BATTLETECH: The Flashman

[@DIEGhostfish]

FLASH! AAaahhhh! He's the her-o of the INNERSPHERE!

[@shukilevyandbrookesheildsl2638]

Dang it! You beat me to it. Lol

[@Arvyn992]

I always mistake the hero for the savior of the universe line

[@GhostOfBuscemi]

The AAAAaaaahhhh always gets me moister then an oyster

[@Demolitiondude]

FLASH! AAAAaaaaaHHHHHhhhhh! He'll save every one of us!

[@bobbrown5460]

👏👏👏

[@iller3]

me looking at a Flashman in the mercenary market: _"This looks so underwhelming...like 2 Urbanmechs in a trench coat"_ me gettiing dropped into an ambush against a Flashman: _"WTF! Why am I dying so fast?!"_

[@robrib2682]

Because the square cube law means that it isn't just 2 urbies in a trench coat, it's a full lance of them

[@CRAZYUNCLE117]

The rifleman just dig-evolved into a Flashman. Seriously, it even looks like an up-armored rifleman.

[@hermes7587]

The drawings do not really representative to the actual mini. The Flashman is also known as the "walking lightbulb".

[@sim.frischh9781]

I agree on that. The similarities are noticable.

[@Kieselmeister]

The Terran hegemony had a bit of a fetish for "eggs on legs" mechs going all the way back to the Mackie.

[@sim.frischh9781]

@@Kieselmeister Oh yes, the first egg on legs ever. Then there´s the UrbanMech. Though that one wasn´t TH i think... right, that was Star League.

[@Kieselmeister]

@@sim.frischh9781 the star league was ultimately in many ways the Terran hegemony writ large, having decided that because ftl communications had been discovered, that the bottleneck which had caused the Terran alliance to abandon the colonies farther than 1 jump from Sol no longer existed, and to once again try to rule all of humanity from Sol. The other inner sphere states only bought into it because of A. huge economic & technological bribes, B. The threat of being on the outside of the grand alliance of all their rivals, & C. the object lesson of what being on the receiving end of the Terran navy (which had more capital ships than every other realm's navies combined had ships total) looked like, as represented by the reunification war and looting of the periphery.

[@joshuaturnquist5538]

Defiance Industries, saving more fun and obscure SLDF mechs than any other company. I really liked the 7k, despite being a downgrade.

[@Charon-5582]

Yea, Defiance is the MVP of the innersphere manufacturing companies.

[@Doomer1984]

Bringing the 90s glowstick rave to the battlefield. Love it

[@brobasticbroham446]

Flash man (music) "FLASH AAAAAAHHHHH he's incredible, AAAAAAAHHHH FLASH!"😂😂😂😂😂

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

The Flashman was told that out of strength, toughness and speed it could choose 2 out of 3, and the Flashman simply opened its coat and ran off with all three before the shock wore off.

[@shikitohno8446]

Good Lord, that's not just an Awesome mech it's a Beauty on the Battlefield. Can only Imagine what fear he may induce in His opponents, especially when they realiced how fast and nimble he navigates despite in this weight class. Truly a Champion of his time.

[@Alex-pj8nz]

The sea foxes made a killing on the Dark Age variant

[@iampoch01]

It's not an Awesome mech. It's a Flashman.

[@shikitohno8446]

@@iampoch01 Joker 😂

[@gmacwizard8890]

No the awesome is an 80 ton mech

[@shikitohno8446]

@@gmacwizard8890 really? Is it REALLY NEEDED to be so Nit picky? For fucks Sake, it's an Awesome Mech even though it's Not the 80t Awesome Mech

[@gregdomenico1891]

I can still remember the first time I ran into one of these laser light shows in MW2 Mercs. I think I was in a Vindicator, and it was a simple destroy a target and evac mission. I'm busy lighting up the target, and a Flashman walks around the building. I'm like, 'what the hell is that thing'? Then it opened fire. Game over man, game over. Lesson learned: take one of these things out at range with a LRM boat, out of line of sight.

[@cobalt968]

Don’t forget the flamer. Even a singular flamer fired as fast as possible could easily overheat any enemy mech and cause them to shut down. Which made them helpless against further flamer shots, effectively stunlocking an enemy until they blew up from overheating or until you destroyed their mech. Fun times.

