#battlemech — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #battlemech, aggregated by home.social.
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Last is the Stone Rhino X, the Clan response to the Marauder II X!
This thing has the railgun with 5 tons of ammo, and every other weapon on board is some kind of laser; two large pulse lasers, six ER medium lasers, 18 double heat sinks, and an XL 300 engine giving the traditional 100-ton speed of 48.6 KPH.
This thing is hot. Like, TOO hot. In theory this thing should be peeking and trading, but it's too slow to do that very well, so more sustained fire is likely to occur. I'm sure you can get better use out of it than I did, but yeah, it's a spicy thing.
Naturally, this is inspired by the other chassis in MekTek's MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries that can mount a railgun; the "Behemoth II". The Stone Rhino proper ("Behemoth") did also exist in the MekTek version of the game, but it was treated as a separate chassis; it was also quite different from how canon Stone Rhino models were loaded out, as I recall. Unlike the Marauder II over there, however, the Behemoth II had a railgun in its stock configuration, like this one does, and unlike that one, you can't remove it on any of these MWO railgun ’Mechs; you're stuck with it for better or worse, here.
#MechWarriorOnline #MWO #BattleTech #BattleMech #Mech #Mecha #MechWarrior #VideoGames
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With all the Arrow IV Artillery ’Mechs done, we can start talking about the Railgun ’Mechs in the pack, both of them assault ’Mechs! Let's start with the MAD-X Marauder II!
In stock configuration, this monster has two light PPCs, two light AC/2s with one ton of ammo each, two medium lasers in each arm, the big fucking Railgun of course with 5 tons of ammo, and a light 300 engine with 12 double heat sinks giving it the typical 100-ton speed of 48.6 without speed tweak.
The reason this specific Marauder II exists is in reference to MekTek's version of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, where the Marauder II was one of only two chassis in the game capable of mounting their "railgun", which in tabletop doesn't exist as a BattleMech-scale weapon. I actually don't think it exists at all by that name; closest I could find on Sarna was the Naval Gauss Rifle, which is only found on WarShips. I'm not gonna get into the weeds on the difference between a railgun and a Gauss rifle; these are both science fiction weapons whose real life equivalents barely even work and have yet to be adopted by any kind of armed force, so as far as I'm concerned, they might as well be interchangeable for the time being.
The MAD-X is okay. Actually, I think I like it more than the next ’Mech we're gonna be talking about here. It's got pretty respectable firepower overall, able to fight at just about any range. It's still too ponderous to reliably fight a flanking light ’Mech if your aim sucks, but you can still get some really good hits in on anything bigger and slower.
#MechWarriorOnline #MWO #BattleTech #BattleMech #Mech #Mecha #MechWarrior #VideoGames
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Now we're down to the assault ’Mechs in the pack, starting with the Longbow LGB-8V!
Paired Arrow IV Artillery launchers like the Naga, but that's where the similarities end. TAG in the head, medium pulse lasers in the side torsos, ER large laser in the center torso, 8 tons of Arrow IV missiles, and an XL 255 giving it a top speed of 48.6 KPH before Speed Tweak. CASE in the side torsos for some reason, which is useless on something with an XL engine – I hear that'll be different on the new tabletop rules being worked out, but that's got nothing to do with MWO, which is based on the old ones in this particular regard – and that all adds up to a ’Mech that... honestly, feels kinda bad next to the Naga.
If anything, this really does prove the Naga beats the "Clan Longbow" allegations that were coming up around the time of that chassis's release. The difference is night and day. Even an optimized LGB-8V doesn't hold up that well against an optimized Naga. I don't think it's a bad ’Mech per se, but it definitely felt like one of the more ponderous Arrow IV platforms around, which is bad when you're otherwise ultra-vulnerable to enemy flankers. If you run any of these slower Arrow IV ’Mechs, I would recommend doing so in a group who can screen for you, and maybe even do a bit of spotting while they're at it with stuff like TAG or Narc Beacons.
#MechWarriorOnline #MWO #BattleTech #BattleMech #Mech #Mecha #MechWarrior #VideoGames
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Now we'll talk about the Mad Dog configuration V!
If you've played with this thing on the tabletop at all, this won't actually be all that familiar to you; like the CPLT-C3, they went in a bit of a different direction in its adaptation, though I would argue it was much more drastic with the Mad Dog. While mine (pictured) has been reconfigured to its canon values (before quirks and skills, of course) the stock configuration instead opts for paired Arrow IV Artillery launchers on the side torsos and paired ER micro lasers on the arms, with 4 tons of Arrow IV reloads.
This decision was in reference to Solaris gladiator Fen Cheng, an apocryphal character seen only in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries who somewhat famously piloted a Mad Dog with two Arrow IV launchers and nothing else. The micro lasers are there for emotional support, I presume.
While I never actually played the stock configuration, favoring the canon configuration instead, I have seen the Mad Dog V perform excellently with its paired Arrow launchers, and mine doesn't do too bad either. It's a good ’Mech; arguably like a pocket-size Naga.
#MechWarriorOnline #MWO #BattleTech #BattleMech #Mech #Mecha #MechWarrior #VideoGames
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Next up is the CPLT-C3 Catapult!
The stock configuration comes with one Arrow IV Artillery launcher with one(!) ton of ammo, 4 medium lasers like the C1 variant, and a TAG on the arm opposite the Arrow IV. This was a choice by the developers to make it "look" better or something, and to be fair, a TAG is not a bad choice when you're playing with Arrow IV. However, the canon version of this variant, which I reconfigured mine to, does not have a TAG and instead has an additional heat sink, totaling 14. There's 4 jump jets on this thing, too, and a standard engine 260, giving it a brisk speed of 64.8 KPH.
