The Salamander required a few resources to make: Original TRO 3055 (unavailable) TRO 3055 Upgrade: store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-technical-readout-3055-upgrade-pdf-1 Record Sheets: The Blakist era ones :\ Also check out Tamar Rising, which I grabbed a few small things from: store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-tamar-rising And of course, if you want to field a Salamander, they are available in metal, from Iron-Wind-Metals: www.ironwindmetals.com/index.php/product-listing/product/battletech-ar20-790/category_pathway-2 Space Images are from Starkiteckt Designs: starkiteckt.artstation.com/
I've been watching/listening to your mech playlist and this is the first time I've clicked the comment on resources. The original 3055 TRO is unavailable now? How come? I haven't really bought any books since FASA time, so I'm out of the loop on things.
@@BigRed40TECHeven if that were true I feel that they would still file one out of sheer spite and given the chance their parliament would fund it... If for no other reason than it would allow them to politically throw hands with the Captain-General
So, my favorite story about this big boy was a bit from a story about the fighting on new avalon during the jumanji; a Blakist in an atlas rolled up on the Salamander, assuming that it had all the advantages in a close in brawl against what is essentially a huge LRM carrier. And then the salamander stepped into melee range and did a windmill punch to crush it's head.
What about the Blakist Jamboree? Clearly they just wanted to spread the word of Blake with very generic songs. Also it's Blake's will that they have their own private warship. Tbh I'm surprised comstar/blakists didn't have more elements of being akin to televangelist/megachurch pastors. Would have been funny.
@@BoisegangGaming The following HPG holograph was brought to you by Comstar. Pans to video of a white robbed acolyte: “This is Yoshi Okazuka. His village was destroyed in a raid on Midway. For only 2-CBills / month, you can help children like Yoshi with food and education at his local Comstar office."
Oh what a beautiful machine... A shame it was drenched in the blood of citizens of the Federated Commonwealth, and that it ever fought alongside wolves. Glory to House Steiner-Davion! May the Gauntlet and Sun live forever!
I can just see the layout of a Salamander cockpit, and fire controls has four buttons on it: Fire Missiles, Fire More Missiles, Fire Even More Missiles, and FIRE ALL MISSILES! And the MechWarrior just head butting that final button. Great video Red
You could simplify that even further to just 2 buttons. The first one chain fires the LRMs, with the other one providing an alpha strike. You can just shove a random mechwarrior in there and be good to go
Okay so, what would happen if someone took the 5T version and ripped out the LRMs to replace them with MRMs so they could just run at the enemy, scream and faceroll the fire buttons? Asking for a friend.
This mech and most of its variants is an incredible beast. I originally had two models of this mech and the pair of them would absolutely shred most targets. Even clan mechs have reason to fear this machine and I absolutely loved playing them. If you're a Steiner player this is an absolute "must have". I hope we'll see a new plastic version of this mech in an upcoming boxed set.
I admittedly am a Viking simp, but only because I’ve used it so much in games. It took me a while to like the Salamander’s appearance, and I have yet to use one. That said, the Jumping variant actually sounds rather interesting to use. Who expects a jumping assault class missile boat? Certainly less so than the Spanish Inquisition!
I do hope the Hinterlands sticks around long enough to get it's full potential. Similar areas (notably the Chaos March and Republic Remnants) were only given the barest of mentions and descriptions; their potential sacrificed merely to feed the standard nations systems, with barely anything of note happening at all.
Throwing 60 missiles at a target...that's gonna get you a LOT of through-armor-crit chances. Sadly, my campaign has not reached that period in the timeline. Definitely something I'll have fun with in a pickup game though.
@@BigRed40TECH"Marik's? 'ate em. Clanners? 'ate em. Dracs? 'ate em too. Love me Salamander and the Archon, simple as" - Some Lyran Gaurd from the boonies, probably
Mentioned before i really like this mech. Theres a piece of art that has it throwing hands all dressed up like a reptile that i just loved. In Measure of a Hero just remeber Archer in his penetraitor vs lt Fisk in his salamander lining up in a war game just after Fisk had killed Achers sister Acher even in a wargame going melee dropping the assault trying to kill the man after what he had done. Granted it would have to wait till later in the book when Archer dropped the Salamander and grievously wounded the man as revenge. I keep thinking that eventually, I want to get one, but the metal mini is sadly lack luster. Here is hoping for a house pack.
To me the best Salamander alt config would be one where it drops the left arm LRM and replaced it with two MML-7s and either 4 tons of ammo or 3 tons and another medium laser. Total missile tube count is still really high, but it could defend itself decent well up close.
@@BigRed40TECH yeah, I'm hoping we get a new plastic mini, and a new MML config to go with it, but who knows. I'm just hoping the ELRM equipped PPR-7T isn't the only "modern" variant we get.
Put one 6T in a Salamander lance to plink lights that get ambitious and leave the rest as the standard config for maximum missile throw weight and I think you might have the purpose for which the 6T was created.
@@BigRed40TECH I'm surprised they didn't make a mid/close range variant to support the standard variant. Maybe 2 ERLL (one in each torso), tag, and 6 small pulse lasers in the left arm. Poke at long range to support the LRM boats, tag at mid range to make anyone who closes it get obliterated by the LRM boats, and the pulse lasers make short work of infantry, vehicles, and light mechs that get close. Meanwhile, it has no ammunition and otherwise shares logistics chains with the main variant. Yeah, you could do the same job of supporting the LRM boats with another mech, but you'd think the manufacturer would want to sell people on the idea of fielding an entire lance of Salamanders together.
@@BigRed40TECH I blame too much video game influence. You can mitigate their crappiness in live action, since the ROF is low. If you're already an energy boat, then you've got lots and lots of heat sinks and 2 ERLLs is no big deal. They're really good for poking at very long range and encouraging opponents to come into LRM range. The long beam duration makes them *better* for poking, since you are always going to do some damage, even if you don't aim perfectly at first. On TT, I guess there is not much benefit over PPCs.
