33 replies to this topic

[Bleakheart]

Mediums have the speed you need to get from cover to cover, and hit hard along the way. Their flexability allows them to fill a LOT of roles. Personally I love a high speed medium with a sledgehammer of a weapon. Sure it can't fire often, but I'll be behind cover, and you, when it's cycled and ready

[Murphy7]

Bleakheart, on 18 June 2012 - 05:33 PM, said:

Mediums have the speed you need to get from cover to cover, and hit hard along the way. Their flexability allows them to fill a LOT of roles. Personally I love a high speed medium with a sledgehammer of a weapon. Sure it can't fire often, but I'll be behind cover, and you, when it's cycled and ready

That's the stuff, right there!

[Corka]

SyberSmoke, on 18 June 2012 - 05:30 PM, said:

Well fortunately we get 4 mech slots (at least from the videos) and so we can have one of each weight class of mech if not each meach type its self. Initially we may see many an assault lumbering around...but if they do not mutually support one another...bets are the few lights and mediums out there will rip them up. That is the wonderful thing about battletech, with a skilled pilot any mech can kill anything other mech.

That is blatantly false. For a light to kill an assault in an even one on one battle, the assault pilot has to be inept. Doesn't matter how good the pilot of the light is. Really, consider a mech like the Flea versus ... well pretty much any heavy or assault mech.

[Cik]

Corka, on 18 June 2012 - 05:36 PM, said:

That is blatantly false. For a light to kill an assault in an even one on one battle, the assault pilot has to be inept. Doesn't matter how good the pilot of the light is. Really, consider a mech like the Flea versus ... well pretty much any heavy or assault mech.

the flea is a poor example. it is built for infantry hunting at BEST, and can be overpowered even then. compare a heavier 35 ton, and you can get closer if you are smart. though really, the light class is not built to overpower an assault anyway, so matching it against one and saying "lights suck" isn't helping.

edit: yes it is possible to kill an assault with a light, it is called "rear armor" get a few lucky shots and a gyro hit, and he will have a great time standing let alone pursuing you. sure, it depends on luck to a limited extent, but then again so does the assault killing the light.

Edited by Cik, 18 June 2012 - 05:42 PM.

[Corka]

I was trying to refute the claim that a skilled pilot with any mech can kill any other mech Not strictly that a light can never kill an assault. Certainly possible for a number of different lights to get in close and potentially kill a Longbow. Also different in a two versus one scenario where a flanking light can potentially be the one who does the damage and gets the kill.

[Steamroller Stig]

well mechs like the Uzeil and shadow cat were amazing in MW4 becuase they could bring a decent arsenal to bear and were capable of 100km/h + speeds.

the issue I see with the current selection of meds is the lack of speed. Maybe a Centurion won't be so bad if you swap the SRMs for an engine upgrade.

[pyrometer]

Will there be Mech Destoyers and what models are they? It would be nice if they had a camo bonus and could snipe from downrange. Also would be more in line with some better games if I could put trees, bushes and rocks on my mech destroyer for better camo so I could snipe from downrange. Afre there any game mechanics in place where mechs can transform into smaller sizes, like croutch down and transform into a rock or a tree for better camo? Would be a cool game if you suddenly got jumped by a mech pretending to be a rock because you werent paying attention to your situational awereness.

[Johnny Reb]

I'm planning on using a Cicada (preferably with a PPC) to be my scout/scout hunter. Speed kills even if its a reduced Cicada from 130 to 120k/m

[ScientificMethod]

pyrometer, on 18 June 2012 - 06:20 PM, said:

Will there be Mech Destoyers and what models are they? It would be nice if they had a camo bonus and could snipe from downrange. Also would be more in line with some better games if I could put trees, bushes and rocks on my mech destroyer for better camo so I could snipe from downrange. Afre there any game mechanics in place where mechs can transform into smaller sizes, like croutch down and transform into a rock or a tree for better camo? Would be a cool game if you suddenly got jumped by a mech pretending to be a rock because you werent paying attention to your situational awereness.

Coralld, on 21 April 2012 - 11:19 PM, said:


But on a serious note, don't shortchange mediums. Especially when the developers themselves have said this isn't going to be an arms race for the heavy weight classes.

