L, F (RG09)
Executioner T, C (RG09)
Mastodon Prime, S (RG20)
Mastodon A, S- (RG20)
Mastodon B, A (RG20)
Mastodon C, C+ (RG20)
Mastodon D, A+ (RG20)
Nightstar NSR-10D, B+ (RG06)
Sagittaire SGT-14T, B+ (RG29)
Turkina E, B- (RG16)
Turkina M, C (RG16)
Turkina T, C (RG16)
Turkina X, A- (RG16)

Amarok (Standard), D (RG17)
Amarok 2, C+ (RG17)
Amarok 3, B- (RG17)
Annihilator ANH-5W, B (RG24)
Atlas AS7-K-DC, D+ (RG24)
Atlas AS7-S3, B+ (RG24)
Atlas AS7-S3-DC, B+ (RG24)
Atlas AS7-S4, B- (RG24)
Atlas AS8-K, A (RG24)
Atlas AS8-KE, B- (RG24)
Atlas AS8-S, A (RG24)
Atlas C, B+ (RG24)
Atlas C 2, B+ (RG24)
Atlas C 3, F (RG24)
Atlas II AS7-DK-H, B (RG24)
Bane (Standard), C (RG17)
Bane 2, B (RG17)
Bane 3, B (RG17)
Bane 5, F (RG17)
Bane 6, C+ (RG17)
Bane 7, D (RG17)
Behemoth BNH-6H, D (RGBonus)
Crucible (Standard), C (RG10)
Crucible 2, F (RG10)
Crucible 3, D (RG10)
Devastator DVS-11, C- (RG28)
Dire Wolf E, A+ (RG13)
Dire Wolf T, B- (RG13)
Dire Wolf X, F (RG13)
Iron Cheetah Prime, B+ (RG19)
Iron Cheetah A, B- (RG19)
Iron Cheetah B, A (RG19)
Iron Cheetah C, A- (RG19)
Iron Cheetah D, B+ (RG19)
Iron Cheetah L, C+ (RG19)
King Crab KGC-011, B (RG05)
Kodiak 6, A- (RG21)
Marauder II MAD-10D, B+ (RG05)
Marauder II MAD-5A, D (RG05)
Marauder II MAD-5B, B- (RG05)
Marauder II MAD-5C, D (RG05)
Marauder II MAD-6A, A (RG05)
Marauder II MAD-6C, C (RG05)
Marauder II MAD-8K, A- (RG05)
Stone Rhino (Standard), D (RG02)
Stone Rhino 4, D (RG02)
Stone Rhino 5, C (RG02)
Stone Rhino 6, C (RG02)
Stone Rhino 7, C+ (RG02)
Stone Rhino 8, C+ (RG02)

Vehicles

Kamisori Light Tank Prime, B (RG27)
Kamisori Light Tank A, B- (RG27)
Kamisori Light Tank B, B+ (RG27)
Kamisori Light Tank C, B (RG27)
Kamisori Light Tank R, D+ (RG27)
Galleon C, D+ (RG27)
Galleon GAL-106, C- (RG27)
Galleon GAL-106M, B- (RG27)
Galleon GAL-200R, D+ (RG27)
Galleon GAL-201, C (RG27)
Galleon GAL-300, C+ (RG27)
Pegasus Scout Hover Tank (Upgrade), B- (RG25)
Buzzard Hover Tank (Standard), B (RG27)
Condor Heavy Hover Tank (Fusion), B+ (RG26)
Condor Heavy Hover Tank (LAC), B+ (RG26)
Condor Heavy Hover Tank (Laser), B- (RG26)
Condor Heavy Hover Tank (Ultra), B- (RG26)
Condor Heavy Hover Tank C, C- (RG26)
Falcon Hover Tank (Standard), C- (RG27)
Hawk Hover Tank (LTV-4), C (RG27)
Maxim Heavy Hover Transport (Escort), C- (RG26)
Bulldog Medium Tank (Chemical), B- (RG25)
Bulldog Medium Tank (ERLL), C+ (RG25)
Bulldog Medium Tank (LB-X), C+ (RG25)
Bulldog Medium Tank (Plasma), B (RG25)
Axel Heavy Tank IIC (Standard), B- (RG27)
Axel Heavy Tank IIC (XL), C- (RG27)
Patton Tank (Taurian), C (RG27)
Patton Tank (Ultra), C+ (RG27)
Patton Tank (XL), B- (RG27)
Demolisher Heavy Tank (Arrow IV), F (RG25)
Demolisher Heavy Tank (Ballistic), B+ (RG25)
Demolisher Heavy Tank (Cell), C+ (RG25)
Demolisher Heavy Tank (Clan), C (RG25)
Demolisher Heavy Tank (Gauss), B (RG25)
Demolisher Heavy Tank (MRM), B- (RG25)
« Last Edit: 11 September 2024, 23:04:20 by Scotty »
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

Scotty

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #2 on: 24 December 2023, 17:02:31 »
Reserved for unit rating directory (not a double post, there are just that many of them and these posts have a 4000 character limit)
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

Scotty

  • Alpha Strike Guru by appointment to the FWLM
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #3 on: 24 December 2023, 17:02:45 »
Reserved for unit rating directory (you seriously would not believe how many record sheets are out there)
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

Scotty

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #4 on: 24 December 2023, 17:02:58 »
The Ring of Honor (all S-rated sheets):

Fire Moth P
Locust LCT-1Vb
Locust IIC (Standard)
Carrion Crow B
Carrion Crow C
Cicada CDA-4A
Hammerhead (Standard)
Black Lanner F
Skinwalker D
Stormcrow K
Doom Courser A
War Crow C
Zeus ZEU-11S
Jade Phoenix A
Jade Phoenix C
Supernova 5
Banshee BNC-12S
Mastodon Prime
Mastodon A

# of S ratings by weight class:

Light: 3
Medium: 7
Heavy: 2
Assault: 7

Total number of sheets reviewed by weight class (Mechs):

Light: 142
Medium: 203
Heavy: 189
Assault: 165

Tonnage with the most/least sheets reviewed:

Most: 55 tons, with 77
Least: 90 and 95 tons, with 17 each.

Total number of Fs by tonnage:

20: 3
25: 1
30: 3
35: 2
45: 3
50: 7
55: 2
60: 4
65: 4
70: 2
75: 1
80: 1
85: 1
95: 3
100: 4
« Last Edit: 02 July 2024, 00:41:19 by Scotty »
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

Scotty

  • Alpha Strike Guru by appointment to the FWLM
  • Catalyst Demo Team
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #5 on: 24 December 2023, 18:19:47 »
Recognition Guide IlClan PDF update bonus round

Griffin GRF-1RG: I pulled this up and the very first thing I did was a double-take thinking someone had reprinted a generic version of the “Sparky” variant.  That thought was incorrect, but it definitely feels in the same vein, mostly.  As far as I can tell the armor is somewhere between a 1N and 2N which is to say “pretty good but not max”.  There are no jump jets, making this less mobile overall but given the rest of the weapons this may be a good thing on the level.  Armament is a Large Laser, three Medium Lasers, two Small Lasers, and two Machine Guns.  I almost started looking for TSM in the criticals but it's an Introtech design.  That also means the heatsinks are singles, 17 of them, for a very good +4 running alpha or +2 when the Small Lasers are out of range.  Drop the Smalls and one Medium when you need to drop heat gradually, or drop the Large if you need to drop heat right now.  There's one flaw with this mech, and it's a massive flaw, which is that there are two separate half tons of MG ammo, one in each side torso, and zero of the extra heatsinks have gone into padding those.  This would be significantly better off with half the MG ammo and half a ton more armor in a world where CASE doesn't exist, but not crit-padding it after the fact is rough.  Four heat sinks in the legs tell us what the idea here was, but with no jump jets entering the water is basically a slow form of suicide and I'd feel much better of the six heat sinks that take up crits were in the side torsos.  BV is fine at 1167, which is pretty dang good for that much punch at this rate, but the ammo problem drops this from what would have been a very good grade to a B-

Griffin GRF-3RG: This is an upgrade to the 1RG in every way that I can see, and the result is a genuinely very good cavalry mech that's slightly slower than most Griffins but packs significantly more firepower.  The armor is the same as the 1RG, but most of the guns have been upgraded.  We now have a Large Pulse Laser, two Medium Pulse Lasers, a Medium Laser, and two Small Pulse Lasers.  The Machine Guns are retained but the ammo dropped to a single half ton to fit CASE.  An excellent choice, even if removing the MGs entirely would have been my play here.  The heat sinks are upgraded to doubles and reduced to 12, and the location of the one that didn't fit in the engine is the same torso the remaining half ton of MG ammo is in.  If you were starting with a 1RG and asked yourself “how do I upgrade this to 3050 tech without introducing any additional flaws?” this is a perfect rendition.  Running is +3 heat on an alpha, neutral if you leave out the single Medium, and very cool if you drop the Large Pulse (I don't really recommend that, but sometimes you need to dump heat fast).  The BV is up to 1213, and despite a small drop in range you're still fast enough to get into a furball where you're much more dangerous than the 1RG.  B

