Why Do We Love The Shrike?
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- Опубліковано 18 жов 2023
- Today we look at the Shrike, one of the Dark Age's most notorious Assault battlemechs.
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Dropbox Link to Shrike MF Record Sheet: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0j9k1h...
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Some imagery/video from Pixabay
#BattleTech #Mechwarrior #CatalystGameLabs #lore - Ігри
Malvina was such a great villain. I wish she had won the ilclan war on terra. She’s a bonafide psycho whereas Alaric just gives off a spoilt trust-fund baby vibe.
Alaric is just the sneanky sneak sort of psychopath. Malvina just owned it.
Oh yeah. You don't see many nuts like her!
@@MechanicalFrog Yeah, Alaric is the kind of incel that blames being single on chicks and not his own shit personality or inability to grow
tired boring psychopaths aren't intreasting and battletech needs to stop acting like they are
Didn't expect an ornithology tidbit. Also, I will never question why so many people name things, "Shrike." That bird is metal AF.
Never miss a teachable moment.
I feel dropping the engine down to a 350, and swapping both arms out for a gauss in each would make a God tier sniper
That would be fun.
I like the long range and mobility with the jump jets of the first Shirke. Mainly I like the idea of hitting your target then literally jumping away form there counterattack.
Tag... you're it!
I love basically all the Dark Age designs. It just makes every era so fresh.
They have a lot of character.
Decades after sneaking old re-runs of Solaris games into the Jade Falcon encampments, they hit pay dirt by getting the clanners to make meme-mechs that just want to jump on people's heads
I still like the Shrike though, its a big old badass
Black market holovids are not only banned and not true, and we are definiatly not looking for the last seasons of columbo at the moment (p. S. Go Kai!we love watching that guy)
Malvina Hazen's Shrike variant is the best one, if she was smarter and less megalomaniacal she'd have made it a standard variant.
Heh, possibly.
I have used a custom Shrike, and it was pretty good. 2 ERPPC, 4 ER Medium lasers, a watchdog CEWS and 20 DHS. It keeps the Targetting computer, although you do have to go to 18 tons of standard armor to make it all fit, though.
Yeah the problem on the Shrike is sometimes # of criticals rather than weight.
@@MechanicalFrog I really wish someone would do a stl of the Matt Plog redesign. He did the mech Justice (gyrfalcon, too!)
Put it in a Star of other Bird mechs and the Shrike shines as a support platform for the faster Jade Hawks and Eyries.
Just make sure to throw out plenty of seed so they don't squabble.
When a character regularly executes pilots and named characters via aimed headshots, you know you're reading about someone's special "OC do not steal" character. Anastasia Kerensky is another major culprit.
That out of the way, the Shrike 3 for some reason calls to me. Both the load out (I'd swap out the LRMs for heat sinks) and appearance.
Dropping even just one of the ER LLs in favor of heat sinks would be a big help with the Shrike III
@@MechanicalFrog True. Personally I tend to be okay with high heat in exchange for little or no ammo dependency when I'm in the cockpit like in MW5. Another example I'd pilot is dropping the LRM's on a Warhawk for more heat sinks.
On tabletop reducing the heat generation totally makes more sense.
My buddy Marco had a nasty Jade Falcon Dark Ages army. These Shrikes are scary good.
I'm glad to hear it did well even in the before-fore times.
Gotta love the evil twin of the Jade Phoenix. This video inspired me to cook up my own Shrike variant, and I thought it would be fun to go all in on on Clan Jade Falcon's newfound appreciation for melee combat. With talons and triple strength myomer, it can kick a leg clean off of most smaller mechs. Upgrading to improved jump jets helps it get within kicking range faster, and an XXL engine warms the mech up to make activating TSM easier. 2 each of ER large lasers, medium pulses, and ER small lasers can keep the mech at the right amount of heat while still threatening targets it can't quite catch up to. After all they've been through recently, I think we can all agree the falcons deserve a flying, clan-tech Berserker.
I did consider the TSM... could be quite fun.
When I was growing up, there was an animated TV series called The Animals of Farthing Wood. In one episode, there was a Shrike present known as "The Butcher Bird" (I think a nickname for the bird generally.) It featured adored cute animal characters dying impaled on trees by this bird.
That show taught our generation about community, friendship and that death is inevitable.
(Seriously, if you search for it on UA-cam, one of the top hits is a supercut of all the death scenes.)
Had an absolutely great theme tune admittedly, which is always in my head when this mech is in play.
Nature... gotta love it.
