39 replies to this topic

[Kraven Kor]

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Charger

Look at the variants on this frackin' thing.

Stock: 5 small lasers.

First variant? "Let's pull the engine, and slap an AC/20 in there!"

I actually like the hardpoint system, up to a point, so this thread has no, well, point. I'm just on lunch and had clicked that link in another thread and got to looking at variants, when it struck me that Battletech had little rhyme or reason when it came to some mechs and their variants.

Find us some hilarious variants, yes?

[wanderer]

You'd think that was funny, but y'know what?

It ended up becoming this lovely design (from Sarna):

Quote

CGR-SB - Called Challenger by its designers, the SB variant of the Charger was devised in 3025 by Stuart Bell, chief Tech of the mercenary unit Hat-in-the-Ring Battalion. The radical alteration looks to turn the Charger into a traditional assault 'Mech. This is accomplished by reducing the 'Mechs speed to 54 km/h, which allows the use of a smaller engine (incidentally, the commonplace Pitban 240 reactor). The 'Mech is armored with fifteen and a half tons of armor and is armed with four Large Lasers and a Medium Laser. The Challenger also has twenty-eight heat sinks to help handle the massive amounts of heat from its heavy energy weapon arsenal. The SB modification concept is remarkable because it is not particularly difficult to apply, using a common and well-known reactor type in the refit and essentially only upgrading the existing weapons so that the targeting system needs not be tampered with. BV (1.0) = 1,330, BV (2.0) = 1,604^[5]

Five energy hardpoints either way. But that's a lot nastier, eh?

[Captain Fabulous]

I don't know why the Charger gets such a bad rep; it's a brawler designed to, well, charge. It's a counter-scout and quite adept at its job.

[Damascas]

Captain Fabulous, on 17 July 2012 - 11:09 AM, said:

I don't know why the Charger gets such a bad rep; it's a brawler designed to, well, charge. It's a counter-scout and quite adept at its job.

Unless it runs into anything not a scout.

[Hanlons Chainsaw]

This actually sounds fairly effective.

[wanderer]

Damascas, on 17 July 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

Unless it runs into anything not a scout.

Oddly enough, the proper solution here may be running THROUGH the opponent and booking it while they're busy getting back up.

[BenEEeees VAT GROWN BACON]

Guys, guys, c'mon... all this talk about the Charger is making Urbanmech jelly

[Damascas]

wanderer, on 17 July 2012 - 11:13 AM, said:

Oddly enough, the proper solution here may be running THROUGH the opponent and booking it while they're busy getting back up.

Heh, very true in TT, the Charger in one of those mechs noticeably different between written canon and TT.

[Eximar]

In an entire universe, there have to be bad mechs.

Those variants may not be in MWO, but I suspect a portion of the population will succeed in making their own NUB-13S Suckmechs in the lab.

[wanderer]

BenEEeees VAT GROWN BACON, on 17 July 2012 - 11:14 AM, said:

Guys, guys, c'mon... all this talk about the Charger is making Urbanmech jelly

It's not. The Urbanmech is hilarious in all configurations by default.

[Major Tom]

Captain Fabulous, on 17 July 2012 - 11:09 AM, said:

I don't know why the Charger gets such a bad rep; it's a brawler designed to, well, charge. It's a counter-scout and quite adept at its job.

I'd take a Jenner any day of the week.

[Captain Fabulous]

Damascas, on 17 July 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

Unless it runs into anything not a scout.

Oh I dunno, a 17-point kick to the leg will break a lot of stuff.

Major Tom, on 17 July 2012 - 11:17 AM, said:

I'd take a Jenner any day of the week.

I would too, but the Charger is still valid. So is the Urbanmehch

[Red squirrel]

I created a poll on the Charger, so feel free to have a look at:
http://mwomercs.com/...charger-cgr-3k/

(I love that 3K variant which I would call a pimped Catapult)

[Kraven Kor]

I'm not talking "hilariously ineffective."

I'm talking "hilariously different from base design, so much so it should be a new mech entirely." Which BT is full of

I'm talking variants that, by all rights, should not even be possible. A chassis not designed for an AC/20 should be damaged by mounting one - like trying to mount a trailer hitch on a Ford Escort - sure, you can do it, but what is going to haul exactly?

[Sidra]

I still cant believe they are putting the charger in and not the Zues o.e

[Marvin Martian]

Sidra, on 17 July 2012 - 11:33 AM, said:

I still cant believe they are putting the charger in and not the Zues o.e

When did that happen?

[Sidra]

Marvin Martian, on 17 July 2012 - 12:18 PM, said:

When did that happen?

They said something along the lines that they were reworking the charger, meaning there goes one more assault slot on the list, and not my zues D;

[Der Zivilist]

I think you misunderstand what variants and hardpoints aim to be in MWO.

Yes, there are many variants that are "hilariously different" from their base model. However, they roll off the factory lines that way. You can make a very good argument for the fact that yes, they are indeed an entirely new 'Mech. Like the Samsung Galaxy S2 is to the Galaxy S3 - the same name except for a number, and yet very different under the hood.

You are not meant to be able to mimic specific variants using the 'Mechlab. This is intentionally avoided, in order to promote a diversity of models on the battlefield and at the same time offer a lot of long-term advancement content for those people that crave it.

Sidra, on 17 July 2012 - 12:21 PM, said:

They said something along the lines that they were reworking the charger, meaning there goes one more assault slot on the list, and not my zues D;

That was an Inner Sphere Newsflash.

This is flavor information. Background fluff. Roleplay, if you will. It has absolutely nothing to do with game development

[Sidra]

Der Zivilist, on 17 July 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

I think you misunderstand what variants and hardpoints aim to be in MWO.

Yes, there are many variants that are "hilariously different" from their base model. However, they roll off the factory lines that way. You can make a very good argument for the fact that yes, they are indeed an entirely new 'Mech. Like the Samsung Galaxy S2 is to the Galaxy S3 - the same name except for a number, and yet very different under the hood.

You are not meant to be able to mimic specific variants using the 'Mechlab. This is intentionally avoided, in order to promote a diversity of models on the battlefield and at the same time offer a lot of long-term advancement content for those people that crave it.



That was an Inner Sphere Newsflash.

This is flavor information. Background fluff. Roleplay, if you will. It has absolutely nothing to do with game development

You give me hope, therefore, I shall give you a Urbie

[ScrapIron Prime]

The purpose of a Charger is to be rebuilt into something awesome. Like a Hatamoto or one of these .

Likewise, a Banshee is meant to be rebuilt into a Banshee S variant and included in a Steiner recon lance.