Okay, you joke, but now I have the idea of a not (completely) deranged Firestarter pilot using the flamers to provide heating for an allied place whose heating/power has been cut.
Oh yes, they are very frequent in the hair brain schemes battle tech computer game, and they are incredibly annoying too especially when you have machines with no double heat sinks.
"where'd he get the ingredients?" "Don't ask questions you don't want to know" "camping store, they've got lots of small arms and meat tools too..." "AAAAAAAHHHHHH"
"The technology of spewing fire onto your enemies dates back thousands of years" Oddly enough I'm watching this right after a Tod's Workshop video where he figures out medieval trebuchet launched incendiary cluster munitions.
Just be aware of your surroundings. Don't want enemy infantry getting bright ideas. And if there's BA around, NEVER prop open your hatch to feel the weather outside.
My favorite warcrime machine. Its also a great light mech platform. My favorite build i called the disco ball. Stripped it down put a load of medium lasers and heat sinks. Not in the spirit of the Firestarter but its a fun mech to bully people with.
@@andrewszigeti2174 don't kid yourself, you're a thousand years too early to commit brand new warcrimes in the Inner Sphere's favorite warcrime stick.
The FS9-P is the kind of glorious, no-nonsense upgrade any competent commander would dream of. Load it with infernos for more conflagration, or load it with standard SRMs for taking on other 'mechs.
Considering through the course of history the terror and stigma that tends to attach itself to the operators of flame-based weaponry, I cannot help but wonder if captured Firestarter pilots tend to find some especially horrific fate at the hands of their captors.
I'm quite certain that Firestarter pilots caught by enemy infantry tend to be labeled by search and capture teams as "missing" with a lot of whistling while paperwork is filled out.
"Hey, I don't see anyone offering those dirty little orphans blankets during those cold, winter nights, or installing a decent furnace. The way I see it, I'm doing them a favor!" -- "Good Guy" Firestarter pilot
The thing that I love in a Firestarter is its consistency. Almost every variant is playing by the same general utility. You may call it a testament to its good design. Pretty much, no matter which variant in which era you pick, you know what you get and its basic, trademark utility is almost always there. With some of mechs, I feel, different variants often try to re-invent the wheel (like say... all the bizarro variants of a Hunchback), to the point that some of them could be different mechs altogether. Either way - Firestarter is a beast if you are playing combined arms and your enenemy fields any sort of infantry, but even in mech on mech combat the flamers at least limit the enemy's options. Most non-custom mechs are not exactly heat neutral, so this is always valuable. Being hit by two medium lasers instead of 2 PPCs for that matter is a pretty hefty reduction in potential damage. Sure, one might argue that Firestarter doesn't actual deal much on its own... but most light mechs don't. And those that do, usually forgo most of the classic light mech qualities, like Panther of Hollander.
Can we take a moment to appreciate that the Firestarter has a flamethrower for every firing arc, allowing it to fire in all directions at once. Truly a mech for the discerning arsonist.
I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator I'm the fear addicted, the danger illustrated I'm a fire starter, twisted fire starter You're a fire starter, twisted fire starter -Classical Terran Opera
For me, the Firestarter serves an interesting purpose, because between its regular and omni variants, it satisfies alot of weird niches I often find myself needing to fill in both AS and Classic The Firestarter S1 is one of the cheapest ECM dorks i can bring, the Firestarter OA is one of the cheapest LB10xs i can bring for both classic and AS FLAK, there's an MRM variant with a sword during the clan invasion which makes it an interesting AS unit, and it just goes on It's one of the most flexible models for "Clan invasion only faction restricted" tournaments that run in my area often
Yes to the Omni fire starter. Love the fire starter, first IS mech found out about and only the raven threatened to supplant it as I loved the tech at the time. If I was going to run a non clan light mech it would be the fire starter. And the pulse laser and reflective variant is a new toy I’m going to make a point in using both on tabletop and megamek.
I started playing MW5 a few weeks ago, i havent been able to put it down souly because i love MW but also my own headcanon of being some rogue mercenary in space, gaining fame or infamy with every mission. I got a Firestarter from salvage after blowing the crap out of some bandits while defending a davion border planet, painted it my companies colors (Wild Apaches) and went on my marry way, then my main mech at the time (the centurion) got wrecked after i took on one too many heavy mechs and i wound up fighting in the firestarter for my next mission, my lance under tonnage we got a contract to demolish a Liao city and while doing it two of my lance mates either died or got injured and my Firestarter ended up taking heavy damage, however despite loosing an arm and being harassed by an overly missile happy Cicada, the little bastard somehow managed to tank it and not only finish the mission but also finish off the cicada and the locust harassing it. When the mission ended i had discovered the magic of the firestarter and it had earned it's new moniker "Little Warrior".
I named my two Arnie and Swiss, because early on a ton of light cannons was legit powerful so Arnold Schwarzenegger seemed good and the other because it could hold everything to work like a Swiss army knife from anti aircraft work to long range direct fire support with volleys of AC and cannon/MG fire and the few other systems it's got under its sleeve
We love the Firestarter because inside each of us is an inner Canadian trying to add to the Geneva suggestions list our own unique treatment of our fellow man.
The Firestarter: a mech whose majority of design history can be summed as: “Trying to reinvent the wheel without being accused of plagiarism by the last guy.” Thanks for the video.
I remember falling in love with the firestarter when playing the first Mech Commander... sure the variants made no sense but in the early game these things kicked some serious tail and could take a beating.
I am a bit shy of light mechs but I have a soft spot for the Firestarter. The first time I used one it cooked off a Thunderbolt's SRM ammo to miraculous results.. This little mech found a place in my heart and my opponent has been careful about CT ammo ever since.
Ahh my favorite light mech. In MW5 I have a YAML variant called Carnage. It has ALL the LosTech. 4 Gatling machine guns, 2 flamers 2 heavy chain cannons and 4 small lasers. XL engine and Endo frame allowed me to cram all that in. Carnage brings the pain.
The Firestarter Mirage is one of my favorite light Mechs. If you need a light Mech that that is tougher then many mediums of the era it'll do the trick nicely.