Griffin GRF-6R: I have mixed feelings about the 6R.  I'll start with the good ones: Stealth armor rules, and it comes part and parcel with a Guardian ECM.  This variant is faster than the 1RG and 3RG at 5/8/5, but it takes an XL to do that.  Ten doubles can handle jumping with stealth active with room to spare, and the 6R uses that spare room oddly but efficiently.  Weapons are a Thunderbolt 10 (3 tons/18 shots), a Rotary AC/2 (2 tons/90 shots), and an ER Small Laser.  While running with the Stealth on, you can fire the Tbolt 10 and the RAC/2 at 3 shots and be heat neutral, or ramp up to 5 shots at a +2.  While jumping, you can fire either the Tbolt to be heat neutral and dial the RAC to your preferred level of overheat, or leave the Tbolt out and dial the gauge to whatever number you want.  The result is not a lot of damage, but you have a lot of control over how it plays.  At 1515 BV this is a very expensive mech to be unlikely to ever force a PSR on its own, so it's unlikely to be one that I pick out of a pile to play, but it has some interesting options.  The record sheet also says “Mixed” tech but I'll be damned if I can tell what's mixed about it.  C

Behemoth BNH-6H: Even knowing this variant existed it took a few minutes to find, because I wasn't expecting an Inner Sphere type designation for what I knew to be a Clan mech.  Turns out this one isn't Clan.  It's slower even than it usually is at 2/3/2, and mounts paired AC/10s (torsos) and PPCs (arms), with a Small Laser in the Head.  Heat sinks struggle at 22 singles, and the ammo placement is rough though at least it's crit-packed as possible with two tons in each side torso.  Armor is very back heavy but close to maximum.  This is a weird Annihilator variant that jumps. It's actually worse than that because at1703 it's also 270 points more expensive in exchange for less damage and worse heat.  At least it's upholding the tradition of most Behemoths by getting a D

Battlemaster BLR-6R: When I did the 6G entry in this list I was annoyed at the main guns combining for a bad heat break if you fired everything with the same range brackets, all of which were PPCs of some stripe.  This issue does not persist with the 6R.  Instead, we have a Clan RAC/5 (3 tons/60 shots), which is an interesting change of pace right out the gate, backed up by a quartet of Light PPCs, then a Streak SRM 6 (Inner Sphere grade), and a pair of Improved Heavy Medium Lasers... backward?  Okay, that's definitely matching the original design but also, uh, sorry what?  I'm not convinced these are the best use of that space but okay, we can keep going.  Now the heat load is more varied and interesting – I generally dislike braces of Light PPCs, but these are designed well.  On a run, at range, you're heat neutral with four shots from the RAC/5, up to +1 or +2 if you go to five or six shots.  The Streak can put you to five or six over but you absolutely have the ability to tune your heat here.  This might also be the first 'Mech I've ever recommended firing a RAC at four shots, for the same reason.  If someone gets behind you, they'll very quickly wish they hadn't, but with only eight side torso armor you might also be feeling the blues if they do.  When that happens, I'd drop three Light PPCs from the front battery to free up some heat.  Both iHLMs are protected by CASE II, and the right torso CASE II also protects the ammo.  That side torso is very explodey but CASE II may help you avoid the sympathetic detonations that would otherwise kill this mech.  Returning from the 6G is a Light Engine, so even if the torso goes, you'll still be fighting.  Overall much better range than the 6G, an easier to handle heat load, similar damage that is less clustered, and much more dangerous rear guns.  This culminates in a BV of 2181, and while I'd hesitate to take one of these over my favorite back-alley bruiser the Juliano, it's definitely at least worth a look.  B-

Cricket RWN-02: The only difference between this and the RWN-01 is the use of a 9/14 base move instead of 7/11[14] with MASC.  The weapons, armor, and BV are all otherwise identical.  Technically you miss a couple heat sinks that were previously in the arms, but you have nothing in the arms you want to pad for crits anyway so this is no great loss.  Refer back to that article for everything else about this 'Mech.  Since it's inarguably better than the 01, this gets a D+

Cataphract CTF-5LL: There are more differences between the CTF-5L and this than there are between the Cricket variants, but it's still pretty dang close.  The 5LL has jump jets, and to make those fit has replaced the Small Variable-Speed Pulse Lasers from the 5L with bog standard Medium Lasers, and also lost a pair of heatsinks to drop to 10 doubles.  Practically speaking, the offensive impact here is your lasers are much less accurate but you have a longer range.  Previously you were heat neutral on a running forward alpha, now you are +4 on a running alpha and +6 when jumping.  That's... fine, I suppose, you are now using your heat capacity effectively.  If this trade-off were null-BV, I'd call it a fine side-grade.  It is not.  The BV rockets up over 230 to sit at 2322, making this a trade I don't particularly want to make.  D+

Archer C 2: I genuinely do not remember if I've touched this one before, but it's in the RecGuide now so I'm touching it.  This sheet also shows up in the Wolf's Dragoons free record sheets pack in the downloads section, which might be where I'm misremembering it.  In any case, it rules.  Fully Clantech, we have paired Clan LRM-20s with Artemis/IV and six tons of ammo (a lot but not too much), paired Streak SRM 4s with two tons of ammo (too much), and paired Medium Pulse Lasers.  Twelve doubles keep the heat well under control at a +4 on a run if both Streaks fire.  If only one fires, you're at +1, and if neither fires you're at -2.  Integral Clan CASE keeps things from being too spicy.  With a standard engine and only costing 2167 this is an extremely good fire base that has good damage at all ranges and near-max armor, only missing six points on the chassis.  Very well done, the gold standard for Archers. A

Stinger C: … it's still a Stinger, guys.  It still moves 6/9/6, it still has a 20 tonner's worth of armor.  We now have an ER Medium Laser, which hurts, and a Small Pulse Laser, which doesn't hurt as much but is better than it had before and serves to take up the full ton difference between two IS Machine Guns with a ton of ammo and two Clan Machine Guns with a half ton of ammo.  In that sense, this is improved.  The BV hit doesn't feel very good, though, at 592.  It's solid, you can use it to fill out a Clan force with a basement BV average-destroyer Light, but that's what its use case is in a practical sense.  C-

Stinger C 2: Swapping the MGs plus ammo for a second ER Medium Laser.  This makes it a credibly dangerous threat, which is exactly what a Stinger never, ever, ever wants to be.  This is individually more capable, and also more likely to die ingloriously on the first turn of combat for having the audacity to be worth shooting.  C-

'Mechs by rating:

F: none
D: 3
C: 3
B: 3
A: 1
S: none

Cumulative 'Mechs by rating (Including bonus content):

F: 42
D: 98
C: 208
B: 224
A: 116
S: 18
Catalyst Demo Agent #679

Kansas City players, or people who are just passing through the area, come join us at the Geekery just off Shawnee Mission Parkway for BattleTech!  Current days are Tuesdays in the afternoon and evening.  I can't make every single week, but odds are pretty good that somebody will be there.

Scotty

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #6 on: 24 December 2023, 22:18:00 »
Recognition Guide IlClan, Volume 27:

Kamisori Light Tank Prime: I hope you like small cheap tanks, because this the first of a lot of them this volume.  I'm also going to be honest and say that I genuinely don't remember this thing existing, so this was a pleasant surprise because it's honestly a pretty neat little tank.  It's a very aggressive little thing and I appreciate it.  It's 20 tons, tracked, and moves 6/9 with a fusion engine.  The armor is where the aggressive comment comes from, arranged 30(!)/20/10/29.  Do not get shot in the rear, but you can take a surprising amount of damage to the front.  The Prime config mounts a single Large Laser in the Turret, and that's it.  The result is not dissimilar from a Scorpion, but slightly more of a threat and with bonus ability to mechanize battle armor for the budget cost of 536, which is a bargain.  It's not the kind of thing I can recommend just spamming to annoy your opponents, but it's a surprisingly good cheap omni that does enough else that it's a solid “what do I spend this ~500 BV on?” answer if you don't want a 'Mech.  B

Kamisori Light Tank A: I'm torn on this one.  Like any Omni, the only difference is the weapons and equipment.  This time we have a Light PPC with a Capacitor and a Targeting Computer.  The Capacitor is a neat touch and is only the only possible way to get 10 point hits on this machine outside of Clantech, and I think it's not a bad idea for a cheap light tank that doesn't want to be constantly under guns anyway.  It does make it more expensive than it could be, though, at 599.  With the Targeting Computer it edges out any tank at this size with a single AC/5, being able to fire the LPPC without the Capacitor in a pinch and mostly making up for the lack of Precision Ammo availability.  I'm pretty sure even a LAC/5 wouldn't fit here so this is probably your best bet for ranged damage outside of Clantech on something this size.  B-

Kamisori Light Tank B: Now we're cooking with gas.  A Medium Variable-Speed Pulse Laser and a Supercharger.  Now it's a threat that cannot be ignored but remains cheap as hell at 487.  An excellent little harasser, it's more vulnerable than a 'Mech but not by enough to be able to be casually dispatched from anywhere but the rear.  When transporting battle armor, it's exactly the kind of transport that will draw fire away from the infantry because it cannot be allowed to get to short range behind your units.  I like it.  B+

