BATTLETECH: The Crab
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ส.ค. 2022
- The #Crab is one of the great mediums of the #SuccessionWars and #StarLeague. It's something almost every #Mechwarrior who gets their hands on it knows within minutes of getting into its cockpit. Reasonably fast, heavily armoured, durable due to few major systems, and supporting a full energy design, who wouldn't want to run around as a Crab fighting for the #SLDF, or #Comstar, or really anyone else?
#Battletech, and #Northwind have provided us with the ultimate brawler and scrapper among the #2750 designs. So let's talk about it today.
It's going to be #Crabtastic.
#WordofBlake #ClanInvasion #DarkAge #Ilclan
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Someone in Mage's comments described that final Plasma Crab as turning a durable ammo independent raider into "50 tons of 'COWABUNGA IT IS!'"
If you had to fight a campaign of guerrilla warfare the Crab would be your best choice in the Classic era. You can outrun anything you can't fight directly, out fight anything faster then you, and don't have to worry too much about supply lines. They aren't built for direct full on warfare but in their intended role they truly excel.
With that said 4 Crab's with competent pilots are still quite deadly in open battle, especially if they have terrain and/or structures to use for protection.
I swear its the crab and not my bias to it that causes all my enemies to crit.
Not sure why but the "Dwindling supply of crabs" line made me laugh way more than it should of. XD
Amaris ate them all in the process of testing the true limits of unlimited crab legs 😢
It's an incredible skirmishing mech. Not only is it fast on its feet, but it is durable as well in that role with a solid amount of armor.
I've deployed the crab in nearly every game I've played. They've been ROUTINELY mauled as they're both a terrifying monster that chews lighter mechs for breakfast and bigger mechs crap a brick in mild terror; but solid enough that the only time one died on me was the CRB-54, which packs even more riduculous weapons in exchange for an XL engine, every other time the things tanked PPCs all game long, and refused to die, and often retained some degree of combat viability.
Crab is basically King Crab's smaller brother
But Both are still deadly and good, as well liked by most of us.
This mech is just simply a beast. They just will not die, especially if the dice gods favor you.
My go to 300 ton lance in tournaments during the Jihad is 2 -30 or -45 Crabs and 2 005 King Crabs. Tactics are simple, rush the Crabs into medium range so you can lay down cover fire for the slow advance of the 005 Kings. Once the LB20xs are in range retreat the Crabs to long range. Of course focus fire on any ECM so you can get the network up as fast as possible. Then just control Alt delete any mech you want. Even Clan Zombies can't withstand this much raw damage or crit seeking. The local group called this lance the sea food platter. If you have the spare BV or tonnage, the Hussar 500D makes a great long range sniper for this unit.
I have had a Crab face tank ~8 Medium and Heavy mechs and only go down due to the pilot falling unconscious. It was still repairable and the pilot survived.
Dual LRM 20s to the back will. My buddy did it once, and he needed dual boxcar to do it.
The Crab is not a 'beast' it's a Crustacean...
I wanna know where you play tournaments :) And do you play on tabletop simulator? Im getting back into it and need some games! hahah
@@bobbobbinson1841 we used to play at an local game store before the lockdown. The only games I've gotten in lately are test games with friends. But we are talking about getting the band back together. I've heard of table top simulator but I've never tried it.
I loved my variant in HBC Battletech where I put a snub PPC in the centre torso, maxed the armour and gave it jump jets. She was a brutal urban brawler.
I really like the HBS "Wolverine" snub PPC with its 5 pellets. The ++ one is like 5 medium lasers for 1 extra ton but less heat. Not sure I would rather 5 attack roles or a cluster and scatter.
I put dual snubs in mine. Was a great time.
I hope they fixed the issue with cockpit hits.
I stopped using Crabs because of too many pilot kills.
