I've found much success in 3025 games taking inferno srms and smoke lrms and treating the shadow hawk as a support mech instead of a brawler or calvary unit
@MilitaryStyx IMO, specialty autocannon ammo not being available in 3025 is a huge oversight and would do a lot to make some Succession Wars-era designs a lot more effective.
the problem with the shadow hawk is that it takes the setting in ernest- it's a design that makes sense in a world where mechs are rare, ancestral machines: it has enough mobility to get anywhere it needs to, the ac/5 is more than enough to deal with most non-mech vehicles and vtols and it's other weapons are good against infantry and light vehicles. it has so many heat sinks in order to prevent the pilot from damaging an irreplaceable piece of kit.
It's a medium tank. They make incredibly good sense IRL. They're ALWAYS useful as hell. But as soon as you put them into tabletop and video games dominated by heavy tanks... You get let down a bit.
The biggest problem is that the AC5 is incredibly inefficient as a weapon damage to weight under base rules. If you drop the AC5 to an AC2, (still a bad weapon but has a niche as as extreme range) and drop a heat sink then replace that weight with an extra lrm5 launcher and an extra medium laser it's still lightly armed at any range but not laughably so. You're also also upping your maximum damage at any given range and keeping your average the same. There's places where you're actually equally dangerous to other common 55 ton mechs of the period. Close range damage goes up to 12 from 7ish long range goes up to 12 from 10, at weird ranges from 8-15 you need to manage heat a bit but not much. You're still ammo heavy but you might actually have the ability to at least burn through all your lrm ammo, are mobile enough that you can possibly get to do that. You also aren't asking for a wasp to close with you because he's got equal guns in close.
I understand it has its serious shortfalls, but the Shadow Hawk will always have my heart from the time I managed to use that LRM system to blow off one of my dad's Hunchback's legs, then proceeded to jump and land on the poor thing as a mercy kill. Never gets old.
I have a soft spot for the Shadow Hawk 2H. A superbly versatile and capable in-universe design, let down by the mechanics of the tabletop game. A walking testament to the fact that one can be *too* much of a jack-of-all-trades. I have a minor refit I love doing on any SHD-2H's; take out the jump jets and two heat sinks, then add in a second LRM-5, upgrade the SRM-2 to an SRM-4, and add a half-ton of armor. You get a decent ranged combatant and skirmisher, while also letting it fight a little better up close.
The original 2H was lauded by it's fans as a "Jack-of-all-trades." But it's critics pointed out (quite rightly IMO) that it couldn't do any specific role well. The weaponry, while varied, did not pack much of a punch. The jump jets were insufficient to maneuver the mech very far. It did have good armor, but then so did most other medium mechs in that weight class. And ammo consumption was an issue in prolonged engagements. Now, once the "upgrade kits" (courtesy of the Helm Star League core) became available, then we started to see some impressive variants.
I love the clanbuster variant, the SHD-2Ht. It always misses its lasers, but it hits well with its 5 SRM-2s. My play group calls it the “Terror of Tukayyid” lol.
5 Streak 2s were even more terrifying back when ONLY 2-tubes could load inferno, and you could have Streak-Inferno. (This is why all the elemental busters had Streak2s, they were meant to be loaded with Inferno before the rules change.) Allegedly, I wasn't playing back then.
That opening bit is awesome because it gives a bit of in universe information about the mech. They have some of the strongest grasping actuators in their weight class of medium mechs. Grabbing a structural steel beam and using it as a weapon is right in line with what they could do.
The Comstar variant that uses Medium laser and Streak 2s with a TC to kill Elementals was amazing. So effective the clanners thought every SH was that variant and avoided them.
@@MKmaki6094 In HBS the AC-5 deals the equivalent of 9 Tabletop damage (And the 2 deals 5) Plus knockdown is focused on ballistic and missile hits with lasers not contributing and PPCs only contributing a little. So now the AC-5 is actually competitive with the Large laser, doing more damage, at longer range, for less heat. Before it was less damage, more range, less heat, not nearly enough to justify the extra 3 tons of weight. Something like 90% of the time a LL and 3 heatsinks is the better choice. Oh and pilot skills let you ignore the small minimum range penalty relatively early in HBS.
"If I missed your favorite, attribute it to deliberate malice..." I'll do just that, but I won't blame you. My favorite remains the SDH-X2 LAM. Mechs don't have to be good to be fun. ;)
The shadowhawk has always been my favourite mech, was the first one i really gravitated too with not much direct reason. As ive recently bought into the tabletop, i have started to gather why its a lot more disappointing within the world of other players. I am surprised and happy though to see it have as many other fans via the comments as it does, since for the most part everyone ive spoken to about it, before i even looked at the TT side and purely from a gameplay side, always seems surprised or confused that it would be my preferred mech. I have personally gone through many versions of it, yet to settle on what i would call "my hawk build", but now having played MW5, MWO and HBS battletech, the slight variations within the games start to stand out much more with my nascent TT knowledge. Things like, depending on game and opinion, the jump jets or the extra 1-2 heatsinks (as some only set you for 10 free ones, the rest you gotta pay the weight for) are unnecessary, and with many builds it still rarely gains much in the way of heat. Even the base variant is heat neutral while jump-jetting and firing every single weapon at once (i believe as my math puts it all at 11 heat generated with 12 heatsinks) which is an incredibly difficult situation to have occur just right due to the various ranges of everything. The other aspects of how you add the massive levels of tech from the 3010s to the current time period, or how light and XL engines are handled, if they are universal options in the first place, greatly change how you can use a mech such as this. For me though, i think this is really where the love comes from, its something that feels like it needs to be improved, but there are limits, downsides and upsides to each choice, and there is very rarely a definitively correct or generally better way to build it. This i think lends to those that want something that is flexible, and able to be tinkered with and with its core design, able to work within a variety of roles and builds until one can find the thing that makes it feel just right for them.
My favorite Hawk is the SHD-2Ht. The design Comstar used on Tukayyid. 5/8/5 move, standard engine, same armour but 10 double heat sinks. A large laser in the left torso and a medium laser in each arm. 5 streak SRM2 in the right torso sharing 1 tonne of ammo protected by case. Unless several SRMs hit you are heat neutral but that's fine. Always shoot everything. If the SRMs miss no heat. If they hit it's 2 heat for 4 damage. I take that. Also, people always underestimate the Shadowhawk so you might catch them off guard.
Agree. The 2H is WAY to allovertheplace. It is decrnt Lance role filler if someone lack a range bracker or need a PUNCHY mech that can hit above its weight class and can jump decently!
I just joined the battletech community with the AGoAC box. First game i played with my buddy, i had the Shadowhawk. My friend took the Awesome as his Assault of choice. Anyway, my Battlelmaster did 16 points of damage to the Awesome, (10 poijts to the head) and next activation my Shadowhawk missed with everything but the SRM2. TAC with both missles, 2 crists to the engine. He failed his pilot check for taking 20 points of damage in a round, fell over and crumped his head, killing the pilot. So anyway, the Shadowhawk now has a special place in my heart.
Woooop! Thanks!! My fav of the 55 ton siblings, the middle " brother/ sister " 😄 And the taller lefty side friend of Hunchback! Generalist? Sure some variants, some specialists too. Might not be as " tough " as the Wolverine, but the Shawk can really brawl and punch HARD for its weight, if weapon loadout isnt optimal! Can be a decent jumper to with arguably more guns than the Griffin. I dont like that the Shadow Hawk IIc went away with the left side shoulder hardpoint though. Basically. If lacking weapon hardpoints, make the Shawk faster, tougher, jumpier and focus on melee enhancements and if spare room, add a ranged gun or two!
Pulling those two unneeded heat sinks and replacing the weight with a left arm medium laser and two more jump jets makes such a big improvement it's not even funny. It might even be worth it to pull the SRM 2 and ammo and put it all into armor.
The first time i had any actual fun with a Shadowhawk, was in the 3050 TRO. That is a beast of a Shadowhawk! Of course, the XL engine made it fragile, but did what it was supposed to do, as a mech.
