I sometimes play DCMS, and even have some models painted up in red because I like what Dragons, Panthers, and Jenners look like. I almost always have fun playing DCMS because, even if I'm loosing, it's nice watching the Combine forces burn.
One underrated Kurita-centric unit I see few people talking about is the XL Schrek PPC carrier. same weapons at 4/6 rather than 2/3 with a boat load more armor (42 on the front, 22 on the sides) than its old counterpart, for only 1074 BV I say kurita centric as its only available to the Kuritans, Capellans and WoB during the clan invasion era
The Combine has such really cool mechs that are so distinctive. I love those mechs that when you see one you instantly know who you're fighting. The DCMS has so many of those in spades.
Yeah the Venom is a real brutal little bastard. Kurita's Spiders are pretty good little machines too- the 7K is a very solid thing. The K-series catapults are also a really nice adendum to the Warhammer's design. PPC caddies for the working samurai
"Those dirty weebs will pay for their crimes against the Inner Sphere! They will face the wrath of House Davion for their tyranny and depravity!" "Is he going on about Kentaris again?" "Nah, the Phoenix Hawk 1K." "Eh, fair enough."
As a long long time kurita player. YES!!! YES!!!! I've seen too many goonhammer articles and reddit threads calling kurita's best mechs C tier at best. Usually when kurita mechs are brought up I feel like that japanese soldier fighting on an island 27 years after ww2 ended in the comments section.
I agree with pretty much the whole video except the panther with the large laser. When I played the panther was used to protect our fire supports from light or fast-medium harassment while also contributing to the fire support lance. So the PPC means it can contribute stand alongside awesomes, griffins, etc. and only need to be 3 hexes closer than archers, trebuchets, etc. With a large laser they will need to be too far out of position to fire it. So it really only makes sense if you are placing your panthers in attack lances rather then in fire support.
The problem with the 9R is that while strategically this makes a lot of sense it isn't an efficient use of the BV cost of the mech. You are correct tho the 8Z is used more like a mid range light trooper that attacks from whatever angle the enemy front line is weakest to. Instead of augmenting your fire support it augments your frontline brawling, which tends to be where kurita is weakest.
My panther version took a Large Laser and a LRM10 with a Medium Laser or two as close in support. Not sure of the armour. But indirect fire seemed better than critical seeking SRM4.
Yep, Panthers are Body Guards and Urban Stalkers. I had a panther and a SRM carrier guarding a pair of LRM carriers and MASH unit . scared the hell out of my mate who was trying to knock out the rain of LRMs.... ahh the cheap area denial of LRM carriers...
Are you sure they weren't thinking about the 6k vs 6m? Or at least the 7M2, which fixes the biggest flaw of most Wolverines by giving it a HPPC? Thinking about it, isn't it weird that there's an M variant that removes a LL for a PPC? Anyway, the Wolverine *WVR-7M* is amazingly bad. I hope that the person who told you that has gotten a new glasses perception or so.
@@lordkommissarpetitt8022 I'm even more deeply concerned for them now. That's a very... unusual... bit of reasoning they have there. Maybe they play on really really big maps and whittle down the enemy with the not exactly great ERLLs? I can't for the life of me imagine where having 2 IS ERLL is enough damage output to justify the cost of that mech, in BV, CBills, or tonnage. The Blitzkrieg BTZ-4F is only 100 points more, goes 7/11/7 and has a targeting computer linked to its HPPC, and it's really hard to get ROI for that cost. Blitz does 15 with TC at slightly shorter range than the 16 the 7M does. Yes, the 7M can close and do a bit better, but...
@@ObiwanNekodyBefore I play devil's advocate here let me say that you're spot on about the ERLL. "Not exactly great" perfectly describes it. There's two potential cases in favor of the ERLL. The first is that of "main gun utility". That was probably the intent, as far as game design, of it as a "upgrade" over the LL: giving up the niche of heat efficient damage for long range. Its not hindered by a minimum range so it can always be of _some_ use although it's subpar in every category. But if a mech could only have one weapon the ERLL would be a solid choice. And as a choice for a 'main gun' it's helped by being second class in terms of tonnage, crit, and heat requirements. This leads to the second potential case that can be made. Bracket firing! 12 heat is a magic number in Battletech: either three MED pulse/ SRM6 or four SRM4/ vanilla medium laser. A good Catapult design is 2 ER LL and three SRM 6. Either you fire both ERLL or you switch one out for the SRM battery. That's what the Wolverine 7M was going for in terms of role and armament but it's crippled by the usual problems of stock mechs. First is being short a heatsinks, ae, it's only heat neutral at a standstill. For the weapon set to be effective the mech needs to be running every turn and firing every turn. Second is putting both ERLL in one arm. _The whole point of having two weapons is redundancy_ If you're going to concentrate the arsenal in one location you might as well take a better weapon! Third, MASC is really, really, really not what the mech needs. Either you want jumpjets to control the range of the engagement, like the fabulous Catapult, or you accept mediocre mobility and fight like a Thunderbolt. MASC isn't a substitute for jump jets, and is particularly lacking if you want to open the range. It's also a total waste on a mech if you're using it as an initiative sink. And it hikes up the BV! The Wolverine 7M is total garbage, and way too expensive for its limited capabilities.