Turns out a mech designed to last a long time under minimal repair would be pretty great in a succession war setting
Crazy fun to strap a pile of pulses on it in MWO
The Crab is an impressive medium. Although it's lack of jump Jets limit it, this 'mech can go toe to toe with most other Inner Sphere designs.
the royal version has jump jets
This one brings back some memories for me, back when I was a girl in the Magistracy my mothers mercenary unit was hired for garrison duty for several years by the MAF. Pirates, Bandits, Slavers, and the cast offs of the FWL Civil War. The usual threats for a border world. Anyway we were garrisoned on that world long enough that I still think of it as my homeworld sometimes.
Anyway, back there they had a museum dedicated to the Reunification War and the Periphery Uprising. I used to visit it all the time and one of the exhibits was a old SLDF Crab that had been completely totaled and abandoned by local forces during the war. There was nothing left remotely salvageable inside of course but after the Amaris Coup and the SLDF withdrawal they’d recovers the wreck and painstaking rebuilt the facade of the Crab and painted it in its old SLDF colors to commemorate the war.
I would visit that museum a lot when I was a girl and I used to stare at that thing for hours. I’d grown up around Mechs of course and I knew it was nothing but a stuffed corpse but still it had a majesty and power to it. I wanted to pilot a machine like it so badly, still do honestly! Love that machine almost as much as my beloved Hatchetman!
(Thank you for the video! I really enjoyed it, this is a mech I love.
By the way, what paint scheme was that on the Crab at the beginning of the video? It looked Marian Hegemony.)
Yep, looks to be Marian.
@@BigRed40TECH (Okay cool!)
Ever since Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, the crab has been one of my favorites. Fighting on and inside an ice asteroid in space vs a bunch of crabs is stuck in my memory. And it's big brother is a boss that compliments the crab nicely! The hermit crab... eh... not so much.
We just need a crab in the heavy bracket to make a full pinchyboi lance!
The Hermit Crab might not be the most battle-worthy member of its family, but it’s a fast, cheap and reliable mech that can also haul cargo.
Besides, its older brothers have centuries of service behind them. Perhaps in time the Hermit Crab will gain a distinguished history, and all the crazy high-tech upgrades that come with it.
The Hermit Crab is just a down-sized Crab, really. It's built with the same philosophy as the original crab: cheap, simple, rugged technologies that are easy to develop and maintain for its tech base. While it's not going to be as well-armed as its peers, it doesn't need to be. For a Light scout with little maintenance requirements and easily-replaceable technology, along with utility and logistical options, it might not be flashy, but it works. And sometimes, good enough is perfect.
@@cobalt968 The hermit crab certainly has its uses. Especially during the dark ages it was made to help it's fellow crabs by carrying ammo resupplies.
The other crabs are known for bringing firepower to the field. I would just hate being pressed into a combat role with the hermit.
The Crab is another of the mechs that never got good artwork made until pretty much the MWO version came out.
Alan Blackwell´s current image looks good, but it weirdly puts the cockpit on the front of the torso instead of the top like in MWO.
Most impressive is the mech´s simple and relaible loadout, ammo independence and the weird ejection mechanism.
According to Battletech canon, it was a Comstar Crab pilot that befriended a Clan mech warrior to help the Innner Sphere finally take down the clans…
Which books cover this?
Exodus Road by Blaine Lee Pardoe
@@ianramsey101 thx
My favorite MWO boat. Its narrow profile makes it easier to splash damage over different armor locations, just wiggle the nose a bit. It was common enough to finish a match with more dmg taken then an assault. Yet comes in a fast enough package with simple and effective laser weapon. Always works
Same here, when I was more active on MWO this was my go to mech especially for group drops. You could lose both torsoes and still be a threat with 3 medium pulse lasers.
@@AccessAccess the pulse crab is a nasty little brawler that I always have fun taking out to play.
@@justinjacobs1501 how do you get it to work, when I tried it out I just kept exploding instantly
Ahh yes i experience that to alot of Times, Most of the Times whenever i loost a match with the crab i was the Last to survive Just because the shier amount of Armor and structure + it's Profile the crab has
My favorite medium mech! That magic combination of mobility, armor and mid range punch make this a nightmare on the battlefield.
If you can find some water to stand in, it gets even better. The four heat sinks in the legs allow you to throw in the medium laser with the 2 large ones, and walk without worry of overheating.
