Battlemech Primer Episode 26: The Cyclops
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Here we examine the Cyclops, the computer with a 'mech built around it.
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Like my thumbnails? Me too! The artist is Spacer and he has a webcomic you should read! www.star-raider...
One of the things I really enjoy about BT is the writers seem to have a lot more knowledge how military organization, operations, and weapons development.
40k is much more of an Opera, which has its appeal, but I think I prefer harder military sci-fi
40K is Holy Roman Empire in space combined with pointy eared princesses (eldar), communist blueberries, and escaped Lovecraft monsters. Nothing wrong with that for people who are into that sort of thing. But, Battletech is definitely more grounded in real human behavior and more realistic politics.
Mind you the tech in Battletech is not very practical out of universe (mechs would be giant missile magnets) and would be blasted to scrap metal by arty. But, they sure are a lot of fun!
The Cyclops is what happens when a Hunchback and a Quickdraw love each other very much...
...with the end result being a mech with a BV lower than a T-Bolt, and an adequete number of weapons for its intended purpose.
And are also related….😉
Strip its weapons, throw in comms equipment and command couch double cockpit and max out its armor. Enjoy the passive +4 on initiative rolls.
There’s 2 things holding this mech back.
1. Armor
2. Not having a rumble seat.
I’m not joking on the second one, as it would let a commander actually focus on the job while someone else fights.
There are worse assault mechs to pilot, the default Charger and Banshee for example. Ironically the MW5 Hero Cyclops is really good because i can put in double AC20.
Both of those have their niches. The Banshee is a rare case of a mech of that tech level that can use most of its firepower with little to no overheating issues, so as long as you stay at range you can be a surprisingly tanky sniper with it, and then move in to melee range if needed. The Charger's one niche is that it can be absolutely deadly in an urban fight if it can ambush something and kick it.
Yup. Or double gauss. It's one of the best mechs to have the AI pilot. I have my AI pilot running it with
2x Gauss
1x LRM5-ST
3x MP Lasers
All Tier 5 of course!
Sigurn can be a logistics black hole some times. Her armor isn't thick enough for me to trust the two AC/20s taking out half my weapons. Then again, I like The Mad Dog.
ah, my favorite assault mech. thanks for the video.
and yes I would jump into one, I love initiatvie bonuses.
My unit’s Colonel rides a Battlemaster for aesthetic reasons, and the Sergeant Major coordinates larger engagements from the seat of his Cyclops. Solid platform.
Because nothing says "Command mech with precious supercomputer" like paper thin armor and a point blank AC20, SRM4 and medium lasers. In HBS Battletech I ripped everything else out for a ++Gauss rifle (the lighter one IIRC.) An ERLL or LL, and an LRM 15.
You too, huh!
Recently I just swapped to 2 LRM15s and 1 ERLLs on the HQ. Works great for headhunting and stab dmg while still providing the 2 computer bonuses. Not bad, but I'd go with my Highlander or Annie if speed nor strategy are of no concern
@@TheBallisticzero Is the HQ the one with the even bigger computer thar folds out or whatever?
@@DIEGhostfish yep
If you need a cyclops thou, the no computer variant with 7 missle HPs is best. I had one with 7 LRM5s, it was a Stab beast
Depends on the year. Just look at the ones from 3055 upwards.impressive mech
This is a 'mech that should have escorts to keep the riff-raff away from the pilot as he/she/it oversees a given battle. Would have been wiser to mount fewer ammo-dependent weapons on it as well.
Its fun to look at, but it has been coffin for myself many a time.
Right!? I want to love it, but it always get slagged for me.
I find it's okay in MW5. I kitted mine for backfield use by lancemates, fitted it with a HAG40 and an LRM20 Artemis with some medium lasers on the right arm for backup. It makes for a mean-ass sniper/support mech in that configuration, and it runs cool enough where I can put weight normally put towards heat sinks into uparmoring it.
"That's a lot of Dead Popes" -Mage Leader great video !!
I love the not entirely subtle jabs that get dropped, if only because I go about my day and drop them on some unfortunate sod who I happen to meet that day ^_^
I still like the Cyclops for what it adds to the lore, and it or a mech like it might still have a place on the battlefield with some minor tweaks. For example, you mentioned the C3. Imagine one of these carrying two C3 Master computers, allowing it to command an entire company of units simultaneously, and then fit it out with weapons designed to keep the enemy at range should it have to fight on its own.