Honestly, I was kind of disappointed by this one. There's not nearly enough ammunition to feed this thing. A better build would certainly put more ammo in, of course, and very probably an XL engine for the weight savings; you shouldn't be getting shot a whole lot in an Arrow IV ’Mech, and if you are, something has gone wrong with you and your team's positioning. In any case, even after skills, the ammo economy of the Arrow IV in stock configuration is atrocious. The quartet of medium lasers are okay in a pinch, I guess; in this regard, it's like a normal Catapult, and I've used those plenty myself.
#MechWarriorOnline #MWO #BattleTech #BattleMech #Mech #Mecha #MechWarrior #VideoGames
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Hello, #MechWarriorOnline jocks! It's me again, with another write-up of a small collection of ’Mechs, this time from the Annihilation Booster Pack! I know, this pack has been out for months at this point, and the novelty has mostly worn off by now, but I figure I could still talk about them anyway, since I didn't have the chance to play with them until the last week or so.
For those of you who don't know, the Annihilation Booster Pack is a pack of 6 ’Mechs – five BattleMechs, and one OmniMech – each equipped with some of the game's latest "superweapons" previously seen on the Naga (Arrow IV) and the legendary Bull Shark twins (Railgun). It was the next release after the Icons II booster pack in February, releasing in March, and being a cheaper alternative to the Naga chassis pack, it raised all kinds of hell when it came out; various accusations of "pay to win" (despite these all being slated to become C-bill ’Mechs like the Naga) and ushering in what some had called "Arrowgeddon". Nowadays, you don't see them as much as before, but they're still around, and they're still potent, so if you see any of these things on the field, be careful. Even the worst among them can still ruin your day if you don't respect their armament.
Speaking of the worst one, let's start with the UM-AIV UrbanMech.
In stock configuration, this thing carries one Arrow IV Artillery launcher, and one ER medium laser. It has two tons of reloads for its missile artillery, and the minimum number of heat sinks allowed, all singles. It has an XL 60 engine, giving it a top speed of 32.4 KPH before Speed Tweak skills are applied, and two jump jets to help it get over some obstacles or jump onto small buildings if it wants.
Even an optimized version of this thing isn't getting a whole lot done. It'll still score kills if left unchecked – I know, I've done it even in stock configuration – but at the end of the day, this thing is not beating the "joke ’Mech" allegations. It was a joke on the table, it's a joke here, too. Its only saving grace on the table is that even one Arrow IV missile is much stronger there than it is here in MWO, and as with the Naga's release, I don't think we could get tabletop-style Arrow IV into this game even if anyone wanted it. Were it not for the Naga's existence essentially mandated by people beyond those the Cauldron directly interacts with, we probably would never have gotten Arrow IV at all, let alone this UrbanMech.
In any case, this thing is a bad ’Mech, but that doesn't necessarily mean don't play it. If you don't care about results, by all means, play the funny super-missile trash can as much as you like. It's your PSR to lose; who knows, you might get lucky, actually.
#MWO #BattleTech #BattleMech #Mech #Mecha #MechWarrior #VideoGames
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Look at this gorgeous creature
https://bsky.app/profile/artofbattletech.bsky.social/post/3mmyxvjavxc2n
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Happy #TransDayOfVisibility, Fediverse! To celebrate this year, I'm gonna go ahead and post some of my ’Mechs from #MechWarriorOnline, and a couple of the Toons I play in #ToontownRewritten, because I am definitely very visible in those games!
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Hey, can anyone trace the origin of this miniature?
I don't actually own one, it's not my photo, a friend in a Discord server posted this image earlier today, and another friend wants to know who made it; the initial friend who shared it didn't know who made it, and considering it was posted in a #meme channel according to the said friend, I expect the person they got it from doesn't know either.
It looks too big to be actually playable on a #BattleTech hex map even as a proxy, but maybe it's fine as a desk ornament or something.
(Also, this is gonna be one of the strangest combinations of hashtags I've ever come up with for a post since my introductory posts.)
#PeanutsComic #BattleMech #Snoopy #Miniatures #Question #WhoMadeThis
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Hey, can anyone trace the origin of this miniature?
I don't actually own one, it's not my photo, a friend in a Discord server posted this image earlier today, and another friend wants to know who made it; the initial friend who shared it didn't know who made it, and considering it was posted in a #meme channel according to the said friend, I expect the person they got it from doesn't know either.
It looks too big to be actually playable on a #BattleTech hex map even as a proxy, but maybe it's fine as a desk ornament or something.
(Also, this is gonna be one of the strangest combinations of hashtags I've ever come up with for a post since my introductory posts.)
#PeanutsComic #BattleMech #Snoopy #Miniatures #Question #WhoMadeThis
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Hey, can anyone trace the origin of this miniature?
I don't actually own one, it's not my photo, a friend in a Discord server posted this image earlier today, and another friend wants to know who made it; the initial friend who shared it didn't know who made it, and considering it was posted in a #meme channel according to the said friend, I expect the person they got it from doesn't know either.
It looks too big to be actually playable on a #BattleTech hex map even as a proxy, but maybe it's fine as a desk ornament or something.
(Also, this is gonna be one of the strangest combinations of hashtags I've ever come up with for a post since my introductory posts.)
#PeanutsComic #BattleMech #Snoopy #Miniatures #Question #WhoMadeThis
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Hey, can anyone trace the origin of this miniature?
I don't actually own one, it's not my photo, a friend in a Discord server posted this image earlier today, and another friend wants to know who made it; the initial friend who shared it didn't know who made it, and considering it was posted in a #meme channel according to the said friend, I expect the person they got it from doesn't know either.
It looks too big to be actually playable on a #BattleTech hex map even as a proxy, but maybe it's fine as a desk ornament or something.
(Also, this is gonna be one of the strangest combinations of hashtags I've ever come up with for a post since my introductory posts.)
#PeanutsComic #BattleMech #Snoopy #Miniatures #Question #WhoMadeThis
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Hey, can anyone trace the origin of this miniature?
