BATTLETECH: Mech archetypes, and the Battletech Triangle. The Mech Lab.
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- No mech can do everything. We call balanced mechs "cavalry" in this game, since they are are still capable of charging the front lines or flanking, but have enough durability to withstand some punishment!
In this video we cover some of the basic roles a Battlemech can take on. We compare different mech archetypes to one another on the "Battletech Triangle," and explain what each mech archetype is good for.
Every aspect of a mech, from its speed, to its weapons, to its armor, all costs Battle Value! To get a better understanding of Battle Value, check out this video I made earlier. • BATTLE VALUE, and how ...
I hope this helps you to better understand how to select Battlemechs for your force... Next time on the Mechlab, we will sum up many of our earlier lessons in a culmination of how to actually go about building a force! Hope you enjoy! Please like, share, and subscribe.
There are two triangles in Battletech:
The 'mech triangle:
Mobility
Defense Offense
The weapon triangle:
Weight
Heat Damage
Yes, there is also range and critical slots to consider, but it's typically worked into the triangle through its extant categories.
Range is actually the most important one for weapons. Why? Because the base BV for a weapon is basicslly range×damage. An IS large laser does more damage, so it costs more BV than a clan ER medlas, but you can take 2 of them and still be up on tonnage even accounting for the extra heat sink you need to cool them. Long range weapons cost a *ton* of BV and that should be considered. If a mech wants to spend 90% of its time in short range, it probably shouldnt have a "just in case I want to shoot this" ERPPC strapped to it. Unless that mech is like, a black knight and its gonna take half the match to close.
Just as an aside, in the mrc, rule one in ranked matches is that if both players agree, you can go way beyond 6 units and go higher than normal BV. Cool vid, i hope this helps folks build ever better lists :)
Interesting... Idk if Id want to tho. Having homogenous tournament rules is good.
Maybe for random ranked matches :)
@@TheManyVoicesVA oh thats what i meant. for random ranked matches its if two players agree, then this or that. MRC tourneys, thats written in stone, lol
9:00 Off the top of my head a comparable IS unit is Kurita's Sabaku Kaze hovertank. 136 armor points, 9/14 move. 4 Meds and 2 Small lasers in the turret. SRM4 packs mounted front and rear.
@@cargo_vroom9729 i love the Sabaku Kaze. It is a really mean little hover tank. Hover tanks in general are very good IMO. Maybe not as good as VTOLs, but still solid.
I crave the Mobility + Defense combo
Average Charger enjoyer. I wonder what that would actually look like... probably a 40 tonner with 7/11 speed and a light engine.
For baseline mechs, the more heavily armored variants of the Chameleon might be up your alley.
Theres also the Thunderbolt 11SE which is a 4/6/6 with over 200 armor. Im bringing one to the next Btech tourney!
Your best bet with base variants are probably the 275 core mafia mechs. They all have 5 8 movement and most jump 5. I hate fighting them because even in a losing scenario they can just stall with their permanent 3+ tmm.
If you wanna customize then a 65 tonner can still go 6 9. Base, add 6 JJs and full armor, then go from there. In 3025 you are probably getting a glorified charger if you can even max armor and still have weight left, which is not guaranteed. But in the jihad and onwards you can easily make a nice little pouncer with decent firepower.
since you asked, JG-R9T1 Juggernaut for massive MG fun.
Solaris VII mech that had 16 for that buzz saw effect that the variant rules (turns 1/4 time, fire rate restrictions, and hexes 1/4 size) made it devastating weapon.
16 MGs sounds pretty insane lol. Imagine if you used optional rapid fire rules! :D
with only like 2 tons of ammo and no where near the heat sinks to cover such issues... nope.
As is it can sandpaper units nicely once it gets in range.
@@donaldyoungberg9033 MGs dont produce heat afaik, even in rapid-fire optional rules. It would definitely drain the ammo reserves very fast tho haha. But Solaris matches dont tend to last very long anyways!
There might be other rules for rapid fire MGs.
I was thinking the Tactical Operations one that does 1d6 damage and heat then X3 the roll in ammo used.
Like the visualization. If you wanted to give s little more info in a similar format, make it a spider chart, and you can really highlight the differentiation across weight classes more. Keep it up!
Thanks! This is one of the early vids... I need to work on my presentation a bit haha
BattleTech triangle? lol, this has been the idea behind armored warfare since World War 1, and probably earlier.
Interesting. That is a good point! Tank design does follow a similar principle... Same with armored war planes I guess.
The one big downside on "mobility" is that it's value decreases based on the enemy's gunnery skill, targeting computers, ER and pulse weapons, etc. This is especially true for IS mechs in the Clan Invasion era, where moving 9 hexes won't help them avoid hits from elite pilots and pulse weapons, and the lighter IS mechs don't have the armor to survive those hits. In 3025, mechs like the Wasp or Locust are pretty useful because they are difficult to hit, but by 3050 most adversaries have better accuracy.
I find that 6-9 or 5-8-5 are all you need for good battlefield positioning (and 4/6 is workable); more than that has diminishing value since speed is an unreliable form of defense. I usually do best with 4-6 "trooper" mechs for the majority of my force, with a few well-rounded 5-8-5 medium mechs covering the "mobility" roles.
