13 replies to this topic

[Ravingdork]

I've heard some people say that the HBKs are terrible for a variety of reasons. *laughs*

I regularly trash multiple heavier mechs with my hunchback variants. Why? Because HBKs have more armor than any other medium mech (and even some heavy mechs) and can more readily spread incoming damage out with its substantial torso twist range (making it seem even tougher than some assaults in the hands of a skilled pilot).

Just this evening, I dropped into the Canyon Network with my HBK-4J, Rainbow. During the ferocious fighting that ensued, I became seperated from my lance mates, so I began hunting for targets of opportunity as I made my way back to them. My targeting computer picked up an enemy cataphract nearby that still had a sheen to his paint, so I sent two or three volleys of missiles his way to scratch it. I lost the lock and my third volley went wide. Seeing that his center torso armor was orange before losing the lock, I decided to pursue. Rainbow marched over the hill and dropped off a ledge next to the enemy cataphract, who had been hugging the wall to avoid most of my second volley. Before he unleashed a barrage of two ultra AC/5s and two AC/5s I blasted his center torso with my two ER large lasers, melting away the last vestiges of armor there. While I waited for my lasers to recharge, I danced and twisted, trying to spread the damage from his fearsome barrage out over my chasis as much as I could. Two more sustained laser shots to his core took him down. Unfortunately, he had stripped away all of my armor from all three of my frontal torsos--a dangerous position to be for a mech with an XL engine.

By that time I realized my friends had stumbled into an ambush set by the enemy team and clearly had their hands full. I thought I might be able to alleviate some of their pressure and so came up behind the enemy forces, lasers and missiles blasting away.

Another enemy cataphract turned from the skirmish to put his full attention on me. Knowing that he had ER PPCs and I LRMS, he charged me like a bull to bring the fight close. A glancing blow took off my right arm as I turned to run. Seeing that I wasn't going to survive a head on assault with this guy, I put my rear armor towards his guns and ran away hoping to at least pull him away from the fight.

He took the bait.

What began next was an exciting running gun battle through the canyons where I would twist and turn, trying to stay ahead of his PPCs. In one or two shots, however, he took off the armor from my rear right torso. I had to think of something quick, else he would kill me with another shot to my right rear torso. Then it hit me, he could only fire his PPCs every four seconds. So I waited for him to take aim at my weakened right torso, counted to three, then jerked my torso around nearly 90 degrees, causing him to ping on my rear center instead. Despite him being nearly directly behind me, I likewise returned fire with my ER large lasers, hitting him in the center torso, stripping it of its remaining armor. Two times, then three times, I did this, spreading his damage out across my meager rear armor and legs while still landing solid blows against his center torso. Just as I leapt off a cliff (a dangerous proposition at that point as it well could have cost me a leg) I turned to see him coming down after me. My ER large lasers split his mech in half in midair, causing him to crash to the ground as nothing more than a smuldering hulk of ruin.

Heavily damaged, out of ammo, and essentially naked, I limped back to the fray to do what little I could for my friends before I was most assuredly killed. As it turned out, once I pulled the catraphract away, they were about evenly matched and had managed to hold their own relatively well. My return tipped the balance in our favor. A few well-placed laser shots to an Atlas' back allowed my allies to more easily take him down allowing for a great victory.

Edited by Ravingdork, 25 May 2013 - 07:02 PM.

[One Medic Army]

Fun fact: All 50ton mechs have the same maximum armor and same amount of internal structure.

[shabowie]

One Medic Army, on 25 May 2013 - 09:58 PM, said:

Fun fact: All 50ton mechs have the same maximum armor and same amount of internal structure.

Wow, reality intrudes.

[Sephlock]

http://libertystreet...iting-desk.html

More to the point: http://www.loc.gov/p...ce/fsa.8b08258/

[Johnny Reb]

HEH, Anyone who says Huncies are terrible are themselves terrible!

[ReissTC]

Don't really like the Hunchbacks, bar the 4SP, since they all have that massive right torso that contains the majority of their firepower. Makes them really easy to remove as a large threat.

I'd rather take a Centurion over a Hunchback. Harder to put down thanks to the tiny CT, and can take a bigger engine.

All 50-ton mediums have 338 armour, maximum. Internal structure is worked as (maximum possible armour on given section / 2) = internal health.

Armour capacity is governed by the tonnage of the mech, not the mech itself.

