53 replies to this topic

[Helmer]

Q:Recon pilots sound off for what you want in a recon mech

A: Good teammates backing me up.

[Tuhalu]

Helmer, on 18 March 2012 - 06:17 PM, said:

Q:Recon pilots sound off for what you want in a recon mech

A: Good teammates backing me up.

So you want 3 other guys in the cockpit with you? That could prove uncomfortable...

Yeah, I love playing the "obtuse comment" game too

[Gigaton]

I'd like to see Hussar myself. I don't think it has ever been included in any of the BT games so far, not even in MW2:Mercs which had a very comprehensive lineup of non-Unseen IS 'mechs. It also has the dubious distinction of being the lightest armoured 'mech in whole of Battletech (1.5 tons of standard armour is a joke).

On the other hand, it mostly a ComStar 'mech. Out of the House armies, it's mostly DC and there are other interesting DC lights already (Jenner and Panther).

Edited by Gigaton, 18 March 2012 - 11:04 PM.

[firestorm119]

I know it's a ways out, but my all-time favorite recon is a cougar: fairly fast, jump jets, ecm suite, and decent ranged capabilities to harass

[LordDeathStrike]

a good recon mech has max high speed and a c3 slave so the c3 master commander unit sees all and sends his lance to the right place.

recon mechs arent built to fight, 1 good hit will do away with their armor, 2nd good hit and youre screwed. (from a large or assault mech)

recon mechs are 20 tonners with speed c3 slave and all the armor they can fit so they can spot and get the hell out of the way, their weapons are soley for anti infantry and support of the sluggers.

[Lt muffins]

i want the ability to make my self scarse on demand.


Run run as fast as you can, you can't cetch me cause im the gingerbread man.

[Xinaoen]

Wolfhound all the way - for urban combat, at any rate. The conventional wisdom seems to be that speed is king; call me crazy, but I prefer a little firepower. Mobility is great, but it's hard to get much scouting done when you're too busy running from the fellow with the bigger gun. The reliance on energy weapons makes it ill-suited to longer encounters, but one Alpha Strike ought to be enough to make anything in the Light range think twice about being anywhere near you. It's not as speedy as the little devils, but it's fast enough to outrun anything it can't overpower.

[Dataman]

CMIIW, Locust has really short torso turn degree, which makes it ineffective scout/recon

[Polymorphyne]

I personally would build recon lances out of 3 lights and a medium- Two of the lights would be locusts or ravens or jenners or something similar, with as much speed and stealth as possible (along with narc beacons). They have one job- find the enemy and report his position, and preferably do so without getting spotted. Find a good hidey hole and spy on the enemy for as much as possible.
The other two mechs, likely a wolfhound and commando or a wolfhound/commando and a medium, would have the job of being anti-scouts- they are well armed but fast so can kill the enemy locusts/ravens/jenners and deny the enemy intel, as well as stopping the enemy scouts from scouting your scouts.

Now the people who want scouts with firepower- thats not scouting, thats called wolfpacking, where you use a fast harrassing force to outflank, outmaneuvre and destroy the enemy. That is perfectly viable but not a replacement for recon.

[Pvt Dancer]

Stinger/Wasp shoot-out baby!

If our selections are what is out, I would rather have a Commando over the Jenner. I honestly think that matches will be tonnage vs tonnage, so if I can add in 10 tons to a heavier mech on my side then great. I have the same armor, same damage out-put, and almost the same speed. Really it is the jump jets that I will be missing. If I can get the Commando in the mech lab, there is alot of potential.... for example, the Commando can have a potential 88 out of 89 points of armor at 5.5 tons of armor max, which is awesome at it's weight class... while the Jenner is alot more ineffecient, losing out of 7pts of potential armor (if they do armor in ton and half ton increments... which is the sane way).

Man, and here I thought I would never use my signed collecters edition of the Battletech Compendium again!