I don't actually own one, it's not my photo, a friend in a Discord server posted this image earlier today, and another friend wants to know who made it; the initial friend who shared it didn't know who made it, and considering it was posted in a #meme channel according to the said friend, I expect the person they got it from doesn't know either.
It looks too big to be actually playable on a #BattleTech hex map even as a proxy, but maybe it's fine as a desk ornament or something.
(Also, this is gonna be one of the strangest combinations of hashtags I've ever come up with for a post since my introductory posts.)
#PeanutsComic #BattleMech #Snoopy #Miniatures #Question #WhoMadeThis
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Finally, we have the Ebon Jaguar "Samantha".
The configuration preferred by Star Captain Samantha Kotare of Clan Smoke Jaguar, encountered by invading Second Star League forces on Luzerne, Kotare's Ebon Jaguar was fitted with an Ultra Autocannon/20 in the left arm, an ER PPC in the right arm, three LRM-10 launchers in the right torso (which on the ’Mech's geometry in-game looks like one is in the opposite torso, strangely), and in the left torso is the emotional support ER small laser.
Honestly, I think I had more fun in this thing than in any other Ebon Jaguar I currently own, and enjoyed it more than even the Red Corsair. Out of the Icons 2 ’Mechs, I would still rather play the Atlas II, but this thing is honestly a good time! And if you're the type to optimize and you like missile boats, you can steal the RT OmniPod from this thing and make something truly scary if you want to. Me, I'm happy with its stock configuration.
And that's it for Icons 2! Overall, a pretty good pack if you like Clan ’Mechs, or Clan tech-swaps of Inner Sphere ’Mechs. Interestingly, between Icons 1 and 2, there was only one Inner Sphere ’Mech in the entire run thus far, Shadow Hawk "Sandy". There's reportedly enough material for a third Icons pack in the future, so maybe there's more notable Inner Sphere ace customs ahead of us. In any case, I'll see you in the field!
#MechWarriorOnline #MechWarrior #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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AWS-8Q "Smith" is the custom Clan refit of an AWS-8Q used by Black Omens mercenary commander Richard Smith, whom had the Wolf's Dragoons help in refitting his ride during the Clan Invasion with salvage given to him by the Draconis Combine following an escape from Damian.
Capt. Smith's Awesome is outfitted with two ER PPCs, an Ultra Autocannon/5, and while I believe the tabletop version retains the Inner Sphere small laser of the base AWS-8Q, the MechWarrior Online version instead uses a Clan ER small laser, because mixed technology is not allowed except in specific situations like the Shadow Cat "Noble".
Honestly, I liked this one the least of the four. I don't know why, but in spite of my love for PPCs, I just don't seem to perform well in Awesomes of any variety. I'm sure an optimized one is as potent as any other ’Mech, but this thing wasn't for me. Your mileage may vary.
#MechWarriorOnline #MechWarrior #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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Next up is the Red Corsair's BLR-1Gbc BattleMaster!
The personal command ’Mech of the mysterious Red Corsair, Nekane Hazen, the Red Corsair is allegedly a pirate ’Mech, but armed to the teeth with Clan weaponry. Originally a Royal Regiments BLR-1Gbc, Hazen's customizations were evidence of there being more to her and her warband than they claimed. Indeed, there is rather strong evidence the whole outfit, or at the very least Hazen herself, were Clan Jade Falcon operatives. Apparently, they were really bad at pretending to be pirates.
Hazen's BattleMaster is armed with two ER PPCs, one in each arm, a blistering six medium pulse lasers split evenly between the two side torso locations, and a single large pulse laser in the center torso.
Even in stock configuration, this thing is not to be underestimated, although an optimized build would naturally be even deadlier. Those high mounts make it excellent for peeking; hardpoints so good, the developers elected to not give it any offensive quirks whatsoever, though it does have some survivability quirks.
#MechWarriorOnline #MechWarrior #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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Good evening, #MechWarriorOnline folks! Patch day was this last Tuesday, and with it came a new booster pack, Icons 2! I gave my thoughts on the first Icons pack, so I figure for completion's sake, I'll give my thoughts on the second one. Icons 2, like Icons 1, is a pack of 4 ’Mechs, each one a notable ace custom that has appeared somewhere in the franchise in use by a named #MechWarrior. The second Icons pack contains the Clan AS7-D-H Atlas II "Unity", Clan BLR-1Gbc BattleMaster "Red Corsair", Clan AWS-8Q Awesome "Smith", and Ebon Jaguar "Samantha". This is also the order in which I'm going to talk about them!
"Unity" is, of course, the personal Atlas II of Nicholas Kerensky, one of the founders of the Clans and the first ilKhan. Essentially a Clan translation of a regular Atlas II's armament – LB 10-X autocannon in the right arm, ER large lasers in the left arm, medium pulse and SRM-6 in the left torso, LRM-20 in the right torso, ferro fibrous armor and double heat sinks – Kerensky's Atlas II had a second SRM-6 launcher installed, and all the missiles were augmented with Artemis IV fire control systems. The Atlas II was essentially a Royal Regiments version of the original Atlas, interestingly designated as a completely separate chassis where other Royal Regiments ’Mechs would merely be considered a variant thereof. In a game where the MechLab doesn't exist, the AS7-D-H is certainly a strict upgrade over the AS7-D, and translating that to Clan technology certainly makes it even more powerful on top of that.
Because the Atlas II as a chassis is functionally too similar to existing Atlas variants in spite of where their hardpoint locations differ, it is extremely likely that "Unity" will be the only version of the AS7-D-H or any other Atlas II that MechWarrior Online will ever have; it is unique for being built entirely with Clan tech, which as far as MWO is concerned, is excellent grounds for choosing that over an Inner Sphere Atlas II all by itself. The only other options are mixed tech variants, and it appears MWO is not ready to make that happen.