@@MechanicalFrog I'm currently running one in a Cavalry Level II that is pretty decent and simple. Standard Engine. 5/8/5 Endo Steel CASE 9.5 tons Ferro Fibrous Armor UAC/10 w/ 3 tons ammo RT MD X-Pulse Laser LA 10 Double Heat Sinks. It's a little over sinked, but that lets it upgrade to energy weapons if I decide to change it up ... Or I can jump and alpha without worrying about heat.
The Shadowhawk is in competition with the Crusader for my most personal 3025 variants. One variant I'll call the 'AB-1A', pulls out the Autocannon, SRM 2, and LRM 5. A PPC replaces the Autocannon, an SRM 4 replacing the SRM 2, a second medium Laser for the left arm, 2 more jump jets plus two extra tons of armor, for a total of 11.5 tons. This beast is a great sniper and brawler while improving the machine's maneuverability. I've taken down heavies with this variant. The 'AB-2B' is more of a support machine, replacing the LRM 5, SRM 2 and medium laser with a single right arm mounted Large Laser and 2 more jump Jets. Finally the '2C' variant replaces the auto cannon with a large Laser, the SRM 2 with a second LRM 5, and added 2 more jump Jets, an extra ton of armor and 2 more heat sinks. It's a solid competitor to the Griffin trading some ammo and alpha strike capability for added short ranged firepower, heat dissipation and armor. Thoughts? By the way, I really like the MF variant.
Literally every mech is improved by exchanging any ballistic for just about any energy weapon. Gauss is literally the only viable ballistic weapon. Desperately wish they’d do… just something about that. Either make ammo far more generous, lower weights on all ballistics, both, idk. Anything to make them something other than actively harmful to the mech they’re on
I have a fondness for the old SHD, you just fire everything all the time and hope it works out. I like the mini-battlemaster style configuration for variants, and the Clan version where the ERML comes and saves the whole build... surprising what you can sort out with barely-not-a-Large-Laser for just 1 ton
For those tinkering on the SHD-6D and puzzled about how it doesn't _quite_ all fit: the cockpit mounts Improved One-Shot srm-2, which weighs one tonne less than a One Shot streak srm-2.
Been a bit now, but I seem to recall in HBS Battletech, it was unexpectedly good at melee for some reason and filled a niche for vehicle stomping for me. In regular AGoAC… not so special.
Then make it special! Its not the most fancy or specialised mech but its a solid, trustworthy role filler one! Its always there for you, backing you up in the shadows😶🌫️🥷😎
A favorite late age refit of mine is used by a periphery mercenary force which relies on durable, low tech components to keep maintenance costs low. Its most advanced piece of equipment is a light fusion engine, a piece which is relatively low maintenance compared to XLs yet still offers an improvement over aging standard fusion engines. Its jump jets and excess heat sinks have been removed and its armor thickened, although it's still standard armor. The AC-5 has been replaced with an LBX-10, both of its missile launchers are removed for a single MML-5, and it's right arm carries two machine guns. It carries two tons of ammo each for the autocannon and missile launcher. It's not especially impressive for the Era, but it's a dependable jack-of-all-trades that keeps the spirit of the original while fitting into the lore for the group that created it.
I agree its too generalist. I see the Shawk as the glue in units with more specialized mechs. Again some SH variants do are specialist. Like the kuritan ppc one. But the lack of weapon hardpoint... OOF! Well, just have the peppsi or large laser ( ER preferrably ) and add more armor and punchy enhancements!
The Shadowhawk has always played way better for me than it should by looking at it on paper. I once killed a 3050 Victor with my character's 3025 stock Shadowhawk in a 1st edition Mechwarrior campaign in the fall of 1990. It won my respect and love going forward from that point. That was my first battle in one after that character lost his Thunderbolt.
One of the first things I did in HBS was yank the SRM2 and ammo for another ML and some armor. I kind of like the RAC version, I might just try it out. And the MF looks pretty solid, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Streak systems ( I like my specialist ammo too much on regular SRM's).
A few years ago I created two variants of the SHD that I called the Dark Hawk. I stripped all of the ammunition fed weapons and replace them right in one version, with a large laser on the right arm and 2 more medium lasers in the left arm and both torsos. The second variant adds a ppc instead of the large laser. The remaining tonnage is used for heat sinks and armor.
In my current modded HBS BT run through or SH was our "heavy" for much of the run, it is only now as we hit the assalts phase that it is eclipsed. That said as it is a generalist, it can be difficult to choose what roll to have it fill. For a but my brother had it running dual UAC 5s.
The Shadow Hawk 2H is a mech that need to be customised in some way. Either by tweaking the loadout to fit the desired purpose better, or by using alternitive ammo for the missiles and AC. I personally like to strip two heat sinks in favor of of two more jumpjets and another laser for the other arm. It's a very simple refit.
Scouting mode in MWO made me enjoy the mech much more than I think was lore appropriate but I think that's kind of the charm, I feel like everyone at some point thought what if I dropped the srms or the lrms... than I could...
I did two 3025 refits when I played 30 years ago. One was a straight swap of the AC/5 for a PPC and two extra heatsinks, which was straight tonnage and crit swap, for an easy field refit. The SRM-2 usually got either smoke or inferno loads. The other was an odd-ball long range sniper/harasser with the SRM-2 removed, the AC/5 downgraded to an AC/2 and the right arm laser upgraded to a Large.
I fell in love with the Shadow Hawk after Mechwarrior. That's Mechwarrior 1, the original DOS game. It was a good medium that could take on the heavies with proper use of jump jets. Played right on the tabletop, it still is.
Playing BattleTech Extended rn. Gave Shadow Hawk the same loadout as Hunchback. I didn't expect that you can fit AC20 on 5/8 Succession era mech. Made the same loadout in Mech Factory and it actually fits.
I use the 5S heavily as a deep range harasser / raider and artillery spotter behind enemy lines. Using the .5 tons as a sleeper, like in a semi, for the pilot(s) who hot bunk allowing 24hr operation of the mech.
3050 Full Clan Tech Rebuild SHD-7A. 5/8/5, endo-steel, 9.5 tons of clanner fero-fiberous, XL+DHS, standard cockpit and gyro leaving 26.5 tons of pod space. PRIME: twin U/AC-5's with a ton of ammo each (R/LT), twin LRM-10's with a ton of ammo each (R/LT), twin ERML's one in each arm, and emotional support ersl in the h, and an extra DHS. AltConfig A: twin LPL (R/LT), twin MPL (R/LA), Twin Streak SRM-6 with a ton of ammo each (R/LT), two extra DHS, and the ever lovable ersl in the head
@@MechanicalFrogI was going to do an U/ac-10 LB-10x version, but I work 70+ hours a week and haven't gotten to it. also a SERIOUS Lack of setting stuff on fire, so I doubt mini-frog would be all that interested
in just messing around with megamek, if upgrading the 2H I'd just knock the jump jets and SRM-2 out, and add a medium laser to the other arm and an extra LRM-5, it also gains 1/2 ton of armor, say its a command/light fire support mech. command with a side of sniper, or just remove everything except the jump and the medium laser and add a AC10, and 2 tons of ammo, or just have 10 shots and 2 medium lasers.
@@MechanicalFrogI also did an alt take on the MF variant, clan gauss rifle with 2 tons ammo, SRM4 with 1 ton, and 2 ER medium lasers(1 in each arm), and a ER small in the right arm to shoot birds, all ammo in the right torso protected by clan case II
I'm loving the mod for 3062. Ended up getting a shadow hawk right away. Right now it's set up with ENDO Ferris 1 er ppc. 1 lrm 20 and a mortar 2. I pit double heatsinks and a xl engine. It's great for mountains. Just pop up get line of sight do a alpha strike and jump away. Or just fire from cover. I'm loving the air burst and inferno round for the mortar. Though I'm sure at some point an angry Beat is going to show up and ask why I keep burning the forests down.
It's like any other 55 tonner, lots of potential. That weight class seems to be the sweet spot for any era as those mechs can be armed with anything. The K is one of my favorites from 3025, just needs to keep the medium laser so you don't have to change the mini.
I started off into the Battletech Universe with the Gray Death Trilogy, so I was a Shadow Hawk fanboy. When I found it to be a bit lacking sometimes, I tried to develop my own upgrade and tried to pilot that when we started playing the Mechwarrior RPG back then. The SHD-2M (my first name starts with a M...) removed the AC/5 and invested the 9 tons into a Large Laser (LT), a Medium Laser (LA), 2 additional Jump Jets and 2 additional Heat Sinks. I never really got the chance to test it out because my groups protested against the use in Tabletop and my GM didn't let me start with or loot a Shadow Hawk to modify, sadly...