Okay, here´s the plan everyone: We break into a jade falcon armory. We steal clanspeck LRM20s We spend about 3 years with getting them to fit into a salamander somehow We spend another 6 months with forging an assault sized hatchet. We spend the rest of our day with syling on trolling anyone who thought they could close in on a LRM lance, making ridiculous profit.
Ah the Salamander... I respect it, but I'm just always unenthused by it. Admittedly, I was first introduced to BT through the CCG, and the Salamander and Naginata have nearly identical stats in that game. I always find myself comparing the two and... I dunno... the Salamander just never clicked for me.
In mythology the Salamander is a creature that can survive in open flames and even LAVA, so I made a Salamander to match the myth. I give you the Salamander PPR-5S-FU! It comes with a Clan LRM-20 with 4 tons of ammo, a CASE 2, and ER medium laser in each side torso. The center torso has three more Double heat sinks and another ER medium laser. The left arm comes with TWO LRM-15's with 4 tons of ammo, a CASE 2. and another ER medium laser. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! the RIGHT arm carries TWO Clan SRM-6's with 2 tons of ammo with a CASE 2, and with ANOTHER ER medium laser. This will deliver 70 LRM's downrange, while being able to defend itself at close range, for those who thing to close with the Salamander to limit its damage output. And when the missile run out, it can still fight and survive, like the Salamanders of legend!
The Salamander is a SLDF-Tech Archerer. Fixes the Archerer's 2 biggest problems: heat and ammo. Adds 50% more LRMs. Dropped the 2 rear facing medium lasers. Slightly upgraded the Archer's fantastic armor. Same speed. Same weakness to short range combat. Everything you love about the Archer in an easier to swallow package. Just 10 tons heavier. And what isn't to love about the Salamander? The cost. BV2 wise it has double the cost of a LRM Carrier. The LRM Carrier is slower. The LRM Carrier is a heck of a lot more fragile. The LRM Carrier has no close support weapons. But be honest, what sounds more dangerous? A single Salamander or 2 LRM Carriers? Tanks excel in doing support work. Let the cheap units do the LRM work. Put your money into direct fire and skirmish mechs.
I'd never seen the 7S, I absolutely love this version of the Salamander, it would fit in perfectly as my fire support with my all-jumping merc company.
I gotta say, that Archon Cladius fella sounds like a bit of a prick. *knock knock knock* excuse me, their is some on at the door. oh, hello mister Lyran intelligence corp agent. How may I help you? wait, what are you doing? no! no, stop! ah aahhhh ahhhhhhh! *Conductive fire was never heard from again*
The Salamander's, for a single Inner Sphere 'Mech, just about the best LRM platform you can have. It also costs a little less than 3 times as much as the Archer 4M, which has the same speed, a bit more than ⅔ the firepower, ⅔ the ammo, 84% of the armor, and CASE without an XL engine. But if you're going for "best single lancemate," it's better. Thankfully, the Archer 4M is at least by Earthwerks, not Irian.
On the variants: If you're going to be sacrificing LRM tubes for pulse lasers, you'd better get clan spec and make the most of your backup weaponry and minimize the lethality opportunity cost. As for the ELRM... I like it, but I also don't. To be sure, increasing the range is tempting, and it would have made for a nasty surprise for Clanners used to outranging Inner Sphere mechs... but on the other hand there are severe limitations even if someone got back to improving ELRM production to allow for semi-guided and area saturation variants like with normal LRMs. That said, C3 makes sense on this variant since it's one of the only ways to enhance coordination with forward observers that actually helps ELRM launchers. NARC and TAG don't work, so you need C3 to sight for indirect fire, which is the only kind of fire that makes sense when you've invested so much into range.
@@g3heathen209 Longbow actually has 50 LRM's in its forms prior to the Fedcom Civil War. I did a whole detailed breakdown on the Longbow, including its variants. :)
In defense of PPR-6T, it remains more combat effective AFTER all ammo is spent, at least more so than other Salamanders. Also can be a deterrent against faster 'Mechs and hovercraft that lack long range weapons. But Thunderbolt nor Orion it is not.
Oh I get the point, I just think it sacrifices too much to do that. And its ammunition stores are deep enough that it wouldn't realistically be a problem.
An overall excellent mech, and much better than i remember it being. Hell, even the 6T (despite its mediocrity) could do bodyguard stuff when it isn't slinging LRM's downrange 🤷♂️ I'm also glad nobody tried to make it an AC20-packing fast assault. Instead it's all the missiles all the time, as it should be.
I mean the suns have a awesome license that they never reused so maybe the lyrans got the specs for the awesome to modify into the salamander from them?
This was a great review. I'm slowly catching up to the 'mechs from between Clan Invasion and Dark Age. The Salamander is truly a kickass missile boat. It's a worthy successor to the Archer, with more LRM and more armor, but still able to maintain the role in a time where most people were trying to get bigger guns to try to match the Clan gunslingers. If I resurrected the Merc regiment from the glory days to a post-3052 campaign, I would definitely plug a Salamander into a Fire Lance somehow.
@@BigRed40TECH so I have something to look forward to. I admit I don't know which TRO they appear in, just that they are most known during the FedCom Civil War.
"Sergent Thomas, I need a report on the current meteorological conditions, did central command issue any forecast on the solar eclipse we're current witnessing?" ~ Last words of Major Gen Eric before the eclipse fully engulfed the sun.
If they wanted to make a brawling Salamander, they ought to have kept the theme and give it a yes amount of SRMs with maybe a CT mounted ER Large Laser to tap at long range, with a ton or two of the ammo to be inferno rounds for fun times.
The 6T variant I believe was ment to be an Elemental Killer. I'm pretty sure that one was featured in a technical readout that had color pictures for some and the 6T was one that was a full color page.