I had always tried to avoid the Firestarter when playing Mechwarrior 5. Always thought it was too much of a liability. Then I decided to drop with it and really enjoyed its capabilities. The speed really helps with avoiding fire. Wish more variants had AMS though.
ironically, the loss of the Argile Technologies production site on Skye was probably due to use of Firestarters on the Lyran side during the 2895 invasion, as the the Donegal guards conducted a rather "scorched earth" approach to driving the Combine invaders off the world. (resulting in a lot of warcrimes trials and the remaining members of the unit afterwards being forbidden to wear service braids and other awards on their uniforms in rememberence of the atrocities the unit performed.. a regulation that continues even into the ilclan era nearly three centuries later)
I've always liked the Firestarter, it is sort of in that class of bigger lights like the Javelin that wind up stronger by shifting their weapons around a bit, but the various base models are useful at a minimum and really shine in objective play. I'm just personally fond of light mechs, they have always had the feel of specialists to me, something to supplement your primary fighters in the medium class, and the Firestarter is perfect for that sort of thing.
Firestarter is fun in MechWarrior 5. 4 flamers, 4 machine guns, 2 medium lasers. absolutely go ham on lights, mediums, assaults, and buildings. Heavy mechs seem to be the one thing it has the most trouble with.
Honestly, I kinda like the FS9-H stock. But I did an upgrade once. I pulled the MGs and ammo and replaced them with a pair of small x-pulse lasers, upgraded the armor to 5.5 tons of heavy FF, and upgraded the sinks to double-strength to fix the cooling issues. Nice little scout and harasser. Ran it with a P-Hawk and a pair of Wasps, IIRC.
Firestarter is one of 3 light mechs I actually like, My version drops the jump jets loads up 4 medium laser 6 machine guns with 1/2ton AP ammo 1/2 incidary and a bit more armor
For the HBS Battletech game I stripped off all the machine guns and flamers to replace them with 6 small lasers, 2 heat sinks and a ton of armor. It's a scout and vehicle hunter and when all the small lasers go off in melee combat it puts the hurt on any light mech out there.
If it had hands, I might consider it the idea light 'Mech. It's somehow both specialized yet still extremely versatile. I especially love the Mirage II.
Punkin’ instigator! I love MiniFrog’s colouring in there😄👍 And I love that old art of a convoy being cooked🔥 Nice little bit of info in there about the Firestarter’s hatch. I love little things like that👍 I can’t wait to paint up mine when the KS arrives!
I think their best utility is as cheap medium laser boats for lancemates early in Mechwarrior and HBS games. It can be like a pocket grasshopper if you min max on lasers and armor
In MWO you can fit a heavy gauss into the FS9-H, just for giggles. And a emotional support laser still fits in the CT... Edited: Said it was the FS9-E, but actually it's the FS9-H. it has bonus for ammo.
Such a cool and fun video! Thank you! Nice use of Prodigy's Firestarter music video! The Firestarter was the mech just screaming for an upgrade to ER Flamers. Even though I've still managed to not own a miniature of one yet (soon to be corrected) I have had one designed and ready to go for my Alpha Strike games against my son. It definitely cheeses the numbers, and because of my love affair with Blacklist/Comstar it uses the C3i technology to really get the most out of the design. Endo Steel Small Cockpit 8/12/6 XL Engine C3i mounted in the head 12 Double Heat Sinks 6 ER Flamers. 2 CT, 2 RA, 2 LA I really need to get it onto the battlefield!
These things were always a focus fire target in the HBS Battletech game, especially in early missions when your pilots couldn't deal with heat buildup as well.
Changes I'd make, Add hand actuators. SRM 2s in each torso x2 CT 1 ton std 1 ton inferno. 1 each torso w/case. Medium pulse laser RA 2 sm pulses and flamer in LA Flame breath in head DHS 10 Endo frame Flamefists (see solaris 7 rules) TSM Mirage Class stealth armor 5.5 tons. (Turning this on guarantees TSM stays active) ECM is std R12 Beacon. Diposables 3 charge IR smoke generator. (Goes vs carry weight) Jj could be upgraded to improved, but BV n costs would soar too. If possible mml3 in each torso location vs 4 SRM 2s. Ammo lrm and srm inferno. Prob be best for lrm fascam A ammo. Gives field limitation and control. Another mixed tech would 2 fluid guns.1 ton acid 1 ton inferno. (Means fluid guns cant crossload- 1 burns 1 melts) 4 er small lasers 2 each arm. PWS + improved jjs. 2 fwd flamers in r/l torso slots. CT gets medium pulse
Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into making this video Mech Frog, it’s hugely appreciated and I enjoyed it a lot. The Firestarter is one of the mechs I really love, it’s easy to understand its purpose, it’s been around forever, and I seriously appreciate any mech with the ubiquitous trait! I really enjoy playing it and it’s cool seeing it in your video! I’ve gotta say my favorite is the FS9-M2 because you can never go wrong with a bit more armor and it’s an interesting light brawler. But you’ve definitely got me excited to try the Mirage II variant! It really does seem like a good mech to try out the new era of Battletech without having to deal either a ton of special rules. Please do the omnimech Firestarter next!