I've always been a fan of the Shadow Hawk as it was the mechbthat survived most early battles in HBS. I often swapped the AC5 with an AC10. It's an iconic mech and the shoulder AC is just too cool looking.
Kinda want to make one thats just pure laser lightshow. Maybe a Large laser instead of the auto cannon and medium lasers + extra heatsinks instead of the missiles?
"Designed by committee" - definitely has that vibe. Much more from the Bradley Fighting Vehicle / F-35 / Blackhawk Swiss Army Knife school than min/max A-10 unitasker. It might not be ideal for anywhere but it can operate everywhere - an original G.I. compared specialists from the 80s G.I. Joe.
"If I miss your favorite, attribute it to deliberate malice on my part." Reverse Hanlon's Razor. MF isn't an idiot, he's just a jerk. Seriously, though, I just recently discovered this channel upon getting back into the Battletech universe after a long time away from it's special flavor of glorious nonsense. I'm still checking out the various content creators in this fandom, but I specifically checked you out after hearing Tex from the Black Pants Legion speak highly of you. I've been listening to a bunch of these rundowns as background entertainment while doing the less cerebrally intensive tasks I have at work for the past week. Thank you for the material and please keep it up.
one of the mechs i most love, mostly for being the fastest of the biggest things to regularly hunt pirates. I really want to make a small story about some half isolated periphery state that took the early Davion version and bought production rights for it. The idea being to call it the berserker and pair an XL engine with high strength molymer. Dumping the LRMs in favor of an SRM 6 in the side torso and SRM 4 in the head and using a UAC 5 in the opposite torso. I don't know/haven't tested whether it'll all fit with small lasers paired with the mediums in the arms or if enough eight is saved to use 2 tons of ammo for each weapon system but i could see it having VASTLY different loadouts with different production runs. Swapping to LRMs, using an AC 4 or a standard engine, cramming in some IS large lasers or clan med pulse to run extra hot. I could see it being handed out as a bounty reward for anyone hunting notable pirates and being very useful across alot of different formations
I always imagined the SH to be the ultimate Level 2 training mech. Like baby's first mech is going to be Locust or something similar. After a month in that without running into a wall, you get to ride a Shadow Hawk. I mean it has one of everything and it jumps. Plus the super user friendly cockpit. But yeah, it is not a great fighter.
I always used the shadow hawk as a general supplement to other units. Add to the LRM volume. Fire support for the scout and mobile flanker for the brawlers
I still have a soft spot for it. My favorite variant is definitely the 8L. Guardian ECM, Beagle Active Probe, Medium VSP, Plasma Rifle, and an MML5 on a 5/8/7 makes it very versatile mech for a little over 1500BV
Ok what I've done is some what silly. Swap the everything but the Medium laser for two LRM-10 packs and a ton of ammo each and two more Medium lasers. Now you have a 15 ton fatter Whitworth that's faster and has hands and a ton more armor. Still better then a Rifleman. Now how I make my Shadow Hawk for like the FedCom Civil War, 3060+ish, PPC on the LT shoulder, LRM-10 for the 5 pack w/2 tons of ammo, upgrade the SRM-2 for a SSRM-4, the medium laser still there, 10 DSHS, 9 tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor & Endo Steel.
I did kinda the same thing in HBS BT: 2 LRM 10's, only 2 ML, 3 tons of ammo. More survivability than the Trebuchet, and could stay in the fight longer with more ammo and better heat management.
I love the Shadow hawk 2H always turned it in to a fast moving Brawler in MWO (300 XL, AC10, 2 SRM 4 and the medium laser and the jumpjets. it was moving at 97 km/h), always made it my commander mech in BT 2018 early on trying to up the AC5 to a 10
There are some genuinely good shadow hawk sheets out there. A couple with heavy PPCs for instance, and the royal with an lbx 10. I think my favorite is the 9D which has a light ac/5, medium pulse, 2x mml-5, a c3 slave and tarcomp. In a c3 force it's obviously viable, but even outside of one it's a good little cavalry mech capable of taking almighty precision ammo.
In my opinion, the Shadowhawk shines when its pilot tweaks it and makes their own. The base model of the 5H(? I’m still memorizing the variants) is indeed a good all rounder with enough armor to survive. The next few…not so much, resting the laurels on the performance of the 5H way too much. While it encompasses the concept of the medium tank. The Shadowhawk needs to be specialized, much to the chagrin of its generalist design. In my opinion, drop the LRM down to an MRM. Keeping the Shadowhawk in its Medium Range specialization. The AC/5 is fine. It’s the bread and butter. But it will now have more shots due to allowing for additional tonnage of AC/5 ammo having more room due to the lighter missile battery. And then 2 medium lasers for backup weapons when the missiles and autocannon ammo run dry. The ShadowHawk’s design is iconic in my opinion. And it is a real shame due to its lacking performance history with a chunk of its variants. One last off hand comment. Why in the world did they double up on LRM5s??? They could have easily fit an LRM 10 instead.
I seem to recall some background fluff that when the 2K debuted during the Second Succession War it was equipped with the last of the Combine's ER PPCs. It was supposed to be a mobile long-range sniper and avoid engagement as much as possible to preserve that now irreplaceable weapon. As time went on wear and tear took its toll a standard PPC replaced the now lostech item but the extra heatsinks remained in place.
It's the hero's mech (combat armor) in the Fang of the Sun Dougram anime. It has the appeal of a movie star there. Its Battletech stats often don't do it justice.
HBS Battletech was my first introduction into this franchise, Shadow Hawk is one of the two starting medium in the campaign. Back then I was new to the game , the Shawk alwayss the last mech standing and completing mission even with half of its torsor and one leg got blown off. Now I mostly play with BTA3062 mod, I always try to turn the SHawk (if i ever get one) into a murder machine it deserves to be. Yeah i always like the SHD, even if it kinda bad.
I used a 2K in my early years of Battletech with arms of a 2D (medium laser in each arm) and the LRM 5 replaced with an SRM 4 Rack and a ton of ammo in the RT with 2 extra jump jets giving it full jump of 5, 3 heat sinks were removed (down to 14) with the PPC kept in the LT and keeping the 9.5 tons of armour and it works well as a command/support Mech with minimal heat build up (long before I knew about the 5D)
I actually like the standard Shadow Hawk, though I also like modding it slightly in MW5. As usual, I have my own variant. The SHD-5S-ISM is a mixed tech variant that relies on Clan tech for weight and space savings. Retaining the 6/9/5 movement profile of the 5S, it uses a Clan XL engine, Clan endo steel, and Clan DHS, though one is dropped. It carries 12 tons of IS stealth armor, powered by an IS Guardian ECM. It retains the head mounted .5 ton cargo bay, but mounts a Clan Active Probe in the CT, a Plasma Rifle with 2 tons of ammo in the left torso, and a Medium Re-Engineered Laser in each arm. As this is a fanon design, it was built jointly by the Capellans and the Canopians.
The baseline Shadowhawk SHD-2H is the epitome of the "do it all" soldier mech. It does everything. It does nothing particularly well. But it does it consistently, at all times. Now, its weapon loadout is suboptimal. It doesn't do good damage at any range bracket. It can't really outfight most of its peers. So what's the appeal? Well... It is a learning tool, the way I see it. You can play around with every type of weapon, learn what they do, how they do, all the while jumping around like crazy and never worrying about heat. Will it be effective? Not really that much, not on its own. But I feel like this thing is a mech designed to be placed in a uniform formation. A lance of 4 Shadowhawks suddenly... starts looking a bit scary. You have 4 autocannons, 4 lasers, 4 LRM racks and 4 SRM racks. If they are coordinated, that is not a bad firepower. And you know, you won't cripple such a lance easily, like you will a lance of specialised mechs. For example, if you lose this one Trebuchet that was harrassing the enemy at long range, that is likely all your substantial ranged firepower just gone. You loose one Shadowhawk in uniform formation? Nobody sane will cry about it. That is only a single quarter of what you can dish out, three more remain.