@@BigRed40TECH yup your right. Been a while since I was really into it and got them mixed up. Still got all my old stuff though. Watching your vids is giving me that itch to dive deeper again.
I made a salamander with 5 clan lrm 20 with 7 tons of ammo and 2 clan medium pulse lasers, 16 double heat sinks. Had to drop some ammo to make everything fit.
Normally I don't like XL engines on assault mechs, but for a fire support mech that sits back and lobs missiles all day long it's acceptable, especially since it has the speed to keep its distance. What I can not forgive is the lack of Artemis-IV on those LRM racks. It's basically free damage, especially on 20 racks. I would downgrade the arm to a -15 rack to Artemis equip each launcher. Without Artemis you can expect each LRM-20 salvo to do an average of 12.7 damage to a target. For a measly ton more and no heat you can increase that to 15.4 damage, an increase of 18%. The variants that install an LRM-15 with Artemis are closer in damage to the base model than you might expect, with those racks doing 11.5 damage per shot on average, only 1.2 points less than the unenhanced LRM-20 racks. For the base Salamander you should expect to do an average of 38.1 damage if all missile racks hit. For the Artemis enhanced Salamader I suggested above that value increases to 42.2, a substantial increase despite losing 5 missiles on the total salvo. If you got more creative with the upgrade (perhaps deleting the MLs and a ton of LRM ammo instead of downgrading the rack) that value increases to 46.1 damage, a full 8 more than the base model. For 3 tons and no heat it's like adding a phantom LRM-12 rack to the mech.
Love this video, learned a lot... may need to find a way to incorporate this into my merc unit, and I definitely need one for my 7th Lyran Light Horse lmao
"It's totally not inspired by the Awesome!" - Johnathan Somerton, CEO, Defiance Industries Also, you would think the child of Adam Steiner would know better than to ally with Clanners.
The Salamander is solid, but I still usually stick to Longbows. Their ubiquitous nature and low cost from no advanced tech makes ownership by my merc company more affordable. Not to say none are modified... salvaged clan LRM launchers and double heat sinks made the old Longbow hilarious!
In the vein of "missile boats that are more properly treated as an artillery piece", I do wonder if there are any IS mechs out there in the current era that fit the Arrow IV missile system. I do know that a vehicle exists with such a system on it, the Chaparral tracked Arrow-IV system (best paired with a few ammunition carriers, most of the time when you need an artillery missile system, you need a lot of missiles). It's flexible, having many ammunition types. It's highly damaging, as is any "artillery" type weapon system that by default targets hexes rather than individual units. And if you happen to have units in-theater, or you're targeting fixed assets like buildings, it's a fantastic firepower multiplier. Not to mention that if you happen to be a fan of the Word of Blake, it is able to utilize one of your favorite options, and the option that every other faction fears and loathes. Nuclear weaponry delivered via Arrow-IV missile. It's a lot cheaper than having to dedicate an entire pocket-warship (and the nuclear tipped naval missiles it uses) to nuclear orbital bombardment.
Loved this video! Would there be any reason the FWL would utilize one of these outside of salvage/availability? I have a few printed up and want to add one to my FWL as well if it is lore accurate enough .
Personally, I'm rooting for the Hinterlands states. "Treacherous Davions" indeed. Katie "look I can be a girl Hitler!" Steiner and her "Steiner alliance" were the people who betrayed the Federated Commonwealth, not the Federation or Peter or Victor. She betrayed her brothers and sister, and she nukin' assassinated her own MOTHER - Katherine Steiner's own daughter! Then she went and joined the WOLVES and betrayed the Lyran's, too, and helped the wolves nearly conquer Tharkad! And now, her mutant clone mashup of her own and her brother Paladin Victor's DNA is now sitting on Terra claiming to be the First Flippin' Lord. So, yeah, I hope the Hinterland states like Tamar and Alyina can hold their own against all efforts of House Steiner to rebuild it's shattered empire, and let the Steiners lay in the bed they made when they sided with the Katie against Victor and the Suns half of the Commonwealth. Even with all the crap that's happened in the near century since the Civil War. I would even put money on Alaraic taking Hesperus for his "Wolf Empire". And once the Steiners lose Hesperus they aren't really House Steiner anymore. The mech factories on Hesperus have been the foundation of the Steiner's power since the invention of the Battlemech. If Trillian could really hold the Lyrans together and even start to rebuild after losing Hesperus, _that_ would be an interesting story. But just a note: The Salamander the mech is named after is not the amphibian. You make it sound like the mech is armed with torpedoes instead of LRMs. As the gnome is the classical earth spirit, the sylph is the wind spirit, and the undine is the water spirit, the salamander is the classical spirit of FIRE. It's not named after a newt or an eft. It's an elemental fire spirit (as it rains fire down on its enemies). I supposed you could try to take the image literally and equip a Salamander with Inferno LRMs. (Are there Inferno LRMs? Sarna hints at it. But my Tech Manual only lists Inferno SRMs.)
I choose to rep it as the Amphibian it looks like :P And I'm all too aware of the shortcomings of the Lyran state, I just wanted to give them an okay outing in a video closely linked to them, lol
Sir here is you Longbow longbow boo I want a Salamander Sir this is the League we only have the longbow Well looks like someone goanna die so I can get me that Salamander
Honestly, the only thing I would do with this machine, is add a Guardian ECM and maybe a couple of flamethrowers or small lasers in case infantry managed to sneak up on it. Other than that, I'd probably go with the jumping one or the original.
"Imagine spending over 18 million c-bills to bring 3 LRM20 systems to the battlefield." - This post brought to you by the Tracked LRM Carrier gang. For real, I really like this mech and definitely one of the stand outs of 3055 for me, it's sad that it didn't get picked up with the next wave of plastic redesigns so it's gonna be a while before we see it in a fresh coat of paint. Nonetheless, another great video Red, can't wait for the next one.
