LRM Carriers are devastating if properly protected. Using SRM Carriers in ambush positions to defend your LRM Carriers works very nicely. They compliment each other. All you need is to add to the mix is some fast/hard to hit spotters like Savannah Masters or Warriors.

What about limiting dice rolls and dice mechanics as a way to encourage roleplaying? Instead of allowing a player to say "I check for traps" and roll a die, encourage the player to describe the process of searching for traps. For example, "I draw back the curtain and check for hidden doors." Or, "I pull out the drawers, checking under them and behind them for secret compartments." Similarly, you can roll for the players when they won't know if they succeeded or failed: The thief is trying to disarm the trap. Does he cut the left or right wire? He won't know if he chose correctly until he commits to the action. He won't know if he rolled a critical success or a critical failure. Dice are good, but dice are not the most important part of my own RPG experience.

Thank goodness for the University of KZbin. It has tutorials for almost everything. But barring having a friend to show you the rules, the best method is probably to have a group of friends that learn the rules together. Together. Don't make the GM/Keeper/Administrator/tablerunner take all of the responsibility for learning the rules and the game. It's tiring.

I definitely allow it. We run ICRPG in our group, so with similar concessions I'd certainly allow the character. Plus encounters could be balanced around something like this as well with more or less adds and more or less elites Ultimately I really like when people bring in things like this because it just adds to the creativity and collaborative nature of TTRPGs that makes it more fun

Jenner for sure, it's got everything that excels in a light mech.

The Ares is 3,653 BV, but im not sure if you are counting super heavies.

The Cataphract is one of those mechs that I used to never touch because I thought it was ugly. Well, I got the mech in a RAT “Randum Assignment Table” and ended up having to play it. This is why I accept RAT’s as I end up with mechs that normally I would never try. I enviably got a Cataphract after playing it. I have a go to line-up with the Cataphract CTF-1X that has a Marauder MAD-3L, two Vindy’s or Vindy and Blackjack BJ-1. The Heavy lance is seasoned as I have played it vs many opponents. When I am in the mood to be green it’s enjoyable to pull the cataphract out of the case. I have two Strikers and Orion that sometimes get teamed up with my Cataphract turning the lance into an assault. Where do I think the Cataphract falls in? It’s a respectable mech. Besides its strange mix of weapons like PPC and AC-10. It’s a Capellan and Davion mech. It’s a go between combat and fire support. I treat it like a line skirmisher and get it stuck in and engaged or dig it in and hold the line. It meshes with anything in the Cappy inventory and that is anything that is heavy or lower as assaults are normally reserved to conserve. The Cappies have tons of bug mechs like Flea, Locust, Stinger, Wasp, Hornet, Assassin, and Scorpion. Maybe they named the Raven after a bird because of Davion MEM’s about calls of pest control. The only issue with the Cataphract is the side torso armor of 16 points. I have thankfully never had one die to ammo explosions or quickly because I rarely get the mech stuck into shorter ranges than medium. There is a sweet spot at range 5. To keep that spot back petal. The mech ends up trading and comes out on top because of sustain. I would run two to four bulldogs to be the main force of this lance and mech. The tanks provide smoke screens, AAA fire support, and LRM fire support with two standard, AC-2 and one LRM or depending on operational requirements.

I enjoy 5th edition pretty much, with one thing only that bothers me. The illustrations on the board being upside down.

Very inspiring. Thank you!

only this mech is good chasing light mechs.i could seeised its fist punching a mec

