116 replies to this topic

[Koniving]

cdlord, on 02 November 2013 - 06:13 AM, said:

If you want the hatchet version, you also need to wait till 3120. No thank you, I like the YLW as she is now. Just give melee so I can punch sh*t.

Melee! Atlas uses lariat; it's super effective!


I'd like to be able to grab and pick up things.

Asyres, on 02 November 2013 - 01:47 AM, said:

Something like 3E (RA/LA/HD), 1B (RT), 2M (LT)? That could be fun. Throw in an odd sized, slightly larger XL stock engine and call it a day (higher engine limit could be a significant selling point, I think).

That has potential. I'd prefer at least two ballistic hardpoints and will happily trade 1 missile for it. If I'm getting 1, I'd prefer to have 2 energy per arm as well as the 1 missile in the ST, and a missile/energy option for the head.

Far as some heroes.
From the original FASA #8603 3025 TRO, page 104, "Notable 'Mechs and Mechwarriors" section:

Quote

MechWarrior Danielle Peterson
A member of Delmar's assault lance, Tagaki's Battalion of House Davion's Chisholm's Raiders, Danielle does not look the part of a MechWarrior. Blond and beautiful, she has what many of her comrades call "the knack." Though joking and friendly outside of her 'Mech, when Danielle buttons up in her Awesome, she seems to become one with the machine, able to react as if it were her own skin. This has saved her on more than one occasion when surrounded by enemy 'Mechs. In one instance, she literally skipped aside with her Awesome, the Pretty Baby, to avoid an incoming missile strike aimed at her. Danielle is famous throughout the Successor States for her skill in piloting the usually unmaneuverable Awesome.

Pretty Baby (piloted by me)


From the same book, page 116:

Quote

Colonel J. Elliot Jameson
This officer of Wolf's Dragoons is known as a bold strategist. His tactics are simple to the point of eloquence and are almost always effective. Wolf usually assigns him to problem areas that need his careful planning and his Stalker's massive firepower. Jameson's 'Mech is deeply scarred on all sides, and its engine operates inefficiently, but it is still a fearsome machine.

Given this from Sarna, I think that's pretty much confirmed:

Quote

J. Elliot Jamison, commander of Wolf's Dragoons' Zeta Battalion piloted a Stalker for most of his career, serving with distinction during the Battle of Misery and the Fourth Succession War.

HM versus Misery.

(I'm the HM)

Edited by Koniving, 02 November 2013 - 08:36 AM.

[Chemistry Warden]

Koniving, on 02 November 2013 - 08:31 AM, said:

Melee! Atlas uses lariat; it's super effective!

I lol'd.

[Asyres]

Bishop Steiner, on 02 November 2013 - 06:09 AM, said:

actually, the Pretty Baby, FireBrand and Death's Knell are from the TRO 3025. The Dragonslayer is invented, but for a canon character, Arden Sortek. the Portector is for aleksandr Kerensky, and as close as available tech allows. THe Misery is the mech driven by Colonel Jamison of Wolfs Dragoons Zeta Battalion.

Most have loose descriptions, if any, in lore, but all those are "canon" mechs.

I stand corrected. I never played the tabletop, so most of my information is from near-obsessive browsing of Sarna (which is incomplete).

[Bagheera]

Might be interesting with 1e in the head and 2e in the CT, flavor arms, side torso as you like. Zombieback extraordinaire?

[Sephlock]

"SO, NEXT MONTH'S HERO HUNCHBACK, ANY THOUGHTS ON WHAT IT WILL BE?
Started by Bishop Steiner, Yesterday, 09:54 AM"

Me: *LUNGES FOR KEYBOARD, HURTING HIMSELF IN THE PROCESS... then reads first line*

"Seems a pretty safe assumption, since last month was the Atlas, this month the Catapult, so likely next month will be the Hunchback, capped off in January with the Jenner Hero."

...

*sigh*

With PGI, expect the unexpected, dude.

And don't get my hopes up like that.

This ranks right up there with that one guy's thread that implied an early release of the Phoenix mechs, and seeing Pada Vinson's name and reading "Panda Vision" (it happens EVERY TIME).

That said, when and if they do release a Hero Hunchback, it had better be a Hunchback IIC (or equivalent thereof, with at AT LEAST one ballistic slot in each side torso).

Yes, this will make it a deathtrap due to the huge side hitboxes, but at least I'll be able to play with MAXIMUM DAKKA!