My man took ten minutes to say that the Salamander is an OC Donut Steele and not just the Awesome LRM variants. What a chad. Also, fuck the Free Skye Movement. FedCom shoulda just let them be independant to assert dominance by then immediately declaring war on them.
Thank you for the videos. I appreciate your all your hard work. Also the effort in your your narration. I believe behemoth @1:22 is pronounced Bee•He•Myth?
It's frequently pronounced as Bay-uh-moth, bee-uh-moth, or buh-hee-muth. Given that all 3 of these do see some use, I don't really care that I chose the former over the latter in this instance.
😁 That reminds me of Bahamut from Final Fantasy series. 🐉 I've heard so many variations of that name and all correct 💯. Sorry for becoming a words lawyer.
Strangely enough, considering my natural Davion-space disrespect for the Lyrans, I must defend them on their claim that the Salamander is that closely copied from the Awesome. The only thing those two mechs share is their 80-ton weight bracket. It's like saying that my commanding officer's Battlemaster is the same as the Black Watch, just because they're both 85 ton mechs with names that start with B. XD On a more serious note, the Salamander doesn't seem like a mech my mercs would want. One unit is a little less than triple the cost of one of my own Archers, and only offers an extra LRM-20 for the expense. For the cost, I could improve my unit's efficiency by loading the company spotter mech with TAG and NARC and save money besides.
They weigh 80-tons, have the same engines, have the same exact amount of armour, and have the same configuration of primary weapon's placement. And its specifically mentioned in TRO 3055 Upgrade, that the Salamander was somewhat inspired by the Awesome, despite the protestations of the company. So... yea. :P
The Salamander required a few resources to make:
Original TRO 3055 (unavailable)
TRO 3055 Upgrade: store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-technical-readout-3055-upgrade-pdf-1
Record Sheets: The Blakist era ones :\
Also check out Tamar Rising, which I grabbed a few small things from:
store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-tamar-rising
And of course, if you want to field a Salamander, they are available in metal, from Iron-Wind-Metals:
www.ironwindmetals.com/index.php/product-listing/product/battletech-ar20-790/category_pathway-2
Space Images are from Starkiteckt Designs:
starkiteckt.artstation.com/
Holy shit, just watching it now, I love how the first image you have for the salamander has *Rivets*; apparantly welding was lostech at that factory.
@@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285 That image is from the card game, lmao
I've been watching/listening to your mech playlist and this is the first time I've clicked the comment on resources.
The original 3055 TRO is unavailable now? How come? I haven't really bought any books since FASA time, so I'm out of the loop on things.
@@Havocme7 It had materials FASA removed, and as a result, it eventually got replaced by 3055 Upgrade. Problem is? Upgrade uses different text.
Lyran General: _"Ve require und light missile Scouten"_
**Engineers hand over Salamander plans**
Lyran General: _"Mein Gott, Danke Schoen"_
Defiance: *"ORIGINAL MECH DO NOT STEAL!"*
"PURPLE BIRD GO HOME! THERE IS NO LAWSUIT FOR YOU HERE! JUST WALK AWAY!"
@@BigRed40TECHeven if that were true I feel that they would still file one out of sheer spite and given the chance their parliament would fund it... If for no other reason than it would allow them to politically throw hands with the Captain-General
@@robrib2682and the Lyrans
Defiance tends to make either brilliant or terrible designs, there's oddly little in between-both have a tendency to be too expensive, though
Expensive??? From House Steiner!? Impossible! XD
@@BigRed40TECH”There is still a place for lighter equipment like Banshee and Zeus” ;)
Is that some joke only poor people understand? -Steiner
All that firepower... But it comes with a pricetag only a Lyran could love.
And the Lyrans do love those pricetags lol
Defiance marketing thanks you for your video. Your new Awes…um Salamander will be delivered next production run.
So, my favorite story about this big boy was a bit from a story about the fighting on new avalon during the jumanji; a Blakist in an atlas rolled up on the Salamander, assuming that it had all the advantages in a close in brawl against what is essentially a huge LRM carrier.
And then the salamander stepped into melee range and did a windmill punch to crush it's head.
The only thing I don't cover is the Jumanji era sadly lol
The what era? Is this TH-cam speak to avoid demonetization?
@@Vagabond820 Yep! XD
What about the Blakist Jamboree? Clearly they just wanted to spread the word of Blake with very generic songs. Also it's Blake's will that they have their own private warship.
Tbh I'm surprised comstar/blakists didn't have more elements of being akin to televangelist/megachurch pastors. Would have been funny.
@@BoisegangGaming The following HPG holograph was brought to you by Comstar. Pans to video of a white robbed acolyte: “This is Yoshi Okazuka. His village was destroyed in a raid on Midway. For only 2-CBills / month, you can help children like Yoshi with food and education at his local Comstar office."
Oh what a beautiful machine... A shame it was drenched in the blood of citizens of the Federated Commonwealth, and that it ever fought alongside wolves. Glory to House Steiner-Davion! May the Gauntlet and Sun live forever!
One of my all time favorite IS mechs. 🙂🦎
I can just see the layout of a Salamander cockpit, and fire controls has four buttons on it: Fire Missiles, Fire More Missiles, Fire Even More Missiles, and FIRE ALL MISSILES! And the MechWarrior just head butting that final button.
Great video Red
It looks like MEGAS'S cockpit from that one episode
@@KillerOrca Chicks dig giant robots
@@gearstark2479 I dig Giant RoBOTS!!😂🎉
You could simplify that even further to just 2 buttons. The first one chain fires the LRMs, with the other one providing an alpha strike. You can just shove a random mechwarrior in there and be good to go
@@ironboy3245 Succession Wars ready!
Now this is what the bombardier should've been. Not king of missile town, but missile town itself.
"How many missiles you want?"
Salamander design team: "YES"
Also, remember to take your pills, Red.