I use a modified Shadowhawk Pull lrm 5 and the srm2 replace with mml9 or mml3 in headcand mml5 in RT 2' tons ammo cased. Srms ammo is usually infernos or acid. Ac5 pulled and replaced with 2 light ppcs and a TC Armor Clan FF to save more weight. JJs improved to get 5 vs 3 jump profile. Keep 275:std fusion engine cause the 275 mafia said there'd be problems if I changed it. 12 Dhs installed. And one coolshot to allow for an alpha strike and exfil at full speed. 2 clan er sm pulses in RA And 4 clan flamer, 1 in LA, each leg and one CT facing the rear. Myomer changed to TSM to boost both walk speed and punch/kick capabilities. To stay in "zone" mechwarriors often would fire flamer in legs and CT during jumps making mech seem to lift on wings of fire. Very impressive, but not conducive to not being a primary target in combat. The leg and ct flamers often come as a huge surprise to infantry and armor thinking it was an easy mech to swarm. My clan version had a different approach... RA lg clan pulse, LA medium clan pulse, head clan sm pulse. 275 light clan w 13 DHS Clan light probe, clan ff and ecm/stealth baffles 10.5 tons gives ecm lvl 2 effect for mech itself Clan TC LT gets Clan light mg array x4 x 2 and ton AP and ton tracer/incindiary (+1 to hit +1 heat to target) RT gets clan lrm10 and 2 tons ammo. Case is there from clan armor. Baffles when engaged route waste heat through to feet while allowing air to mix with it t reduce IR/heat sig. The double lmg array comes as a surprise to many who don't see traditional ac over the shoulder and close in. Only leaving them to wonder where all their armor went. Any battle armor or infantry that gets close is going to evaporate quickly.
I see there wasn't a mention of the SHD-2Ht. I choose to believe you're saving it for an excellent "Why do we love the Clanbusters" video. Looking forward to it mate.
@@MechanicalFrog Or was it the minute string pulling of a shadowy telecom company forcing us down a timeline where the above mentioned Clanbuster video can happen. Blakes blessing friend.
For me its the epic redesign by Piranha games, those claws. Also as a pilot that high ballistic mount and 55tons gives it that sweet platform for AC20, Gauss platform that the Wolverines cant do. My players didnt encounter one in my campaign so I'll see if the ammo placement will be a problem. Cheers
I love this mech in the mechwarrior games because the shoulder gun is great for sniping and firing from cover. That mixed with jump jets make it strong, I have one in MW5 with 2 heavy rifles in the shoulder and both guns firing at once would blow the head off most mechs which helped alot with salvage in the early game. In BTA 3062 I like to give it a rac 5 and medium medium pulse lasers with a TSM equipped for melee fights.
In MW5 Mercs I found it kinda easy to make them into a monster on par with their 55ton brothers, and while experimenting, it's similar to the Assassin in a way, at least in Console MW mercs. Working with the weapon slots they give you can be a little ok, but its rough, and goofy for me at least. In both cases just to explain, Asassin and, more importantly the Shadow Hawk: I adjust them in a way I prefer mostly with changing the Lrm to another srm, or another lrm with assassins. However many tubes you wanna fit with weight cost in mind. Cutting down the Ammo and sometimes the weight of the lrm/srm ammo. And then the most important change in that game for altering the Shadow hawk like this: Medium or Heavy RIFLE, or light if you go all out on srm/lrm. Medium rifle is the weight of an ac2 and does ac10 damage, and the heavy does ac20 but at range with velocity, and surprisingly ammo efficient in most cases. Plus you typically get to max the armor all over aside from like, a few points on both legs and/or the Torso/Head/Arms/a shoulder You can get it close to 400 armor overall and decent kit to use it's speed, weight, and already tanky nature in 5 to get in your face and missle spam after stripping armor with rifle fire. Or long range spam.
Correction: The Shadow Hawk C has 13 Single Heat Sinks and 5 jump jets. My source was showing incorrect info.
If “ I can fix her” was a battlemech design.
Truth.
She can ruin my life
and my military career
Everybody wants to drive the Dougram, and god help them they'll make it work.
Heh.
Love it. Cheers friend!
I've found much success in 3025 games taking inferno srms and smoke lrms and treating the shadow hawk as a support mech instead of a brawler or calvary unit
I always refit it into an SRM boat with an additional small laser in the energy arm
I'm glad someone has had success with it.
Precision or AP ammo for the autocannon also works well
@@kalixascsi66 yes, but those aren't available in 3025. I do use those in the eras they're available though
@MilitaryStyx IMO, specialty autocannon ammo not being available in 3025 is a huge oversight and would do a lot to make some Succession Wars-era designs a lot more effective.
the problem with the shadow hawk is that it takes the setting in ernest- it's a design that makes sense in a world where mechs are rare, ancestral machines: it has enough mobility to get anywhere it needs to, the ac/5 is more than enough to deal with most non-mech vehicles and vtols and it's other weapons are good against infantry and light vehicles. it has so many heat sinks in order to prevent the pilot from damaging an irreplaceable piece of kit.
It's a medium tank. They make incredibly good sense IRL. They're ALWAYS useful as hell. But as soon as you put them into tabletop and video games dominated by heavy tanks... You get let down a bit.
Also depends a lot on time period.
All Lore, no Gore
Yeh, unfortunately, it also loses to lighter tanks.
The biggest problem is that the AC5 is incredibly inefficient as a weapon damage to weight under base rules. If you drop the AC5 to an AC2, (still a bad weapon but has a niche as as extreme range) and drop a heat sink then replace that weight with an extra lrm5 launcher and an extra medium laser it's still lightly armed at any range but not laughably so. You're also also upping your maximum damage at any given range and keeping your average the same. There's places where you're actually equally dangerous to other common 55 ton mechs of the period.
Close range damage goes up to 12 from 7ish long range goes up to 12 from 10, at weird ranges from 8-15 you need to manage heat a bit but not much. You're still ammo heavy but you might actually have the ability to at least burn through all your lrm ammo, are mobile enough that you can possibly get to do that.
You also aren't asking for a wasp to close with you because he's got equal guns in close.
The over-the-shoulder bang bang.
A bark possibly worse than the bite.
Its the opposite of the Hunchback. Standard variant at least. Hunchie is mainly a east/ right sider, Shawk a west/ left sider
@@MechanicalFrog I had one that threw an LB10X back there. It was a surprise for those involved. Made a nice little city fighter in Citytech.
BOOM BOOM!! Cheers!
@MechanicalFrog this is why engineers designed the Hunchback. Big boom boom boom on the shoulder.
I understand it has its serious shortfalls, but the Shadow Hawk will always have my heart from the time I managed to use that LRM system to blow off one of my dad's Hunchback's legs, then proceeded to jump and land on the poor thing as a mercy kill.
Never gets old.
I'm glad it has its fans.
The Griffin in the base variant is not an all rounder. It is a medium weight long range fire support unit with LRM-10 and PPC
The 2n variant with srm6s on both shoulders is were it's at .
Grayson Death Carlyle and Dechan Fraser were not harmed during the making of this motion picture.
Plot armor is powerful.
Nor Sandusky Sorrell. IYKYK. 😉
Deeth. His second name is 'Deeth,' which his unit corrupted into 'Death' for a nickname
I have a soft spot for the Shadow Hawk 2H. A superbly versatile and capable in-universe design, let down by the mechanics of the tabletop game. A walking testament to the fact that one can be *too* much of a jack-of-all-trades.
I have a minor refit I love doing on any SHD-2H's; take out the jump jets and two heat sinks, then add in a second LRM-5, upgrade the SRM-2 to an SRM-4, and add a half-ton of armor. You get a decent ranged combatant and skirmisher, while also letting it fight a little better up close.
I really think the 2H should have had an AC/10.
@@MechanicalFrog that's why the 2Hb is so good.
The original 2H was lauded by it's fans as a "Jack-of-all-trades." But it's critics pointed out (quite rightly IMO) that it couldn't do any specific role well. The weaponry, while varied, did not pack much of a punch. The jump jets were insufficient to maneuver the mech very far. It did have good armor, but then so did most other medium mechs in that weight class. And ammo consumption was an issue in prolonged engagements. Now, once the "upgrade kits" (courtesy of the Helm Star League core) became available, then we started to see some impressive variants.