(Okay, here’s one of my in character stories with a firestarter in it. I hope you all enjoy.) Ah the Firestarter, that brings back some memories. I’ll keep this short because if I went into all the details we’d be here all freakn day. So my families mercenary unit was hired by House Centrella to deal with a pirate boss that was starting to get a bit to big for his britches and was trying to carve out a whole ass bandit kingdom for himself right on the Magistracy’s doorstep. So with a little help from MIM we managed to identify one of merchant jumpships that was bird dogging for him. Then we managed to board it and take most of the crew alive, after some interrogation and ‘convincing’ we had some solid intelligence and a very cooperative crew. Which lead to our plan of attack. The capital of his little bandit kingdom was this relatively nice world, a bit dry and not enough fresh water but you could still do some decent farming and had enough resources for local light industry. Anyway the planet was garrisoned by the dregs of his pirate coalition backed up by an armed mob of people freed from the local prison and given guns. The capital and drop ship landing fields were garrisoned by a company of old mechs with less than reliable pilots but still enough to make a landing unpleasant. But you see these pirate dregs often didn’t enjoy living in barracks out at the landing field right next to their mechs, instead they had a habit of driving a couple miles into the capital city to enjoy the local fleshpots and bars. Which left us an opening to exploit. We crammed the merchant drop ship we’d captured with infantry, as many vehicles as it would carry, and a team of reserve Mechwarrior and mech techs willing to risk a lot for a high reward. When the jumpship jumped in system the merchant drop ship detached as usual and flew in, with the Captain being shadowed by one of our marines the whole time. While the combat drop ships our unit had borrowed from the MAF remained hidden on the other side of the jump ship. With a gun pressed into his back the captain gave all the proper code phrases and the merchant drop ship landed at the star port. Almost as soon as the doors were open a apc loaded with commandos gunned it down the ramp spraying machine gun fire at anything that moved and drove hell for leather right to the mech hanger. That apcs transmission was a wreck by the time it got to the hanger by the driver managed to pull the thing up in front of the hanger blocking the entrance and unload the commandos who stormed the hanger, they killed it captured any crew or mech techs before they even knew what was happening then began to dig in. Meanwhile the rest of the force was spreading out to secure the spaceport supported by the weapons on the drop ship. By the time the local pirates figured out what the hell was going on and counter attacked we’d managed to take most of the important facilities and dig in. Which lead to some desperate fighting, those pirate mech warriors knew they had fucked up bad and would die very slowly for their failures if they didn’t fix their mistakes. They lead several desperate counterattacks to try to retake the hangar, but they were trying to dig out commandos supported by a heavy machine gun. Eventually they got their shit together and stopped throwing themselves at us piecemeal. The garrison commander organized their infantry and armor into actual units and started trying to retake the field. Meanwhile our dropships had finally detached from the jumpship and were burning in system, still a couple days out. And they’d sent an out a hpg message to the rest of their kings little empire calling for the king himself to ride to the rescue for reinforcements, so everyone was racing against the clock. Not that that worried us much, we were doing everything we could to just hold the beachhead until the mechs arrived. It was pretty crazy we were a small but well trained and equipped mech infantry force, well dug in around the space port trying to hold off again a half trained armed mob with a ton of old shit vehicles who knew their boss would kill them slowly and painfully if they failed him. They threw their infantry and vehicles at us like they were fucking kuritans chain gangers doing a banzai charge. On the final day before our dropships arrived things were starting to look very bad, most of our vehicles had been knocked out and we had more wounded than we had combat effectives, food and ammunition was low, and they had concentrated their armor for a big final push to break through and retake the mech hanger. When finally the mech techs and mech warriors working in the hanger managed to crack the security code on one of the machines, a pirate firestarter. As soon as it was up and running Master Sergeant Alvarez threw herself into the cockpit and powered it up. By the time the pirate armored column was started to break through our infantry line, she’d managed to get it out of the hangar and activate the jumpjets. I still remember the primal scream of terror over the pirates comms when the saw her firestarter and they screamed out, “Mech!” She jumped the firestarter and landed right on the command tank, an old Rommel. Their infantry and vehicle crews got to hear their commanders screams as his tank was crushed under the mechs feet. Them she hit the flammers and bathed two companies of infantry in the open with them. After that they seemed to lose a lot of the fight they had in them and scattered into the wilderness. Master Sergeant Alvarez was given full ownership of the firestarter after her actions and as far as I know she or her family still owns it to this day.
3:56 "I think I may have created a monster." And I doubt you could be any prouder. 26:40 actually, reflective just receives double damage from falling or physical attacks, missles and ballistics do the same damage as before.
Why do we love the FSH? Because it is so Canadian it inspires the Geneva and Hague and Ares checklists. Even if I think the Archer or Hunch would have been better candidate for Omni-fication, the FSH isn't a bad choice. The Mirages are the best canon versions, and the 9P is awe inspiring, but for home mods there is a lot to work with. My favorite home mod is armoured like the H, with SLs in place of the MGs, the CT Flamers, and replace the plasma flamers in the arms with vehicular ones with two tons of juice. Any juice. Including fire suppression foam or coolent. The vehicular flamer is overlooked but as flexible with non-standard ammo as the SRM.
If I lived in the Battletech universe I'd like to pilot a Firestarter. It's just so versatile. XL engine. Heavy ferro armor. 215 engine. 11x double heatsinks 1x normal heatsink ECM AMS 2x S-Las 2x M-Las 4x Flame. 6x jumpujettu.
I've never actually used a Firestarter, since I've typically seen flamers as weak and have never seen much point in using them. But I've always hated going up against them in the BattleTech PC game due to them being able to overheat my 'Mechs if I let them get too close. Perhaps I've underestimated them and should take one for a spin sometime, especially with Mechanical Tadpole showing just how deranged you can be while piloting one! (Congrats on taking out your dad's Jenner dude!) Thanks for the entertaining video and stay safe out there!
Now this is a good light mech. It's sorta like an upscaled Commando from the cockpit perspective, which is to say, it's reasonably compact and most variants come very well quirked in MWO. As much as I prefer the Jenner and Raven, the Firestarter does have one major advantage over the others in Mechwarrior: Arms. It runs like a pocket-Phoenix Hawk, and is cheap as hell to maintain. Really makes me wish MW5: Mercs was specced to allow for a full mech company instead of just one lance, because a light lance for striking fortified buildings and clearing infantry sounds rad as hell to actually play.
All I would do to it is ditch 1 flamer, the machine guns & ammo. Add 1 more Med laser. Up the armor to 7.5 tons, and Trade for double HS. BV only goes up by 90. C-bills only go up by about 150k (at least according to megamek)
C'mon baby light my fire. Ironically enough my favorite firestarter is the mirage. Despite no flammers the MGs have infantry covered and its just a really good introtech brawler that can beat down almost all light mechs and punch up well in its era.
The M4 section seems to still have the M3’s technical details. Also, I think the only other way to upgrade the Firestarter could use that hasn’t been done would be to squeeze in iATMs - for the improved infernos, of course.
I have been playing mw5 with a newbie to the setting. The firestarter is one of his favorite mechs. One time, on a warzone mission, he used the higher starting point offered by a mesa and his jump jets to get close enough to a flight of warriors he could burn them out of the sky with flamers! very memorable experience
Makes me wonder why fire wasn't used more often. In a setting where the heat of a mech is so important to upkeep, being on fire would be really good at stopping enemy Mechs from using heat generating weapons.
a niche mech for sure, but a Role often overlooked on the Tabletop or in Strategic Campaigning. Firestarters are a design that can be truly deadly in the right hands and it doesn't need a lot of modification to get the best out of it's 35 tons of walking War Crime. mine usually go with a clan tech XL engine and Double HS. MG's or I.S. Sm. Lasers are dropped in favor of Inferno hosting SRM-2 Streaks guaranteeing hits and conserving ammo since only 1 ton is aboard. otherwise I swap the I.S. lasers for a pair of Clan ER Small's and a single Clan Med. Pulse for accuracy or munching on dispersed units like infantry while still keeping the SRM's to fling hot Spitballs of burning death onto anyone foolish enough to be seen. the Clan tech Pulse Laser will make any light mech nervous and wary about getting close in as if Inferno SRM's aren't deterrent enough. AMS on the tabletop is largely not worth it as if you are fortunate, you might get 2-3 missile spreads before it's ammo is depleted. ECM is a far better investment in that tonnage as it inhibits targeting constantly until the unit is destroyed.
