MOTW: Quasimodo- What the Hunch?

[SteelRaven]

That will always be the appeal of the AC/20. I have done more damage with a Swayback myself.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Well yeah.  Four medium lasers equals the same damage output as an AC/20.  They just don't have quite the same psychological impact.

[Empyrus]

AC/20s do have the advantage of concentrating the damage to a single location, regardless of psychological impact. Getting a location destroyed affects a game a lot more than just losing armor all over.
Of course, Swaybacks tend to carry way more lasers than just four, so they have higher damage output overall, which probably ends up being more important.

Speaking of Hunchbacks, does any advanced Hunchback variant compete with the Quasimodo is it an upgrade over any and all?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The 6S might.

[Scotty]

Barring lucky location hits, the Quasimodo outclasses any Hunchback that exists.  Up close it's swinging three hyper-accurate large lasers and more than double a Hunchback's physical damage on top of being faster than most and more maneuverable than all of them.

[GreekFire]

The 6S might.

I'll second this. The -6S remains scary in its own right.

The -6N also still holds a place in my heart, since the deep bins let me load a good 3 tons of Precision ammo for the AC/20 and the BV is dirt cheap for what I can usually accomplish with it. Still not Quasimodo-levels of good, but at 445 BV less, they rarely compete with each other. Either I can afford one, or the other.

[Colt Ward]

Barring lucky location hits, the Quasimodo outclasses any Hunchback that exists.  Up close it's swinging three hyper-accurate large lasers and more than double a Hunchback's physical damage on top of being faster than most and more maneuverable than all of them.

Absolutely this . . . I would take the Quasimodo over any HBK- even the modern ones mounting GR or RACs.  Then again, that is the point of a tech upgrade.

[Greatclub]

Picking a 'Modo can come with a significant hidden cost, however - it really wants to be one of the last mechs to move, and the last few initiative slots can be precious.

[Empyrus]

Grab some filler infantry to use as initiative sinks :P

[GreekFire]

Picking a 'Modo can come with a significant hidden cost, however - it really wants to be one of the last mechs to move, and the last few initiative slots can be precious.

Fun thing with the Mofo is that even if you can't get into brawling range for a turn, the VSPLs still make it a 'Mech to take seriously. Just try to get within two hexes of anything, ideally something a lil' bit more fragile, and let the -3 to-hit (-2 if your TSM is on) smack something around.

I vastly prefer that over something like the Ti Ts'ang, which I find way overspecialized in its TSM brawler role.

[mbear]

Why would you want to do that?

Half the point in having the er-med is so you can fine-tune your heat. With heavy mediums you'd have five 7 pointers and a two. It would also completely overwhelm the heat budget in the only bracket h. med are worth anything.

cERML? Gimme a pair. This wouldn't be a spot for the heavy to shine.

I would do that because I think it would be fun. Why would you do it otherwise?

[grimlock1]

Why would you want to do that?

Half the point in having the er-med is so you can fine-tune your heat. With heavy mediums you'd have five 7 pointers and a two. It would also completely overwhelm the heat budget in the only bracket h. med are worth anything.

cERML? Gimme a pair. This wouldn't be a spot for the heavy to shine.

Dropping in cERML?  Like this machine needs to be even more beastly? :-)

[Colt Ward]

Dropping in cERML?  Like this machine needs to be even more beastly? :-)

I would honestly say that is probably what the Solaris VII machine was using to fight the Hellstar . . . granted its only 4 more points of damage over all, but its 7 point hits so its quicker with the MVSPL to open the armor.  But the key point is it gets 3 more hexes of range and bumps the brackets into being larger.

[mbear]

Dropping in cERML?  Like this machine needs to be even more beastly? :-)

Not the cERML; Improved Heavy Mediums.

[Colt Ward]

Improved Heavy are a bad idea on melee mechs- no way to safe them! . . . but you two are talking past each other to different posts.

[Scotty]

I would honestly say that is probably what the Solaris VII machine was using to fight the Hellstar . . . granted its only 4 more points of damage over all, but its 7 point hits so its quicker with the MVSPL to open the armor.  But the key point is it gets 3 more hexes of range and bumps the brackets into being larger.

I'm pretty sure that the Mech with exactly one variant didn't swap in a secret mixed tech version for its Deployment section in the book it was introduced in.

[Colt Ward]

I did not say the TRO entry hinted or offered . . . but Solaris VII is the land of customization, and if you wanted to make a splash for the new mech then stacking the odds for such a high profile win never hurts.