Yeah, the Triple Strength Myomer is a must for this thing. I went with a standard engine, maxed out FF armor, 3 ER Mediums (Left Arm and CT), 2 ER Smalls (LT and HD), an ER PPC, and a Streak SRM-6 with one ton of CASE protected ammo in the LT. It also has 11 double heat sinks, allowing it to fine tune the TSM every turn for maximum effect.
@@Helcarexe26 Equally near and dear is it's little cousin, the Hatchetman. Quick question; would you rather have extra armor, or movement capability for a melee Mech?
@@Helcarexe26 I have a few of them but i think i had a soft spot for the Flashman i have 3. 3 of the Chameleon. Enjoyed the Chameleon when i first played it. I want a few more Axmans and Flashman. Hell a few more of a lot of mechs.
@@lorddraconum I have only two Flashman mechs, I've always wanted a whole company of Warhammers. Sometime I'll get the last three or four mechs to finish up the company.
It's important to note that, unlike a hatchetman (unless it's modded with TSM) the axeman can 1-shot headcap with its axe! I like to move the MLs into the left arm.
That's the lovely thing about the Axman mech, I liked to have a lance with two Hatchetman and two Axman in it. Made a nice city fighting lance that could take down most assault mechs in a single turn.
@@Helcarexe26 the axeman is probably my second favorite stock mech, but I have SHIT luck with them. Trend to loose torsos (USUALLY the right torso) but when you're playing a merc campaign they're easy (ish) to replace.
@@wolf3794 I can totally agree with the bad luck of loosing a torso to weapons fire. In a campaign setting I've been know to swap out the fusion plant with a Jagermech and install it into the Axman.
There's something to be said about the long range fire support of the 2N for a more open terrain. At least you're laying down fire as you close the distance to deliver a good solid hit with the ax
@@Helcarexe26 I plan on making the Somerset Strike lance; they are rather strong on long range, with everyone having LRM, short of the Wolfhound who's just a laserboat. I wonder if switching the SRMs on the Axeman can help to make it more of a short ranger killer than a long range support who happens to have an axe for some reason...
My favorite mod to do to the 1N. Swap the ac20 for a uac10 with 3 tons of ammo. Then downgrade that large pulse to a regular old Large. Then switching to double heat sinks helps to manage heat better
I have a level II unit WOB that has 1 Black Knight 2 Axmen 1 Hatchetman 1 Gurkah 1 Berserker. All heavily modified with TSM Clan tech. The Berserker is modified with a mace (back when all assaults could use them) 40 Standard damage 80 when TSM kicked in. Took a Warhammer out in 2 hits with it. Took out left torso first hit half the CT, Second swing hit right torso and the last of the CT. To bad they NERFED the mace to death for assaults.
I have the Black Knight with a axe and can add it the mix. A whole unit designed around TSM and physical attacks can make a city fight really interesting. I sort of get why the mace was nerfed but that would be a very awesome ass kicking mech
@@Helcarexe26 I do also agree with some of the nerfing.in the new rules a mace on a 100 ton mech now dose 25 damage which is acceptable but now it takes up 9 or 10+ critical slots so it cant be put on anything bigger than I think 80 or 85 ton mech. Which I find stupid. It's only 25 now vs 40. They should have kept the critical numbers and dropped the damage.
@@Helcarexe26 when the DC decided the answer to Elements was "massed medium lasers" while eveyone else decided srm-2s were the answer to elemental hunting. That's the 3055 book tho
@@Helcarexe26 me too. Actually, I like to pick them off with long range weapons, lol, but if they get close it's lbx shotgun rounds and ML's. But take a look thru the 3055 light and medium's. Seems like every mech designed to battle elementals was equipped with SRM-2s, or streak 2's. Except the komodo, which housed an impressive (and self-cooking) number of ML's with 2 AMS systems, and I think that it's the only stock mech with dual AMS.
@@wolf3794 I can imagine the two Anti-missle systems are for those elemental shooting back as the Komodo closes in for the kill. I'd be more inclined to drop two of those ML in favor of more armor. I'm thinking a lance of those mechs could make short work of elemental points.
Those two LRM15 can take off some armor as the enemy closes in on your position. We tend to rip off the AC20 in favor of a PPC and Medium Lasers with a the removal of the XLFE.
