As someone who plays fluffy with their forces, I love how the selection (tho not many are my favorites) in this box reflects the Mercenary life. Cause when you're a group of people where the income could vary from job to job, you use what you have not what you want.
Firefly 5/8/4 with a bunch of lasers and not enough sinks to handle it for 831..... or a panther 9R 4/6/4 with a ppc for 769. also lrm5s have 2 really nice uses. smoke screens and plinking buildings efficiently. Between the two I think smoke is far more useful. If you have a unit that needs to cross open ground this can give the unit some help defensively.
Thanks for the rate/review of the new box set. I've been a fan boy of the devastator ever since getting a copy of McCarron's armored cavalry back in the 90s. Having that beast as the "final boss" of the campaign was awesome.
I can't wait for the Osts as well as the quads in the Kickstarter. With these mechs we will now have ALL of the previously unseen mechs with acceptable new artwork available in plastic . It's an unbelievable victory for those of us who have waited for so long to have a modern mini in production. Well-there is technically 3 units left but I don't know if we'll ever see them. As previously mentioned-the new Classics don't have any official artwork for LAM versions. They may never as they are distancing themselves from them. I'm still crossing my fingers for Scroggins to pull off just one more absolute miracle.
If this gets a strong enough reception, I may start doing similar vids on the forcepacks. I usually have more fun making tactics videos, but people seem to appreciate mech-rating videos more, and they are pretty easy to make. On a related note, the Coolant Pod podcast just released an episode on one of the force packs, and those guys are smart players who know what they're talking about.
@@TrailblazerBT well imo partially because the mech review/rating helps people deciding on whether they should spend their money on the mech/forcepack or not
Great discussion! I appreciate the detail, the comparison to other mechs, and the ever-present threat of Clan opposition. I was wondering if you had certain mechs you would prefer as duelists as opposed to running in a lance composition?
@@TrailblazerBT Indeed! A biannual tourney in my area is a Solaris-style event with no BV limit, 3/4 pilots, must exist in the IlClan era, with no Adv/Exp mechs (4 rounds: light, medium, and heavy duels, and a 100-ton-max FFA). Maneuver really dictates everything in those duels. I happened to win it recently, but I feel bad. I showed up with a lot of mechs to choose from (for BV parity rather than a favorable matchup since I had seen and experienced 1k BV mismatches in the previous tournament), but it was blind pick and I panicked and chose four clan mechs, though the BV discrepancy wasn't always in my favor. For the next one, my challenge to myself is to play using all IS mechs. (A clan player mentioned to me that he uses bidding to level the playing field if he showed up with an overpowered mech, which is a brilliant solve, so I then used it for the Heavy matchup where I was the one at a BV advantage.) The Assault FFA was on the huge BFM airport map which shrank every round, and I was invited to be part of an alliance which held strong throughout, which was probably more consequential than mech choice. I got lucky, won initiative when it mattered, and I brought some really decent mechs, so there was nothing brilliant on my part other than a few good positional moves.
@@TrailblazerBT Yup - though everyone got two edge re-rolls per match to help with the swingitude. Keeping them for defensive use made the most sense to me.
It was an odd choice to put several well known bad to meh mechs in the box was interesting. The Flea is especially bad, but the Chameleon has a noteworthy lore blurb about a bunch of cadets being slaughtered by the Wolves because in them. But I refuse to hear any slander toward the Caesar, some of the best Cataphract builds are based on it.
There's some dark ages/ilclan versions of these mechs that absolutely whip too. The FFL-5A has a partial wing to let it jump 8, not a lot of guns but that much jump for less than 1k bv is always nice. The Quickdraw surprisingly has some good variants from later on too... not the handheld weapons one though, that one's weird.
I'm still not sure how with LAC5s, a light engine, 5/8, and max armor that the OTL-8D isn't a competitive staple. This thing ticks most of the boxes for S tier, no?
Ostsols, great mech in one off matches... horrible resource drain in campaigns because of those flimsy arms on most of em (especially the earlier versions). You will be constantly reorder those arms, actuators, hands etc. Wich can get really costly really fast. And the devastator... nicknamed "The wall" in my circle... subtle as a sledgehammer and just as brutal. Just protect its reararmor from fast light mechs.