Kamisori Light Tank C: The mobile Radio Shack.  A single ER Medium Laser isn't a lot of damage, but it also comes paired with a C3 computer, Guardian ECM, and Beagle Active probe.  At 527 BV it's a dirt cheap C3 spotter and even if not connected to a network it's an excellent way to bring cheap electronics.  Being able to transport battle armor is just gravy.  It's not often you look at a 6/9 tracked 20 tonner and think “force multiplier” but here we are.  B

Kamisori Light Tank R: This is my least favorite config because it manages to somehow be even more specialized than the C.  A single Plasma Cannon (Cannon, not Rifle) with two tons of ammo is excellent into other tanks or infantry, but practically DOA against 'Mechs or other units that track heat.  Add to it the BV is the highest of any config by a substantial margin at 669 and this is the config I'll be leaving at home.  D+

Galleon Light Tank GAL-106: We've graduated from 20 ton tanks to 30 ton tanks.  This variant is funny, with Hardened armor arranged 11/10/11/14.  The arrangement is a little odd, but the fact that it's Hardened means it's much harder to kill than it looks.  No single ER PPC hits will disable this tank, no sir.  It moves 8/12, respectably speedy, and carries two Medium Lasers, a Light PPC, TAG, and a Beagle Active Probe.  That's a respectable amount of gun and a very 'scout' variety of EW gear.  The only downside here is that it's relatively expensive for what it brings to the table at 762.  It probably won't be winning a shootout with anything but it can definitely distract an enemy for more time than they expect to be distracted.  C-

Galleon Light Tank GAL-106M: Now we're cooking.  The armor and speed are the same, the guns have been exchanged for a single ER Medium Laser, a pair of Machine Guns, and an AMS, and the tonnage freed up from that has been put into an infantry bay.  The BV commensurately drops to 601.  This has much more of an obvious role and it's better for it.  Use your height to break LOS, drop some infantry, and know your opponent hates that they can't justify shooting at this with enough to kill it early.  B-

Galleon Light Tank GAL-200R: For when your disposable chaff tank is actually, genuinely disposable.  This variant mounts standard armor in 14/13/14/18 arrangement, which is definitely more fragile, but “makes up” for that by having a pair of Machine Guns in a turret, flanked by paired Rocket Launcher 20s and four Rocket Launcher 10s up front.  The speed is unfortunately down to 6/9, something that will be reflected in each of the other variants about to come up, too.  Drive up to someone and pull the ripcord, then do not give a single shit what happens to your box of spent firecrackers.  The cost is down, to 455, making this a decent amount for what's an ultimately disposable unit but a damn fine punch for its size.  Not something I'm going to want to take, but there are people out there who will drool over the idea of shooting 120 missiles out of a cardboard box at point blank.  D+

Galleon Light Tank GAL-201: Every once in a while you want to bring a tiny little nuisance to the table, and this is the tank for you.  Armor has been switched to Stealth, arranged 13/12/12/15, and the guns are now a Magshot on each side and a LAC/5 in the turret with one ton of ammo.  Not enough that you can feasibly use alternate ammo and stick around the whole game, but you can take a handful of potshots with precision, or stick around longer with some standard ammo to threaten objectives or just make your opponent not want to turn their back to you.  At 504 it's hard to say whether you'd rather have this or a bug 'Mech like a Stinger or Wasp, but you can't hide those as easily as you can this in a pinch.  For some variety in your piles of garbage.  C

Galleon Light Tank GAL-300: None of these previous variants funny enough for you?  No worries, there's still comedy left in this section.  The GAL-300 slathers on armor enough to rival the Hardened of the 106 at 25/19/19/27 thanks to Heavy Ferro Fibrous, then uses a Light Engine to free up enough from for an MML-7 up front, an ER Medium Laser in the turret, two ER Small Lasers on the sides in sponson turrets, and finally a pair of M-Pods, one to each side.  Drive into the middle of a formation and detonate yourself into a hilarious cloud of 'Mech scale ball bearings, and maybe even survive to continue using the rest of your guns for a bit.  Two tons of ammo is enough to bring an alternate if you feel like it.  Total cost in BV is 648, making it expensive enough I probably couldn't commit it suicidally but I would absolutely angle for side arcs on 'Mechs to avoid the return kick and then pull the ripcord.  C+

Galleon Light Tank C: Usually when I see “C” in a unit name that means we're about to get a too-expensive refit that doesn't do enough.  The Galleon... only mostly bucks that trend.  The armor is back to standard, arranged 20/18/18/22, so a 20 point hit if you're unlucky enough to take one won't kill you from any direction, barely.  Weapons consist of a Large Chemical Laser in the turret and two Medium Chemical Lasers, one on each side in a sponson.  This makes for a decent punch if you manage to line up a target dead ahead, average punch if you can get them on an off-angle, and a disappointingly high 633 BV for the privilege.  I will probably be leaving this one at home – Galleons aren't where I'm looking for my tiny MBTs.  D+[/u]

Buzzard Hover Tank: I read this volume when it came out and I've still never heard of this tank.  It's average speed for a big hover (50 tons) at 8/12, and mounts an Light PPC and two MML 7s in the turret, which what looks like five tons of ammo.  Those are some deep ammo bins to bring alternate ammo for.  Armor is decent if not spectacular at 24/16/16/16.  One thing that makes armor difficult to evaluate, for hovers in particular, is that unless you take a gigantic hit immediately you are extremely likely to end up suffering from mobility hits that make your armor basically useless anyway.  This is enough to take a 20 point hit to a side without (probably) instantly dying, a consideration that used to be for AC/20s but now has to be extended to Clan or Heavy PPCs with capacitors.  I may not like those guns, but they exist and your opponent could have one at any time.  All that said, at 780 BV, this seems like an effective striker that can approach from any angle and put out enough firepower to be a genuine nuisance.  B

Falcon Hover Tank: I don't know if it's just me but I haven't heard of this thing either.  Very similar to the Buzzard, sharing the same art even, tells me they're related.  The same armor, too.  Speed is up to 9/14, and weapons are swapped for a Medium Laser and a pair of SRM 6s that share a single ton of ammo.  Forget carrying alternates here.  There's also a half-ton of cargo, in case you need that for a campaign or something.  If the BV were significantly lower than the Buzzard I'd say take this instead, and I guess in some contexts a hundred points is significant, but at 676 I'd just rather have the Buzzard.  Neither of these tanks are here for a long time, so get what you can get out of it up front.  C-

Hawk Hover Tank (LTV-4): Okay the LTV-4 I've at least heard of, if not ever used.  Same armor, slower at 7/11, and the weapons for this are a PPC and an SRM 4 with a ton of ammo.  This is absolutely going to be more effective at medium range, but the speed is now dropping low enough that maintaining +4 TMM is much more difficult.  The BV at 684 I would take this over the Falcon but not the Buzzard.  Having the Buzzard come first really does not help these variants, since it seems like it's just better.  C

Axel Heavy Tank IIC: The gestalt psychic manifestation of BattleTech heard me grousing, and has come to me with “Fine, you want armor?  Here.” and then we got the Axel II C.  This is the other end of the vehicle spectrum, a tracked vehicle moving 4/6 with sheets of armor caked on (arranged 65/45/30/35).  Do not let someone get behind you.  “This side toward enemy”.  There's a turret in case that ends up being too difficult, though.  We have an AP Gauss mounted front (this is a Clan tank, incidentally), a Large Pulse Laser alongside not just one but two LRM 15s with Artemis IV in a turret, and an ECM Suite.  There are four tons of LRM 15 ammo, which should be more than enough.  This is a solid bruiser of a tank, though at 1612 BV you're going toe to toe with pretty solidly designed Heavies and while you can win that fight, what's more likely to happen is you get immobilized and then stepped on repeatedly until something breaks.  Still, that much firepower can't be ignored, and if you get to a good spot with it before getting tracked you'll make someone hurt.  B-

Axel Heavy Tank IIC (XL): The XL is exactly what it sounds like, using an XL engine instead of a standard.  This allows it to go 5/8 instead of 4/6, a decently important breakpoint for initial mobility.  Weapons are similar, swapping out the Large Pulse for... an ER Large Laser and Targeting Computer, plus an Anti-Missile System.  Maybe I'm being unreasonable here, but I feel like most of the time I'd rather... just have the Large Pulse.  The AMS is probably useful at some point but the weapons here feel like a side-to-downgrade.  The BV, thanks to the speed, has also shot up very fast to 2003.  I'll take the standard, thanks.  C-

Patton Tank (Taurian): I was today years old when I learned the Axel IIC was just a Clan Patton.  They share the same art, which is the only way I know this even now.  The Taurian Patton is... well, there's not really any sugarcoating it, it's significantly less capable than either Axel IIC variant.  The armor is rarranged (50/44/40/50) so despite gaining 8 points overall it feels more fragile.  The hit locations are not kind to turrets, only being the 10/11/12 location (exactly 1/6 chance on all sides) while the front location when being shot from the front is 61% of all locations rolled from that side.  That indicates that you should be trying to go hull down with this tank whenever possible, because it's going to get wrecked faster from the front than before despite the small increase in armor.  Speed is still 4/6, but a Supercharger lets it match the XL for short bursts.  Weapons are an LB-10X and LRM 5 in the turret, an ER Medium Laser front, and a Flamer rear.  Three tons of cannon ammo and one ton of LRM is probably being a little optimistic about the longevity of the vehicle but certainly doesn't hurt.  The BV is nice, at 1213, cheap enough that its natural peers are Introtech Mediums and low end Heavies, not high tech Heavies and appallingly efficient fast Mediums.  More than the other two, it definitely feels like the “this is what you bring when you can't afford a 'Mech” aspect of a mainline combat vehicle.  It seems fine, though I'd generally rather have the Introtech Medium.  C