I think that 5/8/5 is the slowest a mech can be and still use the IS LPL as a main weapon offensively, which is part of why the Wolverine is so nice for its cost. Great mech. Would be better with a PPC, of course.
Good video.There are a few things that I think players should be aware of though. The variants chosen for several of these are actually rare in canon and commonly used in the wrong time period. The Grand dragon didn't even exist until 3024.The 3rd Succession war ended the next year. Probably at least 3 out of 4 Dragons I see fielded in games are the Grand Dragon when they were still in the prototype phase at the end of the war. The large laser Panther was considered basically extinct by the end of the 2nd SW. Almost all of the known existing 8Zs were converted to 9Rs. The Jenner JR7-F is also a rare older variant. I've seen numbers all over for these but by the 3rd SW perhaps less then 10% of Jenners were this variant. I see so many players chose a 3015 Kurita lance and they have a JR7-F, Panther 8Z, and Grand Dragon when these variants were all rare or didn't exist at that time. YES-they are the best. From different time periods! If you want a Kurita lance that might actually exist around 3rd SW you might want to pick more common variants from the same era.
@@HouseDavieMerc This is true, but there are so few mechs that are actually common in 3025 for a given faction that it gets boring to just play with those ones.
@@TrailblazerBT I definitely agree.A lack of early canon variants for the game has been a problem for decades now. Given the manufacturing and transportation difficulties of the SWs more canon production variants of many of the common chassis should have existed. I've been asking for a TRO about less produced SW variants and common mods/kits for years. This would be a massively popular product that should have already been printed.
@@HouseDavieMerc What's even more limiting is the lack of almost any canon units in some special roles, like VTOLs. The 3025 brand strategy was certainly.... Interesting. They created this game with amazing design rules, and then they filled in the lore to make it so that there was very little room for new units to be designed and produced in the universe!
as this year was the Year of the Dragon I've been running Draconis Combine lances on occasion my best lances were 1st a Dragon N1, Wolverine 6K, Catapult K2 & Hunchback 4H, 2nd a Dragon 1G, Wolverine 6R, Griffin & Gladiator they were my best games of TT Battletech ever
@@TrailblazerBTthe official release of the Force Manual: Kurita was just this week, so it's really really new hardware. IIRC the Berserker Lance variants are some 3025 mechs upgraded with a hatchet. In particular the Archer and Grasshopper revisions look very fun, especially for something without a PPC, but I'm not positive that they weren't changed from the early edition that was shown at a convention. The fact that the Archer loses a stinky no good LL to get a hatchet has nothing to do with my thinking they look fun. 🪓
I’d forgotten about the second SRM6 on the 7K Wolverine, that’s _significant_ for a medium already packing good lasers. Worth the risk of XL engine crits for that kind of short-range brawling power.
10:17 i love small lasers , especially ER ones . And a pair of small pulse lasers should replace every twin MG and ton of ammo in the game ...... a no brainer for a merc refit
I agree that starting or ending with a couple of sentences about what one generally expects from the faction would make a nice addition. Good thought. Of course, to the OP, don't let this or any other suggestion hold you back from making content. Your content is great and no content is perfect. Except for that little video Many Voices made where he talks about how great the PPC is, that's probably pretty close to perfect.
@@Klinktastic1 I apologize if my end bit felt like a chastise or something; I didn't think that you disparaged Trailblazer. To me your comment is quite good, you clearly think he is doing well and have had a good format suggestion to share that may improve the videos of this series. I've just seen a few smaller content creators, particularly newer, smaller ones, end up feeling overwhelmed by the volume of (good) suggestions, so if I ever have an unsolicited suggestion or I second someone else's suggestion I always try to add that bit.
🤫 Don't tell anyone but... 🤫 *The LL Panther is almost certainly a superior mech for the BV cost compared to the standard, especially prior to the clan invasion.* You did an excellent job of explaining why too. 👍 One saving grace of the PPC Panther in eras when the Gauss and Clan PPCs are in play is that the longer range if the PPC lets it sometimes get one more shot off before dying. It can be so hard to get IS LLs into range vs clantech, especially on a slow light mech. I will admit here that a big reason for my PPC preferences is that it limits personal powergamy tendencies. RNGesus, being a superstition and not real, probably doesn't bother to read TH-cam comments so it is most likely safe to say this here. If the dice betray me next game tho, I'm sure this comment is why.
Hope we will get decent resculpts one day. I would totally buy a Kurita forcepack if these were given a more modern look. (The Unseen, their IIC versions and the TRO3050 Clan Omnis were peak Battletech art and you cannot change my mind)
@@TrailblazerBT so many cappie mechs have real hot stat lines but art that's 20+ years out of date. Waiting patiently for my Men Shen to actually have looks to match the play pattern
I'll keep the PPC Panther, thanks, but I will admit they fill slightly different roles. I love cheap PPCs to support the bigger Awesomes and such in the back line. Also, your critique of the Akuma's appearance is kind funny. Black Knight, Atlas, Wolfhound, Panther, and more all have a stylized look to them.
