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Hello fellow mechwarriors,
After 100 drops in what I affectionately call "Li'lPugNasty" I have to say the performance of this particular chassis is greater than I ever expected it to be. It is speedy (~92) and agile with a low profile making it easy to rapidly deploy and reposition on the battlefield with lower risk than most other LRM chassis'. The two ALRM-10s are mounted fairly high on the right side which allows for really good use of terrain cover while maintaining LOS on target and the head mounted tag only improves on this. The rate of fire is incredible which is why this mech can function so well as an LRM boat with 20 tubes. 3 MLs provide an effective backup weapon system and allow the HBK-4J to remain an effective skirmisher when out of ammo. The XL engine in this build is pretty much mandatory, but it really isn't a big detriment as the speed allows you to continually reposition, and torso twisting is actually pretty effective in this mech provided you aren't attempting to go head to head with someone in close range. This mech keeps up with any other LRM boat on the field, and outperforms a number of them simply due to its ability to move far more aggressively and fire faster despite the fewer tubes. This is not a killing machine, instead it pretty much shreds armor and components making kills much easier for the brawlers on your team.
There are suprisingly few negatives in my opinion. It is a bit squishy, so you have to be vigilant about your surroundings. Seismic might help with this, but I generally tend to move a lot during the match. As with all LRM boats ECM and Radar Deprivation can spell trouble. I would consider dumping the extra DHS and 1/2 ton of ammo to pick up a BAP. There have only been a few matches where this has been a problem for me in the last 100, but when it happens it can be a nightmare. I generally keep a UAV on hand in case things get bad, but you really can't rely too much on them. Certain maps are simply harder for LRM mechs too, the biggest culprit in my opinion is Crimson Strait (in 100 matches my top damage in CS was 461). The biggest negative is actually how easy it is to waste ammo in this thing, which is why it is really suited to mobile LOS firing.
As you can see at the stats for this chassis on the bottom of the image, I managed a 1.50 win/loss rating and a 1.90 kill/death rating, but what is more interesting to me is that coming in at 48,044 damage over 100 matches puts the average damage per match at 480 including all the matches from basic to expert. That is a whopping 9.6 damage per ton on a 50 ton mech which is pretty darn good. Another surprise for me was the match scores being so high, which I chalk up to the mobility, spotting and component shredding capabilities of this mech.
If you are interested in LRMs but don't like the idea of standing way back and firing over the hills this could be a great option for you.
Edited by Errinovar, 13 January 2015 - 03:46 PM.
