3:08 "For Offensive capabilities, the HBK-4G is essentially one weapon, with three others to trick the pilot into thinking they have some other role on the battlefield. They don't." Quote of the year right here.
I really like how the Draconis Combine and the Capellan Confederation, the two main users of the Hunchback in the Inner Sphere, have completely different outlooks on the same mech. The Combine likes how it's an honourable one-on-one duelist. The Confederations views it as a practical and dishonourable assassin.
Battletech: [ uses existing things ] General Motors: "Ah, sure why not we get a kick out of it" Nissan: "If you're not copying cars or branding, we don't really care" Tatsunoko: "Here's your license, go to town" Harmony Gold: 😡😡😡
The hunchback is what I refer to as "caveman design"; it's a 50 ton brute that commands respect from anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves on the wrong end of that massive cannon and has enough armor that it *will* get at least one or two shots off before you are able to incapacitate it... unless of course you get behind it because yeah: that thing has nothing in the rear. Still though, a legit nightmare in an urban environment.
I introduced somebody to Mechwarrior by giving them a Hunchback and saying "Walk up to somebody. Stand in front of them and hold this button until they go away." It worked.
@@cameronstrathdee1772 The hunchback really is a good "learning" mech; it's not too complicated, has clear strengths and weaknesses and new playerss seeing how it behaves relaative to other mechs will be able to see how the game is very much about building a diverse team that compliments each other.
@@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285 It also has enough armor and ammo to forgive a few mistakes but not so much that you can just fail your way to success, forcing you to actually use it tactically Another mech that's really good for beginners is the Shadow Hawk SHD-2D. It has a little bit of everything and will pretty much never overheat, but because it does nothing especially well, you have to learn how to optimally bracket your weapons to deal as much damage as you can.
Unga Bunga from BEHIND! Still drive my Hunchbacks religiously....also with the AC20 on a 50 tonner its got the design as i like to call it "a medium to make an atlas blush" hot damn i miss the old interior :(
@@z3r0_35 shadowhawk is an amazing mech, its well rounded and is easily customizable. I would trade one missle bay to upgun the other personally but you can trade either rack and its ammo to upgrade the autocannon. It's a fun mech to work with. The hunchback is simply the offensive/defensive lineman of medium mechs.
I love that the clans looked at this mech and the only way they could think of to improve it was to stick a second AC20 on it. Then I remember that that it was almost exclusively used by older pilots to commit suicide by banzai charge for the unspeakable crime of living until 60. The clans have such cool shit. And are so, so dumb.
@@depth386 according to the Sarna wiki the Hunchback IIC weighs 50 tons, has a 200 xl engine, 12 double heatsinks an endo steal chassis and a whole 6 tons of armor. For weapons it has 2 ER Medium lasers, and 2 *ULTRA* AC20s. It is a battleship cannon made of paper mache that walks.
@@bogohothegrand241 Once you get level 60 Mechwarriors the AI will do a great job with that 'mech. I was fortunate enough to get one very early on in game. Sold everything I had to afford it.
Hunchy gang represent. Loved swapping guns on this mech for missions on the HBS Battle tech game, lbx 20 for city fight, ultra ac20 for multi role, gauss rifle for long range b gone.
Something i have said on many channels that have covered the Hunchback. The clans did one thing right with it, something I wish was done on the IS. Move the arm mounted medium lasers to the CT. That would allow for the mech to also alpha with everything than fallow up with the left hook right hook combo.
As someone who plays a lot of MW5, these things showing up on the field usually make me stop and consider my positioning, knowing that it - like the AC/20 burst Urbie - will really put a dent in my profits if it has a chance to do more than catch a salvo or three from my LRM boat.
Thankfully they are easily recognizable so you can focus fire that right torso. Usually once I've taken it's right side off I'll let my squad mates mop up. Same for the urbie
@@mikecampos1193 the faster mediums need that speed to survive they don't hit as hard as or have the same survivability as slower mediums like the Hunchback and Centurion
@@mikecampos1193 It's tied with a lot of others in the general "trooper class" though being so shortrange in the AC20 and Medlas versions makes it feel slower than others
Oddly enough moat 50 ton mechs are only 60kph. Many 55 ton mechs are 80kph. It doesn't make much sense to me either. Until you get into later era's and start getting 90kph 50 tonners.
