MotW: Gyrfalcon

[JadeHellbringer]

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

It's an odd duck (heh, bird pun) in that it wouldn't work in a Clan force a hundred years prior. It's not a 'one man army' machine- it'll do pretty well at dueling, with a smart pilot, but it's not really great at the role. As part of a combined force, it absolutely shines. But tell that to a hidebound 3050s Falcon, and they'll beat you to a pulp for even thinking such heresy.

It remains, as noted in the article, an absolute favorite to lean on (the 2 in particular) in the Dark Age era- I admit to some faction bias, but don't we all?

[wantec]

At first glance the Gyrfalcon looks like it might not fit with the 3050s Falcons, but is it really that far out of line? The Gyrfalcon 3 is basically a Summoner D with UACs instead of ERMLs & MGs. The Gyrfalcon 2 is pretty similar to a pair of Kit Foxes Primes. As-is the Gyrfalcon 3 is similar to a Vapor Eagle 2 with longer-range secondaries. In a circle of equals it should be able to win whenever it can dictate the range. On a more crowded battlefield it should be fine as long as it's opponent can't get in close on it.

[Wrangler]

I sort of see this maybe a little bit differently, not from a view of the entire universe. There's going to be duplication, but I believe what this is about is that these are replacements for legacy designs that aren't being produced. At least at the time when the Gyrfalcon and it's other falcon themed Mechs were introduced.

Remember the transfer to the Inner Sphere resulted in much of production signs being reduced and not having common designs available.  Especially during a Time for the Clan that much of the armed forces were reduced to a very small quantity of Mechs.