Recognition Guide: IlClan Volume 9:
Valkyrie VLK-QD: I've seen much worse. A single IS Medium Pulse Laser and an LRM-10 with Artemis IV and a ton of ammo is reasonable. It's slow for a Light at 5/8/5, but it has armor better than it could have, and it has a Standard Engine and CASE for the launcher. The ammo being in the right torso while the LRM is in the left, and the pulse laser being in the right arm is not ideal though. Losing the right torso doesn't outright kill this 'Mech but it might as well, reducing it to melee only. Ten single heat sinks is enough for running and firing both guns, but jumping is toastier. At 807 BV it's a decent filler. There are places that it could be made more efficient - double heat sinks would do exactly nothing to the BV because it can't overheat by enough to benefit from the heat BV reduction, for one - but it's entirely fine for what it is. If it was more expensive I'd be upset about not being able to force a PSR, but as cheap as it is this is fine. C+
Valkyrie VLK-QD6: This is certainly a choice. Several things have happened here to set it apart from the QD. First, an XL Engine and XL Gyro. Second, double heatsinks that actually will see use. Third, the Medium Pulse is now an ER Medium and the LRM 10 with Artemis is now an Extended LRM 10 instead with two tons of ammo. From a certain point of view, the 'Mech hasn't gotten more vulnerable to losing the right torso, but everything else adds up to a much flimsier 'Mech than the QD. The only serious weapon here is the Extended LRM 10. You are very nearly incapable of using both of these weapons against the same target at the same time, which strongly limits what was already a niche weapon. It's more vulnerable, it does less damage, and though it slightly does better with heat it's not nearly enough to be a genuinely good upgrade. The BV at 827 might genuinely be the cheapest you can take an Extended LRM, and the mobility is better than many other Extended LRM 10s, but at the end of the day you've brought a Macedonian long pike to a knife fight. It might be useful in the right circumstances, but a common 'Mech duel ain't it. D
Valkyrie VLK-QDD: This is much closer to a genuine upgrade on the Valkyrie QD. There are still some trade-offs, like a Light Fusion Engine and an XL Gyro, and the pulse has still been replaced with an ER Medium laser, but we're back to an LRM 10 w/Artemis IV and a ton of ammo (still protected with CASE), and this time it's 6/9/6 with doubles. It's faster, marginally more fragile, and deals slightly less damage at longer ranges. It's much easier to use these weapons together, even if you're still not capable of forcing PSRs. The BV increase is also marginal, to 834. This is what I would say is a solid take on an upgrade. B-
Valkyrie C: Ahhh, the best Valkyrie. As the C probably tells you, this is a lot of Clantech. We have a Clan Medium Pulse Laser, which I think is arguably the best in the business for efficient light 'mech guns, and a Clan LRM 10. This affords us the ability to take two tons of ammo for effective skirmishing on bad numbers. Also included is Clan CASE II now that losing a ton of ammo to a crit isn't instantly a mission kill regardless of what else happens. There's still an IS XL engine and XL Gyro, but these are mitigated significantly by the movement profile of 5/8/8. This makes the Medium Pulse shine, and your sweet spot is either six hexes against most things, or within touching distance of anything with IS LRMs. It's extraordinarily maneuverable for a Valkyrie, and the heat concerns are practically non-existent. This isn't unique to the Improved Jump Jets, but it does mean you can afford to take even an engine hit and still run cool. Armor suffers a little bit, but the jump in durability from high TMMs is more than worth the trade at 936 BV. A
Shadow Cat T: Finally, I don't have to use a stupid (name) for these things. I love the Shadow Cat T, it is exactly what I would have done to a Shadow Cat Prime if you asked me to remake it but better. We have two Medium Pulse Lasers and a UAC/10 with two tons of ammo plus a Probe, mirroring the Prime exactly in all things except which weapons are actually on the 'mech. I like this weapons more than the Gauss/ER Medium combo on the Prime up front and the drop in BV to 1852 is just gravy. Jumping and firing all guns is exactly neutral, and even with the premium all Shadow Cats pay for having both fixed jump jets and MASC this is eminently usable. A
Shadow Cat D: I love the T because of how cheap it is, and I don't love the D for the opposite reason. Three Medium Pulse Lasers, an ER Large Laser, an ER Small Laser, a Streak SRM 6, and two Machine Guns is a lot of gun for a 'Mech this size and it's also too expensive because of it. The Machine Guns would be better as almost literally anything else, especially since there's a full ton of ammo and the ammo is in the opposite torso, opening two locations to sudden catastrophic failure. With 11 doubles, running and firing all of the "main" guns (pulses, large, Streak) is +2 if the Streak fails to lock, and +6 if it doesn't. Jumping is correspondingly higher. With a 'Mech even a single MP slower than this that'd be horrific, but instead it's merely inconvenient, and at least you did a bunch of damage if it did happen. Save the MASC for the next turn, though, if you can afford it, just in case. At 2298 this is too expensive for what it brings to the table. It's not bad but there are at least three other Shadow Cats I'd take first, off the top of my head without even looking ahead in this volume. C-
