BATTLETECH: The Black Knight

[@JPG.01]

My favorite Mech hands down. When I started getting into Battletech, I was cruising Sarna looking at Mechs that I would like. I was asking what a mech I would want to call my own. I came up with several criteria. I wanted it to be a Heavy 'Mech. I did not want to be "that guy" who likes something because it is strong or even the strongest, so Assault 'Mechs were off the table. But I also wanted it to be something that can wade into combat and hold it's own. Another criteria was an all energy loadout. I am not the best shot IRL, so I would need something that would not waste ammo because ammo is expensive. And I wanted it to have at least one PPC. The Black Knight and the Gallowglass were the finalists of that process. The Black Knight won for two reasons: It's not a Wolf's Dragoon's exclusive design and have you looked at the damn thing? It looks amazing!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Black Knight's also a Free Worlds League Mech :)

[@JPG.01]

@@BigRed40TECH That is true. My first contact with Battletech was The Rageaholics reading of "Ideal War" by Christopher Kubasik. Which made me like the FWL.

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@JPG.01 Funnily enough, Ideal War is the biggest bastardization of the FWL, and is the least representative of what it is. :(

[@PeachDragon_]

Hath thee perhaps considered the purchase of a marauder milord?

[@tonylee3624]

It sounds like how I ended up adoring the Hollander and the Marauder II. Especially the Hollander, there is something about that little light mech that can uppercut way above it's weight class, while still being fast as fuck I just kinda adore.

[@AngronTheRadAngel]

I remember when I walked into a Barnes and Noble, saw those old robots from my dad's Mech Warrior games, and decided to grab a random box, just for a laugh. I figured I'd get something goofy, maybe something neat, but it'd be a nice little thing to show my father when I got home. I got a Black Knight. I've been addicted to this setting ever since.

[@BigRed40TECH]

It's a fantastic mech, and you've got great taste and opportunity since that was the first one you got. :)

[@AngronTheRadAngel]

@@BigRed40TECH Hard not to have great taste when presented with such a beautiful beginning.

[@nathanwheeler2047]

My first introduction to this Mech as Loren Coleman’s ‘Target of Opportunity’ the Mech ‘Miss Behave’

[@joebyrnes9254]

As you described the Clan Buster varient of the Black Knight. My thought drifted towards that brutal scene from 08th MS Team fighting the Gouf Custom in an urban war zone. The sight of it leaping down off a highway belt line and driving its blade into the head of a Guntank, getting splattered across the face by a spray of oil. The same fear those gundam pilots felt was probably the same when the first clanners saw their buddies get hacked to pieces.

[@NeroLordofChaos]

Any time someone brings up Battletech/Mechwarrior and Gundam in in the same sentence, I can't help but think that a Gundam game in the vein of Mechwarrior would be freaking amazing.

[@joebyrnes9254]

@@NeroLordofChaos absolutely YES

[@WarCriminal-y1u]

@@NeroLordofChaos Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire is a rather obscure Gundam game that is very reminiscent of mechwarrior.

[@brothersgt.grauwolff6716]

those were the Golden days of anime O8th MS Team was one of my favorites along with Patlabor Mobile Police

[@Arvyn992]

When the black knight loses it's arms "tis but a scratch" or at least "it's just a flesh wound"

[@BigRed40TECH]

Especially the ones without XL engines. They can gnash you with their small lasers. lol

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@BigRed40TECH I'm like 90& sure that's actually what they're named after. They're all energy zombie mechs

[@ian5395]

The real friends are the arms we acquired along the way

[@boxfoxscoot1614]

A SCRATCH?! YOUR ARMS OFF!

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@boxfoxscoot1614 No it isn't!

[@jamesm783]

Ahh yes, one of my absolute favorites. Especially the Clanbuster variant - because you can't call something a "Black Knight" and NOT give it a sword

[@frankb3347]

What amuses me about the Black Knight is that throughout the Classic Succession Wars era most of them would have been painted white.

[@ethanwhitehead2085]

Only until the paint cooks to black.

[@colbyboucher6391]

@@ethanwhitehead2085 Sort of funny un the context of Dark Souls black knights just being Silver Knights charred in a firestorm

[@danwehmeier9717]

The peace of Blake to you

[@erikbjelke4411]

@@danwehmeier9717 The peace of Blake. . . backed up by NUCLEAR WEAPONS!

[@Iknowtoomuchable]

My first encounter with a Black Knight in HBS Battletech quite fittingly ended with me taking off both its arms and legs.

[@Gordon519]

It’s just a flesh wound

[@brothersgt.grauwolff6716]

"Get back here so I can Bite your Legs Off!"