[@ibysdagon4659]

Hmm send the guy with the 45 ton mech to fight the 75 ton mech? Sounds like a DCMS mission.

[@gregdomenico1891]

@@ibysdagon4659 TBH, I think it was the DCMS that did the contract.

[@ibysdagon4659]

@@gregdomenico1891 Figures, if it's dishonorable, suicidal, or your bait, its DCMS. Honestly didn't realised that until I learned of the Combine's stance on mercs years later. Oh well, they do pay good.

[@gregdomenico1891]

@@ibysdagon4659 For Cappellan contracts, It's usully all 3, and they don't pay well. DCMS got better after the Battle of Luthein, when the Dragoons and Kell Hounds saved their tails.

[@MajorTymojo]

Man, the 8K is such a good mech, and has such incredible endurance in operation, between its speed, armor, and ammo independence, just an awesome mech. It well justifies the price of its XL engine unlike some other SL mechs where you'd rather save the weight with endo and FF. That said, the 7K, while not nearly so impressive, always struck me as a solid, although not exceptional, performer, and makes an excellent almost zombie mech (if only it was one of the arm LL sacrificed and not the torso LL). The 7K, while it won't blow your socks off, always struck me as a solid generalist to toss into a great variety of lances from medium to assault weights (even if 4/6 makes it not as good to make the command mech of a medium lance as the 8K's 5/8 does). Still though, the 8K is where its at!

[@franksmedley7372]

Hello Red. Ah, the Flashman... I loved this Mech as a Star League Era Mech design. The 3025 Era downgrade didn't thrill me, so I never used it, and the only example of the Mech I ever got as battlefield salvage, I traded for a lightly damaged pair of Panthers, and 3 Locusts the Player in question hated. I did 'sweeten' the pot by adding a pair of Wasps to the trade as well, sealing the deal. Oh, how he hated it when I fielded 17 Locusts (3025 Era, all with 3 Med Lasers) against his Assault Lance, and cored out their rear armors, only losing 6 Locusts in the exchange. No matter how one added it up, tonnage, C-Bill costs, or BV, I came out on top using 'swarm' tactics. Now, having said the above, I did get the chance to use the FLS-10E Flashman. And fell in love with it all over again. The mix of Clan and IS tech was perfect. Making the Flashman a Mech to fear again on the battlefields, against other Inner Sphere powers, or the Clans themselves. Also, being an 'all energy' design, it can lead raiding parties of other 'energy boat' designs, deeply into an Enemy's rear areas, playing hell with his logistics and supply chains, as well as raiding any bases, or other installations that might contain valuable tech or items. I would gladly add as many Flashman Mechs as I can lay hands upon to my Mercenary Force. Anytime, anywhere, for any mission.

[@steveharrison76]

Oho boy oh boy oh boy! I love me an ammo-independent machine! Never heard of this brawny lad before, but I think I might be a little bit in love with it! It’s got good everything - speed, armour, defence, and alpha striking. It can close fast, and while it might have an engine made of butter, there’s ways round that… kind of, anyway. Just got to be judicious with it. Good stuff!

[@Kingofdragons117]

You can find one in the comstar battle I box.

[@jdmmike7225]

I love pairing Flashman's with Black Knight's. Literally lasers for days lol.

[@bobbrown5460]

I Always rely heavily energy based designs when I play unless I wana see missile vomit 👍 another great video

[@terryhiggins5077]

Hurray! All hail the Disco Death Egg!

[@angrytigermpc]

I really appreciate your content. Many battletech lore channels pretty much read Sarna verbatim and call it a day, or there's stuff like Tex's vids which are great but come out like once a year. You strike a fair balance between somewhat "personalized" narrative form while also churning out a bunch of content at a steady clip.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I do this for work. I enjoy doing it, which helps too. lol Got an hour long video coming out later tonight too :)

[@RWnope]

Happy to see you finally cover this lad. Only got into BT recently, but good lord this thing became a favorite the moment I learned of it a few months back. The combo of energy boat in a highly distinct mech just does it for me. Just wished more of the modern games had it represented in any form, seems almost forgotten in a lot of ways.

