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Contract 1, FedCom Extraction Raid

4 (100%)

Contract 2, Outworlds Alliance Recon Raid

0 (0%)

Contract 3, FedCom Recon Raid #1

0 (0%)

Contract 4, FedCom Recon Raid #2

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None of the above - wait a month and try again (please post to specify acceptable contract criteria)

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Total Members Voted: 4

[Hanzoku]

So far I'm cautiously optimistic. We took a beating on the score in the first two missions, and losing the Battlemaster and the Scorpion were a blow, but Ernesto upgraded from his Locust to a Phoenix Hawk, and is elite enough to do some damage. Meanwhile, Jack's Recon Lance has been doing well in their probe missions. Those are normally easy to beat, as all you need to do is score two or three vehicle kills.

[Rince Wind]

I'd probably just set 1 lance to recon duty next week.

[EuchreJack]

Civy Extraction, yuck.  Glad it ain't me!

EDIT: Anyone else surprised that my mech only had minor armor damage?  Seems all last contract it was in the Mechbay for repairs!

[Knave]

Hopefully this batch of civvies is a little less suicidal than the last batch.

Sad to see that the Battle lance and my crab are out for a while, but I think we dished it out pretty well considering their size advantage!

[EuchreJack]

Hopefully this batch of civvies is a little less suicidal than the last batch.

Sad to see that the Battle lance and my crab are out for a while, but I think we dished it out pretty well considering their size advantage!

Hey, you won, so that is worth the damage, right? 

[Hanzoku]

Yeah, a lance of mediums versus assaults normally doesn't end this well. I think the only reason we managed was that the Striker isn't that heavily gunned, the Behemoth was stuck behind terrain, and the Daboku for some reason thought standing one square away with its back to the Centurion was a great idea. *slow clap*

[Neonivek]

It is why MechWarrior games are always so weird for often having lights and mediums has honest enemies...

When Lights are scouts or urban-mechs (not to be confused with Urbanmech which is a urban mech) and Medium while more hearty are more support.

And they never EVER justify it.

[Hanzoku]

Sometimes its just a case of the light or medium mechs being in the wrong place at the wrong time when your lance of all assault mechs come thundering in.

To be fair, it's also so you (the player) can giggle like a sugar-crazed child as you put four PPCs in a tight cluster through a Fire Moth's center torso.

[Rince Wind]

Maybe if they worked more with allowed drop tonnage. But usually players want the biggest, meanest machine, and being put back into a 30t mech would cause annoyance.
That said, I like medium mechs with a punch, like the Uziel. I have more problems with heavies. They mostly seem to go for a weapons load similar to an assault, but they lack the armor and can't compensate with mobility. Maybe I use them in the wrong way, but in MegaMek heavies had among the highest casualty rates for me.

[Hanzoku]

heavies are in an odd place, indeed. They're usually not mobile enough to play keep away with assaults, but not such massive bricks of weapons and armor that they can just stomp all over mediums with impunity.

[Erkki]

heavies are in an odd place, indeed. They're usually not mobile enough to play keep away with assaults, but not such massive bricks of weapons and armor that they can just stomp all over mediums with impunity.

I think most players rate heavies the best class. I'm not super knowledgable about what mechs exactly there are available in your era(3041) but there could indeed be more badly designed heavies than mediums. 3039 has plenty of good mediums, Griffin, Hunchbacks, Crab and so forth, but not too many great heavies. Can you acquire a Grasshopper or Grand Dragon somehow?

Probably the weight saving measures, XL engine, CASE and double heatsinks of later times shift the balance so that 75 tons becomes the preferred mass of a trooper mech. Out of durability, firepower and mobility they can basically pick 2½.

My (line) forces usually consist of 2/3 or so of heavies with mediums supporting way or another and perhaps an odd assault leading or in fire support, depending on my faction. By 3070s various vehicles can do the jobs of the light mech cheaper and often better, so lights IMHO become reduced to niche roles such as cheap-as-possible mobile sensors platforms and BA taxis, plus the few rare exceptionally good designs. The old Spider, Stinger, Wasp & CO that the BT universe is filled with become too slow and have basically no staying power. There are 65 tonners that are more mobile than them...

[Hanzoku]

Of the heavies, the Grasshopper is a really good brawler, as is the Guillotine. I'm not too fond of the Grand Dragon in Megamek, as it's both heat-heavy and range dependent - honestly speaking, it's weapon array is the same as a Centurion's, and the Centurion's AC/10 isn't penalized for getting into melee range.

I'm ridiculously fond of the Warhammer, but I fully acknowledge that it's entirely because that was the cover mech for the starter boardgame that got me started on all of this. The Marauder tends to be a solid design, and I like the Ostol and Thunderbolt.

On the other hand, I dislike the Rifleman (poor armor and high heat burden) and hate the Jagermech (poor armor, firepower and full of tasty explodable ammo). I also detest the Crusader, even as I acknowledge that fluff-wise, it's a great example of how the tech decline ruined a solid design. Once you can stuff double heatsinks back onto the thing, it turns back into a great missile boat.

Once Clan tech is a thing, I'm stealing acquiring as many Timber Wolves as possible. Those are really the pinnacle of heavy mech chassis for a very long time.

[Erkki]

Yeah, Guillotine and Grasshopper are so good that they are one of the few 3025 era mechs that are still more or less competitive in 3145, together with AWS-8Q and the like. Or useful at least, without being just scouts or distrations.

Grand Dragon moves 5/8 instead of Centurion's 4/6, which is a huge advantage. Centurion, like the Hunchback, is basically assault-mech slow.  Not only can it cover more hexes and can control range better, but it can get the 2nd movement modifier while it walks and can reach the 3rd running. Grand Dragon's PPC shoots further often with better odds too thanks to the range bands.. Mobility helps it further by helping to keep the PPC out of its min range.

IMHO Grand Dragon is more of a "cavalry" style mech similar many later era fast heavies while the Centurion is a lightweight trooper. Different roles.
 
Lots of people think highly of the Marauder despite that awful, awful side torso ammo box bomb(theres nothing else in there!) and woefully insufficient cooling. Out of the first generation Marauders, I think the ones that trade either PPC(s) or AC/5 for Large Laser or two are the best ones: 3D(best because it lacks the ammo bomb), 3M, 3L.

10 years to the Clans, hurry up! 

[Rince Wind]

I like the Bounty Hunter Marauder. It is a mean machine. When it doesn't loose its head in the first turn of combat.

I am oddly fond of the Rifleman with AC/10s. Even though it doesn't have that much armor, it can destroy most things reasonably quickly without heat concerns. But then I had AC/10 or ballistic specialists in them, which makes this quite subjective.
I also like the Jaegermech in concept, but ingame it seems mostly useless.
Warhammers tend to blow up in my games, for some reason.

I really dislike most 60t designs.

[Hanzoku]

Yeah, I like the 6K variant of the Warhammer as it removes the machine gun ammo, leaving only one highly explosive crit location in the design. I really wish machinegun ammo wasn't quite so deadly to its owner.