16 replies to this topic

[Big Tin Man]

I have enough MC for either, and not interested in any other hero's in the ~2500MC price range that I don't already own.

I own no hunchies or BJ's, so I'd need to commit to a chassis as well.

Discuss.

[jper4]

i have both and enjoy both. if you pilot jagers than Blackjacks will be easy for you to pick up- plus the Arrow has JJs. pretend it's the Jager's annoying little brother. I run mine pretty much stock LPL/2ML and 6MGs. other people just say give it an ac20 and a few MLs and make another BJ-1 out of it. just have to remember you're not a heavy so don't act like one.

grid iron i've tried a few builds on- the gauss version seems to be the most popular lately. I haven't used that myself. had some success with odd builds (ALRM 10, 2ML,MPL and 2MG for instance) currently going ac10 and MPLs. can take a beating. aother one where people slap an ac20 in and a few MLs as well.

I like both chassis too- mastered both. one advantage the hunchies have is the fact that they can use missiles on several of them while blackjacks are laser/ballistic only across the board. so you can get more variety going hunchy.

[Mordecai McTiernan]

GI: You love Gauss? This is your 'Mech!
Other HBK include the awesome SRM6-Delivery-Machine-of-Death ™, the -4SP (really, it's like a HUGINN on speed ), and the great DISCO-machine, the -4P ( Love those Las0rZ ).
All in all you can always do worse than a good HunchBack!

I cannot say much for the BJs though, only own the Arrow myself. But with its' 3 LLAS + 6 MG I have lots of fun with it

Edited by Mordecai McTiernan, 18 June 2015 - 04:09 PM.

[N a p e s]

Since you don't own the other variants you're better off with the Hunchies which feature alot of variety. The GI is a gauss flinging machine gun on legs and the other variants all get some pretty sweet quirks and since they mostly use standard engines they aren't too expensive to outfit.

The Arrow on its own is a great chassis but I've never really liked the other Blackjacks. Sure the 1X is pretty cool for boating MLas but the other variants... meh.

So all in all, I'd recommend getting both eventually since both the GI and Arrow are fun but overall the Hunchback wins.

[Big Tin Man]

PowerOfNapes, on 18 June 2015 - 04:15 PM, said:

Since you don't own the other variants you're better off with the Hunchies which feature alot of variety. The GI is a gauss flinging machine gun on legs and the other variants all get some pretty sweet quirks and since they mostly use standard engines they aren't too expensive to outfit.

The Arrow on its own is a great chassis but I've never really liked the other Blackjacks. Sure the 1X is pretty cool for boating MLas but the other variants... meh.

So all in all, I'd recommend getting both eventually since both the GI and Arrow are fun but overall the Hunchback wins.

I almost think you made a better argument for the arrow, since there are fewer viable bj variants out there. This was my gut feeling as there is a lot of diversity in the hbk world without the gi.

I do want both, and unless the next 40 cool down rewards are Mc, I'm not getting there in time.

[Shadey99]

As long as I've been playing this game I've managed somehow to avoid both BJs and Hunchie s for ages... Until a couple weeks ago that is and then I bought both.

I didn't buy the heros as they were not on sale at that time, but...

The BJ-1X and BJ-3 are great mechs with only minor tweaks to their stock builds (DHS, Endo, etc). My Third was the BJ-1DC, which can still be very strong with it's default weapons (6 ML and a pair of AC2s). I've seen the Arrow used quite effectively though, and even 4 MGs can do a lot of damage in the right hands (and with a bit of luck). While most BJs are somehwat slow, the BJ-1X can hold a 295 rated engine which makes it faster than a stormcrow.

For Hunchies I grabbed the 4G, 4J, and 4P. The 4G is actually the least useful and I'd probably take a GI over it even with me being bad with Gauss... The 4J is a very useful LRM20 platform with 6 MLs as 'backup' or primary weapons depending on the situation. The 4P is the laser boat of all laser boats with it's 9 lasers...

All that said... I prefer the BJs over the Hunchies. Those high mounted arm lasers are just so useful for minimizing exposure to return fire. Their may be more Hunchies, but few people are going to buy more than 3 unless they really like a mech or they are really unhappy with a variant... So their being more options doesn't mean much. Anyways... you may just want to buy a couple of each and try them out to see if you like the chasis or not.

