Phi had a... bondswoman... who had one of these. I believe it was originally a 4R. The Bondmaster was a star commander who lost a point commander to a headshot from the autocannon. He requested it be refit slightly to our standards and she be given the right to pilot under his command. Took the risk, and she did quite well. We replaced the Autocannon with an LB-X version and extra ammunition. Replaced the lasers with our extended range versions, and gave it a heat-sink kit swap. She earned her freedom after shooting down a flight of DCMS Aerospace Fighters that had been sent to kill her commander. She went back home after a second tour of duty.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn to get the space you either need to take less ammo, change the armor type, or do an engine swap. I've seen the 5R running around recently. That one would probably be the box to make that change with.
Eh if you ask me jumpjets are dead weights for more armor, Better weapons or heat sinks Than again I often take destructive contracts then guardians tiny crowded settlement defense jobs ..
I love the enforcer. And in our campaign I ran a similar upgrade with clan salvage, despite trudging along at 4/6/4. But it was neat to just do enforcer things at longer ranges.
Now, something important to put into historical context, is the fact of how long the enforcer was in production. The enforcer 4r had seen no tweaks in service from 2777 to late 3050, when it was retooled for the 5D, which simply just upgraded the weaponry and engine, and added case. That’s 273 years of constant usage by house Davion, so something went right. (Though I am somewhat skeptical of the claim that the enforcer 4R never saw modifications. I have gone to the Achernar factory archives, and reading some communications between one of the first princes and the company in the late 30th about a “centurionized enforcer” in response to decreasing numbers of the chassis.)
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn this is on a design that gives you a pocket heavy in terms of armaments. additionally, the sheer number of the 40 ton variants is impressive, with my personal favorite being the sentry, considering what you get with it's weight.
As Kou Uraki said of the GM Custom, "its lack of outstanding characteristics is what makes it outstanding." You said it right, the Enforcer is a super trooper that can do quite a lot. It has good speed & agility, a big boom, a big zap, and emotional support. (And the Clanners say they invented it! Ha!) Good bang for the C-buck too, and parts won't set you back unless you are Drac-affiliated for some reason. None of the upgrades reinvent the mech, they are largely just updating what was available before. I didn't know that the -6G had a hand, now I have to see about finding a mini by Ironwind or some other source!
If you want to know what a "modernized" Swordsman would look like, look at the Davion Shadow Hawk, the SHD-2D and SHD-2D2. That's Davion's idea of a "Trooper" design for their lighter and faster forces, with the Centurion and Enforcer being the Trooper designs for their heavier, slower forces. One thing I noticed in all of these designs is that they're all known for being reliable machines. Not really anything that stands out in the firepower or armor department, but it's reliable. Think of them as the Sherman tank of the Battlemech world.
The 7D was an attempt to protect Enforcer pilots. Apparently, Capellans, Kuritans, and even Taurians had gotten very good at 'going for the head' of Enforcers (they had a much higher casulty rate than any other mech during the Victoria War). I am surprised you didn't mention it had a hand actuator in the left arm, and I would have thought having the 5th jump jet in the right torso would have made its jumps lopsided. The Enforcer is simple and direct. Easy for beginners to learn on and still powerful enough for vets and commanders to appreciate. I am actually surprised there wasn't a RAC version in its history.
Jump Jets don't all have to be "pusher jets" all the time. Especially when the pilot does not go for the full jump each time, more jets can go towards stabilizing the mech or not be used to even them out. Though you're right, pushing the full range out of an uneven distribution of Jump Jets can make for a few shaky landings.
Probably my favorite trooper design. In HBS BT I like to run it in the early game, adjusting the weapons slightly (AC10 down to a 5, LL up to a PPC) and bumping the armor significantly. Of course, HBS BT has wildly different construction rules, so that might not be viable outside of the tactical simulators.
That game is its own kind of broken. Ballistic weapons were buffed from small amounts(Ac-10 +20% damage), to big buffs(AC-5 +90% damage) to broken (AC-2 +150% damage). Energy weapons on the other hand got large nerfs. Lasers didnt cause any kind of stability damage, and most Lasers had their heat generated raised. The PPCs are the only ones that did stability damage, and got their heat raised too. I remember I didnt even use an Enforcer because oddly Blackjacks were so amazing, and you started the campaign with a Blackjack for free. They carried 2 overpowered AC-2s(heh), with 4 Medium Lasers as backup, and Jump Jets. A Centurion would be way better too because you could make one with a lot of missiles. Some of those upgraded missile launchers would do amazing levels of Stability Damage.