I have a soft spot for all JF Totem mechs and this is one of my favs. It's got its own form of deadliness in the same linage of the Gladiator. Don't forget this thing is not only a solid and very mobile sniper for an assault mech, but it's also dangerous in close. It's surprisingly elusive for such a big machine and can be quite surprising for many opponents!
It's sure memorable.
The Shrike's a good bit of kit, i'd still replace the dual UAC-5's with a HAG-20 though. Great vid as always!
Good choice!
As a Wolf Clanner, I normally view something like this with a wary eye. However, after enjoying Hour of the Wolf, I have come to respect and admire the 'Mechs with Partial Wings, beaked cockpits, and talons/claws. The Shrike, the Jade Hawk, Jade Phoenix, Gyrfalcon, Hierofalcon...And for miniatures, something like the "Trickster Talon," aka Hellbringer/Loki T sculpt by Polygon Masterworks has great beauty. I am surprised that you did not decide to do an MF variant with Plasma Cannons in the arms to try and overheat a target on route to catching the opponent with a Death from Above, kick, charge, or punch.
I wonder if Black Rose was taken as isorla, and rebuilt after the ilClan Trial resolved. And I also wonder if a video series is on the way where MechFrog builds a partial wing force of minis, and paints them...I would like to see that. 🦜
I'm trying to behave myself and not just put Plasma cannons/rifles on everything. :D
Being a 95-ton Assault from ilClan that is from Jade Falcon it's so far out of my wheelhouse that it is funny, but it was interesting to learn about anyway.
I am very happy to hear you're emboldened on fiction again, though!
Thanks for giving it a go. I'm working on an Inner Sphere mech next so everyone gets some attention.
Makes me suprised that the Raven alliance didn't try to bag a few for themselves
Maybe they can sneak out a few
I absolutely love the Shrike even though I am a Clan Wolf guy... It is an amazing mech which generally works well in my style of play which is hit them fast, hard and keep moving. It is a deadly Machine that should not be shunned, but fully embraced as a very aggressive Mech. Plus the metal miniature looks good too
Couldn't agree more!
The storing the food of the Shrike also helps with dissolving any toxins that might be in the bugs.
Just recently watched a short docu on it.
You version is nicely ammo independent AND comes with AMS, which is always a wise choice.
Aff. Form and function.
Every time I hear a Mechs alpha Strike damage, I "giggle in Nova Prime".
The only Mechs so far that have convinced me to try something else are the Loki II Prime and the Nova H.😢
Love the Shrike, an absolutely iconic mech. In my mind, it really should be up there with the Atlas and the Timber Wolf as one of the big mascot mechs, something later eras could certainly use. Love how it looks like a relatively solid design with some cool bird bits added on, especially the claws and wings, without being overbearing like some... other totem mechs *glares at Hells Horses and their pony mech* also the gun arm just looks so badass... sorry, just so much to love.
I am a little worried it may fond less usage thanks to association with Melvina, but at the same time, there were pilots like Archer Pryde who didn't care much for the Mongol Doctrine but loved the mech, even giving it a name... which I'll have to relisten to an audio book to remember, but it was a spanish name with starting with a T in Archer's case. Hopefully pilots like him can, for lack of a better word, redeem the design and keep.ot alive going forward.
Wonderful video, keep up the good work you amazing frog!
Thanks a lot! Hopefully, in time, Malvina's legacy will fade.
Thanks for the Shrike video. Recently got into the il-clan era and I have to say the mechs are gorgeous. Love the distinct look of them and ignoring any history of their users I can appreciate the mech for what it’s does.
I’ll have to do more comparisons between the Turkina and the Shrike though I can see them actually working very well together.
Star of Turkina, Rifleman IiC, both prime and MF Shrike and maybe a fire moth to provide a incentive to stay at range for the enemy would be a good assault lance…plus battle armor of course can’t forget them.
They do have the razzle dazzle... Consider the Ion Sparrow instead of the Fire Moth. It has the zoomies.
Well, assuming Malvina has used the weight to put in extra heat sinks then it makes sense that her personal ride worked well.😊
All is well in the world.
Interesting variant, kind of makes me think that your Shrike would be used for false flag attacks to blame the Falcons for attacks.
As for the Shrike itself, it is a 50/50 split on whether it will continue or not. For all we know, all production facilities that can make the Shrike will be diverted to the Jade Phoenix instead, equal mobility greater flexibility and 10 tons lighter. Slightly less gunned, but better cooled as well.
It's one of those designs that I can easily see being phased out by Jiyi's Falcons in favor of lighter or faster options.
It's interesting how folks malign the Clickytech era but LOVE a lot of the mechs that came from Wizkids.
It just didn't click with many people. Myself included.
