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While fully aware of the new timeline shift and the upcoming new mechs, it brings up an interesting thing that I have noticed while looking through old mechs.
There are a number of Battlemechs which would fit a lot of tonnage slots that are pretty barren (20, 25, 40, 60, 30, and not so barren ones such as 65, 70, 75, etc.) that do exist. All of which have never been featured in past Mechwarrior games, have NOT fallen under the Unseen nonsense (or are now reseen), and are either supposed to be very common OR fell out of use or thought was to be extinct until, miraculously, our new timeline shift! And remember, every single one of these chassis will fit into your Mechwarrior 5 as well allowing you to double their utility! (These would also fit into the Battletech PC game, allowing you to sell more models to them too!)
I think it's time we consider these mechs.
Bombardier 65 tons. Became rare and was used by Comstar and Rasalhague. But suddenly appeared en masse when a periphery world (interestingly enough, siding with Clan Snow Raven) started churning this Inner Sphere mech into mass production.
Interestingly: Slightly before 2750, it used the following weapon systems: 3 rocket launcher 20s (Primitive, Terran Hegemony) in the Right Arm and an Arrow IV system in the Left Arm.
The chassis was known, prior to the end of the first Succession War, to use a slightly more accurate missile system for its non-Artemis LRMs. Possible missile quirk idea?
Ultimately it is similar to an Archer, but with a head-mounted ballistic hardpoint (might mount some spares in the CT and also have them appear on the upper back above the head?)
Champion 60 tons. Most variants have weapons exclusively mounted in the torso with the exception of the 3062 model. Arms are shaped something like wings and the side torso mounts hang off of these 'wings'. Peculiar to say the least, thank god for the mention of its small profile otherwise I'd be terrified at how "big" PGI might make this 60 tonner. It's small but bulky enough to easily pass the "volume" scale without making it a giant. ST ballistic and missile mounts with CT and ST laser mounts are sure to make this somewhat popular for the "Fast Heavy" enthusiasts.
Charger 80 tons. This 'Mech is well known for its insane speed, large hardpoint count and tiny stock weapons, alongside its "Punch it, smash it, throw it" mentality. Well aware that we will probably never see melee, should inverse kinetics and knockdowns ever make a come back, it'd be great to have this 'Mech around. Even without it, the generic 3025 models fill the Grass Hopper / Black Knight energy niche at 80 tons.
The Charger's 3050 variants have a wide variety of hardpoints adding in missiles, high jumpjet counts, tech that STILL isn't available in MWO even with the time jump (can simply swap those out with something else). Apparently, the 3025 Charger CGR-1A5 has multiple missile launchers and an AC/20 stock (at the sacrifice of engine power to about average for 80 tonners).
It has a 3062 variant that sports 5 rocket launcher 10s.
Another variant (3067) has 2 Light PPCs in the left arm, 1 MML9 (we don't have this sadly but it's specified as LRM configuration) in the right torso, 1 Heavy PPC left torso. 6 jumpjets... and a Sword. Uh, yeah we probably won't see the KMZ variant.
Clint 40 tons. At first glance this is a 40 ton Centurion with an insane running speed and still sporting at least one ballistic. Some variants in the 3062+ era tend to use Tech not on the list of upcoming weapons, namely plasma rifles (energy MGs) and Light Acs. However there's a 3062 variant that doesn't use those and instead focuses on weapons we do have (it is another mech with a C3 slave, however so we might need to substitute that..) It has a lot of variants though many are just small changes, this means there are more than enough to overpopulate the game with.
Crocket 85 tons. Available in 2750, 3025, and has a new variant in 3063. The new variant showcases many of the new weapons (though it has a "Improved C3"). Its array of weapons could put a Battlemaster to shame, though its top speed is universally lackluster to make up for its hefty weapons payload and near max stock armor (reasonably higher than the stock armor of the Battlemaster and considerably higher than that of the Stalker). Oh, and jumpjets!
Crusader 65 tons. This thing looks like it was made to brawl with the Roughneck. It uses a wide assortment of weapons. It needs NO inflation of hardpoints; it comes with so damn many already... It has many variants belonging to many houses.
The hardpoint count of the 2750 variant sports 10 hardpoints and 6 missile hardpoints, 2 energy and 2 ballistic with energy and ballistic hardpoints in the arms. The leg launchers, however, would probably have to be moved up. Don't get me wrong I love the idea but eh, heh. (The "Leg" launchers are depicted as being mounted on the hips, with a bit of magic by the artist perhaps they can remain on the hips.
My favorite variant is the 3025 CRD-3R since Every Single Weapon is mounted on the arms (except two of the missile launchers which are mounted on the hips). Yay Rassalhague variants!
Dervish, 55 tons. The 3025 art is terrible, though the XTRO art already looks completely compatible with MWO. The 'Mech focuses on skirmishing with energy and missile focuses. New variants in 3050 and 3062. (side note: The 3050 art is uh... very alien but still an improvement over the 3025 art). It has a good middle ground in jumpjets compared to the other 55 tons already in MWO.
Exterminator 65 tons. Many variants. Wildly varying top speeds. Many 2750, 3025, and 3050/3067 variants. Mainly energy to energy + missile variants. Would be our first IS 65 tonner with stock speeds of 97+ kph. Very sleek design is sure to be popular since nothing truly 'extrudes' from it. Low hardpoint counts.
Flashman 75 tons. Take an Urbanmech, stuff it with energy weapons, and make it 75 tons and twice as fast as its little cousin. Now you have a Flashman. A number of variants would have 2 AMS slots due to already having AMS. Plenty of hardpoints. It is bulkier than sin but as such the bulk could probably be made up for volumetrically by making it shorter than the Black Knight.
Grand Dragon 60 tons. It's a shame about how PGI chose to do the full arm on the Dragon, though the Grand Dragon is unique in terms of hardpoints and the like, a lot of character difference between the two is lost due to that decision.
Guilotine 70 tons. this thing looks terrifying! The particularly odd shape might warrant making it short, particularly with the large cockpit indicating that this 'Mech is small for its weight (and thus the super high shoulders are quite reasonable to keep it from being 'too small').Energy missile focus with jumpjets. Reasonable speed. Support fire and heavy raider roles. The 3062 variant makes use of an IS targeting computer, IS Streak 6, and numerous ER medium and large lasers.
Hatchetman 45 tons. Energy, ballistic, maybe missile. The hatchet can simply be replaced temporarily, or a "weapon" class can be added that has a 10 second cool down timer.
Hermes I and II, 30 and 40 tons respectively. Hermes I has a canon ECM variant, low hardpoint count but INSANE stock speed. Even balance of wepons. XL variants have more weapons, including head hardpoints. Hermes II quite a bit slower but still reasonably high speed. Ballistic hardpoints added, has side torso hardpoints. Looks similar to Hermes I but larger.
Hussar 30 tons. Literally designed for the very activity that most Spider pilots perform (pop-from-cover large laser fire). Matches the Hermes in speed. Canon ECM variant.
This list is far from over, but I need a break.
Edited by Koniving, 03 July 2017 - 06:22 AM.
