My reviews, now that I've read the whole thing cover to cover.
Amazon: As far as I'm concerned this is now the medium trooper suit to beat as far as IS battlesuits go. The Canopians (and Capellans) made out like bandits on this one.
Shen Long: Two for two on 'suits; this thing is like Fenrir on crank. I'd like to see a configuration with a plasma rifle and an ECM suite (or maybe an RL/4), but I'll take what I can get.
Luduan: I like it conceptually although I'm not sure how it'll hold up in practice. That armor is so thin the Luduan will pop if someone glares at it too hard, stealth or no. I feel like the tonnage on the MagShots would have been better put to use as armor or AMS.
Nisos: Already my favorite WiGE and I haven't even used it yet. Oddly enough it reminds me of the Myrmidon, but useage-wise is seems more disposed to hunting tanks and infantry, which I imagine it would do exceptionally well. The variant seems like it would make for the world's most irritating harasser.
Shun: It seems like the CCAF saw the AFFS' Cavalry (Infiltrator) VTOL and said, "Let's do that but bigger." Solid but not especially flashy. The low speed makes me think it's better suited to air-dropping jump-capable suits like Amazons and Fa Shihs as opposed to Ying Longs and Shen Longs; the less time it spends landed, the better.
Predator: A very interesting concept that hasn't really been done in BT. I'd like to see how it plays out under field conditions but I could see this thing being used as a kind of "pack shiv", with a lance rapidly rolling up the flank of an opposing heavy or assault tank lance.
Sheriff: Enh. It's flavorful but I have my doubts about its effectiveness. If you're fighting a combination of light 'Mechs and battlesuits in an urban environment you could probably get some use of it but that's under ideal conditions.
Zahn: Whoever called this thing the Battlebus has it exactly right. If I need to cart a couple squads of Ying Longs or Shen Longs into an urban environment, this is what I'm bringing them in. My only real beef with this design is the name; it seems like if they were going to name something after Talon Zahn they would have saved it for a much cooler design.
Pixiu: This tank is exactly the MBT the CCAF has needed since the inception of vehicular stealth armor. It's got flavor and effectiveness in spades. My only question is: what does the Power Reverse quirk do? I've never heard of it and it's not listed in Strategic Operations.
AAV: Meh. I'd rather use the Demolisher (Arrow IV), but YMMV.
Behemoth II: Finally, the Capellans have a decent assault tank. I'm a little surprised they didn't go for stealth on this one but I suppose they didn't want to get too crazy with it. I like the big T-bolt/5 rack; you can use it to soften up the enemy or pepper them indirectly. If someone gets within its minimums it's gonna be in some trouble, rockets or no, so it does need to be escorted.
Gùn: I want to like this one, I really do. The art is awesome and I like the notion of dirt-cheap Omni for infantry support and Home Guard forces. That being said, it's still a 20-ton 'Mech that only moves 5/8. Even with the SFE it's still going to fold like a house of cheap cards as soon as it takes one solid hit in the chin, and given its speed it will get hit. Honestly, I mostly foresee using it as a MookMech, with hordes of them as part of an OpFor in a GM-ed campaign.
Anubis: A good complement to the older Anubises, and it would work well with the Duan Gung as well. I've always felt like the CCAF suffers from a dearth of decent light 'Mechs and this is a welcome addition.
Yinghuochong: Bit of a mouthful of a name, but that aside, this is about as solid of a light 'Mech as you can get. Very reminiscent of the Pack Hunter but without the glass jaw, and the TAG and remote sensors also make it very useful as an ambush unit.
Calliope: My first glance at the stats (I always read the loadout and specs for a new design before I read the fluff) made me think it looked like a Snake upgrade so I wasn't surprised to find it's designed to replace the Snake. It seems like another solid, cheap trooper to fill out garrison formations.
Raven II: Looks pretty solid, but until I know how TSEMP works I really can't comment on my feelings about the design.
Agrotera: Basically just a bigger, tougher version of the Yinghouchong, but I'm betting probably more common in the CCAF due to not relying on a Sea Fox CERPPC.
Vandal: A bit of a weird one. I'm not sure how I feel about an Omni with a torso-mounted cockpit, and the configurations leave (IMO) a lot to be desired. I do like the notion of using a mix of these alongside the largely stealth-armored CCAF as a kind of hyper-accurate cavalry force to punch through the enemy's gunline, but until I can see the efficacy of that tactic on the field myself, I'm going to reserve judgment.
Catapult II: Another one where I'll reserve judgment until the rules for TSEMP come out, especially since other than that it's pretty much a bog-standard Catapult.
Mortis: Ironically, for a 'Mech portrayed with its "pickaxe" lodged in another 'Mech's cockpit, the Mortis looks like it'll require some finesse to use. I get the feeling I'd use it alongside Jinggaus, sniping at range the HPPC and only closing to chop away with the hatchet if my opponent tries to close under the HPPC's minimum range.
Tian-Zong: This is the kind of heavy command 'Mech the CCAF has needed for a while. I never thought the CTF-4L would ever have its title of "Best Heavy Stealth 'Mech" challenged but I think we may finally have a contender.
Lu Wei Bing: It looks like a Victor on steroids and it's armed like a sequel to the Yu Huang. I give it two very big thumbs up. While the long-range firepower is a little anemic, this thing will gut you like a fish if it gets close.
Saroyan: The fluff pretty much explicitly calls this thing a failure. I agree.
Yùn: So it's an...infantry support ASF? Neat. I can definitely envision a triple of these dropping squads of Amazons or Fa Shihs at critical locations at the height of a pitched battle.
Zhen Niao: Another interesting support unit that definitely has some useful recon equipment. I haven't used the hyperspectral imager because MM doesn't support it yet, AFAIK, but once it does I will definitely give it a try because it seems quite useful.
