MotW: Javelin

[Hellraiser]

Because at the time Inferno was the only alternate ammo for SRM's and only twin tubes, including Streak-2's could fire them, SRM-6's couldn't.

While I did forget that SRM-6 couldn't use them that still isn't a good variant.

You still would have been better off going with ALL Streaks so you can share ammo bins.

If you really wanted Infernos then swap to Triple SRM2s for both racks.

The Half Swap still leaves you choosing between Streak OR Inferno with no option to have both.

[JadeHellbringer]

The 10P shouldn't exist & the 11P should have been the Streak option all along.

NOW, that said, what WOULD have made huge sense is if they had instead flipped that 1 SRM-6 over into a NARC launcher.

THAT would have been a hellish unit in 3050 being able to spot for it's own SRM rack as well as the rest of the Company being loaded with NARC SRM/LRM racks.

Hey hey hey HEY.

Don't you come walking into a thread like this with good ideas like that. I don't need that kind of thing in my life. ;)

That's actually a really good idea, jokes aside. I don't have the books in front of me from my work desk, but the weight doesn't change really to do a Narc and a ton of ammo, which is a LITTLE light, but not unusably-so. It makes it sort of a jumping, less-electronic-oriented Raven on the other side of the Liao border in a way.

I REALLY like this idea and wish I'd thought of it myself.

[Hellraiser]

I don't have the books in front of me from my work desk, but the weight doesn't change really to do a Narc and a ton of ammo, which is a LITTLE light, but not unusably-so.

I REALLY like this idea and wish I'd thought of it myself.

Same crits, same mass, it's about as easy a refit as you can get :)

It's one I've been preaching for, oh, /checks calendar,  34 years now?

Most of the "electronics"   (BAP, ECM, TAG, NARC) are woefully underrepresented in TRO:3050.

I mean, we got the Raven (or should I say, the CapCon did)  and then there are a couple NARCs for the FWL/FC on fairly slow platforms for the most part.

And outside of that, you see next to nothing.

An entire TRO of new toys but it really ends up being a bunch of XLs/Ferro for the most part.

Which is not to say that stuff like a "Griffin" needs ECM.  It doesn't. 
But there really should have been some options out there.

Like the Ostscout-7K is often criticized for having no guns, but myself, I've never NOT gotten good use out of it.


Random ideas........
Avoiding the super common bug trio since well, they are literally TOO common for the sprinkling in of support electronics.

Javelin w/ NARC as mentioned above.
Spider that goes w/ ECM instead of Pulse Lasers.
Jenner w/ BAP+C3S instead of SRMs.
Assassin w/ any 1 item (ECM/BAP/TAG) in place of SRMs
Cicada w/ TAG
PhoenixHawk-2  (This is 1st SW canon, but needed to be brought back sooner as field refit)
Trebuchet-7M variant that keeps the NARC but goes the S-Route w/ SRMs & more Armor/Heatsinks/Ammo)
Cyclops-11A/C -  I love extra armor/ammo but how does this thing not have ECM/AMS too via Heatsinks or the SRM going away?

Anyway, those are just a few ideas I've had specifically centered around some of the less "common" models to allow for a trickle of Electronics similar to how the LC added some to the Firestarter for Battalion level support.
I also focused on faster platforms for the most part, where you generally want those items used.

[Arkansas Warrior]

Sorry I’m late to the party, but here I am.  I have to say, despite having been a Davion fan for the whole of my 20+ years as a BT fan, I’ve never cared for the 10N.  Intellectually, I get the utility of putting a dozen SRMs in someone’s back, parking vehicles, etc. but it’s really not my style. I really really don’t like designs that can run out of ammo and be down to physicals. Like, switching to paired SRM4s and adding a couple of MLs would be a tremendous improvement.  I also don’t like a mech that can’t do more than 2 points in one hit, even if it’s a lot of them (ok, 3 point punches, 6 point kicks, but still).  As you might expect, I feel completely differently about the Fire Javelin.  Best Davion light pre-3050, hands down, no question. If I was a Davion light mech pilot who had my pick of Mechs, I’d take a Fire Javelin.  Great mech.  As to the 10P, it feels like a prototype to me.  A technology tester.  As if they weren’t sure about streaks year and wanted to compare 2xSSRM2 vs SRM6 on one mech.  I mean, why else would you not have just gone with 4 SSRM2s?  I don’t get making a weird halfway house like this for the actual variant that’s going to get fielded.


I haven’t messed around with the later ones that much, tbh, but the 11B and 12N both look pretty promising.  For some reason the later Fire Javelin-esque designs just strike me as odd.  I think it’s the weirdly asymmetric laser placement.  “We haven’t just replaced the chest lasers, we added three extra!  All to the same arm!” What?  I’ve also never cared much for C3, so the 11D is just always carrying a ton of useless junk for me.  I *ought* to like both of them. But they feel weird to me.

[Weirdo]

As to the 10P, it feels like a prototype to me.  A technology tester.  As if they weren’t sure about streaks year and wanted to compare 2xSSRM2 vs SRM6 on one mech.  I mean, why else would you not have just gone with 4 SSRM2s?  I don’t get making a weird halfway house like this for the actual variant that’s going to get fielded.

