42 replies to this topic

[Yanlowen Cage]

Mine currently is a shadowhawk 2k with 3 med pulse and 3 streak 2 with full armor (or nearly) and 106 kph move. Not speed tweaked yet . oh yeah running BAP as well and JJs.

Also leveling and having a blast with a Shadowhawk 2d that carries 2 med pulse, 3 streak 2, and an lb10x. tis fun as well. definitely not meta.

[Bishop Steiner]

Yanlowen Cage, on 05 October 2016 - 09:05 AM, said:

Mine currently is a shadowhawk 2k with 3 med pulse and 3 streak 2 with full armor (or nearly) and 106 kph move. Not speed tweaked yet . oh yeah running BAP as well and JJs.

Also leveling and having a blast with a Shadowhawk 2d that carries 2 med pulse, 3 streak 2, and an lb10x. tis fun as well. definitely not meta.

Meet Frank
SHD-2D2 "Frank"
This was my SHD-2D2 that I ran pretty much from day one of the Phoenix Pack release. In the days before JJ nerfs and Alphawarrior Online got into full swing, he was a very effective Mech, able to outmaneuver anything he couldn't outgun. I didn't "scout hunt" with him, but back int he day, 4 SSRM packs were enough to give any Light pause, allowing me to keep any Assault unit I was escorting pest free.

Now? Frank doesn't get out much. Nerfs, Quirks and Powercreep have sent Frank to the Great Mech Nursing Home.

Darn shame, too as Frank was a lot of fun to drive.

The other, and still used one, is Lurch.
AWS-8Q "Lurch"

The years have been kinder to Lurch, in part because they were never very kind to him in the first place. But I love the loadout, and run it (modified 320 engine, less DHS) in TT, also.

2 LL and 2 PPC are effective for mid range combat, the 2 PPCs are fast enough to be decent sniping weapons, and up close the 2 LLs and 3 MLs work well together.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 05 October 2016 - 06:55 PM.

[Snowbluff]

Frankencrab (Kingcrab)

4 LPL 4 SRM6

[Red Shrike]

CygnusX7, on 05 October 2016 - 10:58 AM, said:

Not franken but when the medium queue is low I seem to do well with a SHD2H, 3 AC2's, 6.5T of ammo, 1JJ and an XL325.

My 2H(P) has 2 AC/5s and a medium laser with several tons of ammo. With alternating barrels, I'm putting out quite some damage, although it requires constant line of sight.

[Bud Crue]

Phract 0XP with 2LP in the paddle, AC10 and 2ML. Runs hot but I don't care I used all the hard points and that's what matters. ...all builds should aspire to such levels of pure "efficiency".

Except Grasshoppers. Lore be damned. I refuse to waste tonnage on an SRM-4 or LRM-5 in the head. I just can't do it.

Edited by Bud Crue, 05 October 2016 - 11:55 AM.

[meteorol]

Stock Atlas in closed beta. Was so proud when i finally got the cbills to buy it. Instantly dropped with it, didn't even change loadout because i was so pumped.

Turned out that dropping into a match without using the mechlab first permanently bugged the mech to have 0 armor, with no way to fix it. Good times. And the last time i used a frankenmech.

[0bsidion]

Practically all my mechs are Frankenmechs. Here's one of my favorite MDD builds. Most of my MDDs are slight variations on that theme.

And one of my favorite WHK builds. I used to get a lot of mileage out of it but it's been a while since I've used it. Since then there's been a lot of quirking and new mechs and "balancing", so I'm not sure if it would still work for me. The main weakness of it is all the close ranged stuff is packed into one arm. Lose that arm and lights start to become a real issue.

[Red Shrike]

CygnusX7, on 05 October 2016 - 11:32 AM, said:

I used to run it like this (SHD-2H) but 3 ac2's at over 100kph is a huge benefit and all that range seems to help.