@@Taurevanime whoa whoa whoa, there. You're sounding an awful lot like a Capellan, friend. How dare you besmirch the glorious name of RAC/5, the greatest AC/5 ever made? 🤣
@@WolfHreda As a FedRat I love the RAC/5, but its more a complaint that FASA and CGL especially have the "new toy" problem when it comes to making new variants. So plasma rifles for Liao, RAC/5s and re-engineered lasers for the FedSuns, Snub-nose PPCs for Kurita, etc.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn Large Laser generates a LOT of heat, and the ER version is worse! The Light PPC only has 5 heat for 5 damage, plus you can add a medium laser to the Mech's torso for when the Enforcer's are get shot off. Watching Monty Python's Black Knight gag is funny, BEING the Black Knight in the gag ISN'T!
To me, the Enforcer makes me meh really hard. Whether tabletop or video game, it sits between not enough damage to kill but too much to ignore and not enough to survive but takes too much to kill. It's an annoying mech to fight or pilot so I guess it's doing it's job.
The Enforcer is so midline …it’d almost be considered an insult if it were any other mech…except the Enforcer is so damn solid you know exactly what it can and can’t do once you know how it’s armored and what it’s armored with. It can reliably flatten most lights, effectively tangle with other mediums and slow down heavier mechs and survive long enough for reinforcements to get there. And that’s it.
Professor, it would be great to see you do a comparison between the Enforcer and the Centurion. If the Fedsuns had one, why the other? It takes a lot to develop a chassis, seems like they could have just made a Centurion variant...
After talking about it I came to know the Enforcer has too many flaws for me to like. Make it faster, replace the Autocannon with a long range missile launcher, and give it plenty of ammo. My favorite medium mech of 3025 is the Griffin.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn Every other "Trooper" mech Ive heard of is defined as having Short-Medium-Long weapons in roughly equal measure. Vindicator, Centurion, Shadow Hawk, Thunderbolt, Orion, Zeus, Stalker, those are troopers. The alternate way its said is just "medium Mechs" in general. According to the profiles the Enforcer, Centurion, and Trebuchet are the three main general mechs of the Federated Suns. The Enforcer stands out because it has no long range firepower at all. Its more defined as a mid-range Cavalry(jump jet) mech.
Would you believe the Davions actually objected to having the AC10 replaced by a gauss rifle? Yeah, they *complained* about losing their autocannon when offered a *gauss rifle!*
Yes, actually. Gauss rifles in the early days of IS use were good at blasting mechs, but they had little use against non-hardened targets. The AC 10 was a proven reliable weapon against anything hard or soft armored. The LBX-10 was even better since the flick of a switch would give a suitable ammo type. To the Feddy veterans, the gauss rifle was a bulky one-trick pony.
An excellent trooper, and generalist fighter but gets way over looked but honestly kinda deservedly so as time moves on and more medium design come out that are very specialized, but I think do a better job at supporting my heavier assets. It's a great mid field flexible player, but I would never really say that it ever stole the show at any point. But I think that's where it shines. Supporting heavier assists either as a body blocker, or close range fire support
"Sociopathic individual", that's easy, anyone with the last name of Davion. I think the Enforcer would be better if it had a missile weapon mounted in the left torso instead of an energy weapon.
Phi had a... bondswoman... who had one of these. I believe it was originally a 4R. The Bondmaster was a star commander who lost a point commander to a headshot from the autocannon. He requested it be refit slightly to our standards and she be given the right to pilot under his command. Took the risk, and she did quite well. We replaced the Autocannon with an LB-X version and extra ammunition. Replaced the lasers with our extended range versions, and gave it a heat-sink kit swap.
She earned her freedom after shooting down a flight of DCMS Aerospace Fighters that had been sent to kill her commander. She went back home after a second tour of duty.
Really, a Clan LBX and ER PPC, combined with a DHS kit makes this little trooper a big boy trooper.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn to get the space you either need to take less ammo, change the armor type, or do an engine swap. I've seen the 5R running around recently. That one would probably be the box to make that change with.
Ah yes the centurion's overlooked brother
The jump jets on the Enforcer makes me enjoy it a bit more in campaigns.
Eh if you ask me jumpjets are dead weights for more armor, Better weapons or heat sinks
Than again I often take destructive contracts then guardians tiny crowded settlement defense jobs ..
@@spartana1116 Also seems like you haven't had to deal with mines and vibrabombs very often.
Vibra-what
mmmm Centurion Enforcer Trebuchet… Hunchback standard me as any Davion combat lance. I just love the iconic team
I love the enforcer. And in our campaign I ran a similar upgrade with clan salvage, despite trudging along at 4/6/4. But it was neat to just do enforcer things at longer ranges.
Clan LBX and ER Large, clan Ferro, saved weight going to heat sink or other survival equipment...