Shadow Cat E: lol sure, okay. Two Improved Heavy Large Lasers, a bunch more heat sinks (17 total), and at least two Coolant Pods is hilarious. You don't even really need the coolant pods unless you're keeping a very high burn time with the lasers. Running and firing both is +4, and you can sink up to 51 with each coolant pod. Jumping max distance and firing both is +8, which is just too high to be a good play in most matchups, but you aren't required to jump max distance to keep a good TMM. Jumping five and firing both lasers will put you right on the razor's edge of targeting penalties due to heat, and doing it again on the next turn (or a full distance jump, it doesn't really matter) will both keep you from suffering maneuverability loss, but also the net +15 heat you get up to will be fully dissipated almost exactly. Not bad, whoever designed this one, not bad (I promise it wasn't me. I would be stroking my own ego much more openly). More expensive than the T that I would rather take at 2084, but that's usable as long as you're playing fairly cagey with it and don't expect miracles on the first turn of shooting. Range is its only real limitation, largely due to the associated accuracy at midrange. B+
Shadow Cat E: This would be my favorite Shadow Cat if it wasn't so expensive. With twin Improved Heavy Mediums, ER Medium Pulses, and Streak SRM 6s (two tons ammo) tied to a Target Computer, this ticks every box individually between punching holes, seeking crits, doing lots of damage, and being very accurate. The only thing it's truly missing is range, and the ammo is split in potentially vulnerable fashion between both side torsos. They're relatively well padded for a Shadow Cat, though, so that's less of a concern than it could be. The bigger concern is that heat is tricky, due entirely to the Streaks. There are 11 doubles here, and all four energy guns will get you to +6 at a run, which is not perfect but is fine, but +10 on a jump into a vulnerable rear arc to take advantage of the targeting computer is a real possibility with the ability to jump away to cool off the next turn. Firing the streaks in those circumstances is... unwise. Firing them instead of a single Improved Heavy Medium on bad numbers means that even if you hit with both you're looking at a +7, and more realistically you're looking at a +3 or even a slight sink at -1. It's a bit odd to juggle but it's configurable enough you can work with it. The biggest downside is that it's 2408 BV for what is still ultimately a Shadow Cat, with all the durability that implies. It's definitely the most interesting Shadow Cat to use so far, though, and I give it props for that. It also hits like a truck. B+
Shadow Cat J: For when every single person on the battlefield needs to die messily, including your pilot. There's a HAG/20 here for long range, and six AP Gauss Rifles split between two locations for short range. The damage is good, but the odds of your pilot taking multiple ammo explosions in a game is dangerously high, and that's a great way to lose a 'Mech. There's enough ammo for the HAG, but the AP Gauss actually start to run low if the fight goes too long. There's also an Active Probe here. Heat is frigid with the base 10 doubles. The BV is a good one, coming in at only 1802, and that keeps it higher on this list than it might be otherwise. Just don't get shot, duh. C+
Shadow Cat M: Two Large Pulse Lasers, two ER Medium Lasers. The Shadow Cat, distilled to the most boring way to use it. Large Pulse Lasers are good, and you have the heat to use both at a jump all day long (+0, thanks to 13 doubles). The ER Mediums are the truest definition of "backup weapons" I've seen in a long time. You can use one at a run (+1), you should not be using two at a run (+6), and you can use all guns on a jump to go to +10 but there's not a good way to sink that heat again that doesn't rely on dropping a Large Pulse later, and that's something you want to avoid doing. Why am I talking like the only thing this config should ever do is jump and fire pulse lasers at 14 hexes? Because at 2438 BV you had damn well better be making it last as long as possible. It's individually effective but I find it both too limited and too expensive to be something I want to take with me. You're paying almost 600 more BV for this than the T. That's the difference between a Timber Wolf A and a Timber Wolf B. Spend accordingly. D
Vapor Eagle (Goshawk): Damn parentheses are back. There's very little to say here that hasn't been covered before somewhere. A Large Pulse, three Medium Pulse, four Machine Guns, two Streak SRM 2s, and a Targeting Computer. It's one of the ur-examples of the jumpy pulse+TC boat. I don't like the ammo based weapons, honestly, especially the ones that actually ended up being here. They're cumulatively 4.5 tons of extra cruft, which is right around what I'd love to replace (in the 3100s) with a single Streak SRM 6 and CASE II. Ah well. Little bit early for that. It's 2368 and probably worth it, but I have no meaningful attachment or affection for this 'Mech, and it blends comfortably into the background of Clan secondline designs I don't use. A- for capability, C- for interest.
