Harebrained Battletech - Silly rabbit. Mechs are for kids.

[Colt Ward]

For the Warhammer it comes down to a range question . . . and if you want to find some water, lol.  With that extra power, and if you have a good spotter- +125m view range on something mobile, you could find some water to help cooling and sit back with accuracy mods to hit targets without being hit back.  Granted I do not use the ER weapons unless I salvage one or get one in a Hotspot reward, but sitting a Warhammer in water with 3 PPCs or 4 of the +10 Dmg & +3 Acc Large Lasers could give you a big hammer to swing.  With the right Exchanger and Bank, sitting in water . . . you could deal with the heat even if to mount the gear you had to not put as much armor.

[BirdofPrey]

I use my warhammer as a brawler.

A pair of Snub PPCs for the lack of minimum range (and that extra bit of damage) and everything else packed with small and medium lasers.  I ditch the SRMs to make sure I can fit heat exchangers/banks and plenty of cooling, and then I still end up punching somebody every couple rounds.

an ERPPC sniper would probably be pretty nasty too, though, but part of my reasoning is that I already had a few good snipers.

[Luciora]

My favorite, is tweaking the hardpoints on the Highlander and making a 3025 Mauler, usually with 4 UAC/2+++ as the core weapons then depending, 2 LRM5+++ and 2 LG Laser+++ or 2 LRM10+++ and 2 Med Laser+++.  The UACs absolutely shred mechs, and can core mechs out with targeted strikes.

[BirdofPrey]

First thing I do when I get the Bullshark is pull the LBXs and replace them with another pair of UAC/5s.
That's a nasty can opener there.

[Triptych]

The last time I tried fielding a Warhammer it ended up pretty badly. The enemy mechs kept ganging up on it, and I couldn't land a knockout blow even with the special ability and my center torso got cored. Ugh.  xp

It had 2 PPCs (+10 dam), 2 ML++, max armor and extra heatsinks.

[Colt Ward]

Thing is, what is your spotter to keep your fire support out of 'visual' range of the enemy?

[Triptych]

The Warhammer was my spotter. My 3 other mechs were missile boats.

[Colt Ward]

See, I keep a Phoenix Hawk or Kintaro as my spotter for career (had a Grasshopper late in campaign) . . . trying to build the ECM Cataphract right now, but I also limit it to 1 missile boat knowing they are OP in the meta, with the Marauder in mid because I want that Lance bonus.  IMO the Warhammer's damage bonus is too useful to make it the spotter, I do not want to waste tonnage on JJ and might not even max the armor when I can finally put one together on my current career.

[Triptych]

Isnt using a spotter mech kinda meta too? I mean the AI is pretty simplistic and will not adjust to any of these tactics anyway.  ;D

One thing Ive noticed while playing the campaign again is when using the Highlander, I seem to score more headcaps when I just use the plain attack mode  instead of going for the precise shot. Has this happened to you guys too?

[Colt Ward]

IMO, it is just a continuation of the classic recon/scout role.  My spotters are built to do that job . . . FREX, instead of having pilot injury resists in the head, they have the rangemaster to get +120m sight.  Typically I use a classic jumping mech- Firestarters early in the game, Phoenix Hawks when I can get them, and Kintaro or Wolverine for heavier forces if the PXH is damaged.  I also put either the hit defense or -35% stability gyro.  The recon mech is typically equipped with mid to short range weapons- current PXH has 2 MLs and 2 SLs as well as physical attack boosts.

The Marauder and Catapult sit back in woods firing away, the Zeus with the turn early pilot (it moves 1 class lighter) is the mid fighter, walking forward while blasting away.

As far as the AI adjusting . . . it does, I have had it pass on actions for mechs that turn if I did.

Besides, you want to talk about AI not adjusting you look at MechCommander 2 . . . the AI attacked the first thing it saw and did not stop until it died, increasing AI difficulty was just a slider bar for headshot probabilities.  You could take a Anubis, run it in to a collection of enemies and run it away . . . and your assaults/heavies could sit there as the opposing mechs walked into UAC/20 range, getting lit up w/o firing back.

[Triptych]

OK, so we finally got the Highlander after raiding that Castle Brian and... I'm still sticking with the Marauder for my personal mech.

Pity I can take the lance command module and stick it into a Black Knight so I could get the cool factor too.   8)

This isnt so much a rant against the PC game but more on BT in general since the coolest mechs also happen to be the ugliest ones.  :-X

My top headcapper is still the Marauder, but the Annihilator with 5 UAC/5++s (and a t-comp with +3 ballistic acc) is a close second, but boy are they butt ugly!  :o

[MarauderD]

OK, so we finally got the Highlander after raiding that Castle Brian and... I'm still sticking with the Marauder for my personal mech.

Pity I can take the lance command module and stick it into a Black Knight so I could get the cool factor too.   8)

This isnt so much a rant against the PC game but more on BT in general since the coolest mechs also happen to be the ugliest ones.  :-X

My top headcapper is still the Marauder, but the Annihilator with 5 UAC/5++s (and a t-comp with +3 ballistic acc) is a close second, but boy are they butt ugly!  :o

Beauty of the Marauder is you can have a fully 4/6 heavy lance that can take on all comers, including the late career, assault heavy stuff.  The Anni is WAY too slow for my tastes, and even the Atlas and Highlander feel frustrating to play with at times.  The last playthrough I did I ended up with a Marauder 3R and 2R headshotting everything left and right, and a Warhammer and Archer for 85% of the missions.  I found the Bullshark and Anni too slow to my tastes.  YMMV.

