The Falcon... Hawk? Falcon Hawk. I hate that. Terrible name.

Clan light Omnimechs are usually trash. The Incubus however is amazing. I also like the Horned Owl.

I love those tiering of mechs I can see. One thing though, the tiering for TT Battletech versus the one for say MW5 is quite different. For example, the Stalker 3F and Awesome 8Q are quite good on paper, but they get rape in almost every battle - especially the 3F that is my favorite Battlemech since BattleTech exists, and this makes me sad. The King Crab is an overrated 100t assault mech that also gets rape before even reaching the battlefield, is easy to isolate and cut down its firepower by 50% by just removing 1 arm... a thing the Altas doesn't have a problem with and is the reason it really is the king of the battlefield.

Something else to mention about the Viper that makes it great: the Sloane 220 Lockover System. An optional ruleset from one of the magazines basically gives any mech with that thing, like the Clint or Viper, a free targeting computer.

There are a bunch of overpriced units, especially for their roles, on both the Clan and Inner Sphere sides. Despite the love for it, the Hatchetman is a great example. A melee mech with underwhelming armor and slow movement... and when it's inevitably upgraded with an XL engine, it becomes more brittle and yet twice the cost. For just a little more, you can have an Axman, which fills the same role, but its better. There are a bunch of Dragonflies that are underwhelming for their cost, but there are some gems. The "I" variant has three Heavy Medium Lasers and a Targetting Computer to compensate, and has a reasonable price. Given its standard 8/12/8 move, it can close the distance very well and SAVAGE a much larger mech. Vehicles are another example of finding bargains if you dig around. Clan vehicles pack a punch but tend to be under armored and very expensive. (And given the new Mercenaries rules, vehicles will see a drop in usage. Thanks for screwing Clan Hells Horses AGAIN, CGL). Why take a very expensive Epona when you can field multiple Kamisori light tanks, or Minions, or whatever for the same cost.

Hello Trailblazer. I have few comments on the Mechs used in your video. None of which are 'flames', nor worth exposition. Instead, I will confine myself to a single Mech design that most players discount, overlook, and generally dislike. That Mech being the humble Locust. For 3025 Era, an 8/12/0 Mech, with several configurations isn't all that bad. Yes, one good hit by any 'real' heavy weapon just about guarantees the Mech's destruction... that is, IF, it can hit the fleet-footed little Mech. My own experiences with the Locust are many, and storied. From about 1985 through the mid-90s, I used whole 'swarms' of Locusts against my foes. And let me tell you, the wails of 'unfair!' and 'that just can't be right!' were music to my ears. I will explain. A basic Locust, armed with a single Medium Laser and a pair of machine guns, costs about 1.5 million space bucks. And Atlas of the same Era runs 9.6 million. That means the Atlas is 6.4 times as expensive as a single Locust. Or, you can afford 6 Locusts and have 600K space bucks in your pocket for Mg ammo. Six Locusts, always at the run, can swarm an Atlas and ensure that at least one or two are always behind the big, lumbering behemoth of a Mech. Which means that collectively they can keep 'back stabbing' the Atlas until it falls, with only a minor chance at being taken out, or mission killed, in the process. In my experience, the 6 to 1 scenario usually plays out that ONE Locust is totaled, with one or two more with repairable damage, and three totally untouched. This means that my 'losses' are 1.5 million vs 9.6 million. Now apply that to your usually seen Heavy or Assault Lances. For every 'Atlas equivalent' fielded, I can afford to field six Mechs against it. And in some cases, more (for the sake of simplicity, we'll say your average Medium Mech is around 5 million, Heavies at 6.5 million, and Assaults 7+ million, with some outliers running upwards of 17 million). So, and 'average' Heavy Lance would have three heavies and a medium as 'scout', so... 3x6.5 plus another 5, or, call it 25 million space bucks for the lance. For that price you can get: 34 Locusts! Yes, you will lose several before they all go down (I've done it several times. Usual outcomes were: 6 totaled, 13 damaged, and the rest untouched. That's 15, about half the force, that survived without taking damage at all, and the 13 damaged would be totally repairable). Fielding 34 Locusts with those loss ratios means that I lost about 9 million space bucks, to the Enemy's total loss of 25 million. Plus, since I 'won' the battle, I get to salvage the remains, and will probably collect around 60% of that 25 million, or roughly 15 million space bucks. That puts me 6 million in profits after replacing the 9 million of losses. Please note: All of this is based upon 3025 Era Battlemechs and their C-Bill prices. Go up the timeline, and things get massively worse for the heavy Mech players. For today's lesson in Mercenary field work and how to make War pay... your cost was the time to read all this. BTW: After several years of swarms of Locusts, my Playing Group (we never named the group) banned me from using swarms. I guess cost-effective warfare was just not 'fun' for them, although it was VERY profitable for me. ( And yes, I did the whole 'Savannah Master Swarm' thing too). *Insert 'over the top' villain laughter here*

