I Rank all 45 Clan Mechs from the Battletech Clan Invasion Kickstarter (with SleeplessRonin)

#battletech #ClanInvasion #tiermaker #battlemech #opinion
WARNING: These are just my personal opinions. I give some of my reasons, but these opinions are nothing more than that. With that said...
I decided to make a second tier list video.
This time I'm ranking all 45 Clan Battlemechs from the Catalyst Games Clan Invasion Kickstater. (www.kickstarte...)
(Link Here: tiermaker.com/...)
Remember these are just my personal opinions. I'd love to hear yours. Please take the list (linked above) and rank the mechs yourself. The more people who rank them, the more fun we can have. Once enough people have ranked the mechs we can get a community sense of which mechs are preferred.
Time Skip to Each Mech:
0:00 Intro
1:07 Timber Wolf
1:50 Executioner
3:22 Nova
4:40 Grendel
5:28 Adder
6:24 Dire Wolf
7:37 Summoner
8:07 Storm Crow
8:49 Shadow Cat
9:41 Mist Lynx
10:46 Gargoyle
11:40 Hellbringer
12:51 Mad Dog
13:31 Ice Ferret
14:24 Viper
15:34 Warhawk
16:25 Nova Cat
17:34 Cougar
18:31 Kit Fox
19:22 Fire Moth
20:42 Night Gyr
21:53 Linebacker
23:10 Black Lanner
23:54 Battle Cobra
24:42 Arctic Cheetah
25:51 Turkina
26:32 Kingfisher
27:33 Crossbow
28:04 Ebon Jaguar
29:30 Huntsman
30:37 Stone Rhino
31:51 Supernova
32:41 Warhammer IIC
33:33 Marauder IIC
34:28 Hunchback IIC
35:28 Vapor Eagle
36:12 Conjurer
37:03 Horned Owl
37:49 Incubus
38:34 Piranha
39:23 Kodiak
40:06 Fire Falcon
40:49 Howler
42:19 Pack Hunter
42:54 Hellion

[@jimmyrome908]

Clan mechs tend to emphasize weaponry in the arms because they're supposed to carry Elementals in, and you can't fire weapons from areas where battle armor is holding on--which is almost always the torso. It's a vulnerability, but it's essential to Clan military doctrine--and if you've ever seen what the little guys can do as Mech support, I'd say it's worth it.

[@jamesricker3997]

Imagine the glory a MechWarrior can achieve by destroying a Timberwolf while piloting a Mist Lynx

[@HBon111]

Ach! I know it's terrible, but I LOVE the Hunchback IIC. The silhouette is iconic and the lore of it just being a mech for old warriors to die in is delicious.

[@vulkhanasennet9961]

As an Arctic Cheetah pilot I can tell you for certain that if you believe it is a Solhama unit you have never faced one. That ECM is not a worthless piece of gear; it does more than shield you from semi guided missiles, Sensor ghosts + 12run mv is no joke. Also an Active Probe is a gift from God against hidden units.

[@johntan4997]

It's funny that alot of the 'design problems', are not in MWO. MWO Cheetah is a monster and assault lance killer.

[@energyfitness5116]

​@@johntan4997Specially during the "THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" era.

[@zachklopfleisch8501]

Any mech that can walk, shoot 7 ER medium lasers and end the round at 0 heat is not a bad mech: That's the same amount of heat neutral damage as the Timberwolf you put in the top category at 2/3 of the mass. The key thing to remember about the Nova, though is that jump jet movement points do not get decreased by heat.

[@merrick1588]

The Nova and Supernova aren't using standard naming conventions for the Clans, they are accurately described based on what happens when the heatsinks go 😳

[@thorveim1174]

Or even just when you fire all weapons

[@jamesricker3997]

I saw a Nova lose a torso, heat sink and life support after doing an alpha strike. Cockpit burn through, the poor bastard passed his consciousness rolls He took 5 points of pilot damage

[@ryanmccabe1036]

@@jamesricker3997 if you're alpha striking in a clan mech, you're gonna have a bad time. That's like strapping an Inner Sphere lance to one heat sink.

