Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Thanks a lot H.B.M.C!

Ooh, ooh! Do the Hunchback and the Catapult next please! What's up with them?

I posted too soon! Thanks for the info on the Catapult, Mattlov!

Okay, so how about that Hunchback then?

I like Battletech in terms of the universe better I think, but it has a completely different feel for me. It's more like a cross between strategy game and RPG - not in its execution, of course, as there's no RPing involved - but you could better imagine each pilot getting better and becoming veterans in a campaign or something, and identify with them as opposed to "random space marine number 10".

Battletech seems so much less focussed on tactics, though. I mean there ARE some, but they're less obvious, and a lucky roll can grant you a headshot that immediately takes a big part of your force out instantly. In 40k that CAN happen, but usually not due to luck, and more due to a tactical mistake on your opponent's part. 40k also seems to progress much faster, and doesn't require you to check as many tables.

All right the Atlas would be a good addition. P. S. Is a Mad Cat a good mech as it's my favorite mech?

The Hunchback is a close-ranged brawler, with the ability to put great big holes in its opponents thanks to that massive AC/20. It works well in areas with heavy terrain or cities, which limit ranged combat and allow the Hunchback to engage in relatively close proximity. Or use it with 'mechs that can support it as it closes in on the enemy.

Forming a lance...woo...so many factors to take into account.

1) Is the lance part of a larger unit, such as a company? Typical Inner Sphere organization tends to form lances into units with particular functions, such as Recon, or Pursuit, or Fire, etc., including standard "Light", "Medium", "Heavy", and "Assault" lances. Therefore, members of a lance tend to have similar weight and speed, and either similar or complimentary functions. A fairly typical arrangement in a company is that of a Command Lance (consisting of Heavies and Mediums), a Medium Lance (consisting of Mediums), and a Recon Lance (consisting of fast 'mechs).

2) How fluffy do you want to be? Based on the background, certain 'mechs are more common in certain armies. For instance, the Commando and Zeus are generally regarded as 'mechs from the Lyran Commonwealth (House Steiner), while the Vindicator and Catapult are generally regarded as 'mechs from the Capellan Confederation (House Liao). How strict you want to stick to this is up to you, of course.

A good example of a lance using the above from 'mechs from the box set would be:

Grasshopper
Jagermech
Dervish
Enforcer

which could be a lance representative of the Federated Suns (House Davion).

Or:

Quickdraw
Dragon
Hunchback
Trebuchet

which could be a lance representative of the Draconis Combine (House Kurita).

Then there are the mercernary units...

Of course, these are your miniatures, so you can do whatever you want.

How many lance's are in a company?

All right My Command Lance consists of an Awesome, Atlas, Grasshopper and a Catapult.

My medium lance is made up of an Enforcer, Trebuchet, Hunchback and a Dervish

And my Recon Lance is made up of a Panther, Commando, Spider and a Clint.

Could you guys tell me what Mechs each house/clan has?

You're just full of questions, aren't ya? Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. It's always good to be enthusiastic.

dragonfire wrote:How many lance's are in a company?

When asked this question people normally delve into the make up of Infantry Regiments and Aerospace Wings and whatever, but I'll keep it simple.

1 'Mech = 1 'Mech
1 Lance = 4 'Mechs
1 Company = 3 Lances = 12 'Mechs
1 Batallion = 1 Command Lance + 3 Companies = 40 'Mechs

That's about as basic as it gets. And just for the sake of being complete, the Clans are:

1 Points = 1 'Mech
1 Star = 5 Points = 5 'Mechs
1 Brinary = 2 Stars = 10 Points = 10 'Mechs
1 Trinary = 3 Stars = 15 Points = 15 'Mechs
1 Cluster = Command Star + 2-5 Binaries or Trinaries = 25-80 Points = 25-80 'Mechs

That's it as far as 'Mech organisation. ComStar have different ones, and some Periphery nations do it differently, the Capellans sometimes how expanded Lances, the Clans sometimes use Nova formations - but you only need to know that if you want to know that. The basics are what I posted above.

Could you guys tell me what Mechs each house/clan has?

Short Answers - No.

Long Answer - If you take into account all the variants of each type of 'Mech and which Houses/Clans/Mercenary Commands/Nations use each particular type or variant of 'Mech, you end up with well over 1000 different variants of several hundred different types of 'Mechs spread across about 30-40 different factions. And that's before you even get into vehicles, aircraft, infantry, Battle Armour, DropShips and WarShips. So no, we can't really tell you that. We can give you an idea, but you'd need to be specific. To help with that, if you're not all that familiar with the basics of BattleTech's back story, then I would you suggest this totally free official background fluff PDF. It does a good job of giving you a brief overview and history of everything in a manner that makes everything easy to understand. From there you can come back to us with more specific questions.

All right My Command Lance consists of an Awesome, Atlas, Grasshopper and a Catapult.

My medium lance is made up of an Enforcer, Trebuchet, Hunchback and a Dervish

And my Recon Lance is made up of a Panther, Commando, Spider and a Clint.