@@MechanicalFrog I see what you did there...
No direct experience with the Shrike, but been playing with partial wings this MW5 playthrough and been really enjoying them kind of a game changer for the striker role much easier to get those rear arc shots.
Hard to deny the fun of near-flight.
Lss the shrike success is based around it being 95 tons that can make a 3 plus tmm and deliver accurate firepower with a satisfying amount of armor.
Good times had by all.
I do like how your Shrike MF is outfitted, better than the official variants. I'm not sure how my Shrike ISM would do, though, since I don't have Mega Mek. But I swapped the Laser Heat Sinks for Double Heat Sinks, and the loadout consists of a Plasma Rifle with 3 tons of ammo in the left arm, 2 Medium Re-Engineered Lasers - one in the left arm and one in the right torso, and an ATM-6 along with 1 ton of ammo in the CT, with 3 additional tons of ammo in the LT.
I don't know if it's better but it would be fun.
Let's try
LA Hag replaces dual ac 5s. Or a rotary ac 5 w precision ammo x2 ontop of normal ammo originally reserved.
CT gets 2 mpl
RT/LT gets large pulse laser
Missile launcher broken up into 2 LRM 5s for redundancy and weight savings.
Or ATM3s split to each torso.
Case 2 in torsos and LA.
Add in jump booster packs and drop 2 regular jjs.
The remaining Jump jets are upgraded to improved jjs.
Increasing jump distance by two hexes more.
If no booster, then add 4 variable pulsed vector thrusters to jj loadout.
Increased run walk speed and ability to change directions midjump is highly beneficial for an assault mech designed for CQ combat and to take advantage of DFA attacks. (Think rules give -2 to piloting rolls and DFA attacks as well as negating stabilty buildup that turn)
TSM and reinforced frame should have been considered in the Shrike.
As it will run hot.
It'd also benifit from spiked armor as both defensive and aggressive in nature.
Also scary as hell.
I can see battle armor stuck on spikes waving arms and legs to get free, even as the Shrike uses them as organic ablative armor.
A proper Death Shrike that would be. Neg?
Wow that member list is long happy to see that. Great video yet again
Every little bit helps.
Malvina no doubt cemented the Shrike into the psyche of both Sphere and Clans… but as a ‘Mech, removed from her legend, I prefer the Jade Phoenix that came only a short time later. 5 tons lighter, better heat management, and the A config… nothing beats the look on your opponents face when an assault ‘Mech carrying a UAC/20 just jumped 7 hexes to land in their rear arc. 😈
It's a big jumpy lunkhead.
Snub-Nosed PPCs are good, but Clan Large Pulse Lasers are just better-same damage, heat, and weight, longer range and better punch at range, and more accurate for the first 180 meters and just as accurate up to the 270 meters where the SN PPC shines. It's a shame we haven't gotten something like Heavy or Improved Snub PPCs, I worry that, like other Inner Sphere tech, they'll be abandoned as the Sphere swaps more and more to Clan-grade parts.
I enjoy the idea of the Snub-Nosed PPC. They may not be min-maxed but the idea of a PPC shotgun is fun.
@@MechanicalFrog I wish the rules had it keep the same range brackets, size, weight, and heat, but work like a cross between a Hyper-Assault Gauss and an SRM launcher, with 5 shots of 2 damage each, and a +1 on the cluster hits table at short range and -1 at long range. A PPC Capacitor could inceease each shot (and the damage groupings) from 2 to 3 damage.
Seeing 'Mechs like this one only reminds me that Battletech could use a Mechwarrior title set in the later eras. I have no doubt that IS and Clan Invasion eras are always the most well-known, but I do feel like I would want to see how these newer models behave and fight in a computer gaming setting.
It's the key to the success of CGL in the long run. If they want to sell people on the IlClan era, they need mechs and games asap.
Not a fan of the clans, but this is an interesting nech! Keep up the great work!!!
Thanks, will do!
Filthy freebirth
Similar thought. 3 LP Lasers, 2 ER MLasers, L-AMS, Nova CEWS, 15.5t Ferro, 18 DHS. (BV2 3402) not flashy, but no ammo and nearly continuous fire.
- for the psychoticly homicidal... swap the LP Lasers for ERPPCs (BV2 4026). again, no ammo, but likely to BBQ yourself if impetuous.
That'd be a nice BBQ indeed...
The MWDA mini for this one was awesome!