Patton Tank (Ultra): Okay I like this better.  We have the same speed, minus Supercharger, and the armor layout has changed subtly to 51/46/38/51 – technically a couple points higher from more standard Ferro-Fibrous but practically speaking just a bit rearranged from the rear to the front and turret.  Weapons are an Ultra AC/10 and two Medium Lasers in the turret, plus three total Machine Guns (2 front/1 rear).  Three tons of ammo for the Ultra is probably enough.  What I like most here is the BV, which has dropped to 1160.  This feels like a more built-for-purpose bulk line holder that will mess up a 'Mech that strays in front of it unwarily, compared to the better-into-itself LBX and LRM.  C+

Patton Tank (XL): I want to be annoyed at this on principle for getting more expensive again, but the cost seems worth it here.  In some ways it seems like a mix of the two previous variants, mostly in the weapons.  The engine is switched from standard to XL, and the weapons are correspondingly upgraded to a Medium X-Pulse Laser front, an MML 5 in the turret, the Flamer rear from the Taurian, and the Ultra AC/10 in the turret from the Ultra.  The big difference is this one has a Targeting Computer, making it significantly more lethal to hardened targets especially with the X-Pulse laser picking up the accuracy bonus as well.  Armor is the same, and the BV jumps up to 1278 – making it an easy pick over the Taurian and only slightly less easy over the Ultra.  B-[/u]

Phantom T: Oh thank God, back to thinks I'm relatively familiar with.  The Phantom is a Clan Omni, notably speedy at 9/14 and 40 tons.  Armor seems fine, though oddly back-heavy on the torsos and unnecessarily light on the legs.  Or maybe it's oddly heavy on the arms, I can see arguments for either.  Weapons on the T are an LRM 5 with Artemis V in the left arm, ER Medium Pulse Laser in the right, ER Small Laser and Micro Pulse Laser left torso.  I'm almost disappointed there's not a heavy laser in here somewhere to get all the food groups.  I know this has to match the art, but it's... not a great config.  Heat sinks are an artifact of the base config, but this thing is an ice-cold -9 on a running alpha, and I feel like you generally are not going to want to get close enough to use the Micro Pulse Laser unless you're desperate.  The LRM 5 is more accurate with Artemis but the Artemis is heavier than the launcher is.  This config is definitely held back by what was, and the result is that it's worse than a lot of its contemporaries.  The BV being low at 1138 helps a bit, but it's just not great.  D

Phantom F: Aha, there are the other energy weapon types, mostly.  A Heavy Flamer (...sure, alright), a Heavy Medium Laser (...sure, alright), two ER Medium Lasers, and an ECM Suite this time manage to be a heat neutral running alpha.  That's certainly better.  The other issues from before are still here and the extra BV to 1375 is unsurprising.  The presence of a Heavy Flamer is just confusing to me, and would have been better as a lot of other things if this 'Mech was trying to scare infantry or scare other 'Mechs.  It's still better than the T by a decent clip, though.  C

Phantom G: a PAC/4 and an ER Medium Laser.  No, thank you.  Not even a sub-1K price tag (975) is enough to make me want that. D-

Phantom I: Okay, I'll shut up.  Improved Heavy Large Laser, ER Medium Laser, Targeting Computer (and I guess a Light TAG).  This is a direct fire energy nightmare and it being fast means it's also dangerous.  Heat is a reasonable +1 on a running alpha, and I really have to conclude that there's not a single good reason to have tried to fit extra heat sinks in the engine on the base config of a 40 tonner.  A critique for 30 years ago, I guess.  This is much more expensive at 1713, and feels almost like a Pack Hunter's cousin, but it's undeniably more effective than a couple of these others.  C+

Phantom J: The BV chart is in an uncomfortable upward slope going through these configs.  This one packs on three ER Mediums, an Improved Heavy Medium, and an ER Small to go with a Supercharger to hit 18 hexes.  This brings the BV all the way up to 1902.  A +4 running alpha, especially one that's so easy to adjust (drop the iHML if you need it) is a point in its favor.  The killing power on this one is probably higher on average than the I but I find the I more comfortable for being more accurage and having the same ranges for both of its main guns.  This one isn't as bad as it could be, but the I is still the best so far.  C

Phantom K: This is just an Ice Ferret F someone traded an ER Large for a Targeting Computer on.  Not a fan, said Ice Ferret F is better in basically every way, and the cost isn't enough to save this at 1387.  Usable, but not exactly the peak of its trade.  Having Watchdog makes it a useful EWAR platform if you need one, but there are better options (like the Ice Ferret F) C

Phantom L: I guess if you really hate infantry you can bring this.  Three AP Gauss, and a Plasma Cannon, both with one ton of ammo.  This feels like an appropriate amount of ammo for how long this thing will last.  I'm not a fan, with the ability to only do nine damage to 'Mechs or other targets that track heat.  At 1178 it's cheapish for the Plasma Cannon capability and blows the Mist Lynx with a plasma all the way out of the water, but that's... not exactly high praise.  D+

Phantom R: The R configs on Omnis tend to be mixed tech, so I'm not really surprised, it's just... why?  Maybe heat?  We have a pair each of Improved Heavy Medium Lasers and regular-ass Medium Lasers, to go with a Clan SRM 6.  A running alpha is +4 thanks to the SRM, and leaving it off is heat neutral, but I can't help but feel like there had to be better ways to get to that result.  That said, all the weapons share the same ranges, and the cost is relatively low for this amount of offense at 1365.  I'd use it, but it just feels a bit weird.  C+

Nightsky NGS-7S: If you've been a long-time reader of the column, you may remember that I absolutely hated the Axman from the RecGuides for being an overexpensive piece of garbage that couldn't leverage its own equipment properly.  This is not that Axman.  The Nightsky is 50 tons, and a Clan XL Engine plus jump jets take it to 6/9/6, perfectly reasonable.  Its armor is 11 points off max, so pretty good there.  In the right arm is the hatchet, plus AES, a combination I love.  In the left arm is a Large X-Pulse laser, in the head is a Small X-Pulse Laser, and in the left and right torsos are a Clan ER Medium Laser each.  That's a lot of gun that it can use at all times thanks to the hatchet being alone in the arm, and very accurate guns either by range or by pulse bonus so if it takes any heat penalties it is basically unaffected from a capability standpoint.  AES and TSM are incompatible with each other, and honestly I think I like the AES here more, because it manages to keep the BV down to a downright reasonably 1591.  Running and firing all three bigger lasers is heat neutral, jumping and doing the same is +4.  The Small X-Pulse adds three to each of those, but honestly you can pretty much leave it off unless you're trying to fish for that finishing blow on a badly damaged enemy.  Overall, very solid, and probably the Medium melee bruiser I'm most likely to want to take.  A-

Penetrator PTR-8D: There are a lot of things that I like about this 'Mech.  And a couple I don't, admittedly, but it starts off very strong by being 75 tons with a 4/6/4 movement profile and a standard engine.  The gold standard, as it were.  Armor is good but not maximum, typically a few points down on every location save the head, but made more interesting by being Reflective.  Weapons are where this thing catches my eye the first time, with a pair of Large Re-engineered Lasers, one in each arm, and six Medium Lasers, split evenly between the left and right torsos.  There's also a Laser AMS in the center torso.  A Compact Gyro is more to love.  The heat is where things start to get a bit dicey, with 13 doubles having a hard time with this much gun.  I'm not a huge fan of the Laser AMS here (or ever, if I'm going to be honest with myself), as firing both RE Lasers (or all six Mediums) and the LAMS going off while jumping will take you by itself to a solid +3 on the scale.  There is a Coolant Pod here, though, so for one majestic turn you can turn off the LAMS and hit the big red button to fire everything and generate -1 running or +2 jumping.  It's almost a pity that's just once – I'd happily trade the LAMS to get to do it more than that.  Fortunately, if you run into an emergency you can really pour on some extra Mediums and not suffer for it – this 'Mech is completely ammo free.  I'm sure it's coincidence, but you can also slam the big red button at a run and end up at +12 on the scale, just shy of a shutdown check.  If your opponent doesn't have heat generating weapons, or even if they do thanks to the Reflective, you can really push the envelope there if you have a good target hex to hole up in next turn and bleed some heat.  Reflective is going to make your opponent want to get close to try to force melee, but you can make that a very painful trade with all that energy.  BV is 2130, which is high but within reason for a heavy duty 75 tonner with good armor and an SFE.  This isn't necessarily by favorite Penetrator but it's up there.  B+

