The Urbie | Battletechs mascot and the lords silliest warrior

Hello hello, today, not only do we get to enjoy the urbanmech. One of battletechs most famous and infamous memes but steve himself has finally been wrangled back into the basement where he belongs. So join us as the dynamic duo regales you with the lore and, ok, no it's mostly memes and really dumb jokes but still. THE URBANMECH. Everyone loves the urbie.
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[@Finwolven]

See, here's the thing: You don't _bring_ an Urbie anywhere. You build _around_ the Urbie. Every police station, every militia outpost, every Block Defense Force (think Judge Dredd) has an Urbie in the basement, it's fusion reactor hooked up to the building power grid, providing cheap, easy energy. Until the day the enemy comes. And from every basement, every supply closet, every urban power station the Army of Urbies arises. When the infantry topside says 'go!', every house on the street splits apart and spits out an unboiled egg of unbridled rage and heavy autocannon ammo.

[@CaptainBanjo-fw4fq]

lol, it’s the urban utility mech. Wouldn’t be surprised to see someone yank the ac19 off and put a ton of firefighting and engineering equipment.

[@Talon1124]

​@@CaptainBanjo-fw4fq canonically there are utility fits for Urbanmechs. There's even a Pursuit variant that fits a MG array and additional Small laser to make space for an uprated engine so it can go faster then a brisk senior citizen crawl.

[@camsterdam3896]

​@@Talon1124pursuit varient? Lol

[@sinjin8576]

You're just describing Plantet Van zant

[@LegendStormcrow]

​@@CaptainBanjo-fw4fqI could have sworn Tex mentioned one with that exact set up...

[@ThatSlowTypingGuy]

"Anyone who takes it seriously is a fool." AC20 Urbie: So anyway I started blasting.

[@DIEGhostfish]

Money beyter spent on an SRM carrierm

[@missjayspeechley9213]

UM-R80 laughs in Snub-nosed PPC

[@Xeno426]

They had to remove armor for that. And it has five shots.

[@connormclernon26]

Arrow-IV Urbie who nuked the Kell Hounds says hi

[@darkdragonsoul99]

@@Xeno426 yes 5 shots of an ac 20 if you don't miss you core an assault mech. So you're a little mech designed for ambushes with pretty much a one shot weapon.

[@gmradio2436]

The Urbie is perfectly designed to exploit the city fighting rules. Also this little meme mech nuked the Kell Hounds out of existence.

[@Paul-cu9lu]

Indeed. We need to look at it from a lore perspective rather than in-game rules. I don't care how heavy your mech is or how many weapons you have, getting hit by a dozen urbanmechs from multiple directions during a city fight will still kill you. Even if you manage to escape and take down a few, they have done more damage to you than it cost them in losses.

[@weldonwin]

@@Paul-cu9lu Or just from the video game perspective, playing Mechwarrior5 and coming around a corner on a city map or just coming to a garrison and BANG, AC-20 to the face. Even if the Urbie doesn't kill one of your mechs, it can cripple them and it will cost a small fortune to repair, especially early game when you don't have a lot of money and are primarily running smaller mechs.

[@nitesy381]

@@Paul-cu9luthey who scorn the urbie have never went in a city full of them

[@gmradio2436]

@@nitesy381 There is one way that Urbies are like trashcans. There is one on every corner.

[@Badgertron2009]

My usual come back to people urbie bashing is 'UM-AIV'. Although I do have much fun in MWO with my Urbies.

[@JiyuKishiParn]

Who needs two companies of Urbanmechs? I'll tell you. The Van Zandt Militia and the Black Pants Legion.

[@UNC_Samurai]

Hail (of Missiles) Cargonia

[@sluggo9687]

Perfect for escalating a limited engagement into a theatre-wide problem... "For cry havoc, and let slip the arrow-iv" "Now I'm everyone's problem"

[@RaderizDorret]

What's hilarious about this guy's rant is that for the price of his beloved Mad Cat, I can buy a full company of Urbies plus a reserve lance of the same plus spare parts or fund a company of infantry to give the Urbies more teeth when setting ambushes.

[@Tomyironmane]

@@RaderizDorret Skip the reserve lance and invest heavily in field resupply and repair, and you'll not go too wrong. Quitting is for fucking clanners whose ultra special ace mechs ran out of ammo.

[@RaderizDorret]

@@Tomyironmane It gets better. When Clan Coyote got the ball rolling on advancing their Mech technology base, they looked at the Urbie and decided all they needed to do was mild upgrades to its equipment while more or less leaving the base chassis alone. The Urbanmech IIC that resulted retains its 6 tons of armor, 90-rated engine, and doesn't use endo steel or double heatsinks. It also packs an Ultra AC/10 and a Clan ER Small Laser while boasting a speed of 54 km/h. And the price tag is 1.83 million C-bills.

[@LexYeen]

They called me a trash can. So I did. There were no survivors.

[@aliceosako792]

My friend Sophie used to have an extensive collection of BT miniatures, which included two lances of Urbies painted as different types of soda cans.