[@EchoMirage72]

🤣🤣

[@GhostBear3067]

So we will call it a draw...

[@Dracobyte]

There is even an achievement for that!

[@Chris_Sizemore]

There is no such thing as a bad Black Knight. Every version is a good mech worth piloting. The Black Knight is based on a simple principle: Walk toward the enemy and watch them melt. Nothing wrong with simple. As long as the pilot can avoid alpha striking every time he fires. Heat management is a skill, develop it. Know when to burn, know when to hold back, and when to walk away.

[@genericname42]

Yea

[@willdavis3802]

That's a Marine point of view if ever I saw one. Walking toward the enemy is the last tactic you use in combat.

[@iso-didact789]

@Chris Sizemore Would that I could say the same about the MW4 expansion of the same name. Ugh. I am sooooooo glad I chose Metroid Prime over that abomination. It may have taken a decade and a half, but when I finally had the chance to watch it on KZbin I never finished as it was the exact opposite of the epic sequel to the base game that I thought it would be. Never should've existed.🤮 Thank God I against my better (or so I thought then) judgement spent my few pennies on something else. MW4 will always have a special place in my heart but the Black Knight Expansion was the biggest bullet I ever dodged. Instead I made a huge gamble those 18 years ago and got Metroid Prime with the Echoes bonus disc and the rest is history. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zqi7gGx4pt-tY7M

[@ten-xlegacy4033]

You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and, know when to run~

[@EricDaMAJ]

The Black Knight on the Tundra is a terrifying enemy. Even in the desert it's dangerous, if the pilot's willing to roast themselves a bit.

[@robrib2682]

Yea, most energy boats are scary when it gets cold. For a lot of them it can take away from the "downside" of their design

[@sim.frischh9781]

Every now and then hitting the sauna is healthy!

[@bthsr7113]

Are there any mechs that are made worse with tundra?

[@robrib2682]

@@bthsr7113 something like the firestarter where its strategy is to use flamethrowers to cook mechs

[@sim.frischh9781]

@@bthsr7113 Yes, any using triple strength myomer, those NEED sufficient heat to work properly. While still possible to build up enough heat, it becomes harder for them, though not too much. Heat neutral mechs wouldn´t care.

[@mercutilis]

I gotta admit, hearing the audio track from MechWarrior 4 mercenaries brought a smile from the memories of that game

[@BoisegangGaming]

You know, you can probably point at a handful of people in the eras of Battletech to say "this is why we can't have nice things". That includes Katherine Steiner-Davion. Seriously, like, I know the FedCom civil war was going to happen regardless of whether it made sense or not, but it's just fascinating how this one woman's temper tantrum tore apart what was at least a decent mutual alliance that had very few downsides.

[@BigRed40TECH]

She's also responsible for Alaric :)

[@BoisegangGaming]

@@BigRed40TECH Oh, that makes it even worse lol

[@delsinhays6421]

Plot armor. I hate it.

[@delsinhays6421]

@@BigRed40TECH FFFFFFUCKIN PLOT ARMORRRR

[@ChairmanMo]

The lore does actually create stories and etc. that laid the seeds for the FedCom Civil War. When the 4th Succession War ended a lot of people in the Lyran side of FedCom were pissed. They could not go and take more territory from the Combine and had to give up worlds to the FRR. They wanted to hit the Draconis Combine harder and land a KO on them just like what happened to the Capellan Confederation but that did not happen. Also Skye Separatists tried to break off and gain independence. The Comstar vs. FedCom shadow war and the Comstar's Interdiction of the FedCom at the end of the 4th Succession Wars cause quite a few headaches too. Lastly the armies of the FedCom took all the jumpships which added another trade disruption. At the end of the 4th Succession War it was kind of clear that the Lyrans did not gain as much compared to the Federated Suns. All of these things kind of added up. Then you have the failure of the War of 3039. Finally the Clan Invasion hit the Lyran side of Fedcom. Without Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner Davion to hold Fedcom together combined with Victor's early bungling as a ruler....

[@duanewong1527]

One of my go-to heavy mechs for MW5. The KNT-6 and KNT-6b models, with burst-type large and medium lasers and double heat sinks are so disgustingly effective, they can go toe-to-toe with any assault in the game

[@ImBarryScottCSS]

HGN-RS wants to have a little chat with you.

[@The_Bird_Bird_Harder]

@@ImBarryScottCSS God I love the Redshank. It is amazing. 732B has enough difference for me to switch between the two time to time. But man. Redshank was a present for me.