For fast recon, VTOLs are cheaper and more effective anyway, while infantry are better for stealthy recon.
Precision ammo is also a big problem for these mechs. Thank you for the input! I think 7 jump mechs are still obnoxiously hard to deal with though. 4 TMM is no joke. Very quick mechs with a bunch of medium lasers are also great at flanking, and messing up enemy plans.
Later tech also makes light fast mechs better able to deal damage. Super fast mechs with a bunch of short range but weapons that do high damage per ton are one of the most BV efficient designs. Fire moth Hs and Piranhas are amazing.
@@Taurox220 Im a big fan of the Spider-9M. It is made of paper, but it is a deadly scalpel. 2 large pulse lasers when is closes to short range, essentially... Plus the BV is only slightly higher than a locust for something with more mobility, and a better kick.
@@TheManyVoicesVA Spider 9m is an absolutely lethal little creature.
@@quartzmech5661 I love it. One of my favourites. So incredibly deadly.
What not one word about the catapult? Which sits nearly in the middle to be a perfect battlemech until the mad cat comes around.
@@Spartaner251 hahaha. The catapult is a little light on mobility. Id like a 5/8/5 to say it's in the middle. The catapult is really solid though.
The most important part is to combine jump jets and melee attachments.
Im not sure what you mean. Do you mean JJs+melee weapond? Jump jets with talons is pretty insane. DFAs get nutty.
@@TheManyVoicesVA It is all about that anti-helicopter melee capability that makes Battletech fun
@@monostripeexplosiveexplora2374 wait are there rules for that?! Oh ya I guess DFA right? Hahaha that would be nutty. Dropkick a chopper outta the sky XD
i'd argue that the Annihilator should be high up in the offence category, given that it has almost half the armor of other 100 tonners and exchange for much more firepower .tho not as much on the tabletop since ACs ,other than AC20s, are kinda weak for the tonnage. but the Mechwarrior game do a good job buffing the lesser AC weapons
I agree the MW games definitely make ACs better, I think it's because they fire so many shots so quickly compared to lasers. Anni is kind of a *Gasp* bad mech lol. It's low on offense *and* defense *and* mobility. I guess it would definitely have high damage output, 4 LB10s is no joke. Say goodbye to your aerotech forces lol.
I know you hate the Dervish, but i just feel like it is what a reao world Mech would be. Its got good mobility, good ranged weapons (up to 4x damage vs a Wolverines/shadowhawks ac-5) and decent if thin armor.
For short range, it has SRM's and ML's. It can shoot Infernos as well. It just needs better armor. Endo and DHS are an easy upgrade and could add case and 2 tons or armor.
It really is the "I tried to do everything" mech hahaha. Smack dab in the middle of the triangle.
Allow an experienced mechwarrior to weight in on mech load out philosophy. NEVER SACRIFICE MORE THAN A 2 TONS OF ARMOR!!!! this goes for all mechs, excluding lights, which I will address shortly.
The reason to never sacrifice armor for weight is because the tradeoff is only worth it, in my professional mercenary opinion, to either make the really big gun fit tonnage, or to add medium laser or just one more heat sink. I haven't survived 2 succession wars because I skimped on protection. Never trust intelligence reports, it is ALWAYS more hostile than expected, and there is never enough bullets to share with enemy.
My point being, assaults, heavies, and mediums, NEED their armor. To save your fellows and keep the fights going, you have to share the punishment. A smart mechwarrior knows when to take cover, and when to draw fire. Armor is king, firepower is queen, and mobility is the prince in that order.
Light mechs are a whole different bag of cats. A mean look will ruin a leg actuator. Your best defense is speed, AND COORDINATION. The best light mechs aren't giant killers, but opportunistic blurs. Armor doesn't matter most to lights but it is nevertheless important to be able to TAKE the inevitable hit. Weaponry doesn't matter much either, as a light mech pilot should be focusing damaged structure to remove components and try to damage ammo storages.
For assaults, you are the big scary psychological boogeyman. Every enemy on the field is looking at you, and odds are, you aren't faster than the average prius driver. The prius driver even has the tactical advantage over you by being low profile and inconspicuous. Sacrificing armor to mount one more equipment is less costly to the assualt mech than a medium or a heavy. It does come at the cost of reducing your life expectancy by precious few seconds when things go wrong.
For heavies, I would argue no more than a single ton of armor should ever be left behind. You are the workhorse of the fireteam, you are bringing the hammer to follow the assault mechs acting as anvil. The medium mechs should never sacrifice armor, half a ton at the most, because their job as flankers/rapid response support is critical for unit cohesion. Being tough enough to answer problems head on, and light enough to shift positions quickly, the medium mech needs it's armor for advancing and stalling maneuvers.
What the mech has equipped doesn't matter if the pilot driving it knows how best to press his advantages while piloting it. A lance of well coordinated and determined mechwarriors, applying effective tactics and studying battle both ancient past and present day shall achieve success. Boys study tactics, men study logistics. And if your mechs aren't coming home from their missions because you sacrificed too much armor, then you now have a logistics problem, and you have to hire and train a new pilot...
