Kmieciu, on 25 February 2013 - 03:19 AM, said:
In a fight between 2 Hunchbacks (100 tonnes) and an Atlas, I bet my money on the Hunchbacks.
In a battle between 2 Ravens and a Spider (100 tonnes) versus an Atlas, odds are against the Atlas.
4 Commandos vs an Atlas? He does not stand a chance.
Because tonne for tonne, Assault mechs are very inefficient. If a team takes 8 D-DCs and decides to assault enemy base, there is little the defenders can do to stop them. So you just might want to out-cap them.
In a battle between 2 Ravens and a Spider (100 tonnes) versus an Atlas, odds are against the Atlas.
4 Commandos vs an Atlas? He does not stand a chance.
Because tonne for tonne, Assault mechs are very inefficient. If a team takes 8 D-DCs and decides to assault enemy base, there is little the defenders can do to stop them. So you just might want to out-cap them.
I notice that both of your examples involve the Atlas facing multiple opponents. First of all, I'd have to say that it would depend on the circumstances/position/ranges, but I'm not sure that an Assault losing to any two given opponents makes the point that the Atlas/Assaults are inefficient.
Which brings up another point: what are they inefficient at? Dueling? Fighting multiple opponents alone? Or soaking up damage so that teammates can waste the opponents? Assaults are certainly not efficient at everything- I think we have all established that they are not the jack-of-all-trades that some of your lighter mechs are, but I reject the idea that they are not efficient at ANYTHING.
On another note, I think a lot of the effectiveness on Assaults is also derived from the accuracy of the pilot. Missed AC/20 shells can be intimidating, but Assaults aren't fully effective until you get the effect of enemy mechs breaking cover to immediately have their arms destroyed or armor go from no damage to orange, etc. However, that takes a high degree of accuracy- especially difficult with weapons you have to lead like the Gauss/AC's. If an Assault is not able to (much of the time) achieve this effect, then it is not fully effective.
In some ways, its like a machine gunner: very exposed, everyone wants to hit it, and it often leads to a short life expectancy, but if you get someone who can really hit with that thing, it keeps heads down and is devastating.