[@rubaiyat300]

I REALLY like the new Black Knight model from Battle of Tukayyid. Finally scrapes away the sin MW4 did to the OG model and that MWO tried to incrementally move away from. Still has more bulk and angularity (which I actually think is a good update in art), but it has the rounded lines and general profile of the original.

[@swoop5100]

The Black Knight, a mech that is rapidly becoming one of my favourite mechs. Have 1 in MWO with 6 light PPCs that I absolutely love, so much so that I used the custom mech rules so I can use it on the table top. I just need to find a model to paint up

[@ironboy3245]

So how many times can you chain fire that before it starts melting?

[@Kingofdragons117]

I got mine with 8 LPPCs. It is a spicy boi.

[@temperusmaximus7268]

How odd, I just saw a six lppc black knight Saturday...

[@ironboy3245]

@@Kingofdragons117 is it like the sleepy awesome where you're instantly fucked the second you alphastrike

[@mdsx01]

I run a 5 lppc battlemaster in mwo. Steady stream of fire when you chainfire, doesn't overheat unless I start alphaing

[@MajorTymojo]

Ah, the loveliest of zombie mechs (for the price especially). All the medium range pew pew, you could ever want in 75 tons.

[@stevenhernandeznon-profitf968]

As a Blood Spirit collector that why I love these!

[@ChairmanMo]

It is odd that Clan Jade Falcon never kept the Black Knight as some kind of totem Mech. Clan Wolf kept the Orion mech as a totem Mech in memory of Alexander Kerensky.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I suspect its because the falcons are a bunch of degenerates :P

[@Raist474]

@@BigRed40TECH Or because Clan Wolf are the Mary Sues of the Clans, just as the Dragoons are basically the DM's girlfriend's character in the Sphere. Due to all the favoritism the Wolf totem factions get, I wonder if many of the developers and writers of BattleTech are diehard fans of the 40K-era Space Wolves. Because sometimes it seems are we hear in the narrative is wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf and wolf. As Rogal Dorn once said: the Space Wolves are incredibly uninspired.

[@BigRed40TECH]

​@@Raist474 I doubt they're big fans of the Space Wolves. Clan Wolf really became what it was independent of that. Though I will say, I am doing a Clan Wolf Disclaimer video soon where I'm going to be politely talking about why I intend to not really cover these things.

[@R17inator]

Highlander too, pretty sure that is Hazen's other signature 'mech.

[@amw5288]

@@R17inator Didn't the falcons build the Highlander IIC?

[@goliathxanatos706]

Ahhh, my favourite heavy mech getting its love at last. Thanks Red, I needed this 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[@BigRed40TECH]

After 10-11 hours of editing, I just wanna crawl away from this video. lol

[@PopeMetallicus]

The Black Knight is a beast across all eras, It's right next to my favorite Axman and Warhammer in my heavy lance

[@maube8007]

The BL-6-KNTs always triumph!!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Have at you! Come on then!

[@erikbjelke4411]

A few years ago, I attended a local gaming convention dressed up like the Joker. They had some of the BattleTech Tesla Pods set up, and one of the guys running them took one look at me and said "You need to pilot a Black Knight, it'll be hilarious." I did, and it was. Not my favorite 'Mech, but definitely up there. I love energy-based platforms, and the Black Knight delivers in that regard quite well, and always looks good doing it.

[@ВадимАрк-ю3з]

Отличное представление Черного рыцаря.Сделаное от души.Огромная благодарность от фаната Black Knight.Это мой любимый мех игры BATTLETECH.

[@madcat789]

Youve got good taste Вадим

[@rotwang2000]

If the Flashman is the heavy cavalry energy boat, this is the main battle energy boat. As long as the armour holds out the Black Knight can keep on fighting. As for configs, it's mostly what you prefer, limited only by era.

[@joshuaturnquist5538]

One of the best Inner Sphere heavy mechs ever built, at least before the Clan Invasion. Its an amazing zombie mech.

[@nosidenoside2458]

The black knight reminds me of the top image on the Wikipedia page for "powered exoskeleton". It's not even a real exoskeleton, just a plastic molding of what it could look like.

[@BluLionIV]

Always loved using the Knight as my command mech in a hunter killer lance.

[@benjaminlangner]

When I was a kid, I had no idea that this mech existed. At some point in the last few years I somehow finally managed to discover the Black Knight and it's now far and away my favorite mech, easily. I'll take all of the deep dives into this guy that I can find on youtube, thank you.

[@jdmmike7225]

AWWW YEA!!!! Thanks for this Bear. You da man. Black Knight 4 LIFE!!!!