[@cobalt968]

One of my favorite mechs, even if it isn’t amongst the more iconic looking ones. Per the Sarna entry, seems like the SLDF liked to keep several lances of these and hold them in reserve to protect the flanks of their forces, and move ahead to provide fire support as needed. Perhaps someone took a look at the Lancelot or Crab and thought “what if this was bigger, and could chase/fight off other Lancelots or Crabs?”

[@robrib2682]

I'm going to be honest one of the first mechs I saw from BattleTech when I actually started looking at minis was this thing and I absolutely adore this flashbulb

[@donaldcampbell3043]

Was thinking the only thing missing in the original Star League version was a Supercharger, chuckled when it appeared in the Dark Age version...

[@hermes7587]

The Flashman in all of it´s iterations is a very good heavy mech with very few weaknesses. It has very high endurance, good damage output and armor. Since it does not need ammo it never runs dry and does not fall victim to ammo explosions. For the enemy this means the Flashman is a high priority target, since it cannot be ignored. When fielding a Flashman the commander should be careful not to commit the Flashman too early in the fight. Once the Flashman charges forward to deliver it´s armor-melting close range laser barrage the commander should be sure that the Flashman can actually overwhelm it´s target. If this it not sucessful, things get get messy for the Flashman. While it is good at short range, it is not very good in physical combat because most of the weapons are arm-mounted and it lacks hand actuators.

[@blue95kun]

Love me some classic Flashbulb mechs. Alongside the Awesome and Black Knight, they are very fun Zombiemechs.

[@DIEGhostfish]

Flashman, Highlander, Mercury, what's the fourth mech? Oh that's it the Champion!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Fourth Mech?

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@BigRed40TECH I decided on the Champion. For the Queen reference lance.

[@DIEGhostfish]

Vs my other meme Lance, the Gunslinger, Quickdraw, Enforcer, and Clint.

[@andrewwelham8633]

I'll take a Guillotine over the Champion to round out my lance. Thanks.

[@daWoofQuean]

wait, so they don't brag about how awesome they are and then flee from battle to somehow overcome greater odds than they first faced? False advertising, Harry Flashman disapproves. more seriously, great work again mate, I love energy focused mechs so much

[@arisakathedappergoose4796]

I like the idea of giving some of the communities favorite builds from MWO and MW5 the same sort of video treatment

[@MadmanMcNabb]

I think I have PTSD from this thing setting me on fire in Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries.

[@rotwang2000]

The Flashman, for when all your enemies needs to be melted into slag ...

[@alexdemoya2119]

Flashman! Fighter of the Hatchetman! Champion of the Federated Suns!

[@rmcdudmk212]

Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! 🎵

[@fedupN]

Always loved it as an ammo independent hitter, like the Lancelot or Awesome, but the original art and look...man it hurt. 😆 Great redesigns!

[@eddapultstab2078]

The original artwork, in my view, is concept art from mostly surviving concept sketches that have survived the succession wars for the technical readout. I view that way because battletechs initial time period is 3025 and the first 3 TROs are written in a 3025 perspective I believe. Still I like the originals sleek design though.

[@TheArchaos]

The Flashman is an absolute beast, including the c-bill costs.

[@TheArchaos]

@@richmcgee434 The age old question, do you want more units of lesser quality or do you want few units of higher quality. Situational.

[@randomnetsurfer]

Almost the perfect laser design, but they had to hamstring it with the AMS. It's not that they're not valuable, but it's a potential ammo explosion where it's really not a good idea... in a high-heat mech with an XL engine. Other than that, I'm glad the original version didn't succumb to the temptation to go with the ER large lasers. Better to give it the raw hitting power than a bit of extra range. In my opinion of course.

[@eddapultstab2078]

At least it's not a freaking machine gun, I have seen mechs stackpole their own Lance because of a lucky torso crit roll and got the bin. At least with AMS it will probably run out of ammo before it's a serious concern due to missles being a popular choice for damage dealing.