Whenever I face a crab, and I am in a medium along with selected heavies, I keep thinking, "What does it take to kill you"! I don't know if it is a quirk in the game, and a smart one considering the sloped armor, but the shell of a crab is just hard to crack.
I think its the narrow profile of the torso when facing you, its a pretty small target so incomming damage tends to be spread over all three torso hitboxes rather than concentrated on a single area
If you're talking about mechwarrior five then if I recall correctly you have to hit the center of the bullseye as it were on the face in order to hit the cockpit reliably. That is of course to say, you're probably better off just blowing the arms off
Lol I literally just asked the same thing. Seem ungodly durable for its stats in every game I run into it!
@@robrib2682 mech5 and mwo
@@CRAZYUNCLE117 I'm not a fan. I was influenced by this video and Baradul to pick up the crab as my first medium mech in MWO. God it was fucking horrible, idk what is it with me and laservomit mechs, I just suck at using them for some reason
I just kept exploding instantly whenever I peeked, I quickly went back to my incubus 5-C
Honestly I think it should have narrow/low profile as a quirk but that would require a negative quirk for balance
I believe I've said this before but I'll say it again: thus far in my warrior 5 this is one of my favorite mechs thus far mainly because its fastest a cicada or locust with the firepower to actually back itself up (of course it doesn't hurt anything that the default AI manages to actually pilot this thing correctly)
Edit: okay who in their right mind thought giving this thing ammo dependency was a good idea? I guess the dark ages truly were as terrible as people make them out to be
Plasma rifles are nasty things and the ammo doesn't explode when hit.
@@rylian21 oh thats.... acceptable. I thought some nutjob decided to put ac10's in the claws
@@robrib2682 I don't know that you could fit dual AC/10s. That's a lot of weight.
@@rylian21 when it comes to people trying certain things I was thinking less on how reasonable it is and more on someone drunkenly when putting together the source book thinking of making a baby king crab
@@robrib2682 that's hilarious. :)
Goddamit, after that last line all I can think of is Knight Crab, the theme song to FIGHTCRAB. That's going to be playing my head for the next 12 hours THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Absolutely love this Mech, it hits hard with a couple of big honking lasers, and carries so much armour that it can take the return fire. And the Royal variant is a legitimate terror with the addition of Pulse lasers and goddamn jump jets.
Everything evolves into Crabs, and then apparently they learn to fly and wield laser weaponry.
The Crab is the ultimate lifeform, and the ultimate Battlemech.
The Royal variant didn’t have JJs. It also used ER Lasers. The CRB-27SL is the pulse jumpy boi.
They say assault mechs can level a city block...but left alone for too long the crab can level an entire planet. Against insurgents this mech doesn’t suffer the attrition other mechs would. This truly the mech the SLDF rim garrisons wanted.
The Crab is akin to a god, really. It holds the power of life and death in its hands- I mean, claws.
5:51 The crab must indeed be crafty, pehaps by creating a fad on television to reduce the enemy's fighting spirit.
When this first came out, it was so danged cool. In any of the tournaments you could bet there was going to be a CRB on at least one side, or the other. I just wished they would have been more careful picking the pilots for them. One bad pilot can ruin an entire match. I was in a 10 man tourny in St. Louis, and our Crab Driver just ruined everything for us. We ended up winning, but it was super ugly, all or primarily because that Crab Pilot. Just one of my first memories of the Crab, way back in 1989 or 1990. Those were the good ol' days.
🦀While I don't like it aesthetically, the lore and just how effective it is made the Crab one of my favorites since I first read that TRO. It just gave me that "if I was in BT, I'd want to pilot this." feels. No worries about ammo, you've got great range and weapon variety, and maintenance is easy to boot.
My first love in the wonderful game, rest in Peace CRB-27SL my "Crabby Patty" she went out in glory leading her comstar force CrabForceOne
I'm surprised you didn't mention the interesting ejection system on the Crab. A good breakdown of most people's first laser boat, though. Thank you for this!