The google algorithm put this video up. I do like Fritz’s videos as they are more a discussions and share of opinions. The T-Bolt is a gold standard combat mechs for heavy mechs. A combat mech, to me, is built around a single heavy weapon like the large laser and variety of secondary weapons like medium lasers and LRM to be a threat to a diverse number of targets like mechs to infantry. ... Regrets I often call the TDR-5S a Star League monkey model. What makes it the monkey model is the LRM ammo in the center torso that when hit often leaves the mech unrecoverable with a total loss. When shooting at a T-Bolt I focus on getting threw that CT to crit the ammo. What is good about the T-Bolt is the weapons selection and armor protection. As well as other secondary weapons that may be used for tactical flexibility. Weapons like the SRM-2 that may used for inferno’s or smoke and Anti-Personnel rounds. The SRM may become better for anti-infantry as the SRM 2 out ranges many infantry weapons. When loaded with inferno’s could be used to debuff your opponent with heat. Heat debuffing is more effective in the Successor Wars era’s because of single heat sinks. The armor protection is a good layout. I like using that heavy frontal plate in charge attacks. I have had many players push the T-Bolt because it’s a 65-tonner vs their heavier, over 70 tons, units. As that is the trend that many gravitate. The charge is an effective tactic to use with any heavy armored mech and it brings you into melee range that most of the weapons on the T-Bolt are still effective. It could displace some mechs in a city fight into a building where the glorias sky scrapper I-beam tends to go through the cockpit glass and sometimes there is a basement that maybe 3 levels deep. The other variants are just as good as the TBR-5S. And the TDR-5SS “Steiner Special” is not joke to me. Including the above tactical flexibility using the flamer instead and inferno’s for the 6 pack the PPC puts it in line with the Steiner stand PPC line-up’s with the Griffin, Warhammer, Zues, Battlemaster, and Banshee. And between the T-bolt and Banshee could sandwich a mech in charge attacks. The TBR-5SS is more survivable with one ton of SRM ammo. This mech runs cooler when reserving the PPC at ranges less than 3. With the TDR-5SE the mech is turned into a heavy scout for heavy and assault units. The jump jets let the player move over buildings and jump backwards to do fighting withdraws. This is a good skirmisher and mixes well with the Griffin “S” and mechs like my favored Grasshopper. The only issue with this mech is the restrictions to fire power that rarely enables pilot checks from damaging your opponent with out combined or focused fire. The LRM-10 is good for heavy smoke to augment to-hit numbers from jump compatible mechs. The best course of action would be to jump in and kick your targets legs from under them hoping for a hip actuator. But often I end up stepping on their foot. A poor mechwarriors mech is the TDR-5D. This version is disliked by me as it offers nothing over a Centurion “AH”. With all the weapons in the torso it is open for melee attacks but the dependence on ammo weapons is discouraging. The weapons are too few for running less skilled pilots. The AC-20 would work well in a city and could operate with a Hunchback for CQC or Urban Warfare. The LRM 10 could be tactical, but the lack of other damaging weapons and low ammo count would have me chose standard rounds. I am surprised that this is a Davion variant, and I have never had a game with it. Being a Davion main. I understand the love of the AC’s but I do not remember it being the AC-20 but more the AC-5 and 10. I would consider this version now days as combined arms warfare is significantly attractive. Because so many players never deal with vehicles and infantry or Aerospace fighters and VTOL’s.