The Starslayer strikes me as "What if the Shadow Hawk stopped fucking about, and chose something to do well?"
To me it's more "what if Crab but jump jets?"
It's a modernized OSR-2C that went to the gym to lose some weight.
I wish there was an ost force pack. Maybe in the future. And I'm looking forward to adding the flea to my bug swarm merc group.
Yeah the osts are good and I don't currently have minis for any of them!
Thanks for this. Was unfamiliar with the mechs in this set. Now I’m excited.
Looking forward to seeing the Starslayer in plastic.
For sure--although the old metal Starslayer holds up better than a lot of older minis
We also are getting a jumping one in the Big MAC box.
In the defense of the camelion. It is supposed to be a training mech.
As someone who plays fluffy with their forces, I love how the selection (tho not many are my favorites) in this box reflects the Mercenary life. Cause when you're a group of people where the income could vary from job to job, you use what you have not what you want.
the Ostsol-4D works very well together with a Crab!
Firefly 5/8/4 with a bunch of lasers and not enough sinks to handle it for 831..... or a panther 9R 4/6/4 with a ppc for 769.
also lrm5s have 2 really nice uses. smoke screens and plinking buildings efficiently. Between the two I think smoke is far more useful. If you have a unit that needs to cross open ground this can give the unit some help defensively.
@@goodbodha For sure... Although smoke is so good I feel guilty about playing with it!
Thanks for the rate/review of the new box set. I've been a fan boy of the devastator ever since getting a copy of McCarron's armored cavalry back in the 90s. Having that beast as the "final boss" of the campaign was awesome.
@@Saucychemist Ah yes, the same book that introduced the Spector. Two of the best!
I can't wait for the Osts as well as the quads in the Kickstarter.
With these mechs we will now have ALL of the previously unseen mechs with
acceptable new artwork available in plastic .
It's an unbelievable victory for those of us who have waited for so long to have a modern
mini in production.
Well-there is technically 3 units left but I don't know if we'll ever see them.
As previously mentioned-the new Classics don't have any official artwork for LAM versions.
They may never as they are distancing themselves from them.
I'm still crossing my fingers for Scroggins to pull off just one more absolute miracle.
I'm definitely with you on the LAMs!
Great video! Looking forward to more videos.
any chance of you covering merc forcepack mechs as well? or will that be just too many?
If this gets a strong enough reception, I may start doing similar vids on the forcepacks. I usually have more fun making tactics videos, but people seem to appreciate mech-rating videos more, and they are pretty easy to make. On a related note, the Coolant Pod podcast just released an episode on one of the force packs, and those guys are smart players who know what they're talking about.
@@TrailblazerBT well imo partially because the mech review/rating helps people deciding on whether they should spend their money on the mech/forcepack or not
@@NotMyGoogleID For sure, I get why people like mech reviews so much! And any Battletech nerd likes talking about mechs, I'm no different
Cant wait for the Kickstarter to finally come out , exciting times for BattleTech
Great discussion! I appreciate the detail, the comparison to other mechs, and the ever-present threat of Clan opposition. I was wondering if you had certain mechs you would prefer as duelists as opposed to running in a lance composition?
@@Miranda_Ghost That's a good idea for a future video, will have to think about it.... Do you play a lot of one on one duels?
@@TrailblazerBT Indeed! A biannual tourney in my area is a Solaris-style event with no BV limit, 3/4 pilots, must exist in the IlClan era, with no Adv/Exp mechs (4 rounds: light, medium, and heavy duels, and a 100-ton-max FFA). Maneuver really dictates everything in those duels. I happened to win it recently, but I feel bad. I showed up with a lot of mechs to choose from (for BV parity rather than a favorable matchup since I had seen and experienced 1k BV mismatches in the previous tournament), but it was blind pick and I panicked and chose four clan mechs, though the BV discrepancy wasn't always in my favor. For the next one, my challenge to myself is to play using all IS mechs. (A clan player mentioned to me that he uses bidding to level the playing field if he showed up with an overpowered mech, which is a brilliant solve, so I then used it for the Heavy matchup where I was the one at a BV advantage.) The Assault FFA was on the huge BFM airport map which shrank every round, and I was invited to be part of an alliance which held strong throughout, which was probably more consequential than mech choice.