This video went over-time, and it just didn't feel like it had a place in the context of the rest of the video.
My all-time favorite medium mech. It's also one of the few mechs that I genuinely prefer the MWO design to the CGL one.
I like to think that the Crab in the first image was named Mandy because someone named Mandy gave the pilot crabs.
Energy brawlers are so much fun. Lighter weapons means more weight for armor, no worries about ammunition dependency. Just keep an eye on that heat scale and have fun.
It's all fun and games until someone gets a shutdown notification.
@@BigRed40TECH that's a shutdown "suggestion" thank you. That's what the override button is for.
@@WolfHreda Ain't no party like the overheating party because the overheating party don't stop!
One oddity is that the SLDF Exodus apparently took a load of these with them (some still in garrison units), yet there is no IIC version.
Maybe it is because it has an "I can do this all day" hit-and-fade vibe which does not meet the "settle it now" mindset imposed by Zellbrigen?
The Clans lost their taste for the Crabs.
This shows you why they're an evil series of factions. How can one not love the Crab? XD
@@BigRed40TECH They even turned their king crabs into Supernovas or phased out the KCs for the derivative Supernova
@@BigRed40TECH Probably best not to catch a case of crabs. There are so many 50t clan mechs it is not as if they would be missed.
As for the King Crab, the 000 was a hangar queen. The clans already have a 2 AC20 rig. It is called the Hunchback IIC, cheap and piloted by lunatics with an honour fixation.
Crab or espescially Crab SL with a pilto who can fist fire is amazing. If you score a head (or any location) punch you fire the large laser at a -1 or -3 total for pulse version and if it hits, it's guaranteed to hit the same spot as the punch. Turning it into a hich chance headclipper 5punch+8 is 13 damage, just 1 more than enough to headcap. Or further overkill with the pulse version.
Sadly, you have to give up all backup weapons AND a ton of armor to mount an IS Tarcomp to get the IS LPLs down to an absurd -4 to hit. Either a clan tarcomp or clan LPLs would let you pull it off without giving up armor since both would let you get away with just 3 tons. But even stacking both wouldn't let you put on any backup weapons. Since it's 12/5 but rounded up. So still 3 tons.
After knowing about the lore behind the crab, I now have a habbit of bringing crabs and king crabs for no particular reason ^.^
It's not quite the same, but I like adopting the Marauder as the honorary 75 ton crab.
If you ever see a salvageable Crab on the field be sure to snap it up.
Salvage? How can one salvage such a magnificent beast with its invincible outer-shell?
@@BigRed40TECH Pull off the legs,like a regular crab
I tried, but I couldn't get enough drawn butter to make anything of the meal.
My sl variant literally carried me through most of MW5 in my first playthrough. Even the AI made good use of it
Hope your having a great day! Thanks for the upload on this mech! Love the crab and it’s bigger brother the king crab.
Big thanks
#Crablife
Great vid! The crab is a fantastic medium especially for its niche and general pragmatic build, and most mediums I like more than it have the unfair advantage of being 5 tons heavier. I always thought it weird, especially given the profile of the mech, that it never had the narrow/low profile quirk, when mechs like the bushwacker and cauldron born get it, but maybe that would be too much awesomeness for such a crustacean.
YES!!! Amazing mech. Love this weird guy. Why does it have a nosecone like a heavy bomber? Nobody knows, but you can’t tell me it’s not absolutely cool as hell. Good zappy burny boi. Looks ace, fights ace, can’t fault it. This, the Centurion, the vindicator and the trebuchet are my favourite middlewight lance.
Four medium lasers FTW, I say. Pulse, if you can get them. I managed to pack on TEN TONS of armour with this loadout in HBS Battletech, and that guy stayed with me throughout most of the campaign. It was an incomparable brawler, and could even take out much heavier and (on-paper) stronger ‘mechs on its own. Total mad lad.
Thanks for doing this one, mate - lovely work.
That's an incredibly solid medium lance.
