3050 ice hellion trinary

[vuren]

what would be a fluffy 121st hellion lancer trinary?

[WONC]

Hmm, the 121st are known for using a lighter weight class than other clusters (wow!) so I'd expect a trinary from the cluster would run two fully light stars of omnimechs. The Hellion would be prevalent, and other fast lights like the Fire Moth and Mist Lynx would make sense as well. The third trinary would probably be fast mediums with one or two lights. Vipers and Phantoms come to mind (based on the FM:CC RATs). Keep slower mediums and lights out of the picture completely. Also, their willingness to use swarm tactics shows they might favor weapons like SRMs, SSRMs, and Pulse Lasers, IMO.

Also, if you really felt like you wanted a heavy mech or two in the mix, the Linebacker has about the best speed profile of their prefered heavy mechs in the late 3050s. Others who are more apt at what was common in 3050 should easily correct my recommendations, though. Unfortunately my Hellions knowledge is more limited than I'd like it to be, especially in the early invasion years.

[Aleksandr]

A limited number of Arctic Cheetahs could be expected, though no more than 3 in the trinary, since the Hellions lost the factory in the 3030s. The Hellion itself came out in 3059, according to the MUL, so that wouldn't be as prominent as it would at a later date.

I'd expect Mist Lynxes in large numbers, some Fire Moths and Vipers, a smattering of Fire Falcons and Black Lanners, and Stormcrows in the 'assault' star.

[Fatebringer]

Seyla

[blackjack]

Do they have any percentage of second line mechs? That opens up a bunch of stuff. For heavies they used all the usual suspcts from the 3050 tech readout. Adder is also used for light omni's.

[Adgar76]

Just pointing out that Fire Falcons and Black Lanners were not yet available in 3050, IIRC they were first deployed with the Turkina Keshik on Tukayyid. A few years later they would be a neat choice, though.

[Natasha Kerensky]

Just pointing out that Fire Falcons and Black Lanners were not yet available in 3050

Same goes for the Hellions (emerged 3059) and Linebackers/Phantoms (emerged 3052).

No one mentioned the Ice Ferret, which was also an Ice Hellion design (the Hellions called it the "Wolf Hunter") before the Wolves took the factory.  Even after the Wolves took the factory, the Hellions maintained a "large number" of Ice Ferrets in their touman according to later editions of TRO: 3050.

Here's my take on the fastest possible 3050 Clan omnimech trinary that still has enough firepower to take down other Clan trinaries.  It's heavy on Ice Ferrets and Arctic Cheetahs for Ice Hellion flavor.  Everything is 7-11-X or faster.

The Battle Star is basically one, big, insanely fast particle cannon boat, like a Hellstar on speed.  The Battle Star dances in the backcourt to support the Striker Novas, throwing 5 ER PPCs downrange each turn for heavy hole-punching and lucky decapitations. 

The omnimechs in each Striker Nova are basically one, big, insanely fast laser boat, like an overgrown Nova on speed.  They get up close and personal with enemy units, bathing them in 8 pulse and 12 ER medium lasers (8 of which are tied into targeting computers) each turn.

I added Elementals to the Striker Novas for SRM hole-punching, kneecapping, and, let's be honest, additional armor for the Striker omnimechs while they close with the enemy. 

"Ultimate" Ice Hellion Trinary Circa 3050

Battle Star
Wolf Hunter (Ice Ferret) Prime:  8-12-0, XLE, Probe, ER PPC, Streak-2, ER Sm
Viper B:  8-12-8, XLE, ER PPC, Pul Sm x2, Flamer
Wolf Hunter (Ice Ferret) Prime:  8-12-0, XLE, Probe, ER PPC, Streak-2, ER Sm
Viper B:  8-12-8, XLE, ER PPC, Pul Sm x2, Flamer
Wolf Hunter (Ice Ferret) Prime:  8-12-0, XLE, Probe, ER PPC, Streak-2, ER Sm