Just like any tabletob game the various units you have all have roles to play. All the 'Mechs you've chosen for your Command Lance are great 'Mechs - no doubts about that - but look carefully at each one:

1. Awesome - Medium-to-Long Ranged static energy-based fire support 'Mech. It wants to stay still, in good cover, and rain death upon its enemies.
2. Atlas - Point Blank-to-Close ranged hulking behemoth of a machine. It's slow and should be wading knee deep into combat, doing for range 0 shots with its AC's and short-ranged missiles as well as hard-hitting physical attacks.
3. Grashopper - Simply a beautifully balanced machine, a Short-to-Medium brawler that wants to get into difficult terrain where its Jump Jets and good heat curve will give it an advantage over many opponents. Really its hard to go wrong with a Grasshopper. Outstanding design.
4. Catapult - An extremely well made jack-of-all-trades that can help the Awesome out with fire support, but is also a great match for the Grasshopper's brawling ability thanks to its equal Jump Movement, four Medium Lasers and great heat curve.

So as I said, all these 'Mechs are great at what they do, but other than the Catapult, none of them do the same thing. Lances should compliment one another, that's why they come in Lances. The only time a Lancemate's role should differ from the other members of his Lance is when he has a very specific function like, for example, putting a Hunchback in a Lance of missile support 'Mechs. Obviously the Hunchback has no long-ranged weapons to help out his Lancemates, but his Lancemates have no defence up close, so the Hunchback acts as a bodyguard 'Mech. So while you can use the four 'Mechs you've selected - there's no problem with that - I feel that the Atlas would be left alone unless you send the Grasshopper with it, and left the Catapult with the Awesome to support their advance. It can work, but there could be better options there.

The Medium Lance is fine. I can't see anything wrong with them except be careful at ranges 6 and below. Sure, the Hunchback and Enforcer can keep on fighting, but the Treb and Dervish have trouble with anything below 7 hexes. Always remember 'Lucky 7's' - it's when your Long Range Missile Racks are at short-range, but not within their minimum range. It is the optimal range to be for LRM's. That's not to say that the Treb and Dervish can't fight - between them they've got Medium Lasers and some sort of short-ranged missile launchers - but it's worth remembering.

The '' after you Recon Lance is funny, because I assume you find the lighter 'Mechs boring. When I started playing BTech I had that view - who wants a Light 'Mech? Heavies and Assaults mount more guns and more armour!!! - and I held onto that view for a while, at least until I started using the lighter 'Mechs. The demo game in BTech, and the Intro Box keeps this, involves a 'Mech called the Cicada. You'll get one in the intro box. I looked at it and saw 2 Medium Lasers, 1 Small Laser and virtually no armour. I wrote it off as useless. Then I tried it, and instantly saw exactly what speed does. For very fast 'Mechs, speed is the key to survival, and high speeds (walking movements of 7 and higher) make you very, very hard to hit. Since my first actual game of BTech, where I took the 'useless' Cicada, that 'Mech has become one of my favs.

Respect speed. Repsect your Spider. The 2 Medium Lasers it has might not seem like much, but the havoc you can cause with its 8/12/8 walking/running/jumping movement is just insane. Also consider how a 'Mech is constructed - the Spider's Medium Lasers are inside its centre torso, so it can lose both its arms and both its right and left torso and still keep jumping 8 and shooting those Lasers almost every turn. It's a Light 'Mech that, due to the virtues of its construction, is actually very tough. The Panther is one of the better light Snipers in the game. It's slow, but its decent armour and PPC make up for that. The Commando I've covered, and I've never really used the Clint much, so I can't really help you there.

But remember the roles that a 'Mech plays. Atlases and Awesomes are great at what they do, but they can't do what they each do as a pair because they are designed for different things.

I've got to chime in with H.B.M.C. here, light mechs are awesome!

From the box set I just love the Jenner, Spider and the awesome Cicada. They've got incredible speed/manouverability and are great at getting in the rear of heavier/slower mechs. Even Assault mech start to sweat once their rear torso armour is being sloughed away by Medium Lasers!

I once played a game with the box set mechs (actualy the previous edition with the cardboard versions of the current plastic mechs) where me and my opponent only agreed on a weight limit of 400 tons (yup, big game). He went almost full Assault mechs with this game and I............got my hand on every fast and manouverable mech I could.

2 Jenners, 2 Spiders, 2 Cicada, 2 Assasins (they lose out in this role compared to the other mechs but hey it's got movement!), a single Grasshopper so my opponent had something to focus on and a filler mech (don't recall, a Panther probably)

I completely ruled the battlefield in that game. My opponent came wading in while I was darting this way and that, hiding behind/in terrain etc. The larger number of mechs I had gave me an advantage in getting into the rear of my opponent's mechs. Sure whenever he did manage to place a hit with a heavy weapon it was usually quite painfull for my mechs, but not as painfull as it was for him once my mechs started to bore into his internals!

My opponent quickly went from smug ,to surprised, to horrified, to resentfull. Apparently my puny mechs should have just lined up and be taken apart by his powerhouses.

He's got the same attitude in WHFB, he should have learned by then that weaker models (like my WHFB Empire) does not mean a weak force that guarantees an easy victory.

So I should change the Awesome for what? Yeah I'm full of questions...

I think the Cyclops backs up the Atlas well in terms of their armaments. Not to mention that both, according to fluff, are typical as 'mechs piloted by officers and commanders, and the Cyclops is touted (by fluff) to have superior communications abilities.

