Headcappers can be painful but a one-in-thirty-six chance of hitting the head is not really statistically ruling the battlefield. Just don't give your opponent thirty-six opportunities to blow your head off in the process of downing them!
Headcaps suck --- I was in a tournament once ---- heavy mech free for all ---- and due to randomly rolled starting positions, my Catapult was put in a box canyon, 3 inches in front of an Axeman. There was one way out, and so we both kind of looked at each other, and started heading for the exit. We didn't expect to have to worry about fire, as the rule was that our weapons would not be activated until certain point .... basically the Ref rolled a D6, + the turn number minus 1, and once he had a total of 6, weapons went live.... and the roll was made at fire phase.... so on turn one, weapons would activate on a 6, on turn 2 it would be 5+, on 3 it would be 4+ and so on.... Physical attacks were locked out as well, until weapons went live.... so, figuring I had at least a turn to get out of the canyon, and with all the cliffs around me being level 5+, and therefor too high to jump over.... I ran for the exit, as did the Axeman. Due to initiative, I had to move first, so we ended movement with him being 2 inches behind me.... and the ref rolls a 6. You guessed it, AC/20 to the Head.....
The ref offered to let me start with another mech, or in another location, as we two had been the only ones to roll our drop into the same spot.... but fair is fair. I congratulated my opponent, and stayed and helped ref the rest of the game.
It happens..... I know the clan player I mentioned in the earlier in the Charger Rush battle was probably unhappy with the 16 point hits on the punch table.... and yes, both his Daishi and Masakari died due to I-beams forcibly introduced to his pilots..... Oddly enough, his Vulture pilot managed to actually survive the initial 8 hex charge, the several I-beam hits, but finally went down to the Urbanmechs shooting him in the back.
The fact is, though, that head hits and double one criticals are a part of the game --- The only difference between the Hellstar, and either the 3025 Awesome, or Annihilator is that the older designs had to make a crit roll to kill the pilot on most mechs, if they got a head hit..... even the original Panther can headcap --- I've seen it done where they get a head hit, go one internal, and then box car the crit roll.
I've even had a blackjack pull it off once.... early in a battle, one enemy Battlemaster took a head hit from a Rifleman ---- I later plinked it with the AC/2, got the head hit, and box carred my crit roll..... does this make the Blackjack an Uber mech that should be limited? Being rather fond of the Blackjack, I've seen more than my share of double one criticals.... including taking out Warhammers and Marauders, because I found the ammo bins.....
The point is, Battletech has so very many variables that trying to claim that this design is hamstrung, while that design is not... is a moot point.
I know that the 3025 Charger is considered a very poor mech.... and yet, it can be frightening... especially if it can manage 8 hexes in a straight line ending with you. A 64 point charge sucks, no matter what mech you receive it in.
Same as fighting that same mech if it can get a club..... which means that forest terrain is a real danger, as the rules allow mechs to grab trees as one shot clubs.
So, yes, mechs like the Masakari, Hellstar, Cygnus 3, etc. are nasty. Yes, they have headcappers.... but so does every mech armed with a 10 point or more weapon--- they can potentially head hit, get an 8 or higher roll, and then get location 3 --- dead pilots make dead mechs. However, what if the battle is in heavy built up terrain, such as canyons, heavy forest, or cities.... which then is more dangerous, a Hellstar, or the Hunchback IIc?
If you consistently lose using the same tactics against the same opponent.... is it your opponent at fault? Or is it the inflexible tactics? The phrase I have seen tossed around, about the Hellstar, is that it is 4 "I win" buttons, and all you have to do is keep mashing them..... Ok.... but what about the Annihilator with the 4 LBX cannons? It's the same thing... as is the Awesome with the 4 PPC's.... and so on. If you keep hitting your target, sooner or later, you win.....whether it's clan PPC's or machine guns...... It may take a little longer with machine guns, but dead is dead.... I know, I HAVE had I.S. assault mechs pulled down by a star of Piranha. Worse, the pilot had fought clan before, and knew Zel... he just had never faced Diamond Sharks.
This is why I consider a lot of the comparisons between mechs to be a bit silly..... people want to say that customs are wrong.... when really, they are just different. What is the Nova Prime? It's nothing more than medium laser spam... no different than the Kimodo. To be honest, now that I have managed to get together a lot of the record sheet books.... it's becoming more and more apparent that there isn't anything that can really be custom designed that doesn't already have a counterpart in some variant listed in a book..... which means that instead of the player spending a half an hour putting together a mech.... he'll spend money, to get record sheet books, and then spend a couple of hours going over all the variants, and in the end, still have that custom design he wants for your canon only game.... it might be a different frame, or require that he purchase a new fig, if he doesn't just proxy...... but every idea that can be customed can also be found in a variant somewhere.
Nahuris