[@mayorgeneralramirez1997]

Now that's a cool company commander. I'm sad to hear that she had them in the past tense

[@LegendStormcrow]

Tell me there are different generations of Pepsi products and the lance leader is Dr. Coca Pepsiman.

[@SeedemFeedemRobots]

i think what makes the Urbie such a meme mech is the fact that in the correct circumstance in the exact instance it is able to perform in the scenario it was designed for, the Urbanmech becomes an actual threat, because if it was completely useless it would not be as beloved. it it's ability to prank your enemy with it that leads to hilarity and stories of how a Urbie in an city ruined someone's day. thats why we love it

[@LexYeen]

"we can't stop here, this is urbie country!" - house steiner scout lance approaching a high-density urban environment

[@eddapultstab2078]

The urbanmech is making the most of a bad situation and still give a good account of yourself in the process. 2/3/2 movement is enough with the right support. I have played scenarios on tabletop with urbies and if you know what you are doing, you can get more than your monies worth.

[@EGRJ]

@@LexYeen I live in a high density urban environment that goes by the government name of "the city." Me and a group of my clanners control certain areas of this section in order to run our illegitimate business.

[@rotwang2000]

It doesn't help that Urbanmechs are usually shown from a bird's eye perspective and people instinctively think it only comes up to their waist and they could kick it to the ground and win the fight whereas in reality it's a ten meter tall monster that weighs thirty tons and can step on you like a bug, incinerate your car and blow up your house. It's like everyone looking at a Bradley or a T34 and calling it a harmless joke.

[@rotwang2000]

@@eddapultstab2078 People who claim slow speed mechs excel in urban combat never fought urban combat. Just like any other scenario a fast mech will or at least should outperform a slower one, even in a city, where the options to move are already extremely limited. Making a simple angle turn already swallows up half your walking movement and not all buildings and built up terrain can be cleared with a 2-point jump. Also remember that running on pavement involves piloting checks so it make sense to have a high walking speed to prevent you turning into a giant pinball. Realistically the Urbanmech is mostly designed for security duty and be a semi mobile gun platform, something that can deal with rioters, insurgents, small armoured vehicles, scout mechs and anything that is looking to make trouble in your area and you don't want to dedicate a Mad Cat II to go deal with. A lance of them can with some luck take down much bigger prey, but so could a lance of Firestarters and they are a whole lot more mobile to boot. A Firestarter vs Urbanmech duel means that a clever pilot can almost always keep the Ubie at range and dominate the mobility game. This lazy meme that a slow mech is somehow excellent and superior to other mechs needs to go. By that logic an Atlas would be a monster inside a city, but somehow it's never seen as being great in a city, despite having massive armour and the firepower of a lance of Urbies.

[@VallornDeathblade]

Trashcan. Not Trashcannot. With the requisite Urbanmeme out of the way, in its intended role of cityfighting defence it's a pretty solid design. Heavy, short-ranged firepower, jump-jets and 360 torso twist, and a low profile. Also, cheap. In most battles it's not a good choice but in that specific role it's designed for it's extremely good.

[@braddl9442]

Its literally meant to be a low cost easy to maintain garrison unit or for policing a major metropolis. You dont want heavy mechs for that cause they might DAMAGE your city just moving around. These under the old city fight rules walking slow is an advantage, you dont risk crashing into buildings from slide on concrete roads into buildings.

[@eddapultstab2078]

Correct, the urbie is meant for defensive combat in dense terrain or urban environment with the strategic concept of "you shall not pass!" It's a very niche role but it's common enough and highly needed that the urbie proudly fields.

[@KillerOrca]

Nothing is more terrifying than walking into a tight clustered urban center in your medium or heavy mech and hearing hardbass begin blasting. You turn to look and realize there's an Urbie squatting on EVERY SINGLE BUILDING ROOF AROUND YOU.

[@MrGrimsmith]

@@KillerOrca That's the bit folks forget - Urbies are pack hunters. If you can see one Urbie that means there are at least 3 more you can't see. They're the bastard offspring of Humpty Dumpty, velociraptors and a tank. I still want to see Urbanmech drop troopers, I mean they're about the right shape for re-entry without a dropship and they're cheap so... Either that or just stack them in a Leopard and do a flyby pushing them out the side. Some won't be able to stop their falls but then just become an extra large ballistic projectile. Win/win!

[@KillerOrca]

@@MrGrimsmith Drop thrusters for a hoverdrop maneuver, Nova Cat style

[@catgath9718]

I moded my mercenarys game and realized how scarry the urban is. They pack a big gun and have lots of armor. They don't die fast enough. The radar says a light mech. I see an ac 20 with almost heavy armor. Then I found out I could put a 100 series engine, endo steel, and double heat sinks, max armor, and room for 8 tons of wepons.

[@weldonwin]

Urbies are scary as hell in MW5, especially early game when you are running smaller mechs and don't have a lot of money to cover the costs for repairs, when one of your mechs rounds a corner and gets it's whole right-torso blown off by an AC-20 hit from the Urbie that just pinged up on sensors all of a sudden.