I always assumed the big bomber cone torso was a result of it's "easy to maintain" quirks. The old art made it look like the entire "top" of the torso could just be tilted open like a car hood or just winched off as one piece, with more than enough space inside for techs to just stand inside the torso to access everything with ease.
@@Cousin_Uli That makes a lot of sense, to be honest.
IIRC, the “cone” was put in the design was to bounce ballistic shells off of it
@@persh7306 Another excellent point!
2 L Lasers in a medium?!?! What can go wrong LMAO I will say tho in MW it's tiny cockpit makes it super hard to get pilot kills.
I always swapped the LLs for Snub nose PPCs and the other lasers get upgraded to ER Medium lasers. Endo frame and DHS help with the design. Works wonders.
Mine's a light ppc in the left with disco death mode large laser in the right arm, medium pulses, and a light engine for a bit more survivability than an xl
This is one of my favorites for both 2750 and 3025, even downgraded from the -27b it's a VERY dangerous beastie in the hands of a smart commander.
The Crab is a wonderful ride to pilot, that's for sure, and one hell of a medium. A great video as always!
Thanks so much! :D
Probably my favorite all-around medium. 50T is a pretty good weight and it uses every one of those tons wisely. Two Large Lasers is a pretty respectable punch with a decent range. Its engine is big enough to give it options without crippling the machine to make it go absurdly fast. It carries enough armor to survive a lot of fire and it carries enough heatsinks to endure without sacrificing too much.
In most video games I've played the lasers have a hidden edge - they're easier to hit with than other weapons. The lack of ammo is also nice.
The upgrades or not-downgrades are all pretty sensible too. Add jumps. Up-gun a bit, cool it more. The variant models don't (usually) do silly things like "this one carries four flamethrowers". There's no bad Crab.
I'm gonna have to show more Respect to the Crab. I never saw the value in it and always passed it up. This clearly has been a mistake on my part that I shall rectify.
Especially in MW. The Crab is one of the best mechs to get early in MW. It can outrun almost every heavy and can beat almost every medium and every light. It is also a super safe mech for the pilot due to the tiny low profile cockpit that makes it super hard for your opponents to get pilot kills.
Great Video as always, Red. I wasn't aware of the dark age variant, so that was a pleasant surprise. I also liked the comparison between the Royal and the SL variants, it was an interesting one. Keep churning out the videos, Red!
A lot of the time, the SL variants are better than the Royal Ones, it's kinda funny. lol
This is probably my favorite medium mech in the MechWarrior games and HBS Battletech. Sadly I don't have one for tabletop just yet. But I will.
I'd often replay the one assassinate mission in MW5, where the target drives a Royal Crab.
Just so I could salvage it, as intact as possible. It's *that* good. 😁
Ever since MW2: Mercenaries the Crab has been one of my favorite mechs. Never played much table top, but the Mercenaries titles definitely show off the Crab as something you can quickly patch back together and send back into the field. Plus turning on arm lock and focusing 4-5 medium or medium pulse lasers at a single enemy component strips most non-assault mechs of parts quickly, especially if you can hit the cockpit.
I use the crab all the time. Sometimes I use my custom crab with Jump jets and SRM 4 packs 😁
Ah, the smaller pinchy boi.
I love this mech. Good armor, no ammo, good speed. The CRB-54 is straight up NASTY, though.
Plasma is the best friend of all Crabs
The Crab is one of the best "do anything" mediums, and it is surprisingly effective even when fighting heavier opponents. It has flaws, but they are all easy to plan and play around. In a long campaign where mechs are upgraded over time, I would eventually replace it (unlike say, a Phoenix Hawk or a Griffin), but it's probably the last medium mech I'd replace with a heavy. A whole company of Crabs isn't too bad an idea.
The Crab is one of those mechs which is great because it doesn't attempt to do too much. It's large lasers are good, general-purpose weapons, so it just doesn't need more weapon systems. It's engine is powerful enough that it doesn't need jump jets. That simplicity both keeps the cost down as well as makes the mech very survivable, since it can lose a side torso and the only change is the reduction in firepower.