@@TrailblazerBT The Black Knight is LITERALLY a dude with a Knight helmet! The No-Dachii ain't far off, and the Hatamoto-Chi is rocking samurai helmet and shoulder pads. I dunno what your threshold is for over the top. :D I, for one, love Protomech designs. Battletechs and Battlemechs are absurd. Give unto me totem mechs!
Agreed on the naginata and Black hawk solid machines , i would point out for campaign play the Nag is very costly to run with all those missiles as i had one is a RPG campaign and it cost the unit a lot of C bills
a little surprised you didn't talk about any of the Kurita Shadow Hawks. the standard version sacrifices its mixed firepower for a PPC in the LT shoulder cannon, and later versions giving it a heavy PPC with C3 too.
The DCMS never thought to put an LRM 5 in the Panther and Im kinda upset about it tbh. Most of these are great, the Venom especially is *really* good. But best mech in the game? Probably the Flamberge tbh. That mech is 70 tons of the stinkiest cheese available.
I looked up the Flamberge and I did not think it was that bad until I saw the battle value. I was expecting at least 800 more points or so for that flavor of cheddar. The other variants are nasty too particularly the D variant.
@@77professional 4/6/7 is the KING of movement profiles! just jump into heavy woods every turn! What else do you need?! BV3 system please and make it more expensive XD
I'll say it right now: the best Kurita mech is one where the pilot has been strapped into the cockpit, unable to get out. And the mech has been tossed into the bottom of a lake.
The best Kuritan mechs: #5 The Dragon - the blown off torso half buried over in the park is the kids' favorite slide #4 The 28T Hamato Chi - grandpa won one of those off this really angry Kuritan Colonel back in the day when he got is little ol' Wolfhound right up in the guy's face and blew his head off with the trio of medium lasers. I got Dad's wolfhound when he inherited Grampa's Hamato. #3 Oh, Almost forgot the Jenner. The swing set over there by the slide was a pair of Jenner legs that somehow kept standing when the SRM ammo bin blew the whole torso apart after some crazy Hetzer crew nailed it in the back with their AC-10. #2 The Naginata: it took our whole damn lance to bring that monster down (and it took out most of the merc armor we'd brought along for support all on its own, and most of our lance had LRM holes all over). #1 Whatever model, from the Panther to the Charger, the best Kuritan mech is a DESTROYED Kuritan mech. Captured is almost as good . . .
The quintessential Kuritan mech is the Panther - they used to run companies of the little buggers pre clan invasion. Yep, the light company was just 12 Panthers...
Lol I'll take the looks of the Akuma over whatever the heck that Naginata art right after is. It looks like a buttress on a cathedral wall. Not to mention the rocket nozzle pelvis.
As a person who likes both C3 and PPCs DCMS units are commonly appealing to me. (You touched on this is the video, ty) Related question... The BV2 system for C3 is so expensive, does the community have strong thoughts on how balanced it is? Since the TW rules clearly forbid using C3 for IDF, it doesn't seem like the system is overpowered to cost anymore, and there seems to be plenty of good mechs with ecm, but I'm not sure of community thoughts.
Its over costed but it should be imo. If C3 were more "meta" it would be difficult to balance in a way that wouldn't invalidate a vast majority of mechs or require a ton of house rules on lance building to make it fair/fun to play against. Having it be a little overcosted means it's still usable even in a competitive setting by an expert player but it still keeps the core gameplay of battletech intact.
@@samuelbaldwin2184 I think the cost is fine, IF ECCM rules are in play and the C3 player has ways to protect their network, have more counter play to the counter play
@@samuelbaldwin2184 that's my opinion on it too, both about the ECCM and it being somewhat overpriced, and this overpriced status being a generally good thing. BV1 C3 was too cheap, even if you didn't have ECCM. In short , ecm is range 6, Gauss and LRM is short range 7...
One annoying thing about battle value when working with mechs, is that they get a lot more efficient the bigger they get. The Wolverine 7K is only 29 BV cheaper than a Victor 9S and the two mechs are nowhere near the same effectiveness, especially if the Victor can load special AC ammo
I'd rather have the Wolverine I think, Jump 5 and pulse are so good. If you take precision on the AC/20 you only get 6 shots! But the 3025 Victor is very good for its BV, no question
@@TrailblazerBT Interesting, a lot of later era IS mechs start making specialization trade offs so its hard to compare/grade them. I can see why they wouldn't make the cut as a result.
@@JH-ph4qb That makes sense, but in my case it's just that I have little experience with them. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head anything about the two mechs you mentioned!
first comment you make referring to Mech associated with Kurita : I think Panther, then Jenner Phoenix Hawk, then.... Catapult K2... You: the Dragon... me: oh yeah, that one too... I have fought Kurita and fought as Kurita, many many times .. The chap I gamed with back in the 80s was big on the Wolf Dragoons and I would run matches for him. We fought out Misery and other campaigns. His merch unit that split off from the dragoons after misery had two dropships the Mongoose and the Serpent Stomper.. he hated Kurita.
