[Poll] Codex favorite mech from Battletech

[BrotherFrank]

It’s not on the list (unless i critically failed my eyesight check) but would have voted for the Banshee.
Was actually shocked to learn lore wise it’s considered thrash. Otherwise i liked the black knight for its beam weapon spam.

Keep in mind I am not familiar with BT at all, only played MW5 mercenaries.

 

[Cael]

It’s not on the list (unless i critically failed my eyesight check) but would have voted for the Banshee.
Was actually shocked to learn lore wise it’s considered thrash. Otherwise i liked the black knight for its beam weapon spam.

Keep in mind I am not familiar with BT at all, only played MW5 mercenaries.

The original Banshee was trash. It was virtually on par with the Charger, another notorious trash 'mech. It was the later version with the smaller engine that made it workable, just like the Charger.

 

[JamesDixon]

The original Banshee was trash.

By your reasoning, all of the original mechs were trash since they were all designed with noticeable flaws.

 

[Cael]

The original Banshee was trash.

By your reasoning, all of the original mechs were trash since they were all designed with noticeable flaws.

A 95-ton 'mech with an AC5, PPC and small laser isn't what I'd call good. Nor a 80 ton 'mech with 5 small lasers. A Shadowhawk beats both in firepower and have better mobility.

They are trash, even in lore, for a good reason.

 

[JamesDixon]

A 95-ton 'mech with an AC5, PPC and small laser isn't what I'd call good. Nor a 80 ton 'mech with 5 small lasers. A Shadowhawk beats both in firepower and have better mobility.

They are trash, even in lore, for a good reason.

Only the 3E version. You are missing the 3M, 3Q, and 3S versions.

3M has 2xPPCs, 2xMedium Lasers, and 1xSmall Laser.

3Q has 1xAC20 and 1xSmall Laser.

3S has 1xAC10, 2xPPCs, 1xSRM6, 4xMedium Lasers, and 2xSmall Lasers.

You were saying?

 

[Cael]

A 95-ton 'mech with an AC5, PPC and small laser isn't what I'd call good. Nor a 80 ton 'mech with 5 small lasers. A Shadowhawk beats both in firepower and have better mobility.

They are trash, even in lore, for a good reason.

Only the 3E version. You are missing the 3M, 3Q, and 3S versions.

3M has 2xPPCs, 2xMedium Lasers, and 1xSmall Laser.

3Q has 1xAC20 and 1xSmall Laser.

3S has 1xAC10, 2xPPCs, 1xSRM6, 4xMedium Lasers, and 2xSmall Lasers.

You were saying?

That is exactly what I said: Original vs later.

Original was trash. Later versions, especially the S which had the smaller engine, were better (and in lore, the S was actually liked).

For the other individual versions:

The M has nothing that the Warhammer or the Marauder has at 20-25 tons lighter.

The 3Q is matched by an Urbie version, of all things.

 

[JamesDixon]

That is exactly what I said: Original vs later.

The original appeared in the 2750 TRO if I recall correctly. All of the versions I mentioned were in the 3025 TRO, even if it was in the text under variants. They did appear properly in the 3025 Mech Record Sheets. Those are all original dude. If you leave the 3 series you are now into 3050 and later eras.

 

[Cael]

That is exactly what I said: Original vs later.

The original appeared in the 2750 TRO if I recall correctly. All of the versions I mentioned were in the 3025 TRO, even if it was in the text under variants. They did appear properly in the 3025 Mech Record Sheets. Those are all original dude. If you leave the 3 series you are now into 3050 and later eras.

They were later variants, not original. The timeline is given in the TRO. You do read them, right, and not skim them and take what you want out of them and ignore the rest.

 

[JamesDixon]

That is exactly what I said: Original vs later.

The original appeared in the 2750 TRO if I recall correctly. All of the versions I mentioned were in the 3025 TRO, even if it was in the text under variants. They did appear properly in the 3025 Mech Record Sheets. Those are all original dude. If you leave the 3 series you are now into 3050 and later eras.

They were later variants, not original. The timeline is given in the TRO. You do read them, right, and not skim them and take what you want out of them and ignore the rest.

I no longer have my books and I was relying upon memory. Looking at Sarna the others I mentioned are in TRO 3050 and others, so you are correct they are later. My apologies.

Still the Banshee isn't bad for being one of the first mechs designed for the game. The mindset back then was that every mech should have a disadvantage that good players can overcome.

 

[BrotherFrank]

Well as I said I dunno jack about BT but yeah seems the ones I were using were later models.

pics from my save

But yeah in MW5 this mech totally won me over, got 4 of them in my hangar.
Thick armor, ok speed, and you can just spam your weapons and never have to worry about overheating.
But it's most useful feature imo is because all the weapons are in the chest/head you can just use your arms to tank incoming fire, so my perception of the banshee is that it can keep fighting at full effectiveness for longer then other heavy mechs.
Edit: though seems the 1st banshee LM i posted is the exception, if I do continue this save I'll ditch the arm weapons to make weight for a missile launcher, making it the gun/missile variant to the rest of the banshees who are all about laser spam.

