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I believe it was H.B.M.C. who introduced the videos of the possibly upcoming new Mechwarrior game to this site in all their awesomeness.

Now, because I just love mechy videos I decided to go and have another look but instead found This

Basically it's the same crap about rights to certain mechs (yeah, it's about the Warhammer) and the main video was pulled.

Instead of jumping into that morass, I would like to challenge you to coming up with an alternative mech.

In the video we've got the Warhammer. 70 tons of destructive goodness, with enough punch to be able to take out an Atlas, though not so much at very close range (At long Range I'd go for the Warhammer!).

So what other mech would look cool, be outclassed in weight, still has a shot at taking out an Atlas, preferably has missiles (to take out that building with the Jenner). Machineguns would be a bonus for the nice sparky effects.
And oh yeah, it needs to be a mech that exists in the timeframe, so no mechs conceived past 3025

Personally, if the game could only have one 70 ton mech I'd love it to be the Grasshopper, on of my fav mechs of all time. In this game that lousy LRM5 would actually work by providing explosive, building levelling power! But let's face it, it doesn't really have a shot at taking out an Atlas at close range unless it starts to jump like crazy and go for the rear shots and that's not what the video is about.

So what's left? The Thug would fit the bill (already an Assault mech though) but fluffwise that mech is only common to the ComGuards IIRC. In the same weightclass there's the Awesome and to be honest I'd expect an Awesome to be able to have a very good shot at winning from an Atlas at short range, and should wipe it at long. It's also a walking brick and maybe just not cool enough for a promo movie.

So, what are your thoughts?

It will be fine. That video was ridiculously early in production, and can be easily changed.

For those with the Battletech knowledge, this is old news. They still have the rights to many of the older designs, and a quick substitute for the Whammy would be a Thunderbolt in terms of capability.

There are a lot of 'Mechs that can threaten an Atlas at range, but in a city they will have a bad day. At short range, the Atlas will eat most things alive due to heavy firepower and massive armor.

And I wouldn't bet on the Warhammer every time at range against the Atlas. The Whammy has pretty poor armor and has to cycle the PPCs carefully or over heat. In the end, the Atlas actually outranges the Whammy, and can easily out last it. It will eventually close the range, and Mr. Warhammer is toast.

Oh, I'm not worried about this affecting the possibility of the game truly being developed. I was just disappointed that the video had gone offline (wanted to show it to a friend).

The rest of the post was more about the cinematics of the video. You're a movie director, you want something to go up against an Atlas (the big scary monster), something that might have a chance, and also look cool. The Warhammer has that cool factor, it's simply a cool design visually speaking.

Good point about the Warhammer overheating and affecting its chances during a long range battle, I forgot about that. Never play much with a Warhammer, I find them underarmoured.

Thunderbolt would be a nice mech to include. For such a solid old design it gets almost no press in the Battletech universe.

No reason it can't be included. It is a Dougram/Crusher Joe design, and Catalyst still retained those rights.

Which is good, but how many times have you seen a Thunderbolt in fluff, or the novels? It's rightly a player favorite but you're far more likely to see walking trash cans (Urbanmechs) appear in the writing than a Thunderbolt.

Hey, don't you knock the Urbie. I own 35 of them.

Mattlov wrote:Hey, don't you knock the Urbie. I own 35 of them.

you have almost a full battalion of urbanmechs? How did this happen?

robertsjf wrote:

Mattlov wrote:Hey, don't you knock the Urbie. I own 35 of them.

you have almost a full battalion of urbanmechs? How did this happen?

I chose to. And got most of them cheap.

I have a lance each painted up in the best units of the Great Houses in 3025, and a lance with one Urbie of the major mercenary factions.

I like Urbies. I like a giant PILE of Urbies even more. I still have 5 more to paint up. I'm trying to get the Urbanmech from the 2009 GenCon diorama as my 36th.

He even runs an Urbie megabattle for Gen-Con.

Ok, that must be a sight to behold!

But really, do you stand any chance with such a force, even in a cityfight?

Don't know any Urbie variants of the top of my head (there are even some AC/20 variants aren't there?) so maybe there's some longer range weaponry versions.

Mind you, all those AC/10s would play havoc when concentrating fire but given equal BVs I'd assume you'd run in serious trouble sooner or later.

There's one with an MRM30 I think, which is just frightening to think about in a city.

BAWTRM wrote:
Don't know any Urbie variants of the top of my head (there are even some AC/20 variants aren't there?) so maybe there's some longer range weaponry versions.

Mind you, all those AC/10s would play havoc when concentrating fire but given equal BVs I'd assume you'd run in serious trouble sooner or later.

There is a lso a RAC/5 Urbie, and yes, they can do RIDICULOUS damage.

Equal BV gives me a huge advantage, because Urbies are CHEAP.

They also die quickly.

I had a trio of them (one AC/10, one AC/20 and one Urbie IIC) march onto a table and they had their clocks cleaned by a Mad Cat A in the space of two turns.

H.B.M.C. wrote:They also die quickly.

I had a trio of them (one AC/10, one AC/20 and one Urbie IIC) march onto a table and they had their clocks cleaned by a Mad Cat A in the space of two turns.