Best mechs for each class. The best mech is a matter of perspective. Jenner works well and I do like it in a fire fight. The best mechs for me and you’re only having to limit it to one. I consider mech variants as I do play over all era’s. Being able to play the same mech over time is important but its just 3025. Light - The Ostscout is one of my favorite mechs. In 3025 the mech was labeled trash and under gunned. Originally designed as a mech for exploration in hazardous environments like moons and planets without atmosphere. Adding hands on the OTT-7J is a marked improvement as it permits a 35-ton mech to punch for 4 points of damage. The single medium laser is a poultry weapon and is good enough to cook chicken wings by most, but it does 5 damage. The 8 jump jets often net the mech a +4 to hit but often I jump the mech 7 to leave the heat sinks open to the chicken frier and still retain that +4. Often the mechs jump jets permit it to relocate into the rear arch of light to heavy mechs. Many light and many heavy mechs have 8 points of side torso rear armor. These locations normally contain ammo and valuable equipment like weapons or heatsinks. After the medium laser hits one of these locations, I am hopeful I managed to flank them and may give my opponent two punches. So, I may hit the location like the torso. Or the Jump jets let me focus in on a leg that was damaged by a PPC and crit the leg. Any pilot above a 4 is likely never to get back up. It’s a useful way to beat down meta pilot players that often roll with 4/5 pilots with pulse lasers. With worst case I have seen being 5/6’s. It’s easy to keep it out of danger until the time is right. With a 4/3 pilot the mech comes out to 715 BV. I will write lots about that under rated mech. Mostly because its over effective nature dissipates with pulse lasers and precision AC ammo. When I saw an Ostscout in 3025 I know it’s a threat. I hope my opponent is not competent with the mech. I have played the Ostscout as elite with 2/3 for 1001 BV. The great thing about this is the medium laser connects often. But your getting away with an ace with a 3/2 at 900 BV. An ace is 3 kills and I have achieve them in an Ostscout. Medium - I would second the Wolverine being the best medium mech the Innersphere has ever produced. At stock the Wolverine WVR-6R may jump and fire the AC and SRM-6 at neutral heat. In my eyes and hands the mech is a combat mech of good value. So long as I resist that erg to ink out some more damage with the medium lasers until the SRM has run dry the Wolverine keeps the skirmish active with jumping around the sides. It’s good at maneuver so it performs well with fire and maneuver. I would consider the 6R in any AC-5 lineup besides that one point of head armor is missing. I have used the WVR-6K and fine that mech is good for frontal attacks and being able to absorb damage. The extra ammo lets me take inferno rounds and damage rounds. It may run and fire consistently the large laser and SRM. Once the ammo is out for the SRM the mech may mash the override. With 30 rounds the mech may only last 9 rounds and is much harder to stretch the fight out because of the lack of jump jets. The extra ammo ends up dumped at some point to pad the torso’s. It has done well for me even with 4/5 pilots and the 7K does the mech a solid as an upgrade. The WVR-6M is bragging rights for Wolverine players. The Large lasers are a flanker’s weapon because of the lack of minimum range. The mech waits to gain initiative to get that flank to exploit sides flanks for kicking. The mech plays much like the 6R. When the ammo is out for the SRM normally the two medium lasers are used. But the other case is to use the two medium lasers and SRM when the mech is jumping and firing. The other option is to use the extra reach to twist the arm into the rear and fire the large laser and medium laser. I regularly deploy Wolverines with veteran pilots because they need to hit with their guns after each jump and stay on their feet to stay mobile. Heavy - Everyone plays heavy mechs at one point in Battletech. The type of heavy mech a player ends up playing the most determines the player’s personality, style, or comfort of combat. I would say medium mechs are my comfort. The Grasshopper became one of my preferred heavy mechs. Both the GHR-5H and N are good mechs. Yes, the LRM-5 may load smoke, and I have done this. The light smoke screen stacks with the jump jets. This mech maybe m a skirmisher. But I do not play it that way. I play it like a heavy scout. Often the forward observer for an assault lance. If I ever get the materials to upgrade to the GHR-5N I do so. As the survival rate for the mech and mechwarrior goes up. I do like the grasshopper for night fighting as it’s a good knife fighter capable of getting in close and working with mechs like the Wolverine and Ostscout. Assault - The Battlemaster BLR-1G has been by main assault mech from 3025 to 3085. It is a solid performer in my games. I have played it vs clan mechs and used it in a Fedcom Civil War campaign. It fails vs clan assaults and is comparative to an overweight heavy mech. I deploy it with heavy mechs because of this. Heavies that have the same mobility of 4/6 ground MP. AKA, the Grasshopper and anything armed with a PPC. It fairs best with an elite pilot of 2/3 for 2552 BV. The only competitor to the Battlemaster is the Banshee. I should put those two together in a game. That’s expensive for an assault mech. Not really in compare to the Stalker it’s 400 or 500 BV greater from the STK-3F or H at veteran of 3/4. And the version of the Battlemaster with the cockpit command console is just 40 BV less with the same pilots. The Battlemaster BLR-1D is well known for running with a classic line of Warhammer, Marauder, and Crusader or Phoenix Hawk “D variants”. At least to me it’s a well-known old classic lineup. Regrets I have only played the BLR-1D once. I know it’s a hard to kill mech outside a head shot. I would use the BLR-1S with a Zues 6S, T-Bolt 5S, and Griffen 1S. One of these days I should play that one to give it a try. Even after 30 years a player finding what is best for them. I still have not played every mech, configuration, and variant. Thanks for the Video Fritz. I ended up typing a lot.

dude you dont play Space Marines for tanks.. you play Guard... Land Raiders pfft those are glorifed transports man.

SRM carrier/Saladin/Alacorn

The Wolfhound is the only light mech I actually fear. It's the one light mech I'd actually hold onto throughout a campaign, it's the one light mech I'd open my wallet for at any point of a campaign, and it's the one light mech I'd actually field in a mixed lance. That being said, the real answer is the Urbanmech.

I have to thank you for these videos - Always drags me back, inspiring me to play and to progress my Battletech pile of shame (and add to it) :))

IS: Assuming we're not focussing on a particular role, you can't beat the Wolfhound as far as IS lights. It's no muss, no fuss and just does it's job well. It's also a very forgiving and easy to use design. However in terms of the IS light I have the most fun with, probably the Firestarter. It's a great team-player, team it with a heavier 'fist' whilst it sets the enemy's big mean 'mech on fire and shuts it down. Clan: There's a few solid picks here. For Omnis ide probably go for the Adder. It's slow (for a light), and can run very hot depending on variant, but it's got some excellent long-range loadouts it can bring to the table. The Locust and Jenner IIC are both hellacious if used correctly, and the Incubus and Horned Owl are also solid performers.