[@null6634]

In the HBS turn based game, I put an AC 5 on one, gave it a 180 engine (I think) Ferro Fibrous armor and battle armor hand holds. It has an evasion of 7 when it runs. Basically can outrun everything. I pair it with gnome (?) Battle armor. I call it Master Blaster. It can run up behind an assault mech, shoot it in the back, then the BA climbs on and takes it down. The pilot and the BA pilot both have sensor lock. If they're not shooting, they can strip 4 points of evasion off a target. Sadly, I updated my BTA 3062 mod version and had to restart from scratch. Lost all my old saves and Mechs.

[@CM4wsler]

@@weldonwin That game will teach you to respect the humble Urbie. They are somehow MORE threatening than a fucking Victor. Because the arm holding that cannon is smaller and harder to hit.

[@Tomyironmane]

Did you meet the one loaded with flamers and inferno missiles? I fucking HATE those little bastards.

[@Thekentuckyrebel]

@@CM4wsler Urbies in MWO are priority targets for my lance. They scare the shit outta me.

[@andrewamann2821]

"who out there needs 24 of these things?" Just assuming AC10s, that gives you more armor and damage output, per C-bill, than any Assault mech in the game....

[@andrewamann2821]

I also want to add that, if I'm remembering the prices correctly, that many Urbies (blessed be their name...) is on par with a single Mad Cat, and, kept in patrolling clusters of 3 or 4, in an urban environment, will smear that single Mad Cat (stay salty, clanner scum...) 99 times out of 100, before it can accomplish it's objectives within that city. Now, just imagine if they could retrofit the venerable Urbanmech with Omnipods, so they could refit and rearm after breaking away from an engagement, to quickly get back into the fight...

[@Reddotzebra]

@@andrewamann2821 You just need to spend a few of those C-bills on a Raven or any light mech with decent electronics and the kill count goes up even faster.

[@gilmadreth680]

The fastest any Urbie can ever hope to travel is the terminal velocity it hits after being yeeted off the nearest geological point of interest by any far superior mech.

[@redman7775]

It is quickly followed by said mech, as even the largest mechs will still fall to the Urban Swarm

[@tomarmadiyer2698]

Picturing an atlas, shot-put-spinning, as urbie flies

[@dwavenminer]

​@@tomarmadiyer2698and not just any Atlas, a Steiner Scout Squad Atlas, as it slowly 'sneaks' through enemy lines

[@doc_havoc00heavywing37]

"Sips coffee while looking the other way, knowing that I've made a turbo urban mech (95kph) loaded with machine guns

[@gilmadreth680]

@doc_havoc00heavywing37 Terminal Velocity for a slightly aerodynamic trash can is probably faster than 95kph, so my point stands 😂

[@Se1fD3struct1on]

for the cost of one Timber Wolf you could get 16 Urbanmechs + spare parts.

[@patchpatch4008]

I'd rather have a Timber Wolf over 16 Urbanmechs. I love the little things but oh my gosh it is such a bad mech competing with one of the most revolutionary and iconic mechs of the series.

[@josephkasmarcik2895]

@@patchpatch4008 I mean yeah if your the pilot I can see why you would want the timber wolf but if your a lord trying to defend your various stations, forts and cities etc.. I would likely prefer to have the 16 Urbie's in most cases.

[@sluggo9687]

Total urbie dominance

[@braddl9442]

@@patchpatch4008 One timber wolf cant be in 16 places when you need to garrison a planet. Or suppress an uprising.

[@patchpatch4008]

@braddl9442 I feel that a bunch of scorpions and mechanized infantry support would do just as well, though. Being in multiple places is a valid point but each of those points are now just vulnerable because the only thing guarding it is an Urbanmech.

[@Jacen32272]

The Urbie has one advantage that also explains why someone might need a dozen of them, and is the real reason in game why they are used: one way of balancing the game is by cost in C-Bills. The urbie costs just under one sixth the price of an Atlas. One Urbie is little threat to an Atlas. Six in a well coordinated squad is a different story...

[@Autobotmech]

The urbie is a mobile turret. Pop up, blast and hop away, cause they should work as a pack.

[@Vessekx]

Anybody who talks about using an UrbanMech to *attack* enemy locations was sleeping through any of the ‘analysis’ they claim to have done. The UrbanMech doesn’t walk into enemy infantry fortifications. It lures enemy Mechs into its *own* infantry fortifications, punching holes in their armor in the process, so the infantry can finish the job in a few seconds.

[@LegendStormcrow]

If you're using them to attack enemy locations either there are no weapons whatsoever, they snuck in thru a water channel, or the commander has gone insane and is dropping them from a shuttle. The Urbie does NOT do a regular assault. It's too slow.

[@SPAMRAAM_GOAT]

As i sit in my urbie staring down at a shadowhawk, crab, panther and hunchback, i laugh for the blessed AC 20 guides my spins.

[@KillerOrca]

You forgot the Urbie-LAM. Because the only thing more terrifying than an Urbie with jumpjets is an Urbie that can FLY.