Like I mentioned and H.B.M.C. has explicitly pointed out, lancemates should have similar or at least complimentary 'mechs.

I think that as Recon/Pursuit lances tend to go, a Cicada, a Spider, and a Jenner work well together. It's too bad they don't include a Mongoose in the box set, as I think it would round out the group well. But an Assassin works here, too. H.B.M.C. detailed the benefits of the Spider well...though I have to chime in for the Jenner...it's not as durable, since it's Medium Lasers are arm mounted and it carries ammunition (death sentence pretty much if the ammo gets hit)...but boy does it pack a close ranged punch...but then, I'm biased since I like the look of the 'mech, as well.

As for which 'mechs belong to which house (and which variant each house tends to field), you can find that information in the various Techinical Readouts, Sourcebooks, and Field Manuals that are published. But as a player, I think you have a good deal of flexibility...since you can always claim that your Kuritan company salvaged a Jagermech from fighting the Federated Suns...or that it got a Vindicator as part of a mutual arms trade with the Capellan Confederation. There are rough guidelines...but it won't stop you from fielding a few uncommon 'mechs in your force. Moreover, according to fluff, planets are changing hands throughout the various wars, and, as an example, the Cataphract, a design common to House Liao, is now common to House Davion, as House Davion took the planet that the Cataphract is manufactured from in a recent war.

Basically, what I am saying is that this is YOUR army...and if you like a 'mech and want to field it, then by all means, do so. Afterall, it's YOUR enjoyment of the game that's important.

Well I got to play the basic secinarios in the box. Battletech is ten times as good as 40k!

BAWTRM wrote:I completely ruled the battlefield in that game. My opponent came wading in while I was darting this way and that, hiding behind/in terrain etc. The larger number of mechs I had gave me an advantage in getting into the rear of my opponent's mechs. Sure whenever he did manage to place a hit with a heavy weapon it was usually quite painfull for my mechs, but not as painfull as it was for him once my mechs started to bore into his internals!

My opponent quickly went from smug ,to surprised, to horrified, to resentfull. Apparently my puny mechs should have just lined up and be taken apart by his powerhouses.

Yeah...When I was regularly playing megamek with people on classicbattletech.com, I got a reputation of really liking fast mechs. I think I lost 1 or two matches out of around 20...I think I pissed people off because I didn't just stand and blast for an attrition battle. I took advantage of my speed and the terrain. Funny thing is, I usually took just regular pilots not veterans or elites like everyone else liked to. Granted, this was all Clantech and clan pilots (4/3 for a regular).

dragonfire wrote:Well I got to play the basic secinarios in the box. Battletech is ten times as good as 40k!

Damn skippy!

Also, judging by your screen name, the Dragon Fire might be a good 'Mech for you...

?

!

?!?

?!?!?

?!?!?!?

That is an awsome looking mech!
All right what fraction whould the following lance be of?
Hunchback, Enforcer, Dervish and a vanguard.

That is an awsome looking mech!
All right what fraction whould the following lance be of?
Hunchback, Enforcer, Dervish and a vanguard.

dragonfire wrote:That is an awsome looking mech!
All right what fraction whould the following lance be of?
Hunchback, Enforcer, Dervish and a vanguard.

By "vanguard" I assume you mean a scout of some type.

That current lance screams Davion (Federated Suns) with the Enforcer and Dervish. Since they are big fans of the autocannon, the Hunchback works well there too.

The Intro Box doesn't come with any distinctive Davion scouts, so putting the Assassin with them wouldn't be a bad choice.

sorry the Vindicator.

Would still be Davion...Or a Merc unit

Vindicator is a Liao 'mech. Enforcer is a Davion 'mech. Other two are generics.

Well I like the paint schemes of the Diamond sharks Beta Galaxy and the wolf Dragons Blacken Red.

Davions have a lot of Liao 'Mechs (or did). Hell, there were so many Ravens in the hands of the Davions after the 4th War that most people assumed it was a Davion design!!!

H.B.M.C. wrote:Davions have a lot of Liao 'Mechs (or did). Hell, there were so many Ravens in the hands of the Davions after the 4th War that most people assumed it was a Davion design!!!

I don't know how many were intact, though. I'm sure they had plenty of Raven CHUNKS...

In the end, most of those went to the NAIS for study. Very few went back into the field.

Actually TRO: 3039 makes it clear that many of them went back into service with House Davion:

During the Fourth Succession War, House Davion forces captured many Ravens as they slashed through the Capellan Confederation. Some of these captured BattleMechs were sent to the New Avalon Institute of Science for reverse engineering, but many others were retained to make up combat losses in the units that captured them. The Raven become such a common sight in the AFFS that many civilian observers mistakenly thought the design to be a new Davion ’Mech.

My take an all in one approach:

Light mech basic concepts.
Light mechs are the cheapest, and normally the fastest. Battletech heavily penalises combining mass with speed, you can have a light unit move fast, or a heavy unit mover slow but the graph for engine mass vs performance is not straight, the bigger the engine you need the less eficient it is. This can result in very fast efficient light designs, and woefully inefficient fast heavy mechs. likewise there are underpowered light mechs with ridiculously small engines.