Here's mine
SHD-2H(P)

[Escef]

If no one minds my asking, when did a "frankenbuild" become defined as "not boating a single weapon exclusively"?

[0bsidion]

Escef, on 05 October 2016 - 11:51 AM, said:

If no one minds my asking, when did a "frankenbuild" become defined as "not boating a single weapon exclusively"?

Not sure, I used to call them mixed or balanced myself, but I just went with the flow here. What were frankenbuilds defined as previously?

[Bishop Steiner]

0bsidion, on 05 October 2016 - 11:54 AM, said:

Not sure, I used to call them mixed or balanced myself, but I just went with the flow here. What were frankenbuilds defined as previously?

I would say designs with no obvious weapon symmetry. The Hellbringer Prime or Shadowhawk 2H, for instance?

Honestly, in TT Frankenmechs were mechs literally cobbled together from multiple mechs.

For Example: The Alley Cat


Torsos and Cockpit of a Catapult K2, Legs and left arm pod of a Marauder, modified right arm of a Jagermech.

Cobbled together, all kinds of system glitches, but still better than no mech at all.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 05 October 2016 - 12:05 PM.

[CygnusX7]

Not franken, apologies for that. I see Shadow Hawk builds and I get excited.

I do run my 2d2 like this though.

SHD-2D2

[0bsidion]

Bishop Steiner, on 05 October 2016 - 11:57 AM, said:

I would say designs with no obvious weapon symmetry. The Hellbringer Prime or Shadowhawk 2H, for instance?

Honestly, in TT Frankenmechs were mechs literally cobbled together from multiple mechs.

For Example: The Alley Cat


Torsos and Cockpit of a Catapult K2, Legs and left arm pod of a Marauder, modified right arm of a Jagermech.

Cobbled together, all kinds of system glitches, but still better than no mech at all.

I never came across those in my TT days. I do remember reading about them on Sarna though now that you mention it. First time I've seen that Alley Cat, I'm torn between thinking it's a hot mess and it almost looks cool.

[Trollfeed]

This is only build I really got to work in that event reward zeus.

ZEU-9S2

Actually surprisingly good support mech for other assaults. Large lasers and ac10 gives you a bite at most ranges and your rocket punch makes you downright deadly in melee when combined with ac10.

I'm hoping that I get something similar to work for dragons as I bought them in heavy mech sale.

Edited by Trollfeed, 05 October 2016 - 12:37 PM.

[Bishop Steiner]

0bsidion, on 05 October 2016 - 12:18 PM, said:

I never came across those in my TT days. I do remember reading about them on Sarna though now that you mention it. First time I've seen that Alley Cat, I'm torn between thinking it's a hot mess and it almost looks cool.

It's a "periphery" campaign design I whipped up for an old unit mate.

"officially" I rated it at 70 tons as a blend of the 2 weight class chassis, with the armor and structure correct to the equivalent stock mech (such as 6 pts on the arm of the jagermech side)... armed with (torso) 2ML, 2MGs, (LA) PPC, ML (RA) AC5, AC2, with 13 SHS, 1 ton for each AC in the RT and a .5 ton MG ammo bin in the LT.

It has one permanent destroyed Life Support Slot, the left leg I think cannot support more than 16 pts armor anymore (IS reduced permanently accordingly to reflect) and it had some serious targeting bugs if it tries to fire more than 3 guns at a time (not counting the MG) ....so yeah... it's a shambles.

[0bsidion]

Bishop Steiner, on 05 October 2016 - 12:34 PM, said:

It's a "periphery" campaign design I whipped up for an old unit mate.

"officially" I rated it at 70 tons as a blend of the 2 weight class chassis, with the armor and structure correct to the equivalent stock mech (such as 6 pts on the arm of the jagermech side)... armed with (torso) 2ML, 2MGs, (LA) PPC, ML (RA) AC5, AC2, with 13 SHS, 1 ton for each AC in the RT and a .5 ton MG ammo bin in the LT.