Okay... Hear me out--I think the Dragon DRG-1C is good! I think it is a sound investment as a mech, not for the damage it does (though the missiles are good), but because of its longevity. There is NO MECH IN 3025 with a 5/8 movement profile that has the armor that the DRG-1C does. 13 tons! That's as much as Crusader, or Archer, or all but one of the most heavily-protected mechs (the Orion) that moves 4/6. AC/2 for standoff, sure, but I think this is a heavily-armored combatant that can get to where it needs to be more quickly than any other heavily armored combatant, and it will generate higher TMMs than anything else with that much armor. If I had a couple of these, I'd either run down the fire support mechs, or put them right up front, and if enemies closed, I'd send them into melee. Thoughts? Surely that's not ALL crazy!?!
The named Dragon, DRG-2Y Yoriyoshi, is probably the best base Dragon. All of the other ones I refer to as the Draconis Dragon Tax, as a Dragon is a *most excellent* mech and should be taken for every proper DCMS force. Rumors that I use this term because I think it's an awful mech and only take it as some silly flavor are unfounded. The way you describe it is, to me, the most reasonable way to play it if you have one tho. It's just that it isn't threatening enough to be a priority target, so it commonly doesn't use that armor it does have. If the DRG-1C does take shots, there is a 100% chance of an ammo explosion in one side torso and a 66% chance in the other, which really reduces how much damage it can actually absorb. 1215 BV is kinda expensive for that... A Thunderbolt TDR-5SS is only 1337 BV, has the same armor, much better weapons, and much lower chance of getting exploded (although with the ammo in the CT a TAC can end it really fast)
TSM only works when the mech is at 9 heat or higher. It can be a very big headache trying to balance the heat well, and can make them very juicy targets for infernos.
The Mauler-1R is a tricky mech to love. Its got surprisingly potent firepower at 14 hexes, being very cheap and able to match the accuracy of clan mechs at long range. If you pair it with an Alacorn at its feet as a can opener you have a very powerful long range combo. Unfortunately once the enemy starts to close, its durability plummets HARD.
The maced No-Dachi is the Lyran variant.
Whoa I had no idea!
I sometimes play DCMS, and even have some models painted up in red because I like what Dragons, Panthers, and Jenners look like. I almost always have fun playing DCMS because, even if I'm loosing, it's nice watching the Combine forces burn.
This video honors the Dragon.
One underrated Kurita-centric unit I see few people talking about is the XL Schrek PPC carrier.
same weapons at 4/6 rather than 2/3 with a boat load more armor (42 on the front, 22 on the sides) than its old counterpart, for only 1074 BV
I say kurita centric as its only available to the Kuritans, Capellans and WoB during the clan invasion era
That is one of the best tanks in the game lol. Not as good as the Partisan(LRM) imo, but still great.
It's pretty amazing. Praise be to the PPC.
The Combine has such really cool mechs that are so distinctive. I love those mechs that when you see one you instantly know who you're fighting. The DCMS has so many of those in spades.
Yeah the Venom is a real brutal little bastard. Kurita's Spiders are pretty good little machines too- the 7K is a very solid thing.
The K-series catapults are also a really nice adendum to the Warhammer's design. PPC caddies for the working samurai
It's amazing how nice Drac mechs can be when they resist their urge to rip out all the jump jets.
"Those dirty weebs will pay for their crimes against the Inner Sphere! They will face the wrath of House Davion for their tyranny and depravity!"
"Is he going on about Kentaris again?"
"Nah, the Phoenix Hawk 1K."
"Eh, fair enough."
As a long long time kurita player. YES!!! YES!!!! I've seen too many goonhammer articles and reddit threads calling kurita's best mechs C tier at best. Usually when kurita mechs are brought up I feel like that japanese soldier fighting on an island 27 years after ww2 ended in the comments section.
I agree with pretty much the whole video except the panther with the large laser. When I played the panther was used to protect our fire supports from light or fast-medium harassment while also contributing to the fire support lance. So the PPC means it can contribute stand alongside awesomes, griffins, etc. and only need to be 3 hexes closer than archers, trebuchets, etc. With a large laser they will need to be too far out of position to fire it. So it really only makes sense if you are placing your panthers in attack lances rather then in fire support.
to be fair, having more armor helps with that
The problem with the 9R is that while strategically this makes a lot of sense it isn't an efficient use of the BV cost of the mech. You are correct tho the 8Z is used more like a mid range light trooper that attacks from whatever angle the enemy front line is weakest to. Instead of augmenting your fire support it augments your frontline brawling, which tends to be where kurita is weakest.
My panther version took a Large Laser and a LRM10 with a Medium Laser or two as close in support. Not sure of the armour. But indirect fire seemed better than critical seeking SRM4.
Yep, Panthers are Body Guards and Urban Stalkers. I had a panther and a SRM carrier guarding a pair of LRM carriers and MASH unit . scared the hell out of my mate who was trying to knock out the rain of LRMs.... ahh the cheap area denial of LRM carriers...