[@z3r0_35]

To be fair to the Pack Hunter, it was a Clan Wolf-in-Exile mech, built at a time when they could barely build mechs at all.

[@maskalumni6037]

I think it would be worth redoing this list from an Alpha Strike perspective. Both Executioner and Gargoyle are great value in terms of what they offer in AS. TMM of 2, with 9 and 7 pips of armour respectively. Also consider the amount of damage a Gargoyle A can do in AS. Similarly Ebon Jaguar in AS isn't that good.

[@maskalumni6037]

Harsh ratings for the Executioner and Gargoyle. Both at the very least are average mechs, though I'd say they are both worthy of Trial of Possession rankings. Fenris is also better than an average clanner. Still you rated 45 mechs and I only disagree with 3 of your ratings, so very good job :)

[@stevenwhite4054]

My boy the Nova is clearly useful as a kamikaze duelist that punches above its weight class, but I had surprisingly few quibbles with other selections. Well done on that aspect, alone! This was a risky video premise that paid off.

[@lukedudley5030]

If you can afford one they are great solaris 7 mechs especially if you use weight categories :-)

[@merrick1588]

Named for what happens when the engine gets pissy when you use all the weapons, the Nova does kick a lot of ass for it's weight

[@lukedudley5030]

@@merrick1588 it's the kill or cook yourself that makes it such a great solaris mech :-)

[@merrick1588]

@@lukedudley5030 agreed, either way you likely get your opponent, it's more a question if you go with him...

[@metalmadness5851]

The Nova is one of the best meme mechs in the series. A perfect machine for the psychotic drug-fueled pyromancers of Clan Nova Cat.

[@funghazi]

Great list, can't really disagree with any of your choices. I can't wait for the kickstarter stuff to come in!

[@grandpoobah4124]

Is what a well done video. With always your great commentary, and we can see the mecks Perfectly. Unlike others who ramble and barely show you The mecks they are reviewing. Keep up the great work look forward to the next

[@nucleartestrabbit]

So I’m new to Battletech and this video was pretty helpful as well as the one where you rank the box sets and I’ve been going through them as a kind of buyers guide. Let’s face it there’s not a lot of Battletech content out there and it’s a lot more niche than say 40k. A couple of videos I’d appreciate seeing as a beginner. -a video tier break down of the IS mechs available from catalyst. I know you’ve probably covered it in your TRO videos and somewhat in the box sets video. Catalyst is probably going to be the main starting point for most beginners and the TRO videos seem to have a lot of extraneous info that’s not relevant to those specific mechs and the box set video doesn’t go into as much detail like you do here. -a tier video focused on weapons and equipment. I’d include strategies for how best to use them in game and what to avoid etc. to me right now that stuff doesn’t have much meaning, but knowing what my options are, and ways to make the most of what I have could go a long way to improving my experience, and save me a lot of potentially frustrating trial and error. I really appreciate these videos so you know thank you.

[@SleeplessRonin]

I'm actually working on a weapons video. It's just in the writing stage, but it is planned.

[@nucleartestrabbit]

@@SleeplessRonin I appreciate that… like I said especially starting out it’s a lot to take in. Sure I could try and interpret how the weapons behave from games like mechwarrior or dig through the record sheets, but it doesn’t really tell me how it’ll perform on the table. By trial and error it could take a long time to figure out too. Hope you have a great day.

[@TheCADDGUY]

Some of the lower rankings is due to a lack of play time on the table top with these designs. Example, the nova prime variant. You shoot one arm one shooting phase, and the other arm on the next. Then you don't run into heat troubles, like you Saud. But it's speed and jump jets, you can run or jump and still not worry. And when you need to punch a hole through something, is when you go for the alpha strike. Video games are dumbed down table top, so you can't take your view point from one and expect it to translate 1 to 1

[@TheCADDGUY]

There is also how your list different from what and how the clan classify them. Which shows a lack of understanding, but only checking things out on paper and only taking on paper glance as the o ly experience

[@tomfennesy9105]

Pirranah was great when machineguns did more damage. The nova is a great mech if you like winning. Er medium are good for most ranges.