Given how many times a firestarter has set a forest or town on fire to weaponize environmental heat. I'm amazed there isn't a varient with Heat Dissipating Armor. Come on people, give our favorite Pyro some bunker gear!
YES! Exactly! You no longer have to worry about leaving the conflagration for your own safety! Or maybe you have worry less, I've heard conflicting rules... but either way, being at least resistant to the heat of your blazes would be a huge design win.
Firestarter is a mech i don't own but should and will when the scout lance comes out tough for a light and great as a scout and fighting in combined arms. Fought one fairly recently in the RP campaign im a part of kicked it in the head and killed the pilot with a cockpit crit in my Phoenix hawk. Before anyone says 9 damage its 10 when you have the melee master spc. Pretty memorable kill doesn't detract thst its a great mech and was a must kill that mission.
Being a AC2 firestarter user in MW5, light defence is definately not how I use it. However the AC2 gets a huge buff in real time vs turn based. It's great in open terrain skirmishing, easily bullying everything without a PPPC or a abundance of LRM missiles which are rare in low tonnage fights. And then it retreats to the safety of the following Panthers when heavy guns are needed.
To really see the firestarter shine, take it in an actual game where people are using a mix of conventional or power armored infantry, conventional vehicles and battlemechs all at once through forested or heavily urbanized terrain. Infantry can be devestatingly effective against a lot of mechs in such circumstances if played right. A well played firestarter on the other hand, can and will walk right through them where other much weightier mechs will struggle and die death by thousand cuts. Best part is it has enough armor and range to right in the stock format to be a pretty good harasser of treads and wheels small enough to get lured into this area, fulfilling a vital support and reconnissance role for the rest of your mech lance. In terms of cost to effectiveness of using mechs against cheaper units, the firestarter's pretty hard to beat.
Warcrime jokes aside, in the stories (particularly republic era, or from my foggy memory) infantry dug in urban areas can be a nightmarish prospect. Sometimes you follow the Smoke Jaguar method and bury them in the city, sometimes you break out niche machines who teach them lessons about breaching operations. This is not being said from a place of bitterness because of infantry doing something bad to a mech I liked.
I remember my first Firestarter. Unfortunately is an Apocryphal, FS9-W from FASA's MechCommander. I love the single PPC on that variant. It is what made it different from the others.
I love firestarters. One of the only times I've played in-person I managed to burn down a whole lance (including a rifleman) with just two FS9-Hs due to a lengthy string of lucky turns. They're frequently one of those mechs that an optimizer underestimates, and brings boatloads of utility. It's like that saying goes, "the right man in the right place at the right time makes all the difference in the world." - well, Firestarters are almost always right.
This mech was the mvp in a conbined arms campaign ive been taking part in. The speed to get to infantry and deep fry them in a single turn.... didnt do much against other mechs tho haha 😂
This video is fire!! Also, if you ever decide to cover the Firestarter Omni, it has been pointed out to me that the Omni version is essentially the Phoenix Hawk Omni if you look at how i is loaded out, almost like coventry and LAW didnt want to pay the license to use the design.
I cant imagine many more 'mechs that inspire as much terror as the Firestarter. Maybe the Piranha... Also, fwiw, I'd like to see a Firestarter Omni vid.
I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator,
I'm the fear addicted, the danger illustrated,
I'm a fire starter, twisted fire starter!
This particular earworm is never going to stop, is it?
@@BruceEverettHey! Hey! Hey!
Did the song or the mech come first? XD
Good guy Firestarter, helping people stay nice and toasty warm since 2550
Gotta keep them infantry at appropriate serving temperatures.
Okay, you joke, but now I have the idea of a not (completely) deranged Firestarter pilot using the flamers to provide heating for an allied place whose heating/power has been cut.
Everyone slaps the company's Firestarter pilot on the back when they're deployed in the middle of a wintery forest and need to light some campfires.
Especially on Frozen worlds you're going to need it.
"My son used his firestarter...." Go little MechFrog!
The mech you're going to meet in your first drive of a mech that already has heat management issues.
Good times had by all.
Oh yes, they are very frequent in the hair brain schemes battle tech computer game, and they are incredibly annoying too especially when you have machines with no double heat sinks.
"Smores for the whole regiment!"
Yay!
"where'd he get the ingredients?"
"Don't ask questions you don't want to know"
"camping store, they've got lots of small arms and meat tools too..."
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH"
"The technology of spewing fire onto your enemies dates back thousands of years"
Oddly enough I'm watching this right after a Tod's Workshop video where he figures out medieval trebuchet launched incendiary cluster munitions.
"I really want to set that guy over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done!" -Carlin
My goodness, MechSprog sounds like an absolute menace
Going to probably rule half the planet some day.
God, being able to prop open your cockpit hatch in colder weather would've been nice.
Very.
Just be aware of your surroundings. Don't want enemy infantry getting bright ideas. And if there's BA around, NEVER prop open your hatch to feel the weather outside.
My favorite warcrime machine.
Its also a great light mech platform. My favorite build i called the disco ball. Stripped it down put a load of medium lasers and heat sinks. Not in the spirit of the Firestarter but its a fun mech to bully people with.
Modified Mirage
Same, 4 ML, max jump jets, and a bunch if machibeguns and heat sinks. Cores many mechs in one go, absolute menace.
It’s only a warcrime if it is illegal.
It's not a war crime the first time...
@@andrewszigeti2174 don't kid yourself, you're a thousand years too early to commit brand new warcrimes in the Inner Sphere's favorite warcrime stick.
The FS9-P is the kind of glorious, no-nonsense upgrade any competent commander would dream of. Load it with infernos for more conflagration, or load it with standard SRMs for taking on other 'mechs.
Smokey the Bear must surely be rolling in his grave.
Considering through the course of history the terror and stigma that tends to attach itself to the operators of flame-based weaponry, I cannot help but wonder if captured Firestarter pilots tend to find some especially horrific fate at the hands of their captors.
thats probably why in mw5 i never see a firestarter pilot eject. they know whats likely waiting
I'm quite certain that Firestarter pilots caught by enemy infantry tend to be labeled by search and capture teams as "missing" with a lot of whistling while paperwork is filled out.
"Boys, this one is too skinny. Throw him back!"
The Prodigy Firestarter video playing at the bottom right was fantastic, well done!.
With no flamethrower, those orphanages won't burn themselves!
Helping them self-actualize as kindling.
"Hey, I don't see anyone offering those dirty little orphans blankets during those cold, winter nights, or installing a decent furnace. The way I see it, I'm doing them a favor!"