Booooooo
@@BigRed40TECHif not for you, make sure whatever you got doesn't adapt to become nastier
The Salamander, when Defiance gets away with improving others Battlemechs, unlike the Battlemech that shares their name, The Defiance.
Rare time "we have X at home" was better than the other
A truly magnificent voice to add to the choir of fire support.
Okay so, what would happen if someone took the 5T version and ripped out the LRMs to replace them with MRMs so they could just run at the enemy, scream and faceroll the fire buttons?
Asking for a friend.
The Dragon would be proud! That's what would happen XD
like the font, dude. We continue to enjoy your work. Thank you.
Really does drive home how efficient missiles are, and I would love to see an MRM version.
The sandblastomander
This mech and most of its variants is an incredible beast. I originally had two models of this mech and the pair of them would absolutely shred most targets. Even clan mechs have reason to fear this machine and I absolutely loved playing them. If you're a Steiner player this is an absolute "must have". I hope we'll see a new plastic version of this mech in an upcoming boxed set.
Man, plastic Salamander would be amazing.
I admittedly am a Viking simp, but only because I’ve used it so much in games. It took me a while to like the Salamander’s appearance, and I have yet to use one. That said, the Jumping variant actually sounds rather interesting to use. Who expects a jumping assault class missile boat? Certainly less so than the Spanish Inquisition!
All but the Large Pulse Laser variant are solid imo.
‘Our LRM’s will bloat the sun!’ “Then we will fight in the shade.”
We need more ambibian mechs. Give the bird and crab mechs a bit more of a contest.
Mechfrog said the same, I agree with him that we need the axolotl as a mech
Got to watch out for those Mech Amphibians.
They're dangerous
I do hope the Hinterlands sticks around long enough to get it's full potential. Similar areas (notably the Chaos March and Republic Remnants) were only given the barest of mentions and descriptions; their potential sacrificed merely to feed the standard nations systems, with barely anything of note happening at all.
Throwing 60 missiles at a target...that's gonna get you a LOT of through-armor-crit chances. Sadly, my campaign has not reached that period in the timeline. Definitely something I'll have fun with in a pickup game though.
Love me Salamander, simple as.
@@BigRed40TECH"Marik's? 'ate em. Clanners? 'ate em. Dracs? 'ate em too. Love me Salamander and the Archon, simple as" - Some Lyran Gaurd from the boonies, probably
I really enjoyed this one, nice to see a good Lyran mech! I really hope to see this in plastic it's got a really nice design for Missile boat
Finally, the beast unleashed!
Love the Salamander. It's everything you want in a missle boat.
Mentioned before i really like this mech. Theres a piece of art that has it throwing hands all dressed up like a reptile that i just loved. In Measure of a Hero just remeber Archer in his penetraitor vs lt Fisk in his salamander lining up in a war game just after Fisk had killed Achers sister Acher even in a wargame going melee dropping the assault trying to kill the man after what he had done. Granted it would have to wait till later in the book when Archer dropped the Salamander and grievously wounded the man as revenge. I keep thinking that eventually, I want to get one, but the metal mini is sadly lack luster. Here is hoping for a house pack.
Before the rain, rolls the thunder. We love our missile boat mechs.
To me the best Salamander alt config would be one where it drops the left arm LRM and replaced it with two MML-7s and either 4 tons of ammo or 3 tons and another medium laser. Total missile tube count is still really high, but it could defend itself decent well up close.
Such a configuration does not, indeed, exist.
@@BigRed40TECH yeah, I'm hoping we get a new plastic mini, and a new MML config to go with it, but who knows. I'm just hoping the ELRM equipped PPR-7T isn't the only "modern" variant we get.
Rain down the fire. I love the Salamader especially the art where it goes 1v1 against a Berserker
Put one 6T in a Salamander lance to plink lights that get ambitious and leave the rest as the standard config for maximum missile throw weight and I think you might have the purpose for which the 6T was created.
Oh I can see it. I just think that if your going to take a Salamander, you should be getting more out of it than a 3025 Archer.
@@BigRed40TECH I'm surprised they didn't make a mid/close range variant to support the standard variant. Maybe 2 ERLL (one in each torso), tag, and 6 small pulse lasers in the left arm. Poke at long range to support the LRM boats, tag at mid range to make anyone who closes it get obliterated by the LRM boats, and the pulse lasers make short work of infantry, vehicles, and light mechs that get close.
Meanwhile, it has no ammunition and otherwise shares logistics chains with the main variant.
Yeah, you could do the same job of supporting the LRM boats with another mech, but you'd think the manufacturer would want to sell people on the idea of fielding an entire lance of Salamanders together.
@@rpontonjr Pls no ER Large Lasers. IS ER Large is just so bad lol
@@BigRed40TECH I blame too much video game influence. You can mitigate their crappiness in live action, since the ROF is low. If you're already an energy boat, then you've got lots and lots of heat sinks and 2 ERLLs is no big deal. They're really good for poking at very long range and encouraging opponents to come into LRM range. The long beam duration makes them *better* for poking, since you are always going to do some damage, even if you don't aim perfectly at first.
On TT, I guess there is not much benefit over PPCs.
Okay, here´s the plan everyone:
We break into a jade falcon armory.
We steal clanspeck LRM20s
We spend about 3 years with getting them to fit into a salamander somehow
We spend another 6 months with forging an assault sized hatchet.
We spend the rest of our day with syling on trolling anyone who thought they could close in on a LRM lance, making ridiculous profit.
Give this man a command!
Overestimating time allotment? Interesting pitch
@@bthsr7113 What if I told you that we are going to perform this refit in canopian space?
Throw this in a lance with an Axman 2N and we’re good.
Ah the Salamander... I respect it, but I'm just always unenthused by it.
Admittedly, I was first introduced to BT through the CCG, and the Salamander and Naginata have nearly identical stats in that game. I always find myself comparing the two and... I dunno... the Salamander just never clicked for me.