[Bishop Steiner]

Asyres, on 02 November 2013 - 11:59 AM, said:

I stand corrected. I never played the tabletop, so most of my information is from near-obsessive browsing of Sarna (which is incomplete).

Not a problem. I miss some stuff from Sarna, because most of my info is from near obsessive playing the TT and reading the source books. But I did it the "first time around", so a lot of the retcons (especially under CGL) I am unfamiliar with, like the rules for 100 ton hovercraft and such. And I LOVE seeing them say things like Laser AMS was available in 3048 when as a guy who played the tournaments during the actual invasion (back like 89-91) I can say that tech was NOT available. /(Even the novels support this).

So yeah, due to many IP owners, and such, there is sometimes a disconnect between the generations of fans, and the TT players and Video game players, etc. No biggy.

[Bishop Steiner]

Bagheera, on 02 November 2013 - 12:48 PM, said:

Might be interesting with 1e in the head and 2e in the CT, flavor arms, side torso as you like. Zombieback extraordinaire?

I kinda like it. Would like it more with 2 ballistic in the CT for a real weird weapon combo possibility. Zombie with Medium Pulse and 2 AC2 (ammo in the legs?) Give it either SP side torsos or a 4P energy hunch.

[Roadkill]

I think a 4SP variant that replaces the side torso missile slots with ballistics is most likely, mostly because it's the most reasonable. And even that would probably elicit cries of P2W!

It'd be a precursor to the IIC.

[zagibu]

Well, a 4-SP with ballistics would render the 4G/H obsolete because of no hunch.

I think one of those is possible and would be balanced and somewhat useful:
- 4G/H mix with 2B in hunch and 1 additional E on left arm (opposite side of hunch)
- 4J/P mix with 3M(5) and 1E in hunch
- 4-SP with 1E removed from each arm and 2E or 2B in CT
- 4-SP with 2M(4) in both STs, but no head laser

Edited by zagibu, 02 November 2013 - 06:12 PM.

[Sephlock]

The Hunchback needs twin Hero mechs.

They'd be desert themed.

The Dromedary would have one large hunch with four ballistic slots (when full, the four barrels would be arranged in a diamond pattern... +10 awesome points if they rotate when chain firing, and +100000 awesome points if machineguns put into that slot look like miniguns with barrels that spin, and ten KAJILLIONo awesome points if both of those are applied.

It'd also have 2-3 energy slots in the opposite arm.

The Bactrian would have two hunches - one in each side torso. Each one would have two ballistic slots, maybe with 1-2 energy slots as well (mounted a bit lower- say the same relative height as the Battlemaster's boobie blasters.

---

If need be, the Dromedary could have just one large "Hunch" - on the back! That'd bring it's specialness up to the level of the Bactrian). That + a weapon slot in the head should make for some interesting gameplay... you'd use the head weapon + the CT weapons as a kind of combination periscope and this*


Naturally all three slots would be pluripotent... so if I wanted I could have three AC/2s... or I could have 3 LRM5s... I can't imagine why, but I guess I could waste them on 3 mlas as well...

--

OR the one hunch protruding up over the CT could be made up of side torso sections, allowing for a similar periscope effect... making the Dromedary the sniper variant, with the Bactrian being the brawler variant, while keeping them both similar in terms of slot layout.


*This is where i'd put a video of the weapon i can only remember as the "camera gun" from GRAW... but I cannot find the name of it, and now am wondering if it was even in GRAW, or if it was GRAW 2, or what. I was hoping for a pic of a character holding it overhead, firing it over a rock, the way I remember....


----

I know there is no chance in hell of them doing this, and that makes me very, very sad inside... but please. let me dream.

[Fenris Krinkovich]

Two ballistic hunches is NOT the answer, for the same reason the 4G is the "worst" Hunchback: too heavy. Two ballistics means you're spending half the chassis' weight on just those weapons (2 AC20, XL 250, and an Endo chassis is 43 tons right there, you're gonna want 3 tons of ammo minimum because of no other weapons and double the rate of consumption, so 4 tons of armor...yeah, lots of firepower but armored like a Commando and arguably way easier to kill), so that wouldn't be my vote. And if you were just going to fill them up with smaller guns, the 4G can do that already. Same goes for larger and larger engines; we only have 50 tons to work with, heavier components are a stealth nerf.

Characteristically a Hero has an atypical layout, not necessarily a more powerful one. One of the neat things about the Hunchie is that there's a chassis for every role and all weapon categories, so finding something one doesn't already do is tough. I don't think JJ on a Hunchback is ever going to happen, it's just too contrary to lore.