-- "Good Guy" Firestarter pilot
Hey hey people, today is warcrime wednesday! "But it's monday..." In the Confederation Cappella every day is warcrime wednesday!
@@MechanicalFrog
Kindling-garten
The thing that I love in a Firestarter is its consistency. Almost every variant is playing by the same general utility. You may call it a testament to its good design.
Pretty much, no matter which variant in which era you pick, you know what you get and its basic, trademark utility is almost always there.
With some of mechs, I feel, different variants often try to re-invent the wheel (like say... all the bizarro variants of a Hunchback), to the point that some of them could be different mechs altogether.
Either way - Firestarter is a beast if you are playing combined arms and your enenemy fields any sort of infantry, but even in mech on mech combat the flamers at least limit the enemy's options. Most non-custom mechs are not exactly heat neutral, so this is always valuable. Being hit by two medium lasers instead of 2 PPCs for that matter is a pretty hefty reduction in potential damage.
Sure, one might argue that Firestarter doesn't actual deal much on its own... but most light mechs don't. And those that do, usually forgo most of the classic light mech qualities, like Panther of Hollander.
Yeah, this is a mech that stays true to its name more often than not, and stays true to its original role more than most.
Can we take a moment to appreciate that the Firestarter has a flamethrower for every firing arc, allowing it to fire in all directions at once. Truly a mech for the discerning arsonist.
When they were designing this thing the concept at the top of the white board read "Jump Mech into Middle of Infantry Battalion and Burn Them All."
Oh wow! I just realized you have the armor diagram for each variant in the upper right corner of the screen! Nice!
I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator
I'm the fear addicted, the danger illustrated
I'm a fire starter, twisted fire starter
You're a fire starter, twisted fire starter
-Classical Terran Opera
For me, the Firestarter serves an interesting purpose, because between its regular and omni variants, it satisfies alot of weird niches I often find myself needing to fill in both AS and Classic
The Firestarter S1 is one of the cheapest ECM dorks i can bring, the Firestarter OA is one of the cheapest LB10xs i can bring for both classic and AS FLAK, there's an MRM variant with a sword during the clan invasion which makes it an interesting AS unit, and it just goes on
It's one of the most flexible models for "Clan invasion only faction restricted" tournaments that run in my area often
Yes to the Omni fire starter. Love the fire starter, first IS mech found out about and only the raven threatened to supplant it as I loved the tech at the time. If I was going to run a non clan light mech it would be the fire starter. And the pulse laser and reflective variant is a new toy I’m going to make a point in using both on tabletop and megamek.
Ah excellent timing, war crimes mech on Monday, followed by war crimes Clan release on Thursday. Everyone loves fire!
Bonus points for the Prodigy video playing
I absolutely LOVE this mech. The debuff character in a tactical game is one of my faves, and overheat is truly unique. 🤠🐱
I started playing MW5 a few weeks ago, i havent been able to put it down souly because i love MW but also my own headcanon of being some rogue mercenary in space, gaining fame or infamy with every mission. I got a Firestarter from salvage after blowing the crap out of some bandits while defending a davion border planet, painted it my companies colors (Wild Apaches) and went on my marry way, then my main mech at the time (the centurion) got wrecked after i took on one too many heavy mechs and i wound up fighting in the firestarter for my next mission, my lance under tonnage we got a contract to demolish a Liao city and while doing it two of my lance mates either died or got injured and my Firestarter ended up taking heavy damage, however despite loosing an arm and being harassed by an overly missile happy Cicada, the little bastard somehow managed to tank it and not only finish the mission but also finish off the cicada and the locust harassing it.
When the mission ended i had discovered the magic of the firestarter and it had earned it's new moniker "Little Warrior".
For destroying a city, a Firestarter is a pretty solid choice.
I named my two Arnie and Swiss, because early on a ton of light cannons was legit powerful so Arnold Schwarzenegger seemed good and the other because it could hold everything to work like a Swiss army knife from anti aircraft work to long range direct fire support with volleys of AC and cannon/MG fire and the few other systems it's got under its sleeve
The first modern sculpt I had no chance to paint - still no word on when CGL will ship the Mercenaries Kickstarter to Europe. Cool video though!
We love the Firestarter because inside each of us is an inner Canadian trying to add to the Geneva suggestions list our own unique treatment of our fellow man.
The Firestarter: a mech whose majority of design history can be summed as: “Trying to reinvent the wheel without being accused of plagiarism by the last guy.”
Thanks for the video.
Okay, starting the video, I'm expecting there to be many Beavis and Butthead references in here 😎🔥🔥🔥.
"hehehe.... fire....fire...."
I remember falling in love with the firestarter when playing the first Mech Commander... sure the variants made no sense but in the early game these things kicked some serious tail and could take a beating.
It's quite fun in HBS Battletech as well.
Also, serious dad goals and request for dad advice - when's a good time to start teaching my son Battletech? He's 3 now, probably too early.
Started at 9 with my son, he loves using hatchet on my mechs
My 7 and 10 year olds plays. When the younger was 5, it was all about attention span.
not a dad, but id say about the time they mastered the math needed. dont want to drag down the fun by having math lessons
I am a bit shy of light mechs but I have a soft spot for the Firestarter.
The first time I used one it cooked off a Thunderbolt's SRM ammo to miraculous results.. This little mech found a place in my heart and my opponent has been careful about CT ammo ever since.
The warcrimestarter is one of my favorites!
Ahh my favorite light mech.
In MW5 I have a YAML variant called Carnage. It has ALL the LosTech.
4 Gatling machine guns, 2 flamers 2 heavy chain cannons and 4 small lasers.
XL engine and Endo frame allowed me to cram all that in.
Carnage brings the pain.
I'm not typically a fan of Inner Sphere light mechs, but the Firestarter is DEFINITELY an exception.
The Firestarter Mirage is one of my favorite light Mechs. If you need a light Mech that that is tougher then many mediums of the era it'll do the trick nicely.
Trogdor the mech! Burninating the countryside!
I had always tried to avoid the Firestarter when playing Mechwarrior 5. Always thought it was too much of a liability. Then I decided to drop with it and really enjoyed its capabilities. The speed really helps with avoiding fire. Wish more variants had AMS though.
6:56 Amazing art by minifrog!! I bet when he learns to paint minis he’ll take to it like a frog in water
The brief Prodigy video clip made me giggle. "Twisted firestarter".
ironically, the loss of the Argile Technologies production site on Skye was probably due to use of Firestarters on the Lyran side during the 2895 invasion, as the the Donegal guards conducted a rather "scorched earth" approach to driving the Combine invaders off the world. (resulting in a lot of warcrimes trials and the remaining members of the unit afterwards being forbidden to wear service braids and other awards on their uniforms in rememberence of the atrocities the unit performed.. a regulation that continues even into the ilclan era nearly three centuries later)
Mech Frog's Wife "where is our son?"