In mythology the Salamander is a creature that can survive in open flames and even LAVA, so I made a Salamander to match the myth. I give you the Salamander PPR-5S-FU! It comes with a Clan LRM-20 with 4 tons of ammo, a CASE 2, and ER medium laser in each side torso. The center torso has three more Double heat sinks and another ER medium laser. The left arm comes with TWO LRM-15's with 4 tons of ammo, a CASE 2. and another ER medium laser. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! the RIGHT arm carries TWO Clan SRM-6's with 2 tons of ammo with a CASE 2, and with ANOTHER ER medium laser. This will deliver 70 LRM's downrange, while being able to defend itself at close range, for those who thing to close with the Salamander to limit its damage output. And when the missile run out, it can still fight and survive, like the Salamanders of legend!
The Salamander is a SLDF-Tech Archerer. Fixes the Archerer's 2 biggest problems: heat and ammo. Adds 50% more LRMs. Dropped the 2 rear facing medium lasers. Slightly upgraded the Archer's fantastic armor. Same speed. Same weakness to short range combat. Everything you love about the Archer in an easier to swallow package. Just 10 tons heavier. And what isn't to love about the Salamander?
The cost. BV2 wise it has double the cost of a LRM Carrier. The LRM Carrier is slower. The LRM Carrier is a heck of a lot more fragile. The LRM Carrier has no close support weapons. But be honest, what sounds more dangerous? A single Salamander or 2 LRM Carriers? Tanks excel in doing support work. Let the cheap units do the LRM work. Put your money into direct fire and skirmish mechs.
I just salvaged one of these in BTA3062. So glad to have a decent missile boat in my lineup now.
I'd never seen the 7S, I absolutely love this version of the Salamander, it would fit in perfectly as my fire support with my all-jumping merc company.
Nice job cool mech.
If I'm not limited by only having 4 mechs, I'd rather have 3 archers for the same price and more firepower too.
I gotta say, that Archon Cladius fella sounds like a bit of a prick.
*knock knock knock*
excuse me, their is some on at the door.
oh, hello mister Lyran intelligence corp agent. How may I help you? wait, what are you doing? no! no, stop! ah aahhhh ahhhhhhh!
*Conductive fire was never heard from again*
Listen. LOKI's good at its job. They need to protect the Archon's reputation :P
Huh. I think I have a new favorite mech. Always had a soft spot for missile boats and this is a reeeeeeeally nice missile boat. Looks really cool too.
The Salamander's, for a single Inner Sphere 'Mech, just about the best LRM platform you can have. It also costs a little less than 3 times as much as the Archer 4M, which has the same speed, a bit more than ⅔ the firepower, ⅔ the ammo, 84% of the armor, and CASE without an XL engine. But if you're going for "best single lancemate," it's better. Thankfully, the Archer 4M is at least by Earthwerks, not Irian.
On the variants:
If you're going to be sacrificing LRM tubes for pulse lasers, you'd better get clan spec and make the most of your backup weaponry and minimize the lethality opportunity cost.
As for the ELRM... I like it, but I also don't. To be sure, increasing the range is tempting, and it would have made for a nasty surprise for Clanners used to outranging Inner Sphere mechs... but on the other hand there are severe limitations even if someone got back to improving ELRM production to allow for semi-guided and area saturation variants like with normal LRMs. That said, C3 makes sense on this variant since it's one of the only ways to enhance coordination with forward observers that actually helps ELRM launchers. NARC and TAG don't work, so you need C3 to sight for indirect fire, which is the only kind of fire that makes sense when you've invested so much into range.
My fav "Macross Spammer" of the period.... even in the BTech TCG
In proper Steiner fashion, "Fire ze MISSLES!"
The first Inner Sphere mech to step beyond 50 LRM tubes and its a goodie.
It's just ruthless, I love it.
Longbow 60 lrms. Much older design
@@g3heathen209 Longbow actually has 50 LRM's in its forms prior to the Fedcom Civil War. I did a whole detailed breakdown on the Longbow, including its variants. :)
@@BigRed40TECH yep, opens ye Olde book of mechs, two holly 20's and two 5s for a total of 50 missles. Not 60.
Excellent video. Seeing as the Sal is in my top 10 faves, 2nd in fire support behind the Longbow even tho it outperforms it
In defense of PPR-6T, it remains more combat effective AFTER all ammo is spent, at least more so than other Salamanders. Also can be a deterrent against faster 'Mechs and hovercraft that lack long range weapons. But Thunderbolt nor Orion it is not.
Oh I get the point, I just think it sacrifices too much to do that. And its ammunition stores are deep enough that it wouldn't realistically be a problem.
the sally is another favorite from the tcg. awesome in a shteiner only deck. i wish it was in mw5.
An overall excellent mech, and much better than i remember it being. Hell, even the 6T (despite its mediocrity) could do bodyguard stuff when it isn't slinging LRM's downrange 🤷♂️
I'm also glad nobody tried to make it an AC20-packing fast assault. Instead it's all the missiles all the time, as it should be.
Awesome Red. Thank you
No problem 👍
There is more in-store of course. Book Review this Friday, news video on the weekend, and then a new long-format video I'm working on.
I mean the suns have a awesome license that they never reused so maybe the lyrans got the specs for the awesome to modify into the salamander from them?
They got it from the AWS-9M's they bought from the FWL during the invasion almost certainly. Support docs ect come with purchases.
fair enough. still always bugs me the suns never utilize the awesome and guillotine licenses they have@@BigRed40TECH
This was a great review. I'm slowly catching up to the 'mechs from between Clan Invasion and Dark Age. The Salamander is truly a kickass missile boat. It's a worthy successor to the Archer, with more LRM and more armor, but still able to maintain the role in a time where most people were trying to get bigger guns to try to match the Clan gunslingers. If I resurrected the Merc regiment from the glory days to a post-3052 campaign, I would definitely plug a Salamander into a Fire Lance somehow.