[Luciora]

I forgot if it was something I did, but my favorite peice of equipment is the Drive Train.  Kicks your unit up 1 speed class, so you can have your assaults move in the heavy phase.

[Triptych]

All of my mechwarriors have Master Tactician ability, so they get better initiative when using assault mechs.

I only find the Annihilator's speed a detriment if the mission has a time limit, otherwise I just take my time destroying opposing mechs with ease.

[Luciora]

Add the Drive train, and you too can have your own Lyran scout Atlas!

All of my mechwarriors have Master Tactician ability, so they get better initiative when using assault mechs.

I only find the Annihilator's speed a detriment if the mission has a time limit, otherwise I just take my time destroying opposing mechs with ease.

[Colt Ward]

Has to be some mod equipment unless I have not unlocked it yet.

[Luciora]

Its on the Gallant, and some of the other vehicles

[Jayof9s]

Its on the Gallant, and some of the other vehicles

Just the Gallant as far as I know. And unmodded it doesn't come off the Gallant.

[Luciora]

Aha, must have been something I edited then looking at the .json files.

Just the Gallant as far as I know. And unmodded it doesn't come off the Gallant.

[BirdofPrey]

The HQ Cyclops moves ALL your you mechs down a phase, though.

Kinda hard to get, but it's there in the base game.

[Triptych]

Im not a fan of the Cyclops. It lacks firepower for an assault mech. Anyway, with Master Tactician, you can replicate the Cyclops' special ability.

[Luciora]

It's basically a Hunchback with an LRM launcher that boosts all your mechs by 1 movement class.  And I believe it stacks with Master tactician. 

Plus that way you can use other specialists with the movement boost.

Im not a fan of the Cyclops. It lacks firepower for an assault mech. Anyway, with Master Tactician, you can replicate the Cyclops' special ability.

[Triptych]

It's basically a Hunchback with an LRM launcher that boosts all your mechs by 1 movement class.  And I believe it stacks with Master tactician. 

Plus that way you can use other specialists with the movement boost.

Extra initiative wont be much of an advantage if you dont have the firepower to take them out. I'd rather put in another assault mech over the Cyclops because of that.

[Luciora]

The Cyclops's ability combined with a master tactician means it moves during the Medium phase, while your heavies move in the medium phase and assaults move in the heavy phase, provided none of them are master tacticians as well. 

Meaning if you kill what you are shooting at before it has a chance to move, it won't be shooting back at you.

Having a heavy move in the light phase means you can scout hunt or headhunt with your Warhammer or Maruader and possibly headcap or core out a mech before the rest of the AI team can react.

Extra initiative wont be much of an advantage if you dont have the firepower to take them out. I'd rather put in another assault mech over the Cyclops because of that.

[Triptych]

The Cyclops's ability combined with a master tactician means it moves during the Medium phase, while your heavies move in the medium phase and assaults move in the heavy phase, provided none of them are master tacticians as well. 

Meaning if you kill what you are shooting at before it has a chance to move, it won't be shooting back at you.

Having a heavy move in the light phase means you can scout hunt or headhunt with your Warhammer or Maruader and possibly headcap or core out a mech before the rest of the AI team can react.

I know what the extra initiative quirk does, so no need for a lecture.

I can run with a 100 ton King Crab with 2 LRM20s and 2 snub PPCs, and 3 Annihilators with 5 UAC/5s to take out any opposing lances without needing the extra phase a Cyclops would provide.

[MarauderD]

I know what the extra initiative quirk does, so no need for a lecture.

I can run with a 100 ton King Crab with 2 LRM20s and 2 snub PPCs, and 3 Annihilators with 5 UAC/5s to take out any opposing lances without needing the extra phase a Cyclops would provide.

You could--but you'd also take 30 minutes just to cross the map?  Honest question:  the assaults don't bore you with how long they take?  What about the orbital missions with 3 markers where you need to hustle?  Do you just skip those?

[Triptych]

Its been years since I played the orbital mission but  I can remember using a mixed lance for that one. During the drop phase I got told that my tonnage was too low but I did it anyway.

I think I was using an Assassin and Phoenix Hawk with COIL and max armor to get to the markers, while my Marauder and Annihilator were used as cover fire mechs. I recall headcapping quite a few assault mechs, and I passed that mission easily without a hitch.

When using an all-assault lance, I dont traverse across the map much. I advance until I get a contact, and then just line 'em up and fire away until there's nothing left.

[Phyphor]

Yeah, you can generally sprint your Assault mechs into position, if you don't mind maybe taking a few whacks to the armor.

But for missions where speed is of the essence, a mixed lance is definitely best.  Say, a "destroy a convoy" mission.  You'd get your light and fast unit up to where you can get eyes on the convoy and just use the LRMs on your assaults to pound on the vehicles until you can bring your other weapon systems to bear.

[Mendrugo]

For the orbital missions, take one speedster and three Assaults.  Use the Assaults to mow down the OpFor while the speedster checks off the beacons.  Using that configuration, I always finish with plenty of time to spare and minimal damage.

[FedRatCowboy]

By the time I get so start the story line, I usually have a Phoenix Hawk (hopefully the Star League one), a Marauder (again hopefully the Star League one), an Archer, and a moded Tbolt-5S (drop the LRM-15 to a 10, up the SRM to a SRM-6, with one tone ammo each, small lasers until I get the weightless MGs, large laser and 3 medium lasers, and armor up and HS up)....then get the Highlander for the Archer.

Later game I switch to the Grasshopper for the Pixie or not.