[@barrybend7189]

The Urbie. The most deadly mech ever designed.

[@Wastelandman7000]

When it finally reaches you....

[@earnestbrown6524]

Hunchbacks cry themselves to sleep wishing they were half as cool.

[@huntermad5668]

Deadly to its pilot, I presume

[@Eserchie]

@@Wastelandman7000 As one battle report I watched put it, "It's exceptionally mobile for a stationary object"

[@Boseeinsteinshake]

One of those took off the head of my MAD-4A at 14 hexes, through woods, because its player vouldn't stop rolling fives and sixes... every mech can be dangerous.

[@Scudboy17]

Urbies are meant to be deployed in cities in defensive roles- that means with infantry support and vehicle support. Its rare you get to play a full game of Battletech with combined arms, but when you do, the Urbie shines. Infantry can protect it from other infantry and light mechs/vehicles, meanwhile the Urbie protects the infantry from other mechs, tanks, and aircraft. That AC10 is very effective in anti aircraft and aerospace fighter roles as well. Also, if you are the attacker headed into the city, if you only see one Urbanmech, you either slowy walk away or you are in deep shit when the other 3 Urbies you don't see ambush you, as well as the infantry you thought you could ignore. Say good bye to your knees. Every weapon has its use. You don't use artillery to kill a mosquito, and you wouldn't bring a knife to a gunfight, and you shouldn't use an Urbie to fight in a straight up slugging match. The Urbanmech is like a beartrap, its slow, cheap, and only does one thing well, but when it works and is used right, it can stop anything.

[@KillerOrca]

You turn to engage the Urbanmech; suddenly, your leg is gone because six dudes coked up on neo-feudalism honor and Canopian battle powder just scaled your fucking Mech's thighs with shaped charges and blew the knee joint out.

[@drakozozhaeternus2840]

You bring a group of Urbies to act as blocking forces to cover a bigger, meaner mech.

[@Scudboy17]

@KillerOrca there's also what a friend of mine termed "Urban Rain". You station your Urbanmechs on top of the buildings in the city. LOS rules give them really good protection as they snipe at enemies in the open and when the big mechs gets too close, you DFA them with a whole lance of Urbies at a time. It will take 2-3 to crush a cockpit, but you have 4 chances. It almost never works, but when it does, it's so fulfilling.

[@a.h.1358]

I can honestly see an urbanmech performing the role of a two-legged infantry supporting assault gun.

[@Typhonis007]

The twelve-pack of Urbanmechs makes sense if you think like this. You don't send a single Urbanmech to fight in a city. You send them in four mech units. Each mech pointed in a different direction or they can focus fire all four AC 10's at 1 target.

[@MrPikaGammer]

This was outright Urbie slander, the Urbanmech isn't just good for memes, its heavily armored for a Light Mech and is one of the only mechs than can do a full 360 to shoot you with an AC/20 while you try and sneak up on it.

[@braddl9442]

If you actually use the old city fighting rules from battle techs past, the URBIE actually makes a lot more sense. Also the cost and maintenance costs are so low you can buy a lance of these for the price of a normal light or med mech, which is why its a garrison or police mech. You can maintain a company of them for the cost of 1 heavy mech might costs over decades. And once its in a city fight, its actually really good. I see lots of people do the 30 urbies vs a normal mech thing, but they THROW those match's. almost all the time to feel bad ass. Your not supposed to ambush with 1 urbie your supposed to ambush with 4 urbies on 1 target. I mean its a funny take on things. But its a video everyone does.

[@braddl9442]

Its not that it produces less weight, its the weird calculation of Weight to power the engine produces in lore. The lets anything using it carry like 3 tons more stuff for its rating then other engines.

[@rotwang2000]

Urbanmechs is the kind of unit you put in a visible position when you're stationed in a hostile area, for everyone to see. Put up one as a gate guard at your base and people will think twice about rioting and demonstrate their loyalty to the faction you just replaced. It's a low cost machines that frees up better mechs and still have have something the size and firepower of a WWII tank.

[@ThatOneMan830]

How the fuck do the Urbies lose “30 vs” things when the sheer weight of their firepower in that situation would vaporize an Atlas on the first round of enough AC/20 shots connected. Is it long distance combat?

[@braddl9442]

@@ThatOneMan830 The people running the event play the urbies bad on purpose saying its ROLE PLAYING.

[@JazzKazoo0930]

Never underestimate the ac20 urbie, walking around a corner into an ac20 will hurt just about anything

[@sluggo9687]

It waits for you to find it in your larger, fancier mech, and then introduces you to the ground.

[@jasonthomas9596]

Put the urban Mech on the tabletop in the cityscape and then watch the body's start stacking up. Outside of infantry the urbie is a monster.

[@135forte]

At 2/3/2? Most urban maps I have seen want either heavier mechs or faster mechs to get around. Even cost wise it doesn't compare favorably to vehicles with the same roll.

[@jasonthomas9596]

@@135forte I will agree with you there. Vehicles are a great infantry that are better. Put all three on the field and you have a recipe for victory.