Vapor Eagle (Goshawk) 2: Oh, wait, hold on, I like this one. The Large Pulse, a Medium Pulse, and the Streaks are gone (but the Machine Guns are still here, damn) in order to fit an Ultra AC/10 with two tons of ammo. That's more like it. There's still a Targeting Computer on board, too. The BV drops to 1989 and the heat management becomes absolutely trivial which is personally a mixed blessing but I appreciate having used a UAC/10 to do it. I like this one a lot better, even if it's arguably less individually capable. B+
Vapor Eagle (Goshawk) 5: I'm torn on this one. I like it better than the (Standard) but much worse than the 2, and the reason it splits the difference is entirely different based on where it's coming from. It's significantly less boring than the (Standard) with an LRM 20 and Artemis IV (with three tons of ammo) rather than the Large Pulse, and it trades the rest of the missiles for a fourth Medium Pulse Laser. The Machine Guns are still there, though. It's also significantly more expensive than both other variants so far, up to 2572, which is way more than I want to pay for this. Heat is simultaneously easier to manage than the Standard without the unreliable Streaks, but harder to manage than the 2 on account of it actually being able to overheat. Running and firing all guns is +4, which is pretty much the sweet spot, and you can drop pulse lasers or the LRM to fine tune. The price tag is really the thing I don't like, though, and it's very hard to ignore that. B-
Vapor Eagle (Goshawk) 6: Who let this guy design 'Mechs again? UAC/2s aren't good, two of them is terrible. There's enough to still at least force a PSR here in the form of ER Mediums (also making a reappearance is the TC and the MGs), but consider you could instead have a 2 for 30 points more. D-
Vapo Eagle (Goshawk) 7: Hey you wanna talk about overpriced? We had the Dominator and the Thresher Mk II earlier in the series but this thing is right up there with it. We have: A-Pods (?!), a Plasma Cannon with one ton of ammo (?), ten Micro Pulse Lasers, an ER PPC, and a Targeting Computer. We also have both MASC and a Supercharger but no jump jets. We have nowhere near the heat sinks to use all these guns at the same time, and realistically you're going to be leaving the Plasma Cannon off in perpetuity and also toggling Micro Pulses off and on to fine-tune heat. That's the good news, it's easy to fine-tune that heat. The bad news is that you pay 2876 BV for this thing. You are welcome to have this record sheet, I will take the Timber Wolf A instead. I'm actually a little bit annoyed at this variant because I want to love it a lot, and it makes design choices that I find genuinely intriguing (besides the A-Pods). But that price is awful. D
Inferno INF-NO: The Inner Sphere breaks into the OmniMech market for this volume, and it's a damn good one. We have two Medium Re-engineered Lasers, which I like, a Heavy PPC, which I like, and two MML 5s, which I am merely ambivalent on. This all comes on a very well armored 75 tonner with a Standard Engine and a Compact Gyro. The Heavy PPC is in the Center Torso. The MML ammo is protected by CASE II. The arms are completely free for punching things, which is actually a good thing to be able to do when your punches do 8 damage. Seventeen doubles means heat is +1 at a run for all guns, which makes this an excellent 'Mech if your goal is to simply stop up the field with armored bricks that don't slow down or get tired. Hell yeah. The BV is only 1597, which is very good for what you're getting here. I feel similarly to this that I do to the Orion, where you are paying not a lot for a very sturdy brick, and its ability to smash windows is a handy bonus rather than why you have one. A+
Inferno INF-NOA: This config does more big hits than the Prime, but I don't think it's the better config all things considered. We have an ER PPC, a Gauss Rifle with two tons of ammo (protected by CASE II), and we have two Medium X-Pulse Lasers. Firing all guns at a run is +6 (12 doubles), dropping one Medium X-Pulse is neutral, dropping both is -6. I would like that more if it didn't involve MP penalties, but it isn't awful. The BV here is 1846 and that's still relatively reasonable but at the end of the day the more expensive configs are directly coming out of the total points you can spend putting huge slabs of armor down on the table. B
