Mech of the Week: AWS-*** Awesome

[Sartris]

I love the -11M because it’s goofy. It’s s fun plink machine but it’s hardly practical. The -11R is fun as well as long as you keep stuff away from it. Again, not very practical but that’s rarely a consideration for me

[Arkansas Warrior]

Sorry, I admit I skimped a bit on research on the custom variants.

Eh, the Crescent Hawks were a detached company of the Kell Hounds, so its basically the same thing.  Like saying McKinnon’s XO in the Fox’s Teeth is a minor officer in the Seventh Crucis Lancers.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Funnily enough, the -9Q just doesn't cut the mustard for me. Something about it makes me feel awkward using it. Maybe it's the extra PPC that messes with my internal heat curve, even though this thing has double heat sinks, so that shouldn't be an issue...maybe I'm overthinking it, but long story short is that the -9Q and I do not have a good relationship.

The 9Q can do something like 4-4-3-4-4-3 at a walk IIRC without going to hot. The ECM certainly helps it a bit and the Doubles just make it truly a beast. Yes it could have had ER PPC's but the thing is a solid upgrade to the old 8Q.

But to each their own (I love fielding it).

[JPArbiter]

The awesome Buck 8s totally my Jam, especially when it comes to Alpha Strike Fast Assault lances

[Moonsword]

The 9Q can do something like 4-4-3-4-4-3 at a walk IIRC without going to hot. The ECM certainly helps it a bit and the Doubles just make it truly a beast. Yes it could have had ER PPC's but the thing is a solid upgrade to the old 8Q.

But to each their own (I love fielding it).

For me, the standard PPC just really works on the AWS-9Q in a way other weapons wouldn't.  It comes out as a solid mid-range beat stick that in its role is hard to really surpass with the hardware that was available at the time.

Depending on your tastes, you might be able to tweak things further with some of the newer PPC variants (and capacitors) but the 9Q can keep up a steady rain of 3-4 10 point hits at a decent range.  Sometimes just being able to keep rolling can make sure you deliver some damage and the 9Q lands at a good compromise of shot volume and concentrated damage per shot for my preferences.

[Firesprocket]

A lot of purist grognards aren't super-thrilled with the 9M, because it throws on (gasp!) missiles (and also, I suspect, because to some people it's just not an Awesome if it moves faster than 3/5)./quote]

Once the PPCs get swapped out for ERs the rest of the mechs weapons are just gravy.  I've never really been found of Streak-2s.  The ammo being in the leg is just a kill waiting to happen.  I like the extra speed, however you could have an 8Q that goes 4/6 without the XL engine simply by removing some of those shiny toys and reducing the heat sinks.  With DHS you still have a cool running machine with a turn here or there to cool down.  What otherwise would have curried my favor is pitching some of those new items for jump jets or as tech creep occurs sub out those Streaks for some RLs.

[Empyrus]

The 9M's extra weapons work pretty neatly, IMO. With three ERPPCs, you're going 5 heat over, but dropping one leaves you with 10 extra, and incidentally the support weapons generate exactly that much heat. Meaning, if you're in range for whatever reason, you can keep using your heat capacity effectively. Or you can fire all PPCs and extra weapons, yet dropping one PPC next turn cools you enough anyway. This works well with increases speed as well, you generate enough heat to hit the first movement penalty but you drop only to 3/5.

The weapon choices may not be the most optimal, we'll chalk that to newtechitis, but all in all, it could be worse. Like having two tons of Streak ammo, as so many 3050s upgrades are fond of doing.
As it is, the ammo placement is pretty smart. A lot of armor (half again as much as in an arm), can't TAC it under standard rules, and if you stand behind a hill, your leg can't be hit at all. Since the 'Mech has XLFE, you'll be out of play after an ammo hit almost certainly anyway, no matter which hit location.

[marauder648]

Always liked the Awesome, simple to use, effective, tough, reliable, I didn't quite realise there was so many variants of it.  And I don't honestly mind the one with the paired large lasers and LRM-15s.

[Firesprocket]

Always liked the Awesome, simple to use, effective, tough, reliable, I didn't quite realise there was so many variants of it.  And I don't honestly mind the one with the paired large lasers and LRM-15s.

Easy enough to overlook.  The 8Q, 9Q, 9M do their job well enough that there is little reason to go looking for something else.  I've never played any of the missile variants on TT before.  I only first game them a shot during the beta.  Strong little machine even it is lacking in endurance.

[Atarlost]

One interesting thing about the AWS-8Q is that it's almost the only if not actually the only stock mech for which it might make sense to use the TacOps heatsink linking rules.  I wonder if they were written with it in mind because in theory they make it go from merely extremely good for a stock design to representing actual serious munchkinry.  There are downsides: an Awesome exploiting this optional rule will be less crit tolerant since losing a linked heatsink hurts like two engine crits until the linking can be adjusted, but it's still better off than anything with any ammo even if using CASE II. 

I wonder if someone was looking at the Awesome when they wrote the rule. 

[Empyrus]

The Awesome isn't the only good candidate. The Marauder and Warhammer benefit quite a bit as well, as do some others.

[Atarlost]

The Awesome isn't the only good candidate. The Marauder and Warhammer benefit quite a bit as well, as do some others.
[/quote

I can find some Warhammers that it makes some sense for.  I can even see calling the 7 series collectively "the Warhammer" in the 3050s and most of them can link one ERPPC and not see any downside unless it gets crit.  The Marauder claim is iffier.  There are some possibilities , but never enough that the claim makes sense for "the Marauder" generally rather than just the MAD-5L specifically or the Wobbie models. 