[@Furluge]

@@135forte The problem with vehicles is their lack of height. In urban combat being able to get a higher vantage is a big deal. Not only can you see farther, you can flat out see over level 1 obstacles. Combine that with the jump jets and you leap onto and on top of buildings to greatly expand the targets you can hit. The problem people keep forgetting is that it's a budget answer to a problem. It is one of the cheapest and effective answers to the urban warfare problem in the game. It is not remotely the best one though. There's much better urban warfare machines out there, they just cost a lot more. That's why it's a militia or defense mech, because you need tons of them and you need to put them in places where they may not see action for centuries. Not even the Lyrans can afford to put an Atlas on every street corner.

[@135forte]

@@Furluge Lack of LoS goes both ways though, and the last thing you want in an urban environment is to be trying to guess what corner a Demolisher is hiding around. No militia is going to buy a Charger, it costs more than an Awesome and you could get 2-4 actual militia units for it's cost, and if my force got one I would try to sell it to do exactly that. Or try to refit a Behemoth, basically an XL and double heat sink upgrade in mech terms. It is a solution, in the same way an Urbie is a solution. Outside of memes and heavy refits, you will only use it if it is your only choice, but people will still defend it fiercely because of the memes and 'that one time'.

[@bthsr7113]

The cheap and enduring workhorse of city mechs. Use it right, and it will carry on. Give it love and upgrades, and it becomes a truly terrifying ambush predator in the right hands.

[@SRTifiable]

Gauss Urbie is best Urbie. But Arrow IV Urbie is a close second. Because we’re all mad here.

[@LasseROM]

As an avid Mechwarrior 5 player I can wholeheartedly state that anything with an AC20 gets my full attention, be it single shot or burst fire. Chasing light mechs or brawling with heavy mechs while a trashcan cores my ass is not fun. 😂

[@imtableship1703]

Hit that right arm then go back to the important stuff 😂

[@ASNS117Zero]

@@imtableship1703 Yeah, it's too easy to just kill the arm with the big gun and then just leave it to deal with everything else until it's alone. Esp. since pilots will eject if you strip the mech of their weapons, and urbies are really easy to target the limbs of.

[@imtableship1703]

@ASNS117Zero for some reason Urbanmechs especially will run around without arms for an extensive period of time, drawing my lancemates fire if I don't quickly dispatch them

[@sluggo9687]

It introduced you to the ground, didnt it?

[@Jackelmandingo]

The Urbanmech does what it does and it does it well. Most don't know that in Battletech buildings have a weight limit. A 50 ton Hunchback will fall trough more types of structures than a 30 ton light mech. Also, it can one shot most any other mech out there. Remember it's still scary. Yes the Urbanmech is slow, but you know what else is slow? SRM carriers. You should find them both together. Why you have Urbanmechs at all is that they are cheap guard units and the AC/10 works well as an AA gun.

[@Validechos]

Urbie is the lil brother of the hunchback

[@elijahelizalde4308]

The Urbanmech might be sub par, but the Suburban mech is an absolute monster

[@shaider1982]

Are those the ones piloted by Karens?

[@elijahelizalde4308]

@shaider1982 lol no, that's quality though,but they do go 54KPH and have a PPC instead of an AC10, Hanse Davion is hilarious 😆

[@techpriest3440]

It’s a little bastard in urban combat, can be surprisingly hard to put down and brings pain in large calibers. From ambush, it can hit, punch through rear armor and possibly cripple a much heavier battlemech in one salvo. An AC/20 hit means save or eat shit for pilots, and in an urban combat scenario, falling into buildings. Once you’re on the ground the urban mech can kick you to death, or finish you off with precision fire. It’s cheap and can murder mechs twice it’s weight from ambush.

[@matthewneuendorf5763]

The MWO weight issue is because they calculate the weight of the gyro and whatnot based on the engine rating, with a baseline at 100 rating (IIRC). This means that a smaller engine will reduce the weight of the gyro and other ancillary equipment more than the engine's added weight, leading to an apparent negative mass for the 60-rated engine. I'm thinking of an ilClan Urbanmech packing a large re-engineered laser in place of the autocannon, a small pulse to replace the small (actually useful against infantry, unlike the standard laser), and use the rest of the weight to switch to hardened armor (effectively doubles the maximum protection, but reduces the run speed by one hex, making its speed 2/2/2, which is hilarious).

[@Wastelandman7000]

The main design problem isn't the trash can shape or the weapons, its the legs. If this thing had cantilevered legs it might actually be able to move fast enough to be effective. It could also squat down to hide and ambush more effectively. Chicken walkers are more efficient at running that human type bone structures. But, it does need a bigger engine too.

[@eddapultstab2078]

There is on sarna an entry on the suburban mech, which is an urbie that replaces the autocannon with a ppc or large laser which gives room for other things. I think that automatically turns the classic urbie into a monster.