There's a lot wrong with this mech. All but two variants in the MegaMek files have XLFE and those have LFE which is a lot less bad but doesn't really make up for everything else wrong. No variant walks more than 5 and only one has any sort of sprint functionality. All variants waste 5 tons on a weapon that has only dubious advantage over a pair of hand actuators that weigh nothing. No variant has TSM even as it's a melee specialist. Only two variants have over 90% armor as a slow melee mech and both of those are advanced/experimental. AXM-1N: From the precis you can guess that I think it's too fragile and too slow. Surprisingly for something that has chosen neither speed nor armor it's also a disappointment in terms of firepower. It's a little bit deadlier than a bog standard hunchback, but not 15 tons of mech deadlier. Not even in hatchet range since using the hatchet means not using the medium lasers. AXM-2N: It's too fragile and too slow, but at least this time it has acceptable firepower. It has 30 LRM tubes cleverly disguised as 6 SRM tubes. The short range firepower is much less and the medium lasers are still in the hatchet arm. It's at least good for something, but I'd rather have a low tech Catapult. The Axman has a little more armor, but the XLFE offsets that. AXM-3S: It's slightly less fragile, but still too slow. ER and LBX tech help the range, but it's still not something I want moving at 4/6/4. On the bright side the medium lasers have finally been moved to the hatchetless arm. AXM-3Sr: It has C3. It's neither long ranged nor durable so I'm not sure what its role in a C3 network is supposed to be, though. It has a RAC, which doesn't tear great huge holes in the enemy like an AC-20, doesn't critseek like an LBC, and is at risk of jamming if you try to take advantage of it. I don't feel like this is that much of an upgrade on the 3S which I already don't like (not that I like any of these). AXM-4D: It's too fragile and too slow and can't even jump. Four Light AC-5s and a targeting computer would make it good against fast opponents if it had ammo bins big enough for precision, but it doesn't. AXM-6X: Oh, this isn't so bad. First pass I didn't notice it uses a Clan engine so it's as durable as the S variants on that front and has more armor. And it's a 325 XL so the speed is actually on the edge of useful. It also has a supercharger so it can sprint that last 10 hexes to the target. I'm pretty sure this is the lest bad Axman, but it uses Clantech to do it and it's still not great. AXM-6T: The notes say it's designed to use handheld weapons, which I don't have info on because MegaMek doesn't support them. It has an Inner Sphere 325 XLFE so it's back to being too fragile. Slightly more armor, but armor can't make up for an XLFE unless we're talking a lot of hardened. It uses two Thunderbolt-15s, which are headcappers, but it also has only 8 shots each. I suspect it's Solaris toy. As a merc I would sell any of these and buy something less overspecialized. If I had to make use of one the first change I'd make would be to remove the axe. 13 points is not enough concentrated damage to justify using a 5 ton weapon over 0 ton fists or feet. Especially with their more advantageous hit location tables.
If I could redesign this one I'd be stripping off the AC and maybe 5 tons down to a 60 ton with a 5/8/5 movement. Then see what weapons could be carried on it as a melee specialist
@@Helcarexe26 How does 200 points of armor, an SRM-6 with two ammo bins and CASE, and an ERLL sound? Needs endosteel, but it still comes in at only a little over half the price of the canonical AXM-1N. Firepower is a bit anemic at short range, but it can close through ML range pretty quick to get into melee. I still find myself thinking I'd prefer something not trying to focus on melee, but When the Cappies force NAIS to admit that heat activated TSM is worth deploying you pull the hatchet for a TSM activation suite of three medium and two small lasers. It has to use the SRM to hit +9 from a cold start without deactivating heatsinks, but I think that's worth it for the options a two bin SRM launcher give. With TSM at this scale a hatchet just gets in the way of punching twice. The other direction I can see taking the concept is hatchet as deterrent. You stick a hatchet on a fire support platform and use it to discourage the enemy from coming inside you main weapons' minimum range. The 2N kind of does this, but overdoes short range firepower and is too fragile and expensive. It could add 10 tons, drop the XL, drop the LPL, double the ammo with two CASE so losing one side doesn't take out both launchers, and add a ton and a half of armor and be under 7.5 million C-bills instead of almost 12 million. I'm not sure the hatchet discourages people from getting close better than having twice as many medium lasers would (do you want to get within 6 hexes of a swayback), but it's at least something.