[@BigRed40TECH]

I hope you enjoy this. lol

[@jdmmike7225]

​@@BigRed40TECH Oh I'm sure I will. I'm at my buddies watching the UFC ppv but I'm gonna watch the shit outta this when I get home LMAO. Thanks again.

[@Aceman52]

I absolutely love this mech. The Black Knight is arguably the ultimate heavy mech. Well armed and armored reasonable speed and extremely adaptable

[@lukasz.adamski]

A solid mech. I can't say I love it like Marauder, but still I like it and consider worth to be part of many lances.

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

Thou shalt go no further, it was said thou shall not pass! FIELDS OF VERDUN.

[@ironboy3245]

AND THE BATTLE HAS BEGUN

[@NorthernNorthdude91749]

In MW5, I use my own custom Black Knight a lot. It honestly looks like a mobile suit from Gundam, which may be why I like it so much.

[@Spartaner251]

One of the few 75t designs coming with hand activators!

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

My personal favorite mech, hands down. Matter of fact, it's basically Battletech's own iteration of what a Gundam could be in that setting.

[@faithmcclosky4528]

Great video as always Red! I love how you weaved the history of the inner Sphere with the history of the mech itself. Nicely done!

[@zanebarber8688]

The black knight is awesome, and it can just keep going forever with the laser loadout, and the ability to take severe maiming. Gotta watch that heat though

[@BigRed40TECH]

Never! I'll watch my heat when my met's torso begins to droop!

[@jdmmike7225]

You also gotta watch that terrain. It's my absolute favorite mech but with so many weapons in the torso it's easy to hit the ground in varying elevations.

[@observationsfromthebunker9639]

@@jdmmike7225 Yeah, the sides of those level 3 & level 4 hex hills tend to get punished by attacks from lower levels.

[@MrNachtwulf]

I really love the longer formn videos like this! Keep up the good work, you're my new favourite Battletech channel.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Awesome, thank you Matt! :)

[@Slenkamure]

one of my all time favorite zombie mechs

[@panoramatint]

A standout design. One of the best ton for ton from TRO 2750 and beyond

[@DIEGhostfish]

It should move one Large Laser to the CT to be a better zombie but that may undercut the joke of its name if it can do more to "Bite your legs off" than the existing small laser.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Nah dude, that's what the small laser is for. lol

[@robrib2682]

Honestly.... I feel adding a large laser there would have downsides. Unless Im mistaken a small laser is mainly an anti-inventory/ light vehicle weapon and not needing to fire off 2 larger lasers in order to take down something like that close to you is a pretty good deal.... Especially since when you get stuff like that close to you there's probably something heavy trying to sneak up on you. Besides it makes it even more funny when you manage to actually kill a mech with it xD

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@robrib2682 Plenty of mechs mount a large laser in the CT, for a while it was the bigges IS weapon that fit there and the small could still be in the head.

[@robrib2682]

@@DIEGhostfish unless I misremembering the weapon load out of the Black Knight that would be putting about three large lasers and at least one medium laser on the thing and if the heat sinking ability of the mech gets shot then you really don't have the ability to fire off more than one thing per round. Granted I get where you're coming from it's just when push goes to shove I'd probably put a medium laser in there first. Besides when you're going just mech versus mech is it half the reason to have machine guns or small lasers so that you can try and get crits Edit: okay I just rewatched the video and turns out there is a PPC on top of that, so unless you, you know... Give it double heat sinks I don't think you can fire off all of the primary weapons in at least one of the range brackets without cooking yourself alive. I mean if you can end up just putting double heat sinks in the thing then power to you, zombie this monster

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@robrib2682 I mean moving a side torso LL to the center, symmetry be damned, not adding a third LL.

[@robrib2682]

I always liked the idea of this mech because you can very easily see the pressures that led to its development as well as the reason why it's still around (of course it doesn't hurt that the thing looks absolutely beautiful in most artwork), and to top it all off it's a very easy way of explaining how the tabletop and video games work for these war machines. You are not piloting some little piddly Gundam that's going to explode metal slugs style the moment it takes too much damage, you are piloting something that will have bits blown off it and even when it doesn't have any guns left is going to try and smash your opponents face in given the chance. Edit: wait.... HOW IS THAT A HATCHET. I feel that no one gives the charger one now out of spite

[@Scaevola9449]

Many Gundams are exactly like that in durability, what do you mean? The whole point of a Gundam is that it's insanely durable compared to normal MS. Gundam 00 and 08th MS Team both have the main character's gundam get dismembered and otherwise torn up without being destroyed or even becoming nonfunctional. A similar crossover goes for Battlemechs, in canon they don't move like shitty walking tanks, but are actually MORE nimble than early-UC Mobile Suits, and no wonder, Mobile Suits are usually in the size/weight range of Assaults. A Black Knight with a beefy engine would run circles around most early-UC Mobile Suits, including the White Devil RX-78-2 Gundam itself. This is of course speaking about planetside combat, in space combat Gundams stomp.