[@Yacovo]

One of the things I can say about the Urbanmech is that it is not the WORST piece of urban combat equipment in terms of being a waste of money in Battletech. The award for that is the Tortoise II Battle Armor. Thanks for the video.

[@warlok363]

Incorrect as in AS the tortoise II can be dropped off from transports.

[@Yacovo]

@@warlok363 But can it go up stairs?

[@johnnylancenese]

You see... I need them for Urban Kombat. It's where you have only urban mechs in your lance... and then they fight.

[@jasonthomas9596]

Listen I will knock on the urban mech any day of the week. But all the trash-talking is in good fun. In reality on the tabletop and its element it's freaking terrifying. You put a lance of those bastards in the cityscape and it's one like donkey.

[@sebastiang.5032]

I have painted 8 Urbies up to this point in my life, not a single minute of wasted time. ❤🗑️

[@Snowcrab27]

Urbie is pretty much walking bunker perfect for city defense that you mostly need to sit and hold position

[@CanadianFabe]

Hey I want to run a scenario That pits a whole company of urbanmechs against a single Steiner scout lance in urban environment.

[@SRTifiable]

UMR-60Ls preferred. Because AC/20.

[@Eserchie]

@@SRTifiable one lance R60L for impact, 1 lance R68/R27 with both Inferno and standard ammo for Heat stress/crit seeking, and 1 lance R70 for sandpapering.

[@MrGrimsmith]

If you go by the c-bill value it would be 6 lances of Urbanmechs with 6 million left over for infantry. That's a really bad day for the Steiners!

[@501isa]

The weird thing with the 60 rated engine is that it needs that many external heat sinks it’s the same weight as just fitting a bigger engine and running less external heat sinks.

[@gh0ul2559]

Ah yes the Urban Train, the mythical spawn of the Urban Lord. Can't turn for the life of itself, but can float towards you and has a taste of your health points

[@Ishlacorrin]

9:00 Not sure you are aware but the Urbanmech is considered a serious threat in Urban combat and a success of a design. It's one of the reasons commanders avoid urban combat and performs it's role very well. When your one medium-assault mech is suddenly ambushed by 4+ urbies and takes 4+ AC10 shots from behind, you start to understand why they built these things. Cheap to buy and maintain so you can have a lot of them, small and easy to hide among or inside buildings and with enough firepower to be a threat to anything. The AC20 Urbie is terrifying to meet in a proper double blind urban combat. Sure it's not the best at that role, but it is a cheap and easy to come by option.

[@Ishlacorrin]

11:29 the sheer number of units sold and fact that you can find them all over the Inner Sphere suggests that it did indeed fulfil a role that was required. In the Lore this mech is not a joke, in universe it's a legitimate threat when used correctly and has saved many a city from pirate raids.

[@Ishlacorrin]

17:00 MWO screwed that up, in the Table Top game you can get engines as low as 10 rated with weights in the positive. Many hover vehicles have engines lower than 100 rated.

[@Cowboycomando54]

Star league Urban mech units were some of the last holdouts during the Amaris coupe.

[@Grimmance]

The urbie the mech for when you want to stunt on people in the most disrespectful way possible. "Did I just get killed by a trashcan?"

[@RandominityFTW]

Who needs 12 Urbies? Someone with 12 arrow IV launchers and 12 nuclear warheads.

[@averywhitaker3513]

"And what would you do if I sent my lance of assault mechs into your territory?" "Instruct my UM-AIVs to fire once and go home"

[@sebastiang.5032]

The lord of the battlefield, the protector of everything that is good and true - the almighty Urbie!!!!

[@Funkin_Disher]

The urbanmechs one and only flaw is its 11th heatsink, which should have been a medium laser or something

[@starsiegeplayer]

Or a flamer for infantry.

[@TunaCanned]

I never got the 'useless' memes because everytime Ive encountered one its already blown my arm away before I even noticed it was right next to me. You often overlook Urbanmechs, and in first person Mechwarrior games quite literally.

[@Sol-mr1lv]

The Urbie. The answer to the question no one asked: what if R2-D2 woke up and chose violence?

[@toddzircher6168]

Having been in a BTech campaign game where C-Bills and logistics were used rather than tonnage for battles. Cheap mechs like the urbie can make a city defense feasible.

[@Wastelandman7000]

It may be silly....until someone straps Arrow 4 missiles on it and it cores an assault with one salvo LOL As to why it survived, it got shunted to planetary militias. It was not in line regiments. And being cheap, you could afford to relegate it to units who weren't supposed to be on the front line and you didn't want to waste money on giving them line battlemechs. Except for the Capellans. Because they're Capellans. Nuff said.