I think I'd want the same layout as a 4H, but with the torso lasers moved to LT or CT; 3 or 4 mlas in zombie mode would be dynamite. An all-laser 4SP would be neat; three each on the LT and RT, one each head and arms, and XL engines aren't a death wish...but this renders the 4P obsolete. I don't know, tbh. Hunchbacks have a lot of bases covered.

[Odanan]

In the Hunchback's video the devs hinted: 0:36 - Pros: Has a giant cannon on the shoulder. 0:39 - Cons: Doesn't have 2 giant cannons. 0:44 - (yet)

So I would assume a Hunchback with ballistics in both side torsos.

If it has jumpjets, even better (we can make a demi-Hunchback IIC).

[Bishop Steiner]

Odanan, on 03 November 2013 - 12:03 PM, said:

In the Hunchback's video the devs hinted: 0:36 - Pros: Has a giant cannon on the shoulder. 0:39 - Cons: Doesn't have 2 giant cannons. 0:44 - (yet)

So I would assume a Hunchback with ballistics in both side torsos.

If it has jumpjets, even better (we can make a demi-Hunchback IIC).

you do know the HBK-IIC is one of the most spectacularly BAD mechs ever designed, right? Two big guns, and JJs...... with tissue paper armor, 5 total rounds between then (oh boy 7 rounds in MWO!!!!) and literally no room to actually improve it to make that feature work.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

I like the idea of JJs on a very modified SP chassis. IB+1M both ST,1M Head, 1M CT an 2E per arm. Give it a 275 or so engine cap. With AC5s, SSRM2s and MLs it could be fun.

[MrEdweird]

I'm thinking 4H right torso with 1 ballistic hardpoint, no hardpoints for the head, 4SP type left torso with 2 missile hardpoints, 1 energy hardpoint per arm and 2 energy hardpoints in centre torso.

There's my wild guesstimation.

[zagibu]

Nik Van Rhijn, on 03 November 2013 - 12:42 PM, said:

I like the idea of JJs on a very modified SP chassis. IB+1M both ST,1M Head, 1M CT an 2E per arm. Give it a 275 or so engine cap. With AC5s, SSRM2s and MLs it could be fun.

A dual ballistic ST HBK with JJ? Dream on.

[Koniving]

Sephlock, on 02 November 2013 - 07:44 PM, said:

The Hunchback needs twin Hero mechs.

They'd be desert themed.

The Dromedary would have one large hunch with four ballistic slots (when full, the four barrels would be arranged in a diamond pattern... +10 awesome points if they rotate when chain firing, and +100000 awesome points if machineguns put into that slot look like miniguns with barrels that spin, and ten KAJILLIONo awesome points if both of those are applied.

It'd also have 2-3 energy slots in the opposite arm.

The Bactrian would have two hunches - one in each side torso. Each one would have two ballistic slots, maybe with 1-2 energy slots as well (mounted a bit lower- say the same relative height as the Battlemaster's boobie blasters.

I like these ideas. But here's my feedback. (I'd love the spinning guns btw).

If the Hunch gets 4 ballistics in any body part, it's bound to have only 1 or 2 energy slots. Somehow I picture these going to the arms.

For the second idea, it's like an entry-level Hunchback II-C. In which case we'll ultimately have the same issue, max 2 energy and it'd be on the arms. For every ballistic slot PGI typically consumes two other weapon slots. To tell the truth I'd love to run a twin LB-10, twin MG rig with twin SPLs and a big XL engine.

I still crave the mortars, though.

[Harmatia]

Bishop Steiner, on 01 November 2013 - 06:47 AM, said:

number 1 reason I hate the 4H? Those extra lasers are in the same hunch as the AC, so lose it, lose the lasers anyhow. BOOO! Those lasers should have been in the LT or the arms like the SP. But the LRMs being in the LT would at least offset things a skosh.

The 4J is the same way, and combined with the 4H they make up the worst hard point balanced Hunchbacks currently available. They're too much of a liability.

[Koniving]

I can carry an AC/20 and 2 lasers in the RT of the H. I believe the main idea is to force you to choose bigger energy or bigger missiles. Given that it's a hunchback this is also quite intentional as part of a lore basis.

That said, I wish that losing the side torso either A) removed the entire section of your body as a hitbox to make it harder to hit you or B ) did not "destroy" the arm as well as the side torso.

Edited by Koniving, 03 November 2013 - 09:48 PM.

[Product9]

I want a 4G with 4SP arms (2 ML each). That is all.