[@randomnetsurfer]

@@eddapultstab2078 You make an extremely good point. There's a few mechs that have one MG... and a whole ton of ammo. Like WHYYYY

[@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts]

Don't listen to the guys that are tired of these videos. I look forward to each and every one. There's so much variety in battletech and the format you present them in gives life to these mechs that simply reading about them can't achieve

[@FrostyThundertrod]

I have not ever had a chance to play the flash man but it seems like exactly the kind of mech I want

[@nemamiah7832]

Yes! Flashman! Glorious round lightbulb of 5/8 anger! That one IS Heavy that makes IS XL actually work! The monster of working in pair! Love this one to death.

[@Alpha-Omega-TFOA]

8K and 10E seem like the very definition of a Laserboat, i gotta get me one or 2.

[@Skadooch]

Mmmm, the original Flashman... another tiny pleasure of the Scorpion Empire arsenal. Excited for the Comstar lances this fall, Scorpions get to use all the weird old toys. Didn't know the 10E was such a fearsome critter, I like it a lot.

[@Evinthal84]

@@richmcgee434 Necro-ing this here, but yeah when I saw the 10E in the IllClan Recognition Guide I lost my side torsos laughing and going "OH NOOOOOO!"

[@Evinthal84]

@@richmcgee434 Yeah, the BV was one of the reasons I was laughing! Ballistic (to a degree, watch for AP ammo!) and missiles aren't really that much of a problem for it, and the mech itself is pretty mobile so avoiding physical attacks shouldn't be too difficult (not saying they won't happen). Just mind those piloting skill rolls! Definitely a nasty battlemech, but you do pay for it.

[@joshuamidgette4846]

Finally, The Flashman, Ender of Battles.

[@StarUnionPrime]

Have Flashman in a campaign I playing. It one of oldest mech in the regiment. Also the most cursed. Only died 3 times to headshots. 2 being thought armour critical. Hopefully the 4th pilot will live to end of the clan invasion.

[@christianholzschuh6853]

Ah, the Flashman. I remember that thing from Mechwarrior II Mercenaries. It had these huge cocpitwindo in the center torso, so easy to hit...

[@stormcrow28]

My favorite heavy from 2750. I love the Flashman. Even the 7K is a brutal combatant in its time. I'll often use a modded 7K with 18 DHS, 3 ER Large, 5 Medium or ER Medium as the timeline allows, and a flamer It makes a great energy zombie. As for the 8K, it pairs up well with Black Knights, Thugs, Maruader 5Ds, Lancelots, or other 5/8 cav designs from 3050 onward. The Falconer and Thanatos are good examples of later TRO units that match up.

[@robbybarbera]

Thanks! Always great videos. Praise Blake!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Blake's word be praised! May you find peace, and guidance in his wisdom!

[@MLCrisis1790]

I discovered this guy as I was looking at the Guillotine last week. Now I have both as minis and accompanying videos to brief my enemies on why they died so horribly. Huzzah!

[@RyeFields]

It came like a flash, lasers ripping into our mechs before vanishing back into the mountains.

[@irflashrex]

The ancestor to the nova cat.

[@nemkeltiraad5269]

This mech is my all time favorite in the heavy weight class. Fast, hits hard, can take a hit and it just looks as awesome as the Awesome.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Couldn't agree more!

[@bopaintsminis]

One of the gems of the 2750 TRO.

[@kylebarrie2887]

Fast rare energy boat is the four words to describe this machine.

[@Timberjac]

One of the grandfathers of the mech of the clans. And a well-designed one overall. But above all one of those designs that has come in fantastically well, the update of the infamous drawings of some mech in the old technical readouts.

[@Sigil_Firebrand]

Good video, I'd love to see a video about the Omega sometime, plus it's a mech that wasn't around long so it could be a fairly short video, on a really cool looking mech.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Omega's from which TRO again?

[@matthewunruh3651]

@@BigRed40TECH One of the WoB Hotspot books. Terra I think was the book.

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@matthewunruh3651 Likely not gonna get covered until 2023/2024 then.

[@Sigil_Firebrand]

Jihad: Final Reckoning. Gives me something to look forward to in the coming years, stay awesome my dude!

[@csnation]

The 8K is probably one of the pinnacles in SLDF technology. Probably why it did not get a royal variant and a low production rate. I mean the Marauder and Warhammer have royal variants and that is mostly to add double heatsinks. Also nothings rubs in your face superiority when most mediums are slower than it and it is nearly fast enough to catch Commandos and Stingers.