Gunslinger GUN-3ERD: The last sheet in the book, the Gunslinger is.... still a Gunslinger.  The movement profile is a very annoying 3/5/2, but fortunately the engine is a Clan XL to keep it from being too big a liability.  There's also an XL Gyro to save weight.  Armor is Ballistic-Reinforced, which I like, and coverage is fairly good too.  The side torsos have full armor, but the limbs are generally a few points shy.  Ballistic-Reinforced is heavy though so that's still a ton and change left off.  Weapons consist of a pair of Gauss Rifles, one in each arm (both protected by CASE II), four Clan ER Medium Lasers split 2/2 in the side torsos, a Small X-Pulse Laser in the head, and two Small X-Pulse Lasers, one in each leg, facing the rear.  O...kay on those, I guess, they're not really getting in the way overmuch.  Gauss ammo is good at 16 shots per rifle.  Heat comes up more than you might think thanks to the brace of Mediums, with the Mediums and Gauss at a run taking you to +4 against 10 doubles.  It's really hard to want to recommend using that SXPL at any point, really.  Fortunately, getting back to heat neutral is as simple as dropping one Medium, which will take you down to -1.  Up close, this thing will do almost 60 damage and still be a credible threat to long range with multiple headcappers.  The downside, and make no mistake this is a downside, is that it's very expensive at 2844.  You're an 85 ton 'Mech with Clan guns and a Clan XL and specialist armor, but even so your peers here are Dire Wolves and other high end Clan Assaults.  You have a tiny maneuverability edge against most 3/5s thanks to the jump jets, but it's not enough to be a decisive advantage.  Your hope is that you run into one that's running a bunch of ballistic or missile guns, or you get lucky with a gauss and take someone's head off.  If price isn't an issue this is probably a low B, but costing that much I'd really struggle to want to pick this off the shelf on purpose.  C-

'Mechs by rating:

F: none
D: 6
C: 14
B: 9
A: 1
S: none

Cumulative 'Mechs by rating (Including bonus content):

F: 42
D: 104
C: 222
B: 233
A: 117
S: 18
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Ruger

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #7 on: 27 December 2023, 17:45:44 »
Aren’t the RG-model Griffin’s the variants used to guard the Steiner throne room on Tharkad?

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #8 on: 28 December 2023, 00:35:32 »
Yes, they are.

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #9 on: 28 December 2023, 18:34:29 »
The 3RG became an upgrade kit and is used into the current era

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #10 on: 29 December 2023, 02:34:31 »
Given how much of a resource this thread is, can we get it pinned?
Warning: this post may contain sarcasm.

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MarauderD

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #11 on: 29 December 2023, 13:48:21 »
Scotty:  have we told you how enjoyable it is to read these?  Good work.

I'd be curious to see your grades on the mechs from TRO: Project Phoenix.  Really mixed bag there, but a couple decent ones. 

Anyway, thanks for all the hard work!

dddddddd207

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #12 on: 30 December 2023, 23:54:17 »
Hope you don't mind, but I've copied the text of and links to the reviews into a Google document here in case the links break again: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-PJGiW4QkL2mgD1miZff7PQ6d5uqzlN7CkAEuOCloGk/edit?usp=sharing

I've also created a spreadsheet with the mechs, variant, source, tech base, weight class, rating, and BV. Since it's a spreadsheet, you can sort and filter it for whatever you're looking for. That's located here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LMV54CcY6QVkkJUSXqWbRSy12LBMrA46CkPe-I6Xpww/edit?usp=sharing

midway

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #13 on: 03 January 2024, 17:48:49 »
Hope you don't mind, but I've copied the text of and links to the reviews into a Google document here in case the links break again: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-PJGiW4QkL2mgD1miZff7PQ6d5uqzlN7CkAEuOCloGk/edit?usp=sharing

I've also created a spreadsheet with the mechs, variant, source, tech base, weight class, rating, and BV. Since it's a spreadsheet, you can sort and filter it for whatever you're looking for. That's located here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LMV54CcY6QVkkJUSXqWbRSy12LBMrA46CkPe-I6Xpww/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for the spreadsheet, saves me from finishing mine. I think you missed the QKD-9G, which got a C-. Higher than I would have thought.

MarauderD

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #14 on: 04 January 2024, 12:03:15 »
Just noticed that the next Rec. Guide on the schedule is one with 4 mechs that are very interesting to me:  Firestarter, Spector, Cicada, and Devastator.  I'd say a couple of them are great, but are they cheap enough to get a good grade from Scotty?  I don't know. 

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #15 on: 04 January 2024, 14:38:42 »
Spoiler: the Cicada 4A is [spoiler]an easy S[/spoiler]

The above spoiler is real and not a joke
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MarauderD

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #16 on: 04 January 2024, 14:45:45 »
Spoiler: the Cicada 4A is [spoiler]an easy S[/spoiler]

The above spoiler is real and not a joke

Knew that one was coming from a previous thread where we talked about how good it was for the price/ability to force PSR/TMM.  Firestarter just looks fun, Spector looks interesting, and don't know what to make of the Devastator at all.  (Wish it was normal PPCs with a single Silver Bullet Gauss and a normal Gauss, but we can't have everything)

dddddddd207

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #17 on: 06 January 2024, 21:21:52 »
Thanks for the spreadsheet, saves me from finishing mine. I think you missed the QKD-9G, which got a C-. Higher than I would have thought.
I seem to have missed all of recguides 16-26, so I'll work on adding those over the next few days

Greatclub

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #18 on: 07 January 2024, 03:14:07 »
Spoiler: the Cicada 4A is [spoiler]an easy S[/spoiler]

The above spoiler is real and not a joke

In my opinion, the only surprise there is that the Spider didn't get a similar grade.

Scotty

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #19 on: 07 January 2024, 12:42:28 »
The Spider can't force a PSR and is less durable.
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #20 on: 11 January 2024, 11:09:13 »
The Ring of Honor (all S-rated sheets):

Fire Moth P
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Has there been a revision to the rating on this one? Looking back at the linked original review it's listed as a B+ not S rating. I'm not complaining, just curious if that's the case here and if there's been other such revisions.
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Scotty

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #21 on: 11 January 2024, 12:37:19 »
Yes, it has.  I noted that in the big list of reviewed sheets but I'm unable to edit the original post the review was in. That's the only update so far.

For those curious, it's absolutely cheap enough to trade into whatever it feels like and has been a frankly horrifyingly consistent menace on our local tables for months.
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #22 on: 11 January 2024, 12:57:39 »
Ah, I missed that, but it makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #23 on: 11 January 2024, 14:58:30 »
I've been browsing through all of these and am impressed.  Great job Scotty! 

I think my only "complaint" is the treatment of the old substandard, suboptimal stuff.  BUT, as you've said, your mission is to look at them purely on table top performance without the vacuum of era, factions etc.  Which means there are some stinkers out there that just don't work well or would never see the table, even if, they might have been common or even beloved in their era or in real life when they were all that was available.

The 8K Wolverine was mine from WAY back in the day when Project Phoenix was in creation and all of the forum mods got to submit.  I probably designed it back in 1999 or 2000 and was 17 or 18.  It is WAY oversinked and in hindsight, I wish I could have been more seasoned in my design philosophy as I could have done it with a std engine, less sinks, C3S while the MPL became another ERML.  BV jumps to 1680 or so but, the CASE would mean more at that point.  Oh well, learned a lot over the years!
« Last Edit: 11 January 2024, 15:19:30 by Savage Coyote »

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #24 on: 11 January 2024, 23:47:53 »
I've been browsing through all of these and am impressed.  Great job Scotty! 

I think my only "complaint" is the treatment of the old substandard, suboptimal stuff.  BUT, as you've said, your mission is to look at them purely on table top performance without the vacuum of era, factions etc.  Which means there are some stinkers out there that just don't work well or would never see the table, even if, they might have been common or even beloved in their era or in real life when they were all that was available.

The 8K Wolverine was mine from WAY back in the day when Project Phoenix was in creation and all of the forum mods got to submit.  I probably designed it back in 1999 or 2000 and was 17 or 18.  It is WAY oversinked and in hindsight, I wish I could have been more seasoned in my design philosophy as I could have done it with a std engine, less sinks, C3S while the MPL became another ERML.  BV jumps to 1680 or so but, the CASE would mean more at that point.  Oh well, learned a lot over the years!

FWIW, the Wolvie 8K is one of my all-time favorite mediums, and I've used it countless times over the last twenty years.


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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #25 on: 12 January 2024, 11:39:11 »
I've been browsing through all of these and am impressed.  Great job Scotty! 

I think my only "complaint" is the treatment of the old substandard, suboptimal stuff.  BUT, as you've said, your mission is to look at them purely on table top performance without the vacuum of era, factions etc.  Which means there are some stinkers out there that just don't work well or would never see the table, even if, they might have been common or even beloved in their era or in real life when they were all that was available.

The 8K Wolverine was mine from WAY back in the day when Project Phoenix was in creation and all of the forum mods got to submit.  I probably designed it back in 1999 or 2000 and was 17 or 18.  It is WAY oversinked and in hindsight, I wish I could have been more seasoned in my design philosophy as I could have done it with a std engine, less sinks, C3S while the MPL became another ERML.  BV jumps to 1680 or so but, the CASE would mean more at that point.  Oh well, learned a lot over the years!

