Bishop Steiner, on 18 May 2013 - 03:28 AM, said:
Agree on the Lights. But think we could also add the Mongoose
And the Vulcan is as agile, and more interesting (IMO) than the Clint (which is also an essentially extinct mech, produced by no one in hundreds of years) and the Assassin is MORE agile. Totally agree with the Dervish.
Heavies are the category that seems to dry up on truly interesting designs fastest. Unseen issues and all. Mediums are similar boat.
And pretty much agree on the Assaults, although, I have "saved" Alex the Cyclops trouble.....
nope.. no shameless self promotion here......
A decade as a Rabid Fox might have colored my thinking.... and the absolute idiocy of Nondi Steiner.
So, to backtrack a bit...
While TRO 3050U does indicate that the
Clint didn't go back into active mass-production until 3055, that the
Clint has an entry in each previous TRO (including pages 38-39 of the original TRO 3025) would imply that it is extremely common and/or extremely easy to salvage and repair.
As for some potential Heavies...
- Black Knight (75 tons): BK-6-KNT, BK-7-KNT, and BK-7-KNT-L
- Champion (60 tons): CHP-1N, CHP-1N2, and CHP-2N
- Grasshopper (70 tons): GHR-4R, GHR-5H, GHR-5N, and GHR-5J
- Guillotine (70 tons): GLT-3N, GLT-4L, GLT-4P, and GLT-5M
- Lancelot (60 tons): LNC25-01, LNC25-05, LNC25-02, LNC25-03
- Quickdraw (60 tons): QKD-4G, QKD-4H, QKD-5A, and QKD-5K
Everything else is Unseen, Clan, a quad, doesn't have enough timeline-fitting variants, or has variants that have not-yet-recovered-or-implemented tech (e.g. NullSig, CLPS, one-shot missile weapons, etc).
The issue with the
Black Knight is that all of the variants have the same minimum hardpoint requirements and have enough weapons (8E, for each) that options with regard to adding additional hardpoints become rather limited.
This issue was previously discussed explained
here and
here.
Likewise, all of the
Champion variants also have the same minimum hardpoint requirements (4E, 1B, 1M).
While the
Champion is pushing the implied limit for the Heavy category (most of which have only 6-8 hardpoints), the number is low enough - and the
Champion has each hardpoint type represented - that it is more flexible in this regard than, say, the
Black Knight.
The
Grasshopper variants have varying minimum hardpoint requirements (6E for the GHR-5N, 5E + 1M for the GHR-5J and GHR-5H), while still (like, say, the
Champion) having few enough hardpoints to be somewhat flexible with regard to hardpoint inflation.
The
Guillotine, like the
Black Knight, has the issue of the variants being homogeneous - all of them require a minimum of 5E + 1M in the same location arrangement. However, as with the similarly-armed and same-mass
Grasshopper, there are few enough minimum hardpoints to allow for some flexibility with regard to extras.
The
Lancelot, in contrast to the other Heavy 'Mechs listed, possesses more variety across its variants - two of them (LNC25-01 and LNC25-02) are energy boats with a minimum of 4E hardpoints, one of them (LNC25-03) has a minimum hardpoint requirement of 2E + 2B, and the last one (LNC25-05) has a minimum hardpoint requirement of 3E + 4B.
The
Lancelot is also notable for being particularly fast, coming stock with a 360-rated Engine (LNC25-01 and LNC25-05) or a 300-rated Engine (LNC25-03), though one variant (LNC25-02) moves only at average Heavy 'Mech speeds.
The
Quickdraw suffers from variant homogeneity with regard to minimum required hardpoint numbers and placement, but still has few enough (typically six) to allow for some flexibility.
Of note is that the
Grasshopper and
Guillotine and
Quickdraw are jump-capable, while the
Black Knight and
Champion and
Lancelot are not.
Thoughts?
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