[@letterdaddus2094]

Such wonderful memories... My very first mech in the ttrpg. My friends didn't understand why I wanted the egg on legs (we were all teens), and I shrugged with a smile. I can't remember how many battles we had with our lance that I was the last mech operating with full complement. Never, ever scoff at the walking Christmas lightshow.

[@themetallord2]

Can't wait to pair one of these guys up with a Lancelot...

[@BigRed40TECH]

Ruthless.

[@dariusdurandal7501]

The flash man the ultimate form of a lethal disco ball on legs

[@reighniz4488]

Karensky: I need something with a lot of lasers. Salesman: Do we have the mech for you! Displays Flashman: *everyone drools* Random person: Certainly better than that Megaman villain.

[@thesilentninja9255]

The original sculpt the arms would never stay on without pinning them.

[@krieg4017]

Laser egg. Good.

[@BigRed40TECH]

DIsco-death-egg.

[@Bluehairedgirl89]

Finally we’re getting back to some of the good Star League designs, I will grudgingly give the SLDF one thing they usually designed very good war machines. And the Flashman is definitely one of them, it fall firmly into the category of one of my favorite mechs. I definitely have a type when it comes to battlemechs and my beloved Hatchetman is the exception that proves the rule. I really like the Flashman and it’s contemporaries like that Grasshopper, Black Knight, and Guillotine. Aggressive energy heavy designs that are great at just getting stuck in and burning down enemy machines. The design of the Flashman always looked really cool to me, not over designed like some mechs. The energy heavy design is so my jam, I love riding the heat inside my Mech and had a rather deep fear of hearing that click of a empty magazine when I pull the trigger. Overall, I can’t even imagine how much these machines must cost to built and maintain in the field but it would almost be worth it to pilot one, almost. I actually got to see one in action once, once again when my families mercenary unit was getting stuck into the FWL Civil War. One of the units loyal to whichever Marik pretender we were contracted with this year had a Mechwarrior piloting an ancestral Flashman that had been update back to Star League Era tech levels. They were a real demon on the battlefield and it was pure art watching the way they took apart enemy machines with those lasers with almost surgical precision. I looked him up at a bar the Mechwarriors had taken over after the fight, wanted to see if I could learn anything from him. Maybe even lacquer him up enough to have him show me his mech, that would have been a real treat. Big mistake, outside of his machine he was a noble born brat who was vain beyond belief, loud, arrogant, and annoying as hell. He was also seriously handsome and damn knew it so he was used to have a woman or five hanging in each arm. And underneath it all he was remarkable stupid, dull, and a giant bundle of daddy issues. I have never been more tempted to murder someone and steal their mission, off the battlefield, in my life. But such is life, I bribed a AsTech to let me get a look at the machine a few days later so it didn’t turn out to bad.

[@Bluehairedgirl89]

(Thank you again for the video!)

[@malcolmtudor8039]

Very cool mech. Love fast heavies. Speed is definitely a weapon choice. Speaking of fast heavies, how about a video on the Sunder?

[@zraal3759]

Love the flashman. Plus, the new sculpts really helped this mech.

[@voicetest6019]

Its kind of sad that they didn't embrace the old art that made the Flashman the bigger, better trash can brother of the Urbie.

[@kennethelkins-wulff9644]

I love this Mech! I have one I modded. Got rid of the old AMS and installed a LAMS! That way there's no ammo to worry about EVER!!! The laser AMS isn't as good as the regular but it's getting there. Thanks for doing this one BR40k! I run this and the Black Knight,Guillotine, and Grasshopper all in the same lance! I love them!!

[@JH-ph4qb]

We all know that somewhere, out there, there is a Flashman named Gordon.

[@covahredro8370]

Did it come with a trench coat

[@PopeMetallicus]

In Star League Era, Egg fry YOU!

[@kieranhosty]

*streaking since 2701* quality thumbnail, well played

[@TheStraycat74]

10:00 oh, so one of my Full Clan Tech Rebuilds made it into Canon then... before I could get to making it at that, and about 100 years (in game) later. I don't care for the reflective armor, or the supercharger, but the rest sounds good.

[@Gigas0101]

its flamer is a zippo, that's twisted. Love this design.