Agreed, the 8K and also the 8C are my favorite Wolvies:  I was always jelly as a FedSuns player until I realized they were available to us on the MUL after the Civil War.  Yum.

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #26 on: 12 January 2024, 12:52:09 »
FWIW, the Wolvie 8K is one of my all-time favorite mediums, and I've used it countless times over the last twenty years.

Agreed, the 8K and also the 8C are my favorite Wolvies:  I was always jelly as a FedSuns player until I realized they were available to us on the MUL after the Civil War.  Yum.

Thanks guys!  I think it's the "creator always hates his stuff" kind of vibe.  I'm an art teacher and do my own fine art on the side and its the same.  I hate what I do often enough  :cheesy:

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #27 on: 21 May 2024, 11:46:42 »
90 day Necro.  I look at this article a lot:  is this a good candidate to be stickied for all the information contained here?

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #28 on: 21 May 2024, 12:36:45 »
It's a lot of well-thought-out reviews in a few posts in a single thread, the information density is pretty high.  I second the notion of making it a sticky in the board.

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #29 on: 21 May 2024, 18:09:06 »

Thirded.  I’ve come back to this thread multiple times but have to seek it out each time.
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #30 on: 02 July 2024, 00:33:53 »
Recognition Guide: IlClan Vol 28

I'm going to be totally honest.  Vehicles aren't my strong suit.  I know substantially less about them than Mechs or battle armor and how they compare to each other, and frankly I do not in the slightest bit enjoy writing them up.  So I won't.  Apologies to those who were looking forward to my biting commentary about the Long Tom and its four children trailers, but it isn't happening today.  Maybe one day.  The difference between this volume with just 'Mechs and this volume with everything is six sheets versus 22 so I immediately feel vindicated by this decision.  In the meantime, here's battle armor and 'Mechs from the next volume.

TinStar Battle Armor: The Elemental has been the gold standard of battle armor since the introduction of the unit type in the original Clan Invasion.  This is not an Elemental.  That's not to say it's bad, I make commentary on unit BV all the time, but if you're expecting something as impressive as the Elemental III in volume 24, you are going to be disappointed.  Here we do not have jump jets, but we do have three ground MP.  This is fast enough to get an extra TMM on the ground, which is always good, since infantry don't have a facing and don't have to pay for facing changes.  It's pretty strictly inferior to three jump MP, however, due to not getting the extra +1 to TMM for jumping and still having to pay to enter terrain.  Two basic manipulators and MagClamps mean this suit can be fully mechanized regardless of your transport situation and can make anti-Mech attacks.  Swarm attacks are basically never good but in the unlikely event you get one off, or the much more likely event you get one off against something like a vehicle that can't just drive into water or fall over to knock you off, there are a Support PPC and a David Light Gauss, both in the arms.  Seven points of armor (plus the trooper) is the absolute bare minimum acceptable amount for a medium suit.  It's not a lot of damage (2+1), but the range for battle armor is acceptable.  The bigger advantage is cost, coming in at 272 for a squad of four suits.  This is cheaper than even the Elemental III [Flamer] for the same squad size, is similarly (but not equally) maneuverable, and significantly outranges the hardier suit.  Official verdict: Not bad, could be better.  C+

TinStar Battle Armor (Original): This is fundamentally the same suit as the standard, but cranks the armor up to 10 and replaces the David with a Magshot Gauss.  This might be the only time I've ever looked at a Magshot and thought “good”.  Going to 10 armor is an extremely important breakpoint and is almost always worth whatever it costs to get there.  On the weapons front your guns get slightly longer range and do slightly more damage.  The BV relatively skyrockets to 382 for a squad of four, but the durability increase can't be overstated.  I would take this over the standard whenever possible.  Realistically I'm going to be taking an Elemental of some variety, but sometimes that gets boring and this is hardly a bad suit.  I would say it's probably even pretty alright. B-

Firestarter FS9-N “Mirage II”: When you have multiple nicknamed variants, maybe they should just get to be the name and call it a different 'Mech that just looks the same.  Black Python/White Raven, looking at you.  Quips about the name aside, this is the most dangerous (non-Omni, which I am going to call a different 'Mech and not include for being 10 full tons heavier) Firestarter ever conceived and second place isn't close.  It's also the most expensive and second place is even further away.  Mobility is 6/9/6 thanks to a Clan XL Engine.  No weaknesses detcted.  Armor is maximum, favoring front protection, and is Reflective.  Some weaknesses detected.  Melee and artillery are going to ruin your day, but you have a solid chance against the ubiquitous Light-hunting pulse lasers out there.  Guns-wise, we start with a Plasma Cannon.  Not a Rifle, a Cannon.  No damage to 'Mechs, but much more fire.  Two Flamers forward, one rear also add more fire.  Then the actual offense is supplied by a pair of Clan ER Mediums and a pair of Clan ER Small Lasers.  Eleven doubles is... enough.  You can fire your offensive weapons outside of your Flamers at a run and be +1, but jumping will take you to a +5.  If you add the Flamers you can get to +11, which I do not recommend literally ever for any reason.  They are as vestigial as any weapons have ever been on a 'Mech.  If you want to do heat, the Plasma Cannon will average substantially higher than both Flamers will, and you almost never want to be using Flamers instead of Clan lasers.  The use case for these is extremely narrow.  I can already hear someone coming for me in the comments “but what if you really want to overheat something with TSM?” and I gotta tell you, you have better options than this.  You just do.  Because it costs 1660 BV, and crippling your own heat (or dropping not-insignificant damage) on a Light that costs that much is not the right side of the efficiency trade.  On its own, I can accept it as a not-particularly cost-effective way to put that damage on the table.  Not my first pick, though.  It might be my first pick for a Firestarter, though, which is not particularly high praise but it's not nothing either.  C+

Spector SPR-6F: The Firestarter was a striker pretending to have a second role, this thing isn't pretending.  It's faster, at 8/12/8, though it has an IS XL and is correspondingly more fragile.  Armor is amusingly almost identical to the Firestarter, right down to the type and allocation, with the singular exception that one more point is front than rear (17/5 on this, versus 16/6 on the Firestarter).  Weapons, however, are substantially more dangerous, which considering the Firestarter was rocking multiple Clanspec lasers is saying something.  For guns we've got two Improved Heavy Medium Lasers, a Medium Variable Speed Pulse, and an ER Small Laser (Inner Sphere brand) all linked to a Targeting Computer.  It should go without saying that this is a lot of gun and it is devastating when applied in the appropriate manner.  The heat load for that is... substantial, and the natural tactic is a hit-and-run using the high jump speed to cool down between passes.  Ten double will take you to +11 on a jumping alpha, though only +9 if you leave the ER Small off.  Running with the three “big” energy guns is +3, which is more palatable but is still going to add up sooner than later.  It's very tempting to jump and use the mobility to setup a close range shot with the net -4 to hit from the VSP pulse bonus and the targeting computer, but your iHML hit numbers will suffer.  Like many other units of this kind, I think it's generally a better idea to use the jump jets to set up a long run where your TMM is still +4, but your accuracy is improved by the run mod compared to the jump mod.  This all costs 1476, and makes the Spector nigh-incomparably better at the striker role compared to the Firestarter, with the normal caveat that if you're bringing a Firestarter it's for other reason and you don't get that here.  I still like it better.  If not for the other fast striker in this volume, this would be a standout.  B+

Cicada CDA-4A: Oh baby.  Oh baby.  Behold one of the best striker 'Mechs in the game, full stop.  The mech is a classic Cicada shape, 40 tons moving 8/12 thanks to an IS XL engine, but we have the additional presence of a Supercharger (enormously preferable to MASC on fast units like this) to bump it up to 16 on a sprint.  Armor is a couple points shy of maximum, and the missing points are helpfully on the arms that are practically vestigial and serve no purpose other than ablative damage-soaking.  Armament is two Medium Variable Speed Pulse Lasers and a Medium Re-Engineered Laser.  Heat is exactly +2 at a run (and you will be at a run), which allows two turns at point blank with the triggers held down, or three if you're willing to get a little toasty and still be able to sink back to zero by dropping the RE laser.  All of the weapons are in the torsos so you lose a bit of firing arc flexibility but you gain durability in the arms not being even a tiny big necessary to keep intact.  That's a lot of damage with accuracy bonuses on a fast well-armored (for its size) platform.  There's got to be a catch, right?  Nope, not today.  BV sits at a frankly might-be-a-problem 1097, making it not just accurate and painful and fast but also cheap.  This is how you build a fast low-end medium striker, everybody.  Take notes.  S