Now, something important to put into historical context, is the fact of how long the enforcer was in production. The enforcer 4r had seen no tweaks in service from 2777 to late 3050, when it was retooled for the 5D, which simply just upgraded the weaponry and engine, and added case. That’s 273 years of constant usage by house Davion, so something went right.
(Though I am somewhat skeptical of the claim that the enforcer 4R never saw modifications. I have gone to the Achernar factory archives, and reading some communications between one of the first princes and the company in the late 30th about a “centurionized enforcer” in response to decreasing numbers of the chassis.)
273 years with minimal modifications is already rather fantastic.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn this is on a design that gives you a pocket heavy in terms of armaments. additionally, the sheer number of the 40 ton variants is impressive, with my personal favorite being the sentry, considering what you get with it's weight.
As Kou Uraki said of the GM Custom, "its lack of outstanding characteristics is what makes it outstanding." You said it right, the Enforcer is a super trooper that can do quite a lot. It has good speed & agility, a big boom, a big zap, and emotional support. (And the Clanners say they invented it! Ha!) Good bang for the C-buck too, and parts won't set you back unless you are Drac-affiliated for some reason. None of the upgrades reinvent the mech, they are largely just updating what was available before. I didn't know that the -6G had a hand, now I have to see about finding a mini by Ironwind or some other source!
If you want to know what a "modernized" Swordsman would look like, look at the Davion Shadow Hawk, the SHD-2D and SHD-2D2. That's Davion's idea of a "Trooper" design for their lighter and faster forces, with the Centurion and Enforcer being the Trooper designs for their heavier, slower forces.
One thing I noticed in all of these designs is that they're all known for being reliable machines. Not really anything that stands out in the firepower or armor department, but it's reliable. Think of them as the Sherman tank of the Battlemech world.
Not saying I got my hands on a Swordsman built in the 3150s, but after my boys brought it back I took it for a ride before handing it to R&D...
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn There any truth to the rumor that the new Swordsman has a Sparrow 300J life support system like the Shadow Hawks have?
The 7D was an attempt to protect Enforcer pilots. Apparently, Capellans, Kuritans, and even Taurians had gotten very good at 'going for the head' of Enforcers (they had a much higher casulty rate than any other mech during the Victoria War). I am surprised you didn't mention it had a hand actuator in the left arm, and I would have thought having the 5th jump jet in the right torso would have made its jumps lopsided.
The Enforcer is simple and direct. Easy for beginners to learn on and still powerful enough for vets and commanders to appreciate. I am actually surprised there wasn't a RAC version in its history.
Jump Jets don't all have to be "pusher jets" all the time. Especially when the pilot does not go for the full jump each time, more jets can go towards stabilizing the mech or not be used to even them out. Though you're right, pushing the full range out of an uneven distribution of Jump Jets can make for a few shaky landings.
I enjoy all of Professor HeyTeeEn videos
I rock the 5D quite often in my merc command lance. It tends to get ignored, but I have never lost a match with it on the field
Probably my favorite trooper design.
In HBS BT I like to run it in the early game, adjusting the weapons slightly (AC10 down to a 5, LL up to a PPC) and bumping the armor significantly. Of course, HBS BT has wildly different construction rules, so that might not be viable outside of the tactical simulators.
That game is its own kind of broken. Ballistic weapons were buffed from small amounts(Ac-10 +20% damage), to big buffs(AC-5 +90% damage) to broken (AC-2 +150% damage).
Energy weapons on the other hand got large nerfs. Lasers didnt cause any kind of stability damage, and most Lasers had their heat generated raised. The PPCs are the only ones that did stability damage, and got their heat raised too.
I remember I didnt even use an Enforcer because oddly Blackjacks were so amazing, and you started the campaign with a Blackjack for free. They carried 2 overpowered AC-2s(heh), with 4 Medium Lasers as backup, and Jump Jets.
A Centurion would be way better too because you could make one with a lot of missiles. Some of those upgraded missile launchers would do amazing levels of Stability Damage.
HBS is a strange version of the game. It's not the worst, but a lot of balance issues in it.
ah the Enforcer it's always had a place in my Davion Battle Lance
It is a surprisingly good medium trooper, which I would use in a long of situations.
Not my favorite medium trooper, but definitely a solid choice. It gets better once you can slap an LB 10-X on it and get 2 tons of ammo.
I see it as the definitive trooper because all other troopers have to measure up to it.
I find it such a shame that so many variants and especially FedSun mech designs in general forego the LB 10-X in favour of the RAC/5.
@@Taurevanime whoa whoa whoa, there. You're sounding an awful lot like a Capellan, friend. How dare you besmirch the glorious name of RAC/5, the greatest AC/5 ever made? 🤣
@@WolfHreda As a FedRat I love the RAC/5, but its more a complaint that FASA and CGL especially have the "new toy" problem when it comes to making new variants. So plasma rifles for Liao, RAC/5s and re-engineered lasers for the FedSuns, Snub-nose PPCs for Kurita, etc.
