58 replies to this topic

[tvih]

As for the ammo issue... basically all AC/20 'Mechs have too little ammo in standard configurations. Guess why adding more is generally the first thing I do. And that's the plan for MWO, too.

[Brenden]

In groups, the battlemech could potentially be one very effective 'mech. Think of it. Three Hunchbacks, Three Centurions, two Trenchbuckets and a Cyclops leading. That is a pretty good front-line assault group if you ask me. Also, you could always turn your Hunchback into a Swayback, giving it a crap ton of Lasers.

[Jason1138]

"What is the role of the hunchback? It's not fast enough to scout. It's role is to do what an atlas or catapult might do, only do it much worse."




it does more damage at short range than the Catapult and is probably faster too. It has jumpjets and the Atlas doesn't, is faster than an Atlas, and probably costs less to repair

so there's that

[SynAck]

In Med to Close combat situations 250M or less:

Hunchbacks are excellent maneuver and flanking elements while the heavies and assaults are laying down a base of fire.

[Brenden]

Jason1138, on 19 July 2012 - 10:43 AM, said:

"What is the role of the hunchback? It's not fast enough to scout. It's role is to do what an atlas or catapult might do, only do it much worse."




it does more damage at short range than the Catapult and is probably faster too. It has jumpjets and the Atlas doesn't, is faster than an Atlas, and probably costs less to repair

so there's that

Hunchbacks dont have Jump Jets.

[JFlash49]

picture a classic battle field, medieval time, notice the guys who charge head on? the infantry, if im not mistaken....thats what a hunchback is. it gets down and dirty.

[gh0st]

I always saw it as an ambush mech, don't know if this will work with the maps we'll get but if you can get ahead of the assaults and hide and wait for a recon or strike to pass then pop out and smash them in close range.

I'll probably have a 4P or 4SP depending on how good the SRMs are.

[Solis Obscuri]

The Hunchback has 5 different 3025 variants, three of which are brawlers with devastating close-range armament (HBK-4G, -4P, -4SP), two of which are long-range fire-support with strong defensive capabilities at close range (HBK-4J, -4N), and one of has a mixed-range profile (HBK-4H). All of the brawlers have excellent heat management, as does the -4H, all are heavily armored for their size, and most aren't terribly ammo-dependent (only the -4G has less than 4 medium lasers to fall back on.)

It's a solid platform, and I think the variants will give players a lot of interesting options in combat, and for customization.

[Dimestore]

RIUQ-

Murku, on 19 July 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

Some people have suggested something of a scissors/paper/rock relationship (eg Lights fear Mediums as they are tougher than a Light but not as easy to outmaneouvre as a Heavy/Assault, Mediums fear Heavies, Heavies fear Assaults, Assaults fear Lights) but we all know it's not going to be as simple as that. As has already been mentioned, Torso-twisting (and the differing sizes) will likely favour lighter units, not to mention Assaults naturally drawing fire by being a naturally attractive 'big' target.

A Hunchie is 25% faster than an Atlas, smaller and as Medium probubally much more responsive. It is by no means just a nerfed Assault, unless it's pilot ignores it's advantages and tries to use it as such. Lights will struggle to blindside it (in comparison to a Heavy/Assault) and there is a lot of potential modification in a Medium (from souped up Scout Hunter to double-heatsinked laserboat) to keep your opponents guessing.

But personally, I'll take a Centurion *8)

Speaking as a scout, I look forward to finding an atlas, possibly even a catapult, but I dread a hunchie finding me. Nimble enough to have a good chance of shooting me and the punch to take me down with a small number of hits.

This rock-paper-scissors sounds like a viable interpretation.

The battle then becomes: which side can take out one of the other side's catagories first...
If we can remove one of your roles, we are almost certain of a win. This is where we get real strategy...move & counter-move; combined arms rewards teamwork

[Jason1138]

"Hunchbacks dont have Jump Jets."


some of them do. i'm not gonna bother to look up the canon to see when those come available, if they're not around yet just forget that part

suffice it to say that other than speed more mediums are not gonna have anything over an assault mech so whatev. it can't compete with an atlas, what medium can

[Zolaz]

Depends on if there are drop limits and how much of a factor in game currency is. Hunchback should be cheaper to repair and might fit that sweet spot of making money.

[Brenden]

Hax DB Header, on 19 July 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:

RIUQ-

Speaking as a scout, I look forward to finding an atlas, possibly even a catapult, but I dread a hunchie finding me. Nimble enough to have a good chance of shooting me and the punch to take me down with a small number of hits.

This rock-paper-scissors sounds like a viable interpretation.

The battle then becomes: which side can take out one of the other side's catagories first...
If we can remove one of your roles, we are almost certain of a win. This is where we get real strategy...move & counter-move; combined arms rewards teamwork

Want to team up in our light/medium 'mechs and take out an Atlas together? I was thinking getting a Javelin. You distract the Atlas long enough for it to turn, then I unload SRMs into it's back. This will cause it turn back to me to retaliate, then pull off the finishing move.