True that. It's definitely a mech that improves as you run down the timeline. Thank you so much for the support.
I love the clanbuster variant, the SHD-2Ht. It always misses its lasers, but it hits well with its 5 SRM-2s. My play group calls it the “Terror of Tukayyid” lol.
I made one in MWO with 2 medium lasers and 4 SRM-4s. It's called the Splattowhawk, and it's fun.
It's a solid one.
5 Streak 2s were even more terrifying back when ONLY 2-tubes could load inferno, and you could have Streak-Inferno. (This is why all the elemental busters had Streak2s, they were meant to be loaded with Inferno before the rules change.) Allegedly, I wasn't playing back then.
That opening bit is awesome because it gives a bit of in universe information about the mech. They have some of the strongest grasping actuators in their weight class of medium mechs. Grabbing a structural steel beam and using it as a weapon is right in line with what they could do.
No matter what anybody says about optimization, I will always be a dyed in the wool Gun Shoulder Club member.
The Comstar variant that uses Medium laser and Streak 2s with a TC to kill Elementals was amazing. So effective the clanners thought every SH was that variant and avoided them.
Yeah that one was unfortunately cut from the video for time. It's solid.
1 Medium Rifle Ammo in the Legs
x2 LRM 5
1 Med Laser
Used as flanker to get into the rear or flanks at range of heavy or assault mechs.
The best advantage of the base Intro Shadow Hawk is that you can spam fire without worry of overheating.
Helped me an ok amount of times in HBS BT
Youvalso dont have to worry about killing anything
It's also good at kicking things.
@@MKmaki6094 In HBS the AC-5 deals the equivalent of 9 Tabletop damage (And the 2 deals 5) Plus knockdown is focused on ballistic and missile hits with lasers not contributing and PPCs only contributing a little. So now the AC-5 is actually competitive with the Large laser, doing more damage, at longer range, for less heat. Before it was less damage, more range, less heat, not nearly enough to justify the extra 3 tons of weight. Something like 90% of the time a LL and 3 heatsinks is the better choice. Oh and pilot skills let you ignore the small minimum range penalty relatively early in HBS.
"If I missed your favorite, attribute it to deliberate malice..."
I'll do just that, but I won't blame you. My favorite remains the SDH-X2 LAM.
Mechs don't have to be good to be fun. ;)
Heh. Fair enough. :D
The SHD is overall my favorite battlemech. Very well done.
I'm glad it has its fans! :D
@@MechanicalFrog if rauslehaug has taught me anything, there will always be hipsters :p
Fang! Of! The! Sun! 😍
Horns of the Moon.
NOT EVEN JUSTICE, I WANT TRUTH
Great show, shame its not well known
I was going to make a Dougram reference!
The shadowhawk has always been my favourite mech, was the first one i really gravitated too with not much direct reason. As ive recently bought into the tabletop, i have started to gather why its a lot more disappointing within the world of other players. I am surprised and happy though to see it have as many other fans via the comments as it does, since for the most part everyone ive spoken to about it, before i even looked at the TT side and purely from a gameplay side, always seems surprised or confused that it would be my preferred mech.
I have personally gone through many versions of it, yet to settle on what i would call "my hawk build", but now having played MW5, MWO and HBS battletech, the slight variations within the games start to stand out much more with my nascent TT knowledge. Things like, depending on game and opinion, the jump jets or the extra 1-2 heatsinks (as some only set you for 10 free ones, the rest you gotta pay the weight for) are unnecessary, and with many builds it still rarely gains much in the way of heat. Even the base variant is heat neutral while jump-jetting and firing every single weapon at once (i believe as my math puts it all at 11 heat generated with 12 heatsinks) which is an incredibly difficult situation to have occur just right due to the various ranges of everything. The other aspects of how you add the massive levels of tech from the 3010s to the current time period, or how light and XL engines are handled, if they are universal options in the first place, greatly change how you can use a mech such as this.
For me though, i think this is really where the love comes from, its something that feels like it needs to be improved, but there are limits, downsides and upsides to each choice, and there is very rarely a definitively correct or generally better way to build it. This i think lends to those that want something that is flexible, and able to be tinkered with and with its core design, able to work within a variety of roles and builds until one can find the thing that makes it feel just right for them.
Me with every Shadowhawk, "Alright time to make you a close range brawler" It just screams I must punch something.
Agreed.
Every Shadowhawk is a budget Shadowhawk II?
"The shadow hawk has never treated me very well."
Yes, well. The sky is blue and grass is generaly green. 😔
Well then. :P
I love the Shadow Hawk! I don’t care about any of its faults. It’s a fun design, and will always have a soft spot for me!
I'm glad it has its fans and that it does eventually get good as time passes.
My favorite Hawk is the SHD-2Ht. The design Comstar used on Tukayyid. 5/8/5 move, standard engine, same armour but 10 double heat sinks. A large laser in the left torso and a medium laser in each arm. 5 streak SRM2 in the right torso sharing 1 tonne of ammo protected by case. Unless several SRMs hit you are heat neutral but that's fine. Always shoot everything. If the SRMs miss no heat. If they hit it's 2 heat for 4 damage. I take that. Also, people always underestimate the Shadowhawk so you might catch them off guard.
One way to use the Shadow Hawk is for quick cash to use for something that has better options.
I've found the Shadow Hawk is treated very well by advancing technology, but that original 2H variant is garbo
looks great, though!
The 2H reminds me of the WW2 Sherman stories: Lights up every time! A guy in our group runs it by dropping all ammo after taking 10 dmg anywhere.
Agree. The 2H is WAY to allovertheplace. It is decrnt Lance role filler if someone lack a range bracker or need a PUNCHY mech that can hit above its weight class and can jump decently!
One of my personal favorites after using it in MWO. I can see why it’s so popular among fans.
I'm glad it has its fans.
I just joined the battletech community with the AGoAC box. First game i played with my buddy, i had the Shadowhawk. My friend took the Awesome as his Assault of choice.
Anyway, my Battlelmaster did 16 points of damage to the Awesome, (10 poijts to the head) and next activation my Shadowhawk missed with everything but the SRM2. TAC with both missles, 2 crists to the engine.
He failed his pilot check for taking 20 points of damage in a round, fell over and crumped his head, killing the pilot.
So anyway, the Shadowhawk now has a special place in my heart.
I'm glad it performed for you. Welcome to the fray, Mechwarrior.
The Shadow Hawk: The "I got a rock" of Succession Wars battlemechs. Thanks for the video.
It's sure a thing. Thanks for coming by!
Woooop! Thanks!! My fav of the 55 ton siblings, the middle " brother/ sister " 😄 And the taller lefty side friend of Hunchback! Generalist? Sure some variants, some specialists too. Might not be as " tough " as the Wolverine, but the Shawk can really brawl and punch HARD for its weight, if weapon loadout isnt optimal! Can be a decent jumper to with arguably more guns than the Griffin. I dont like that the Shadow Hawk IIc went away with the left side shoulder hardpoint though. Basically. If lacking weapon hardpoints, make the Shawk faster, tougher, jumpier and focus on melee enhancements and if spare room, add a ranged gun or two!
I'm glad it has its fans.
My first go in Battletech (mid 90s) was in a 3050 TRO Shadow Hawk! Thanks for the (5/8) walk down memory lane!
Glad you enjoyed it. I'm glad the SH has its fans.
Pulling those two unneeded heat sinks and replacing the weight with a left arm medium laser and two more jump jets makes such a big improvement it's not even funny. It might even be worth it to pull the SRM 2 and ammo and put it all into armor.
This is my basic refit as well. Even with the drop in heat sinks and the extra laser it's rare to have any serious heat concerns.
The first time i had any actual fun with a Shadowhawk, was in the 3050 TRO. That is a beast of a Shadowhawk! Of course, the XL engine made it fragile, but did what it was supposed to do, as a mech.
It really is the first time that the mech is consistently dangerous.
@@MechanicalFrog I'm currently running one in a Cavalry Level II that is pretty decent and simple.
Standard Engine.
5/8/5
Endo Steel
CASE
9.5 tons Ferro Fibrous Armor
UAC/10 w/ 3 tons ammo RT
MD X-Pulse Laser LA
10 Double Heat Sinks. It's a little over sinked, but that lets it upgrade to energy weapons if I decide to change it up ... Or I can jump and alpha without worrying about heat.