In general however if you want a light mech your primary asset is the cheap fast engine. The downside is that many compontents such as the gyro and cockpit have a more or less constant size. Once you have accounted for those there is little tonnage remaining for weapons and armour.

Commando
Lyran mech. Though common enough anywhere. Light mechs tend to change hands a lot, something to do with weak leg armour and scouting roles. One of the few mechs to be in continuous mass production due to the near unstoppable Hesperus industrial complex.

Pro: Very good firepower for a light mech, and at 25tons this is one of the lightest.
Con: Lacks jump jets or supreme speed of other light designs.

Spider
Most agile mech in the original game. While the center torso lasers can fire longer than arm mounted weapons in another mech do not get carried away regarding the Spiders 'survivability' if you are taking heavy side torso or arm hits you risk taking heavy leg hits too. Once that happens its game over Spider.

Pro: Exceptionally agile, you can rely on the Spider getting where you want it. Sane options involve objective holding ansd getting behind enemy mechs. The Spider is of most use as a flanking mech against a static defensive line as its jump value of 8 allows it to reach positions other mechs cannot go. its very difficult to design a fortress that is Spider proof.
Con: Cannot do too much when it gets there.

Jenner
The nastiest light mech design. It combines exceptional agility, not quite as good as a Spider but close with limited jump jets and firepower exceeding that of the Commando. Jenner is one of the few designs which has a jump capability but one that is not matched to the maximum capacity dicatated by engine speed. This cuts the juimping ability to a modest 5 but likewise cuts down tonnage allocated to jump jets. Its firepower exheeds its ability to disappate heat but this is offset by the mechs hit and run nature. assuming you run after you hit (generally wise) you have time to cool down after your attack run.

Pro: The best 'backstabber' mech as it combines good mobility with heavy close range firepower. Known for its horribly potent short range alpha strike i.e. fire all weapons now pay later in heat penalty.
Con: Really there isnt one, the Jenner is one of the best desgned mechs in the Inner Sphere. However its still a light mech and cannot take a heavy hit without risk of serious damage. It also has more guns than it can realistically fire.

Panther
An honourary medium mech. At 35tons its still a light, but with the dynamics of a mech heavier design for good and ill. the Panther is one of two light designs to mount a heavy gun, the other being the absent Urbbanmech, and both designs pay to some extent or other with reduced speed. The Panther gets the better deal here as it keeps the firepower and collects passable agility and armour. A highly recommended design. You get a PPC the first of the big guns seen. Good range good damage offset by a large heat penalty and a minimum range penalty. Both downsides are offset, as the Panther is armed with little else and has bonus heat sinks, the first design featured to do so. Thus this mech can fire its man ghun and walk run or jump while still remaining heat neutral. Once an enemy closes the PPC is silenced in favour of an SRM 4 rack.
The Panther is a signiture mech of house Kurita but as a light mech some to change hands so it can be expected to be seen elsewhere. The mech is manufactured on Dieron in a factory within a hollowed out mountain, and has remained on full production throughout the Succession wars and beyond. for this reason and its adaptability house Kurita has been kniown to field formations entirely consisting of Panthers though this is not entirely recommended.

Pro: Very efficient mech offering excellent ranged firepower, decent armour and agility in urban terrain where it can use its jump jets to offset its modest speed.
Con: While this mech can impersonate a heavy mech design and has comperable firepower to some it cannot do so for very long. This mech performs poorly on an open battlefield as it is slow and easy to hit.



Medium mech basic concepts.

Medium mechs are the most common, they are cheap like light mechs but dont die so easy, so they tend to stick around. Medium mechs can have speed, agility, armour and firepower even to the very largest guns, they just cannot have them all at once.

Assassin
A very rare design, never manufactured in great numbers and lacking in direction the assassin struggles to find a true role on the battlefield. Perhaps because it doesnt belong there. The Assassin lives up to its name, it is not as straight up fighter but a harasser in this role it has no peer in the early 31st century, unless you count the LAM's. The Assassin's role is in asymmetrical warfare, if T.E.Lawrence was a mechwarrior - this would be his ride.
The assassin is superemely fast with a movement profile of 7/11/7, only just shy of the Spider. However its 10 tons heavier and thus more expensive and has little more firepower. The big difference is that the medium laser and SRM2 match the Spiders firepower, but are supplemented by something none of the other harasser mechs have, an LRM rack.
The Assassin thus enjoys its reputation of being just about the only mech design to match extreme agility with long range. Think about this a moment. You can dance with the Spider, but there is no need to close range like a Spider or Jenner has to. However now hold this thought, first in order to jump about you have to take a penalty to hit, now you want to engage at longer ranges and suffer a second penalty. This comes to the crunch, the assassin is expensive to account for its fast agile long range firepower but one LRM 5 rack alone is not scary and the mech will have difficulty scoring hits without an elite pilot. In the end you need to take the same risks as a Jenner or Spider pilot, and thus begs the question, why not just take a Jenner instead?

Pro: Can't touch this.
Con: Doesnt drop the hammer.

