Ice age, on 13 December 2012 - 08:40 PM, said:
ecm is a tool, as a tool it must be used properly.missles are not useless,just harder to use effectively. missle mek with Ecm,Bap,sensor modual, tag and artimus is a thing of beauty when paired with a scout (ecm) w/tag. and close up(180-450) is deadly to small and large meks ,....with eccm on 2 or more meks.
I see this is your first post in the forums, so I am guessing you haven't been part of this debate to this point but I still have to point out some problems with your suggestions given how ECM currently works.
1) Re: TAG - it works between 450 and 181m of an ECM carrier. If you're closer you are jammed and TAG stops functioning. In either case, if your tagged target is within 180m of an ECM carrier the TAG will not apply its bonuses, it will just allow LRMs to operate which they should do anyway (there is no system in mechwarrior that stops LRMs from firing at a mech in LOS, or even a spotted mech, it just makes spotting it (*WHEN NOT IN LOS*) more difficult. When standing in LOS the mech should be a valid target for LRMs anyway, but I digress, this is a problem with the LRM implementation more than ECM.
2) Re: missle mek with Ecm,Bap,sensor modual, tag and artimus. Well the problem with that is that the missile mech, even if he has ECM in counter mode will not likely be countering the ECM of the intended target - range is 180m for counter after all. This means that his BAP, and artimus are 100% countered and dead weight, unless you are within 180m and in counter mode. If you are, good luck though as LRMs have a 150m minimum range below which the warheads don't explode.
So overall you're saying that the counter to ECM is to take two ECM mechs with lots of special equipment and do very specific and difficult things so they can go duck behind a building or hill and have your missiles do no damage anyway. Grand....
3) The TAG laser is currently pretty visible, and makes people notice you.
I hate to harp on you friend, but your suggestion seems to make a lot of assumptions about how ECM should work, and I have to say it's much less balanced than you think it is.
To review, this is a listing of what the ECM does:
It is a 1.5 ton 2 slot piece of equipment that can counter
Artemis
BAP
Tag bonuses (and the whole system inside of 180m)
NARC - a system which takes more space, weighs more, requires real coordination and skill and has ammo.
other ECMs (which leads to them stacking)
LRM locks (which has no basis in tabletop - a mech in LOS can always be shot by LRMs)
SSRM locks (which should only happen with the very advanced Angel ECM suite, not basic ECM)
general targeting info (again, should not happen - when 1 mech can see an enemy, all mechs on that side know where it is)
relegate AMS to almost pointlessness (since missiles are very very rare now)
have no exploding ammo (unlike AMS, a system which does much less for the same tonnage and space)
generate no heat ( I believe AMS generates a little, at least it does on tabletop... or is that Laser AMS...)
cost less than a module by a factor of 15 (and is much more useful than the module!)
Does not consume a weapon hardpoint, unlike TAG.
Works even if your spotter or tag carrier dies... (unlike the tag/lrm combo you suggest)
So as you can see this single piece of equipment is hands down the best in the game, and even if your proposed approach somehow overcame it (I contend it does not) it would still be a question of balance in that you are getting a ludicrous amount of benefit for you and your team, and suffering a huge disadvantage if you don't have N+1 of them, that you will be silly not to take it if you have the opportunity.
Remember, they didn't fix StreakCats they just made them 100% dependent on whether your side currently has N+1 ECMs in the area or not.
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