Striker Nova
Wolf Hunter (Ice Ferret) D:  8-12-0, XLE, AMS, Pul Med x4,
     Elemental Point
Arctic Cheetah C:  7-11-6, XLE, Probe, ER Med x4, Pul Med x2, Flamer
     Elemental Point
Arctic Cheetah C:  7-11-6, XLE, Probe, ER Med x4, Pul Med x2, Flamer
     Elemental Point
Fire Moth D:  10-15(20)-0, XLE, TC, ER Med x5, Flamer
     Elemental Point
Fire Moth D:  10-15(20)-0, XLE, TC, ER Med x5, Flamer
     Elemental Point

Striker Nova
Wolf Hunter (Ice Ferret) D:  8-12-0, XLE, AMS, Pul Med x4,
     Elemental Point
Arctic Cheetah C:  7-11-6, XLE, Probe, ER Med x4, Pul Med x2, Flamer
     Elemental Point
Arctic Cheetah C:  7-11-6, XLE, Probe, ER Med x4, Pul Med x2, Flamer
     Elemental Point
Fire Moth D:  10-15(20)-0, XLE, TC, ER Med x5, Flamer
     Elemental Point
Fire Moth D:  10-15(20)-0, XLE, TC, ER Med x5, Flamer
     Elemental Point

Obviously, to succeed against high-end Clan mediums, heavies and assaults, this trinary has to break zellbrigen and engage in wolf pack tactics.

Some variations on this trinary...

To add indirect fire support, replace some or all of the Ice Ferrets and Vipers in the Battle Star with:

Arctic Cheetah B:  7-11-6, XLE, LRM-10 x2, Pul Med, Flamer

(An entire Battle Star of Cheetah Bs throwing 100 indirect LRMs from behind a hill, using the Elementals in the Striker Novas as spotters, would be interesting.)

To make the Battle Star less munchy while retaining its long-range, hole-punching character, replace some of the Ice Ferret Primes and Vipers with:

Wolf Hunter (Ice Ferret) A:  8-12-0, XLE, ER Lar, SRM-6, SRM-4, Pul Sm
Mist Lynx C:  7-11-6, XLE, ECM, Probe, AMS, ER Lar, ER Med

To make the Striker Stars less munchy or just give them some SRM flavor, replace some of the Ice Ferrets, Arctic Cheetah Cs, and Fire Moths with:

Arctic Cheetah A:  7-11-6, XLE, Streak-6 x2, Pul Sm, Flamer
Mist Lynx B:  7-11-6, XLE, Probe, ER Med x2, SRM-6 x2

Hope this helps.

[blackjack]

Not knocking the build it looks like a kickin the butt to play but, that's a lot of elementals for a clan that traditionally does not use many of them.

[Natasha Kerensky]

Not knocking the build it looks like a kickin the butt to play

Thanks, BJ.  It's a somewhat munchy trinary with all the ER PPCs and laser boats.  But I wanted to see how far I could push the speed/mobility thing with just 3050 omnimechs/configurations and still throw dangerous levels of firepower.  (And have lots of classic Hellion omnimechs.)  And I think this trinary succeeds at that.

but, that's a lot of elementals for a clan that traditionally does not use many of them.

I tried to minimize my use of elementals by not putting any elementals in the Battle Star and keeping the trinary from becoming a full supernova trinary.

That said, at the cluster level, the Ice Hellions follow historical/typical Clan organization, with one trinary of elementals (and three of mechs and one of fighters).  So whether there are too many elementals in this trinary really depends on how many other elementals show up in the rest of its parent cluster.

And if I were a Hellion, I wouldn't limit my use of elementals to one trinary per cluster.  All those speedy omnimechs are perfect elemental carriers and need as much backup firepower as possible.  As long as it didn't cut into my omnimechs or omnifighters, I'd be pushing beyond Hell's Horses/Bears ratios and deploying as many elementals points as I have omnimechs.  Heck, I'd even do "airborne" omnifighter/elemental novas.  Nova the whole, damn, lightweight cluster...

Thanks again.