Owner of Marauder and eventual owner of the IIC package (favorite BT mech so... yeah Piranha take all my money why don't you...) Lately i've been doing a lot of quick match both solo and group que I see a decent mix of Marauders and Warhammers, just as many Kodiaks and I can confirm from an enemy standpoint a rifleman was a mech i THOUGHT was lighter than it is based on how i see that thing move / take hits. but it dishes them as well.
Some thoughts from a Marauder guy
It can shield side very well and if you spring for the bounty hunter hero you get an additional laser hardpoint in the CT mounted high, its not particularly useful as it'll usually just be a medium or medium pulse laser but walking around as a stick with one laser is IMO better than being dead.
From the point of view as an ally or enemy looking at the Warhammer:
Amazing ally. When i have warhammers near me I feel like I'm doing a LOT better. That should say something.
I never see one go down quickly. I've been CT'd by assaults before with crazy alphas and I'm sure that's not gonna change. but stack enough armor in one place and those "no real weakness" mechs shine like gold.
As an opponent: I've never seen a warhammer I'm afraid of as the Bounty Hunter II in close. I don't know if that's because I'm running an AC20 and mediums or if its a chassis thing. could just be the weapon loadout / pilot skill / luck. take that how you will.
Kodiak on the other hand my friends been running along side this for a while now and he absolutely loves them. Not much to say besides all the dakka or an assault mech that can run at slow medium / heavy speeds. pretty quick if you go for the spirit bear... MASC etc:
As for the Cyclops, I have yet to see that mech do anything really well. It may just be me. Metamechs guys say its "Tier 2"
http://metamechs.com...-lists/is-list/ no idea how that actually plays out but hey, its worth a mention. I want that mech to be awesome as I prefer IS mechs but from all the observations and fighting them, i've only really seen good results from guys running eithier two AC20's with no fears of ghost heat or two gauss rifles. Then again i'm also not a good assault pilot so take that how you will.
Just finished eliting my Maulers recently. I regret buying them. They aren't bad mechs but the 5xAC5 dakka build is about the only one i had good success with. That thing laid down the hurt. But agian. not an assault pilot...
I hope any of this rambling helped.