I would swap to an LB10X and another medium x pulse and small x pulse.
@@Kingofdragons117 for Classic Battletech, I agree. But this is for Alpha Strike, and Ultra Autocannons treat me better here lol.
In the original game, it's primary advantage was armor and lack of any heat problems.
The Shadowhawk is in competition with the Crusader for my most personal 3025 variants.
One variant I'll call the 'AB-1A', pulls out the Autocannon, SRM 2, and LRM 5. A PPC replaces the Autocannon, an SRM 4 replacing the SRM 2, a second medium Laser for the left arm, 2 more jump jets plus two extra tons of armor, for a total of 11.5 tons. This beast is a great sniper and brawler while improving the machine's maneuverability. I've taken down heavies with this variant. The 'AB-2B' is more of a support machine, replacing the LRM 5, SRM 2 and medium laser with a single right arm mounted Large Laser and 2 more jump Jets.
Finally the '2C' variant replaces the auto cannon with a large Laser, the SRM 2 with a second LRM 5, and added 2 more jump Jets, an extra ton of armor and 2 more heat sinks. It's a solid competitor to the Griffin trading some ammo and alpha strike capability for added short ranged firepower, heat dissipation and armor.
Thoughts?
By the way, I really like the MF variant.
I do something pretty similar for my custom 'hawk. AC -> PPC, srm2+lrm5 -> 2x srm4 + 1 ton ammo, +2 JJ, +1 ton armor on the legs and side torsos
Literally every mech is improved by exchanging any ballistic for just about any energy weapon. Gauss is literally the only viable ballistic weapon.
Desperately wish they’d do… just something about that. Either make ammo far more generous, lower weights on all ballistics, both, idk. Anything to make them something other than actively harmful to the mech they’re on
Amazing as always! Your videos have made BattleTech much more accessible.
Glad to hear that! I want to make sure that they're entertaining for the old guard while still being accessible for new players/fans.
I have a fondness for the old SHD, you just fire everything all the time and hope it works out. I like the mini-battlemaster style configuration for variants, and the Clan version where the ERML comes and saves the whole build... surprising what you can sort out with barely-not-a-Large-Laser for just 1 ton
I feel like I love the idea of the Shadow Hawk far more than the actual mech.
We love the idea of the Shadow Hawk.
For those tinkering on the SHD-6D and puzzled about how it doesn't _quite_ all fit: the cockpit mounts Improved One-Shot srm-2, which weighs one tonne less than a One Shot streak srm-2.
Been a bit now, but I seem to recall in HBS Battletech, it was unexpectedly good at melee for some reason and filled a niche for vehicle stomping for me.
In regular AGoAC… not so special.
Then make it special! Its not the most fancy or specialised mech but its a solid, trustworthy role filler one! Its always there for you, backing you up in the shadows😶🌫️🥷😎
"Good for kicking stuff" oh heck yeah. I think we found the SH's true calling.
A favorite late age refit of mine is used by a periphery mercenary force which relies on durable, low tech components to keep maintenance costs low. Its most advanced piece of equipment is a light fusion engine, a piece which is relatively low maintenance compared to XLs yet still offers an improvement over aging standard fusion engines. Its jump jets and excess heat sinks have been removed and its armor thickened, although it's still standard armor. The AC-5 has been replaced with an LBX-10, both of its missile launchers are removed for a single MML-5, and it's right arm carries two machine guns. It carries two tons of ammo each for the autocannon and missile launcher.
It's not especially impressive for the Era, but it's a dependable jack-of-all-trades that keeps the spirit of the original while fitting into the lore for the group that created it.
I LOVE the layout you're using now!
Thanks a lot!
SATURDAY MECHFROG! LOVE IT!
Your videos are always waiting in the shadows to reveal themselves.
It would have been out yesterday but I caught a cold during the week and I lost a day.
Best thing in the time slot since Wile E. Coyote!
I like using a Shadow Hawk, cause it looks so cute. But I'm still waiting for the moment, when it starts kicking ass as it does in the lore)
Yeah the descriptions in the fiction are always WAY cooler than on the tabletop.
I agree its too generalist. I see the Shawk as the glue in units with more specialized mechs. Again some SH variants do are specialist. Like the kuritan ppc one. But the lack of weapon hardpoint... OOF! Well, just have the peppsi or large laser ( ER preferrably ) and add more armor and punchy enhancements!
Thanks for this. Never considered The ShadowHawk before, but now I'm going to have to give it a try:)
I wish you luck. Maybe use the 5S.
The Shadowhawk has always played way better for me than it should by looking at it on paper. I once killed a 3050 Victor with my character's 3025 stock Shadowhawk in a 1st edition Mechwarrior campaign in the fall of 1990. It won my respect and love going forward from that point. That was my first battle in one after that character lost his Thunderbolt.
I'm glad it works for someone out there. ;D
14:45 Attribute not to malice that which can be adequately explained by froginess.
No regerts.
One of the first things I did in HBS was yank the SRM2 and ammo for another ML and some armor. I kind of like the RAC version, I might just try it out. And the MF looks pretty solid, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Streak systems ( I like my specialist ammo too much on regular SRM's).
A few years ago I created two variants of the SHD that I called the Dark Hawk. I stripped all of the ammunition fed weapons and replace them right in one version, with a large laser on the right arm and 2 more medium lasers in the left arm and both torsos. The second variant adds a ppc instead of the large laser. The remaining tonnage is used for heat sinks and armor.
In my current modded HBS BT run through or SH was our "heavy" for much of the run, it is only now as we hit the assalts phase that it is eclipsed. That said as it is a generalist, it can be difficult to choose what roll to have it fill. For a but my brother had it running dual UAC 5s.
The Shadow Hawk 2H is a mech that need to be customised in some way. Either by tweaking the loadout to fit the desired purpose better, or by using alternitive ammo for the missiles and AC.
I personally like to strip two heat sinks in favor of of two more jumpjets and another laser for the other arm. It's a very simple refit.
le hawk de shadow, I've only used it a few times but I really dig the miniature, I even went and watched about 20 episodes of dougram so far
Scouting mode in MWO made me enjoy the mech much more than I think was lore appropriate but I think that's kind of the charm, I feel like everyone at some point thought what if I dropped the srms or the lrms... than I could...
I did two 3025 refits when I played 30 years ago.
One was a straight swap of the AC/5 for a PPC and two extra heatsinks, which was straight tonnage and crit swap, for an easy field refit. The SRM-2 usually got either smoke or inferno loads.
The other was an odd-ball long range sniper/harasser with the SRM-2 removed, the AC/5 downgraded to an AC/2 and the right arm laser upgraded to a Large.
🎵Fearing that this could be the day
dreaming that this could be the day
to awake your heart and spread your wing
the day of setting out, Dougram 🎶
I fell in love with the Shadow Hawk after Mechwarrior. That's Mechwarrior 1, the original DOS game. It was a good medium that could take on the heavies with proper use of jump jets. Played right on the tabletop, it still is.
You know at first, I was surprised that you didn’t add a plasma rifle to your MF build but honestly I think the hag 20 fits really well
The 8L had me covered on the Plasma Rifle front.
Playing BattleTech Extended rn. Gave Shadow Hawk the same loadout as Hunchback. I didn't expect that you can fit AC20 on 5/8 Succession era mech. Made the same loadout in Mech Factory and it actually fits.
Even in Alpha Strike the "Weak" jump jets are a liability until you get into much later version in the timeline.
I use the 5S heavily as a deep range harasser / raider and artillery spotter behind enemy lines. Using the .5 tons as a sleeper, like in a semi, for the pilot(s) who hot bunk allowing 24hr operation of the mech.
It is a great one.
3050 Full Clan Tech Rebuild SHD-7A. 5/8/5, endo-steel, 9.5 tons of clanner fero-fiberous, XL+DHS, standard cockpit and gyro leaving 26.5 tons of pod space.
PRIME: twin U/AC-5's with a ton of ammo each (R/LT), twin LRM-10's with a ton of ammo each (R/LT), twin ERML's one in each arm, and emotional support ersl in the h, and an extra DHS.