@@nathanbrown8680 That's a interesting build, I just wonder if it could be better suited by replacing SRM for a couple medium Lasers. Is that still a 65T or dropped to a 60T. If I'm going with a melee mech it does need TSM on it so that attack does a nice crunchy hit.
@@Helcarexe26 That's 60 tons 5/8/5 as you suggested. The first version doesn't have TSM because it isn't available in 3048. The hatchetless version with TSM came together first and needed the SRM for smoke to close distance against clanners and designing backwards in time it made more sense to me to keep the SRM as always there and trade the TSM tuning suite out for the axe than to have the lasers always there and trade the SRM for an axe with 1.5 tons of leftover weight.
@@nathanbrown8680 Ok the SRM makes sense why there's two ton of ammo on board. Otherwise it's pretty solid and I'd go with a ERLL as you stated earlier. For some reason it makes more sense for it to be a 60T mech as a 5/8/5
No. Just no. This design needs so much work I'd rather have almost anything else. It needs a complete ground up redesign as either an urban ambusher or a cavalry mech. Downgrading from an XLFE to an SFE is a class F refit, same as installing endosteel. In comparison changing the rating is only class D. Your sort of mod works for the urban ambusher, but is a factory refit and must be examined from a nation state perspective and the AFFC already has access to several perfectly good urban ambushers, most of them much cheaper tanks. Demolishers can't jump, but they're under a seventh the price. Jumpjets let you cover multiple streets with a single unit, but having seven times as many units does the same job. A 65 tonner even with XLFE can only get up to 5/8. That's okay cavalry speed in 3048, but it's not able to generate sufficient movement modifiers for me to be comfortable with an inner sphere XLFE. The Light fusion engines that might save it don't show up until more than a decade into the Clan invasion and it shouldn't have been given that much grace. The only way to save the Axman is to completely redesign it from the ground up as a lighter mech. My merc verdict is "I appreciate getting replacement mechs, but I am not confident enough in my techs' ability to reliably maintain advanced tech to want it in applications where one component failing can completely sideline a mech." My Hanse Davion or Katrina Steiner verdict is "Shut the line down for however long it takes to turn it into a supply of unusually styled Thunderbolts and stop wasting mechwarrior's lives on this hatchet shit that doesn't work." Well, the Katrina Steiner verdict has lots of creative German profanity. She did serve in the less genteel branches of the LCAF as well as being a mechwarrior and wasn't exactly sticking to polite company during her Red Corsair days either.
I wanna get a lance of hatchetmen and axmen and call it the "Lumberjacks"
The Paul Bunyan lance!
It is such a hilarious and fantasy inspired idea. I am happy it does exist. I like its descendant, Nightsky, a bunch
Nightsky is also a cool mech in the game
Run this in my lance with a Hatchetman, Buccaneer and a Black Knight modified to use a hatchet. Call it the Axe Gang Lance.
I'm always down for a good melee mech or a complete Lance of them 🤔..... someone just Axed 🪓 ⚒ for it
Nice one Rusty
Thanks Nick
Yeah, the Triple Strength Myomer is a must for this thing. I went with a standard engine, maxed out FF armor, 3 ER Mediums (Left Arm and CT), 2 ER Smalls (LT and HD), an ER PPC, and a Streak SRM-6 with one ton of CASE protected ammo in the LT. It also has 11 double heat sinks, allowing it to fine tune the TSM every turn for maximum effect.
The one thing I'd drop is the Streak6 in favor of either ML and ERSL for better hitting the 9 heat level.
Very cool mech
Thanks Justin
The Axman is a personal favorite of mine. Thanks for the insights.
There's something special that I enjoy about melee mechs like the Axeman that I like in the game.
@@Helcarexe26
Equally near and dear is it's little cousin, the Hatchetman.
Quick question; would you rather have extra armor, or movement capability for a melee Mech?
@@CapnArrich Having a lance of rampaging Hatchetman mechs is something I've done many times
I would like my Melee mechs to be at least 5/8/5 for more mobility and if you can add the armor so much the better
Nice one of my favourite mechs in the game because of the ax.
I really enjoy taking it into the game, wanted one the first time I seen it in the TRO
@@Helcarexe26 I agree i have bought a few of them over the years.
@@lorddraconum The Warhammer is another mech that I still want more of them
@@Helcarexe26 I have a few of them but i think i had a soft spot for the Flashman i have 3. 3 of the Chameleon. Enjoyed the Chameleon when i first played it.