[@rosspoile2316]

Love the mech videos. Any chance for some vehicles at some point?

[@thestabbybrit4798]

Fast as a recon unit, tough as nails, packing enough firepower to glass a small town... and the only true downside is the insane price tag. I think we just found where the "Steiner Scout" comes from.

[@BigRed40TECH]

It's a Terran mech, steiner adopts it later...

[@christiangoldenlok3758]

Is there plans for a jumping variant of this by catalyst? I cant remember...

[@philjackson1294]

My oh my , what a great mech. Added to my wish list.

[@Dracobyte]

The Rifleman's chunkier big brother!

[@ChaosTicket]

I love the Flashman. I first played it way back in Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries. The Flashman is similar to other battlemechs like the Exterminator, Guillotine, Marauder, Warhammer, and more. The Flashman FLS-7K is a Zombiemech, with armor, energy weapons, no ammo, and plenty of heat sinks. Its obsolete in 3050, but its still tough. The FLS-9C model is an upgrade to the original FLS-8K used during the Star League, replacing the large lasers with 3 Extended Range Larger Lasers and replacing the Flamer with an Improved C3 Computer. Sadly it doesnt have enough double heat sinks to fire all 3 ER Large Lasers continuously. The FLS-10E model with mixed-tech equipment including upgraded Clan weapons is a great model Clan-tech its great. In appearance the Flashman looks like a grown up Urbanmech, which adds bonus points.

[@MOrab46019]

I miss the egg look

[@empoweredshemphoward]

Ha! How did I miss this video?

[@roguerifter9724]

I used to regularly run 7Ks modded by stripping the Flamer, the rear Laser, a ton of armor, and sometimes a Heat Sink for Jump Jets as my preferred Lyran no lostech Mech

[@Linkous12]

The 7K is perhaps my favorite heavy mech, and maybe my favorite mech period. Such a solid design.

[@iampoch01]

This is one of my favorite mechs, definitely in the top 5. I didn't like any of the subsequent variants until the -10E came about. That variant totally unseated the -8K from my top list. Only thing I'm not too hot about it is the Laser Reflective armor.

[@NonApplicable1983]

Flashman There's no need to feel down, I said Flashman Shoot that 'mech off the ground

[@51DEMONIC]

Thought this mech was a joke, now I know better after an encounter. This design will melt and blind you, with the amount of energy weapons it has. She is fast, tough, and mean thankfully haven't had to deal with these things often, would love to own one.

[@Lowebrow]

Gotta love the Flashman and the design as well as aesthetic. I wish I was skilled at modeling and could redesign the one used in Roguetech. Well made but it could definitely use a trenchcoat. But my mad respect to the RT team. Favorite mod for me

[@GhostOfBuscemi]

Imagine you see a squad of elementals slagged and then you hear brainpower being blasted over mech speakers as this thing turns Tukkayidd into Nevada...🥲 perfection

[@ThatSlowTypingGuy]

Flash! _Ah-ah!_ Saviour of the universe!

[@ThatSlowTypingGuy]

And someone beat me to it.

[@faithmcclosky4528]

Great video as always Red! I love all the puns in this review, they are amazing. They beg the question, just what is a Flashman?

[@bkane573]

I read this as FISHman, and didn’t realize until you said it…

[@johnfisher9692]

Always loved this Mech. It's a machine built for War, not for short duration duels as most seem to be and it has the heat sinks to let the pilot concentrate on doing damage and worrying if his Mech is going to shut down at any moment. The only problem I have is the AMS, it's just not worth the weight wasted on it. Given how much ammunition it consumes you are would average only getting 2 shots out of it if you're lucky, sometimes not even that and the number of LRM's you knock down is highly variable. I'd prefer to use the weight to max out the armour. If it the the laser based system the Clans were working on, then it would be worthwhile as the whole point of the Flashman is a Mech that isn't tied to a supply line.

[@hideshisface1886]

All things considered, in the essence, Flashman is its SLDF config is basically a more mid-to-close range oriented, faster Black Knight. And this is pretty terrifying.

[@discountmike8856]

It's like a hyper Rifleman.

[@theapostatejack8648]

The original "Disco Death Mode". If memory serves, the Clans never made a IIC version. Probably because campaign endurance is not a clan thing.