AltConfig A: twin LPL (R/LT), twin MPL (R/LA), Twin Streak SRM-6 with a ton of ammo each (R/LT), two extra DHS, and the ever lovable ersl in the head
Interesting addition of the two LRM10s.
@@MechanicalFrogI was going to do an U/ac-10 LB-10x version, but I work 70+ hours a week and haven't gotten to it.
also a SERIOUS Lack of setting stuff on fire, so I doubt mini-frog would be all that interested
I personally love it because i can see my big gun of choice doing its work.
15:49 Isn't it also massively undertonnage because the LRM5 and LB-X are lighter and the Streak on the SRM2 doesn't fill in the savings?
in just messing around with megamek, if upgrading the 2H I'd just knock the jump jets and SRM-2 out, and add a medium laser to the other arm and an extra LRM-5, it also gains 1/2 ton of armor, say its a command/light fire support mech.
command with a side of sniper, or just remove everything except the jump and the medium laser and add a AC10, and 2 tons of ammo, or just have 10 shots and 2 medium lasers.
Sounds like good fixes.
@@MechanicalFrogI also did an alt take on the MF variant, clan gauss rifle with 2 tons ammo, SRM4 with 1 ton, and 2 ER medium lasers(1 in each arm), and a ER small in the right arm to shoot birds, all ammo in the right torso protected by clan case II
I'm loving the mod for 3062. Ended up getting a shadow hawk right away. Right now it's set up with ENDO Ferris 1 er ppc. 1 lrm 20 and a mortar 2. I pit double heatsinks and a xl engine. It's great for mountains. Just pop up get line of sight do a alpha strike and jump away. Or just fire from cover. I'm loving the air burst and inferno round for the mortar. Though I'm sure at some point an angry Beat is going to show up and ask why I keep burning the forests down.
It's like any other 55 tonner, lots of potential. That weight class seems to be the sweet spot for any era as those mechs can be armed with anything.
The K is one of my favorites from 3025, just needs to keep the medium laser so you don't have to change the mini.
Lots of potential, at least we have the 5S.
I started off into the Battletech Universe with the Gray Death Trilogy, so I was a Shadow Hawk fanboy. When I found it to be a bit lacking sometimes, I tried to develop my own upgrade and tried to pilot that when we started playing the Mechwarrior RPG back then. The SHD-2M (my first name starts with a M...) removed the AC/5 and invested the 9 tons into a Large Laser (LT), a Medium Laser (LA), 2 additional Jump Jets and 2 additional Heat Sinks. I never really got the chance to test it out because my groups protested against the use in Tabletop and my GM didn't let me start with or loot a Shadow Hawk to modify, sadly...
I've always been a fan of the Shadow Hawk as it was the mechbthat survived most early battles in HBS. I often swapped the AC5 with an AC10.
It's an iconic mech and the shoulder AC is just too cool looking.
Kinda want to make one thats just pure laser lightshow. Maybe a Large laser instead of the auto cannon and medium lasers + extra heatsinks instead of the missiles?
We like the Shadow hawk for the same reasons we like the dragon. It's great as an initiative sink and damage soak.
Hahaha! Fair enough.
Warning three hostile lances inbound, Shadow hawks lead by Dragons.
"Designed by committee" - definitely has that vibe. Much more from the Bradley Fighting Vehicle / F-35 / Blackhawk Swiss Army Knife school than min/max A-10 unitasker.
It might not be ideal for anywhere but it can operate everywhere - an original G.I. compared specialists from the 80s G.I. Joe.
"If I miss your favorite, attribute it to deliberate malice on my part." Reverse Hanlon's Razor. MF isn't an idiot, he's just a jerk.
Seriously, though, I just recently discovered this channel upon getting back into the Battletech universe after a long time away from it's special flavor of glorious nonsense. I'm still checking out the various content creators in this fandom, but I specifically checked you out after hearing Tex from the Black Pants Legion speak highly of you. I've been listening to a bunch of these rundowns as background entertainment while doing the less cerebrally intensive tasks I have at work for the past week. Thank you for the material and please keep it up.
Yeah that MechFrog guy is the worst. Thanks a lot for giving the channel a go. Welcome back to the fray, Mechwarrior.
one of the mechs i most love, mostly for being the fastest of the biggest things to regularly hunt pirates. I really want to make a small story about some half isolated periphery state that took the early Davion version and bought production rights for it.
The idea being to call it the berserker and pair an XL engine with high strength molymer. Dumping the LRMs in favor of an SRM 6 in the side torso and SRM 4 in the head and using a UAC 5 in the opposite torso. I don't know/haven't tested whether it'll all fit with small lasers paired with the mediums in the arms or if enough eight is saved to use 2 tons of ammo for each weapon system but i could see it having VASTLY different loadouts with different production runs. Swapping to LRMs, using an AC 4 or a standard engine, cramming in some IS large lasers or clan med pulse to run extra hot.
I could see it being handed out as a bounty reward for anyone hunting notable pirates and being very useful across alot of different formations
Yeeeah! Best un-optimized medium for universal combat! One of the mech that i love for that its not about power, its about style
It's an absolutely beautiful design
Fair enough.
Whenever I play a shadow hawk in 3025, I always want to drop a heatsink to add two jump jets or another medium laser
That would help.
I always imagined the SH to be the ultimate Level 2 training mech. Like baby's first mech is going to be Locust or something similar. After a month in that without running into a wall, you get to ride a Shadow Hawk. I mean it has one of everything and it jumps. Plus the super user friendly cockpit. But yeah, it is not a great fighter.
* One of everything (well, there’s two hands)
* Looks kinda friendly
* Decent all-rounder
Yep, it’s a training unit.
I always used the shadow hawk as a general supplement to other units. Add to the LRM volume. Fire support for the scout and mobile flanker for the brawlers
Best possible use for it.
I still have a soft spot for it. My favorite variant is definitely the 8L. Guardian ECM, Beagle Active Probe, Medium VSP, Plasma Rifle, and an MML5 on a 5/8/7 makes it very versatile mech for a little over 1500BV
I think I'm good with the 5S or the 8L
Ok what I've done is some what silly. Swap the everything but the Medium laser for two LRM-10 packs and a ton of ammo each and two more Medium lasers. Now you have a 15 ton fatter Whitworth that's faster and has hands and a ton more armor. Still better then a Rifleman.
Now how I make my Shadow Hawk for like the FedCom Civil War, 3060+ish, PPC on the LT shoulder, LRM-10 for the 5 pack w/2 tons of ammo, upgrade the SRM-2 for a SSRM-4, the medium laser still there, 10 DSHS, 9 tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor & Endo Steel.
Hmm... Interesting direction to take it with the two LRM-10s.
I did kinda the same thing in HBS BT: 2 LRM 10's, only 2 ML, 3 tons of ammo. More survivability than the Trebuchet, and could stay in the fight longer with more ammo and better heat management.
I love the Shadow hawk 2H always turned it in to a fast moving Brawler in MWO (300 XL, AC10, 2 SRM 4 and the medium laser and the jumpjets. it was moving at 97 km/h), always made it my commander mech in BT 2018 early on trying to up the AC5 to a 10
There are some genuinely good shadow hawk sheets out there. A couple with heavy PPCs for instance, and the royal with an lbx 10.
I think my favorite is the 9D which has a light ac/5, medium pulse, 2x mml-5, a c3 slave and tarcomp. In a c3 force it's obviously viable, but even outside of one it's a good little cavalry mech capable of taking almighty precision ammo.
In my opinion, the Shadowhawk shines when its pilot tweaks it and makes their own. The base model of the 5H(? I’m still memorizing the variants) is indeed a good all rounder with enough armor to survive.
The next few…not so much, resting the laurels on the performance of the 5H way too much.
While it encompasses the concept of the medium tank. The Shadowhawk needs to be specialized, much to the chagrin of its generalist design.
In my opinion, drop the LRM down to an MRM. Keeping the Shadowhawk in its Medium Range specialization. The AC/5 is fine. It’s the bread and butter. But it will now have more shots due to allowing for additional tonnage of AC/5 ammo having more room due to the lighter missile battery. And then 2 medium lasers for backup weapons when the missiles and autocannon ammo run dry.
The ShadowHawk’s design is iconic in my opinion. And it is a real shame due to its lacking performance history with a chunk of its variants.