[Hammer Strike]

Speaking for myself, Need to be able to have some ability to play keep away with other scouts while tracking other clans movements. Scouts should be the linchpin behind the movement and control of the lance, to figure out where the enemy mechs are moving and be able to take advantage of terrain for the best attack results. So what would I want in a scout mech? jump jets, jamming, stealth if available, turbo fast, and a solid clan I can work with.

HS

[Soviet Alex]

The one thing we haven't touched on yet is the module system. Once we've levelled up a few times in ANY mech & unlocked some tasty modules, we may be able to duplicate much of the advanced scouting tech. Check out Dev-Blog 4 and you'll see what I mean.

[autogyro]

What do I want?

A 'Mech with pretty good speed and one potent weapon.

I plan to get a Wolfhound, strip one of the medium lasers, maybe some armor and add more speed.

It'll be my counter-scout/heavy scout 'Mech of choice.

[Rayge]

Really? A discussion about recon mechs and Narc beacons aren't mentioned until 10replies down?

Do you really think that single LL is going to make you powerful? Don't forget that LLs are going to take something like 4seconds of firing on target to deal maximum damage, thanks to the awesome new laser mechanics.

No, I actually think the Jenner is going to be a fantastic long range scout mech. One narc beacon and one LRM is what I'd like to see, maybe with a few pulse lasers for a little burst.

The way of the future for scout mechs is going to be all about getting your team's LRMs on target imo

Edited by Rayge, 19 March 2012 - 06:41 AM.

[Xinaoen]

You don't carry the Large Laser with the fantasy that it's going to make you a threat to anything outside of your weight class. Against a Light Mech who's cutting armor for speed and JJs, though, that damage cannot be ignored. Keep in mind that your armament doesn't need to kill the target; it only needs to deter him, and you don't need enough heat sinks to manage continuous fire for that. It's hard to spot targets when you're too busy running for your life; if you want to provide effective recon - while denying the enemy the same - you bring the best sensors and the biggest gun.

I love the Narc beacon, but I'd rather have it in the forward Heavy/Assault lance. If you're close enough to tag an Assault, you're close enough for him to tap you right back; if you don't have the armor to suffer return fire, your Narc beacon is going to turn the tide of battle exactly once.

Edited by Xinaoen, 19 March 2012 - 10:27 AM.

[Seabear]

I want a mech with speed, electronics and enough weapons to allow a bit of "back biting " while the emeny is tied up withthe heavies. The scout role is all about information.

[BIG D3V0]

A scout/recon should have lots of jamming and countermeasure hardware and if possible have target designation options to call in strikes from artillery and/or air support. Unmanned drones with options similar to the mech would be an additional plus.

I forgot to mention speed!

[guardian wolf]

Personally I would go with a Flea, and just take the MGs off and maybe put a medium laser or two in their place, and the rest of the tonnage, would either go to speed, or heatsinks, depending on the environment. If not that, then I would go with a Raven, electronic warfare at it's best.

[FlareUKCS]

Depends on how Scouting works in the game...

No good if you get a little arrow on top of your head if a enemy mech so much as looks in your direction even if the actual pilot hasnt picked you out yet ( hopefully you need to manually aim your sights on the target and press lock on to 'lock on' )... then scouting will be a case of edging close as you can with sensors pinging like mad for contacts which alert the enemy scouts as well ( be great if you could switch to active or passive scanning, ECM afaik is very aggressive and will alert your enemies to your presence if not your location ).

Be great if you could power down the mech to be invisible to sensor sweeps ( except optics ), and just use a camera to look around for the enemy and use passive scanners until you need to 'light up' a target.

Havent been in the MechWarrior / Battletech scene in ages so I am way out with my mech fu , but wasnt the Razorback a decent scout mech if Ravens werent an option ?

[Cold3y3s]

I might be insane, but I would prefer a rather fast medium with a big punch. Unfortuneately the perfect mech for that, the Uziel, is a ways away, so I would vote a Scorpion or Shadow Hawk for speed and sniping.