Hi, I'd like to order some missiles with a side of missiles! OH, can I get some missiles with that? Thanks!
More Missiles O.O
The Salamander is a mech I've rarely used but always respected. Being a loyal son of the Dragon, i have more familiarity with the Naginata.
Have you done videos on the Hauptman and Fafnir yet? I admit I kinda want to see you give those your signature flair.
Not yet. I'm mostly covering mechs in order of TRO, so they're a long way off. We just hit TRO 3055.
@@BigRed40TECH so I have something to look forward to. I admit I don't know which TRO they appear in, just that they are most known during the FedCom Civil War.
@@GraniteGhost778 3060 and 3067 :)
We'll get there in a couple years. Probably. lol
"Sergent Thomas, I need a report on the current meteorological conditions, did central command issue any forecast on the solar eclipse we're current witnessing?"
~ Last words of Major Gen Eric before the eclipse fully engulfed the sun.
"AHHHHHH!!!!"
Excellent vid sir. Thanks!
Glad you liked it!
If they wanted to make a brawling Salamander, they ought to have kept the theme and give it a yes amount of SRMs with maybe a CT mounted ER Large Laser to tap at long range, with a ton or two of the ammo to be inferno rounds for fun times.
We’re so back Steiner-Davion bros, our path shall be laid by LRMs!
I love missle boats :) the explosions keep me afloat. Hanz gets the flammenwaffer i get ze explosives.
The 6T variant I believe was ment to be an Elemental Killer. I'm pretty sure that one was featured in a technical readout that had color pictures for some and the 6T was one that was a full color page.
Hmmm, not that I recall. That's the Komodo I believe.
@@BigRed40TECH yup your right. Been a while since I was really into it and got them mixed up. Still got all my old stuff though. Watching your vids is giving me that itch to dive deeper again.
Good video red.!
Say what you will about the 'mech's look, more missile tubes is always better.
Awesome video!
I wonder how well this mech would perform with MMLs..?
Depends.
I made a salamander with 5 clan lrm 20 with 7 tons of ammo and 2 clan medium pulse lasers, 16 double heat sinks. Had to drop some ammo to make everything fit.
Sounds nasty. I like it. Still not the most LRM spam on a mech, but definitely an impressive amount. And better self defense.
Normally I don't like XL engines on assault mechs, but for a fire support mech that sits back and lobs missiles all day long it's acceptable, especially since it has the speed to keep its distance. What I can not forgive is the lack of Artemis-IV on those LRM racks. It's basically free damage, especially on 20 racks. I would downgrade the arm to a -15 rack to Artemis equip each launcher. Without Artemis you can expect each LRM-20 salvo to do an average of 12.7 damage to a target. For a measly ton more and no heat you can increase that to 15.4 damage, an increase of 18%. The variants that install an LRM-15 with Artemis are closer in damage to the base model than you might expect, with those racks doing 11.5 damage per shot on average, only 1.2 points less than the unenhanced LRM-20 racks. For the base Salamander you should expect to do an average of 38.1 damage if all missile racks hit. For the Artemis enhanced Salamader I suggested above that value increases to 42.2, a substantial increase despite losing 5 missiles on the total salvo. If you got more creative with the upgrade (perhaps deleting the MLs and a ton of LRM ammo instead of downgrading the rack) that value increases to 46.1 damage, a full 8 more than the base model. For 3 tons and no heat it's like adding a phantom LRM-12 rack to the mech.
Radical designs for radical times.
THis guy gets it!
It could be a dangerous brawler if someone does get in close though. It's well armored to last a bit until a body guard mech arrives.
Just make an SRM-Salamander, the ultimate brawler!
Here I thought it was named after the fire breathing mythological beast.
The Salamander doesn't get enough respect. 🐸
Amphibians of the World, unite!
Love this video, learned a lot... may need to find a way to incorporate this into my merc unit, and I definitely need one for my 7th Lyran Light Horse lmao
Masterunitlist says mercs do get it :)
@@BigRed40TECH yessssss i mean
Am i going to have to buy a metal mini now... I think I am going to have to... Hello Iron Winds.
I would love to see an mrm version of this.
So they took an awesome, ripped out all the lasers and covered it with missiles. Got it.
"It's totally not inspired by the Awesome!"
- Johnathan Somerton, CEO, Defiance Industries
Also, you would think the child of Adam Steiner would know better than to ally with Clanners.
The Salamander is solid, but I still usually stick to Longbows. Their ubiquitous nature and low cost from no advanced tech makes ownership by my merc company more affordable. Not to say none are modified... salvaged clan LRM launchers and double heat sinks made the old Longbow hilarious!
Oh I love the Longbow. There's a reason it got a 90 minute video lol
In the vein of "missile boats that are more properly treated as an artillery piece", I do wonder if there are any IS mechs out there in the current era that fit the Arrow IV missile system.
I do know that a vehicle exists with such a system on it, the Chaparral tracked Arrow-IV system (best paired with a few ammunition carriers, most of the time when you need an artillery missile system, you need a lot of missiles).
It's flexible, having many ammunition types.
It's highly damaging, as is any "artillery" type weapon system that by default targets hexes rather than individual units.
And if you happen to have units in-theater, or you're targeting fixed assets like buildings, it's a fantastic firepower multiplier.
Not to mention that if you happen to be a fan of the Word of Blake, it is able to utilize one of your favorite options, and the option that every other faction fears and loathes. Nuclear weaponry delivered via Arrow-IV missile. It's a lot cheaper than having to dedicate an entire pocket-warship (and the nuclear tipped naval missiles it uses) to nuclear orbital bombardment.
There are IS mechs that use Arrow IV
I believe that Melissa Steiner 2: Electric Boogaloo is Adam's granddaughter, not daughter.