Hello Trailblazer. Yeah, it's me again. Comments follow. Goliath: The older Dugram version is literally a tank on spindly legs. The double turret top is weird, and the 'gun' is too thin to be 'real'. Having said that, its on to the newer artwork. I think the more massive look is better and more in keeping with the whole 'walking tank' theme. But I will agree that the top gun is a bit TOO large. 2/3rd that size would have been perfect. The Longbow: Yes, the mech is cool, and I liked when it appeared in Robo-tech, but overall the artwork is 'lacking'. The newer art is far better. 'Beefier', more like something humans would actually build for combat, while keeping things as close to the original as possible. Marauder II: Again with the old artwork. Enough said in previous posting about that. The new artwork is pretty damned impressive. Giving the feel of the extra 25 tons of mass easily. (btw: if you measure the height of the person depicted, and the Mech from the front edge of shadow between the legs up to the top of the hull, you will find that the ratio is 7 to 1. If the human is 6 feet tall, the Mech is 6x7, or 42 feet tall... four stories. About right for an Assault Class Mech). The Scorpion: I liked fielding this Mech on the tabletops, and did so for decades. I never cared for the spindly legs and thin gun, but absolutely LOVED the ability to 'skitter' across the table (move diagonally without needing to chance facing, at normal walk and run speeds). The 'movement profile' of quads tends to throw off most bipedal Mech players badly. They just can't take it into account until they've faced quads fairly often. The newer design is pretty faithful to the original, cleaning up the design and making it look as massive as it should be, including the main gun. The 'new' missile pod looks like it was meant to be there, and the 'tacked on' look of the original. The Valkyrie: The old version was an 'obvious' near cut-n-paste of the Wasp. They just drew it larger and crammed the LRM into the torso. Also, the 'gave up' on the arm Large Laser, and just lopped off the hand actuator. Plus, the Mech is drawn staggeringly 'thin'. All points against this version. The newer artwork properly accounts for the weapons placements, with appropriately sized weapons. The Mech is 'beefier' in general, and has a wider stance with the wider hips to give it the look of a Mech than can leap long distances (9 hexes... 270 meters) and maintain it's balance. The wildly out of place shoulder pads are replaced with common sense shoulder guards to protect the shoulder actuators nicely. The mishmash of a Wasp's head with those 'Sputnik' antennae is replaced with a reasonable head assembly, with obviously reinforced wide spectrum array antenna masts. Ah, the Ost family of Mechs. All of which I loved and hated equally. I loved the 'all energy' builds, with no ammo using weaponry, but HATED the drawn artwork for them. The look of the art alone drove many to avoid the entire line of OST mechs. I think that I was one of the few to look past the art to the actual design and find it 'good'. The OST-Sol was one of my favorites. I used a couple as a linked pair in a Lance of Mechs that were supported by Archers to good effect. So, as one can see from the above comment, I hated the original artwork, and by default the newer art wins. Plus, the newer version just 'look's right and not the off-balance spindly thing previously seen. Oh, the 'lip whiskers' of the original were the heat venting ports for the cockpit. The oval center torso piece is the primary vent exhaust for the Fusion Engine's excess heat. The OST-Roc: Again, the original artwork is 'crappy' to the extreme. Just look at those legs! And the shoulder mounted SRM just looks 'tacked' into place as an after thought. The Mech also suffers the opposite effect from the previous, where the lasers looked too long and 'weedy', to now be just stubs and far too short and small to be actual military weapons. The newer artwork is faithful to the design specs, but looks heftier, thicker, with realistic beam weapons and a SRM that is designed to merge with the torso mounting. The original's flat oval 'fishbowl' cockpit window looks like it would smash if you laughed too hard at it. And the circular vent port is an obvious aiming point to cripple the engine. The newer artwork's head is more like a jet fighter's cockpit design, and the venting port is an upright rectangle with louvered vents to direct excess head straight down, reducing thermal 'bloom' on IR scanners. The OST-Scout: Again, a Mech I hated the artwork of. And the lack of hands, when un-neccessary was a total 'turn off'. And again with the wide open circular vent port, and in addition, the CT mounted laser is mouned in the Right Torso! (that little circle below and to the left as you view the picture). And then there is the massively oversized view-port for the cockpit. The newer art depicts things in their realistic and designed places, looks more massive, and yet 'faster' than the other OST Mechs. The cockpit is better designed, and the 'over the shoulder', air intakes for the rear mounted jump jets adds a visual aspect that was missing. On top of all that, the Mech was given hands, finally!! So, overall, the newer artwork does far better depicting the actual Mech. I have to think that most of the artists that were commissioned to do art for FASA, were totally unfamiliar with the game, the genre, and even using reference materials (Gundam, Robo-Tech, etc), just were not familiar enough with doing such artworks at all. Had I been the art director for FASA, ALL the art presented and used would have been kicked out the door, with probable law suits for unsubstantiated claims to be able to do up the work by the artists, to reclaim the lost revenue. Pardon me for asking, but most of the 'newer' artworks were done by Baron, or ACS, right? I forget the Baron's real name, but ACS just has to be Anthony Scroggins.