You may or may not have noticed that aside from the head, it looks like a regular Atlas. Apparently the developer in charge of working on new chassis and variants for this game was not terribly happy with how the Atlas II looks in tabletop, and the Hired Steel design that #MechWarrior5Mercenaries received as of Shadow of Kerensky was not workable in MWO. So he just changed the Atlas's head, added ballistic hardpoint geometry to a place it hadn't existed before on this chassis, and called it a day. For a ’Mech there will probably only ever be the one variant of for the foreseeable future, I'd argue that's fair enough.
Taking it into games, however, I'm having a lot of fun with it! Like most ’Mechs, I run it stock, and while I've been spoiled by the Naga and its Arrow IV launchers the last few weeks, I still did fairly alright with this thing. Your mileage may vary; I'm actually rather curious how well it does on an optimized build!
Another curiosity I have is how well a stock Unity will fare against my AS7-D-HT – which is in reality a refit AS7-D, of course – but I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the game who even plays with either ’Mech this way, so that may be the realm of theorycrafting for now.
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Last, but not necessarily least, is the Naga II configuration H. This one's got heavy lasers in it. A heavy small, a heavy large, two heavy mediums, an LRM 20, and a Gauss rifle enable multiple engagement ranges.
As far as bracket builds go, I think this is alright. I had a good time using it!
That's all for the Naga and Naga II! The Naga II might technically be better in the MechLab, but I would rather play the Naga. I like the Arrow IV Artillery system. I wish it was moderately better than it is, but I am able to make do with it more often than not.
Thank you for reading these!
#MechWarrior #MechWarriorOnline #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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The Naga II configuration C is quite the scattering of armaments indeed. One ultra autocannon/5, 4 machine guns, 2 medium pulse lasers, 1 large pulse laser, 1 LRM 15, and 1 Streak SRM 6.
I tend to use this as a sort of medium or short-range skirmisher more than anything else. In that capacity, it's... okay. It's not great. Just okay.
#MechWarrior #MechWarriorOnline #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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The Naga II configuration B is an LRM boating configuration. 4 LRM 20 launchers, a Narc beacon, and a laser AMS are loaded into this one.
As far as regular LRM boats go, I think this one's pretty respectable. I don't usually play pure LRM boat, however, and while Narc is useful, it's usually better on a spotter than it is on the missile boat.
#MechWarrior #MechWarriorOnline #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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The Naga II A possesses a massive LB 20-X autocannon, 2 ER large lasers, an ER small laser, and a Streak SRM 6. It seems geared more towards close-range firepower, with a little long-range power thrown in for reasons.
I don't like this one as much as the Prime, but I'm sure a far better build is possible. It's just not for me. Doesn't suit any of my playstyles at all.
#MechWarrior #MechWarriorOnline #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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And now we start with the Naga II part of the pack. These things are, at least as far as I'm concerned, practically a Gargoyle sidegrade that happens to be compatible with the Naga's Arrow IV OmniPods; in practice, they exist to provide a more flexible MechLab experience than a whole line of regular Nagas ever could, because Arrow IV exists on literally all of those except the hero, which PGI made up. Speaking of heroes, the Naga II does not have its own hero ’Mech; for all intents and purposes, the Amarok covers both chassis.
Interesting piece of trivia, but according to the Master Unit List, the Naga II is apparently older than the original by three years somehow. I can only imagine this must be in error; all the lore I can find on these things states it was introduced during the Battle of Tukayyid, which was in 3052, almost 200 years after the original Naga entered production. Sarna goes with the MUL's date of introduction nonetheless.
The Naga II Prime mounts an LB 10-X autocannon, an ultra autocannon/10, an ER small laser, and an LRM 20. I like it well enough for punching people at medium range, but an optimized build would naturally be far better. Honestly, at least in its current state, it's probably not worth swapping in Arrow IV to any Naga II at all.
#MechWarrior #MechWarriorOnline #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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The Amarok is unique among the base Nagas for not possessing Arrow IV Artillery at all, but instead LRM 20 launchers where they would normally be. In addition to those, it has paired SRM 6 launchers, paired medium pulse lasers, and a TAG, all in the torsos. This thing also has a unique piece of equipment called a modified missile loader, which changes the firing behavior of any LRM or ATM launchers loaded into the ’Mech, making them fire in a continuous stream as long as the firing button is held.
I actually enjoy this one quite a bit. While my attitude toward LRMs are that they're of pretty limited utility above a certain matcmaking tier threshold, it's still quite hilarious to watch stuff break while raining hell on someone out of position. In this case, it's like indirect fire rotary autocannons.
#MechWarrior #MechWarriorOnline #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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The Naga B is the other Naga configuration in the pack aside from the hero, designated Amarok, and while it has less Arrow IV ammo, it has more close-range firepower in the form of one ER small laser and three ER medium lasers. It's quirked to be slightly faster.
Like the Prime, most people strip out everything and just run it with as much Arrow IV ammo as they can. I consider the close-range firepower just useful enough to be worth keeping, however. Your mileage may vary. I do enjoy the extra speed of this one compared to the Prime.
#MechWarrior #MechWarriorOnline #BattleTech #BattleMech #VideoGames
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Afternoon, #MechWarrior Mastodon! It's almost a week after #MechWarriorOnline patch day, and that means the release of an early Christmas gift (well, kind of; the pre-order was the gift) that introduces a new fixed-to-chassis weapon to the game. I am of course referring to the Naga, an 80-ton Arrow IV Artillery ’Mech that made its PGI-era debut in MechWarrior 5: Clans's "Wolves of Tukayyid" DLC, having been otherwise absent from the series since MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries.
Bundled in this Clan ’Mech pack is the Naga II, a Battle of Tukayyid field refit that drops the Arrow IV missiles in favor of more conventional ’Mech weaponry. These two ’Mechs share OmniPod compatibility, so you can put an Arrow IV on your Naga II or swap one out from your Naga to mount something else if you so choose.
