I like many of the reseen variants. They tend to have good ground speed and rely on paired long-range energy weapons with some backup ballistic weapon in most cases. The designs are all very solid, building on the design philosophy of the original Marauders, often with greatly improved armor protection and secondary electronics (Beagle, ECM, targeting computers) and the occasional jump jets for added maneuverability. These are all solid weapons platforms which manage to evoke that old Succession Wars-era fiction feeling of, "Holy crap it's a Marauder!"
Of all of these, I like fielding the -5R and the -9S. They both have some similarities: they can savage an enemy at long range with their paired PPCs as they close, then use their ballistic weapon for crit-seeking.
The -9S has a bit more heat management to bring into play, and has a bit of a retro feel--if you want to fire and advance, you're going to need to alternate the PPCs unless you want to slow down quickly ... and you're going to want to keep pace with your unit, 'cause you're carrying an ECM umbrella. The Beagle Probe is great for spotting hidden units, especially in cities. This is a great variant if you're trying to kick those pesky Blakists out of Tharkad City. 1 ton each of LBX ammo allows you to do good damage at range (though not as long a range as the PPC), and once you close you can switch to the shotgun ammo. A light engine allows you to live to fight another day if you can manage to flee.
The -5R is my favorite of the reseen variants, though I have a love-hate relationship with it. Again, it's carrying ECM protection for your force. Twin ER PPCs give great long range damage, and it has the heat sinks to run and fire both, with even a 2-shot burst from the RAC if you're feeling lucky. The RAC/5 is great for critting already-damaged enemies, or even seeking a lucky torso crit. This hits the sweet spot for me because it has near-maximum armor protection, good speed and heat dissipation. I like to close to medium or short RAC range and alternate between using both PPCs and a RAC burst, and then a single PPC, both medium lasers, and a RAC burst. The only drawback for me is the relative lack of RAC ammo ... but I rarely run out, because I frequently jam the autocannon. As much as I love this variant, this is my bad luck 'mech--I almost always jam my autocannon after only a couple of rounds of firing, and I can't often afford to miss a turn of firing to unjam it. I've jammed the AC on this 'mech much more frequently than when using my Hammerhands HMH-6D with both RACs on full blast.
I haven't had the chance to field the -7D, and that's mostly due to my prejudice against the IS ER Large Laser--it's incredibly heat-inefficient without the range or damage of an ER PPC. I'm also not familiar with the -5T, because I tend to not care for TC-equipped pulse laser boats, but that's a personal preference.
I have never fielded the -6L or the -5L, though I do like TSM-equipped energy boats. When I've faced the -5L, it's been very effective at outmaneuvering me--I don't want that thing getting close enough to kick the legs out from any of my 'mechs--and when the TSM is operating, it will hobble or even cripple a 'mech of at least its own weight.
I haven't had any experience with the -9M. The -9M2 is a beast that can run and fire both headcapping Heavy PPCs without overheating, and when it gets close enough, it can still savage with one HPPC and fire up to 12 crit-seeking SRMS at all the holes it's blasted in your armor.
As for the WoB variants, I hate facing the -9W and -9W2; a strike with all 3 primary weapons can ruin your day fast, while only barely slowing the machine down, and with 5 improved Jump Jets, slow walking speed is not going to hinder this 'mech for a couple of rounds. I'd place it in a medium urban area (to help take advantage of the decent range without being too boxed in) or in any of the rolling hills maps, and let it jump out of cover, pound the enemy until heat becomes a real issue, then jump back to safety for a round of cooling off. If you're facing the former, it can use its superior mobility to bring its C3i in range and call down all kinds of accurate long-range fire from its buddies; the latter variant is a highly mobile, well-armored ECM-carrier as well.
In short, the vast majority of these variants are either fun to play, or hell to fight against.