Devastator DVS-11: Here at Scotty's Mech Review Emporium, wacky speed profiles are generally bad.  This one isn't.  Moving 3/5 is slow enough to be a liability at exactly the wrong time, and this Devastator decides to never be in that position by choice.  Both MASC and a Supercharger push this to 3/5[8] on the turn you decide that over there needs to be over here immediately.  On a traditional Devastator, this would likely not be a big deal.  This one, however, has a pair of Snub-nose PPCs to go with its pair of Gauss Rifles, meaning that deciding what range you're at is slightly more important for effective use.  The ability get a +3 TMM is expensive and the overall grade is going to suffer for it, but if you are already using one of these it's a nice benefit.  Two Clan ER Medium Lasers forward, and a Clan ER Small each forward and back round out the offense, which is prodigious.  Armor isn't anything to sneeze about either, it's not maximum but it's close enough to pretend.  All explosive components are in the arms, and while there's no CASE II  to prevent that from turning into a disaster, it's unlikely enough that I'm not going to count it off.  If there's a major issue, it's the heat.  Twelve doubles is enough to handle both Gauss and both Snubbies at a run at a chilly -2, but adding both ER Mediums takes you instead to a toasty +8, hotter than you want to be.  You can drop one of the Snubbies and be back to -2, and adding the ER Small takes you to neutral, but there's no way to cycle consistently with a mild (+1 to +4) overheat and back to neutral without leaving guns off the table at their optimum range.  You can drop one ER Medium and be at +3, but extremely unsatisfying.  The Snubbies and the ER Mediums have an odd overlap in general, with the Snubbies being more efficient at exactly 6-9 hexes and the ER Mediums being significantly more efficient at 10 hexes and 1-5, and then both of them being a weird heat-and-accuracy-and-damage push at 11-13.  There's something satisfying to be said about slamming both speed boosts and jamming yourself into someone's line with a very large very tough brick with a bunch of scary guns on it, but there's not really an elegant way to pilot that to maximum efficiency.  You're going to leave capability on the table no matter what you do.  That's fine for plenty of people, but at 3170 it's not fine for me.  Devastators aren't a unit I've used a lot of, so I don't know off-hand if there are worse Devastators, but I'm very certain there can be better ones.  C-

'Mechs by rating:

F: none
D: none
C: 3
B: 2
A: none
S: 1

Cumulative 'Mechs by rating (Including bonus content):

F: 42
D: 104
C: 225
B: 235
A: 117
S: 19
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MarauderD

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #31 on: 02 July 2024, 12:31:37 »
I'm not here for the vehicles!  Here's to your work and thanks for posting again!

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #32 on: 03 July 2024, 09:03:03 »
I will answer any and all questions you PM me about vees, if that's what it takes to prevent them from being left out in the cold. :smilie_happy_thumbup:
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Maelwys

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #33 on: 03 July 2024, 21:58:27 »
One thing not mentioned about the TinStar (Original) is that the armor is Clantech, which might be the first Clantech production in the Periphery..way back in 3086 (Not building the armor, they had to buy that, but assembly).

And puts it pretty early for non-prototype Clan/mixed anywhere in the Is (not counting Clan factions).

MarauderD

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #34 on: 11 July 2024, 11:35:47 »
Looking over Rec Guide 29, I'm not expecting many kind reviews from Scotty.  The only mech I like (the Dervish) has absurdly high BV for a medium, so despite its ballistic resistant armor, I'm anticipating a C+ to B- grade. 

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #35 on: 11 July 2024, 18:10:33 »
The Ontos ought to get a decent score.
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #36 on: 17 July 2024, 05:43:59 »
I doubt we will see vehicles anytime soon.  :wink:

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #37 on: 17 July 2024, 21:35:59 »
I am giddily awaiting Rec Guide 30 because the Mech that introduced me to Battletech is on the cover of it.

MarauderD

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #38 on: 25 July 2024, 10:51:41 »
The Ontos ought to get a decent score.

Ontos does look bang on terrific, but Scotty confessed he might not be down to do all the vehicles any time soon, so may be ages (if ever) we see reviews on the armor. 

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #39 on: 25 July 2024, 23:16:45 »
If any tank deserves an exception, 'the thing' is it.

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #40 on: 07 August 2024, 23:42:52 »
Meh... the Ontos.  It's an 1K17 "Szhatie" not a former US military "thing," at least in its original version. 

These posts create real head scratchers for how Clan Wolf, or any other competitor clans actually took Terra.  Carpe fiat I guess.  Of course, to be fair, RoTS wasn't exactly a brain trust for equipment either. 

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #41 on: 08 August 2024, 00:35:52 »
Except that like the M50 and unlike the 1K17, the BattleTech Ontos actually works.
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #42 on: 08 August 2024, 22:03:44 »
Marik swears by the Ontos, and they're still around. The 3053 variant, the Fusion variant, and the rest are solid sniper or brawler tanks, especially if they have good support mechanisms.

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #43 on: 09 August 2024, 16:05:57 »
Meh... the Ontos.  It's an 1K17 "Szhatie" not a former US military "thing," at least in its original version. 

These posts create real head scratchers for how Clan Wolf, or any other competitor clans actually took Terra.  Carpe fiat I guess.  Of course, to be fair, RoTS wasn't exactly a brain trust for equipment either.

remember Battle value doesn't exist in the universe. so some of the clan wolf designs are a little better in universe then scotty's reviews here
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Scotty

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #44 on: 09 August 2024, 18:18:43 »
Only some.
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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #45 on: 11 September 2024, 22:59:59 »
Recognition Guide: IlClan Vol 29

Witty intro goes here.

Dragoon Battle Armor: I will be completely honest, I read the TRO entry for this one and then did not even look a single time at the record sheet.  This was a good choice by past me, because I am immeasurably disappointed.  With one Ground MP and three Jump MP, the mobility is fine but everything else here is not great.  Five points of armor is just Not Enough for a medium suit.  A Flamer is an alright battle armor weapon in a vacuum, but the Light Mortar is not.  If the range was triple what it was, it'd be okay, but having effectively no short range is awful (Minimum and Short are the same range, meaning we're looking at +1/+2/+4 for ranges), and on reflection I have a really interesting question about what happens when you shoot it at range 0.  I feel like my instinctive conclusion is “+2 to hit” which I even worse.  The BV at 167 for a squad of four and 225 for a squad of five is very aware that the offense on this unit is writing checks that its offense can't cash, let alone its defense, but that doesn't stop it from being a “try a different unit” level of bad. D

Dragoon Battle Armor (Upgrade): This is absolutely an upgrade in every sense and meaningfully competes with some other Medium suits that don't go hard into armor.  Seven points of armor is enough to survive most secondary weapons, which is The Benchmark for a decent Medium suit even if it's light for the maximum potential of the class.  The Flamer has been replaced with a Micro Pulse Laser.  The Mortar is still bad, but the MiPL is an extremely good battle armor weapon and I'm here for it.  There's even a credible answer for “why should I use this instead of an Elemental III?”, that being that it's over 25% cheaper.  In real terms that's only about 90 BV, but sometimes you're crunched for points and this can be where you find it.  It's not better, but it has a use and sometimes you can't ask for more.  C+

Firefly FFL-5A: There are a handful of 'Mechs I really want to like but that are just absolutely crippled by some design choices that keep them from being something that I will actually pick for a serious effort.  Every kind of Firefly prior to this one is one of those.  The 5A is one I might take on a lark sometimes, having overcome the worst sin of its forebears by adding more jump.  This 'Mech is 30 tons and move 6/9/8, thanks to a Partial Wing.  This gets it over the critical threshold to reach +4 TMM while jumping, so it'll have use as a scout and skirmisher even if that's the only thing you're getting out of it.  Offense is mixed, with a decent if not spectacular battery of ER Mediums (three, one in each torso), supplemented by a single LRM 5s with a ton of ammo.  Unfortunately, the ammo is in the opposite torso from the launcher, but the impact here is mitigated by the fact that if you're taking crits in either torso you're basically done for already, thanks to the XL Engine.  The LRM and AMS ammo is CASE'd, which means precisely dick in a pick up game but might make your pilot feel better.  Ten doubles and the Partial Wing dissipation bonus is enough for an exactly heat neutral jump when you're only using jump and offense.  You can just barely heat up if the Anti-Missile System in the left arm triggers.  Between the extra TMM you get from jumping over running and the almost exactly heat neutral nature even in optimum range, this is... honestly this is kinda boring, but it's an effective kind of boring that contributes little offense and even less sudden inescapable tragedy like the older 5/8/4 Firefly variants do.  BV is 996, which is low enough that I'd consider it even though I'd probably rather take something still cheaper that also jumps 8.  Short list candidates include the Javelin 12N and Wasp 5A, right off the top of my head, putting this solidly in “not first place”.  You can definitely do worse.  B-

Assassin ASN-109: Oh hey, it's worse.  Okay, that's a bit unfair, but my initial impression of this sheet is not great.  You still get the +4 TMM from jumping with a 7/11/7 profile, that's positive.  There's Stealth Armor here to make you that much harder to hit, also a solid thing to have, and it's powered by an Angel ECM which is great when you don't have it active for disrupting advanced electronics.  The big problem there is you're mostly going to be using the ECM effect on yourself while the Stealth is active, and you probably want the Stealth active most of the time for defensive benefit.  The armor amounts, to their credit, are not awful, typically a point shy on each location and full on the head, so we're exactly seven points short of max and using eight point half ton lots.  I'd probably have sprung for the extra half ton of armor but I can't complain too hard about its absence.  What I will complain about is the offensive capability on display.  We have a Light PPC in the Right Arm, an MML 5 in the Right Torso, and an iOS SRM 2 in the Left Torso.  This is an art-driven weapon loadout, and it's not great, but I'll also be completely transparent and say I don't really see a good way to improve it, either.  The original Assassin's loadout was bad, this is still bad.  We have a small fringe benefit that the two tons of MML 5 ammo are both in the Left Torso and protected by CASE II.  We have some massive fringe downsides with having to take a Small Cockpit to even fit this amount of gear.  There are 13 free crits on this design, so Ferro-Fibrous is out of the question, but Ferro-Composite could have been, and I'd be leaping for a variant that did that and had a regular size Cockpit instead.  Things get worse when we contemplate heat.  We have the base 10 doubles, which can jump with Stealth and fire the MML and be neutral.  Adding the Light PPC takes you to +5, on the turn you fire the SRM 2 you could go all the way to +7.  There's not really anything that will reliably stop you from jumping away to cool down again, but an every-other-turn cadence might be good if you were going to do more than 11 damage a turn if you hit with both weapons.  This is all capability we've seen before, and I've even given good grades to before, so the kicker is naturally the BV.  You pay 1158 for this 'Mech, which is not ideal.  I feel like I'm pretty consistently harsh on designs that cost over a thousand BV but fail to force a PSR even if the stars align, and this one doesn't even come close.  D-