Xl engines don't exist to save weight. They're put on mechs with "too much firepower" to give them a CRIPLING VULNERABILITY. Then they take the extra weight that they 'gained' and put it towards gear that is, at best, of marginal utility. The Thunderhawk? Surely you NEED an XL engine to get three gaussrifles and six tons of ammo. Nope! Ditch the medium lasers (That it cant use without overheating!!!!), go to Light Ferro with 18 tons, and endo steel. You get CASE in both torsos! You loose only two points of armor! Oh, and you have to remove the hands and one of the lower arm accuators. BV 2549. Thats right, its cheaper than than the OG.

Cetus is also ugly AF. I had the miniature gave it to a friend because of how ugly it was. The TRO image looks better than the actual miniature.

The base cost of xl engines, ff, and endo steel is what drives the BV up in clan light mechs. Mediums are the better choice most of the time.

I'm still not sure how with LAC5s, a light engine, 5/8, and max armor that the OTL-8D isn't a competitive staple. This thing ticks most of the boxes for S tier, no?

Another thing about UNSEE mechs, you can imagine that there are a ton of WILD looking mechs out there with custom looks to armor depending on 100s of years of REFITS. So those wild looking LOCUSTS and Variations can all exist in world as REFITS and ARMOR fittings by some creative mech techs during the succession wars etc. And things like ENDO STEEL and FERRO and other specialized internals that take up more volume and with better understood ways to make armor from the Helm memory core, it makes a bit of sense that a lot of mechs both ENDO and STANDARD armor and structure look bulkier but stay around the same weight. Stuff got lighter but took up more volume to get the same results.

My uncle gave me a giant box or battletech books when I was a 13 year old girl. Joanna's spite got me through puberty hahaha. Now that I'm in my 30's having to deal with dumb kids at work I am reminded of her yet again.

I love the charger it's my favorite scout mech, I take one almost every game I play, 981BV2(700ish Bv1) for an 80tonner is stupid cheap. Walk 5/Run 8, same armor as a 70ton heavy mech. sure its only 6 small lasers. But a club attack is 16damage to one location on top of being able to still shoot 4 lasers. Now if you are playing with tonnage limits never take this mech unless it's one of the 1600bv2 or higher varients(which usually has the same armor as a standard IS 80 ton mech); if you don't have a tonnage limit throw together a steiner scout lance or two and have a blast.

