Flea (20 tons, Inner Sphere battlemech)
(MWO concept art repaint above by Blackfang) (MWO-style 3D model by confracto) (MW4-style 3D model above from MC:Omnitech mod)
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Sarna article here
So, the Flea. Contrary to common belief, it does not go faster than MWO can handle. With maximum engine (170 rating) it travels 148.0 kph with 7.5% Speed Tweak (updated from 10%) and MASC brings it up to 162.8 kph in bursts. Yup, not even as fast as the Spider. MASC could be buffed to 14% and the Flea would still be fine. (currently, the
Inner Sphere MASC MK.I boosts speed by a mere 10%). So, it's a 20-ton mech that runs slower than the Locust. And as far as I can tell, only one of the variants can actually equip MASC at all. So does it at least have good hardpoints?
Well, yes, actually. Maybe. Let's consider the following variants according to their stock/tabletop/lore loadouts. There are only three standard variants in timeline, and the Fire Ant is a 3058 variant that could easily be used in MWO as a Hero mech since it doesn't use any advanced tech.
FLE-17 --- has 5 energy and MASC
FLE-4 ----- has 4 energy
FLE-15 --- has 5 energy and 2 ballistic
Fire Ant -- has 3 energy and 6 ballistic
Here's the approach I'm taking to the Flea:
- Only the FLE-17 can equip MASC
- All variants should have the same number of hardpoints
- MASC counts as a hardpoint
- two ballistics are worth one hardpoint
- larger stock weapons translate to more MWO hardpoints (hardpoint inflation)
That said, here are the hardpoints I would expect (hope!) the variants to have in MWO
Here's the hardpoints, fingers crossed:
FLE-17 (
TRO details) (produced 2475)
<LA> 2 energy
<LT> 1 energy
<CT> 1 energy, MASC
<RT> 1 energy
<RA> 2 energy
FLE-4 (
TRO details) (produced 2475)
<LA> 2 energy
<LT>
<CT> 2 energy
<RT>
<RA> 4 energy
FLE-15 (produced 2519)
<LA> 3 energy
<LT> 1 ballistic
<CT> 1 energy
<RT> 1 ballistic
<RA> 3 energy
Fire Ant (produced 3058)
<LA> 3 ballistic
<LT> 2 energy
<CT> 1 energy
<RT> 2 energy
<RA> 3 ballistic
All variants above have 8 hardpoints (with each pair of ballistics counting as one and each MASC counting as one). With this sort of armament, I would expect the Flea to fill a niche that the Locust doesn't - excessive boating of small weapons. With max engine, we have 7 tons to work with. We can easily get 7.5 by stripping an arm, and manage 8 tons by stripping both arms and the head.
Here's the builds:
FLE-17
- 7x SPL
- 6x SPL
or ML + MASC
- 7x SL + 3x DHS + MASC
FLE-4
- 8x SL + 3x DHS
- 6x SPL + 2x SL
FLE-15
- 6x ML + 1x DHS
- 5x ML + 2x MG (1 ton ammo)
- 7x SL + 2x MG (1.5 tons ammo) + 1x DHS
Fire Ant
- 5x SL + 6x MG (1.5 tons ammo)
- 4x ML
or SPL + 4x MG (1 ton ammo)
- 5x ML + 3x DHS
- 3x MPL + 2x DHS
I think without the hardpoint inflation I prescribed above, the Flea won't be a worthwhile mech. It needs the following positive characteristics to be viable:
- firepower (hardpoints) to make up for the lack of sheer speed
- tiny size (perhaps a smaller profile than the Locust)
- extraordinary maneuverability
OR strong structure quirks
(because fleas are impossible to squish IRL, right? )
<soapbox> I'm not a fan Alex's concept of the Flea for MWO. In my opinion, it doesn't look anything like any of the previous incarnations of the Flea in the BattleTech/MW IP and it shares too much in common with the Locust (in fact, I would go as far as to say that Alex/PGI simply decided to recycle the Flea art to produce the concept art for the Locust). I personally wish the Flea to be a more boxy mech, something that you could tell is derived from the original TRO art that resembles an AT-ST, kinda like how the Urbie is likened to a trashcan. Alex is very good at this sort of thing and I would be delighted to see what else he could come up with without making it too much resemble the Locust. It needs to be its own thing. </soapbox>