I challenge you to name ANY trio of of light 'Mechs (2 IS and one Clan) that would survive that fight...

2 Panthers and a Hellion.

Actually no... the Hellion's good, but I've seen it ripped up quickly enough. And the Mad Cat would ignore the Panthers and go after the Hellion first.

I think a Cougar might have a better chance with the heavier firepower.

Cougar B's are nice, but then it becomes a war of attrition, and the Mad Cat will win that. But to say the Hellion doesn't have firepower? Three pocket Large Lasers, three Streak 2's and an LRM10. How is that not firepower on a 30-ton 'Mech?

Best urbie:

5x S Laser
20x Machine guns
1x ton ammo

H.B.M.C. wrote:Cougar B's are nice, but then it becomes a war of attrition, and the Mad Cat will win that. But to say the Hellion doesn't have firepower? Three pocket Large Lasers, three Streak 2's and an LRM10. How is that not firepower on a 30-ton 'Mech?

Simple, against a Timber Wolf it has to be too close. By the time the Heavy Mediums have a halfway decent chance to hit, the Wolf is at short range for most of it's weapons. That will toast the Hellion even faster.

The Cougar could duel at some range at least, giving it a bit of advantage. Or at least less of a disadvantage.

Maybe if the Cougar was faster than the Cat, but it's not.

Mattlov wrote:Hey, don't you knock the Urbie. I own 35 of them.

35 Urbies? Great Ghu! That is simply... I mean how....oh dear. My poor head. I think I just lost 1D4 Sanity Points .

BAWTRM wrote:This

after having read the notes a few years back about the company putting mechwarrior on hold I had givenup hope of a Battletech game that was true to the setting. this was so unexpected, and I am drooling over the graphics....now I have to buy a decent computer to play that game at its highest of settings. well I guess I will start saving up now so when the game finally comes out I will have the cash to get a computer. but I am hoping that they will allow Clan Mech in multi player, or at least offereither a few expasions with new missions (like with MW4 Mercs" Black Knight, or the Mech Packs(the discs, not the free downloads)). can't wait for this to come out. it should finally bring some justice to the feel of the old games, that Mech Assault was just lacking. but still bring all the graphics that Mech Assault 2 had, if not more.

so any ideas on specs needed for the game yet, and here is fingers crossed it will run on XP.

Garuss Acine wrote:

BAWTRM wrote:This

after having read the notes a few years back about the company putting mechwarrior on hold I had givenup hope of a Battletech game that was true to the setting. this was so unexpected, and I am drooling over the graphics....now I have to buy a decent computer to play that game at its highest of settings. well I guess I will start saving up now so when the game finally comes out I will have the cash to get a computer. but I am hoping that they will allow Clan Mech in multi player, or at least offereither a few expasions with new missions (like with MW4 Mercs" Black Knight, or the Mech Packs(the discs, not the free downloads)). can't wait for this to come out. it should finally bring some justice to the feel of the old games, that Mech Assault was just lacking. but still bring all the graphics that Mech Assault 2 had, if not more.

so any ideas on specs needed for the game yet, and here is fingers crossed it will run on XP.

Or get an Xbox 360. Highest graphic settings, for much cheaper than the PC you will need.

Mattlov wrote:Or get an Xbox 360. Highest graphic settings, for much cheaper than the PC you will need.

really its coming out for the 360? if that is the case then.....

Yerp. It is actually designed for the console first from what I read.

BAWTRM wrote:Which is good, but how many times have you seen a Thunderbolt in fluff, or the novels? It's rightly a player favorite but you're far more likely to see walking trash cans (Urbanmechs) appear in the writing than a Thunderbolt.

Maeve Wolf pilots one, and Christian Kell as well I believe.

Garuss Acine wrote: but I am hoping that they will allow Clan Mech in multi player

The longer promo-movie showed a date of something like 3008 or something, pre-4th succesion war definately, so I'd say Clan mechs would be extremely doubtfull, even in multi-player. But who knows? If enough players clamour for it....

BAWTRM wrote:

The longer promo-movie showed a date of something like 3008 or something, pre-4th succesion war definately, so I'd say Clan mechs would be extremely doubtfull, even in multi-player. But who knows? If enough players clamour for it....

3015 is the year, but in a few of the interviews, it seems that they will have a multiplayer close to MA2 domination set up, and as the timeline goes forward they will release downlaodable content to expand the game to keep up with the year in game. so maybe a few years down the road after its release the clan invasion will be played out. though this timeline and the whole idea about a system that grants bonuses for not just using a type of weapon, but for using a certain model of mech raises some questions. such as how long will a in game year be compared to a real year, and how will this bonuses be awarded, by hour or by kill or to a further extent by how much damage you cause per shot.

another note for Mulitplayer, I really hope they don't go the way of MA with it, I would like to see them stick to 16 players like in MW4, but of course full on Company vs Company would be awesome if not larger.

The main point about a game like this is that it needs a seriously extensive 'Mech lineup. If there aren't 40-50 'Mechs in the game, every engagement will become dull.

I wish this time we could get a nice IS SW games without shinny toys, clans, C* or the wobbies. Real Classic battletech 3rd SW style. But mark my words, the programmers will end up adding all the post 3050s stuff.

M.