[@sasha1mama]

"Anyone who takes it seriously is a fool." Said the guy who has probably never seen one of these little guys bumble out from behind a skyscraper, core the engine block of an Orion through its backplates with its AC20/BF, then jumpjet two streets over and break contact while three other Urbies descend on a Hunchback a block over like a pack of cylindrical alligators. And suddenly half your lance is dead, while you were trundling forward trying to smoke the little trash cans out of hiding. With the right tactics and opportunity, Urbies can absolutely hold their own. They're not strong, and they're not fast, but in the right terrain with a good and smart pilot, Big Iron R2D2 can and will make a force pay *dearly* for every foot of ground they have the presumption to claim. That's why when I see an Urbie on the field, I prioritize its right arm, because I respect that AC20 enough not to entertain the potential risk to me or my lance. Beyond that, the Urbanmech tends to speak to a certain sort of person. It may be small. It may be clunky. But it's got spirit. Despite all its faults, it's got *courage* baked into its very intention - the courage to go forth and TRY. It may be an ambulatory trash can - but it's a trash CAN, not a trash can't.

[@polaris30000]

The Urbie is a great example though of combined arms and urban warfare. Even an AC10, when fired from ambush or a prepared position, hurts a lot. When it gets into your back, it hurts a lot more. Plus it forces you to engage a literal trashcan while a hetzer, savannah master, or infantry with infernos roll up on you and pimp slap your mech into the stratosphere. It's also usually less than 1/3 to 1/10 the cost in BV or C-Bills compared to most mechs, so a great trade for cost.

[@tacky4237]

Only a Freebirth would underestimate the usefulness of an Urbanmech at the right time.

[@Eserchie]

I've got 9 Urbies. None are for standard play, All are for when DMing campaigns. Deployed a lance at a time (Variants to switch up the basic lance) Forget the Arrow IV Urbie, someone stated up an Urbie with a Long Tom Cannon - that's a 20ton gun in the right arm of a mech that totals 30 tons. I want one.

[@SuperSoldierS117]

It works pretty well as an infantry support mech. It moves at the same pace as infantry, carries a big enough gun to deter light mechs on infantry suppression missions, and is cheap as shit.

[@benjaminrobertson2990]

the first time i fielded urbies on the tabletop, one took out a clan mech's arm and torso in the first shot of the game (before being immediately destroyed by return fire), and the other executed a downed clan assault mech in the final shot of the game beautiful little round boys

[@NazgulGnome]

I need 24 Urbanmechs to take on someone with 2 lances of more sensible mech choices.

[@snideaugustine2143]

Even from a tabletop perspective, Urbie's can still be a threat when used with terrain and good tactics. My hatred for piloting Griffins's comes from getting my PPC and shoulder pod blown off in one salvo from a surprise attack by a pair of Urbies... Hate that they designed all the Griffin's weapons on the same side...

[@leonpeters-malone3054]

I have two meme projects I need to do these days. Four Urbie's of the Apocalypse. Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbies.

[@brynnmorriganpollard8757]

The Urbanmech: What happens when a trash can is sick of your shit...

[@IAmTheAce5]

Sacred Cow Shipyards called this thing an 'HerbalMech', and everyone had a laugh!

[@warhawk4494]

Thats not just a trash can,its a Murder Can.

[@dwavenminer]

But who will it murder? The enemy? Its allies? Itself? Your accountant? The enemies accountant? Only one really fast way to find out!

[@albernard8751]

The Urbie is basically the Battle Tech mech variant of the the Bradley except it’s SO, SO much worse than the Bradley.

[@mattikuokkanen]

Centurion and Enforcer are mentioned as comparisons. Here's a challenge for you: 1 player with UrbanMechs against you with Centurions/Enforcers balanced by BV. Depending on how many maps are used and if UrbanMech player knows his (and Urbie's) shit, he has a decent chance to corner Centurions to map edge. I've been at the receiving end of it. Reason to have several UrbanMechs painted differently is to make a given model match with faction's colour scheme.

[@Finwolven]

You take one UrbanMech, but you put an Elite pilot in. The opponent can afford ONE Centurion, with a Green pilot. Or worse. It'll break your opponent.

[@dragonheart5312]

2 Urbies. AC-20s. Five jump jets. Cored assault mech. Nuff said

[@joshuamidgette4846]

You do not understand how to use the Urbanmech. It is cheap, has an AC10, heavy armor, and unlimited torso twist. You buy Urbanmechs in lances. How many shots of 4 AC10 can your average heavy mech survive?

[@braddl9442]

And usually its a lance of Urbies vs 1 mech. Cause they are that cheap in C bills to operate.

[@135forte]

A surprising amount, depending on the exact mech. And most Urbie pilots aren't going to be great shots, because you put those into better mechs. Like a Panther, or given the skill set, a Hunchback.

[@gmradio2436]

I needed 12 Urbanmechs. I give them out as lances for others to get into the hobby.

[@Deridus]

I bought the urbie company for 2 reasons. The first one is my daughter loves them (bought the plushie as well. We named it "Stompy.") And the second is because I actually know how to use them on tabletop to good effect. That and I used more than just the stock model. They are remarkably good on some of the TUKAYID maps.

[@legokill1019]

all hail our lord and Savior urbie

[@robertschumacher2707]

the 3-d printed Urbie in pink plastic, I want that as an egg cup.

[@kaydenkuah3844]

Bruh, you forgot to mention the urbie with the arrow 4 missile launcher could fire nukes.