[@cobalt968]

there’s even a planet in BT in which mechs perform mech-sized versions of various sports, kind of like Solaris but with less violence. They have approximately the same mobility and flexibility as a normal human would, though some chassis are obviously more suited for these things than others.

[@robrib2682]

@@Scaevola9449 ok... I feel then that Zaku would be a better term

[@bthsr7113]

You also have to consider the at times superior firepower mobile suits and Gundams face. There's also additional demands for some models that limit how much they can be armored.

[@robrib2682]

@@bthsr7113 I think you're missing the point man, what I meant by that to begin with was it's going to take a lot to take down a mech (excluding some of the lights of course) no matter what you point at it unless you get real lucky. Taking down one of these things feels more like a slugging match then it does beating up a Onepiece minion

[@whatwouldoptimusdo]

One of my favorites! Thank you for creating this series

[@BigRed40TECH]

No worries! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@panoramatint]

You know, I recently watched a video by a Japanese Mecha enthusiast. One of his chief criticisms of Western Mechs was that none of them look like samurai or knights. I stared in Hatamoto-Chi and Black Knight specifically.

[@bogohothegrand241]

That feels like a silly criticism.

[@thebaumfaeller1477]

The Rokurokubi should also be mentioned

[@TheWarTrain]

I wish they made a black knight in assault form like the marauder

[@Mugdorna]

Marauder-4A?

[@TheWarTrain]

@@Mugdorna yeah

[@viperfanboy3663]

In MW5, I have a Black Knight where I dropped the PPC for a large laser, the torso large lasers for medium lasers, and maxed out armor and heat sinks. I lost hitting power but gained assault class armor and can spam Battlemaster grade medium range volleys indefinitely.

[@thevoidlookspretty7079]

Black Knight clan-buster: “What if I just hit ‘em really hard?”

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Great episode, The Black Knight was definitely worth a longer episode.

[@TurboWulfe]

Awesome vid man, very Coolio, thanks for the extra length. 😎🤘🍻

[@dr.cobalt8623]

Well done on the video, keep up the good work. While I'll always take a marauder or a warhammer over a black knight, the black knight is truly for those who want to ride in style, and still have a punch... or just be a pain in the ass and is almost there to be a zombie mech in my opinion.

[@Carnefice]

What is a zombie mech? I've seen this term in multiple comments on this video and I've never seen it anywhere else

[@dr.cobalt8623]

@Carnefice a zombie mech is a mech that is oversinked and constist mostly of energy weapons. More or less, the only way to stop that mech from shooting is to kill the pilot or shoot the guns off.

[@Carnefice]

@@dr.cobalt8623makes sense, thanks!

[@Akitoscorpio1]

Damn Red, I always liked this mech as well but you took this to a whole next level in this video.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I do what people vote for. They voted for the Black Knight to get the extended video, I covered it. :) Also, I should add, that it's the last of the original TRO 2750 mechs, so I wanted to give that TRO a proper sendoff. :)

[@TroySeward]

Another great Battletech mech

[@Doumaxwell1959]

Black knight carried me through the entire campaign in MW5

[@Discovery2024-rn8kn]

Amateurs, I finished the campaign with a melee Urbie

[@AdairCorbin]

I was never a huge fan of this mech and preferred the flashman but this video has me hyped. I just ordered a Blacknight to paint up for my Mercenary Unit.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Nice! :D

[@raedien]

Yaaaaaaas. The love and effort really came out in this one.

[@RecklessInternetting]

I remember messing around with a full-flamer Black Knight in MechWarrior 4. It didnt go well because I was like 12 and just thought more guns = better, but it was pretty entertaining

[@bUwUmer1260]

The black knight is def a favorite! I love energy weapon oriented mechs.

[@justinjacobs1501]

The first time I saw one of them walk out of the fog of war and into combat in the video game I immediately had an oh shit moment.