I was once told the Wolverine 7K was worse than the 7M, I feel vindicated now
Are you sure they weren't thinking about the 6k vs 6m? Or at least the 7M2, which fixes the biggest flaw of most Wolverines by giving it a HPPC?
Thinking about it, isn't it weird that there's an M variant that removes a LL for a PPC?
Anyway, the Wolverine *WVR-7M* is amazingly bad. I hope that the person who told you that has gotten a new glasses perception or so.
@@ObiwanNekody No no, they meant the normal 7M, they stated the MASC made the 7M better, and the 7K was too focused on close range weapons.
@@lordkommissarpetitt8022 Oh, the MASC is great, until you roll snake eyes and both your knee actuators suddenly explode out from under you.
@@lordkommissarpetitt8022 I'm even more deeply concerned for them now. That's a very... unusual... bit of reasoning they have there. Maybe they play on really really big maps and whittle down the enemy with the not exactly great ERLLs?
I can't for the life of me imagine where having 2 IS ERLL is enough damage output to justify the cost of that mech, in BV, CBills, or tonnage.
The Blitzkrieg BTZ-4F is only 100 points more, goes 7/11/7 and has a targeting computer linked to its HPPC, and it's really hard to get ROI for that cost.
Blitz does 15 with TC at slightly shorter range than the 16 the 7M does. Yes, the 7M can close and do a bit better, but...
@@ObiwanNekodyBefore I play devil's advocate here let me say that you're spot on about the ERLL. "Not exactly great" perfectly describes it.
There's two potential cases in favor of the ERLL. The first is that of "main gun utility". That was probably the intent, as far as game design, of it as a "upgrade" over the LL: giving up the niche of heat efficient damage for long range. Its not hindered by a minimum range so it can always be of _some_ use although it's subpar in every category. But if a mech could only have one weapon the ERLL would be a solid choice. And as a choice for a 'main gun' it's helped by being second class in terms of tonnage, crit, and heat requirements.
This leads to the second potential case that can be made. Bracket firing! 12 heat is a magic number in Battletech: either three MED pulse/ SRM6 or four SRM4/ vanilla medium laser. A good Catapult design is 2 ER LL and three SRM 6. Either you fire both ERLL or you switch one out for the SRM battery. That's what the Wolverine 7M was going for in terms of role and armament but it's crippled by the usual problems of stock mechs. First is being short a heatsinks, ae, it's only heat neutral at a standstill. For the weapon set to be effective the mech needs to be running every turn and firing every turn. Second is putting both ERLL in one arm. _The whole point of having two weapons is redundancy_ If you're going to concentrate the arsenal in one location you might as well take a better weapon! Third, MASC is really, really, really not what the mech needs. Either you want jumpjets to control the range of the engagement, like the fabulous Catapult, or you accept mediocre mobility and fight like a Thunderbolt.
MASC isn't a substitute for jump jets, and is particularly lacking if you want to open the range. It's also a total waste on a mech if you're using it as an initiative sink. And it hikes up the BV! The Wolverine 7M is total garbage, and way too expensive for its limited capabilities.
Combine Mecha are some of the coolest in the game! The best part about them is that Rasalhague has a lot of them 😉
Your comment makes me wonder what faction has the objectively coolest mechs in the game. You know, the mech stable with the lowest average overheat
@ObiwanNekody Comstar
I think that 5/8/5 is the slowest a mech can be and still use the IS LPL as a main weapon offensively, which is part of why the Wolverine is so nice for its cost.
Great mech. Would be better with a PPC, of course.
Venom - the Spider redesigned to its full potential 😊
The single heatsinks REALLY hurt
@@Andrewlikthat's why we have the 9KC- DHS and max armor
Great video! Looking forward to more videos and updates.
Me as a 5th Sword of Light player , there's some shocking omissions from this list
@@mathewkelly9968 I had to keep it down to a reasonable length! Lots more good ones for sure
Good video.There are a few things that I think players should be aware of though.
The variants chosen for several of these are actually rare in canon and commonly
used in the wrong time period.
The Grand dragon didn't even exist until 3024.The 3rd Succession war ended
the next year. Probably at least 3 out of 4 Dragons I see fielded in games are the
Grand Dragon when they were still in the prototype phase at the end of the war.
The large laser Panther was considered basically extinct by the end of the 2nd SW.
Almost all of the known existing 8Zs were converted to 9Rs.
The Jenner JR7-F is also a rare older variant. I've seen numbers all over for these
but by the 3rd SW perhaps less then 10% of Jenners were this variant.
I see so many players chose a 3015 Kurita lance and they have a JR7-F, Panther 8Z,
and Grand Dragon when these variants were all rare or didn't exist at that time.
YES-they are the best. From different time periods!
If you want a Kurita lance that might actually exist around 3rd SW you might
want to pick more common variants from the same era.
@@HouseDavieMerc This is true, but there are so few mechs that are actually common in 3025 for a given faction that it gets boring to just play with those ones.