I want a few more Axmans and Flashman. Hell a few more of a lot of mechs.
@@lorddraconum I have only two Flashman mechs, I've always wanted a whole company of Warhammers. Sometime I'll get the last three or four mechs to finish up the company.
It's important to note that, unlike a hatchetman (unless it's modded with TSM) the axeman can 1-shot headcap with its axe!
I like to move the MLs into the left arm.
That's the lovely thing about the Axman mech, I liked to have a lance with two Hatchetman and two Axman in it. Made a nice city fighting lance that could take down most assault mechs in a single turn.
@@Helcarexe26 the axeman is probably my second favorite stock mech, but I have SHIT luck with them. Trend to loose torsos (USUALLY the right torso) but when you're playing a merc campaign they're easy (ish) to replace.
@@wolf3794 I can totally agree with the bad luck of loosing a torso to weapons fire. In a campaign setting I've been know to swap out the fusion plant with a Jagermech and install it into the Axman.
I prefer the 2N, due to the Battletech cartoon. 2x LMR 15, pulse lasers, 3 med laser, it can handle all ranges and without loosing any punches
There's something to be said about the long range fire support of the 2N for a more open terrain. At least you're laying down fire as you close the distance to deliver a good solid hit with the ax
@@Helcarexe26 I plan on making the Somerset Strike lance; they are rather strong on long range, with everyone having LRM, short of the Wolfhound who's just a laserboat. I wonder if switching the SRMs on the Axeman can help to make it more of a short ranger killer than a long range support who happens to have an axe for some reason...
1 of my favorites, wish it had tsm
With TSM on board it would be a major beast in city fights.
Interesting specialist mech.
That it is a specialist mech who brings a knife to a gun fight
My favorite mod to do to the 1N. Swap the ac20 for a uac10 with 3 tons of ammo. Then downgrade that large pulse to a regular old Large. Then switching to double heat sinks helps to manage heat better
I prefer to get rid of the AC in favor of a ERPPC and more ML like a Swayback up close
I love the name on some of these mechs, the Axman, just sounds bad to the bone!....Bill
Thanks Bill, some are from mythology or history
I have a level II unit WOB that has 1 Black Knight 2 Axmen 1 Hatchetman 1 Gurkah 1 Berserker. All heavily modified with TSM Clan tech. The Berserker is modified with a mace (back when all assaults could use them) 40 Standard damage 80 when TSM kicked in. Took a Warhammer out in 2 hits with it. Took out left torso first hit half the CT, Second swing hit right torso and the last of the CT. To bad they NERFED the mace to death for assaults.
I have the Black Knight with a axe and can add it the mix. A whole unit designed around TSM and physical attacks can make a city fight really interesting. I sort of get why the mace was nerfed but that would be a very awesome ass kicking mech
@@Helcarexe26
I do also agree with some of the nerfing.in the new rules a mace on a 100 ton mech now dose 25 damage which is acceptable but now it takes up 9 or 10+ critical slots so it cant be put on anything bigger than I think 80 or 85 ton mech. Which I find stupid. It's only 25 now vs 40. They should have kept the critical numbers and dropped the damage.
@@boneshaman8912 Did you run a XL engine with the 100 ton mech or something normal in the build.
@@Helcarexe26 I think it was a upgrade clan XL. Back in the day me and my friend has a bad habit of clan upgraing every thing.
@@boneshaman8912 Back in the day when everything was possible if the campaign was run that way
Drop a ML and change the AC20 to a Gauss Rifle and swap out the LPL for an ERPPC.Swap the other ML over to the CT,along with the one from the LA.
That Gauss Rifle would increase the damage over time at longer ranges.
I always wanted a slower axman with 2 ac20
That's a lot of tonnage in those two weapons, I've had a mech run into a Clan Hunchback and was hit by four AC/20 from the Ultra Cannons.
Side note, you must LOVE the Kimodo
I've used it in games before at Gen Con or Origins, but I don't own the miniature yet
@@Helcarexe26 when the DC decided the answer to Elements was "massed medium lasers" while eveyone else decided srm-2s were the answer to elemental hunting. That's the 3055 book tho
@@wolf3794 I rather use Medium Lasers than rely on SRM-2 launchers to take care of Elementals. at least the ML have multiple uses over the SRM
@@Helcarexe26 me too. Actually, I like to pick them off with long range weapons, lol, but if they get close it's lbx shotgun rounds and ML's. But take a look thru the 3055 light and medium's. Seems like every mech designed to battle elementals was equipped with SRM-2s, or streak 2's. Except the komodo, which housed an impressive (and self-cooking) number of ML's with 2 AMS systems, and I think that it's the only stock mech with dual AMS.
