A reminder that a bad mech is better then no mech at all, and thankfully, The Cataphract is one of those designs that don't strain logistics, because it was literally put together from the left over parts of two mechs with plentiful spare parts, and one that was much harder to replace, making it 2/3rds easier to repair. You essentially get a 70 ton mech you aren't entirely afraid to get beat up in a fight.
The 5L is a nasty surpise for a lot of people expecting the typical CCAF stealthy sniper. Reflective armor has weaknesses, but laughing off Clan ER PPCs and Large Pulse Lasers is very funny.
The Cataphract getting further kludged together into an OmniMech makes a strange kind of sense. It’s practically made of spare parts, I can see some ingenuity turning that into ‘modular’.
Here in the Suns, but specifically on Cartago (thanks to hiding our major industrialists and engineers and being recently liberated by our Prince and his Champion), we have decided to rework the -3D with newer technologies to create the -6D, and most Mechwarriors seem to enjoy it Stripping out all the weapons for more advanced weapons, we have: An Imperator-brand Light Gauss rifle, taken from Hawk Moths, inhabiting the right torso, giving respectable and extremely long range firepower (if you're wondering why we don't use Clan Gauss, it's because the Department of the Quartermaster gives it to everyone but us), 2 tons of ammo for those long engagements. Next we put a homegrown Clan-tech UAC/10 with 3 tons of ammo in the right arm, since no one seems to like the UAC/5, and you can't argue with that amount of cool-running firepower for that amount of weight. Finally, 4 Clantech ER Medium Lasers take the place of the regular lasers (torso ones are usually mounted forward because Mechwarriors are Mechwarriors), because everyone, but the Capellans and most Periphery Powers, have those in droves these days. Oh and all of the Right side is protected by C.A.S.E. II For Armour, 12 tons of IS grade Ferro Fibrous coats the entire thing, making the Torso, and especially the legs, far more sturdy. Predictably, we've gotten considerable praise from the DFA crowd for this improvement. Heatsinks are of course 11 doubles, since no one makes singles anymore for Military grade engines. The rest of the -3D stuff remains, same Earthwerk CTF Chassis, Same GM 280 XL Engine, and same 4 HildCo Model 12 Jumpers. All-in-All, A significant step up from the lackluster -3D in our humble opinion, and an excellent replacement if you lost your Caesar, Warhammer, or other 70 tonner, in these trying times
The Caesar is one of my favorite 'mech ever, mostly because it was about the only 'mech in the Clan Invasion era that could go Ton to Ton against Clan 'mechs...
@ProfessorHeyTeeEn this got me thinking, after watching some weird Chinese rifles introduced by Ian, now this Machine does resemble those weird Chinese rifles
It’s a real shame that the Cataphract seems to have been largely passed over by Liao forces in favor of more current designs these days. It has a lot of history behind it, and was a quintessential Liao mech for a long while.
I find the Cataphract to be a very efficient design, when going for head shots any near misses will never be wasted. The Uziel also has a similarly efficient layout but the designers put that nice cowl protected cockpit on it.
The first mech that the capellans have they actually built themselves instead of being the theifing magpies they are for everything bigger than 40 tons
My only real complaint about the Catephract is the foolishness of putting BOTH big guns on the SAME SIDE of the Mech! Otherwise, it's actually a decent Trooper Mech. Mind you, I say decent, not particularly good.
Do you ever get Striker battlemechs in to work on? Old star league design, but they were everywhere at one point and I imagine they still turn up. It seems like it would take well to some basic upgrades, its like a discount thug, and you could do a lot with just adding double heat sinks and ferro.
Hello Prof. I've never been a 'fan' of the Cataphract Mechs. None of them really fit my style of play. I HAVE used them on the tabletops from the time they first appeared in TROs, but I was never satisfied with their performance or overall firepower. Changing enough of the Mech to suit my plans would turn the Mech into some 'generic' 70-ton Mech design and take away from what a Cataphract really is. So, I don't have any comments on any changes to the Mech's design. For 70-ton Mechs, I would go with: Archer, Bowman, Catapult II, Grizzly, Summoner / Thor, Sun Spider, Thunderbolt IIC, and Warhammer instead of the Cataphract.
I would say your assessment is pretty much correct. The Cataphract is never going to be anyone's "First pick" in most situations, but when playing scenarios or restricting yourself to various faction units, it will fill in many holes. Flip the lasers forward, keep a PPC and LB-10X on them (that Flanagan Cataphract), and it becomes a decent trooper.
I ask the general population of all the groups I am in to share their 'mechs and their units. Most people are happy to help, and I am more than happy to share what they are doing. Insulting the fandom in general because is definitely not a good look.
@ all the mechs in this video are just objectivly painted badly. there is no arguing about that. when that insult people they could learn how to do it better or just live with it and focus on playing the game.
Ahh the cataract, one of the mechs where the designers kindly use the cockpit to shield all the vital internal components.
Ascended Frankenmech. That first art really made the Capellans look Desperate, but it showed desperate can still ruin your day.
Well "Necessity is the mother of invention" as they say. When your need is strong enough, you will find a way.
A reminder that a bad mech is better then no mech at all, and thankfully, The Cataphract is one of those designs that don't strain logistics, because it was literally put together from the left over parts of two mechs with plentiful spare parts, and one that was much harder to replace, making it 2/3rds easier to repair. You essentially get a 70 ton mech you aren't entirely afraid to get beat up in a fight.
The 5L is a nasty surpise for a lot of people expecting the typical CCAF stealthy sniper. Reflective armor has weaknesses, but laughing off Clan ER PPCs and Large Pulse Lasers is very funny.
The Cataphract getting further kludged together into an OmniMech makes a strange kind of sense. It’s practically made of spare parts, I can see some ingenuity turning that into ‘modular’.