[Bleakheart]

ScientificMethod, on 18 June 2012 - 06:37 PM, said:

Coralld, on 21 April 2012 - 11:19 PM, said:


But on a serious note, don't shortchange mediums. Especially when the developers themselves have said this isn't going to be an arms race for the heavy weight classes.

"We are Ninja. We are hedge. You see nothing, for we are not here. Move along."

[Voss Korgan]

Bottom line is, if they do not impose some sort of tonnage/BV system, no one will ever play anything other than Heavy or Assaualt an honestly, there would be little reason to. I'm assuming they have thought about this as it would be an egregious oversite otherwise.

[latdheretic]

I fully expect a tonnage/bv system to be in place in match balancing. The devs clearly there would be a system for that. . .

BUT I disagree that nobody would play lighter mechs. I would expect less lighter mechs with no limit, but if you have one team full of assaults, and another with mostly assaults, but a few lights and mediums, I would put my money on the more balanced team. Why? Role warfare: A team with a light spotter can flag an enemy assault or two for a barrage and destruction before the all assault team can even get a chance to fight. Good mediums are going to be able to get positional advantage and fire at the rear, or even outrun the assault team and take their base.

In a straight up one on one fight an Assault is always going to have an advantage on any other class of mech. It's true. BUT that is not the fight you are getting with mechwarrior. It is as much about area control/denial, recon intelligence, target painting, and a number of other team related activities, and when you get into that, then every mech has a role. The teams that will dominate will have all players knowing their roles and doing their job, and having a solid team composition that makes the most of each others capabilities.

Other people have already stated many of the roles where mediums will excel. The actual role is going to vary based on you loadout of course. I personally want to pilot a recon hunter/lrm boat harasser/backup recon medium. That I see as a very useful role. It is best done by a medium mech with good balance of mobility, firepower, and defense.

[CobraFive]

Voss Korgan, on 18 June 2012 - 06:56 PM, said:

Bottom line is, if they do not impose some sort of tonnage/BV system, no one will ever play anything other than Heavy or Assaualt an honestly, there would be little reason to. I'm assuming they have thought about this as it would be an egregious oversite otherwise.

Actually even without a tonnage or BV system, to me, the big difference sounds like modules. Although they haven't said one way or the other, it sounds to me like lighter mechs will get more module slots, and some of them sound like they add quite a bit of functionality.

For example a Jenner that can see through walls and relay target lockons to a Catapult buddy at long range sounds like more then a match for two assaults of any type, really.

[Sigmund Sandoval]

Evaluating a 'mech solely on its ability to overcome another 'mech in single combat is not only pedestrian but is lacking in any knowledge of armored cavalry tactics. The role of the scout is well defined while the roles of defender/assaulter/commander are not quite fully defined, but armored cavalry tactics are.

A major aspect of all warfare is the simple formula, known as the Lanchester's Square Law, that the relative combat power of a combat unit in contact with each other to the relative combat power of an enemy of a given size, all other factors being equal, is the square of the number of members of that unit:

• One tank obviously has the combat power of one tank. (1² = 1)
  
• Two tanks have four times the relative combat power of a single tank. (2² = 4)

From this it is derived that twice as many tanks will quadruple the relative firepower — relative that is, to the amount of firepower the enemy has per member of the friendly unit; one could also express this by saying that their relative punishment from enemy action is reduced four times, which is the same thing — as not only their own absolute number is doubled, but the number of enemy tanks relative to each of their own, is thereby halved also.


Concentration of force requires mobility to prevent the enemy detecting the point of attack in time to reinforce the section of the defence, and concentration of firepower to be effective in combat once concentrated. The medium 'mech embodies these two properties, and so constitutes the primary weapon in armoured warfare.

The medium 'mech provides good firepower on a highly mobile platform. It allows for the commander to apply force to defend and assault fronts by committing heavy assets to a more fixed location and have a highly mobile force that can reinforce them or defend points where enemy heavy assets are focused. They also add the ability to counteract enemy scout flankers within your own lines. Generally their strength is the ability to react, fill multiple tactical roles, shore up holes in defense and provide the force needed to break through enemy lines.

Sure, faster heavy 'mechs can also provide a similar tactical role, but at a greater cost in C-Bills. All things considered, a 55 ton 'mech can do pretty much everything a 65 ton mech can do at the same speed and at a much lesser cost.