[Jman5]

I'm hardly an expert on LRMs, but I believe you are better off with 2 LRM 5s than 1 LRM 10. Without Artemis, it's 1 ton lighter, with Artemis, it's the same weight. Cooldown is lower on the LRM 5 giving you a higher DPS. Heat of two LRM 5s is identical to 1 LRM 10, although the higher DPS means potentially higher heat per second.

Also, you should never put ammo in your center torso. That's a death sentence if someone triggers an ammo explosion.

I downgraded your engine to 255 XL and used the .5 ton to top off some of your armor values. I adjusted some of the other armor values to more reasonable proportions. I replaced the LRM 10 with 2 LRM 5s and moved ammo to your legs.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f1ade2512118d24

Good luck with your hunchback; I'm glad you found success with a rarely used variant.

[Ravingdork]

According to Smurfy's mech lab, Cicadas can only fit a maximum of 274 points of armor whereas Blackjacks can only fit a maximum of 306 points. Though it is true that Centurians, Trebuchets and other 50 ton mechs have the same amount of armor, they don't have the twisting capabilities that hunchbacks do, making it harder for the pilot to spread incoming damage around their chasis. HBKs are also the only mech that I'm aware of that can shoot directly behind themselves. When you have no frontal armor left, putting your rear armor towards your enemy's guns does little good if you can't return fire or otherwise change the situation. You would just be delaying the inevitable.

[One Medic Army]

Ravingdork, on 26 May 2013 - 08:50 AM, said:

According to Smurfy's mech lab, Cicadas can only fit a maximum of 274 points of armor whereas Blackjacks can only fit a maximum of 306 points. Though it is true that Centurians, Trebuchets and other 50 ton mechs have the same amount of armor, they don't have the twisting capabilities that hunchbacks do, making it harder for the pilot to spread incoming damage around their chasis. HBKs are also the only mech that I'm aware of that can shoot directly behind themselves. When you have no frontal armor left, putting your rear armor towards your enemy's guns does little good if you can't return fire or otherwise change the situation. You would just be delaying the inevitable.

Have you never seen a well piloted zombie centurion?
True, they're really weak offensively at the moment due to reliance on SRM6s, but they are much harder to kill/disarm than hunchbacks.

I do like the Hunch-SP for being generally tough and the Hunch-P for having an ungodly number of hardpoints, but the rest of the hunchbacks just plain suck.

[Ravingdork]

What do you mean by zombie? I've heard the term before, but never knew what it meant. (And please don't say "walking dead.")

Edited by Ravingdork, 26 May 2013 - 10:27 AM.

[One Medic Army]

Ravingdork, on 26 May 2013 - 10:24 AM, said:

What do you mean by zombie? I've heard the term before, but never knew what it meant. (And please don't say "walking dead.")

It's referring to centurions with standard engines. They are notoriously hard to kill and generally end up dead after losing both arms and both side torsos first.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

Any zombie build uses a standard engine and some kind of CT or Head weapon so they can continue to fight with both side torsos and a leg blown off. Hunchbacks make pretty good zombies since every one can fit a head laser.

Since for much of the beta so far all the mediums were 50 tons, or the glorified light that is the Cicada, it is basically entirely moot that the Cicada and Blackjack can't take the same weight of armor that the Hunchback can. The Centurion has been around for almost as long (and was the only other medium for a goodly while, too), and the Trebuchet was here well before the Blackjack. Weight of armor is not a reason to play Hunchbacks.

That said, I enjoy all three of my Hunchbacks and I often do well with them. I drive the 4G(F), 4P, and 4SP and often punch above my weight class (with good speed and lots of armor too).

[NRP]

To be honest, the 4SP is my least favorite HBK. I like the 4P and 4H better. I've been leveling them all weekend.

By the way, Artemis really tightens the SRM6 spread. It costs you two DHS though.

Edit: And HBKs don't suck. Not sure why people say this? Sure, you can't really 1v1 in them, but in a group there are few other mechs I'd prefer to be in.

Edited by NRP, 26 May 2013 - 03:11 PM.

[jper4]

One Medic Army, on 26 May 2013 - 10:30 AM, said:

It's referring to centurions with standard engines. They are notoriously hard to kill and generally end up dead after losing both arms and both side torsos first.

they're kinda like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. blow off the arms, side torsos and a leg and they'll still yell "Have at thee!" and try to headbutt you.