The thing about the AWS-8Q is that losing a linked PPC hurts it no more than losing an unlinked PPC.  It has to lose a linked PPC and heatsinks not linked to it to be worse off than if it had never redirected coolant.   The Warhammers that can link (many can't) suffer badly from losing the PPC or ERPPC they have linked.  The MAD-3D  suffers badly if its target moves inside 3 hexes or into medium laser range in the arm arc for which it hasn't linked the PPC.  Even the MAD-3M can suffer some avoidable overheating from finding an enemy in medium laser range in the wrong arm arc if it's using coolant redirection.  The drawbacks of redirecting coolant are just so much smaller on the AWS-8Q.

[Empyrus]

Note that i only consider heat sink linking for introductory level 'Mechs, once DHS are around, i don't see much point in the system at all. (Of course, i don't use the system in practice anyway, too involved and slow, though i appreciate the simulationist nature of the rule.)

Unfortunately, looks like the Marauder can't make much use of heat sink linking at all in practice. Reading the linking rules, engine-mounted sinks cannot be used for this purpose, and it has only 4 outside the engine. You can cool the medium lasers perhaps, but not sure it is really worth it.

The Warhammer 6R benefits more, with 7 heat sinks outside the engine, though this means they're limited for close combat. But then again, that's where the 'Mech has good firepower so perhaps it is some use there.

Thanks the way the rule works, the introductory Awesome most certainly benefits most from the whole system.

[Orin J.]

The 8Q might be as old and simple as it gets, but so is a sledgehammer, and people still need a good sledgehammer.

[jklantern]

The 8Q might be as old and simple as it gets, but so is a sledgehammer, and people still need a good sledgehammer.

I like the Awesome.  I like Peter Gabriel.  Coincidence?


...almost certainly.

[UnLimiTeD]

Is he also a sledgehammer?

Also, where does one find the heatsink linking?
I seem to be unable to do so.

[Simon Landmine]

Is he also a sledgehammer?

It's an 80s music reference. Good song, ground-breaking video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g93mz_eZ5N4

Also, where does one find the heatsink linking?
I seem to be unable to do so.

TacOps p105 "Rerouting Heat Sink Coolant"
(I couldn't find it in the index either, as it's not listed under "linking" :-) )

[UnLimiTeD]

Ah, thank you. Not using the work linking made it harder, and heatsink being two words didn't help, either.
Well, it certainly seems a very serviceable rule for an Awesome, though it takes a lot of turns to work out.

[Simon Landmine]

I always thought the sound of the classic Awesome's alpha strike would be rendered as ...

FZZZZZZOOOOOOOM
FZZZZZZOOOOOOOM
FZZZZZZOOOOOOOM
pew

[misterpants]

*casts Raise Thread, complete with cackling and puke green flames from nowhere*

The Awesome C from Spotlight On: Hellion Keshik. Not sure what to say other than the inevitable Clantech evolution of the base AWS-8Q. At least it's ~300 BV cheaper than a Hellstar?

[Kerfuffin(925)]

*casts Raise Thread, complete with cackling and puke green flames from nowhere*

The Awesome C from Spotlight On: Hellion Keshik. Not sure what to say other than the inevitable Clantech evolution of the base AWS-8Q. At least it's ~300 BV cheaper than a Hellstar?

Not hitting the heat threshold for that 4th sorta extra PPC keeps it higher than the value it provides. Putting 4 down range is 6+movement so you’d have to stand still/walk to keep from a targeting penalty.

I think 300BV is worth a 4-4-3 pattern that avoids any penalties at an already faster speed over 4-4(slow)-3(slow and poor shot) pattern. Plus the armor is a fair bit heavier. I thought the difference in BV would be more.

I do like it tho, the Scorpion Empire is doing cool stuff.

[Starfury]

The Awesome C is a great mech.  It follows in the 8Q's footsteps by acting as a 4/3 ER PPC barrage. You also yave to blow it apart, so it retains the 8Q's zombie status.  I can see a lot of Hanseatic bondsman clamoring to drive it, or even Seekers

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Raise thread 2: PPC Boogaloo.

How about the AWS-11H from Recognition Guide 4?  Clan Endo-Steel and Clan double heatsinks give it 46 heat dissipation for its trio of Heavy PPCs.  Just find a place for it to be and it can fire the trio of headcappers all day long.  Pretty much the epitome of the Awesome.

[Giovanni Blasini]

Raise thread 2: PPC Boogaloo.

How about the AWS-11H from Recognition Guide 4?  Clan Endo-Steel and Clan double heatsinks give it 46 heat dissipation for its trio of Heavy PPCs.  Just find a place for it to be and it can fire the trio of headcappers all day long.  Pretty much the epitome of the Awesome.

Somehow I missed that entirely. What a beast.

[Elmoth]

A boring turret. Extremely effective, though.

[Weirdo]

A boring turret. Extremely effective, though.

Not as bad as the Hellstar, at least. It still has to deal with minimum ranges, so you need to be at least semi-conscious to operate one. :thumbsup:

[Scotty]

It's very good but not particularly inspiring.  The swap to a 320 Clan XL is I'm pretty sure almost exactly 1:1 and would put it in the mid/upper 2100s for BV if I remember right, where it would comfortably be one of the best mechs in the game.  Its speed is basically the only downside.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

A boring turret. Extremely effective, though.

It's a WYSWYG upgrade of the 8Q, so being a boring turret was kind of a given.

[BATTLEMASTER]

My favorite Awesomes are the 8Q and the 9Q.  If I can take the 9Q I will!

[The Eagle]

My favorite Awesomes are the 8Q and the 9Q.  If I can take the 9Q I will!

This.  9Q is my spirit animal.