Inferno INF-NOB: This is a much more dedicated long range config, with two LRM 15s (four tons ammo; all CASE II protected) and an ER PPC. There are technically two ER Small Lasers here but you probably shouldn't use them. Thirteen doubles means it's heat neutral at a walk. There's not much to say about this one. BV is 1658, which is broadly favorable to most flavors of Catapult for more benefit particularly in the durability department. B+
Inferno INF-NOC: I feel like this config is trying just a little bit too hard. We have two MML 5s (decent), three ER Medium Lasers (okay), and a Thunderbolt 15 (unusual). There's enough ammo for all launchers, at least, but the Thunderbolt (correctly) makes the choice to have all the ammo in the side torsos while the launcher is in the center. It's an amusing image, but I don't like that you can lose all the ammo to damage before the weapon is hit. There's not a better way to do it here that doesn't fundamentally change the 'Mech, but it's still a bit annoying. The only thing that the Thunderbolt has over the Gauss is the ability to use indirect fire, and while you have the ammo for it, lobbing headcappers over hills sounds like a lot better than it actually is. The BV at 1698 just feels worse than the B, even if they're broadly similar in capability. C
Inferno INF-NOR: Unpopular opinion time: I don't like this config. It's very dangerous and it will keep shooting for a very long time, but it's also over 50% more expensive than the Prime. There are two Clan ER Larges, one Clan ER PPC, and a Targeting Computer, plus a pair of SRM 6s that share a tone of ammo. Individually very capable, good show, and it's amusing to see all the big guns crammed into the center torso like that, but I'm not a fan of it at the price point. That isn't to say it's bad, it isn't, just that this isn't why I'm bringing an Inferno. Instead it's "merely" going to be well above average. A-
Executioner (Gladiator) T: There's only so much you can do here while staying WYSIWYG. I don't like the Machine Guns or the full ton of ammo, but I do like the ER Large Pulse Lasers and the LB-10X. This doesn't solve the problem where the side torsos are very thin, and it pays a lot of BV for the MASC and jump jets, but that's a problem with the Executioner and not the, er, execution of this config. There's also an ECM Suite here that isn't nothing. Being heat neutral when jumping is arguably over sinked, but the only thing you could really do with it is turn the Machine Guns into anything else, and then you're not oversinked anymore in the opposite direction. At 2558 this is one of the more reasonable Executioner configs and it's still not one I'd really take. C
Executioner (Gladiator) F: They picked a good letter for this one. Two Large Pulse Lasers and an ER PPC tied to a Targeting Computer, and then also a Supercharger to get to that damned ten hex run. Fairly well sinked even while jumping (+3). This would be a good 'Mech if it was six hundred BV cheaper. At 3606 it's extortion. F
Executioner (Gladiator) G: It's an Executioner that's over 3800 BV (3825). I frankly don't care at all what's on this thing, I will never field it for any reason. F
Executioner (Gladiator) I: Two Streak SRM 6s, two Improved Heavy Larges, a Targeting Computer, and an ECM Suite. And that 10 hex run again thanks to a Supercharger. This time we're all the way back down to 3339 BV, which is close enough that it gets a gold star for trying really hard to be worth taking. D
Executioner (Gladiator) J: This is the second reasonably costed Executioner config, which is saying something because it's still 2891 for this thing. It has a HAG/40 and three SRM 6s, which sounds impressive and honestly isn't particularly bad. There's a reasonable amount of HAG ammo, and a reasonable amount of SRM ammo. The HAG is split between the arm and torso, which is a major downside, but you don't really have the room to mess with it otherwise. The bigger problem is that the HAG is unprotected by CASE II, which is one thing that would make this config significantly better. As is, it gets the highest honor I'm capable of bestowing on an Executioner. C
Executioner (Gladiator) L: Two ER Large Lasers, two Streak LRM 15s with four tons of ammo. Over 3000 BV (3132). Eurgh. F
'Mechs by rating:
F: 3
D: 5
C: 7
B: 7
A: 4
S: none
Cumulative 'Mechs by rating (series):
F: 15
D: 42
C: 68
B: 50
A: 35
S: 4