[cranect]

I personally did not enjoy the blackjacks very much. I don't know why but I couldn't get a Jan of them and enjoy it. I own all of the hunchbacks and have most of them mastered. I love my hunchies. I run the grid iron with gauss and three med laser and either a srm4 or 6 I can't remember. Sadly i have an XL in it. The rest I run standard engines and brawl away in them.

[stealthraccoon]

Hunchbacks any day!

I got the "Special Edition" GI and it has only been dethroned from my most played mech since the release of Urbies (unless you add all the Locusts together maybe).

Even if you don't gauss the GI, the general ballistic and MPL buffs are nice, and the remaining HBK's have some great quirks too (4J being a favorite of mine).

Blackjack's are nice, but for the weight I enjoyed the a Vindicator chassis much more.

[Zen Idiot]

i enjoy my BJ-A; 2 lpl and 6 mgs w/ JJs is a brutal hit and fade.

[Zordicron]

Gotta say HBK for variety sake. Each variant is solid, and offers somthing different through quirks and hardpoints.

general rule of thumb:
Run as big a STD engine as you can and still make use of hardpoints. I ran 260..... well, long ago that was max, now it is 275 I think.... ok I ran max engine in all of them, even got it with an AC20 on the G, but that can make the build tight on ammo. I dont have much issue making each shell count, so it didnt bother me, but if you like to try err, less then certain shots(like shooting peeka boo mechs in a narrow window at 350M) you might want to trim the engine down a peg for more ammo tons.

BJ, well, arrow is fun, the rest are various flavors of ML boat lol, though people do shake them up out of boredom, and they do OK. BJ certainly do not have the versatility of a HBK without being.... unorthodox.

IMO, the Arrow is more fun then the Grid Iron, but the HBK chassis is more interesting and entertaining then the BJ chassis.

[JC Daxion]

you could spend 7 bucks, and pick up the small MC package, the two cost a total of 3562, So you say you have enough for either, perhaps you have a bit extra.. that 7 dollar package should get you almost their i would think. I can think of worse ways to spend 7.50


I don't have the GI, but i have the 4p, 4SP, and 4G.. they are excellent brawlers..

I own the arrow, and have played it a little. 2 large pulse and 6 machine guns is pretty cool.. I have yet to pick up the others yet.. been working on leveling other mechs. 6 machine guns is a lot of fun though, then again i'm bias'd as i have a bunch of machine gun mechs, and often buy mechs just because they can pack on a bunch of them. I also love to brawl, so it all suits me very well.

[Inflatable Fish]

if you play CW at all, the Grid Iron is a beast there.

the Arrow is potentially good in pug matches, but machine guns kinda blow at this point in time, they have a lot of hitreg problems.

[Big Tin Man]

JC Daxion, on 18 June 2015 - 08:05 PM, said:

you could spend 7 bucks, and pick up the small MC package, the two cost a total of 3562, So you say you have enough for either, perhaps you have a bit extra.. that 7 dollar package should get you almost their i would think. I can think of worse ways to spend 7.50

I've already spent north of $400 on the game, I'm done spending for quite a while, but I hear you, they're not expensive. That's how I ended up with so many hero's in the first place. I told my wallet no more MC for at least a year, and I have to subsist off of the scraps of MC from weekend events and CW if I ever get to level 10.

Thanks for the advice guys, I think I'm going to go arrow. It sounds like a good variation on the BJ chassis, and there's enough good hunchie variants out there that the GI isn't a must have at this time.

[bad arcade kitty]

arrow it's 3 lasers and 6 mgs... sounds fun

[Grendel408]

Arrow w/ 2 LPL and 6 MGs is also quite fun too add the range module for MGs... even better

[TheArcher]

I've mastered both the Arrow and the GridIron. I prefer the GI, w 2xAC5 and 2MPL. I like the 10DPS from the ACs vs. the 7 from the Gauss GI, and that doesn't include the fact I'm firing 4 rounds for each Gauss round (== 4 times the crit rolls.) Drawbacks: it runs hotter than the Gauss, the Gauss has longer range, the Alpha is worse, and the Gauss could mount another ton of ammo (for another 150 points of damage).

[CygnusX7]

Rapid fire Gauss mech that goes 90-100kph?
NO JJ's and it's made of glass... but you just have to play it that way.

I run it like this.
GRID IRON