So what is a Naga, anyway? Well, as stated, it's an Arrow IV Artillery missile platform. It mounts two of those monstrosities, and while the tabletop version's range is measured in map sheets, the MWO version is reined in at a respectable 1500 meters baseline. After skill nodes are applied, this can go up to a 1725 meter range. You're probably not going to be able to use all that range the vast majority of the time, especially considering this missile is exceptionally slow and the target will probably have found cover or otherwise long broken the lock by the time it gets there, but maybe that will change in the future. The general sentiment I'm seeing is that these missiles are rather underpowered in their current state, surprisingly enough, citing lackluster kill power and ammo starvation. I find them a lot of fun to slap the shit out of people with nonetheless! It functions as a sort of hybrid of LRMs and Thunderbolt missiles. While some are tempted to think of them as "Clan Thunderbolts", they're coming to select Inner Sphere chassis as well in the future.
Coming back to the Naga, the Naga Prime possesses 3 ER small lasers in addition to its Arrow IV Artillery launchers as its only armament for dealing with close-range threats. For everything else, there's the Arrow IV.
This and the next one will typically be run by optimizing players by removing everything, maxing armor, and putting the rest of the tonnage into ammo. At least in my experience. Since I play stock, I keep everything as is, and still manage to have a good time. Your mileage may vary.
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I made a meme *and* painted a #battlemech this weekend! It has been a rough weekend, but all things considered I am trying to stay positive.
It's not a great paint job, but I am very rusty.
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I made a meme *and* painted a #battlemech this weekend! It has been a rough weekend, but all things considered I am trying to stay positive.
It's not a great paint job, but I am very rusty.
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And last, but certainly not least, is the hero, the Aletha configuration
Based upon the canon custom configuration of Clan Ghost Bear Khan Aletha Kabrinsky, a Fire Moth pilot of renown in-universe, the Aletha hero ’Mech wields an ER large laser in the right arm, and three ER small lasers in the left arm. An ECM suite is mounted inside the left torso.
Honestly, the stock configuration is nothing to write home about, although I did enjoy playing with it. My friend, whom I battled in the D configuration earlier in the day, was running this thing as basically an enhanced H configuration, using OmniPods to boat heavy small lasers and keeping the stock ECM suite. This might be the way to go for this one. Your mileage may vary.
And that's it for the Fire Moth, at least for now! It's my favorite light ’Mech, the first ’Mech I ever played – literally one of three tutorial ’Mechs in MechWarrior 2 from 1995, the others being the Mad Dog and the Timber Wolf – and I am so glad to see it back in the series after such a long absence; it hasn't officially been in a game since MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries in 1996. Sure, MekTek adapted it into MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, but for what it was, it was severely undergunned and not even as fast as it should have been. I would say, however, the fact MASC wasn't in that game might have had something to do with the speed issue. Nonetheless... Glad to see this old girl return, and with some actual bite this time around. Sure, she was popular among speedrunners back in the day, but most people aren't speedrunners, and you had to have incredible aim too. For most of us, that weak armor was a liability, especially since the enemies in single-player games don't have human error.
See you around. Good hunting, MechWarriors!
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And last, but certainly not least, is the hero, the Aletha configuration
Based upon the canon custom configuration of Clan Ghost Bear Khan Aletha Kabrinsky, a Fire Moth pilot of renown in-universe, the Aletha hero ’Mech wields an ER large laser in the right arm, and three ER small lasers in the left arm. An ECM suite is mounted inside the left torso.
Honestly, the stock configuration is nothing to write home about, although I did enjoy playing with it. My friend, whom I battled in the D configuration earlier in the day, was running this thing as basically an enhanced H configuration, using OmniPods to boat heavy small lasers and keeping the stock ECM suite. This might be the way to go for this one. Your mileage may vary.
And that's it for the Fire Moth, at least for now! It's my favorite light ’Mech, the first ’Mech I ever played – literally one of three tutorial ’Mechs in MechWarrior 2 from 1995, the others being the Mad Dog and the Timber Wolf – and I am so glad to see it back in the series after such a long absence; it hasn't officially been in a game since MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries in 1996. Sure, MekTek adapted it into MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, but for what it was, it was severely undergunned and not even as fast as it should have been. I would say, however, the fact MASC wasn't in that game might have had something to do with the speed issue. Nonetheless... Glad to see this old girl return, and with some actual bite this time around. Sure, she was popular among speedrunners back in the day, but most people aren't speedrunners, and you had to have incredible aim too. For most of us, that weak armor was a liability, especially since the enemies in single-player games don't have human error.
See you around. Good hunting, MechWarriors!
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And last, but certainly not least, is the hero, the Aletha configuration
Based upon the canon custom configuration of Clan Ghost Bear Khan Aletha Kabrinsky, a Fire Moth pilot of renown in-universe, the Aletha hero ’Mech wields an ER large laser in the right arm, and three ER small lasers in the left arm. An ECM suite is mounted inside the left torso.
Honestly, the stock configuration is nothing to write home about, although I did enjoy playing with it. My friend, whom I battled in the D configuration earlier in the day, was running this thing as basically an enhanced H configuration, using OmniPods to boat heavy small lasers and keeping the stock ECM suite. This might be the way to go for this one. Your mileage may vary.
And that's it for the Fire Moth, at least for now! It's my favorite light ’Mech, the first ’Mech I ever played – literally one of three tutorial ’Mechs in MechWarrior 2 from 1995, the others being the Mad Dog and the Timber Wolf – and I am so glad to see it back in the series after such a long absence; it hasn't officially been in a game since MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries in 1996. Sure, MekTek adapted it into MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, but for what it was, it was severely undergunned and not even as fast as it should have been. I would say, however, the fact MASC wasn't in that game might have had something to do with the speed issue. Nonetheless... Glad to see this old girl return, and with some actual bite this time around. Sure, she was popular among speedrunners back in the day, but most people aren't speedrunners, and you had to have incredible aim too. For most of us, that weak armor was a liability, especially since the enemies in single-player games don't have human error.