One last off hand comment. Why in the world did they double up on LRM5s??? They could have easily fit an LRM 10 instead.
I seem to recall some background fluff that when the 2K debuted during the Second Succession War it was equipped with the last of the Combine's ER PPCs. It was supposed to be a mobile long-range sniper and avoid engagement as much as possible to preserve that now irreplaceable weapon. As time went on wear and tear took its toll a standard PPC replaced the now lostech item but the extra heatsinks remained in place.
Oh yeah? That's interesting. I didn't see that from the sources I have.
It's the hero's mech (combat armor) in the Fang of the Sun Dougram anime.
It has the appeal of a movie star there.
Its Battletech stats often don't do it justice.
HBS Battletech was my first introduction into this franchise, Shadow Hawk is one of the two starting medium in the campaign. Back then I was new to the game , the Shawk alwayss the last mech standing and completing mission even with half of its torsor and one leg got blown off.
Now I mostly play with BTA3062 mod, I always try to turn the SHawk (if i ever get one) into a murder machine it deserves to be.
Yeah i always like the SHD, even if it kinda bad.
The Shadow Hawk can be useful in HBS BT since the autocannons are significantly better in the video game than on tabletop.
I used a 2K in my early years of Battletech with arms of a 2D (medium laser in each arm) and the LRM 5 replaced with an SRM 4 Rack and a ton of ammo in the RT with 2 extra jump jets giving it full jump of 5, 3 heat sinks were removed (down to 14) with the PPC kept in the LT and keeping the 9.5 tons of armour and it works well as a command/support Mech with minimal heat build up (long before I knew about the 5D)
I actually like the standard Shadow Hawk, though I also like modding it slightly in MW5. As usual, I have my own variant.
The SHD-5S-ISM is a mixed tech variant that relies on Clan tech for weight and space savings. Retaining the 6/9/5 movement profile of the 5S, it uses a Clan XL engine, Clan endo steel, and Clan DHS, though one is dropped. It carries 12 tons of IS stealth armor, powered by an IS Guardian ECM. It retains the head mounted .5 ton cargo bay, but mounts a Clan Active Probe in the CT, a Plasma Rifle with 2 tons of ammo in the left torso, and a Medium Re-Engineered Laser in each arm. As this is a fanon design, it was built jointly by the Capellans and the Canopians.
The baseline Shadowhawk SHD-2H is the epitome of the "do it all" soldier mech.
It does everything.
It does nothing particularly well.
But it does it consistently, at all times.
Now, its weapon loadout is suboptimal. It doesn't do good damage at any range bracket. It can't really outfight most of its peers. So what's the appeal?
Well... It is a learning tool, the way I see it.
You can play around with every type of weapon, learn what they do, how they do, all the while jumping around like crazy and never worrying about heat.
Will it be effective? Not really that much, not on its own.
But I feel like this thing is a mech designed to be placed in a uniform formation.
A lance of 4 Shadowhawks suddenly... starts looking a bit scary.
You have 4 autocannons, 4 lasers, 4 LRM racks and 4 SRM racks. If they are coordinated, that is not a bad firepower.
And you know, you won't cripple such a lance easily, like you will a lance of specialised mechs.
For example, if you lose this one Trebuchet that was harrassing the enemy at long range, that is likely all your substantial ranged firepower just gone.
You loose one Shadowhawk in uniform formation? Nobody sane will cry about it. That is only a single quarter of what you can dish out, three more remain.
My biggest grip on the shadowhawk is the auto cannon being on the left side. I cant hit crap with it there
Your production is so good
Thank you.
Maybe I'm just lucky but I've had great success with a few variants of the shadow hawk and is a go-to for me usually. Particularly the 5M and 7M
I use a modified Shadowhawk
Pull lrm 5 and the srm2 replace with mml9 or mml3 in headcand mml5 in RT 2' tons ammo cased. Srms ammo is usually infernos or acid.
Ac5 pulled and replaced with 2 light ppcs and a TC
Armor Clan FF to save more weight.
JJs improved to get 5 vs 3 jump profile.
Keep 275:std fusion engine cause the 275 mafia said there'd be problems if I changed it. 12 Dhs installed. And one coolshot to allow for an alpha strike and exfil at full speed.
2 clan er sm pulses in RA
And 4 clan flamer, 1 in LA, each leg and one CT facing the rear.
Myomer changed to TSM to boost both walk speed and punch/kick capabilities.
To stay in "zone" mechwarriors often would fire flamer in legs and CT during jumps making mech seem to lift on wings of fire.
Very impressive, but not conducive to not being a primary target in combat.
The leg and ct flamers often come as a huge surprise to infantry and armor thinking it was an easy mech to swarm.
My clan version had a different approach...
RA lg clan pulse, LA medium clan pulse, head clan sm pulse.
275 light clan w 13 DHS
Clan light probe, clan ff and ecm/stealth baffles 10.5 tons gives ecm lvl 2 effect for mech itself
Clan TC
LT gets Clan light mg array x4 x 2 and ton AP and ton tracer/incindiary (+1 to hit +1 heat to target)
RT gets clan lrm10 and 2 tons ammo.
Case is there from clan armor.
Baffles when engaged route waste heat through to feet while allowing air to mix with it t reduce IR/heat sig.
The double lmg array comes as a surprise to many who don't see traditional ac over the shoulder and close in. Only leaving them to wonder where all their armor went.
Any battle armor or infantry that gets close is going to evaporate quickly.
Definitely improvements over the originals.
A late 80's variant from Mechforce UK kept the ML and 12 h/s and also came with a LL; LRM10; SRM4. For the 3025 era,this is a decent upgrade.
My 1st Battletech tournament back in the '80s was won in a Shadow Hawk, everyone was in the 2025 55 tonners. Fun Times.
Awesome. Glad it performed at least once. :D
Painting my Shadowhawk right now, let's see if you can convince me to like it
Conclusion: it's a mediocre at best chassis with a handful of decent variants, and a lot of mediocre to terrible ones
I see there wasn't a mention of the SHD-2Ht. I choose to believe you're saving it for an excellent "Why do we love the Clanbusters" video.
Looking forward to it mate.
It was originally going to be in the video but I had to cut it for time. I understand now that was a grave error.
@@MechanicalFrog Or was it the minute string pulling of a shadowy telecom company forcing us down a timeline where the above mentioned Clanbuster video can happen. Blakes blessing friend.
Probably that.
For me its the epic redesign by Piranha games, those claws. Also as a pilot that high ballistic mount and 55tons gives it that sweet platform for AC20, Gauss platform that the Wolverines cant do. My players didnt encounter one in my campaign so I'll see if the ammo placement will be a problem.
Cheers
I love this mech in the mechwarrior games because the shoulder gun is great for sniping and firing from cover.
That mixed with jump jets make it strong, I have one in MW5 with 2 heavy rifles in the shoulder and both guns firing at once would blow the head off most mechs which helped alot with salvage in the early game.
In BTA 3062 I like to give it a rac 5 and medium medium pulse lasers with a TSM equipped for melee fights.
In MW5 Mercs I found it kinda easy to make them into a monster on par with their 55ton brothers, and while experimenting, it's similar to the Assassin in a way, at least in Console MW mercs. Working with the weapon slots they give you can be a little ok, but its rough, and goofy for me at least.
In both cases just to explain, Asassin and, more importantly the Shadow Hawk: I adjust them in a way I prefer mostly with changing the Lrm to another srm, or another lrm with assassins.
However many tubes you wanna fit with weight cost in mind.
Cutting down the Ammo and sometimes the weight of the lrm/srm ammo.
And then the most important change in that game for altering the Shadow hawk like this: Medium or Heavy RIFLE, or light if you go all out on srm/lrm.
Medium rifle is the weight of an ac2 and does ac10 damage, and the heavy does ac20 but at range with velocity, and surprisingly ammo efficient in most cases.
Plus you typically get to max the armor all over aside from like, a few points on both legs and/or the Torso/Head/Arms/a shoulder
You can get it close to 400 armor overall and decent kit to use it's speed, weight, and already tanky nature in 5 to get in your face and missle spam after stripping armor with rifle fire. Or long range spam.
FINALLY, THANK YOU
Just for you!
Nothing like some BattleTech to start the day off right!