Loved this video! Would there be any reason the FWL would utilize one of these outside of salvage/availability? I have a few printed up and want to add one to my FWL as well if it is lore accurate enough .
Sadly, the FWL just doesn't have reliable access to them. But salvage would be an option.
@@BigRed40TECHthank you for the info and taking the time to answer my question! 🙏🏼
Personally, I'm rooting for the Hinterlands states. "Treacherous Davions" indeed. Katie "look I can be a girl Hitler!" Steiner and her "Steiner alliance" were the people who betrayed the Federated Commonwealth, not the Federation or Peter or Victor. She betrayed her brothers and sister, and she nukin' assassinated her own MOTHER - Katherine Steiner's own daughter! Then she went and joined the WOLVES and betrayed the Lyran's, too, and helped the wolves nearly conquer Tharkad! And now, her mutant clone mashup of her own and her brother Paladin Victor's DNA is now sitting on Terra claiming to be the First Flippin' Lord. So, yeah, I hope the Hinterland states like Tamar and Alyina can hold their own against all efforts of House Steiner to rebuild it's shattered empire, and let the Steiners lay in the bed they made when they sided with the Katie against Victor and the Suns half of the Commonwealth. Even with all the crap that's happened in the near century since the Civil War.
I would even put money on Alaraic taking Hesperus for his "Wolf Empire". And once the Steiners lose Hesperus they aren't really House Steiner anymore. The mech factories on Hesperus have been the foundation of the Steiner's power since the invention of the Battlemech. If Trillian could really hold the Lyrans together and even start to rebuild after losing Hesperus, _that_ would be an interesting story.
But just a note: The Salamander the mech is named after is not the amphibian. You make it sound like the mech is armed with torpedoes instead of LRMs. As the gnome is the classical earth spirit, the sylph is the wind spirit, and the undine is the water spirit, the salamander is the classical spirit of FIRE. It's not named after a newt or an eft. It's an elemental fire spirit (as it rains fire down on its enemies). I supposed you could try to take the image literally and equip a Salamander with Inferno LRMs. (Are there Inferno LRMs? Sarna hints at it. But my Tech Manual only lists Inferno SRMs.)
I choose to rep it as the Amphibian it looks like :P
And I'm all too aware of the shortcomings of the Lyran state, I just wanted to give them an okay outing in a video closely linked to them, lol
VULKAN LIV- wait where am I?
Sir here is you Longbow
longbow boo I want a Salamander
Sir this is the League we only have the longbow
Well looks like someone goanna die so I can get me that Salamander
Honestly, the only thing I would do with this machine, is add a Guardian ECM and maybe a couple of flamethrowers or small lasers in case infantry managed to sneak up on it.
Other than that, I'd probably go with the jumping one or the original.
Angel ECM O.O
Upgrade to clan spec launchers, and you probably find the room and tonnage to do that.
Now I want to run one
For when you need to remind people why they hate LRM spam. The commonwealth will rise from the ashes.
Lrm boat? No.
SRM Boat? Yes.
Why? Why not?!
MISSSSSSLES
looks at the very wide hips of the salamander. are we sure this thing isn't related to the kinatro?
It's got those missile-bearing hips.
"Imagine spending over 18 million c-bills to bring 3 LRM20 systems to the battlefield." - This post brought to you by the Tracked LRM Carrier gang.
For real, I really like this mech and definitely one of the stand outs of 3055 for me, it's sad that it didn't get picked up with the next wave of plastic redesigns so it's gonna be a while before we see it in a fresh coat of paint. Nonetheless, another great video Red, can't wait for the next one.
My man took ten minutes to say that the Salamander is an OC Donut Steele and not just the Awesome LRM variants. What a chad.
Also, fuck the Free Skye Movement. FedCom shoulda just let them be independant to assert dominance by then immediately declaring war on them.
And once Free Skye was conquered. You let them break off again. So you can conquer them again. Until they learn!
@@BigRed40TECH Exactly. Once you go to war with the Free World's League for long enough, you have to have picked up on some of their tricks.
I need to stuff this with like 6 clan lrm20
More missiles. What more could you ask for?
Thank you for the videos. I appreciate your all your hard work. Also the effort in your your narration. I believe behemoth @1:22 is pronounced Bee•He•Myth?
It's frequently pronounced as Bay-uh-moth, bee-uh-moth, or buh-hee-muth. Given that all 3 of these do see some use, I don't really care that I chose the former over the latter in this instance.
😁 That reminds me of Bahamut from Final Fantasy series. 🐉 I've heard so many variations of that name and all correct 💯. Sorry for becoming a words lawyer.
Sagittaire next!
Sadly no lol
Hey bud is there any chance you could do a video regarding the Helm Core?
That may happen at some point, *but*, it'd not be soon. Too many other projects.
Strangely enough, considering my natural Davion-space disrespect for the Lyrans, I must defend them on their claim that the Salamander is that closely copied from the Awesome. The only thing those two mechs share is their 80-ton weight bracket. It's like saying that my commanding officer's Battlemaster is the same as the Black Watch, just because they're both 85 ton mechs with names that start with B. XD
On a more serious note, the Salamander doesn't seem like a mech my mercs would want. One unit is a little less than triple the cost of one of my own Archers, and only offers an extra LRM-20 for the expense. For the cost, I could improve my unit's efficiency by loading the company spotter mech with TAG and NARC and save money besides.
They weigh 80-tons, have the same engines, have the same exact amount of armour, and have the same configuration of primary weapon's placement. And its specifically mentioned in TRO 3055 Upgrade, that the Salamander was somewhat inspired by the Awesome, despite the protestations of the company.
So... yea. :P
Ah yes, the Federated Commonwealth, I sure do love the space Austro-Hungarian Empire
Question: How many MML tubes could you slap onto this thing because i feel that would be really funny.
Either that or shove it full of rockets.
Hard to tell. Critical restrictions onboard are a thing too.