I got lucky, won initiative when it mattered, and I brought some really decent mechs, so there was nothing brilliant on my part other than a few good positional moves.
@@Miranda_Ghost Sounds like a great event, although it'll tend to be very swingy!
@@TrailblazerBT Yup - though everyone got two edge re-rolls per match to help with the swingitude. Keeping them for defensive use made the most sense to me.
@@Miranda_Ghost that's great, definitely agree that defense is best, did you have to use them?
I got to see the ilClan-era Starslayer alpha strike an enemy Quickdraw and basically vaporize it. Thing of beauty. Convinced me to paint mine.
flea is sooooo cute though
but the firefly is quite impressive, love that mech
You could take a Firefly sm laser off and add that one JJ. Then you get 5/8/5.
Hey, I had a firefly mini in the mid 90ies
@@monostripezebras I mostly only bought the plastic ones back then
Ostols are pretty cool
It was an odd choice to put several well known bad to meh mechs in the box was interesting. The Flea is especially bad, but the Chameleon has a noteworthy lore blurb about a bunch of cadets being slaughtered by the Wolves because in them. But I refuse to hear any slander toward the Caesar, some of the best Cataphract builds are based on it.
@@135forte Cadets getting slaughtered, sounds like the first episode of the old cartoon!
What about the Devastator EC? Same thing, except now the PPCs are the prototype improved variants that now do 12 damage! 4 heat neutral headcappers!
Yea most of the mechs in the box set are just ok. The ostsol and the starslayer definitely stand out for me.
Starslayer rules, and while no Ostsol variant absolutely blows me away, there are lots of solid variants
You good sir, have earned a new sub. Love your stuff so far. Doing a rating of 3050 clan Heavies and Assaults?
@@androssthered1157 All the weight classes are in the works, light mechs next!
@@TrailblazerBT fantastic, love to hear it bud.
There's some dark ages/ilclan versions of these mechs that absolutely whip too. The FFL-5A has a partial wing to let it jump 8, not a lot of guns but that much jump for less than 1k bv is always nice. The Quickdraw surprisingly has some good variants from later on too... not the handheld weapons one though, that one's weird.
I can't get behind the Ost line for their vulnerability to back attack. Without arm weapons, you shouldn't be brawling.
@@derekburge5294 The rear armor is a big flaw but if you compare them to the other 3025 60 tonners they are pretty good
@@TrailblazerBT Less about the armor for me, but more the inability to strike straight back. The limited field of fire rankles on me.
I'm still not sure how with LAC5s, a light engine, 5/8, and max armor that the OTL-8D isn't a competitive staple. This thing ticks most of the boxes for S tier, no?
No, it's not an Awesome looking mech, it's a Quickdraw
I'm introducing a friend into BT, and he always tells me to "shut the fuck up" whenever I make that joke xD I love it
Any chance on a Clan Mech list?
@@hardluck4031 Coincidentally my next mech rating video in a couple weeks will be rating the 3050 medium omnimechs
Love the odd mix of mechs in this one. The vehicles win the day IMO, but the mechs are fun.
The 9/14 Fleas are ok , the rest are aweful ......... love them though
Ostsols, great mech in one off matches... horrible resource drain in campaigns because of those flimsy arms on most of em (especially the earlier versions). You will be constantly reorder those arms, actuators, hands etc. Wich can get really costly really fast.
And the devastator... nicknamed "The wall" in my circle... subtle as a sledgehammer and just as brutal. Just protect its reararmor from fast light mechs.
@@riptors9777 Good point about the Ostsol repair costs!
still waiting.
About the only light Meh a Firefly can hunt down and kill is a Panther.or a Hollander
Cause it's just too slow.
I am an mrm lover, at least with apollo. Without apollo its at least a chance at horrific damage.
All 20 ton IS mechs that aren't a locust are bad. Although needs a 3 ml variant. :-).
Mmmm, Starslayer