[@CMDRFandragon]

The Warhawk has become my favorite mech in Battletech beating out the likes of the Warhammer and Mad Dog. I like the 85t mech range, 64.8 speed is pretty standard, feels comfortable. The Warhawk has good armor, good speed, and atleast in a video game setting, one can chain fire the ERPPCs to put out some hellish damage. Its a blend of everything I like in a mech. Enough speed to matter, good firepower and good armor. I typically drop the LRM for extra heatsinks, but yeah.... Also, while many think it looks ugly, I honestly really like its looks, especially this CGL remake of it, by far the best looking one imo. PGI's was pretty good, but I like this one more, it does something to it, maybe its more slender, I cant put my finger on it.....but yeah. Supernova, the only time I ever blew up my mech from heat. I did it deliberately in Mechwarrior 3 back in the day. I was like, well this thing is a smokin hot box...so I took it, put as many large lasers as i could fit, put in 0 heatsinks, put it on group fire, went in and clicked fire.....I literally blew up immediately. It was hilarious.

[@tobyspaulding4618]

"The D alone does not make a mech"😳... Lol, I actually laughed out loud!

[@chrissegee]

dont forget a lot of these configs are designed for short one on one trials so heat dissipation isnt really that necessary

[@thoruszwolf4153]

So many Clan Mechs have good potential. I personally like the Koshi, but then, I'm a fan of the Jenner... and the clans, they did improve the low jump capabilities of the Jenner, but they didn't quite go all the way and give it a 7 jump.... the Pack hunter, another Jenneresc design, but finally gives it the 7 jump and the PPC... a Jenner (and assassin) variation i've done many a time. ... Damn I love the look of the Kodiak, but the design needs some work

[@merrick1588]

I love the new Kodiak, it looks like Bane got power armor and is look for the Batman for another go

[@boneshaman8912]

In the defense of the dier wolf if it were to mount a 400XL it would only have 32.5 tons of pod space and you would have to drop some armor in order to get close to the 50.5 tons of pod space. If you were to give it FF or ES you may not have enough space for the weapons and equipment. I think in lore for the stone rhino the ammo feed for the gauss rifles fed into the center mounted gun. One think I like about the hunchback IIC is the medium lasers are in the CT, I think it's IS counterpart should have done this in order to free up the hands for punching.

[@AlbertZiegler069]

Neat video. Where did you get those 3d models for the pictures of the mechs?

[@Bomfunker91]

Ah, my dear Turkina, one of the best-looking Clan mechs arou- 26:12 :(

[@warmonger2500]

If you hadn't put Timber Wolf as the best mech... I would have cried.

[@MCOldone]

Immediately puts Timber Wolf at top. I thought this was going to be a serious video.

[@horsemumbler1]

What brings a better mix of armor, speed, and weaponry? Is there a more efficient use of BattleValue?

[@lukedudley5030]

@@horsemumbler1 4 or 5 inner sphere mechs :-)

[@horsemumbler1]

@@lukedudley5030 A. This is a list of of Clan mechs, not IS. B. Then why can't you name any?

[@lukedudley5030]

@@horsemumbler1 I was being fecisious lol...but ok blackhawk 'nova' is far more useful than madcat ...prefer the Loki and thor too...less damage potential but also less of a heat problem....in fact any of the clan medium omni mechs are more useful and cheaper than madcat...the madcat is a bloated over engineered mech that may be awesome but it's like a tiger tank....why waste resources when an army of panzer 4 wouldve been far more useful to the germans...it looks good on the battlefield but you an get 2 or 3 medium omni mechs with awesome speed, armour and firepower for 1 madcat :-)

[@lukedudley5030]

@@horsemumbler1 no come back I was expecting more :-) see I use IS names as the clan are scum lol

[@trentbayasca5686]

bro thank you, I wish you have all the mech rankings in one playlist

[@SleeplessRonin]

I'll take that under consideration. It won't be hard to do.

