Carrioncrows, on 26 May 2013 - 01:32 AM, said:
Then you are really missing out on a fantastic mech.
My Blackjacks run 46 CT and 36 Side Torso's. Sure a full 40 dmg will cave in the armor the side armor. But it will require three solid salvo's to destroy my mech, exactly like every other mech out there until you get to the upper tier heavies and assaults.
Not sure why we have this need that a Medium mech "Must" go fast, as long as your comfortable with the speed and acquit yourself well in a match there really isn't a problem.
I just got out of a match a little while ago, I solo (As in they were fresh when I engaged them and I was the only one attacking them) killed a Stalker, a Raven and a Highlander (killed him while I was legged) with my AIME build in Tourmaline. The high heat didn't effect me one whit and the jumpjets allowed me to use cover judiciously.
There are some bad builds out there simply because weapons are not up to snuff, but provided you know your mech and what, where, and how to engage there really isn't much that these Blackjack's can't accomplish.
But at the end of the day it's a 45 ton mech, which makes it so much more powerful in competitive and league play when weight factors in.
I also don't get the myth of the paper armor. Armor allowance is solely a matter of tonnage, not Chassis, and the BJ stock carries as much as the Centurion (both are 8.5 tons, I believe) and the maximum is 306 v 338, or 32 total pts... 1 ton of armor. Most Cents and Hunchies and Trebs strip that much off their legs anyhow.
It's a little lighter on armor, but not enough to truly make a difference with PPC, Gauss and AC/20s flying all around. And I find it is less of a target than a Treb or Cent because it is noticeably smaller (yay! PGI finally didn't fubar the scale!). I run XLs regularly in mine with little issue.