51 replies to this topic

[Void Angel]

Tim East, on 18 April 2015 - 05:26 AM, said:

I run something like 2-4 points of armor on my Locusts' backs.

Tarogato, on 18 April 2015 - 05:29 AM, said:

Wow, that much? Geez, where did you get the spare tonnage for that? The most I can fit on mine is 1 point before my front CT starts feeling like flypaper for stray AC rounds.

With the Locust, it's best to just accept that any time someone shoots you, you're flipping a coin to see if you die. I leave just enough rear armor to soak up some laser fire.

Although I did kill a Zeus in my Pirate's Bane by torso twisting to take his laser barrage on my arm. I laughed like a lunatic on voice coms.

I was legged at the time.

[bar10jim]

I'm not sure where I first saw this, but I found this formula somewhere in these forums:

Max armor X 10 / Engine Rating

This takes into account that the slower you are, the more you need rear armor. As torso twist and turning speed are directly related to Engine rating, your rear armor goes up as your engine gets smaller.

As an example:

A HBK-4G with a STD 200 engine would need 338 X 10 / 200 = 16.9 0r 17 pts on the rear.
A HBK-4P with a STD 275 engine would need 338 X 10 / 275 = 12.3 or 12 pts on the rear.

I find this is a good starting point, and adjust as time goes on. You may want to use a factor of 8 or 9 instead of 10, your mileage may vary.

Edited by bar10jim, 28 May 2015 - 02:41 PM.

[Tim East]

Void Angel, on 28 May 2015 - 01:59 PM, said:

With the Locust, it's best to just accept that any time someone shoots you, you're flipping a coin to see if you die. I leave just enough rear armor to soak up some laser fire.

Although I did kill a Zeus in my Pirate's Bane by torso twisting to take his laser barrage on my arm. I laughed like a lunatic on voice coms.

I was legged at the time.

Did that against a Stormcrow once by baiting him into shooting the already-destroyed leg. I can't help but imagine that he was pretty angry about it.

[Kahadras]

I usualy run between 8 and 10 armour on the rear side torso and between 10 and 12 on the rear center torso. While I try to protect my rear arcs there are times where I'm going to take hits and I want at least some armour back there. I also tend to run XL engines as well so my worst case senario is being shot in the back and losing a side torso before I can do anything about it.

[Saint Scarlett Johan]

One.

1.

Ein.

Uno.

That's how much back armor 99% of my mechs have. Which is why getting butt diddled is often a death sentence for me.

[Havyek]

I play with MS. I have more rear armour than front.

[PraetorGix]

None of you are a dedicated light pilot right? 4-6 points on a light mech is laughable. Of course if you're only gonna be scouting a bit and then letting your team mates do all the work is enough, but if you really use your light mech to actually fight, more than a lot of the time you end up having to retreat after a "strafing run". You know heavier pilots fixate on the lites and try to pursue them so it makes absolutely 0 sense to have that few points in the back.

[Void Angel]

And if you give the enemy a shot at your back as you disengage, you're doing it wrong.

Trust me... I do ok with lights.

[Nocifer Deathblade]

bar10jim, on 28 May 2015 - 02:40 PM, said:

I'm not sure where I first saw this, but I found this formula somewhere in these forums:

Max armor X 10 / Engine Rating

This takes into account that the slower you are, the more you need rear armor. As torso twist and turning speed are directly related to Engine rating, your rear armor goes up as your engine gets smaller.

As an example:

A HBK-4G with a STD 200 engine would need 338 X 10 / 200 = 16.9 0r 17 pts on the rear.
A HBK-4P with a STD 275 engine would need 338 X 10 / 275 = 12.3 or 12 pts on the rear.

I find this is a good starting point, and adjust as time goes on. You may want to use a factor of 8 or 9 instead of 10, your mileage may vary.

I don't like that formula lol. I love Boar's Head and it has 400 XL engine but I still need 30 in my back CT and 25 in back STs simply because I brawl. Also, too often, my friendly mechs kept shooting my back as they hide from me as I brawl while moving around.. My thick rear armor can afford some friendly fires without doing me any serious harm and I don't mind that. Also, sometimes, I had to retreat for cover (after seeing many mechs coming in) only to kill them in choke points. During my retreat, my rear armor saved my butt many times over as they fired at my back as I retreat quickly for cover to protect my frontal armor so I can ambush few of them who chased me during my retreat so can kill them easier.

[Crockdaddy]

Largely I run a bit more than normal for example on my Atlas my rear Armor might be 8-10-8 ... mostly because I am brawling in it. Snipers I go lower. If I get back cored it is either bad luck, light sneak, or bad position ... or a team push in which case one shot in the back won't matter much.

[Sug]

I run 5/5/5 on pretty much everything.

[Nori Silverrage]

I usually run 8/10/8 on heavies/assaults. I'd contemplate going lower, but to be honest I usually end the game with no rear armor and that is on purpose (I'm pretty reasonable at damage spreading). Sometimes you gotta run away and a few extra points can make all the difference.