The Hunchback is a stern taskmaster but it's worth it in the end for the skills you will develop playing them.
I'd probably stick with the 4P (my first mech, too). Focus on twisting right after you are done shooting to protect that right hunch. It's also important not to overtwist! The Hunchback has such a great range for it's torso twist that if you twist too far right, you can expose the backside of your right torso, and the enemy will chew through that thin rear armor very quickly.
If you're running the classic 9 medium laser build, I would group your weapons like this. Group 1 will be the six lasers in the hunch. Group 2 will be the remaining three lasers (one in the head, one in each arm). Now this is where the ghost heat mechanic really sucks: The head laser is the best positioned hardpoint on the mech! It's even higher than the already high hunch lasers, and certainly much higher than the low arms.
However, if you fire more than 6 inner sphere medium lasers at once, you get an additional heat penalty. There are instances where you might want to do an alpha strike (fire all 9 lasers) but you will suffer a huge heat penality and probably be in the 70% range even if you start from 0% heat. The penalty gets even worse the more medium lasers you fire at once (after 6). So if you think it's worth it, you can put the 6 hunch lasers and the head laser in one group.
Normally though, you'll want your pattern to be like this.
1. Encounter the enemy. Hopefully your allies will have already targeted it so you can have his loadout and damage report before you even engage. If not though, make sure to press "R" on him so you know what you're dealing with. Pick a spot to shoot at. If you're not sure (or being jammed by ECM), go for the center torso. But, if you suspect he's an inner sphere mech that has an XL engine, go for a side torso if you're confident. Even if he's not an inner sphere XL, if you see a significantly damaged side torso, you might want to shoot there. It all depends on the context. Maybe it's a fast light, go for the legs. Maybe it's a mech with lots of firepower in one arm, it may be worth removing the major threat first.
2. Dump your 6 torso lasers into the mech. Wait 0.5 seconds. Now shoot your remaining 3 lasers. If you did it right, you'll have incurred a significant amount of heat but at least have avoided any additional penalty.
3. Twist right to protect your right torso.
4. Depending on the situation, you can twist back for another shot or disengage and take cover while you cool off. During all this, it's best that you keep moving and not come to a complete stop, making you an easy target. Bob and weave!
That's pretty much the deal for the classic 4P builds. I would recommend picking up two more Hunchbacks and getting enough XP to go through the skill tree to at least the "elite" efficiency category (you need basic efficiences completed on 3 mechs of the same "family" to be able to get the elite efficiencies). There's a pretty big difference once you have all the elite efficiencies unlocked, because it will increase your "basic" ones as well.
I would recommend getting the: 4J, and then picking from the 4SP and 4G
4J: Has 2 10-tube missile hardpoints in the right hunch. This mech has some missile cooldown quirks, especially for the LRM-10. So with two of those you get 20 tubes of LRM firing quickly. Kanajashi has a good basic tutorial for LRM usage, with this mech specifically.
4SP: The 4SP is different from other Hunchies because it has symmetrical hardpoints (of course you don't have to build it that way if you don't want to). The 4SP is great with SRMs and medium lasers. Instead of one big hunch, you have two "little" hunches on each shoulder. It's a good compact brawler.
4G: The whole point of this thing is to bring an AC/20 to the fight and finish off weakened mechs and beat the crap out of mechs that are too focused on your heavy and assault allies. It's like the 4P you have but instead of 6 lasers in the hunch you should bring an AC20. You will have to learn how to lead targets and deal with the slow projectile speed of the AC20. It's a fun weapon though and worth learning how to use.
That's pretty much my spiel on Hunchbacks. Here's the secret. They can carry a very good amount of firepower for the weight. And outside the hunch, they are quite small mechs! Seriously! Look at it's size compared to mechs 5 tons heavier (ie. Shadowhawk, Griffin, Kintaro), they are huge and hittable. So if you can preserve that hunch, it's a pretty decent mech. Will it be good as the laserboat Stormcrow? Maybe not, but it will serve you well in casual play.
[You did mention snipers. Well, there is the Grid Iron. It's a Hunchback hero mech that costs real money and gives you a c-bill bonus when you play it. It has quirks for the Gauss rifle, a weapon that is very vulnerable to being destroyed and will take half your mech with it as it is prone to explode when hit with a critical. It comes with an XL stock, which makes it pretty much a death sentence if the enemies can get to either shoulder. You can replace it with an STD engine of course, but just an idea if you want to live on the wild side.]
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