Simple, reliable, and effect. What more could you ask for? XD
It fits very nicely in many niches. One might wonder if the Clans took more than a few design cues from the venerable yet reliable Crab when they made their own amazing workhorse medium, the Stormcrow/Ryoken.
@@BigRed40TECH It's all crabs the whole way down.
@@cobalt968 I've always felt that the Crab is what the Clans would design if they were restricted to IS technology levels. The clans don't use jump jets as frequently as IS, but do tend toward faster walk/run, they use close to max armor for the weight, have good firepower beyond 3 hexes, have very good heat efficiency, and have no particular weaknesses.
When you look at the first 3050 designs, the Clan has a whole different philosophy from the IS, and the Crab mostly fits that philosophy.
I do wonder why we don't have a mech in the crab family for all weight categories as well as why some aren't amphibious considering that they are crabs.
I mean, adopting the Marauder as the heavy crab isn't the worst idea. It's not quite the same, but the Marauder's heart is in the right place.
Crab Gang! 3 Crabs and a King, Deadliest Catch theme plays over comms
4 Hermit Crabs, 2 Crabs, and a King Crab would like to know your location.
I've really liked this mech since I read about it into 2750 TRO, my friends that I played the game with had discussions about how I could get one for my merc unit given the rarity by 3025 I conceded some extra tonnage in fights to get this mech. We were in Jr High when I had gotten TRO 2750 so to say we were fast and loose with rules would be an understatement. My other favorite was the Black Knight
My favorite Medium battlemech, looks goofy but I love that
It's such a good medium.
It's a great Mech for the beginning of MW because it has no ammo requirements and can devour the light's and medium's you come across.
Love this tough little machine. Well, with that thing my mind always go back to my heavy/assault lance firing everything and that thing stood. Well, survived, no way to take that many lrm, ac and gaus hits and keep standing, but it lived. Somehow. Not a fluke either, that thing can take a lot of punishment with decent armor and nothing that can explode. Has a decent punch for its weigh and isn't slow either. Overall a great mech, the design is fine as well. Doesn't quite beat the Uziel as my favourite medium but that's from nostalgia/my introduction to battletech with mw4.
I also hope we get a CGL model of the hermit crab so I can field even more crabs. I like the HMC-15.
It's just the perfect medium mech. It's handsome, it's durable, it's advanced but not too advance to be crippled by the loss of lostech, and it has a reliable weapon loadout.
The. Same. Damn. Music. For that mission where I had to kill Sho-Sa-Varus the Butcher IN A CRAB FOR THE FIRST TIME. Good ol' Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries.
I've never had the pleasure/displeasure of seeing the Crab myself but from what I have been told it's a Dream to pilot and a Nightmare to engage
Lot of fun in MWO.
And remember Admiral Ackbar: "It's a Crab!"
Yes! The Crustacean mech!*
but we get the Assault Crustacean in a few videos?
* I got the crustacean references from the Grimdark Narrator here on TH-cam
You approach a lonely crab. It appears to be weeping.
i remember stripping the large lasers and spamming mediums in battletech, was a fun disco boat
Crab for medium
King Crab for assault
Now we need a light Crawfish and the heavy Snowcrab.
The Crawfish would be a 35 ton light with a slow speed but heavy armor for its weight and with a nasty “pinch”
The Snowcrab would be a 75 ton heavy with endo steel, ferro fibrous armor, and enough double heat sinks to let it fire all its weapons and still run ice cold
Would the super heavy be called the coconut crab? It actually uses its claws as gaint claws, grabbing and crushing smaller mechs.
I think the Hermit Crab is already a 25 ton crab.
Many things are evolving into crabs/crablike now on earth.
In Battletech, so are Mechs.
This is the way.
Fast, durable, and can operate in some harsh condition for prolonged engagements.
The Crab truly was a master of its time. It reminds me of the Russian T-34 in WW2. A surprisingly capable vehicle that lasted long in the
field without a proper maintenance. Easily mass produced to fill in the ranks, though I think the Crab wasn't as easy.
While the appearance can be a bit deceiving, this thing can be a beast at medium range thanks to its multiple laser weaponry.