[@arcdraconis9579]

Imp is kind of a clan version of flashman

[@Tallus_ap_Mordren]

Dude, a Timber Wolf Prime is basically a Flashman with two LRM20s bolted on.

[@theapostatejack8648]

Except that neither the Imp or Timber Wolf have any design lineage from the Flashman. The Timber Wolf especially is a child of the Marauder legacy.

[@Tallus_ap_Mordren]

@@theapostatejack8648 75 tons, 5/8, XL engine, 15 double heat sinks. Large Lasers and medium lasers in the arms. Only functional difference is the Timber Wolf swaps the center large Laser and flamer for LRM 20s and machine guns. The Timber Wolf prime serves pretty much the same role as the Flashman. No need for a IIC

[@theapostatejack8648]

@@Tallus_ap_Mordren Yes the Timber Wolf prime has lots of lasers, but so does any other 75 ton clan omni mech if the Mechwarrior chooses. Or you could point to the Black Python, but that did not come into service until 3051. The Timber Wolf is a front line omni mech, not a second line reserve and garrison mech. The thing with IICs is not a matter of battlefield role. It is a matter of, "we have a whole load of these chassis sitting around from before Klondike. Wait, Clan xxxxx did what to the ones in their garrison clusters? I like that, let us make our own!"

[@matthewunruh3651]

I feel I have to add in a blurb about House Marik's FLS-9M. A end of the jihad/early Dark Mech, it is an interesting variant. It is slower, using a 300 rated engine. For mid range combat it mounts 2 Heavy PPCs, which together have longer range and hit harder than the -8Ks triple large lasers. Closing in is worse, as the -9M also mounts 4 Medium lasers and 4 Medium pulse lasers, with enough heat sinks to fire all 8. This package offers the same damage as a full alpha strike from the older FLS-8K. It is a blast to use in your heavy to assault lances.

[@BoisegangGaming]

I think early art had mech pilots not wearing anything under their cooling vests. I'm pretty sure flashman pilots just wore the vest and nothing else. And now I need the brain bleach.

[@eddapultstab2078]

That cooling vest would come with some sleeves and a special cod piece. Got to keep those tenders at a comfortable temperature. The troops will complain otherwise.

[@joebyrnes9254]

I got one of these babies from one of four Clans Salvage box. Planned to buy four boxes and make a Lance of whatever I got no matter what I got. The Flashman I definitely intend to be my command unit. My only problem is…I have no idea what colors to paint them all…>~>

[@eddapultstab2078]

It's primarily a comstar mech, so white with maybe a touch of baby blue to highlight? Otherwise do it merc style, and paint it as if it's your mech.

[@jamessmith5666]

Yes! Keeping it under the proverbial 'trench coat' of ComStar was the correct thing to say.

[@observationsfromthebunker9639]

The mech's name is something that makes me wonder if the ghost of George MacDonald Fraser's ghost is laughing. This is a good heavy mech, definitely one to take into action against the Clans.

[@AndrewChumKaser]

Flashman or Crashman? You think they hang out cuz their names rhyme?

[@The_Real_Fomsie]

While in all of Battletech, since I began playing in the late 80s to now, the Awesome has been my favorite mech, I always loved the Flashman as sort of the Awesome's speedy little brother... kinda like the Running Back to the Awesome's Fullback. Also, I am a lifelong adherent to the school of energy weapons.

[@Charon-5582]

Great mech, never played it. I do prefer the old art though. I think the cockpit area on the redesign was a miss. Keep being awesome Red!

[@scottwalker6947]

I'm surprised there wasn't a SLDF Royal variant.

[@halosammy14]

A true predecessor to the Mad Cat in a lot of ways. Either that or you could call it a better Rakshasa.

[@tmontgomery7592]

So the sldf was drawn from across the great houses and till the end of the star league fighting the peripherals whom where they fighting all that time?

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

While I appreciate the Flasher and Streaker jokes, I'm pretty sure it was called the Flash Man because it looks like a light bulb. Flash bulb...

[@BigRed40TECH]

Oh definitely. But I 100% always thought of this as a streaker. lol

[@SulliMike23]

Choshinsei Flashman!