Hello Trailblazer. I always hated the 'chicken' look of the Locust's original art and model. The newer version is far better, and actually looks like something humans would design and build. The original's spindly legs and over-long laser just don't do it for me. Whereas the newer version's legs are 'beefier' and the laser is neither as long, nor as narrow as the original version's 'toothpick' laser. Although 'cool', if one examines the Stinger's cockpit closely, you'll come to see that there is NO WAY a normal sized human would fit into it. At best, you might get a toddler of about 3 years old inside that, with all the gear a cockpit is supposed to contain. The newer version is far more 'reasonably' scaled. As for the Wasp... although 'cool' looking, if you look closely at the hips, they are FAR too narrow to be properly supportive and would be a major weak point of the design. The newer version is more proportional, even though the head is, again, badly drawn. On to the Phoenix Hawk... Of all the 'veritech' fighter depictions, it is the most 'realistic'. But it is drawn a bit TOO tall and spindly. The newer version is more proportional, and looks like something that an engineer would design and build. The Griffin has a lot wrong with the old design. The head is over large for the Mech and the missile launcher, which is supposed to be mounted to the side torso, ends up looking like and adjunct of the head. And the weapon... lets just say its a bad job and leave it there. The newer design is more 'realistic'. The Shadow Hawk has problems too. The head is a bit over large, the right arm medium laser is drawn like a massive cannon, and the LRM-5 is totally absent. Plus, the panel on the right side of the cockpit-head? Where did that come from? Again, the newer version is drawn to express the blocky nature of a tough medium Mech, and not a homage to Anime's un-realism in design philosophy. You pretty much covered all the 'bad' aspects of the Wolverine Mech. The newer model is better designed, and 'feels' like a real machine. Especially the head-cockpit design. Oh, the 'suitcase' was an attempt to depict a spare cassette of ammo for the AC in the other hand. I have to dis-agree with you on the Rifleman designs. The Unseen is so 'off' its not even funny. The arms you admire so well are NOT realistic for the stated design of the Mech. And the only way to make it 'work' would be to do away with the ACs and have FOUR standard large lasers... which would shut down the Mech due to heat every time you fired them. The newer version is more accurate to the stated design and weapons load out of the Mech. The upper 'barrels' being the ACs and the lower ones the large lasers. Also the Mech actually looks like a Mech. Those torsos jutting so far forwards would unbalance the Unseen design, and make the gyro work much harder keeping it erect. Now on to the Crusader. I happen to agree that the older design looks better, overall. But it still has flaws in the drawn design... the hips are not quite right, and the portion where the legs join the hips is too 'weedy' to be 'real'. In the newer design's favor is the fact that the overall 'look' of the mech screams 'Massive' right into your face. Which is just about right for a Heavy Mech design. The Thunderbolt... the original drawing is 'canted' and 'warped' a bit. Just take a ruler and TRY to draw a line down the center. You'll see what I mean. The newer version gives that 'massive' Mech look, while still keeping the design elements of the original. The original version's right arm weapon looks like some weird cannon, and not the large laser it is supposed to be. The newer design is far better at portraying the actual Mech and it's load out. I just HAVE to dis-agree with you about the Archer. The old design is way off kilter. The arms are too 'spindly', the lower legs are too massive, the shoulders are set WAY back on the torso, while the cockpit is barely determinable from the center torso Engine housing. The newer version's arms and legs are in proportion to the overall Mech, and the cockpit is the only thing 'not right' (personally, I have to agree that the cockpit seems too small) about the whole design as depicted. Ah, the Warhammer... a 'classic' design. But if you look closely at the original artwork, you'll see that the left and right sides are NOT 'mirrored', and the right arm looks like it is hanging from the back-right side of the right torso, and not hanging from a shoulder like the left arm. There is NO determinable cockpit, and what the heck are those protrusions on the outer portion of the left upper leg?? Plus, the drawing has all these thin tubes sticking out, nearly at random, for no obvious reason. The newer art, at least is properly a mirror on each side, and the upper arm does not look 'weedy'. Ah, the Marauder... a fan favorite if you're into Anime. But the whole Mech suffers from the 'too thin' legs, and arms, and the AC is positively over-drawn for length. What happened, did the Centradi steal a battleship's main gun and nail it to the hull? At least the newer version looks properly massive, with a well design gun, and both arms and legs look like they could take a few hits. I agree with your assessment of the Battlemaster. The newer version just looks more massive The Unseen version is out of proportion. Look at those massive and long legs, and the relatively short torso. As if you put a dwarf's torso onto a weight lifter's legs and hips. So, in conclusion... I dis-agree with your assessments of the Mechs. The newer versions are FAR better than the originals in all respects, other than those I've mentioned above. Even including those 'flaws', the newer designs are more robust, and actually look like something an engineer would design, and visually depict that the Mech can take hits all over it's 'body' and still fight on in a combat environment. And before you delete this post as a 'flame' or something, please take into account that I was an Enlisted Weapons Instructor in the Marines, and stationed in many locations where I got very good looks at actual tank and vehicle designs put into military use. So, NOT an 'uninformed' opinion, no matter how much this posting may inflame your passions.