Reminds me of thr Tai Sho, which peobably would be a bit better trading its UAC10 for an LBX10 to fit some extra heatsinks. Going up a full 4 on a double ERPPC shot is immediate speed penalty territort innit?
@@DIEGhostfish That's the exact mech I was thinking of.
@@z3r0_35 Do you know offhand if it has enough crits left to fit 1 or 2 more DHS if the UAC10 is down/side graded to an LBX
@@DIEGhostfish Nope, it does give you space to carry another ton of ammo though, but then you'd also be underweight by one ton. Since increasing the armor is out of the question because it's already maxed out for its tonnage, I'd give it two tons of ammo (letting you take solid and cluster shot) and then put in a medium pulse laser just to use up the remaining tonnage and crit slot ;swapping the UAC for an LB-X and taking two tons of ammo gives you one crit slot and two tons to fill, and a medium pulse laser is the only thing that weighs two tons and takes up one crit slot for the Inner Sphere at this time.
I much prefer the Cyclops that ditches the Ac20 and replaces it with a second lrm10 launcher and a fuckton of armor.
Sure, its offensive ability is a bit lacking, but it's still a 90 ton 4/6 brick that can punch and kick other smaller mechs apart with ease and all the extra armor is really nice for that
Bout time, always good to see a "bad" assault mech
From my own personal exploits using all the advanced and optional rules in my tabletop campaigns from 2785 - 3050, if you can find a working B-2000 computer, use it as your command element. While it will be over-valueable for Company-level engagements, it's absolutely necessary for Battalion and Regimental level engagements. You don't even need to let the thing fight, just put your Commander within comms range of the battlefield and you'll be able to get some serious benefits out of it. I can't count the number of times my Cyclops and Mobile HQs saved my regiment during the centuries of Warfare they had to endure. I get it, the Cyclops is absolutely terrible at combat, but you only need one that works to get benefits from it.
[Starts plying to 90s X-Men Cartoon theme song]
What i like to do with a cyclops if i find one that ...err..... fell off the back of a truck, is load it up withextra armor and inferno launchers and-missiles galore. It has plenty of missile hardpoints, but not enough tonnage for anything remarkable. So i tend to turn it into a remote-blowtorch instead.
The Cyclops is a weird one because it's capabilities are most in line with 50-60 ton mechs, but it's still more expensive than heavy mechs. I can sometimes get behind a mech which is weak for it's weight, but is about as strong as would be expected for other mechs of it's price, and there are some mechs which seem amazing for their weight until you realize that they cost the same as mechs 15 tons heavier (like the Jenner). The Cyclops is unusual in that it manages to be both crappy, and expensive.
It's really just too fast for a 90 ton mech. You can make a mech that size move 60 kmh, but it takes an engine that's heavy and expensive to do it, so you need to sacrifice weapons and armor. It's really just a bad idea.
Putting an AC/20 on it is also a bad idea, because that's a very heavy weapon. Given that the machine is so limited by weight, It would be better to arm it more like a Battlemaster, with mostly energy weapons.
Though as a gamer, I kinda feel like the Cyclops exists to show why you don't build mechs certain ways. The Charger and the Banshee are similar; all are mechs built around a certain concept which turns out to not work very well.
I do like that BattleTech has those sorts of flawed weapons that someone thought was a good idea, military weapons development is replete with them IRL
Command mech for a large formation needs to keep up with most of the army. Which means 4/6 to match heavies and trooper mediums.
is it weird to call this the decoy Altas? common configuration looks like a downgraded Atlas, deployed into heavily jammed areas, scramble mech identification systems, and slap a death face over the cockpit and someone in a panic could be screaming that Steiner heavy scouts are afoot.
It seems somebody doesn’t care much for the C3 computer. After all, the Dracon- ooooh, that’s why you didn’t talk about it.
I don't have a problem with the C3 computer. It just rendered the B-2000 obsolete. You can mount a C3 in a Cyclops, but why bother? You can mount a C3 in a far better machine instead.