@@TrailblazerBT I definitely agree.A lack of early canon variants for the game has been a problem
for decades now. Given the manufacturing and transportation difficulties of the SWs more canon
production variants of many of the common chassis should have existed. I've been asking for a
TRO about less produced SW variants and common mods/kits for years. This would be a massively popular
product that should have already been printed.
@@HouseDavieMerc What's even more limiting is the lack of almost any canon units in some special roles, like VTOLs.
The 3025 brand strategy was certainly.... Interesting. They created this game with amazing design rules, and then they filled in the lore to make it so that there was very little room for new units to be designed and produced in the universe!
as this year was the Year of the Dragon I've been running Draconis Combine lances on occasion my best lances were 1st a Dragon N1, Wolverine 6K, Catapult K2 & Hunchback 4H, 2nd a Dragon 1G, Wolverine 6R, Griffin & Gladiator they were my best games of TT Battletech ever
Ah, the DRG-1G "Fat Griffin"
Sad the "Berserker Lance" variants in the new Force Manual: Kurita haven't been covered
@@NotMyGoogleID Definitely lots more good K mechs, and I'm an old man, not as familiar with newer hardware
@@TrailblazerBTthe official release of the Force Manual: Kurita was just this week, so it's really really new hardware.
IIRC the Berserker Lance variants are some 3025 mechs upgraded with a hatchet. In particular the Archer and Grasshopper revisions look very fun, especially for something without a PPC, but I'm not positive that they weren't changed from the early edition that was shown at a convention.
The fact that the Archer loses a stinky no good LL to get a hatchet has nothing to do with my thinking they look fun.
🪓
I’d forgotten about the second SRM6 on the 7K Wolverine, that’s _significant_ for a medium already packing good lasers. Worth the risk of XL engine crits for that kind of short-range brawling power.
10:17 i love small lasers , especially ER ones . And a pair of small pulse lasers should replace every twin MG and ton of ammo in the game ...... a no brainer for a merc refit
On mechs at least. Vehicle construction rules make the MG reasonable sometimes.
Woooo cool stuff. Goonhammer doesn't have a great opinion of the Dragons but they DO look cool. Looking forward to the Suns mechs.
One thing you should start these faction videos with is the typical weapons and equipment. You sprinkled it in, C3, PPCs, MRMs, etc.
I agree that starting or ending with a couple of sentences about what one generally expects from the faction would make a nice addition. Good thought.
Of course, to the OP, don't let this or any other suggestion hold you back from making content. Your content is great and no content is perfect.
Except for that little video Many Voices made where he talks about how great the PPC is, that's probably pretty close to perfect.
@ not meant to disparage Trailblazer. Just a recommendation on talking about their factions’ signature technology and weaponry.
@@Klinktastic1 I apologize if my end bit felt like a chastise or something; I didn't think that you disparaged Trailblazer. To me your comment is quite good, you clearly think he is doing well and have had a good format suggestion to share that may improve the videos of this series.
I've just seen a few smaller content creators, particularly newer, smaller ones, end up feeling overwhelmed by the volume of (good) suggestions, so if I ever have an unsolicited suggestion or I second someone else's suggestion I always try to add that bit.
Thanks for the suggestion, it's a good one!
Already made the Steiner video but I'll do this for the Liao and Davion ones
Indeed, the Panther without the PPC is an awful choice, it lacks the PPC.
🤫 Don't tell anyone but... 🤫
*The LL Panther is almost certainly a superior mech for the BV cost compared to the standard, especially prior to the clan invasion.*
You did an excellent job of explaining why too. 👍
One saving grace of the PPC Panther in eras when the Gauss and Clan PPCs are in play is that the longer range if the PPC lets it sometimes get one more shot off before dying. It can be so hard to get IS LLs into range vs clantech, especially on a slow light mech.
I will admit here that a big reason for my PPC preferences is that it limits personal powergamy tendencies.
RNGesus, being a superstition and not real, probably doesn't bother to read TH-cam comments so it is most likely safe to say this here. If the dice betray me next game tho, I'm sure this comment is why.
Hope we will get decent resculpts one day. I would totally buy a Kurita forcepack if these were given a more modern look.
(The Unseen, their IIC versions and the TRO3050 Clan Omnis were peak Battletech art and you cannot change my mind)
The Venom's look holds up, but the others could stand to get redone for sure
14:59 lol chuckles in Ti Ts'ang ........ its the Sword that ruins the No-Dachi (still love the No-Dachi i own 4)
@@mathewkelly9968 Yeah Ti Tsang is better although I don't love its fat javelin looks lol
@@TrailblazerBT so many cappie mechs have real hot stat lines but art that's 20+ years out of date. Waiting patiently for my Men Shen to actually have looks to match the play pattern
The sword is a distraction. The real danger is the 28 point kick. Legs go flying and mechs go crashing to the ground, where they stay.
I'll keep the PPC Panther, thanks, but I will admit they fill slightly different roles. I love cheap PPCs to support the bigger Awesomes and such in the back line.