I actually really like this idea. They build a bunch of these technology testers and ship them out to regiments to break in the tech for a few years in real-world conditions.

Then the Clans show up and the AFFC needs new tech mechs NOW, so rather than shut down the line and retool for a final model, they just ramp up production of what they have right now.

[JadeHellbringer]

I actually really like this idea. They build a bunch of these technology testers and ship them out to regiments to break in the tech for a few years in real-world conditions.

Then the Clans show up and the AFFC needs new tech mechs NOW, so rather than shut down the line and retool for a final model, they just ramp up production of what they have right now.

It does make some sense- the same House did essentially the same thing with the Wolfhound once already, why not twice? I like it.

[Weirdo]

There is a bit of a benefit in the 10P's mixed load when forced into an anti-Clan guerilla campaign - those Streaks may be very ammo efficient, but that's only as long as the racks are functioning. They're functionally brand new and still unfamiliar tech, whereas the AFFC technical corps' institutional knowledge in keeping SRM-6s running in adverse conditions at this point is just shy of an unbroken seven hundred years. As long as you've got ammo for it and a tech to hit it with a wrench in the evenings, you're gonna have a functioning weapon. At least until a Clan laser reduces it to slag, but even then the techs might not give up completely, as long as it's only *half*-melted.

[JadeHellbringer]

Well, and I mean I give the AFFC credit where due, when the Mech was designed in 3047, there was no way of knowing what was coming a couple of years later- this was supposed to be the face of the Commonwealth's light forces during the next 3039-style conflict (which was probably not far away if the Clans had stayed home), and against upgraded Jenners and Panthers things would be going a LITTLE better than they did against Kit Foxes and such. It's still not a good Mech, and I'm still not a big fan of the layout, but there's at least some merit to it being designed for a war that never came.

[Weirdo]

True. A lot of 3050 and even some 3055 designs look a lot better in the context of being intended to go up against other Houses, not the Clans.

[Paul]

True. A lot of 3050 and even some 3055 designs look a lot better in the context of being intended to go up against other Houses, not the Clans.

Procurement officer: "So. Defiance. Buddy. This Battle Hawk of yours kinda sucks. Outperformed by every Clan Light 'Mech out there, even if we pair them up."
Defiance Sales VP plays with some stationary in clear discomfort. "Erm. Well, from a certain..."
*sudden epiphany*
"Oh! Well, you see, it was meant to oppose House 'Mechs, you see. Not so much for the Clan busting. Panthers beware, ha ha ha!"

(Apologies to the Battle Hawk, which I actually don't mind as a light 'Mech)

[Arkansas Warrior]

The Battle Hawk wouldn’t be so bad for attacking elementals, like the Komodo or Snake.  But don’t take it against Clan Mechs.

[Hellraiser]

The Battle Hawk wouldn’t be so bad for attacking elementals, like the Komodo or Snake.  But don’t take it against Clan Mechs.

Wasn't it fluffed that way?   Or am I thinking of something else.

Either way, IS Lights or Clan BA,  look out,  it will EAT YOU.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Wasn't it fluffed that way?   Or am I thinking of something else.

Either way, IS Lights or Clan BA,  look out,  it will EAT YOU.

It was fluffed as having a disastrous first deployment when it faced the Falcons.  Should have been sent to the FWL or Periphery border instead.

[Liam's Ghost]

It was fluffed as having a disastrous first deployment when it faced the Falcons.  Should have been sent to the FWL or Periphery border instead.

That fluff suggested that it was more the commander trying to shift the blame rather than the performance of the mech itself. But even so, a fairly slow light with only short range weapons is going to have a hard time fighting clan mechs.

[Wrangler]

I'm just chiming in to say, this was a another great article!

I had the pleasure of using a JVN-10F during a Succession War agent ran campaign for numbered of years.  It's been absolutely best light Mech out there I have ever used.

I'm wimp when it comes to ammo depend light mechs since I don't think it does well in long running campaign with a featured character.

I'm just surprised that ilClan version of the Fire Javelin has appeared.

[JadeHellbringer]

I'm just chiming in to say, this was a another great article!

I had the pleasure of using a JVN-10F during a Succession War agent ran campaign for numbered of years.  It's been absolutely best light Mech out there I have ever used.

I'm wimp when it comes to ammo depend light mechs since I don't think it does well in long running campaign with a featured character.

I'm just surprised that ilClan version of the Fire Javelin has appeared.

The 10F deserves a lot more recognition than it gets- I honestly would take one every time given a choice between a JVN-10F and a bog-standard Jenner. And I LOVE the Jenner!

(Its cameo as the Mech you essentially start the game on in Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries didn't hurt the cause!)

[MarauderD]

I'm just putting on the matte varnish for a pair of Davion Guards Javelins today when the humidity finally drops below 60% after lunch.  I have to admit, I normally use Fire Javelins when I get the chance to play--they pack an incredible punch.

However, I'm looking forward to spreading some Inferno love the next time I get to play any Alpha Strike with these guys.  SRM 2/2 special means I can mix loads and put a heat point and damage point in the same round on unsuspecting foes.  Good stuff.