Except a C3 will handle a company, a B-2000 was made to cordinate a regiment. It's basically a mini mobile HQ truck.
The Cyclops a command assault mech with the armor of a medium.
I mean there are multiple Cyclops variants with C3 Masters, which seems like a no-brainer upgrade. Also "command mech" is less important these days as any big unit tends to use a dropship for its command operations.
I’ve made my Cyclops into a back line brawler with MRM-20, LBX-20 and ER Medium lasers. Combining the integrated BC with a SLIC suite just works. Add in a Guardian or Angel ECM you have an outstanding command mech.
a mech that much like the banshee would benefit greatly from a smaller engine.
and/or a XL engine
Similar but not nearly as bad as the Banshee.
Banshee is a problem because to make it that fast and that heavy, it has 5 tons less available for armor and guns than a Battlemaster. The Cyclops has only 1.5 tons less available than a Battlemaster. As a command mech, one wouldn't want the Cyclops to be slower than 4/6 (has to keep up with the rest of the army).
@@starsiegeplayer That's a great irony, by going up 5 tons the banshee loses tonnage vs a 90 tonner and only gains some structure points.
Seems such a shame. I wonder, since is was basically a 90 ton shell for a B2000, if a better computer could come around to revive the design. Better comms suite, less ammo dependent weapons, more armor, and other stuff like ECM and active probe. Make it an asymmetrical warfare weapon.
That’s what the retrofits can be done for. However, given how expensive it is just to have one, it’s an investment if anything.
Hell, if I even had a mech unit that didn’t have a C3 unit, the Cyclops computer is a good backup. Rather be safe than sorry.
can be improved with a ppc+hs+armor instead of the ac20.
My favorite is to drop the SRM4 and a ton of AC ammo. Add armor. Simple as
Essentially turning the Cyclops into a Battlemaster.
Definitely one of the mechs I swap in when my lance needs more weight to throw around
I like the cyclops. It's a great mech for sensor suits.
Tissue paper armor. Goes down as fast as a medium mech.
I’m torn on the weapon loadout. On the one hand it does want long range weapons to take meaningful potshots while fulfilling its command role but in its initial configuration the weapons serve as a potent “OH SHIT WHERE’D HE COME FROM” button and let you kill or cripple anything that gets past your allies so you can make a getaway with your good speed for weight and also cutting down on any multitasking the commander has to do that would detract from his command duties (Flashback to French one man turrets in ww2)
I listened to your reading o f Measure of a Hero and I think you have a fine German accent. Reminds me of the series 'Allo 'Allo.
Here's the thing the cyclops comes from a time when BT players had to think for themselves instead of of being spoon fed from page after page of special rules for the latest shiny thing from Craplyst. The game is devolving into very boring min/maxing.
This unit always struck me as something that wasn’t actually supposed to get into a fight. Just have one or two on planet tops for a dedicated invasion or as a regimental commander’s personal unit. Basically if your firing your weapons something has gone wrong.
As far as the C3 computers making it obsolete…. On a strategic level not really, but on a tactical level absolutely. It’s computer was designed to look at an entire campaign as a whole not just an individual battle. C3 tech is only really designed for a company sized unit tops making it great for a skirmish (or a game on the table). The Cyclops makes sense in the narrative it’s just not good on the table sadly.
Mind you I have never bothered reading any changes catalyst may have made but basically back in the FASA days all the C3 was really every for was letting your ppc and er laser boats get to use the short range target number while actually sitting back at long range.
@@aazz9676 exactly you can only have a company sized (8 units) formation on a single C3 network. You can tie up to two C3 masters together so that each network can benefit from one another or 8 units on a C3i. However due to design limitations that’s as far as it goes. Where as the S 2000 computer is designed to communicate with ships in orbit and satellites with enough communication equipment to contact units across an entire continent. There is even a Cyclops variant that is literally a mobile headquarters on two legs. In universe each system was just designed for a completely different role. As I said if your cyclops is taking fire The guy using it has screwed up big time in his military planning.
Edit it’s 3 c3 masters not 2 so 12 units my bad
Right I said something to that effect in another reply. But to sum up C3s are for company commanders, a Cyclops for your regimental commander, a mobile HQ for your Regimental Combat Team commander, and anyone higher up the chain is probably chilling in a Fortress class dropship's command center.