[@jagerobscura85]

Urbanmechs make for good teaching matches. My local store is planning a "Trash Can Throwdown" or "Urbie Derby" at some point in the future.

[@FireGoliath]

Back in Mech Commander 2, we used to salvage so many urban mechs at the end of a mission that that's how we got paid, we cashed out every urbie we could after salvaging the good stuff and used that to repair what was left. Good times.

[@Funkin_Disher]

The reason you have a dozen urbanmechs is because they're cheap and meant to be used as defensive attrition

[@averywhitaker3513]

Ah yes, a dozen urbies, or as my c-bill minded friends like to say, _one atlas_

[@solarchos4352]

The cray thing is that in the group I'm playing BattleTech with my character got introduced by escaping captivity from a bunch of pirates and the ONE mech that was available for me to pilot...was an URBANMECH. I at least managed to get a couple of decent hits in before I got knocked down.

[@barnmaddo]

The Urbie is the ideal city fighting mech. You may not like it, but the Urbie is what peak performance looks like.

[@hydewhyte4364]

It's hard to rag on the Urbie when the Ostscout exists

[@rednecktek2873]

What does it do? It headshots my assault mechs from off map in Battletech! All. The. Damn. Time!

[@themisspultone]

and the UM-60L cos nothing is funnier than an Assault mech getting cored by a peddle-bin

[@logandaley1544]

“Crackhead R2-D2 was born” made me laugh well done sir.

[@seanbigay1042]

*Queep weep weep bzzz!* "R2D2 says the Urbie is not ridiculous!"

[@bruni5289]

The Urbie is the Ralph Wiggiam of BattleTech

[@mainguy13hunt28]

I put a Gauss Gun on a Urbie and bullied a Cataphrat into a corner like I was making him give me his lunch money

[@charliebatchelder2753]

Why do the silliest soldiers always get the hardest battles 😔

[@eddapultstab2078]

Because they were set out to die and surprise! They didn't die! the urbanmech is the personification of that concept.

[@JackJolleboi]

Ey yo, Im the creator of the Urban Lord. I also made a free to download 3d model for people to print their own and use on the tabletop. In addition, i also made a medium 50t version called the urban warrior (also with a free 3d model) and plans for a heavy version called the Urban Knight. nice to see it featured.

[@Cha-Khia]

An Urbanmech's only redeeming quality is that as a garrison mech, it's less then half the price of the next viable mech for the job. There's also the Arrow IV variant which is actually decent.

[@Devillin]

Way back when, there used to be an event at conventions where someone would take a company of Urbies versus a Timberwolf. It was called the Charge of the Urbie Brigade. That's why they put out a company pack of Urbies. Last I heard, the Urbies would win half the time.

[@Furluge]

The biggest flaw with the UM-R60 is it should have had a machine gun instead of the large laser. That would have let it deal with infantry better. It's so weird to see machine guns on so many of the early mechs and not this one.

[@ThatOneMan830]

“Anyone who takes it seriously is a fool.” - Clan Ghost Bear before losing a metric shit ton of ‘Mechs to that one Kuritan missile variant

[@Xarcht]

The urbie is a good desing for it's designed function. I like them with a gause gun.

[@danmorgan3685]

The whole point of the Urbie is cost. You can bring a bunch of Urbies for the cost of one assault mech. In urban warfare this mech will not be fighting on it's own. It will have friendly infantry and armor to back it up.

[@cembanditx1]

In mechwarrior it does that exact job tho, you can’t ignore it and turn your back to because it just does just enough damage, it takes time to kill for its size, while the enemy drop ship is bringing in the real mechs, and it’s often found in 2s or 3s guarding an urban area

[@boxfoxscoot1614]

imagining you just see an urby looming over a building then it steps out from behind it and its just got like 170 legs

[@averywhitaker3513]

Yknow that horror trope where a creature skitters past a doorway, and the character sees movement but not what's there? Imagine what appears to be a normal urbanmech standing at an intersection in a dense city, and before you turn to look at it, it walks sideways... and then it clownhandkerchiefs it's way with all those reactors on legs for a solid minute

[@AndrewChumKaser]

The true strength of the urbie is that they're cheap fodder that can fuck up a much bigger and more expensive mech for way less cost. The great houses love these guys.

[@kokaomf]

A thousand urbies is a threat to be considered even forthe most skilled Black Watch pilot.

[@peterkallend5012]

The most difficult setting for BTA 3062 is called Urbie Derby. You start with 1 lance of Urbies and nothing else.

[@QuartzChrysalis]

17:00 i suspect it is a case of "Normally engines use 16 mounting brackets but this thing only needs 4, so uninstall the other 12." And those 12 together weigh more than the engine being installed.

[@ferretmonger0236]

R2? What happened buddy!? First "Gonk" turned into the "World Devastator ", now "R2" has become an "Urbie".

[@Grisbane]

The "Urban Lord" already existed in lore.. it is called the IMP and the Urban Overlord is the Annihilator

[@Cowboycomando54]

As the Star League began to fall, the Urbie stood tall.