See you around. Good hunting, MechWarriors!
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And last, but certainly not least, is the hero, the Aletha configuration
Based upon the canon custom configuration of Clan Ghost Bear Khan Aletha Kabrinsky, a Fire Moth pilot of renown in-universe, the Aletha hero ’Mech wields an ER large laser in the right arm, and three ER small lasers in the left arm. An ECM suite is mounted inside the left torso.
Honestly, the stock configuration is nothing to write home about, although I did enjoy playing with it. My friend, whom I battled in the D configuration earlier in the day, was running this thing as basically an enhanced H configuration, using OmniPods to boat heavy small lasers and keeping the stock ECM suite. This might be the way to go for this one. Your mileage may vary.
And that's it for the Fire Moth, at least for now! It's my favorite light ’Mech, the first ’Mech I ever played – literally one of three tutorial ’Mechs in MechWarrior 2 from 1995, the others being the Mad Dog and the Timber Wolf – and I am so glad to see it back in the series after such a long absence; it hasn't officially been in a game since MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries in 1996. Sure, MekTek adapted it into MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, but for what it was, it was severely undergunned and not even as fast as it should have been. I would say, however, the fact MASC wasn't in that game might have had something to do with the speed issue. Nonetheless... Glad to see this old girl return, and with some actual bite this time around. Sure, she was popular among speedrunners back in the day, but most people aren't speedrunners, and you had to have incredible aim too. For most of us, that weak armor was a liability, especially since the enemies in single-player games don't have human error.
See you around. Good hunting, MechWarriors!
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We're almost done with these! Coming up is the K configuration!
This thing carries 6 light machine guns and a pair of heavy medium lasers, each split evenly between the two arms. It also has an ungodly amount of ammunition thanks in part to quirks and (potentially) skill nodes, but even without those, there's still like 3 tons of the stuff, which carry a baseline of 3200 bullets each. For that many machine guns, 3200 is admittedly not a lot, but you should see how much that adds up to after quirks and skill nodes are applied. It's actually quite ridiculous.
Unfortunately, I think aside from having more gun, it has the same issue as the B configuration, spending a lot of time in the line of fire and not a lot of time running away. Fire Moths excel at hit-and-run maneuvers, they don't really have the survivability to do otherwise. The only thing really saving this thing, I think, is the potential to boat AP Gauss and get a high concentration of pin-point front-loaded damage. It can even afford to drop a mount with a B configuration right arm to gain ECM with that if it wants. These factors might make all the difference, and make it objectively one of the best Fire Moths in the game right now. It's no Adder "Warthog", but it's close enough for government work!
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We're almost done with these! Coming up is the K configuration!
This thing carries 6 light machine guns and a pair of heavy medium lasers, each split evenly between the two arms. It also has an ungodly amount of ammunition thanks in part to quirks and (potentially) skill nodes, but even without those, there's still like 3 tons of the stuff, which carry a baseline of 3200 bullets each. For that many machine guns, 3200 is admittedly not a lot, but you should see how much that adds up to after quirks and skill nodes are applied. It's actually quite ridiculous.
Unfortunately, I think aside from having more gun, it has the same issue as the B configuration, spending a lot of time in the line of fire and not a lot of time running away. Fire Moths excel at hit-and-run maneuvers, they don't really have the survivability to do otherwise. The only thing really saving this thing, I think, is the potential to boat AP Gauss and get a high concentration of pin-point front-loaded damage. It can even afford to drop a mount with a B configuration right arm to gain ECM with that if it wants. These factors might make all the difference, and make it objectively one of the best Fire Moths in the game right now. It's no Adder "Warthog", but it's close enough for government work!
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The H configuration is the next one up!
This is my favorite of the bunch. Nine total heavy small lasers, four in the left arm, and five in the other. This is extremely simple, and while heavy small lasers aren't that great in a competitive setting, in these numbers they're great backstabbing tools for punishing people caught out of position or otherwise failing to pay attention during quick play.
I like this thing a lot. No notes.
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The H configuration is the next one up!
This is my favorite of the bunch. Nine total heavy small lasers, four in the left arm, and five in the other. This is extremely simple, and while heavy small lasers aren't that great in a competitive setting, in these numbers they're great backstabbing tools for punishing people caught out of position or otherwise failing to pay attention during quick play.
I like this thing a lot. No notes.
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The D configuration is next!
This is one of my favorites in the lot. Simple and effective, at least in theory; I'm sure one could optimize it to make it even simpler and even more effective. Five ER medium lasers and a flamer for some reason. Hits pretty hard, but it's also pretty spicy. A single flamer is not very useful in my experience; if you want to use the Fire Moth D, I recommend dropping it immediately.
I lost a light fight to a friend I randomly matched against while playing this thing. He was using an optimized Fire Moth of his own. I don't remember precisely how I lost, all I know is that I did. Not that he got the killing blow; someone else did that. Maybe I was just as hard for him to hit reliably as he was for me. Heh.
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The D configuration is next!
This is one of my favorites in the lot. Simple and effective, at least in theory; I'm sure one could optimize it to make it even simpler and even more effective. Five ER medium lasers and a flamer for some reason. Hits pretty hard, but it's also pretty spicy. A single flamer is not very useful in my experience; if you want to use the Fire Moth D, I recommend dropping it immediately.
I lost a light fight to a friend I randomly matched against while playing this thing. He was using an optimized Fire Moth of his own. I don't remember precisely how I lost, all I know is that I did. Not that he got the killing blow; someone else did that. Maybe I was just as hard for him to hit reliably as he was for me. Heh.
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The D configuration is next!
This is one of my favorites in the lot. Simple and effective, at least in theory; I'm sure one could optimize it to make it even simpler and even more effective. Five ER medium lasers and a flamer for some reason. Hits pretty hard, but it's also pretty spicy. A single flamer is not very useful in my experience; if you want to use the Fire Moth D, I recommend dropping it immediately.