 

[JamesDixon]

Well as I said I dunno jack about BT but yeah seems the ones I were using were later models.

pics from my save

View attachment 32326
View attachment 32327

But yeah in MW5 this mech totally won me over, got 4 of them in my hangar.
Thick armor, ok speed, and you can just spam your weapons and never have to worry about overheating.
But it's most useful feature imo is because all the weapons are in the chest/head you can just use your arms to tank incoming fire, so my perception of the banshee is that it can keep fighting at full effectiveness for longer then other heavy mechs.

I piloted one in MultiPlayer Battletech: Solaris. I was the assault champion for a while with the 3E model. Move into AC/5 range then throw the mech in reverse. You'd core an Atlas or other assault pretty quickly because they moved exactly the same speed forward as you did in reverse. It really pissed off other players.

 

[Jason Liang]

If nothing else the Banshee is one of the best looking humanoid-looking mechs, on par with the Black Knight.

Also, the Inner Sphere has a huge dearth of 95 ton mechs in the Succession Wars era and I prefer 95 tons to the 100 tonners (Atlas, King Crab and Annihilator). You notice this playing 2018 Battletech - most assaults are 80 tons (Awesome, Zeus or Victors, and oddities like Thugs and Strikers) or 85 tons (Stalkers, Battlemasters and Longbows). I would much rather have an Orion than any of those.

Thankfully you can find Nightstar parts in BEX, so I don't have to use a Banshee. But if I didn't have a Nightstar, the Banshee 3S would be my assault mech of choice (other than a Cyclops-Z).

 

[Black]

I got a newfound (well, not that new) appreciation for clan's Black Lanner, mainly its prime config. 1 ER large, 2 ER mediums, lrm 10 and srm6, gecm and masc, running at 118/151kph.
A beast of a medium mech.

 

[Cael]

Well as I said I dunno jack about BT but yeah seems the ones I were using were later models.

pics from my save

View attachment 32326
View attachment 32327

But yeah in MW5 this mech totally won me over, got 4 of them in my hangar.
Thick armor, ok speed, and you can just spam your weapons and never have to worry about overheating.
But it's most useful feature imo is because all the weapons are in the chest/head you can just use your arms to tank incoming fire, so my perception of the banshee is that it can keep fighting at full effectiveness for longer then other heavy mechs.
Edit: though seems the 1st banshee LM i posted is the exception, if I do continue this save I'll ditch the arm weapons to make weight for a missile launcher, making it the gun/missile variant to the rest of the banshees who are all about laser spam.

I have the perfect 'mech for you: Blood Kite

 

[Norfleet]

I like the tanky ones at the bottom. Low profile, can fire from a hull down position without sticking my half my torso over the the top, better surface area to internal volume ratio giving me more efficient armor protection, and better ground pressure so I don't sink to my knees in solid concrete or stomp holes in bridges. Plus having an armor rating of "massive" while still being "average" speed sounds pretty nice.

 

[Norfleet]

You know, I have this question: Is there any rule for what happens in Battletech if someone digs random knee-high holes in the ground? I mean, what happens when a mech steps in a hole and suddenly and abruptly sinks to one knee in that? Does it fall on its face and break a leg? Because if you're looing for battlefields that don't contain random holes, you've clearly never been to an actual battlefield.

 

[Cael]

You know, I have this question: Is there any rule for what happens in Battletech if someone digs random knee-high holes in the ground? I mean, what happens when a mech steps in a hole and suddenly and abruptly sinks to one knee in that? Does it fall on its face and break a leg? Because if you're looing for battlefields that don't contain random holes, you've clearly never been to an actual battlefield.

There are rules for rubble/broken land.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I don't like the vanilla Battletech aesthetic that people are most familiar with. Visually, I prefer Shoji Kawamori's designs, particularly for the Shadowhawk and the Marauder.

Shadowhawk by Shoji Kawamori

Marauder

Oscout


For modern Battletech, the only ones I really like are the Mangonel (my favorite on tabletop) and the Longbow (from MW4).

Mangonel

Longbow

 

[Jason Liang]

Bullshark's mini looks pretty sweet.

 

[Jason Liang]

 

[Dadd]

Battletech mechs look like dicks with legs.

 

[Jason Liang]

Battletech mechs look like dicks with legs.

Well...

The original mech, the Mackie~

 

[KateMicucci]

I had the Bushwacker toy as a kid so I like that one.

 

[Jason Liang]

 

[Rocket-Propelled Game]

Urbie uber alles.

NUKE-LAUNCHING WALKING TRASH CAN. Truly a weapon to surpass Metal Gear.