Mech Frog "I bartered him away as isolar....he beat me at my game..."
I've always liked the Firestarter, it is sort of in that class of bigger lights like the Javelin that wind up stronger by shifting their weapons around a bit, but the various base models are useful at a minimum and really shine in objective play. I'm just personally fond of light mechs, they have always had the feel of specialists to me, something to supplement your primary fighters in the medium class, and the Firestarter is perfect for that sort of thing.
A Firestarter is always fun for a starting lance in a campaign (Firestarter, Wasp, Commando, led by a PHX)
Firestarter is fun in MechWarrior 5. 4 flamers, 4 machine guns, 2 medium lasers. absolutely go ham on lights, mediums, assaults, and buildings. Heavy mechs seem to be the one thing it has the most trouble with.
3:52 Minifrog desires blood.
Honestly, I kinda like the FS9-H stock. But I did an upgrade once. I pulled the MGs and ammo and replaced them with a pair of small x-pulse lasers, upgraded the armor to 5.5 tons of heavy FF, and upgraded the sinks to double-strength to fix the cooling issues. Nice little scout and harasser. Ran it with a P-Hawk and a pair of Wasps, IIRC.
"Hey Dracs? You like fire? HAVE SOME!!!" -Random Firestarter mechwarrior
Firestarter is one of 3 light mechs I actually like, My version drops the jump jets loads up 4 medium laser 6 machine guns with 1/2ton AP ammo 1/2 incidary and a bit more armor
Fun fact! In BTA 3062, two Firestarters can cause enough heat to shut down a King Crab-0000 in one round of initiative.
Well that sounds toasty.
Cue Punisher "WAIT WAIT WAIT" meme as you carefully line up a cockpit shot
Another fun fact! Just taking one Firestarter fill with nothing but flamers and two medium laser will shut down pretty much anyone in on turn
For the HBS Battletech game I stripped off all the machine guns and flamers to replace them with 6 small lasers, 2 heat sinks and a ton of armor. It's a scout and vehicle hunter and when all the small lasers go off in melee combat it puts the hurt on any light mech out there.
Remember mini frog... no mercy! 😂
If it had hands, I might consider it the idea light 'Mech. It's somehow both specialized yet still extremely versatile. I especially love the Mirage II.
Punkin’ instigator!
I love MiniFrog’s colouring in there😄👍
And I love that old art of a convoy being cooked🔥
Nice little bit of info in there about the Firestarter’s hatch. I love little things like that👍
I can’t wait to paint up mine when the KS arrives!
Thank you 😁
I think their best utility is as cheap medium laser boats for lancemates early in Mechwarrior and HBS games. It can be like a pocket grasshopper if you min max on lasers and armor
Firestarter is a great mech for new players because it does exactly what they think it does
For those moments when you just want to burn it all down.
_Get _*_YOUR_*_ Firestarter TODAY!!_
In MWO you can fit a heavy gauss into the FS9-H, just for giggles. And a emotional support laser still fits in the CT...
Edited: Said it was the FS9-E, but actually it's the FS9-H. it has bonus for ammo.
That's just cruel and unusual
I remember I slapped a rac5 jjs and 4 smalls onto one right when the racs came out...
Such a cool and fun video! Thank you! Nice use of Prodigy's Firestarter music video!
The Firestarter was the mech just screaming for an upgrade to ER Flamers. Even though I've still managed to not own a miniature of one yet (soon to be corrected) I have had one designed and ready to go for my Alpha Strike games against my son. It definitely cheeses the numbers, and because of my love affair with Blacklist/Comstar it uses the C3i technology to really get the most out of the design.
Endo Steel
Small Cockpit
8/12/6 XL Engine
C3i mounted in the head
12 Double Heat Sinks
6 ER Flamers. 2 CT, 2 RA, 2 LA
I really need to get it onto the battlefield!
These things were always a focus fire target in the HBS Battletech game, especially in early missions when your pilots couldn't deal with heat buildup as well.
They are a great pick in early game HBS BattleTech
@@MechanicalFrog especially to calm down your struggling salvage
@@mdsx01 Oh, I doubt they get calm. Pacified though... we can use that word.
@bthsr7113 well first you calm the mech down by causing it to overheat, then you calm down the pilot with called shots to the head.
Because sometimes you just have to embrace your inner Beavis.
Changes I'd make,
Add hand actuators.
SRM 2s in each torso x2 CT 1 ton std 1 ton inferno. 1 each torso w/case.
Medium pulse laser RA
2 sm pulses and flamer in LA
Flame breath in head
DHS 10
Endo frame
Flamefists (see solaris 7 rules)
TSM
Mirage Class stealth armor 5.5 tons. (Turning this on guarantees TSM stays active)
ECM is std R12 Beacon.
Diposables 3 charge IR smoke generator. (Goes vs carry weight)
Jj could be upgraded to improved, but BV n costs would soar too.
If possible mml3 in each torso location vs 4 SRM 2s. Ammo lrm and srm inferno.
Prob be best for lrm fascam A ammo. Gives field limitation and control.
Another mixed tech would 2 fluid guns.1 ton acid 1 ton inferno.
(Means fluid guns cant crossload- 1 burns 1 melts)
4 er small lasers 2 each arm.
PWS + improved jjs.
2 fwd flamers in r/l torso slots.
CT gets medium pulse
Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into making this video Mech Frog, it’s hugely appreciated and I enjoyed it a lot. The Firestarter is one of the mechs I really love, it’s easy to understand its purpose, it’s been around forever, and I seriously appreciate any mech with the ubiquitous trait! I really enjoy playing it and it’s cool seeing it in your video! I’ve gotta say my favorite is the FS9-M2 because you can never go wrong with a bit more armor and it’s an interesting light brawler. But you’ve definitely got me excited to try the Mirage II variant! It really does seem like a good mech to try out the new era of Battletech without having to deal either a ton of special rules.
Please do the omnimech Firestarter next!
(Okay, here’s one of my in character stories with a firestarter in it. I hope you all enjoy.)
Ah the Firestarter, that brings back some memories. I’ll keep this short because if I went into all the details we’d be here all freakn day. So my families mercenary unit was hired by House Centrella to deal with a pirate boss that was starting to get a bit to big for his britches and was trying to carve out a whole ass bandit kingdom for himself right on the Magistracy’s doorstep. So with a little help from MIM we managed to identify one of merchant jumpships that was bird dogging for him. Then we managed to board it and take most of the crew alive, after some interrogation and ‘convincing’ we had some solid intelligence and a very cooperative crew. Which lead to our plan of attack.