I lost a light fight to a friend I randomly matched against while playing this thing. He was using an optimized Fire Moth of his own. I don't remember precisely how I lost, all I know is that I did. Not that he got the killing blow; someone else did that. Maybe I was just as hard for him to hit reliably as he was for me. Heh.
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Now we talk about the C configuration!
This Fire Moth, at least in stock configuration, is objectively the worst one. Paired LRM-5s and nothing else are not the way to victory. Even in the context of tabletop, this loadout seems awful. Don't run this stock like I do. Put in ATMs or SRMs instead. Please. Even I will be doing something like that when the release event starts. Even for me, this is horrid.
Running SRMs instead will probably turn it into a high-mid tier one though. I imagine the difference will be night and day.
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Now we talk about the C configuration!
This Fire Moth, at least in stock configuration, is objectively the worst one. Paired LRM-5s and nothing else are not the way to victory. Even in the context of tabletop, this loadout seems awful. Don't run this stock like I do. Put in ATMs or SRMs instead. Please. Even I will be doing something like that when the release event starts. Even for me, this is horrid.
Running SRMs instead will probably turn it into a high-mid tier one though. I imagine the difference will be night and day.
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Next up is the B configuration!
This thing carries a medium pulse laser in the left arm, another in the right torso, and two machine guns in the right arm. The right arm also has an ECM suite mounted in it.
I dunno about this one, honestly. It seems to want to do things a Fire Moth probably shouldn't be trying to do with how squishy it is. The right arm can probably be yoinked to another CT – we'll get to that one later – to give potential for an AP Gauss boat with ECM, but as is, I'm a little skeptical of it. Notably, the Cauldron member I talk to the most didn't even suggest a build for this one to me when I was talking about it in my unit's Discord server. He didn't suggest one for the Prime either, to be fair, but I suppose those suggestions were based on set-of-eight rather than mixing and matching OmniPods. Nonetheless... It's okay. I don't like it as much as I like the Prime, but I don't hate it either. I think I can work with it to some extent.
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Next up is the B configuration!
This thing carries a medium pulse laser in the left arm, another in the right torso, and two machine guns in the right arm. The right arm also has an ECM suite mounted in it.
I dunno about this one, honestly. It seems to want to do things a Fire Moth probably shouldn't be trying to do with how squishy it is. The right arm can probably be yoinked to another CT – we'll get to that one later – to give potential for an AP Gauss boat with ECM, but as is, I'm a little skeptical of it. Notably, the Cauldron member I talk to the most didn't even suggest a build for this one to me when I was talking about it in my unit's Discord server. He didn't suggest one for the Prime either, to be fair, but I suppose those suggestions were based on set-of-eight rather than mixing and matching OmniPods. Nonetheless... It's okay. I don't like it as much as I like the Prime, but I don't hate it either. I think I can work with it to some extent.
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Alright, the Fire Moth is here in #MechWarriorOnline at last! After nearly 30 years of absence, near the 30th anniversary of MechWarrior 2 itself, we finally get to play it in a video game again, in an official capacity! And this time, it's no joke; it's actually surprisingly deadly, in ways the MW2 version never could be!
The Fire Moth was designed in-universe as, effectively, a troop transport for the Clans' Elemental battle armor troopers. More so than any other OmniMech, it was intended to carry multiple units worth of the things into battle and get out fast; the intended method of doing this were special "pods" that were slung under the arms of the machine. The pod idea was abandoned, but the arms stayed up, meaning this thing has the highest mounts of any 20-ton light ’Mech in MechWarrior Online. It's also extremely fast; with max skills, it goes up to 209kph with MASC! It has very weak armor for its weight class, however, so you had best avoid getting shot as much as possible unless you want to have a bad time.
Thankfully, the developers quirked up some extra armor for those fragile arms on every single configuration and quirked up extra structure across the entire chassis in the same vein; unlike in MW2, you're not going to be able to shift those guns to the side torsos, so it was very important that those arms didn't just fall off when the OpFor even does so little as sneeze on them, like what happened with utter consistency back in the day.
First up of course is the primary configuration. This configuration consists of two ER medium lasers (Clan versions, of course) in the left arm, an SRM-6 in the right arm, and an SRM-4 in the right torso. Two tons of SRM ammo supply the launchers; in tabletop, since ammo bins discriminate between launcher sizes there, I do believe each launcher is supplied by one ammo bin.
The Prime in stock configuration fights very similarly to how the Clan Flea from the Wolf Dragoons pack does in stock configuration, just moving much faster and with two less missile tubes. As such, all I really had to do was adjust to my new speed and handling. Optimizing this with a set-of-eight might be difficult, though, since there's not a lot of mounts on these pods. I don't know how much or how little the other pods bring with them in terms of their weapon quirks, though, so for a competitive-spec Fire Moth, you might want to look elsewhere. For my purposes, however, the Prime is just fine. Not the best, but not the worst. It's fun. Just pray you don't get shot; you really will feel the weak armor, even if it's certainly not as weak as it was back in the 90s.
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Alright, the Fire Moth is here in #MechWarriorOnline at last! After nearly 30 years of absence, near the 30th anniversary of MechWarrior 2 itself, we finally get to play it in a video game again, in an official capacity! And this time, it's no joke; it's actually surprisingly deadly, in ways the MW2 version never could be!
The Fire Moth was designed in-universe as, effectively, a troop transport for the Clans' Elemental battle armor troopers. More so than any other OmniMech, it was intended to carry multiple units worth of the things into battle and get out fast; the intended method of doing this were special "pods" that were slung under the arms of the machine. The pod idea was abandoned, but the arms stayed up, meaning this thing has the highest mounts of any 20-ton light ’Mech in MechWarrior Online. It's also extremely fast; with max skills, it goes up to 209kph with MASC! It has very weak armor for its weight class, however, so you had best avoid getting shot as much as possible unless you want to have a bad time.