Also, your critique of the Akuma's appearance is kind funny. Black Knight, Atlas, Wolfhound, Panther, and more all have a stylized look to them.
@@fedupN I mean there's stylized and then there's over the top!
@@TrailblazerBT The Black Knight is LITERALLY a dude with a Knight helmet! The No-Dachii ain't far off, and the Hatamoto-Chi is rocking samurai helmet and shoulder pads. I dunno what your threshold is for over the top. :D
I, for one, love Protomech designs. Battletechs and Battlemechs are absurd. Give unto me totem mechs!
Agreed on the naginata and Black hawk solid machines , i would point out for campaign play the Nag is very costly to run with all those missiles as i had one is a RPG campaign and it cost the unit a lot of C bills
a little surprised you didn't talk about any of the Kurita Shadow Hawks. the standard version sacrifices its mixed firepower for a PPC in the LT shoulder cannon, and later versions giving it a heavy PPC with C3 too.
The DCMS never thought to put an LRM 5 in the Panther and Im kinda upset about it tbh.
Most of these are great, the Venom especially is *really* good. But best mech in the game? Probably the Flamberge tbh. That mech is 70 tons of the stinkiest cheese available.
I looked up the Flamberge and I did not think it was that bad until I saw the battle value. I was expecting at least 800 more points or so for that flavor of cheddar. The other variants are nasty too particularly the D variant.
The Panthers 9ALAG with an LRM5 instead of the SRMs would be peak. It would be like having a mini dragon to go with your grand dragon
@@77professional 4/6/7 is the KING of movement profiles! just jump into heavy woods every turn! What else do you need?! BV3 system please and make it more expensive XD
@@samuelbaldwin2184 It would be better too. No XL engine to die to a couple big shots.
Panther without a PPC - Blasphemer!!! 😊
I'll say it right now: the best Kurita mech is one where the pilot has been strapped into the cockpit, unable to get out. And the mech has been tossed into the bottom of a lake.
The best Kuritan mechs:
#5 The Dragon - the blown off torso half buried over in the park is the kids' favorite slide
#4 The 28T Hamato Chi - grandpa won one of those off this really angry Kuritan Colonel back in the day when he got is little ol' Wolfhound right up in the guy's face and blew his head off with the trio of medium lasers. I got Dad's wolfhound when he inherited Grampa's Hamato.
#3 Oh, Almost forgot the Jenner. The swing set over there by the slide was a pair of Jenner legs that somehow kept standing when the SRM ammo bin blew the whole torso apart after some crazy Hetzer crew nailed it in the back with their AC-10.
#2 The Naginata: it took our whole damn lance to bring that monster down (and it took out most of the merc armor we'd brought along for support all on its own, and most of our lance had LRM holes all over).
#1 Whatever model, from the Panther to the Charger, the best Kuritan mech is a DESTROYED Kuritan mech. Captured is almost as good . . .
The quintessential Kuritan mech is the Panther - they used to run companies of the little buggers pre clan invasion. Yep, the light company was just 12 Panthers...
Dragon is just beautiful. I even like the ac5 version.
For me, it's the Tenshi that blows most other mechs out of the water. Amazing assault Omni.
Lol I'll take the looks of the Akuma over whatever the heck that Naginata art right after is. It looks like a buttress on a cathedral wall. Not to mention the rocket nozzle pelvis.
I like ugly non-DnD-looking units over DnD-looking ones but I am not going to defend the Naginata's looks haha
probably my favorite faction and you got it correct with that venom
I like the Dragon but it just always feels like it is just meh
Ooo, that venom is nasty and has a c3.
As a person who likes both C3 and PPCs DCMS units are commonly appealing to me.
(You touched on this is the video, ty)
Related question... The BV2 system for C3 is so expensive, does the community have strong thoughts on how balanced it is?
Since the TW rules clearly forbid using C3 for IDF, it doesn't seem like the system is overpowered to cost anymore, and there seems to be plenty of good mechs with ecm, but I'm not sure of community thoughts.
Its over costed but it should be imo. If C3 were more "meta" it would be difficult to balance in a way that wouldn't invalidate a vast majority of mechs or require a ton of house rules on lance building to make it fair/fun to play against. Having it be a little overcosted means it's still usable even in a competitive setting by an expert player but it still keeps the core gameplay of battletech intact.
@@samuelbaldwin2184 I think the cost is fine, IF ECCM rules are in play and the C3 player has ways to protect their network, have more counter play to the counter play
@@Andrewlik100% agreed ECCM rules should be standard when C3 is on the table imo.
@@samuelbaldwin2184 that's my opinion on it too, both about the ECCM and it being somewhat overpriced, and this overpriced status being a generally good thing.
BV1 C3 was too cheap, even if you didn't have ECCM. In short , ecm is range 6, Gauss and LRM is short range 7...