Cicada
Another Spideresque mech. With a movement of 8/12 it is the fastest mech avilable, matched only by the Spider Ostscout and Locust. However it is heavier than any of those designs is no batter ared and doesnt jump. Now admittedly the locust doesnt jump either but that is an entry level mech half its tonnage. To pull off attacks with a cicada you need tyhe terrain and deployment on your side. Its one thing to have a movement raste of 12 but targeting penalty depends on howe far you actually move, not how hot your engine is running, turns detract from this so to throw enemy gunnery off youir cicade needs good open terrain to run about in. it can work but it is all too easy for an opponent to deploy his mechs in such a way as to prevent an effective attack run.

Pro: Has the speed of a Spider.
Con: Has the weapons of a Spider too, also the armour tonnage and doesnt jump.

Clint
The next two mechs are most 'average' lighter medium mechs. With decent but not excessivbe speed, jump jerts and a reasonable amount of firepower. The Clint introduces us to autocannon, while inefficent due to their tonnage autocannon can throw out reasonable firerpower without clocking up much heat. The Clint mounts the AC/5 and two medium lasers which means that even with the default ten heat sinks it can run or jump and fire all its guns while never overheating. In fact the only way to overheat a Clint is to damage its engine core. firepower is not especially potent, but has a good range selection and with the Clints agility this mech can avoid any fight it cannot win.
A common variant of the Clint the -2R upgrades the AC/5 to a monster AC/10 doubling firepower and earning the design respect, this is offset by the removal of the jump jets, a reasonable trade off.

Pro: Realistic firepower for a 40 ton mech, very good speed and agilty without paying for the excessive engine sizes of the Cicade or Assassin.
Con: The AC/5 is too heavy for its output, the AC/10 has limited ammo and the mech pays for its lack of jump jets is an escape is needed.

Hermes II
Very similar to ther Clint. The Hermes II is a house Marik favourite. The only real difference between the two designs is that the Hermes II replaces one medium laser with a flamer. the mechs are different though, it is not an alternate design, just a near identicle loadout.

Pro: Gives the mech a little more versatility with three different weapons options. The Hermes II is a feared infantry killer for this reason.
Con: As for the Clint, but by and large a medium laser is worth more than a flamer.

Whitworth
The poor mans Catapult, or Archer, like the other fire support mechs the Whitworth is a modest speed, respectable armour mech which mounts a pair of LRM racks backed up by an array of medium lasers. Being the baby of the three the Whitworth only has two LRM10's but with a reasonable ammo capacity for a protracted fight (12 shots per launcher). The Whitworth lacks any additional heat sinks so it cannot fire its lasers in conjunction with its missiles or vice versa. However this is a common feature of all such mechs and not considered a disadvantage of the design as LRM's carry a signficantly punitive short ranged penalty so there is little point in attempting to fire all weapons together.
As the Whitworth is just a scaled down Archer or Catapult performing the same role, is reasonably survivable but not expected to holt the line; it would not disgrace any fire lance - even in an assault regiment.

Pro: Solid design with decent firepower. A team player never to be turned away from anything other than a dedicated fast scout company.
Con: Very poor speed for a mech of its size, can be easy prey to a heavier (and faster!) mech if caught alone.

Vindicator
The quintescential Capellan design, the Vindicator is an attempt to build a one size fits all mech capable of performing pretty much any role. While seen by some as mediocre the Vindicator succeeds at its job. The only role it cannot fulfil is that of fast scout, and the CapCon is not short of Stingers and Locusts for that job. This also means the efficient 45 tons mech can capitalise by taking a modest engine. Nine tons of armour is respectable for a medium, with notably decent rear armour - good for a running battle. The array of a weapons: a PPC, a light LRM rack and two secondary lasers offers a modest firepower output at all ranges. This mech also jumps.
The Vindicator excells at nothing but this is not its role, the Vindicator can be put anywhere, except in a scout role as formentioned and is used as a stopgap for a missing mech in any lance. For this reason a Capellan battallion might find a Vindicator in a garrison, fire, command or H.Q. lance, as and where needed. A dedicated mech would be better, but a Vindicator is much better than the wrong mech. To see the strtength of ther Vindicator you have to understand its role it can be easily outgunned at any ranged bracket by a dedicated design and cannot outrun any mech it cannot outfight. However this is the T-34 of mechs, no Vindicator is designed to fight alone and a full lance of Vindicators working in unison can do every job well.

Pro: Good supplementary firepower at all range brackets. Works well with others of its own kind.
Con: Easy prey if unsupported.

Enforcer
You could call this the Davion answer to the Vindicator, though it predates it. Slightly heavier but of otherwise similar profile in mobility agility and armour. The Enforcer has what the Vindicator lacks, a strong pivotal role. The Federated Suns is not short of assets to use the right tool for ther right job and the Enforcer fits this bill as the principle Davion linefighter. The Enforcer avoids the plethora of dissonant weapons for two simple and effective guns, a large laser and an Ac10. Plus an ity bitty small laser as an afterthought. The two guns (ignore the third) are good for hitting medium range targets with heavy damage, twice. It really doesnt do anything else nor does it need to even assault mechs need to think hard before trying to close with Enforcers.

Pro: This is the Davion Enforcer, and it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Con: While firepower is good it is too slow to dictate a fight by itself. Vulnerable to fast harassers and LRM 'missile boats'.