[@brothersgt.grauwolff6716]

wishing you were wearing your brown suit that day 😂

[@mattcarper9853]

I have so many of these minis. I love this thing

[@steveharrison76]

I love this one too. I like that, in the HBS game, the paintwork applied to it has lots of heraldry-like flourishes, and I think I’ve been clear so far about what a sucker for aesthetics I am. Even without that, it is handsome lad. I normally run it as a medium laser platform, and it goes around disco-balling the enemy, from the rear, if I can get an angle. In my head it blasts out the soundtrack from Night Fever through external speakers as well. It’s just a straight-up solid ‘mech that always has a use, in my view. As you say, it runs hot, and that’s why I use MLs on it. An alpha strike from a full complement of those is still horrible to be on the other end of, and it’s reasonably fast so it can close easily. Given the heat management issues, I just think there are better candidates for a PPC platform, namely the warhammer. You’d be hard pressed to find a better looking mech though. Such a dreamboat… Grand stuff, captain! Nice work!

[@carlosrgns]

great video, love the extended videos

[@Chris_Sizemore]

The finest Clan warriors are equipped with Omnimechs. Every Clan warrior is keenly aware of the Omnimechs ability to change its loadout to fit the missions needs and pilot's preferences. Clan pilots train against other clan pilots and that includes against Omnimechs. Comstar makes new variant mechs, and mixes them with standard models. That confuses the Clan pilots... how? Admittedly the Clans were working with a generation of pilots born during the Invasion, but still.

[@MrGrimsmith]

I suspect part of it could be down to the fact that despite the Clans having omnimechs there were still certain accepted loadouts for the roles they were filling and they came to expect this. Add to this their assumption of technical superiority and "knowing" what they faced with each variant and it wouldn't be hard to see them being blindsided. I mean, just the Lostech variants alone could potentially increase the firepower of a mech by up to 50% ignoring mobility and survivability. Also, Clan warriors were by definition traditional and hidebound, they had their ways of battle drilled in to them so much they were reflex. Force them to diverge from this and they would not adapt well, if at all.

[@Kingofdragons117]

I don’t care what background you are from. If I saw a black knight with a sword or a King Crab with Gauss rifles, I would be shitting bricks if it looked at me.

[@robrib2682]

It's probably a case of how if you look out on the street and see every car with four wheels and so when you see a car with three wheels you get blindsided. Now replace Wheels with weapon systems that probably were of an equal technological level to them and suddenly you realize the simple fact that there were probably areas that they deployed to in such forces expecting to take out 3 enemies of the same size before facing equal resistance, only to find out that no instead they are fighting against someone with things that are closer to 1.5 or 1 to 1. Put simply it wasn't the pilots on the ground that we're probably blindsided it was the people up in orbit that arrogantly decided that they would only use *some* of their military strength when the whole campaign depended on them winning

[@greysonjones5429]

This is my second time watching it and it just reminded me of how much i need yo get myself a clanbuster blqck knight for my city-fighting anti-clan mercs.

[@inky9132]

Love the reference to monty python's black knight :) Some times I even quote him when I loose an arme or two in mwo "It's just a flesh wound" XD

[@brothersgt.grauwolff6716]

I recently used a Black Knight in a game of TT Battletech I would always lose the left arm no matter what and I would get pelted with the pun "Tis but a Flesh Wound"

[@termigamer1487]

I played a game with a Black Knight and Wasp versus a Crusader and Commando. The battle was fought on and around a level 2 high hill with a cliff side, think an arrowhead shape pointing northwest. The Wasp was cornered against the cliff with the Crusader winning initiative. So the heavy did what heavys do, they kicked the Wasp right in the chest. That started the pile of dead hardware at the bottom of the arrow. Some turns later, the Commando performed a do or die, all guns blazing right against the Black Knight, this didn't end well. The Black Knight would bring their arm down on the COM's head, splitting it right in half. It was total Buzz Light-year karate chop action. It was now down to the heavy hitters, they'd exchange blows here and there, It could end either's favor. The Crusader would position itself at the top of the hill, with the Knight at the ground, with the pile of death between them at the foot of the cliff. One final standoff to end it. The Crusader fires his weapons and more or less misses every shot. The Black Knight fires it's iconic arm cannon, critical hitting the Crusader right on a ammo slot. The Crusader would fall off the cliff onto the junkyard. The Black Knight was victorious.

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

Great video, almost a full hour. Would love to see some of your older videos expanded! If I had the money I'd offer to incentive you ;)

[@Atlas3060]

I love this design in both TW and AS. So much fun getting in fights.

[@TheMakumakumaku]

This is by far my favorite mech

[@RecklessFables]

I've loved this mech since Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight and then I saw the version WITH A SWORD and realized this is my totem mech. It just needs a swashbucklery hat.

[@robertharris6092]

This thing with 8 MP lasers on MW5 is just yes.

[@johnarnold8485]

Love all the heart you put into this one.