[@mathewkelly9968]

I think you're confused lacking an XL engine equals survivable . Regardless of armour . Max armour plus an XL doesn't mean survivable either just a delay on the auto 2 engine hits

[@justinarchibald3857]

I am actually shocked at how bad I thought your rankings are. Nearly every mech save for the Gladiator, Timberwolf and Stormcrow. Which are easy. I just don't understand how you got this so wrong.

[@gruberjens4354]

My GF: "What mechs did you order?" Me: "Yes..." :-D

[@merrick1588]

Same, but I got my wife a company's worth as a starter gift so zero issues resulted hehe

[@johntrotter7372]

The nova prime is way better than that, play it on the table.

[@davidnemoseck9007]

Wolverines!!!! They live!! 😈😜

[@yoloman3607]

Why do clanners love sniping with ER PPCs and ER Large lasers? It makes me question the narrative that the clanners lost against the inner sphere because of supply chain issues in protracted combat. Tons of clan mechs have more weapons than they can fire without slagging themselves. Ignore their ammo dependent weapons and they can still hit hard enough to push the heat.

[@acetraker1988]

CLBX2 "are garbage weapons".... Battletech... 12x5 Dmg...(60) TLDR: 1 Ton armour = 80 HP. Vanilla has Lostech LBX2s doing 84 DMG!!!

[@WalkingBlindLoL]

Does vanilla even have lbx ac2? I know it has UAC 2

[@anthonyvogel9328]

You need to stick with either the clan name or is name. You kinda switch between the first clan invasion

[@lukedudley5030]

Clan mechs often have a heat problem and us IS pilots have learnt to take advantage of that :-)

[@merrick1588]

Piss them off enough for alpha strikes and a lot of their advantages just disappear into the heat scale

[@EmperorPylades]

That's because Clanners are a bunch of idiots who got so obsessed with being the best at fighting battles, that they completely forgot about how to fight an actual war, and I say this as a Clanner. When you're stupid enough to think that war is nothing but an extended series of duels, your priority is naturally going to shift towards "how much death can I sling downrange as quickly as possible?" rather than "how can i lay the hurt on all the guys trying to kill me, without getting reduced to a scorch mark?"

[@mali5698]

I don't understand your dislike for rear facing weapons, they're a good tool for convincing that speedy little light that's likely flanked you that sticking around to shoot your back very much isn't worthwhile. Plus, there's no rule saying you can't move those weapons to face the front before the start of a game.

[@ruthiekest3218]

It's useful.i have a awesome.i used the weapon in the rear.

[@merrick1588]

@@joshkellemen5931 a lot of people will house rule rear facing weapons weapons to the forward arcs for ease of play but having something to say "think twice Spider" cab prove to be a game changer at the right moment

[@boneshaman8912]

@@joshkellemen5931 All mechs are configurable. You can swap out the PPCs of a mech for large lasers or auto cannons. They have field modifications which could easily be moving the rear mounted to the front. You could give an Atlas the same weapons as a King Crab and in the same location. If you are RPGing this modifications could take some time. But ther is nothing saying that you can't alter the load out of your mechs. The only reconfiguring you technically can't do is switch out FF, ES, engine or fixed equipment on an omni mech. You can but if you do it is no longer considered an omni mech. Also for standard mechs I think switching out ES and a couple of other things is considered a big job requiring a full mech factory to do it. But I could be wrong. That's how I interpreted the rules for reconfiguring.

[@sstinger0137]

Great content overall, though I would be curious to see which mechs stayed above average if you were forced to keep a bell curve.

[@CMDRFandragon]

IVe never been a huge fan of the super fast heavies and assaults, things like Dragon, Executioner, Banshee, Charger.....got all that mass, you got all that weight to get ahead of your lance, but cant really have that much effect once you get there. I mean, sure, an assault moving like a light, you'd probably be a relatively big roadblock for standard lights, but still.....wouldnt it have been better to be a normal assault mech and arrive with your lance/star, etc? Executioner, 95t, with all the firepower of about a 50-60 tonner. And alot of stock designs in Battletech in general, I find they go heavy on the guns, dont have the heatsinks to cope and armor is kinda meh. Or you have things like a Thunderbolt, where stock is almost good, aside from MG ammo in the CT and having MGs anyway....Nova is yeah, as you say, to much of a good thing. I think I drop out down to 8 ML and use that tonnage for more DHS and armor.