Dervish DV-11DK: I will admit immediately and up front that this is another design I'm disappointed by what kind of batshit insanity we could have gotten.  But that's not fair to this 'Mech, which I'm not thrilled with but is a damn sight better than the Assassin we were just looking at.  Starting off, 5/8/5 is solid speed for a 55 tonner, powered by an Inner Sphere XL that is vulnerable but your alternative is worse.  Armor is very good, with good coverage (2-3 points shy of maximum on each location) but gets high marks for using Ballistic-Reinforced, one of my favorites.  Weapons are a bit of a mixed bag.  We have two Medium Re-Engineered Lasers, one in each arm, two Clan Streak SRM 2s, one in each arm, and two Clan LRM 10s, one in each side torso.  All three tons of ammo (one Streak, two LRM) are in the Right Torso, protected by CASE II.  That's the most efficient way to do the ammo so no complaints there, but that's not the end of the equipment.  AES is in both arms, which is a bit of an odd duck here.  Your accuracy is improved, but the things you've improved the accuracy on are... Streak SRM 2s.  These do not inspire fear.  If Streaks were available, and the art weren't what it was, I'd take Streak SRM 6s and no AES every single day of the week and twice on Sunday.  AES in the arms without hands to punch with is also a bit of a miss, but that likewise is down to the art.  Other interesting things include the Compact Gyro, which is necessary on the sheet to even fit all this stuff without running out of crits.  Ten double handle the lasers and LRM 10s with just movement heat, which is slightly more than would be ideal with this jump speed.  Holding the trigger down on the Streaks is probably pretty safe as far as heat goes, just drop a laser on the turns you need to cool down and you'll be fine.  If there's one problem that this design has, it's that it's got weapons built like it should have two distinct brackets, and then it just... doesn't.  This is a problem not unique to Clan LRMs but certainly more on display here than elsewhere.  Your most effective weapons at every single range outside of 3 hexes are your LRMs, and you should be holding the trigger on them down all day long until you run out of ammo.  Your Streaks are fairly inconsequential next to those, and purely in terms of optimizing the design they'd be the first thing I tweak.  That brings us to BV, which at 1919 is not unreasonable but it's definitely more than I'd like.  At this cost you're competing with efficient brick shithouse Heavies or fast striker Mediums that will match better into more opponents than an admittedly pretty durable Medium trooper.  C

Charger C: There are a small handful of 'Mechs that point to a particular thing I talk about making for a bad design, then make me eat the page it was on.  Introducing, the Charger C.  Not to be confused with the Charger CGR-C.  This is a Clan Assault 'Mech (usually too expensive) with multiple speed boosts (usually too expensive) that can only do 7 damage outside of 9 hexes (usually pitiful) on top of what is historically a pretty lackluster chassis.  By all of those measures, this should be dogshit.  It is one of the most finely tuned and horrifically optimized designs to come out of this series and it will eat the lunch of most (not all) things that it shares a weight class and BV band with.  First, it dodges the worst of the speed boost BV by being able to actually make it to a +4 TMM reliably when both are in play.  Second, it cakes damn near maximum Ferro-Lamellor armor onto an 80 ton frame that's already outrunning most Light 'Mechs.  Third, it takes the very limited tonnage it has left after doing that and pours it into only the most ruinously damage efficient guns that tonnage can buy.  Four Improved Heavy Medium Lasers and a Clan ER Medium, supported by a (one ton) Targeting Computer.  Hey Dominator?  This is how you do a Targeting Computer.  This puts the Charger C at 47 short range damage with good accuracy and it will be in range to use it, you cannot prevent or meaningfully dissuade it with firepower from doing so.  It also brings with it a Bloodhound Probe (ehhh) and an Angel ECM Suite (much better), meaning not only is it going to be in your face performing an unkindness in your direction it's going to do so blasting radio static at max volume into your missile guidance systems and C3 networks.  Fifteen doubles is Enough but this thing can still get a bit toasty, climbing to +5 on a run with all weapons firing.  The speed boosts are probably enough to keep it moving the next turn without suffering significant penalties, but it's something to be careful of when playing.  There is one actual honest to God downside here, and that's the Inner Sphere XL engine.  When you have this much Ferro-Lamellor that's fragility by degree, though, and you will almost certainly live long enough to do awful things to your opponent.  At 2756 BV, it's expensive but it also embodies the very essence of a good diversionary piece: your opponent must deal with this, or they will simply lose the game, and it is a hell of a thing to have to deal with.  A

Sagittaire SGT-14R: In many ways, this 'Mech is the opposite of the Charger C.  It's still big (it's meaningfully bigger), but it is slow (3/5/3), its weapons are massive and not nearly the compact efficient killing machines on the Charger.  It is, however, still very dangerous and I'm a big fan of the design philosophy in play.  Armor is very close to max (I count five points short), which for a 95 ton 'Mech is no joke.  There's a Light Engine, so on top of having more armor it's also going to survive losing a side torso a good amount of the time, making it pretty categorically more durable.  Weapons on this beast include two Large Variable Speed Pulse Lasers, and that's where the Inner Sphere equipment ends (also the Targeting Computer, but that's less important).  The rest of the weapon load is a Clan ER PPC, three Clan ER Medium Lasers, and three Clan Small Pulse Lasers (one forward, two back).  That heat load is handled by 17 Clan doubles, which makes for a fairly interesting set of brackets.  At long range you have the ER PPC, of course, but at 15 hexes the choice is not as easy as it looks.  The Large VSPs have a built in -1, but each of them is the heat of two Clan ER Mediums.  With both Large VSP and the ER PPC at a jump, you build +4 heat.  I haven't had time to put the math to paper yet, but I think whether you fire both Large VSPs or one VSP and two ER Mediums is going to be something that varies by base target number and will not always be the same output at the same ranges.  Up close the calculus gets much easier: you drop the ER PPC for all of your ER Medium Lasers, and you tear someone to pieces with hideously accurate laser fire.  There's a space in between 6-8 hexes where the exact most efficient combination of weapons is not immediately apparent, but fortunately for whoever is using this thing there's not an inefficient combination as long as you're minding your heat.  Being all energy, that's less impactful than it could be otherwise, but you still don't want to be shutting down in the middle of the street.  The BV here is high, at 2626.  When you pay that much on an Assault, you better be getting something that can go toe to toe with anything else in the game on even footing.  I think this manages.  B+

Units by rating:

F: none
D: 2
C: 2
B: 2
A: 1
S: none

Cumulative Units by rating (Including bonus content):

F: 42
D: 106
C: 227
B: 237
A: 118
S: 19
« Last Edit: 11 September 2024, 23:15:02 by Scotty »
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Greatclub

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #46 on: 12 September 2024, 03:17:54 »
Small cockpits largely disappearing is something I was very happy to see in the recguide. Who knows knows how much better the WOB could have done without all the cyborg-optimized cockpits.

Weirdo

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #47 on: 12 September 2024, 10:01:23 »
I'll always be sad whenever I look at the a Firefly that has abandoned the core design philosophy of heavy point-blank firepower via clusters of small lasers. Fireflies aren't scouts or harassers, they're muggers meant to catch another light mech in an alley and eviscerate it. Sadly, I know of no way to remedy this without compromising other core Firefly qualities or that vastly improved maneuverability. They say adapt or die, and I do the latter often enough in my games, maybe I should actually try the former once in a while.

What's really funny is that by role, the new Charger *is* a scout, opening up some absolutely hilarious options for folks who like to use the Lance Formation rules. :cheesy:
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DragonKhan55

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #48 on: 14 September 2024, 19:34:25 »
What's really funny is that by role, the new Charger *is* a scout, opening up some absolutely hilarious options for folks who like to use the Lance Formation rules. :cheesy:

Lyran Scout Lance is now not just a meme anymore!

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Scotty's Unit Review and Rating Emporium
« Reply #49 on: 16 September 2024, 17:01:25 »
Lyran Scout Lance is now not just a meme anymore!
If the Homeworlds hadn’t been cut off for decades, the Coyotes would be positively *drooling* over this thing.  Well, the second-line Galaxies, anyway.  The front-line Galaxies have been scouting with Gargoyles for ages.   :cheesy:
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