40 replies to this topic

[Buck Rogers]

raj, on 31 October 2011 - 08:32 PM, said:

As for WoT. The main issue I have with it is the lights serve only as spotters for SPGs (artillery) in later games. Their weapons cannot penetrate the larger tanks armor (realistic though that is it's not very fun).

Granted. But in Battletech, every single weapon scores the same damage probability on all targets that use standard armor. As table top players will tell you, a couple jump capable scout mechs can get behind an assault mech and chew up that weak rear armor pretty fast. Not that a couple Stingers are going to take out an Atlas, but they would definitely be able to damage and annoy him pretty bad.

---Buck.

[Madurai]

The reason to have light units isn't because "they're cheap." The reason to have light units is that they can do some things better than bigger ones. The gameplay has to support that.

[lichbane]

buck rogers, on 31 October 2011 - 08:42 PM, said:

Granted. But in Battletech, every single weapon scores the same damage probability on all targets that use standard armor. As table top players will tell you, a couple jump capable scout mechs can get behind an assault mech and chew up that weak rear armor pretty fast.

True. Playing a light tank in WoT is not a lot of fun as you can't penetrate, but at least in MW, the weapons can do something ... and youv could even get a killing blow in a locust! Even a Firestarter would make life **** for carefully heat-balanced mechs as they can really aid other heavier mechs on the field.

[maydanbad]

Внесем двадцати тонные мехи и все будет путем, будут светом работать. Сделают засветку цели, а тяжи из укрытия накроют ракетами. Шикарно будет!

[Threat Doc]

maydanbad, on 01 November 2011 - 08:54 AM, said:

Внесем двадцати тонные мехи и все будет путем, будут светом работать. Сделают засветку цели, а тяжи из укрытия накроют ракетами. Шикарно будет!

maydanbad, I don't suppose you have that in English, do you?

Russian, right? Here's what I get on translation... will twenty-mechanization bellows and all will be through, will be the light to work. expressos will make the objectives, as тяжи from shelter dismissals missiles. aristocratic taste will be!

So, you're saying Light 'Mechs kick ****, can dodge missiles well, and will become the preference of many pilots, right?

[Buck Rogers]

I personally think the HNT-151 Hornet would be a great starter mech in MW:O.

It is the cheapest mech in battletech.

I has an LRM-5, a Medium Laser, a Small Laser, 150 meters jump capacity, and has the maximum armor a 20 tonner can carry. It is fairly slow however.

For a "starter mech" the Hornet would new players to experiment with everything from fire support, scouting, rooftop hopping, and more. It is also armored well enough to take a hit or three.

Any TRO will tell you about the mechs handicaps. But I think players would enjoy it in game. It would give new players a taste of what piloting the much larger mechs would be like. A Locust or Wasp is generally regarded as superior to the Hornet, but for in-game fun the Hornet packs a lot of goodies into a cheap package.

I'm a closet Hornet fan. Both it and the Urbanmech were designed for urban warfare roles, and perhaps coincidentally, they're both super dorky, in that fun "laugh at it, then pat it on the head and throw a stick for it" sort of way.

[GreyGriffin]

buck rogers, on 31 October 2011 - 02:16 PM, said:

1 35 ton Jenner costs 3,296,925 C-Bills.
1 20 ton Stinger costs 1,725,120 C-Bills.
1 100 ton Atlas costs 22,474,000 C-Bills.

30 ton Urbanmech - 1,464,125 C-Bills

[Iron Horse]

@buck rogers - Is that from 3025 TRO? I ask because I've never seen that configuration before (and because there's an elemental in the picture). But, I agree with your assessment. The Hornet sounds like a capable 'mech for beginner pilots.

I think that Light 'mechs will shine a lot more in PvE (if ever implemented) against more combined arms. It's fun to do end-runs in a scout, but if you don't have competent backup it can be a real pain. It remains to be seen how Light 'mechs will be balanced (I personally will prefer them, for a number of reasons), but how the starting equipment is handled and what the progression curve will demand from the player (in terms of time investment) are two of the main things I'm looking forward to. If given an opportunity to change chassis or upgrade I will likely upgrade, so starting with a Lighty is alright with me...

I can't wait to strap on a scout with JJ's and wear down larger 'mechs until the cavalry arrives!

[Nik Van Rhijn]

From what they've said so far it seems all classes will be available from day1, with the comment that balanced lances will be needed to succeed, ie 4 assaults is not optimum.

[Buck Rogers]

@ Iron Horse - It's not from the original 3025 TRO, it's from the Wolfs Dragoons sourcebook I believe, but it is established as a canon 3025 era battlemech.

[UncleKulikov]

Agreed. Need my spider full-speed charge!

[Eegxeta]

Light Mechs should have the best electronics warfare package out of all the weight classes. That would give light mechs an edge in stealth, scouting, and general everything a light mech was designed to do and I also think that light mechs should be the only weight class with jump jets because to lift a light mech you need 20 tons of thrust to just counteract gravity and at least 5 to 10 maybe more to get a decent distance in the air before you have to land to recharge the jump jets. Basically jumb jets are completely unrealistic for the heavier weight classes because you would need more thrust and more fuel to burn to keep that level of thrust going so you would need a small rocket to lift an assault mech off the ground.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

also I seem to remember reading that the weight limit for roofs was only going to allow lights in the urban maps.

[Fiachdubh]

In past games it just wasnt viable to take small mechs in open servers or after the first couple missions of the campaign. I was really excited when news of a new MW game first came out and it was stated you would choose a weight class to play through the campaign with.
Hopefully the whole information warfare side of MWO means they carry that commitment to lighter mechs over and I can finally use my beloved Raven mech for what it was ment to be used.
Until now only the mechcommander games and the occasional league match really used scout mechs properly but MWO is looking pretty promising so far.

Kay Wolf, on 01 November 2011 - 12:29 PM, said:

Russian, right? Here's what I get on translation... will twenty-mechanization bellows and all will be through, will be the light to work. expressos will make the objectives, as тяжи from shelter dismissals missiles. aristocratic taste will be!

How poetic!

Edited by Fiachdubh, 19 November 2011 - 02:33 PM.

[Blaze32]

Flea mech was very common during this era.
It would be so cool to get a 20 ton mech give it an xl engine and put a big engine in it!
If you put a 280 XL engine on the flea with masc it can go at 280 kph for short bursts with almost no decrease other than 6 less critical spaces.

Edited by Blaze32, 04 June 2012 - 05:13 PM.

[Ratzap]

If I remember he book right he bagged the locust using inferno launchers.

Anyway, it's up to the devs to make a game where the little guys stand a chance if they want them to be competative. They write the code, they can 'make it so'. I'd love it personally if heavy/assaults get penalties tracking lights (or however they want to even things out in the background). Harrassing larger mechs was always fun on TT so why not here.
You'll know if they got it right when we start playing, if the heavies/assaults totally ignore the lights nipping round their flanks/rear knowing they are harmless then it's not balanced. If they pause 1 round for a free kill, it's not balanced.

[Cerlin]

I get the feeling a lot of viability can come from the literal size difference. If a Locust is substantially smaller than an Altas, it will be MUCH harder to hit at high speeds, which means it will be really hard to kill. If this is implemented well then I think the 20 tonners stand a chance. And that is before we get into scouting and Ewar.

[Hishnegreb]

CoffiNail, on 31 October 2011 - 01:56 PM, said:

wants my firemoth please!

Those things are fast!

[chainedbeast]

If you can hold out in a 20 tonner long enough you can get more cash to get a better 2nd mech or customize the heck out of a wasp or locust.

[Stormeris]

Flea pl0x