Hunchback
Here we come to the BIG GUN. Whole three other mechs also carry the potent Ac20 and one of those jumps all three are assault mechs and none are any faster than the Hunchback. At 50tons rather than 80+ there is little reason not to put your faith in this mech to bring the mighty AC/20 to bear.
The Hunchback is a 50 tonner with decent armour but no jump ability and little in the way of secondary weapons. its only job is to get the BFG in range and do some damage. In this role it is extraordinarily successful and the Hunchback design has proliferated throughout the Successor states, everyone wants them noone wants to be in front of them. The secondary lasers have no better range and exist solely as bonus firepower alongside the cannon and for the risky range 7-9 shots you dont want to waste ammo on. However the total lack of firepower beyond range nine plus the reputation of this mech means that many Hunchbacks are targetted and fall before firing a shot. A Hunchback may be brutal, but to survive it must also be subtle, this is not a straight forward linefighter but a reserrve to bring in to finish off a pinned enemy or to hold in ambush.

Pro: 20 points of damage per hit....
Con: Slow/average speed and no firepower beyond speed 9 maximum or 7 effective range.

Trebuchet
A fire support mech in the same role of a Whitworth and co; with two LRM racks backed up by medium lasers. However the Trebuchet differs from the family of fire support mechs in two respects. First the Trebuchet is faster, second it has limited ammo capacity, and without redress in any of the modifications. The Trebuchet enjoysd two LRM15 racks similar in output to the much heavier Catapult however due to its good heat sinks and mobility of 5/8/5 it is encouraged to use the Trebuchet in more aggressive roles than the usual fire support mechs. Also the three medium lasers and the two missile racks can be fire together and still not incur a noticable heat penalty, though circumstances to warrant an alpha strike with this mech would be difficult to engineer, best with a steady shot at ranges 5-9 against a slow moving target.

Pro: Two LRM15's and jump 5, a theoretically potent alpha strike capable mech.
Con: Difficult to use properly, this mech leaves you with the feeling it is capable of so much more than you can coax out of it.

Dervish
Similar to the Trebuchet in that is offers pairs of LRM racks in a non fire support role. Ther Dervish is also similart in that it offers good mobility and a selection of weapons accross the range brackets which unfortunately do not support each other well except by exclusion. However the Dervish does not 'waste' tonnage on heat sinks to attempt to fire incompatible weapons together and only has the basic ten. This gives it enough to fire both LRM10 racks or all its short ranged weapons all the time when standing still, or most of the time when jumping about. This mech cannot alpha strike. The Dervish however has weak armour and must be quick to recognise when it is time to retire from a fight.

Pro: The average mech. Average firepower at all ranges, medium armour and medium mobility, the Dervish can fit in anywhere.
Con: No real disadvantage, limited heat sinks prevent the pilot from attempting feats the mech is otherwise not deisgned to accomplish.


Heavy mech basic concepts.
Heavy mechs are as big as they get before mechs get too big that they must either reduce speed to a crawl or be converted into walking engines. While 55 tons is the true optimal tonnage it is the heavy mechs particualry the heavy 65-75 tonners who rule the battlefield, when the assault mechs are not looking that is.

Dragon
The other signiture kuritas mech. Like the Panther house kurita controls the only factory and it is so well protected there is little anyone can do to stop production. In the case of the Dragon because all com,p[oents of this mech are assembled on Luthien, the Draconis Combine's capital. Also like the Panther the DCMS likes to field lots od Drafgons together, something as whole units.
Now for the downside, this is not a good idea. While the Panther is efficient but slow the dragon is inefficient and reasobably fast, or more to ther point unreasonably fast with its rating 300 engine. After asll if speed was dropped wo the more normal 4/6 for a heavy mech 7.5 tons could be saved for use on armaments.
This is compounded by not equipping the mech with jump jets to capitalise on its speed and the inclusion of the lacklustre Ac/5 as main armament. While such a gun is escusable on the Clint or hermes II the Dragon pays too much for its tonnage to waste eight tons on a gun with not more pentrative power than a medium laser. The Dragon also mounts an LRM10 as its other main weapon and two medium lasers. Note here that one of the medium lasers is rearward firing, the first encountered so far. While rear weapons are a valuable bonus they are of most value to slow assault mechs, not a medium/heavy with a 5/8 speed profile.
there a\re some good points though. Armour is good with far more rear armour than most so this mech can get in close and stay for a fight, though why you would want to witgh the two primary weapons being what they are is another matter. more poiniently the Dragomn is rare in that it encloses ample ammo for each weapon with 24 salvos for the missile launcher and 40 for the autocannon. this is far more than most mechs carry and frankly more than a mech would need in the field. This plus the speed and all round armour leads us to believe the Dragon is a field mech designed for extended periods without support, first in and last out. all this makes sense as the Dragon is a heavy hit and run design, a 60 ton mech performing ac skirmishers role. This makes sense in the background, but does not work well on the tabletop. All in all this is a mech that does not deliver.
However all is not lost, the Dragon is a dead design, by the fourth succession war it was already being replaced by the identicle looking Grand Dragon. This mech replaces the Ac/5 with a PPC, boosting its firepower considerably though giving the mech some heat management difficulties.