I don't love the snub nose PPCs on the MF version. But I Do think you're on to something. Taking yours as inspiration, i took the 3, stripped out the the PPCs for Large Pulse Lasers, replaced the ER Larges with Medium Pulse Lasers, left the lrms and targeting computer in there though. that left room for an ECM, an active probe (might as well give the slightly sneaking assault a way to find other sneaky mechs), a small pulse laser for infantry and, because i had the tonnage, a laser AMS. Its Alpha isn't The Greatest, but it can keep putting damage onto the enemy while jumping around forever. This variant also transitions into have ER PPCS fairly easily, though the heat would once again be its undoing.
I do recognize the Snub Nosed PPCs aren't ideal or even top tier. I just think they're neat.
It has been decreed that frog is also an official youtube channel for C JF 👏
We should carve it into a marble block or something...
@@MechanicalFrog or a mountain on Tamar gotta use those naval lasers for something
loved the megamech recap at the end
Always fun to run the tests...
I'm a big fan of the Shrike. If for no other reason, it's one of the few totem mechs that isn't utterly ridiculous. And you gotta give it to Hazen for a good custom work. Black Rose is a *nasty* piece of hardware.
The MF is, as always, a good idea worth chewing on. I'd take it out for a spin.
The MF isn't min/maxed but I do think it will be fun.
@@MechanicalFrog Min Maxes are boring!
Fun is the name of the game. Well, BattleTech is the name of the game but fun is still important... nevermind...
The guns are just there to give the pilot something to do until he can get into Death from Above range.
This is fair.
I remember having a JF Shrike model from the Clix game can't remember if it was Malvina Hazien or not but it was a nice model sadly it was lost with the other clix figures that were stolen during the move to my first apartment 😢
Boo... :(
Looking forward to your new Fan fiction .
Puttering away on it right now...
Good stuff. I know little about the totem mechs so this was very interesting👍
Glad you enjoyed!
I love totem mechs and I rate the design as a 85%. The CGL contracted artist will likely knock it out of the park. It just needs to feel tick enough to fit all the equipment. It would be amazing to get a star of mech all with totem theme with partial wings. Shirk, hierofalcon, ion sparrow, eyrie and gyrfalcon maybe but I do like the Jade hawk.
Very much looking forward to the re-working of their designs. The Ion Sparrow is a beast though. It doesn't need any work.
@@MechanicalFrog the ion sparrow was done by the current art team I think. It is a awesome little mech.
Aff. It's great.
Long fan of the Eyrie, Gyrfalcon, Jade Hawk and Shrike designs, garrish as they are (and still prefer the new 'totems' more), but have been working on my own customs to alleviate their Dark Age design issues (and update to Omnis). Overall solid 'Mechs though, flaws and all.
They're quirky and I love em.
We really do have the same taste in mech weapons. Tasty variant!
It may not be min-maxed but it is fun.
@@MechanicalFrog Eh, fun is the min-max of games. I like to keep it competent, but beyond that fun is the point. No AC 2s and we’re in good shape. 🤣
New Explorer Corps 2: Return of Vasyl!!
Placed into a protomech and rendered a BattleTech version of a Dreadnaught.
Good video. I like the Shrike mainly, even if im not a fan of the UAC5s. Find 2 more tons of ammo and the Shrike 2 would be my favorite version! As a Legacy fan anything with twin UAC10s are my jam! 😁 the LRM 10 feels like wasted tonnage to me... I dont like taking LRMs under 15, so maybe swap it out for an SRM6 to support the Medium Lasers?? Im not worried about long range fire. The to-hit numbers are unreliable anyway and i use cover snd speed to close in to medium and short range as fast as i can. So give me concentrated close in punch any day. 😊👍
The LRM10 does feel like an afterthought.
Not the most exciting clan assault by a long shot, but it does seem like it shouldn't be too expensive to maintain and replace. At least in regards to the prime weaponry.
It just works. A ringing endorsement these days.
Reminds me of the Jade Hawk, neat.
Yep yep!
Nice video as allways.
The Design of that Mech looks more like an Elemental or Proto Mech Design, build up to the Height and Tonnage of an actual mech with some extra Weapons.
Strange, The ER-PPC should be lighter than the UAC/5 + ammo. So there would be some tonnage for some extra Double Heat Sinks I think to counter the massive heat problem. Or am I wrong?
Also... are the LRM Hard Builded in or could they be switched with other Missle Systems?
Because, maybe it would be wise to switch the LRM 10 with an Variable Missle System.
One last thing to your IIC Videos: I couldn't find the Atlas IIC in your Uploads.
Have I missed it or hasn't it been done yet?
Edit: Okay, Sarna says: Ultra AC 5 have 7 tons + ammonition, ER PPC have 6 and no ammonition.
So there were extra tonnage open for more Heatsinks. Maybe not enough to cool down the ER PPC and L.Laser Heat.
