24 replies to this topic

[Vanidor]

My favorite mech was always the Thunderbolt. I am a mechhead from way.....back. In 1986-88 I had a group of friends in the USAF that played at Grand Forks AFB on a 8 by 6 or so piece of plywood all decked out. I sure wish I could get in touch with those guys again. I know the favorites tended to be the Atlas, Awesome, Catapult and Hunchback but I moved up from Locust, to Jenner (another fav), to Grasshopper and then into a Thunderbolt which I played for a long time. It would be great to see it in the game. I hope you all have plans for it. Of course, the Battlemaster and Warhammers which were the kings of the battlefield and heavily in use in our games were fun I just liked the diversity of the Thunderbolt. Anyone else on the T-bolt bandwagon?

I think I was member 69 in the old Mechwarrior rag fanclub. Is that fanclub still around?

Penn Ace

[Ghost]

You've got my support. Thunderbolts are awesome.

[proktor]

it is also my favorite mech, i think it will do very well in this coming game.
it has the weaponry to be effictive at any range and can perform a multitude off jobs
on the battlefield.

GO THUNDERBOLT!!!!!!!

[Gremlich Johns]

I believe the Thunderbolt can be found in the Mektek MW4 version of the game.

[Corsair114]

Gremlich Johns, on 23 January 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

I believe the Thunderbolt can be found in the Mektek MW4 version of the game.

That's a negative. There is no Thunderbolt in the MekTek version of Mercs.

[Rhinehart]

I used to clone a T-bolt setup on the MW4 Loki/Hellbringer chassis. Worked out pretty good.

[Azantia]

I posted in another forum topic about the Thunderbolt. Love that 65 ton mech, great all around work-horse and has been in use by all houses and merc units for years.

[Mchawkeye]

I was not familiar with the thunderbolt chassis untill about 3 minutes ago.

Looks great. I do enjoy an off centre cockpit. and a big honkin' gun.

[SilentWolff]

Thunderbolt is one of my all time favorites since the days of the board game 25 plus years ago. Totally agree with the OP and if it was in game, it would be the mech I would pilot.

[phalanx]

T-Bolt was the first mech I played on the tabletop. It would be nice to play with it again.

[Helmer]

Agreed. Note sure what picture I used to always see in the 80s but the TBolt is kinda of an iconic mech for me.


Even tho I never got the chance to use it.

[verybad]

I also like the Tbolt. Always planned on making one for our Mechpacks (MekTek) but never got arround to it.

I've always considered the Thor to be a "Next Generation Tbolt."

On a slightly different note, I hope the get Thunderbolt missiles in the game. I do like me some big missiles rather than salvos.

[Glorius]

Strong support to all of you. T-bolt is my fav during last three years. Every merc campaign (TT) at this time frame I started at the cockpit of old TDR-5SE.

Edited by Glorius, 29 January 2012 - 11:10 AM.

[Harrow]

T-Bolt would make a good addition.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

It's a good solid mech of the period, with diverse weaponry that would compliment the mechs shown so far. Mind you we haven't had a PPC mech yet so maybe people would prefer the Warhammer.

[Harrow]

How about the rifleman? I'd love to see the rifleman!

[Penn Ace]

It is nice you bring up rifleman. I totally forgot that one. We used them quite a bit. Archer's were amazing too. I am going to have to immerse myself in the history of the game to figure out why some mechs aren't in the game and some are. I remember battletech minatures and the Thunderbolt was in every store along with the warhammers. Besides the Atlas I always thought Tbolts and Warhammers were the most Iconic mechs and the most probable for the MWO game. Also the Battlemaster was a popular and dangerous mech to go up against.
Can anyone, in a nutshell, tell me the thought process on why some of these iconic mechs aren't in game?
I remember how crappy some of them were to play and had huge inherent weakness attached to them. And many of these mechs are in game now. The ones we used most aren't.

[Stormwolf]

The Thunderbolt was always the prototype Summoner to me, loved that mech.

Anyway, it has plenty of variants along with a hero mech:

http://www.masteruni...Cost=&BookAuto=

[Strum Wealh]

Penn Ace, on 22 February 2013 - 03:52 PM, said:

Can anyone, in a nutshell, tell me the thought process on why some of these iconic mechs aren't in game?

In a nutshell:
For several 'Mechs (including the Thunderbolt), the artwork originally used to depict them were derived from third-party sources, typically anime.

In the particular case of the Thunderbolt, it is modeled on the "F4X Hasty" Combat Armor from a 1981 anime titled Fang of the Sun Dougram.
Original Thunderbolt art:


"F4X Hasty" art:


There were some legal issues between FASA (the company that originally released BattleTech) and Harmony Gold USA (the company that "created" Robotech from an amalgam of several anime series); as a result, FASA stopped using the artwork that they did not produce in-house.

Thus, many of the original 'Mechs, including the Thunderbolt, became known as "the Unseen" - they still exist in-universe and were featured prominently in novels and other BattleTech texts, but they could not be visually depicted with the original artwork.

For now, it seems that most BT-related parties are generally avoiding the Unseen, likely to avoid the same sort of legal issues that plagued FASA.

[Stardancer01]

Of the reseen mechs my all-time favourite is the THUNDERBOLT.
Allow I can understand those who love the Marauder because you can’t get the mad of the mad-cat without it.
It would be a real treat when MWO is successful for the best of the unseen to be reseen and represented

Edited by Stardancer01, 25 June 2013 - 12:29 PM.