Being a BT player from the early part of the 80’s and having collected (if making the unit size IS “standard” I have about two brigades of minis from all iterations of the game. I agree with the fact that CGL has done a great job bringing back the look of these awesome mechs. I also imho, agree that these designs are not flawless, but it seems to me the designers love the OG mechs and wanted to honor them while fitting them into the new design style the old metal minis can’t achieve. Also I like how CGL integrated the project phoenix mechs into cannon and allow players to take it or leave it as they choose. I never thought that I would be happier with the game 40 years into it, but CGL managed to keep it going

The Wolverine mini was different than the TRO pic

The problem with the artic cheetah is the same with the hellbringers, ecm, probe, tag mounted on the same chassis runs up that bv requick. Look at the darkage era arablast. If the cheetah ran just the ecm or probe it would be up there with the with the viper with auto included clan light mechs.

c-lrm work short range as well ;) i would choose the viper over the cheetah as well but do not underestimate clan lrm, they are awesome edit: contractions! 🐻‍❄

Thanks for the video! In my play group the worse a mech is the more likely we are to play it, especially if I'm doing the opfor, so this will be inversely inspirational.

I vote for the Gunslinger purely for the fact its got Medium Pulses in the back of its feet.

Thunder Hawk with a 2/5 pilot slapping people at the end of medium or even long range keeps the armor intact. I mean it's got maximum armor coverage. Takes a while to get through.

What's your opinion on the Cyclops 11-B as an alternative dual gauss boat? The rifles are in the torsos but both are cased and the mech has a standard engine and thick armor. It has a significant weakness in that it loads a ton of SRM ammo into the CT but overall it makes for a durrable fire support unit and a good use of my Cyclops models on the tabletop Also yeah as much as I love the Hankyufor its looks the only one I ever use is E with its pulse lasers and MG arrays. I'd rather the better armor of the viper tho

well now you just guaranteed I'll be driving the bad mechs.....

The superior replacement for BV of the Thunder Hawk is the Nightstar NSR-9J; it trades one Gauss for an ER PPC, the Gauss Rifles are in the arms, and the better store of ammunition is in the torsos, assisting in padding the XL engine. But what makes it really outshine the King Crab is that it maintains Variable Range Targeting that the Thunder Hawk has- and the ER PPC maintains near 1:1 the same range bracketing as the Rifles to get the to-hit modifier with VRT. The difference in BV between the KGC versus the NSR or TDK is more than made up for having VRT when perks rules are in play.

Tempted to make a version of this video that's just me telling people to replace any 'Mech with an equivalent BV of Panthers.

I quite like the Dragon Fire and Maelstrom for 3058 mechs.

Thanks for the video. I think we agree with them all except 1 close call. I consider the Longbows as equal. The main reason here is if you go buy the book descriptions the Rifleman, Warhammer, and Longbow are supposed to have legs that appear nearly the same. They made the legs on the Longbow WAY to different then the legs on the other 2 to meet some book descriptions. I also thought that the new Marauder II should look just like a beefed up regular Marauder and not a completely different design. I also prefer the new Valkyrie because it's still the size of a light in the current line up but the legs are beefier to match it's better armor. I may be an old Grognar but I DEFINITELY prefer all of the new Osts.