And that claw arm isn't just for show either.
How cool would it be to have that arm grab an enemy mech by the shoulder and yanking its hardpoint right off!?
The T34 broke down a lot I wouldn’t say it lasted long.
@@Kingofdragons117 Yeah it did. But mostly because of the lack of petrol. And the engine guzzled them like water.
But the T34 proved to be mainstay tank once they got their stuff in order.
Not to mention spare parts were aplenty.
Still, i'd like to compare it to the crab because of its similarities.
@@thaipankatima658 Oh no, the 34 was kinda a nightmare mechanically too. People project the AK's durable mystique onto damn near everything the soviets or Russians ever built. But reliability wasn't a concern when making the T34.
Another great mech :-) personifies the keep it simple stupid approach perfectly....a great zombie mech that hits hard, moves well and has enough armour to stand against any mech it might meet...if you can get one it'll never do you wrong.
I love the CGL redesign, but I wish the cockpit was configured like it is on the MWO model; it makes more sense to me.
That said, CGL’s design *is* a more faithful reinterpretation of the original FASA art.
1:30 In this utterly cursed version of the design, the MechWarrior pilots the machine lying in the prone position.
They can fight relaxed. That's a-okay in my books! ;)
I like the design of the Crab's legs.
my favorite 50t. speedy speedy crab.
I'm a first gen. BT player and this comes with some unfavourable opinions and leanings.
To some, like me, the Crab will always be a lost tech thing. One of the rumoured SLDF mechs which are very rarely seen on the battlefield.
I know and lived through the "unseen" phase of the game when many mechs from TR2750 received succession wars variants but my BT group never really accepted those in our games.
Basically, one might say the CRB-20 does not exist in my game environment.
Full lance of crabs. Nice! I did that with Hunchies, but the missile and gauss variants make for a much more flexible unit.
It's like an Enforcer with an extra movement point or a medium mech carrying a Stalker's midrange firepower... win either way. 16 points of damage potential every round is totally adequate in a succession wars design. The later version using lostech LLs and DHS is much more of a beast than it's given credit for here: making modestly difficult shots from the outer edge of meduim range, while taking advantage of its cruising speed... good luck to any pilot trying to return fire.
I remember using one as a PPC boat the first time I could get my hands into one, but didn't know that it could lose those arms so easily, my bad for wanting to brawl
Proff that crab is the ultimate form
Giant crab!, giant enemy crab!
Attack its weak spot for massive damage!
My mercenary company that I like to play as actually uses the Crab a _lot_. They're gimmick is that they never use weapons that require ammo since they're used to working deep within enemy territory, very long patrols, backwater planets with limited infrastructure, with very limited or nonexistent logistics trains, or some combination of the above. Ammo just isn't for us. Command mech is typically a MAD-3D (this is succession wars/Clan Invasion since that's what my friends and I typically play) although I tend to rock an Ostsol occasionally, and the rest of the lance is typically a mix of two Crabs and then either a Swayback, Vindicator, Panther, or Jenner, just with all the ammo dependent weapon systems ripped out for additional sinks and armor.
CRB-20 is a super solid mech, it runs pretty cool so long as you aren't just slamming all the fire buttons like you're trying to play the Moonlight Sonata and the four heat sinks in the legs are a godsend if you have depth 1 water. Combine that with the fact that it actually has some teeth in the armament and sturdy armor for it's size and you'd have a solid mech even before you factor in it's excellent speed which allows it to pick and choose when and where it will strike with it's great range bands. It's a great team player too since it's twin LL's have good range for direct fire support and it's speed, armor, good heat management, and lack of minimum range penalties means it can brawl with the best of them. Perfect mech to use as either the hammer or the anvil.
I swear Crabs have a secret "bitch won't die" modifier in all Battletech video games lol. Hardy little bugger!
Crab pilot: "So anyway I started blasting.."
"... and slapping the shutdown override."
Sick I love these makes for raids and beachhead assaults
Always loved the look of this one, and it's only gotten better with design tweaks.
