Sir Roland MXIII, on 25 May 2013 - 12:49 PM, said:
True... though, one could just as easily do that right now with the Ilya Muromets (LBXs in the arms, AC/20 in the RT), or the VTR-9A could be implemented with one additional ballistic hardpoint to go with its Machine Gun in the LT (thus accomplishing the same thing while "avoiding the threat of massed triple-Gauss or triple AC/20 Victor builds").
What niche, then, does the VTR-9A1 fill that can't be done about as well with either certain (reasonable) implementations of the VTR-9A or with the Ilya Muromets?
And what if the remaining niches are those that the Devs, for whatever possibly-arcane reasons, mightn't want filled "yet", or "at all", or "by the Victor, rather than another 'Mech"?