The capital of his little bandit kingdom was this relatively nice world, a bit dry and not enough fresh water but you could still do some decent farming and had enough resources for local light industry. Anyway the planet was garrisoned by the dregs of his pirate coalition backed up by an armed mob of people freed from the local prison and given guns. The capital and drop ship landing fields were garrisoned by a company of old mechs with less than reliable pilots but still enough to make a landing unpleasant. But you see these pirate dregs often didn’t enjoy living in barracks out at the landing field right next to their mechs, instead they had a habit of driving a couple miles into the capital city to enjoy the local fleshpots and bars. Which left us an opening to exploit. We crammed the merchant drop ship we’d captured with infantry, as many vehicles as it would carry, and a team of reserve Mechwarrior and mech techs willing to risk a lot for a high reward. When the jumpship jumped in system the merchant drop ship detached as usual and flew in, with the Captain being shadowed by one of our marines the whole time. While the combat drop ships our unit had borrowed from the MAF remained hidden on the other side of the jump ship. With a gun pressed into his back the captain gave all the proper code phrases and the merchant drop ship landed at the star port.
Almost as soon as the doors were open a apc loaded with commandos gunned it down the ramp spraying machine gun fire at anything that moved and drove hell for leather right to the mech hanger. That apcs transmission was a wreck by the time it got to the hanger by the driver managed to pull the thing up in front of the hanger blocking the entrance and unload the commandos who stormed the hanger, they killed it captured any crew or mech techs before they even knew what was happening then began to dig in. Meanwhile the rest of the force was spreading out to secure the spaceport supported by the weapons on the drop ship. By the time the local pirates figured out what the hell was going on and counter attacked we’d managed to take most of the important facilities and dig in. Which lead to some desperate fighting, those pirate mech warriors knew they had fucked up bad and would die very slowly for their failures if they didn’t fix their mistakes. They lead several desperate counterattacks to try to retake the hangar, but they were trying to dig out commandos supported by a heavy machine gun.
Eventually they got their shit together and stopped throwing themselves at us piecemeal. The garrison commander organized their infantry and armor into actual units and started trying to retake the field. Meanwhile our dropships had finally detached from the jumpship and were burning in system, still a couple days out. And they’d sent an out a hpg message to the rest of their kings little empire calling for the king himself to ride to the rescue for reinforcements, so everyone was racing against the clock. Not that that worried us much, we were doing everything we could to just hold the beachhead until the mechs arrived.
It was pretty crazy we were a small but well trained and equipped mech infantry force, well dug in around the space port trying to hold off again a half trained armed mob with a ton of old shit vehicles who knew their boss would kill them slowly and painfully if they failed him. They threw their infantry and vehicles at us like they were fucking kuritans chain gangers doing a banzai charge.
On the final day before our dropships arrived things were starting to look very bad, most of our vehicles had been knocked out and we had more wounded than we had combat effectives, food and ammunition was low, and they had concentrated their armor for a big final push to break through and retake the mech hanger. When finally the mech techs and mech warriors working in the hanger managed to crack the security code on one of the machines, a pirate firestarter. As soon as it was up and running Master Sergeant Alvarez threw herself into the cockpit and powered it up. By the time the pirate armored column was started to break through our infantry line, she’d managed to get it out of the hangar and activate the jumpjets.
I still remember the primal scream of terror over the pirates comms when the saw her firestarter and they screamed out, “Mech!” She jumped the firestarter and landed right on the command tank, an old Rommel. Their infantry and vehicle crews got to hear their commanders screams as his tank was crushed under the mechs feet. Them she hit the flammers and bathed two companies of infantry in the open with them. After that they seemed to lose a lot of the fight they had in them and scattered into the wilderness.
Master Sergeant Alvarez was given full ownership of the firestarter after her actions and as far as I know she or her family still owns it to this day.
Ahh, the Firestarter. Keeping the opfor warm for the rest of their lives since the 26th century.
3:56 "I think I may have created a monster." And I doubt you could be any prouder.
26:40 actually, reflective just receives double damage from falling or physical attacks, missles and ballistics do the same damage as before.
Why do we love the FSH? Because it is so Canadian it inspires the Geneva and Hague and Ares checklists. Even if I think the Archer or Hunch would have been better candidate for Omni-fication, the FSH isn't a bad choice. The Mirages are the best canon versions, and the 9P is awe inspiring, but for home mods there is a lot to work with. My favorite home mod is armoured like the H, with SLs in place of the MGs, the CT Flamers, and replace the plasma flamers in the arms with vehicular ones with two tons of juice. Any juice. Including fire suppression foam or coolent. The vehicular flamer is overlooked but as flexible with non-standard ammo as the SRM.
For when you absolutly have to set everything on fire like a cackling pyromaniac
If I lived in the Battletech universe I'd like to pilot a Firestarter.
It's just so versatile.
XL engine.
Heavy ferro armor.
215 engine.
11x double heatsinks
1x normal heatsink
ECM
AMS
2x S-Las
2x M-Las
4x Flame.
6x jumpujettu.
Nice build.
Because there is something older than wisdom, and it is fire, and there is something truer than words, and it is ashes.
My favorite "the Prodigy" song.
Me too, glad 😂 to see the reference @25:00 🔥
One of my favorite light mechs. Its slower than most of my other light mechs, but it just feels great in MW5 even without mods.
I've never actually used a Firestarter, since I've typically seen flamers as weak and have never seen much point in using them. But I've always hated going up against them in the BattleTech PC game due to them being able to overheat my 'Mechs if I let them get too close. Perhaps I've underestimated them and should take one for a spin sometime, especially with Mechanical Tadpole showing just how deranged you can be while piloting one! (Congrats on taking out your dad's Jenner dude!) Thanks for the entertaining video and stay safe out there!
Now this is a good light mech. It's sorta like an upscaled Commando from the cockpit perspective, which is to say, it's reasonably compact and most variants come very well quirked in MWO.
As much as I prefer the Jenner and Raven, the Firestarter does have one major advantage over the others in Mechwarrior: Arms.
It runs like a pocket-Phoenix Hawk, and is cheap as hell to maintain. Really makes me wish MW5: Mercs was specced to allow for a full mech company instead of just one lance, because a light lance for striking fortified buildings and clearing infantry sounds rad as hell to actually play.
Ok, now I want to pilot one:) Great video and the little side videos and pics are a great laugh. As always, a masterpiece, Sir Frog👍
Thanks a ton.