It has one permanent destroyed Life Support Slot, the left leg I think cannot support more than 16 pts armor anymore (IS reduced permanently accordingly to reflect) and it had some serious targeting bugs if it tries to fire more than 3 guns at a time (not counting the MG) ....so yeah... it's a shambles.

I guess that's why I never heard of it. Nice work in that case. Looks like it could conceivably be a part of the BT universe in a campaign where they were forced to cobble a mech together from whatever was laying around on hand to keep going.

[Kubernetes]

BJ-1: ERPPC, UAC5, SPL, MG.

That's right, 4 separate weapons.

[Bishop Steiner]

0bsidion, on 05 October 2016 - 12:48 PM, said:

I guess that's why I never heard of it. Nice work in that case. Looks like it could conceivably be a part of the BT universe in a campaign where they were forced to cobble a mech together from whatever was laying around on hand to keep going.

a couple other examples

Another frankenmech. Here's the back story.
-The Donner-Jaeger is a unique mech, built off the scavenged battlefield remains of several smoldering hulks. Nomad was a tech for the 10th Deneb Light Cav, when his unit was ambushed, and presumed destroyed in the Periphery. While remaining hidden from the Pirates who had ambushed him, over the course of 3 months, Nomad scavenged the legs and left arm of a Jagermech, the torso of a Thunderbolt and the lasers off a Quickdraw.

While working on the Donner-Jaeger, Nomad used the scavenged Comm Gear from the dropship to listen to the stars, searching for signs of Davion's return, and scouted the enemy encampment, including the prisoner pens. One night, he heard what he was waiting for, that the Deneb had returned to finish the job. Mounting up in the Donner, Nomad waited until the Pirates were engaged in battle before smashing into their base and freeing the prisoners. He then proceeded to lead them to the Deneb Light Cav's LZ, Destroying 3 enemy Mechs, and crushing several tanks in the process.

For his actions in battle and quick thinking, Prince Hanse Davion had Nomad promoted to Leftenant, and was going to gift him with a brand new battlemech. Nomad declined, and insisted that the Donner-Jaeger had saw him through, and it would be disloyal to abandon him. Unable to refuse his newest war hero, Prince Davion instead had the DOnner-Jaeger gone over and refurbished so that all it's systems are in tip top shape.
The Donner might look odd and like a frankenmech, but many an opposing Mechwarrior has learned that appearance can be deceiving just a few moments too late.



70 ton jury rigged mess of over a dozen different mechs and armored vehicles. How it works, even the tech who strung it together can't say for sure, yet somehow it does, and oftentimes better than the remaining "factory jobs" that are left in these Succession Wars.

(Commissioned by Max "Quigley" O'Connor of the Glasgow Highlanders)

I'm actualyl pretty fond of the concept of Frankenmechs in the 3rd Succession War, tbh

[Snowbluff]

Bishop Steiner, on 05 October 2016 - 11:57 AM, said:

I would say designs with no obvious weapon symmetry. The Hellbringer Prime or Shadowhawk 2H, for instance?

Honestly, in TT Frankenmechs were mechs literally cobbled together from multiple mechs.

I'd call Frankenmechs in MWO mechs that run counterintuitve builds. making a Kingcrab into a laser and missile boat, for example. I might consider cannon based CAT-K2 builds this as well.

This is not counting the Cataphract, which is apparently a real frankenmech. o.0

[Bishop Steiner]

Snowbluff, on 05 October 2016 - 01:34 PM, said:

I'd call Frankenmechs in MWO mechs that run counterintuitve builds. making a Kingcrab into a laser and missile boat, for example. I might consider cannon based CAT-K2 builds this as well.

This is not counting the Cataphract, which is apparently a real frankenmech. o.0

well, being a factory job, regardless of it's "mixed" heritage, it's about as much a Frankenmech as a Plymouth Prowler is a Hotrod.