@@sircharlesvonpimpsmack7667 all good points. I like at least 10 armor in key locations for lights. Preferably 15 on the legs because mobility is their life. Unless it's a weird unit like the Panther. That thing needs all the armor it can get lol.
For all units, sacrificing armor is a risk. But if you have good distribution it *can* be worth giving up 1-2 tons if you are fast and can keep yourself relatively safe with TMM. Things I will sacrifice armor for are jump jets, especially if I can get 5 or 7 jump, and firepower. For big mediums around 160 is acceptable. Enough for 20 armor on all key locations(legs and torsos) and decent armor on the arms.
Welcome to the channel! :)
@TheManyVoicesVA I didn't subscribe, but I am always willing to theorycraft practicality when it pertains to battletech, the mechs, and chasing the unicorn of "the perfect loadout". However, I do know, just like life in reality, there isn't one singular way to strap bang bang into the stompy bot to killy all the things that need deadening. I will recommend my previous post, but in terms of weaponry? Go nuts. Have fun with it. If it fits in the hardpoints and you can afford to do it... well you are probably a catapult pilot...
True fans of our beloved hobby have always been insular and passionate nerds. It is a most noble kind of stubborn. The most unfortuante thing and difficult task we face now, is gatekeeping the corporations themselves from our beloved setting. It was not they who kept the setting alive and welcoming new blood into the ranks to share our passion, no matter how dim the lights got.
I have been a fan of the setting since mechcommander 1, which was my first introduction to the IP as a whole. I love the setting because it isn't pretentious about human nature unlike star trek. In battletech, the people never changed, only the distance across which we bring our petty squabbles and enlightened self interest has. The last time i played a tabletop, it was a dnd-esque game with some other die hards in a game shop that has since closed its doors. I was and still am, a taurian man. But a man has to eat. I earned my stripes killing capellans on our border skirmishes. I now earn my keep employing myself and my crew to fedsuns and the purple parakeet because capellans are bastards, and if I can make them suffer in any amount for what they did to my homeworld, it won't be enough. I am one of the only ten thousand to survive the bio-weapons they bombarded us from orbit with.
To wrap this tangent up. A toast my good sir. Death to House Liao! May their armies fall like wheat to the scythe. And may those we lost find solace in a duty fulfilled.
@@sircharlesvonpimpsmack7667 Ahh understood. I'm a younger gamer(90s baby) and got back into the IP a few years ago when I discovered MWO and the HBS PC game. It is a really interesting setting. Neo-feudalism with "knights" in giant mechs is pretty rad haha.
The truly despicable nature of humans, especially those with immense amounts of power at their disposal, is on full display. I respect the tenacity and stubbornness of the periphery factions lol. The Taurians are something special though, one of the only periphery nations that pose a real threat to any of the great houses.
Would greatly appreciate a sub, since I am so close to 1K subs! (if you're unaware, 1K subs means I actually make a few pennies off the ads that UA-cam now forces creators to play. I can elaborate further if you're curious about the whole UA-cam monetization affair, but it isn't terribly interesting lol. Basically, know that by subscribing to me you are sticking it to Google for a very small amount of money lol.)
@TheManyVoicesVA I am one as well. Born in the 90's. You should look up mechcommander 1 and 2. They are abandonware by Microsoft. And can be downloaded on good old games or other sites. I still need to figure out how to get the cutsceens to work on my download.
Good info but my friends and I don't bother with tournament play
@@ethenthistleroot5723 understanding how the triangle works will give any player a better understanding of Battletech :)
My typical 4 mech lance set up is one high mobility. 2 balanced (one up close one distance) and then a all the defense and guns typically on a 3/5/3 with flippy arms and a targeting computer.
I will occasionally go missle boat depending on the era and make sure my mobility unit is packing a narc or c3 slave. Atm make missle boats fun.
If I am fielding more I will add a balanced ranged then a mobility.
But quite frankly if you are not running jump jets on everything with 4/6 or less you are doing it wrong.
I have taken out entire lances with a single turkina with out the jump jets it would have never happened.
Jump jets cost a *ton* of BV even on low mobility units. You end up paying a tax on all your guns and armor. If all you need a unit to do is stand in cover and shoot PPCs at something, the Awesome-8Q is one of the best bang for buck units you can find.
I feel like the text on screen with the talking is a bit too much of an info dump. Maybe just say that stuff and make a longer video? Or you could have a short video introducing the triangle then individual videos on each corner or type of mech?
@@Corvid_Games Good ideas. Thank you for the feedback!
9:20 The Wolf frigate can teleport itself up to anything but you only get 2-3 seconds of shooting. wait no this video is about mechwarrior not starsector
Be glad that you are categorizing mechs and not starships. Starship classification is impossible
Haha ya I dont get into aerospace and dropships really.
Pretend like I'm a grognard whose been playing since the 80's and I have no clue what the MRC is.
discord.gg/WUvbXQRRfW do you use Discord? This is a link to their Discord, that's where all the action happens! It is a server where people face off against eachother in matches using Megamek. Monthly tournaments are usually held with 1 match a week against other people. Come join us!