Honestly, all the mechs from TRO 3058 should be swapped out, just on the grounds that they're all butt-ugly.

Next up how the Cataphract is better than a Ceasar , a Vindicator is better than a Centurion and a Raven is better than a Valkyrie

I got a Humble Bundle a little while ago with a stupidly large collection of Battletech Ebooks and I finally got around to putting them on a Kindle just in time for this, how convenient.

8:28 uuuummmm Clan LRM doesnt have a min range , so you fully should be shooting your LRMs at close

The King Crab 001 is the only Assault mech I run regularly; the Wraith TR1 makes most Clan Lights so very sad for pretty cheap. As for bad mechs I have a few recommendations. The Atlas is one, I've only ever seen then under perform. Another would be the Cougar, it is SO fragile.

5:03 I'd take the stock Gallowglass , energy boats for the win

Thank you Shoji Kawamori and Macross

The RESEEN mechs said INSTEAD of 25% what if we went 75% different. Its classic over correction.

One of the issues with the ROBOTECH designed is the when they were thought up esp the Zentraid machines, they have lasers pointed in odd directions cause the idea was they were going to be flying around in space. Where in a 3d Movement environment of space where you can rotate your ship in any direction those odd directions on a limited range ball turret. But they do not work well in terrestrial settings. So that was always out of place to me even back when I new that they and robotech shared designs.

Ok, So if you are playing Clans And you WANT light Mechs What should you take? There are lots of bad examples But what are the actually good ones?

I want to like the old art, but I just can't. Those skinny limbs don't look they'd crush a cockpit in close quarters mech-fu. They dont look they could take an AC/20 shell and still be working. They look like you'd be leaving an arm behind if you accidentally brushed against some branches while at a light jog.

I'm playing in a campaign as a mech company in the year 2029. What is your suggestion of effective mechs at BV 3000-4000 total for the lance. Im getting absolutely destroyed every game by a HBK-4G.

Is there a good alternative to the flawed rifleman? What about the shadow hawk?

Stackpole does a good job with the intrigue and espionage side of things but, particularly in the Warrior trilogy, his writing of 'Mech combat is ploddingly dull and sucks all the energy out of the room

I enjoy all of Trailblazer videos 🎉🎉

If you're going to spend the BV on a thunderhawk you can get a Devastator DVS-2 for about 90 less BV and do more damage at long range. Also a Viper/Dragonfly makes every light mech look bad.

Regarding the clan light mechs, I think part of that is less the designs themselves and more down to the fact that light mechs in general become significantly less useful once you move past introtech. Once you're in an environment where XL engines, pulse lasers, and the like are floating around freely there aren't very many cases where it's worth bringing a light mech over a fast medium, and even then most of those cases could arguably be better filled by a VTOL or vehicle rather than a light mech. That's not to say that they're completely obsolete, mechs like the venom and hollander can still be very useful, but their niche definitely contracts by a noticeable amount. In terms of other mechs to look at, one option might be to look at general, overall trends for particular factions. Take a handful of mechs strongly associated with each of the Great Houses (eg maybe the Raven and Sha Yu for Liao, the Jagermech and Enforcer for Davion, the Awesome and Trebuchet for Marik, etc), rate the designs using your usual criteria, and see which house "does it best". I've seen several comments over the years that the game has issues of developer favoritism, and of some factions getting badly designed mechs "on purpose". I'd be curious to see how much of that criticism actually holds water.

The Devastator is my pick. Double Gauss Double PPC

Weather you prefer the new designs or the old ones, we can all agree: Fuck Harmony Gold.

Clan light mechs omnimechs are truly horrible. It makes complete sense that the clans that tend to use them the most have all been practically wiped out. Likely it only took a single Rifleman IIC in partial cover to do the job.

Trading out a PPC for any number of large lasers isn't ever an upgrade.

Ammo in XL torsos gives big BV discounts. It's really good lol. Did my last bad mechs video inspire this one?!