This is where the Light PPC would be better then the Large Laser...
Large Laser has the advantage of not having a minimum range.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn Large Laser generates a LOT of heat, and the ER version is worse! The Light PPC only has 5 heat for 5 damage, plus you can add a medium laser to the Mech's torso for when the Enforcer's are get shot off. Watching Monty Python's Black Knight gag is funny, BEING the Black Knight in the gag ISN'T!
To me, the Enforcer makes me meh really hard. Whether tabletop or video game, it sits between not enough damage to kill but too much to ignore and not enough to survive but takes too much to kill. It's an annoying mech to fight or pilot so I guess it's doing it's job.
Here is the thing:
It's a good mech precisely for the reasons you stated.
The 5D really needs DHS to use that ER large Laser effectively and with the saved mass is using 10 DHS...Maybe add 2 medium lasers?
Any designer that puts an ER Large Laser on a mech and keeps the single heat sinks is a peanut of the highest magnitude.
I do agree with that. The thing is, by 3050, Double Heat Sinks were still not THAT common that not everything would have them.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEnthe annoying part is, the upgrade came out in *52*
We have a Spy that uses the Enforcer. He fails to capture the intelligence every time. Just wants to shoot his gun and not be stealthy.
If there is nobody left to report that something is there, it is stealthy :P
The Enforcer is so midline …it’d almost be considered an insult if it were any other mech…except the Enforcer is so damn solid you know exactly what it can and can’t do once you know how it’s armored and what it’s armored with.
It can reliably flatten most lights, effectively tangle with other mediums and slow down heavier mechs and survive long enough for reinforcements to get there.
And that’s it.
Professor, it would be great to see you do a comparison between the Enforcer and the Centurion. If the Fedsuns had one, why the other? It takes a lot to develop a chassis, seems like they could have just made a Centurion variant...
Centurion is a whole other idea, meant to serve as a support to the Trebuchet. I have to research it a bit more.
I enjoy the Enfield quite a lot, even made a stl model for it.
Enforcer itself is a bit too "generic robot man with gun arms" for my tastes.
The thing is, I think the Enforcer embodies the "generic robot man with gun arms" very well.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn Too well in my opinion
After talking about it I came to know the Enforcer has too many flaws for me to like.
Make it faster, replace the Autocannon with a long range missile launcher, and give it plenty of ammo.
My favorite medium mech of 3025 is the Griffin.
The 275 Mafia Trio are all great in different way, but the Enforcer's base role as a trooper makes it a good complement to them as well.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn Every other "Trooper" mech Ive heard of is defined as having Short-Medium-Long weapons in roughly equal measure. Vindicator, Centurion, Shadow Hawk, Thunderbolt, Orion, Zeus, Stalker, those are troopers.
The alternate way its said is just "medium Mechs" in general. According to the profiles the Enforcer, Centurion, and Trebuchet are the three main general mechs of the Federated Suns.
The Enforcer stands out because it has no long range firepower at all. Its more defined as a mid-range Cavalry(jump jet) mech.
Would you believe the Davions actually objected to having the AC10 replaced by a gauss rifle? Yeah, they *complained* about losing their autocannon when offered a *gauss rifle!*
Autocannons are reliable and trustworthy, especially in that 3039-3045 era.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of my cockpit suffering internal structure rather than being sheared clean off!
Yes, actually. Gauss rifles in the early days of IS use were good at blasting mechs, but they had little use against non-hardened targets. The AC 10 was a proven reliable weapon against anything hard or soft armored. The LBX-10 was even better since the flick of a switch would give a suitable ammo type. To the Feddy veterans, the gauss rifle was a bulky one-trick pony.
An excellent trooper, and generalist fighter but gets way over looked but honestly kinda deservedly so as time moves on and more medium design come out that are very specialized, but I think do a better job at supporting my heavier assets.
It's a great mid field flexible player, but I would never really say that it ever stole the show at any point. But I think that's where it shines. Supporting heavier assists either as a body blocker, or close range fire support
@@spacewolfblackmane19 good analysis on your end!
Watchman is more like slower Phoenix Hawk.
"Sociopathic individual", that's easy, anyone with the last name of Davion. I think the Enforcer would be better if it had a missile weapon mounted in the left torso instead of an energy weapon.
Centurion is a great trooper as well.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn Most definitely, tbh I like Trooper type mechs.
Tbf, the swordsman at 40 tons is almost as heavily armed as an shd, so it´s a smidgen better than it in that respect
It's the lack of mobility which impairs the Swordsman the most.
The Swordsman was an indication of better things to come.