@@wolf3794 I can imagine the two Anti-missle systems are for those elemental shooting back as the Komodo closes in for the kill. I'd be more inclined to drop two of those ML in favor of more armor. I'm thinking a lance of those mechs could make short work of elemental points.
Has anyone used a Mace to replace the Axe? I have used the one from the Tactical Handbook?
To be honest I've never seen anyone use a mace before on a mech instead of the hatchet or sword
I think the axe is probably effectively a mace. Its probably not actually sharp.
They made one mistake.
THEY ATTACKED *MY HOME PLANET!*
Man I haven't seen that since the mid 90's 👍😁
@@Helcarexe26 It's had a resuegence with Renegade HPG's remasters
Honestly Adam steiner had the right idea. 2n is only axman I can get to work. Shame there was no upgrade Version.
Those two LRM15 can take off some armor as the enemy closes in on your position. We tend to rip off the AC20 in favor of a PPC and Medium Lasers with a the removal of the XLFE.
@@Helcarexe26 not a bad idea. Have you tried lbx 10 instead of ppc?
@@jogro9769 A LBX10 could work and save a few tons for armor or ML for close work
There's a lot wrong with this mech. All but two variants in the MegaMek files have XLFE and those have LFE which is a lot less bad but doesn't really make up for everything else wrong. No variant walks more than 5 and only one has any sort of sprint functionality. All variants waste 5 tons on a weapon that has only dubious advantage over a pair of hand actuators that weigh nothing. No variant has TSM even as it's a melee specialist. Only two variants have over 90% armor as a slow melee mech and both of those are advanced/experimental.
AXM-1N: From the precis you can guess that I think it's too fragile and too slow. Surprisingly for something that has chosen neither speed nor armor it's also a disappointment in terms of firepower. It's a little bit deadlier than a bog standard hunchback, but not 15 tons of mech deadlier. Not even in hatchet range since using the hatchet means not using the medium lasers.
AXM-2N: It's too fragile and too slow, but at least this time it has acceptable firepower. It has 30 LRM tubes cleverly disguised as 6 SRM tubes. The short range firepower is much less and the medium lasers are still in the hatchet arm. It's at least good for something, but I'd rather have a low tech Catapult. The Axman has a little more armor, but the XLFE offsets that.
AXM-3S: It's slightly less fragile, but still too slow. ER and LBX tech help the range, but it's still not something I want moving at 4/6/4. On the bright side the medium lasers have finally been moved to the hatchetless arm.
AXM-3Sr: It has C3. It's neither long ranged nor durable so I'm not sure what its role in a C3 network is supposed to be, though. It has a RAC, which doesn't tear great huge holes in the enemy like an AC-20, doesn't critseek like an LBC, and is at risk of jamming if you try to take advantage of it. I don't feel like this is that much of an upgrade on the 3S which I already don't like (not that I like any of these).
AXM-4D: It's too fragile and too slow and can't even jump. Four Light AC-5s and a targeting computer would make it good against fast opponents if it had ammo bins big enough for precision, but it doesn't.
AXM-6X: Oh, this isn't so bad. First pass I didn't notice it uses a Clan engine so it's as durable as the S variants on that front and has more armor. And it's a 325 XL so the speed is actually on the edge of useful. It also has a supercharger so it can sprint that last 10 hexes to the target. I'm pretty sure this is the lest bad Axman, but it uses Clantech to do it and it's still not great.
AXM-6T: The notes say it's designed to use handheld weapons, which I don't have info on because MegaMek doesn't support them. It has an Inner Sphere 325 XLFE so it's back to being too fragile. Slightly more armor, but armor can't make up for an XLFE unless we're talking a lot of hardened. It uses two Thunderbolt-15s, which are headcappers, but it also has only 8 shots each. I suspect it's Solaris toy.
As a merc I would sell any of these and buy something less overspecialized. If I had to make use of one the first change I'd make would be to remove the axe. 13 points is not enough concentrated damage to justify using a 5 ton weapon over 0 ton fists or feet. Especially with their more advantageous hit location tables.