Thankfully, the developers quirked up some extra armor for those fragile arms on every single configuration and quirked up extra structure across the entire chassis in the same vein; unlike in MW2, you're not going to be able to shift those guns to the side torsos, so it was very important that those arms didn't just fall off when the OpFor even does so little as sneeze on them, like what happened with utter consistency back in the day.
First up of course is the primary configuration. This configuration consists of two ER medium lasers (Clan versions, of course) in the left arm, an SRM-6 in the right arm, and an SRM-4 in the right torso. Two tons of SRM ammo supply the launchers; in tabletop, since ammo bins discriminate between launcher sizes there, I do believe each launcher is supplied by one ammo bin.
The Prime in stock configuration fights very similarly to how the Clan Flea from the Wolf Dragoons pack does in stock configuration, just moving much faster and with two less missile tubes. As such, all I really had to do was adjust to my new speed and handling. Optimizing this with a set-of-eight might be difficult, though, since there's not a lot of mounts on these pods. I don't know how much or how little the other pods bring with them in terms of their weapon quirks, though, so for a competitive-spec Fire Moth, you might want to look elsewhere. For my purposes, however, the Prime is just fine. Not the best, but not the worst. It's fun. Just pray you don't get shot; you really will feel the weak armor, even if it's certainly not as weak as it was back in the 90s.
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2/2: Two more shots of the Jade Wolves. The weirdest of them all got left, and a very unorganized group photo.
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2/2: Two more shots of the Jade Wolves. The weirdest of them all got left, and a very unorganized group photo.
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2/2: Two more shots of the Jade Wolves. The weirdest of them all got left, and a very unorganized group photo.
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2/2: Two more shots of the Jade Wolves. The weirdest of them all got left, and a very unorganized group photo.
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1/2: A couple of more or less proper photos of the Jade Wolves, I have to split this in two posts due to the file limit.
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1/2: A couple of more or less proper photos of the Jade Wolves, I have to split this in two posts due to the file limit.
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1/2: A couple of more or less proper photos of the Jade Wolves, I have to split this in two posts due to the file limit.
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1/2: A couple of more or less proper photos of the Jade Wolves, I have to split this in two posts due to the file limit.
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And last, but certainly not least, we're on the hero ’Mech, BSK-M "Mako".
This one is particularly special to me. It is, in every way that matters, the original BSK-MAZ.
Those who played the game this ’Mech first appeared in might recall that the BSK-MAZ had a rather odd stock loadout for an ostensibly Inner Sphere BattleMech. The autocannons were slightly too lightweight, albeit still too heavy to be Clan autocannons. The ER medium lasers were doing Clan-spec damage, but still had Inner Sphere range brackets. Oh, and the Inner Sphere ER medium laser didn't even exist in the first place until they reverse-engineered the Clan version during Operation REVIVAL! The Thumper cannon was rendered mostly accurate to how it should be, though it was too light to have an ammo bin attached to it, and even if it did have one, it was only loaded with three shots; the tabletop Thumper cannon has ten rounds per ammo ton. And that's before we address the elephant in the room that is this thing is otherwise just as tabletop-illegal (and MWO-illegal, for that matter) as the BSK-M3, because using exclusively Inner Sphere technology, there's not enough slots for all that stuff and the XL engine and endo steel at the same time. Like the BSK-M3, the Inner Sphere versions of these more advanced autocannons can't fit in the arms at the same time.
The implied origin story of the Bull Shark as a chassis is that it is a Clan Wolverine design, and they did canonically come up with at least some advanced weapons that weren't quite advanced enough to be recognized as modern Clan technology. Thus, the context of the weapons loadout seems to be that the weapons were manufactured by the Not-Named Clan as much as the ’Mech itself. This obviously doesn't explain the Thumper, which is identical in both tech bases, but I think that's handwaveable, kind of. Again, it only gets three shots rather than the expected ten...
Well, the Mako here is basically a "what if" scenario for the BSK-MAZ, carrying an almost identical weapons and equipment loadout. Without any Thumper cannons in MWO, the tonnage from that gets given to other equipment, in this case a pair of ER small lasers and paired LRM-15s with four tons of reloads. Two of the ER medium lasers get moved to the center torso. It also carries an extra double heat sink. All of this is full Clan technology, which is the only way all of this can fit together in the way that it does.
It's objectively not my top performer of the lot, but it is nonetheless my favorite Bull Shark variant for this reason alone. If I never had any other BattleMech to play, I would be happy to play nothing but the Mako all day.
Oh, and happy #Pride to the lot of you!
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On to the BSK-6!
This thing is great at range! It's got a bunch of AC/2s, just as many medium lasers, and a large laser in the center. The tabletop AC/2 is regarded as garbage, but in MWO, it can be a very effective weapon when used right. This thing is a fun ride.
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Now let's talk about the BSK-5.
At first, after my experience playing with the BSK-2, I was a bit leery of this one. It seemed a bit like it was trying to be a weird combination of the BSK-1 and BSK-2. It's got three medium lasers, paired PPCs in the arms, paired AC/10s, and jump jets. To my surprise, however, it worked perfectly fine. Not quite as well as the BSK-1, but it did fine! It's pretty good! I'll happily run this thing multiple times in the future!
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Now for the BSK-4.
This is the first Clantech Bull Shark in the lineup! Besides this one and the hero ’Mech, every other Bull Shark is an Inner Sphere ’Mech. This thing comes with paired Clan LB 20-X autocannons, a quintet of SRM-6 packs, and three ER Medium Lasers. Calling this a "brawler" is somewhat misleading; this is a Bull Shark that wants you dead yesterday, and will move into close range to make that happen as quickly as possible. It might struggle with small targets that move very fast, but if it gets a good shot on you, it may just cripple you at best.
This is my third favorite Bull Shark in the lineup for a reason.