Firestarter, there is always time for war crimes. I do like to lose the CT flamers for 2 more HS , and drop 1/2 ton of mg ammo for a 3rd mg. Only 3 lights in Tro 3025 have more armor and they are all slower than it, and if it gets in close it has more firepower than all 3 also. It is the average speed for a light mech of the era, anything less than 6/9 is relegated to niche uses. The starter is actually pretty good at several rolls scouting, spotting, brawling, and can get out of trouble fairly reliably. It is superb in rough terrain like heavy forests and cities between it's 6 points of jump movement and it's ability to make the terrain work against it's enemies.

You keep talking about hull down tanks. Do you mean digging in? That is the only way to get hulldown that I know of. Did they change the rules? How do you get hulldown behind terrain?

for me its the royal variant of the demon and lrm carrier that just work perfectly couldnt say a third one that would fit in there the shreck ppc Carrier depends too much on terrain for me and you already covered the armor bit

All of my choices are 3025 tech. Light:10F Jenner. Max light armor. Substancial hitting power with 4 med lasers. 7/11/5. Need I say more. Assault: 8Q Awesome because, DUH! Medium: 7D Dervish. Decent long range bite allows you to support your trooperlance mates and your medium to short range weapons give you both moderate hole poking and shrapnel to bounce around the insides. For the Heavy I have my own home grown. I call it the JRH-1 Jarhead. Its 60 tons. Moves 4/6/0. Has 11.5 tons of armor arranged thusly: H-8 CT(R)- 30(8) L/RT(R)- 20(5) L/RA- 20 L/RL- 24 18 Heat Sinks Weapons: PPC-RA Large Laser- LA Med Laser- L/RT SRM2-L/RT Ammo CT PPC & Large Laser use until 3 hexes away and the switch to Large Laser and both Medium Laser and SRM 2's. When you get to 4 heat just drop the use of the SRM2's (the Large Laser if you're 5+ hexes away from target. BV is 1200 with a 4/5 pilot but as far as c-bills it the cheapest 60 ton design I've seen.

Now before you read any further, know I have an irrational hate of light mechs. As much of a meme as they are... the urbie. Now, they are not good, in fact they are just trash cans on legs. However, they are cheap and annoying. No one wants to waste time or ammo on these trash cans. But they cannot afford to ignore them in the off chance they actually plink them with damage while they are being used as slow moving speed bumps. Scrap the meat and the tin can. They are also great for mucking up activations if your opponent doesn't want to use troops, vehicles and tanks. These distractions just let you invest your BV in things that actually work.

JVN-10F Fire Javelin. For the BV it's a killer. In early eras anything better is far more expensive. In a campaign you can take 3 armor off of each arm and add 2 to the head and 1 to each leg and side torso for an improvement in survivability.BTW-the Jenner 7F that everyone plays is supposed to be an older variant that's very rare by 3025. Good luck finding parts for that outside of the combine! Meanwhile the Javelin is everywhere -and it can punch while maintaining a higher rate of fire.

If i have to vote best light, I always loved Panthers. Jump jets and all single PPC are all you need. Put a skilled pilot in there and skirt them on the outside until you can sneak them behind a heavily armored opponent and you have a really good assassin!

Kanga tank is the one and only jump jet tank I know is canonically acceptable

Already saw the mention of the KANGA jumping hovertank(lol at the in universe joke) in the comments. There might be others, but that one I do remember. I would probably agree with the jenner as a whole. It works even better when paired with a panther. If you fight the jenner at your back you get cored by the panther. And vice versa. Awesome tag team duo.

In the 3025 era the Jenner is among the to top tier light Mechs. Personally I think the Fire Javelin is slightly better. It has better armor and heat sinking than the Jenner. The weapons are better protected from damage and it has hand actuators! The drawback of the Jenner is the lack of hands for punching and grabbing. The Mongoose and the Wolfhound are also very good light designs. The most "fun" to play is the Spider with it´s exceptional mobility.

I like the Spider and the Wolfhound and those mechs would gain my vote for 3025. But the best light mech I play is the Ostscout as I am consistent in getting one kill and have gotten three. Nothing like pulling out the ammo magazine on Centurions, ripping head off of Riflemen, and and slapping spiders across the face so hard it kills the pilot.

Personally the Wolfhound. But the ilkhan Clan refits of the wasp and stinger are solid.

As a long term Davion loyalist, I'd love to say Javelin or Valkyrie, but I've got to go with the Spector. Able to plink away at range whilst fast enough to pick it's favoured engagement range.

if I could bring a light fusion engine and double heat sinks then yes, if not no.