One annoying thing about battle value when working with mechs, is that they get a lot more efficient the bigger they get. The Wolverine 7K is only 29 BV cheaper than a Victor 9S and the two mechs are nowhere near the same effectiveness, especially if the Victor can load special AC ammo
I'd rather have the Wolverine I think, Jump 5 and pulse are so good. If you take precision on the AC/20 you only get 6 shots! But the 3025 Victor is very good for its BV, no question
Kuritans do have some really solid variants of the OG designs
The Akuma model looked good, the artwork didnt do it any favours
10:59 yeh but a Blackhawk-Ku brings so much more to the table than an 8Q Awesome yeh 3 PPCs is nice but its not the be all and end all
Yeah, the Awesome AWS-9Q, with its 4 PPCs, takes that crown and slowly walks away with it.
Huh, none of the dark age mechs like the Rokurokubi or Hitotsume Kozo?
Yeah I am less up with the DA stuff, had to ask MRC friends for recommendations from later eras
@@TrailblazerBT Interesting, a lot of later era IS mechs start making specialization trade offs so its hard to compare/grade them. I can see why they wouldn't make the cut as a result.
@@JH-ph4qb That makes sense, but in my case it's just that I have little experience with them. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head anything about the two mechs you mentioned!
first comment you make referring to Mech associated with Kurita : I think Panther, then Jenner Phoenix Hawk, then.... Catapult K2...
You: the Dragon...
me: oh yeah, that one too...
I have fought Kurita and fought as Kurita, many many times .. The chap I gamed with back in the 80s was big on the Wolf Dragoons and I would run matches for him. We fought out Misery and other campaigns. His merch unit that split off from the dragoons after misery had two dropships the Mongoose and the Serpent Stomper.. he hated Kurita.
Such a legendary battle! Did you have mechs on the table for Jaime/Natasha/Tetsuhara?
Of course. One of my mates first books was the original wolf's dragoons book, with the cheesy 80s art ... how is miss FASA
@@DadalorianCreates Great book, it was amazing to have a roster for all five regiments
Did the dragon not add an Arrow IV to one of its models of Dragon?
Thats the dragon II I believe
Okay... Hear me out--I think the Dragon DRG-1C is good! I think it is a sound investment as a mech, not for the damage it does (though the missiles are good), but because of its longevity. There is NO MECH IN 3025 with a 5/8 movement profile that has the armor that the DRG-1C does. 13 tons! That's as much as Crusader, or Archer, or all but one of the most heavily-protected mechs (the Orion) that moves 4/6. AC/2 for standoff, sure, but I think this is a heavily-armored combatant that can get to where it needs to be more quickly than any other heavily armored combatant, and it will generate higher TMMs than anything else with that much armor. If I had a couple of these, I'd either run down the fire support mechs, or put them right up front, and if enemies closed, I'd send them into melee. Thoughts? Surely that's not ALL crazy!?!
The named Dragon, DRG-2Y Yoriyoshi, is probably the best base Dragon.
All of the other ones I refer to as the Draconis Dragon Tax, as a Dragon is a *most excellent* mech and should be taken for every proper DCMS force. Rumors that I use this term because I think it's an awful mech and only take it as some silly flavor are unfounded.
The way you describe it is, to me, the most reasonable way to play it if you have one tho. It's just that it isn't threatening enough to be a priority target, so it commonly doesn't use that armor it does have.
If the DRG-1C does take shots, there is a 100% chance of an ammo explosion in one side torso and a 66% chance in the other, which really reduces how much damage it can actually absorb.
1215 BV is kinda expensive for that... A Thunderbolt TDR-5SS is only 1337 BV, has the same armor, much better weapons, and much lower chance of getting exploded (although with the ammo in the CT a TAC can end it really fast)
@@russellorr6720 Interesting argument!
TSM still works for an overheating mech? The sweet spot or trigger temperature is great ?
TSM only works when the mech is at 9 heat or higher. It can be a very big headache trying to balance the heat well, and can make them very juicy targets for infernos.
Maced nodochi should be called the kanobo. A big ass studded club. Missed a trick there.
Maybe I am biased, having grown up watching the adventures of 'Hawk' Hawkins, but I am shocked there is no love for the Mauler... 😢
If the Mauler wants some love, it needs some good designs. Moar PPC.
The Mauler-1R is a tricky mech to love. Its got surprisingly potent firepower at 14 hexes, being very cheap and able to match the accuracy of clan mechs at long range. If you pair it with an Alacorn at its feet as a can opener you have a very powerful long range combo. Unfortunately once the enemy starts to close, its durability plummets HARD.
@@weinerp0wer The LB10 Mauler is a runner up for sure
Didnt watch the video but its Grand Dragon, Hatomato Chi and Tenshi. Next
Jk. Good picks. Especially the wolverine 7K.
RIP FASA
That would stand to reason
Kurita mechs have the best toilets.
Grand Dragon is solid, but not as good as the Wolverine. The Jenner is an absolute beast of a light 'mech.
Of course the Chi isn't an Awesome, it's a Thug. And the Panther 8Z has lore issues for whatever that is worth
@@135forte An undersinked Thug sadly
@TrailblazerBT Two less in exchange for 4 more SRM tubes on the 26T. You can still walk and fire both PPCs and end at +4.
All good DCMS mechs share a single trait: they have been disabled.