[@gerbenvanessen]

isn't the crossbow just a star league design that went extinct in the inner sphere? so yes, it is, per definition, an inner sphere quality mech.

[@SleeplessRonin]

According to TRO3058 the Crossbow (omni) was based on the Star League era Longbow. Developed by Steel Viper during the 'Golden Century' after they won a trial of possession for some Snow Raven scientists. Unveiled in 2870. Mainly a Steel Viper and Blood Spirit mech, although it can also be found in Wolf and Falcon toumans... and sold by Sea Fox, of course. The Blood Spirits appreciate its thriftiness because it uses standard engines, armor, and internal structure. It is mostly used in second line units. And while there is the Lyran Crossbow from 2468, I can find no -definitive- evidence that the Clan Omni is directly descended from it. I can find hearsay, rumor, and/or assumption. There is one single line in TRO3075 that reads as follows: "This feature* - combined with the Crossbow's primary role as a missile boat - likely inspired the Clan-made Crossbow." That is the only line. That word 'likely' is doing a lot of lifting in that sentence. So make of it what you will. Is the narrator of the TROs always a trust worthy source? Is an assumption, a 'likely,' good enough as evidence? I'd say no... it remains as hearsay at best. And even if it is true that the Clan Crossbow is actually descended from the IS one, the IS one is still Lyran, not Star League, which to me is more evidence that those who left with Kerensky were not exactly inspired by lower quality Lyran tech, that was discontinued in 2550... some 234 years before the Exodus. But that is my reasoned assumption, I could well be wrong. And there could be a source out there that I do not have that definitively states whether the Crossbow Omni is a descendent of the old Lyran Crossbow. * Said Feature was the ability to replace the turret like arms in combat, which does sound sorta like prototype onmi tech... from the 25th Century... Lyran tech... Still, a good question. Had to go back and dig into my TROs... something I do enjoy doing.

[@gerbenvanessen]

@@SleeplessRonin Lyran crossbow and Omni crossbow have the same rocket arms. while the longbow has a bodyplan that looks nothing like a crossbow.

[@KeystoneCarcajou]

love the Gargoyle D. ERLL and MPL tied to a targeting computer.

[@leesouthcott8184]

can't believe you didn't do something along the lines of Kerensky's Pride instead of the Best of the Best

[@jhoag56]

Ugh...clearly there is little understanding here of the different roles various mechs and their configurations play on the battlefield. For example, the Fenris/Ice Ferret is a recon mech, hence the high speed and focus on Electronic Warfare (EW) and not weaponry. When playing scenarios with hidden units, especially anti-mech trained jump infantry, beagle probes become very useful. Guardian ECMs can be used in passive roles to affect things like Artemis or active jamming roles to block other guardians. Learn roles, there are more than brawlers and LoS fire support. One of my best teams in my merc unit are my Ravens working with my Longbows...TAG, you're dead. A lack of torso mounted weapons in trooper and brawler class mechs make sense when applied in the "real world" because torso mounted weapons are fixed weapons; compare a turreted tank to a fixed gun assault gun of WWII. One favors mobile warfare, the other static warfare. Clan tactics are all about mobility. Older designs, like the Crossbow and King Fisher lack XL engines because they're old designs (and XLs are expensive) and are generally found in Solahma (SOL-hama) units. This doesn't make the bad, it does make them survivable. Finally, you're ranking system is so nonsensical. The Timber Wolf is great if you cycle its weapons, the Dire Wolf can't fire all its weapons, the Warhawk is a great fire support mech (evidently despite overheating with pointless LRM ammo on board). The Gargoyle C uses both speed (speed is armor) and cycling its weapons to deal over 40pts of damage a turn, the B and D use the same tactic. Not every mech is a bullet sponge brawler. You need to spend more time on the battlefield, less time on Battle Analytics and MWO. Every mech is garbage in the hands of an incapable pilot; every mech is a legend in the hands of a pilot that knows its capabilities and limitations.