And the all-energy layout is something I still really like. I just love lasers as weapons, even though I've grown to appreciate missiles and autocannons more, the large laser and its spin offs are still, in many ways, my favorite BTech weapon. And the Crab brings a good assortment of lasers to shoot basically as long as it feels like it.
full 3050 clan tech rebuild: 5/8/5 movement, max armor 24.25 tons of pod space.
prime config: 2 Large Pulse Lasers, 2 MPL, 2 SPL one clanner MG with 1T ammo, 5t targeting computer, and one extra DHS.
alt config: 2 ERLL, 4 ERML, 4 ERSL, 10 extra DHS
of the two, I prefer the prime. better balanced even if there is some ammo for the MG.
I like this mech but like many other top quality medium mechs by the time I can get one I already have heavy available so they end up has a back up in case I have a drop wight limit
Ah, one of my Absolute Favorite Medium mechs!
Crabs, creepy crawly crabs 🦀
Mess with the Crabbo. Get the Stabbo.
Hehe the Crab has been one of my favorite mechs since I played it in Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries. Sadly I havent seen it in other Battletech videogames since.
Its another very solid design. Primarily armed with 2 "big gun" Large Lasers, enough heat sinks to handle them standing, and above average speed for a medium battlemech in 3025. Its comparable to the similar 50ton Enforcer, with greater speed but no jump jets.
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Upgraded models with Double Heat Sinks can use improved energy weapons.
Variants tend to specialize in either close range Pulse Lasers, or long range Extended Range Large Lasers or ER PPCs.
The CRB-27sl uses Jump Jets and Pulse lasers to be a jumper and brawler.
The CRB-30 is a long range fire support unit upgrading all he original Crabs weapons with Extended Range PPCs, ER lasers, ECM, and a C3 Improved Unit.
The CRB-45 uses an XL Engine to move 96kph, and a C3 Improved computer to work as part of a tight-nit unit as a scout/-fire support unit.
The CRB-54 model is radically different, using an XXL Engine to move even faster, and Supercharger to go extremely fast. Its a hit-and-run unit.
The one issue the Crab has is that there are no variants with Clan upgrades.
Well it is in HBS battletech in a DLC and MW5 has it too.
Yeah any clantech version would have to be a home custom.
You gotta appreciate how much of a glow up the Crab has gotten from it's old art to it's modern art. I don't think we'd be calling for carcenization of mechs if if wasn't for Alex Iglesias and then Alan Blackwell setting such a gold standard design.
GIVE ME MY 75 TON CRAB CGL!
I shit you not, yesterday at night I was playing a Crab in Mercenaries 2 and I thought to myself something along the lines of "this youtube guy started doing more obscure mechs but hasn't touched the Crab for example, I'd like a Crab video"
Talk about timing!
The more I compare this thing to the King crab, the more this looks like a lobster
I see this as my beloved Nova's/Blackhawk's grandpappy, even if technically the models are not related. It even has a jump capable variant.
you gotta love the Crab. I've loved this thing since MW2 Mercs
We need a heavy crab mech for a crab lance, hear us CGL, we want to play crab rave
I always liked the Crab because it's design made so much sence. Unless you are building a mech for short fast duels, energy weapons are a far batter choice for a WAR machine.
Ballistic Weapons have no place in a behind the lines raider unless you know it will be for a short deployment or where you can retrieve/resupply your forces easily and securely.
sneaks up behind you and Pinch!
This is perhaps my favorite medium mech.
Crab Battle!
This medium mech is one of the best in its class!
You heard it here first folk “comstar has crabs”
100% They always have had them too.
The Crab isn't a favorite of mine and I've never used it, but I always respect it when I come across it. Twin Large Lasers is nothing to scoff at.
I can see swapping the Large Lasers for Snub PPCs and making it a hell of a brawler. That or swapping them for ER Large Lasers and making it a support sniper. My one complaint is it's best weapons are in the arms; if you can blow one off then you've taken half it's firepower. Honestly, it could be worth it to Alpha Strike the arm before it can open fire and hamper it.
Again, solid and receptible.