As my favorite mech of all time I have always felt that the original CP 10Z was a prototype to prove the effectiveness of the Tacticon. So that being said I have my own personal idea of what would have and should have happened with this marvel of technology. Birth of the Royal Devision version is what my table top commander uses. CP 14A, while I admit the loss of Stormvanger’s main production facility of Caph during the eventual assault on the hegemony was a blow to what I would have liked to see, I will use plot armor that is prevalent in the Battletech universe.🤣🤣. The CP 14A uses some of the most advanced Star League tech, to me makes sense as with massive armies on the march you would want the best command and control possible. Endo Steel, XL engine, double heat sinks, Gauss rifle, LRM 15, SRM 4, 2 ER Large lasers and two medium lasers with 17.5 tons of standard armor corrects most of the defects, also a hardened B 4000 Tacticon. Just my head cannon of what it should have been.🤷🏻♂️
The classic Cyclops would be one of my favorites, if it didn't have 10 armor on each arm. -_- Later Cyclops models helped with that a bit, and I use one in Alpha Strike with two C3 Masters that somehow manages to hold its own really well.
Or its the mech you use because everything else got shot to hell and this is all you've got left in the hanger. LOL
Sad but true.
Well at least we didn’t get Rick rolled I guess. Ya the Cyclops, if you absolutely need an assault mech to impress? ok. If you lookin to put in work Spend those comstar bills on something that really is proven like a Battlemaster or a stalker or a Warhammer hell I don’t know I’m just spitting names out now.
From 0:56 - 1:06 isn’t that the basic hard hat enemy from mega man?
And heres my dumb ass tearing around with a pair of heavy rifles in mine, punching reactors out the back of enemy mechs.
I find it very 'eh' save in the PC Battletech game; +1 Initiative is awesome.
*pokes eye out*
I feel like a mobile HQ is far better than this thing... its like commanding your army from the cockpit of an f-22 in combat... kinda ridiculous IMO.
Mobile HQs are actually what replaced the B-2000 along with the C3. It's the reason why even after the recovery of the Helm Memory Core nobody's bothered to remake the B-2000.
@@mageleader3699 makes sense, too much for one person to handle effectively.
@@Charon-5582 if it had a rumble seat it would be great. Problem is this is not on the Mech.
@@baker90338 exactly.
I don't know if your opinions are terrible compared to mine, but I do like to sometimes LARP in BattleTech streams as a Vulcan pilot for the meme so take that as you will
The Vulcan isn't a terrible mech in its intended anti-infantry niche, the problem is the default model has an AC/2. Autocannons are a liability on such a light machine, especially the small caliber ones. The 5T is a far superior choice to the basic 2T, with its medium lasers and extra armor replacing the autocannon.
@@z3r0_35 I know but the real problem that it suffers from is that it is a battle mech, and in universe battle mechs like to fight battle mechs. It's the equivalent of riding into battle on an armored personnel carrier when there's a bunch of tank destroyers looking for something to shoot at. You either learn how to be fast and the better parts of valor or your outfit gets insurance money
Edit: also I do like to joke about this but it really is kind of built for war crimes because it has a flamethrower a machine gun and an ac2, this thing is meant to bully infantry and when they try to run away to shoot them down
Am I the only one who want to see timber wolf or my favorite variant Mad cat.?
You're in luck. I did a video on it.
th-cam.com/video/jiej9cAL8FA/w-d-xo.html
Shame a mech that looks so good definitely doesn't have the performance to keep going. Still one of my favs though.
The way my attention was when this came on, i thought you hired George Leduxe to do an intro for you. Was a lik strange... but he will do one for like 20 bucks last, i knew. No, seriously, he will.
So when are you covering real mechs? You know, real war machines of the clans and not these out dated relics.
When Rasalhague regains its freedom and purges the Ghost Bears from its territory.
@@mageleader3699 So, never? You're telling him never.
@@idiom2805 Yes. Yes I am.
@@mageleader3699 It's okay. Head-canon is usually better, anyways.
@@mageleader3699 ghost bears? You must mean clan wolf, clan wolf could never lose.