[@R17inator]

The Gargoyle has less pod space than the Summoner, less armor than the Timber Wolf, and is more expensive than either of those mechs. They honestly should have at least given it Endo and MASC to make it more unique and really emphasize its speed, as opposed to being the Timby's awkward cousin.

[@timstinies9519]

Where did you get the Kodiak???? That is the best looking one I have seen.

[@SleeplessRonin]

That Kodiak is the 3D render of the one coming from Catalyst Games as part of Wave 2 of the Clan Invasion Kickstarter. If you didn't back the kickstarter it can be found in the Clan Ad Hoc Star whenever that becomes available via retail - which might be a little while since wave 2 has yet to be shipped to backers.

[@timstinies9519]

@@SleeplessRonin ok got it! Thank you! So keep watching Cat Games?

[@SleeplessRonin]

@@timstinies9519 That or if you have a FLGS - ask them to put you down as a pre-order. Some LGS bought into the KS and get stock on shelves the same time the backers do.

[@timstinies9519]

@@SleeplessRonin what is FLGS?

[@SleeplessRonin]

@@timstinies9519 Favorite Local Game Store.

[@rob9943]

What does the "armour coverage" percent figure mean?

[@SleeplessRonin]

How much of the maximum armor a mech can carry. For example - a 75ton mech can carry a maximum of 231 points of armor, so if that mech has 224 points of armor (14 tons of standard @ 16 armor points per ton) it has a 96.7% armor coverage. Most mechs fall short of 100% coverage because going to 100% often means wasting roughly half a ton for just a few points of armor.

[@rob9943]

@@SleeplessRoninWow, thanks for the quick response! Haha I didn't even finish the video yet~

[@SleeplessRonin]

@@rob9943 You caught me at the exact right time. Doesn't often happen, but I was just working on a new video and checking some stuff out on youtube.

[@cesaravegah3787]

Not really related to this video but my new favorite mech is the Ravens Alliance ilClan era War Crow, very well balanced, extremly durable and nice looking.

[@SleeplessRonin]

My plan is to eventually get that far in my ranking videos. There are a lot of TROs to go through.

[@EmperorPylades]

Man, I need to pick up the Recognition Guides, because I hadn't heard about this mech until now. I love the Ravens (painting my invasion Kickstarter up as Zeta Galaxy Ravens), I love how utterly ruthless Sterling is, and hot damn do I love this mech. I'm laughing at its description on Sarna though; "implemented development of the War Crow as a part of efforts to prepare her Clan for a war she believed could end up coming to the Alliance". What, you mean the same war where half the DCMS was *somehow* waiting in Palmyra, ready for for Caleb Davion to drop in?

[@lexington476]

You know for some reason I've actually like the Gargoyle, I don't know why. Maybe it is the primary configuration of two SRM 6s and two LB-5X.

[@silaslithian5298]

Hey there! I’m freeborn and proud! Remember Tukayid you rat bastards pay your phone bills.

[@jaketadlock8608]

The stone rhino is a masterpiece of smoke Jaguar engineering! It is a best of the best and any less is an insult. For this, there can be no forgiveness. I, Star Captain James Osis of the Clan Smoke Jaguar do challenge you to a trial of grievance for this insult. I bring a full trinary of mechs, with what forces do you defend?

[@GiangNg320]

Funnily enough, I play RogueTech and when I salvage a crossbow, I immediately scrap it despite I have no heavy class mech and using old IS tech. That mech don’t even worth the money and time to repair, let alone outfitting and using it.

[@Nitrodius]

And this is why i just create new sheets versions of the mechs for tabletop with the Battletech TECHmanual..

[@baldassarrepuglisi2019]

Summoner?

[@claytonhess5512]

What are you, a Wolverine!?

[@SeventhSeraphOfficerRevolver]

imagine being a filthy clanner

[@ShadowAxon]

Did you look into any of the story reasons for the bad mechs? As opposed to just combat statistics?