Only thing that I can think of that this wasn't part of that config would be an space Issue... or it simply wasn't mentioned in your video. :D
Keeping the ER LL really hurts the Shrike III. Dropping one of them and adding heat sinks would have made a world of difference. The downside is figuring out where to cram them because the shortfall on this mech is open critical spots, not weight.
While we are doing bird mechs, i assume the War Crow will be soon Quiaff?
We may have to take a look at it.
@@MechanicalFrog I like the design, but I have to drop the Ferro Lamellar armor. I find it lackluster and prefer good old tried and true Ferro Fibrous.
My only interaction with the Shrike was through ClickyTech.
And you're only slightly traumatized. Nice!
@@MechanicalFrogYeah, I'm too busy working through what my parents did to me as a child to lose my sanity to something else.
The bird mech is the word mech.
w3rd.
When I see one of these, the first thing I think is "Not the reeducation camps!" 🤣
Uh oh...
The correct answer to the question of Shrike vs Turkina is to mix a Star of them.
"Why not both!?" - Taco Commercial Philosopher
Man, I love story time 😂
"Soon"
Shrike and Blade were the First "Dark Age" Battle mechs i visualy saw and those outside Amo feeder just made me shuder, I mean an drunken service man with a PPC rifle could coock of the Hole Amunition.
Rule of cool.
@@MechanicalFrog Ilol now i hear the clan technitian with the voice of Tex from the black Pants Legion "You know what those warrior cast fucks need? Outside amo feeders because F*** it thats why!"
Winning with less than top tier design means you're a better warrior. There, everyone is happy.
Let's call it revengineering for the warriors being such jerks, especially when you're a Falcon technician.
*red tailed hawk sound*
"caww..."
Any chance of covering the Flamberge? The precursor to all the Jade Falcon angry birds
That may be on a certain list around here...
Hmm I would like to put this up to my Custom Mech that is 75 tons that also use The wing system and the Clan XXL engine. all the weapons are in the arms and the cockpit is mounted in the CT.
That sounds... interesting.
@@MechanicalFrog Also it's an omni mech. ^_~
I own one and roll it out with a pair of Flamberges , a Gyrfalcon and an Eyrie .
I dont know about it if im honest while the jump for a 95 tonner is impressive and the TC is nice to balance the jump penalty the firepower is a bit meh feels like you're only contributing a bit of chip damage .
The investment in the JJ and partial wing can feel more painful sometimes.
@@MechanicalFrog love them on the Gyrfalcon and Eyrie but on this I dunno . I'm keen to fill out my Jade Falcon PW and JJ mechs and see how they go
Fly...FLY!
Aside from the mf, what is your favorite shrike, i had a hard time choosing last week during my game so i just ran an Onager instead
Going to have to go with the Shrike 3. Just for the ER PPCs.
Since I'm not so up to date on the rules, once you start taking damage to the Partial Wing, how bad does it start to effect movement and heat disapation?
@gregdomenico1891 I'm pretty sure that you take a critical to it, it just stops working.
There's no specific mention of partial damage in the TacOps sourcebook, therefore any critical hit disables the entire system.
Thanks you two. I was just wondering, since those wings make a pretty big target.
@@gregdomenico1891 One thing to note (that you probably already know), Partial wings don't make you any easier to hit by having them on your mech. They take up critical slots in your side torsos, so a crit to one of those spots is what disables them. In other words, they function like basically any other piece of equipment.
So it wasn't named that because the jade falcon pilots were fan-girling over it when they first saw it? What a let down...😉
There might have been a little bit of that.
@@MechanicalFrog and a lot of that for malvina's personal one.
Do those Green Katana Chicken weirdos respect anything besides themselves?
No.
Can we get a Maelstrom video?
It's on the list
Sneaky-sneak? Does this mean Mech-Frog is a fan of GUP?
I don't know what that is.
@@MechanicalFrog Girls Und Panzer. It's an anime that is both stupid and awesome at the same time (like a lot of anime actually).
In the first battle the main character launches "Operation: Sneaky Sneak" so I thought you were making a reference to that.
Oh! Yes we love it in this house. I forgot it was from that.
FYI it is pronounced 'Onajer' with the "soft" g sounding like a j.
**Frown**
Bird up
Squawk.
Jade Phoenix When?
Soon, but I have to space out the Jade Falcon mechs so others aren't too left out.
@@MechanicalFrog Figured that much cant wait I've been trying to recreate it in Mechwarrior as much as possible.
The bird look kind of ruined it for me.
Maybe a bear theme soon?
Its a cute little birdie.
Adorable spikey-bird.