If I could redesign this one I'd be stripping off the AC and maybe 5 tons down to a 60 ton with a 5/8/5 movement. Then see what weapons could be carried on it as a melee specialist
@@Helcarexe26 How does 200 points of armor, an SRM-6 with two ammo bins and CASE, and an ERLL sound? Needs endosteel, but it still comes in at only a little over half the price of the canonical AXM-1N. Firepower is a bit anemic at short range, but it can close through ML range pretty quick to get into melee. I still find myself thinking I'd prefer something not trying to focus on melee, but
When the Cappies force NAIS to admit that heat activated TSM is worth deploying you pull the hatchet for a TSM activation suite of three medium and two small lasers. It has to use the SRM to hit +9 from a cold start without deactivating heatsinks, but I think that's worth it for the options a two bin SRM launcher give. With TSM at this scale a hatchet just gets in the way of punching twice.
The other direction I can see taking the concept is hatchet as deterrent. You stick a hatchet on a fire support platform and use it to discourage the enemy from coming inside you main weapons' minimum range. The 2N kind of does this, but overdoes short range firepower and is too fragile and expensive. It could add 10 tons, drop the XL, drop the LPL, double the ammo with two CASE so losing one side doesn't take out both launchers, and add a ton and a half of armor and be under 7.5 million C-bills instead of almost 12 million. I'm not sure the hatchet discourages people from getting close better than having twice as many medium lasers would (do you want to get within 6 hexes of a swayback), but it's at least something.
@@nathanbrown8680 That's a interesting build, I just wonder if it could be better suited by replacing SRM for a couple medium Lasers. Is that still a 65T or dropped to a 60T. If I'm going with a melee mech it does need TSM on it so that attack does a nice crunchy hit.
@@Helcarexe26 That's 60 tons 5/8/5 as you suggested. The first version doesn't have TSM because it isn't available in 3048. The hatchetless version with TSM came together first and needed the SRM for smoke to close distance against clanners and designing backwards in time it made more sense to me to keep the SRM as always there and trade the TSM tuning suite out for the axe than to have the lasers always there and trade the SRM for an axe with 1.5 tons of leftover weight.
@@nathanbrown8680 Ok the SRM makes sense why there's two ton of ammo on board. Otherwise it's pretty solid and I'd go with a ERLL as you stated earlier. For some reason it makes more sense for it to be a 60T mech as a 5/8/5
Get the AXM-2N or go home. No guts no galaxy.
This one does allow for long range firesupport in a lance before it slices and dices
They made one mistake.
THEY ATTACKED *MY HOME PLANET*
No. Just no. This design needs so much work I'd rather have almost anything else. It needs a complete ground up redesign as either an urban ambusher or a cavalry mech. Downgrading from an XLFE to an SFE is a class F refit, same as installing endosteel. In comparison changing the rating is only class D.
Your sort of mod works for the urban ambusher, but is a factory refit and must be examined from a nation state perspective and the AFFC already has access to several perfectly good urban ambushers, most of them much cheaper tanks. Demolishers can't jump, but they're under a seventh the price. Jumpjets let you cover multiple streets with a single unit, but having seven times as many units does the same job.
A 65 tonner even with XLFE can only get up to 5/8. That's okay cavalry speed in 3048, but it's not able to generate sufficient movement modifiers for me to be comfortable with an inner sphere XLFE. The Light fusion engines that might save it don't show up until more than a decade into the Clan invasion and it shouldn't have been given that much grace. The only way to save the Axman is to completely redesign it from the ground up as a lighter mech.
My merc verdict is "I appreciate getting replacement mechs, but I am not confident enough in my techs' ability to reliably maintain advanced tech to want it in applications where one component failing can completely sideline a mech." My Hanse Davion or Katrina Steiner verdict is "Shut the line down for however long it takes to turn it into a supply of unusually styled Thunderbolts and stop wasting mechwarrior's lives on this hatchet shit that doesn't work." Well, the Katrina Steiner verdict has lots of creative German profanity. She did serve in the less genteel branches of the LCAF as well as being a mechwarrior and wasn't exactly sticking to polite company during her Red Corsair days either.
I rather have the SFE my self and have maybe a Thunderbolt while they work out the bugs with the design.