I literally just printed one of these. What timing.
3:52
I'm sure this is perfectly normal behaviour for someone using Firestarter. I used that mech in Battletech for PC in roughly a similar way.
All I would do to it is ditch 1 flamer, the machine guns & ammo.
Add 1 more Med laser. Up the armor to 7.5 tons, and Trade for double HS.
BV only goes up by 90. C-bills only go up by about 150k (at least according to megamek)
Points for having the Firestarter music video running at some point was wondering if it was gonna be referenced in some way
love waking up erely and finding a new frog video in my feed at 5am
thanks mate
Enjoy!
@@MechanicalFrog i did mate and i all ways do thanks for making them mate
C'mon baby light my fire. Ironically enough my favorite firestarter is the mirage. Despite no flammers the MGs have infantry covered and its just a really good introtech brawler that can beat down almost all light mechs and punch up well in its era.
My favorite Inner Sphere Light 'mech! Such a treat to play in the early stages of MW5 loaded up with far too many weapons
The M4 section seems to still have the M3’s technical details.
Also, I think the only other way to upgrade the Firestarter could use that hasn’t been done would be to squeeze in iATMs - for the improved infernos, of course.
Yeah that M4 card was lost in the shuffle, it seems.
I have been playing mw5 with a newbie to the setting. The firestarter is one of his favorite mechs. One time, on a warzone mission, he used the higher starting point offered by a mesa and his jump jets to get close enough to a flight of warriors he could burn them out of the sky with flamers!
very memorable experience
Their fault for getting too close. They're supposed to operate at standoff range.
Makes me wonder why fire wasn't used more often. In a setting where the heat of a mech is so important to upkeep, being on fire would be really good at stopping enemy Mechs from using heat generating weapons.
Not as glamorous as PPCs and AC/20s.
a niche mech for sure, but a Role often overlooked on the Tabletop or in Strategic Campaigning.
Firestarters are a design that can be truly deadly in the right hands and it doesn't need a lot of modification to get the best out of it's 35 tons of walking War Crime.
mine usually go with a clan tech XL engine and Double HS.
MG's or I.S. Sm. Lasers are dropped in favor of Inferno hosting SRM-2 Streaks guaranteeing hits and conserving ammo since only 1 ton is aboard.
otherwise I swap the I.S. lasers for a pair of Clan ER Small's and a single Clan Med. Pulse for accuracy or munching on dispersed units like infantry while still keeping the SRM's to fling hot Spitballs of burning death onto anyone foolish enough to be seen.
the Clan tech Pulse Laser will make any light mech nervous and wary about getting close in as if Inferno SRM's aren't deterrent enough.
AMS on the tabletop is largely not worth it as if you are fortunate, you might get 2-3 missile spreads before it's ammo is depleted.
ECM is a far better investment in that tonnage as it inhibits targeting constantly until the unit is destroyed.
...One of my favorite Mechs of any era, or even weight class!
It's a classic.
Given how many times a firestarter has set a forest or town on fire to weaponize environmental heat. I'm amazed there isn't a varient with Heat Dissipating Armor. Come on people, give our favorite Pyro some bunker gear!
YES! Exactly! You no longer have to worry about leaving the conflagration for your own safety! Or maybe you have worry less, I've heard conflicting rules... but either way, being at least resistant to the heat of your blazes would be a huge design win.
Firestarter is a mech i don't own but should and will when the scout lance comes out tough for a light and great as a scout and fighting in combined arms. Fought one fairly recently in the RP campaign im a part of kicked it in the head and killed the pilot with a cockpit crit in my Phoenix hawk. Before anyone says 9 damage its 10 when you have the melee master spc. Pretty memorable kill doesn't detract thst its a great mech and was a must kill that mission.
If your kid is like that with a light mech, can´t imagine when he gets a hold on an Atlas....good luck!
Being a AC2 firestarter user in MW5, light defence is definately not how I use it. However the AC2 gets a huge buff in real time vs turn based. It's great in open terrain skirmishing, easily bullying everything without a PPPC or a abundance of LRM missiles which are rare in low tonnage fights.
And then it retreats to the safety of the following Panthers when heavy guns are needed.
To really see the firestarter shine, take it in an actual game where people are using a mix of conventional or power armored infantry, conventional vehicles and battlemechs all at once through forested or heavily urbanized terrain. Infantry can be devestatingly effective against a lot of mechs in such circumstances if played right. A well played firestarter on the other hand, can and will walk right through them where other much weightier mechs will struggle and die death by thousand cuts. Best part is it has enough armor and range to right in the stock format to be a pretty good harasser of treads and wheels small enough to get lured into this area, fulfilling a vital support and reconnissance role for the rest of your mech lance.
In terms of cost to effectiveness of using mechs against cheaper units, the firestarter's pretty hard to beat.
Pair it with LRM equipped mechs with Thunder munitions, give the enemy the choice of dealing with fire in the front, or the minefield in the rear.
Warcrime jokes aside, in the stories (particularly republic era, or from my foggy memory) infantry dug in urban areas can be a nightmarish prospect. Sometimes you follow the Smoke Jaguar method and bury them in the city, sometimes you break out niche machines who teach them lessons about breaching operations. This is not being said from a place of bitterness because of infantry doing something bad to a mech I liked.
I remember my first Firestarter. Unfortunately is an Apocryphal, FS9-W from FASA's MechCommander.
I love the single PPC on that variant. It is what made it different from the others.
I love firestarters. One of the only times I've played in-person I managed to burn down a whole lance (including a rifleman) with just two FS9-Hs due to a lengthy string of lucky turns. They're frequently one of those mechs that an optimizer underestimates, and brings boatloads of utility. It's like that saying goes, "the right man in the right place at the right time makes all the difference in the world." - well, Firestarters are almost always right.
This mech was the mvp in a conbined arms campaign ive been taking part in. The speed to get to infantry and deep fry them in a single turn.... didnt do much against other mechs tho haha 😂
Solid machine. Loved the MWO art for it hated the lag shield:D
This video is fire!! Also, if you ever decide to cover the Firestarter Omni, it has been pointed out to me that the Omni version is essentially the Phoenix Hawk Omni if you look at how i is loaded out, almost like coventry and LAW didnt want to pay the license to use the design.
I love the Firestarter because my favourite mechanical amphibious Technology TH-camr is talking about it ❤
I cant imagine many more 'mechs that inspire as much terror as the Firestarter. Maybe the Piranha...
Also, fwiw, I'd like to see a Firestarter Omni vid.
A XL or light engine would done wonders not gonna lie for the firestarter