Pro: Large ammo bins means there is room to include specialised ammo. can hit and run without tiring or overheating.
Con: A 60ton mech that hits little harder than a Clint is slower and doesnt jump.

Quickdraw
Again this mech mounts a rating 300 engine as does ther Dragon. The engine accounts for a third of the tonnage of the mech on its own. However with the Quickdraw this is not considered a disadvantage, because the Quickdraw jumps. Jump capable heavy mechs are rare and most are slow. This one is not. Armament is similar to most harasser mechs SRM's, medium lasers and the treat for heasvy harasser units an LRM rack. The Quickdraw is the Assasssins elder uglier brother and is much better at the job. like the Sragon the Quickdraw has rear mounted lasers and heavier than usual rear armour but provides more laser coverage giving the mech the ability to deal with any lighter mech that tries to turn the tables on it.
for this reason the Quickdraw has a reputation of a hunter of harasser mechs, if they outmanoeuver one and rear strike they face laser firepower and armour as good as their own, if the Quickdraw gains the initiative it can close with more lasers and an SRM salvo, at long range the Quickdraw sports an LRM10, a weapon more than capable of crippling most light mechs.
Against heavier opponents the Quickdraw fares little better, the Jenner still has more short range forward firepower, but it handles no worse excepting only the top edge of speed.

Pro: Modest but sufficient armour and firepower at all ranges, not neglecting the rear arc. Excellent agility for its size.
Con: Lacks the supreme speed of a heavy harasser unit. However for that you will need to wait until XL engines are available. The damage curve is little better than a light mech.

Catapult
A firm favourite of the Capellans, the Catapult is known for its many many design variants. The defaoult loadout is a standard fire support mech, 4/6 engine reasonable armour and two missile racks backed up by medium lasers. The Catapult differs in that it jumps. This mech can be used in one of two ways, as an all rounder or as a dedicated fire support mech. the default catapult 1C is an all rounder with four medium lasers to back up the LRM racks. Do not make this mistake of thinking this a 'helpless' artillery piece to close with and destroy. This is a 65ton bruiser with decent armour jump jets and four close in weapons systems, the ubiquitous medium lasers. In fact the short ranged fire output exheeds the long range fire output in many respects. This mech has very limited ammo capacity with only eight shots per launcher, in this respect the Catapult is a tactical fire support mech of limited combat duration which swirtches roles as battle progresses to a short range backup infighter. a good choice for a firepower mech in a lance or stand alone company, less effective in larger formations.
However variants exist that upgrade the amount of ammo available, or even the launcher themselves to LRM/20's both at the expence of secondary weaponry. When modified this way the catpult is a fire support mech, pure and only, and is a helpless artillery piece up close.

Pro: Good asll rounder with no real downsides, fearsome firepower at all ranges.
Con: Limited ammo capacity.

JagerMech
Well put it this way, the Jagermech has a huge tonnage allocated to weapons. However it pays for this by having a ridiculously poor armour cover, similar to a light mech half its tonnage and wastes most of the weapons tonnage on largely useless light autocannon.
The only thing good to say about the Jagermech is that it has the opportunity to inflict damage at extreme range and can work well as a vehicle killer immobilisinh heavy tanks with track hits at long range and nabbing swift hovercraft with its long short range bracket. Against mechs though the Jagermech has problems. Two AC/5's offer poor firepower, the two AC/2's on the other hand are a joke. The fact that the mech hasd sufficient ammo to last a long battle is also not relevant as its abysmal armour rating will not permit it to stand up to enemy fire for any length of time.
In fact a Jagermech is prey to any faster mech even lights like the spider who can close to point blank range and engage with equal firepower (the Jagermech has two medium lasers) equal endurance but from a far more agile platform.

Pros: Looks good.
Cons: Everything else.

Grasshopper
The heaviest of the jump capable mechs available in the boxset, the Grasshopper is a beast. the Grasshopper is a mostly laser armed mech of limited speed offset by its jumping ability. Five tons heravier than the atapult and with similar agility the Grasshopper profits by tradeing off the heavy missile racks for a large laser and enough heat sinks to fire all weapons continually. ther Grasshopper also does not lack for armour with a very respectable thirteen tons with ggood all round coverage.
the Grasshopper is a duellist suited to a mobile fight at all ranges with a marked preference for the close in fight. The mech does mount an LRM rack, on the head of all places, however this is mostly for the benefit of the trickshot. The real power comes from five forward mounted lasers including one large laser. The Grasshopper can run and fire all its energy weapons and remain heat neutral, it can jump, alpha strike and still not incur a heat penalty from a cool start. This is an impressive advantage as unlike most designs listed so far its long range firepower directly supplements the short range firepower and can be fired together without wastage.


Assault mech basic concepts.
Assault mechs are reeally in two categories due the the engine considerations. Those that move at speed 3/5 and those that move at speed 4/6 or faster. Engines weigh so much that they can often amount to over half the mass of the mech, one such mech is so overengined that it can only mount light weaponry despite its enormous tonnage, others are more balanced. In any event we will refer to these mechsd as (relatively) fast assault mechs. The one advantage 'faster' assault mechs have is that they are far more likely to be able to get into close combat, in fact many such mechs are better off in melee combat than Heavy assault mechs are the kings of the battlefield, they move 3/5 without exception and mount more weaponry than any other mech. I mean what I say: Kings not queens, queens can go anywhere kings plod along one space at a time.