[@allsetago5881]

another amazing video! keep up the great work!

[@brent1975]

Love these videos. Please keep them coming

[@BigRed40TECH]

Yep, we'll start having more out again starting tomorrow / Wednesday. After the big videos I typically take a break unless some breaking news happens.

[@TechNinja.1701]

This great love letter video to BattleTech and the Black Knight makes me think that a "MechWarrior: Black Knight" game centred around a 'canon adjacent' MechWarrior from the SLDF Black Watch fighting from Terra to the Rimworlds and back to save House Cameron & Star League from Stefan Amaris - or else maybe a story around the rise of the Knights of the Inner Sphere - could be a heck of a way to redeem the disappointing MW4 add-on of the same name.

[@Carnefice]

Because of Tex, the Amaris Civil War is my favorite period of lore in the game

[@jefaus06]

Nice touch adding the CGL Era Watermark on the top of the video. One of your bigger videos. But for such a legendary mech, it is justified.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I only started doing it on the bigger mech videos :)

[@BigRed40TECH]

It's also the last 2750 mech. It seems fitting to give it an expanded send off. Forgot to add tat part*

[@enderz7593]

I get to quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That’s enough for me to put it high on my list of favorite Mech’s.

[@tobiassabot5851]

The first time I ever heard of the Black Knight was its brief entry in the Battletech novel Wolf Pack. Until then I had been strictly a Marauder proponent, using the MAD-IIC as much as possible in MW2 and cloning the Marauder loadout on to a Victor or Rakshasha in MW2 Mercenaries since the Marauder was dropped with the other at the time unseens. This was before I had internet access so it was a while before I could get the stats for the original model from the 2750 TRO. (I lived in rural Florida, the nearest store with Battletech products was an hour's drive and I was still pre-driving age at that point.) However I was captivated. The fantasy image of the Knight had long been one of my interests and parlaying that into Battlemechs was easy. When Mechwarrior 3 came out without including the Black Knight I simply cloned the loadout on to an Orion Chassis and still loved it. In Mechwarror 4 I cloned it on to the Clan built Nova Cat. When the expansion for MW4 was announced with the title of Black Knight I was ecstatic. On release I was not disappointed and played the expansion and the later MW4 Mercenaries quite often at the controls of a Black Knight. In MW5 at the heavy mech level I either opt for the firepower of the Black Knight or the speed of the Champion depending on the mission and opposition. I even like to configure a lighter Phoenix Hawk as a a sort of mini Black knight for the early portion of the game with large and medium lasers exclusively. With enough virtual mech piloting hours to qualify me for professorships at multiple mechwarrior academies, the Black Knight ranks right up at the top for me. From the battlefields of the inner sphere to the Solaris Arenas I have loved this beast.

[@MKmaki6094]

The Black Knight's prolly my favorite Command Mech in both looks and action. I ran one in a particularly hard mission in MW, just like the Monty Python Knight, I barely survived the engagement nearly critted in every area, but functional enough to get me back home. It's happened twice now and I know it's a logistical nightmare, but it truly speaks to the near zombie-like durability of the mech. I'vd embrassed this aspect of my Knight at threw on a skeleton motif onto it to make it official

[@level98bearhuntingarmor]

What if there was a variant of the laser that could fire as a small, medium, or large laser depending on the situation and how much power goes into it (call it a variable power laser or something) that would be cool especially for the Black Knight

[@1985slipstream]

Bombast laser from mw4?

[@bthsr7113]

I've given some thought to the idea of a cousin to this design produced by the Federated Suns. The Green Knight. Ballistics, hatchet, full head ejection.

[@compman34]

Loved this chassis in MW4. You could do crazy things with it My fav was to strip out all the heat sinks, max out the armor, put 2 lbx ac10s and 1 lbx ac20. Just about max out the ammo, and crank up the engine. Sprint at the enemy full speed, swerving back and forth. Then get to point blank and alpha strike.

[@Dracobyte]

I had totally had to customize my first Black Knight in HBS Battletech (2018)

[@upandaljm]

It looks very cool and has a very cool name. I have never liked this Mech. Maybe it's that I only ever played it in table tops but it never impressed me and the few times I fought one it went down fast and easy. Excellent video as always!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Very cool, thank you :)

[@Zatarra66]

I put one in Hansen's Roughriders. I know it doesn't have a history of one , but it does make sense that after defeating the Wolves Dragoons . That someone would have joined the ranks.

[@SuperSoldierS117]

I have been wrecking shop in Mechwarrior 5 with a Black Night. 4 medium lasers and 3 large lasers let me core assaults in close range within a few volleys. Amazing in close confines.