Plenty of room in it to play with, which really helps. Same reason the Charger turned into the various Hatamoto.
i keep hearing 'aurigan trade alliance' as 'oregon trail alliance', lmao
As long as you bring your tricorn hat and a grandfather clock, we'll let you in.
Here in the Suns, but specifically on Cartago (thanks to hiding our major industrialists and engineers and being recently liberated by our Prince and his Champion), we have decided to rework the -3D with newer technologies to create the -6D, and most Mechwarriors seem to enjoy it
Stripping out all the weapons for more advanced weapons, we have: An Imperator-brand Light Gauss rifle, taken from Hawk Moths, inhabiting the right torso, giving respectable and extremely long range firepower (if you're wondering why we don't use Clan Gauss, it's because the Department of the Quartermaster gives it to everyone but us), 2 tons of ammo for those long engagements. Next we put a homegrown Clan-tech UAC/10 with 3 tons of ammo in the right arm, since no one seems to like the UAC/5, and you can't argue with that amount of cool-running firepower for that amount of weight. Finally, 4 Clantech ER Medium Lasers take the place of the regular lasers (torso ones are usually mounted forward because Mechwarriors are Mechwarriors), because everyone, but the Capellans and most Periphery Powers, have those in droves these days. Oh and all of the Right side is protected by C.A.S.E. II
For Armour, 12 tons of IS grade Ferro Fibrous coats the entire thing, making the Torso, and especially the legs, far more sturdy. Predictably, we've gotten considerable praise from the DFA crowd for this improvement.
Heatsinks are of course 11 doubles, since no one makes singles anymore for Military grade engines.
The rest of the -3D stuff remains, same Earthwerk CTF Chassis, Same GM 280 XL Engine, and same 4 HildCo Model 12 Jumpers.
All-in-All, A significant step up from the lackluster -3D in our humble opinion, and an excellent replacement if you lost your Caesar, Warhammer, or other 70 tonner, in these trying times
If you managed to make a 3D work, I will be happy.
Honestly, the Cataphract/Caesar is one of my favorite mechs because I loved the card art as a kid. I was so happy that we got it in MechWarrior 5.
The Caesar is one of my favorite 'mech ever, mostly because it was about the only 'mech in the Clan Invasion era that could go Ton to Ton against Clan 'mechs...
Its a weird looking heavy mech at first but you will like it as time passes
The original design I agree is weird. The "reformed" one looks like a fun dumpy little fellow.
@ProfessorHeyTeeEn this got me thinking, after watching some weird Chinese rifles introduced by Ian, now this Machine does resemble those weird Chinese rifles
It’s a real shame that the Cataphract seems to have been largely passed over by Liao forces in favor of more current designs these days. It has a lot of history behind it, and was a quintessential Liao mech for a long while.
TRO 3055 and 3060 gave a whole lot of 'mechs to the Capellan Confederation, which harmed some of their previous designs.
A machine created by the same chaos gods as the platypus.
I find the Cataphract to be a very efficient design, when going for head shots any near misses will never be wasted.
The Uziel also has a similarly efficient layout but the designers put that nice cowl protected cockpit on it.
It does have quite a "weakspot" in the MW5 and MWO series, I will admit.
just saw u mentioned aurigan trade alliance and went to check ikhan's eye only.
I love this mech, especially in its most recent iteration.
The first mech that the capellans have they actually built themselves instead of being the theifing magpies they are for everything bigger than 40 tons
A simple question : on what planet is Flanagan's refits and repairs located on ?
Artru.
My only real complaint about the Catephract is the foolishness of putting BOTH big guns on the SAME SIDE of the Mech!
Otherwise, it's actually a decent Trooper Mech.
Mind you, I say decent, not particularly good.
Decent is often enough all you can ask for.
Do you ever get Striker battlemechs in to work on? Old star league design, but they were everywhere at one point and I imagine they still turn up. It seems like it would take well to some basic upgrades, its like a discount thug, and you could do a lot with just adding double heat sinks and ferro.
@@jiiaga5017 odd duck the Striker. Might talk about it someday.
Give you a free thumbs up and a pre-4 out of 5 for this video 🙂.
Hello Prof.
I've never been a 'fan' of the Cataphract Mechs. None of them really fit my style of play. I HAVE used them on the tabletops from the time they first appeared in TROs, but I was never satisfied with their performance or overall firepower.
Changing enough of the Mech to suit my plans would turn the Mech into some 'generic' 70-ton Mech design and take away from what a Cataphract really is. So, I don't have any comments on any changes to the Mech's design.
For 70-ton Mechs, I would go with: Archer, Bowman, Catapult II, Grizzly, Summoner / Thor, Sun Spider, Thunderbolt IIC, and Warhammer instead of the Cataphract.
I would say your assessment is pretty much correct. The Cataphract is never going to be anyone's "First pick" in most situations, but when playing scenarios or restricting yourself to various faction units, it will fill in many holes.
Flip the lasers forward, keep a PPC and LB-10X on them (that Flanagan Cataphract), and it becomes a decent trooper.
The 4X is a worse Hammerhands in every way!
why are the mechs always the most ugly painted ones one can find?
I ask the general population of all the groups I am in to share their 'mechs and their units. Most people are happy to help, and I am more than happy to share what they are doing. Insulting the fandom in general because is definitely not a good look.
Submit your own next time if you're so immensely talented.
@ all the mechs in this video are just objectivly painted badly. there is no arguing about that. when that insult people they could learn how to do it better or just live with it and focus on playing the game.
@ thinning paints, using an ink or drybrush stuff isnt masterclass painting and more like the first steps into painting a model.
@@maeckiemesser6958 Submit your own next time oh enlightened genius