Gunsmith. Its a 10/15 with four Medium X-Pulse Lasers. Sure it has an XXL but a light mech doesn't survive getting hit anyway, and only 10 double heatsinks, but with MASC putting it at a 10/20 it makes for a fantastic speedy mech to flank and hit hard. It also has the fantastic Reflective Armor to make the best counter weapon against lights, pulse lasers, less effective. If we are going with the boring answer. Your answer is "almost" correct. The SRM Jenner is pretty trash, go with the star league one that has more armor and no "bomb" in its ammo. Except its not just the Jenner, its the Battletechnologies (was Canon during FASA) version called the "Rattlesnake". Give a Jenner Tournament legal tech (AKA star league).

It'll always be the Locust. I like other 'mechs more. I usually say the Wolfhound is the greatest light 'mech ever made, but in the end, the Locust is so ubiquitous and well-known that it will never die. The LCT-1E is one of my favorites, but the classic -1V is still useful for all time.

Jenner is pretty fantastic, but prefer the Ostscout. Not as high impact but pushes that last bit of speed and jump distance. I'm a huge fan of Locusts and Locust IIC, otherwise.

jumpjets are mandatory for ALL non specialty mechs. theyre just too useful for maneuvering out of tight spots. im pretty sure ground vehicles cant have jump jets or i wouldve designed one already. but there are VTOLs for that so ground vehicles dont need jump jets. theyre too fragile to worry about jjs. and a funny quirk of the rules (unless theyve changed it in the interim) with the engine ratings calculation hydroplanes have the best modifier so you can make faster ones for the same weight than any other type barring aerospace fighters or lams.

im a fan of the panther, especially when modded for just energy weapons. but i also like the wolfhound, and spider. the spiders got great movement thats always good at threatening flanking maneuvers. you can reall channel your opponent with such threats. of course my favorite is my own design the paratrooper. its got an 8/12/8 move with 5 medium lasers. it doesnt have the heatsinks to handle firing all 5 each round, but thats not its purpose. its what a call a "backbiter". its to flank your opponent and take advantage of initiative and getting in the back armor and firing all 5 mediums, hopefully penetrating and getting crits, then jumping away to cover and hide for a round and cool off. ive crippled and even taken mechs out by getting lucky.

Dasher-H. Absolute killer - including in Alpha Strike. If you go to a big convention. you will see these all over the place.

The locust and the spider really overperformed in the last campaign I played, I'm big fan of those. My friend loves the Jenner though, I always have to keep an eye on it when he puts it on the battlefield!

Tech readout 2750 there was a hovercraft with jump jets in the graf...I mean SLDF. It's name eludes me

Mongoose. Good combo of speed & firepower. The lostech models are scouty and have some anti-infantry as well.

For Clan, my gut feeling is the Adder because it's in that sweet spot for armor, speed, and firepower. But some of the variants are kinda meh or overpriced. For Inner Sphere, my bid is on either the Spider or the new Panther 10ALAG from Force Manual Kurita. That panther feels like what a Panther was supposed to be.

In the 2750 TRO there was the Kanga, a 'hovertank' with jump jets. A very 'meh design using an AC/5 as it's main gun. Best light.... it really depends on the situation. A good scout lacks the firepower to hunt lights or strike at mediums. A heavy hitter probably doesn't have the best speed and recon gear. And then there's 'bang for the buck' to consider. Yeah, a Jenner is great, but is it better than two Locusts - which costs roughly the same in BPV and only take up one slot in a dropship? And does your playstyle work better with one heavy hitter, or are you better able to leverage the flexibility of the two locusts?

Firestarter. I play Marian Hegemony Pirates. 2 flames 12 RL/10s It's mean.

Jenner F is my standby IS light choice

The Jenner is strong, but so brittle for the price. Top 3 light mechs in my mind: For straight fight as part of a lance: Valkyrie For objectives/ cheap recon: Wasp or Locust For adaptability that can do both without knowing what the mission is: Javelin

Panther

it is the Spider for the best light mech "role-player", it does what a light mech should do, very well, a teensy bit pricy, but available. the Valkyrie on the other hand is stellar at avoiding light mech weaknesses, maintaining the strengths, while bringing some solid plinking to the table, there other light mechs that are amazing but they're often getting too close or going too slow, getting too hot. I do love the jenner, it's got the speed and the punch, but the price tag and rarity is just wow

It needs jump jets as the best light mech. I hate that some good mechs get left out, but meta.. Javelin F is probably the best light mech one could get for any situation.

For me the best light is the Mongoose. I like the firepower and armor of the Jenner and hate literally everything else about it. As for jump capable vehicles, they are absolutely a thing. The Kanga Medium Hovertank is the one I am most familiar with but once you get farther down the time line there are a bunch.

Being objective probably the Venom.