Awesome
A heavy assault mech and one of the best. Like all heavy assault mechs the awesome survives through its enormous firepower at range and its heavy armour. the Awesome mounts three PPCs and suffient heat sinks it can fire all of them every other turn, cycling one off in between to cool down. While the awesome does have a small laser as a secondary close in weapon it is no deterent, if faced with a close enemy an awesome should readjust its sights and fire anyway, even at point blank range the firepower penalties are better than a long range shot and at range 2 the chances to hit are the same as a medium range target.

Pro: Impressive firepower, range and armour. Does not overheat easily.
Con: Poor accuracy at short range, very slow.

Zeus
A 'faster' assault unit. The Zeus has a large array of weapons and the heat sinks to fire all the front arc weapons together. The three main weapons the missile rack, large laser and AC/5 are all long range weapons, the Zeus can throw down a moderate amount of energy, missile and ballistic weapons down range at the same distant target which should make interesting effects to say the least. while this is no real substitute for an Awesomes three PPC's the Zeus has advantages of its own, the weapons curve does not deteriorate as badly at short range especially as the medium laser can come into play to offset the LRM's. Furthermore the Zeus mounts a rear mounted laser and is faster.
If the Zeus has a downside, other than its price, it is that it lacks the heavy themed firepower of other assault mechs; it has no monster autocannon, it lacks multiple heavy energy weapons. Its firepower is by no means poor but lacks the magic of other assault mechs.

Pro: Good weapons coverage at every range, excellent armour and acceptable mobility.
Con: No real downside, modest firepower for a mech of its size.

Cyclops
As a 'faster' assault mech her Cyclops is a slightly lighter faster variant of the Atlas. It has the AC/20, the LRM launcher SRM launcher and medium lasers profiles are faily similar at first value, and it doesnt suffer from the speed penalty. However there are significant differences, for a start while 4/6 is faster in the case of an mech with an AC/20 it is by no means fast and the missile rack is insufficiently scary in the likelyhood that the Cyclops fails to get in close. This is only the beginning of the problems, while having four tons of AC/20 ammo is a welcome advantage - most designs run out of ammo quickly - the ammo is spread about the torso locations. Furthermore while the torso armour is acceptable the arms are weakly protected and damage easily transfers through to the torso with the possibility of causing a catestrophic ammo explosion. While this is a risk for many mechs the Cycvlops is especially vulnerable.
The Cylops has limited heat sinks, as unlike other autocannon the AC/20 has a large heat output thus it is insufficient to run all the secondary weapons and the heavy autocannon at the same time especially as the Cyclops often has to run to obtain a decent firing range.
On aside, the Cyclops is an odd design because for a number of reasons it is very cheap in terms of Battle Value. the orginal 3025 Cyclops has a lower BV than refited medium designs, let alone heavy or assault mechs, it is even cheaper thasn most 3025 era heavy mechs. Yet for this you get a 90 ton assault mech with a big gun! Note that this advantage does not carry on into its c-bill cost, which is excessive but it does mean the cyclops is a popular choice in points value based games.

Pro: An AC/20 with double the normal ammo capacity, reasonable secondary weapon firepower. Dirt cheap in BV.
Con: Vulnerable weakspots, very limited long range firepower and poor heat management.

Banshee
At 95tons the Banshee should never have been given an engine as large as it has. This was rectificed with the Banshee-S as marginally slower but heavily upgunned variant. However the oringal banshee is what is on offer here. The Banshee for all its faults does have decent armour and enough heat sinks to fire all its guns together. The Banshee has no short range weaponry to speak of unlike the Cyclops but it doesnt really need any. The close range weapons of a Banshee are its fists and feet. A 95 ton mech will bully just about anything in close combat.

Pro: Well armoured but lacklustre and undergunned, the Banshee-E is a poor design. However the Banshee-S is possibly the best mech in the Inner Sphere of the era.
Con: Inefficient monster.

Atlas
Now we get to the big boy of 3025 the mighty Atlas. Mounting the heaviest armour the laergest autocannon, the largest long range and short range missile launchers and an array of secondary lasers. The Atlas has no real weaknesses, the LRM20 provides good long range firepower, the rear mounted lasers and decent rear armour provide good protection against harasser mechs and if anything crosses its front arc in short range will not last long. it can fire all these weapons while running without concern. Furthermore its fists strike as PPC's and its feet kick as a heavy autocannon.
There are some problems, despite the raw power of the Atlas and its ability to run constantly an enemy can still realistically remain outside the lethal range of the Atlas. Furthermore the two tons of ammo for the LRM launcher, while a decent tonnage of ammo for a missile weapon by any regards is insufficient to protect the Atlas if an enemy is determined to engage it at long range with hit and run tactics. For this reason, amongst others every Atlas requires close support, however this is not an issue. The Atlas is a precious precious mech, not to be risked lightly and should never be left alone.

Pro: It's the Atlas! AC/20 and LRM/20 and kick/20.
Con: I suppose its fairly slow, this matters when the LRM runs out.