[xxx WreckinBallRaj xxx]

Huntsman, on 19 July 2012 - 08:34 AM, said:

The atlas is all armor and firepower

The Catapult has greater mobility than the Atlas, role flexability, and excellent fire support capabilities

The Jenner has its place as a scout

What is the role of the hunchback? It's not fast enough to scout. It's role is to do what an atlas or catapult might do, only do it much worse. This would be fine if the developers were taking a "build up to heavier mechs" gameplay approach, but they say they are not. If we can select a heavy or assault mech for combat starting from the beginning of the match, why would I ever go with what is essentially a severely nerfed version of what I could otherwise roll with.

The Hunchback, like any Medium Mech, is a fast Mech that can better deal with scouts unlike the slower Heavys and Assaults. They also have good speed to harass the enemy and run down weakened targets. They aren't the tanks, but rather damage support and good harassers. They have enough armor to take hits when they need to and enough speed to get away when they can't. The fast speed will mean they can harass slower Jagermechs/Catapults relentlessly. Any weakened Heavy/Assault will find himself getting run down by a much faster Medium that he can't hope to escape from. They are about diversity and versatility, not shining in any 1 area but not having a gap either.(Light Mechs are weak and Heavy Mechs are slow. Mediums basically get the best of both worlds)

[Duymon]

Hunchbacks and cents are brawlers. For every atlas you can have two hunchbacks.

Hunchies and cents are sturdy enough to go toe to toe with even assault mechs briefly but are mobile enough to get behind their opponents and core them while the Assaults duke it out.

Medium mech speed plus the smaller profiles means they are a little harder to hit than heavies and assaults, despite them carrying Assault-class weaponry (AC 20's, gauss, ppcs if you kit them out right)

Edited by Duymon, 19 July 2012 - 03:32 PM.

[Murku]

Hax DB, if you like the idea of Rock/Paper/Scissors check out my 'Battletech Five Element Theory' in Off Topic....

[Bodha]

One thing a lot of ppl are ignoring about the stock Hunchback.... that AC/20 does all the damage in one location. Lasers dont do as much damage and will be potentially more spread out. One good hit with an AC/20 and you just removed most of the armor in a location. 2 good hits and you are hitting internal structure. 3 good hits and that location is gone usually. Do you need a few tons of ammo to be effective though? Yeah. 5 rounds per ton isnt enough.

[Coolant]

The Atlas is so slow. Max at 51(?) while 65'ish(?) for the Hunchback. If you want to get to the action quicker and still have good short/medium range firepower than Hunchback is your choice of the 4 Founder mechs...

[Bodha]

Coolant, on 19 July 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

The Atlas is so slow. Max at 51(?) while 65'ish(?) for the Hunchback. If you want to get to the action quicker and still have good short/medium range firepower than Hunchback is your choice of the 4 Founder mechs...

problem is many ppl will still be thinking run to the middle and just fight. A smart team will have a few guys flank down one side. Have a few 65kph mechs run to the middle and hold the line until the 50kph assault mechs get there. If you force the enemy assault mechs to hang back to protect the base from a flanking attack OR they go to the middle and ignore a flank you have a temporary advantage. You can now press the flank if they didnt hang back or hold back and let your assaults clean up the middle of the battlefield.

So is the hunchback going to be useful? Yes. I can see so many ways to get good use out of it. What the OP seems to be saying is he wants this mech to do the same thing as the assault mechs and ignoring the speed difference allows you to rapidly relocate. USE that speed or you might as well play a heavy or assault.

[FactorlanP]

Bodha, on 19 July 2012 - 12:09 PM, said:

problem is many ppl will still be thinking run to the middle and just fight. A smart team will have a few guys flank down one side. Have a few 65kph mechs run to the middle and hold the line until the 50kph assault mechs get there. If you force the enemy assault mechs to hang back to protect the base from a flanking attack OR they go to the middle and ignore a flank you have a temporary advantage. You can now press the flank if they didnt hang back or hold back and let your assaults clean up the middle of the battlefield.

So is the hunchback going to be useful? Yes. I can see so many ways to get good use out of it. What the OP seems to be saying is he wants this mech to do the same thing as the assault mechs and ignoring the speed difference allows you to rapidly relocate. USE that speed or you might as well play a heavy or assault.

It is tactical thinking like this that will separate the really good Merc Corps from the pick up groups and poor Merc Corps.

Combat between two really good Merc Corps should be exceptionally fun!

[Jakob Knight]

From a game perspective, the Hunchback and Catapult fill the midground positions between the armor-maximized Atlas, and the speed-maximized Jenner. The Catapult has a missile/energy profile, while the Hunchback has the ballistic/energy profile. From a customization perspective, the Catapult can be modified for more armor than the Hunchback, while the Hunchback can be modified for higher speed than the Catapult.

In terms of Primary Configuration roles, the Hunchback is definitely optimized for Defense, since the Atlas is needed for Attack, the Jenner for Scout, and the Catapult for Fire Support. In open warfare, the Hunchback is the interceptor that gets in the way of enemy units trying to close on the Support mechs and brings enough firepower to drop anything trying it. Any mech that ignores the HBK to concentrate on eliminating the Support units will likely die, and if they engage the HBK, the Support units are free to drop fire on the enemy position.