[@mojosilver82]

LoL. Earlier today I was binge watching big red 40k videos and thinking where's my favorite mech, where's the black knight? Whelp here it is. Thanks big red 40k!

[@Orionhunter4444]

One of my favorites mechs do to pure flavor! i have a BLK-NT miniature!

[@Mamorufumio]

i swear this is one of the few mechs that could be seen as gundam like

[@blue95kun]

At the end of the day, the Black Knight always triumphs!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Have at you!

[@blue95kun]

What are you going to do? Bleed all over me? Though I'm not sure if you're aware, the unit the Black Knight was first attached to during it's trials was the 3rd Heavy Assault Regiment 'The Pythons'.

[@vali6717]

To be honest my first impression from the HBS game was middling at best but I took it out of curiosity. I inadvertently turned it into the BL-7-KNT-L variant but I was able to add two double heat sinks rather than singles and restored the missing two tons of armor. If asked at the time I would have been underwhelmed, I cannot say it failed to serve well in any capacity. I still feel more comfortable with a Marauder or Warhammer in their standard configuration to the BL-7

[@BigRed40TECH]

In the Tabletop, the BL-7 would maim a WHM-6R or MAD-3R. It'd be pretty bad.

[@vali6717]

@@BigRed40TECH I might have to add at least one to my stable but it is unfortunately not the first energy centric heavy that comes to mind. I suppose a very ingrained exposure to the Marauder and Warhammer under their names from the Macross series nearly a year before I had ever been exposed to Battletech does create some affinity bias

[@r0mc0mmedy]

I'll be waiting on the Stalker red, however long that must wait, an amazing mech IMO, but once again another amazing video by big red 40k, keep up the awesome work and hope to smash atleast a 15k or 20k within the next year or so lol

[@r0mc0mmedy]

I like the exterminator in the thumbnail too lol, almost didn't notice that, also the crab in the top right should be replaced by a Hussar with bear piloting it ;)

[@BigRed40TECH]

I did a Stalker video forever ago XD

[@r0mc0mmedy]

@@BigRed40TECH lmao ill watch that after, I thought it was the catapult

[@ssjjshawn]

Aye, my boy the Black Knight

[@Iridium-77-g]

My FAVORITE mech in all of Battletech. I love the 6b on the HBS PC game and Mechwarrior as well. It is always my Command Mech. Love me some full laser vomit and this is one of the best around. Yeah yeah, the Marauder is better but like the video says at the beginning, the Black Knight has the *gravitas* and that cannot be understated.

[@lexington476]

Say you in the market for a slightly used Black Knight, you head on down to the Discount Dan's and he's got a Royal variant and Clanbuster variant, which you which do you choose 🙂?

[@iampoch01]

Clanbuster!

[@Kingofdragons117]

Royal. 2 large pulse lasers, ER PPC and DHS. No XL engine so more durability.

[@BeardedGuy_Tawhid]

Black knight is my hq mech atm in my battletech playthrough

[@kythebengzon8023]

I knew it was coming. You wouldn't resist the dulcet tones of monty python.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I think I made 2 references to it in the hour long video? And one was extraordinarily brief lol I just needed something to kinda be a tagline truthfully lol

[@kythebengzon8023]

@@BigRed40TECH it's rather tricky that python one moment it's slithering towards you then it turns into a megaconda and crushes you to death with it's coils.

[@CycKath]

1994 Tukayyid Scenario Pack - I think it would be great to give the Clanbuster a sword! 1994 FASA - No Swords, only Hatchets! 1994 Tukayyid Scenario Pack - Okay okay, sigh, "sword shaped" hatchet then, geez. 1996 Field Manual: Draconis Combine - Samurai don't liked hatchets, can I introduce a sword? 1996 FASA - I don't see why not. I'd say never change FASA but given they are decades gone...

[@BigRed40TECH]

FASA is just a different company now, and mostly does one IP they had years ago, but I think its ownership is even different.

[@stewartthorpe2533]

Alright, I'll give black Knight another shot

[@garymccreery7252]

Awesome video, Sense I play on console I can't get mods so I been putting chemical lasers on it works great

[@mandasenna4290]

When I started playing MWO, The KNT-L is my favorite. This is the first mech where I mastered the controls.

[@mr6johnclark]

I have one in MWO the one with Missiles and Ballistics on the left arm.

[@gotmilk2123]

I'm surprised you didn't touch on the spirit walker. The black knight, but an omni mech is crazy to think about.

[@Balevolt]

Kong Interstellar built 3 of my favorite mechs. The others being the Ostsol and Ostscout on license.