So one of the most popular 3050 upgrades done by players to any mech with an AC20 is to replace it with a Gauss Rifle. The downsides of a Gauss Rifle is it weighs 1 ton more than an AC20, and does 5 less damage. The upside is you get 8 instead of 5 shots per ton, it only generates 1 heat when fired (instead of 7), and the Gauss is one of the longest ranged weapons in Battletech, instead of being a medium ranged weapon. To modify the HBK-4G the simplest solution is to drop the AC20 and ammo, and remove the 3 heat sinks. Now add in the Gauss Rifle, an additional ton of ammo (with longer range, you will get more opportunities to use the Gauss) and an additional ton of armor. Performance improves despite removing 3 heat sinks. Firing the Gauss, both medium lasers and running generates 9 heat. If you manage to fire the small laser as well you start to gain heat. 10 heat sinks is plenty. This turns the Hunchback from being a close range hammer to being ... a long range hammer. Honestly it doesn't change the Hunchback's role, just expands its capabilities. While the mech is marginally weaker in close combat the overall performance is dramatically improved.
Glorious. Its brutal, straightforward, and effective. I love mechs based around one or two big weapon systems. Pull the trigger, make something go away!
The AC/10 four medium laser HBK was one of the first salvaged Mechs I got in MechWarrior 5 and it has survived almost every encounter it's been in. It's a sexy beast.
Hunchback is the most powerful Inner Sphere medium 'Mech, at least in time of the Succession Wars. However its relatively slow speed means it either gets outrun by other medium 'Mechs that are usually faster or jump capable, or end up fighting against heavy 'Mechs. When game balance measures, like overall tonnage, Battle Value, or monetary/point cost are taken into account, Hunchback & variants really hit the bell and hard.
MWO vet here, I recall when the go to mech was the Hunchback, had like.. 12 mechs, was good times. never really used the Hunchy in any of the other MW games, now I'm looken to paint up my table top Hunchie in the team colors. Love it. And I love these little videos
This mech came to us from the Citytech expansion, which makes it legit OG and pretty much explains its design. Big badda-boom, make the enemy regret careless advances in built-up terrain. It's not as flexible as most of the other 3025 fifty-tonners, but who needs flexibility when there is an AC 20 to shoot! The only thing I can remember about a Hunchback was a battle in which it got punked in its own milieu. City fight of course, my unit's command lance and fire lance were bulling through an enemy company to secure the objective while the recon lance played around on the side. As often happened, I was running the opposition as well as my Warhammer, with another player controlling the other mechs. I had a pair of Hunchbacks in the enemy unit and decided to get some optimal use of one. I had it climb up a high-rise to gain better range. It was a good shooting site, and it looked like it would pay off against the fire lance, which was impeded in the street fighting without a spotting unit. The fire lance commander's turn came up; he was a Crusader pilot and clever with it. He looked over the map and observed the Hunchback's position on a L4 building. I cheerfully went over his penalties for taking a lng-ranged shot against a higher elevation. "I'm going to shoot the building", he said. "All I have to do is destroy the building." It was a that moment I knew I had screwed up. His Crusader volleyed its LRMs into the building and destroyed it utterly. The Hunchback's pilot probably to do the Wile E Coyote "Say whut?" expression before taking a ninety-meter plunge to the ground, then breaking through the floor into the basement level. The fight progressed a couple of turns, and I passed over the Hunchback. The other players noted I was forgetting it, and asked why. I said the pilot was waiting for the world to come back into focus.
I owe the first game I ever won to my old starter box plastic hunchback. It was my team of a Hunchback, Cyclops, Jenner and Phoenix Hawk vs 2 Victors and 2 Enforcers on a city map. I lost my Cyclops early in the game to a golden BB crit setting off its ammo and it was up to my Hunchback to carry what was left of the team. I bum-rushed one of the Victors with my remaining mechs and managed to destroy it but took a lot of damage in the process. Next my hunchback dealt with an enforcer on its own then ran in to help my Phoenix Hawk and Jenner who had been savaged by the remaining enforcer and Victor. The Jenner was down with one leg left and the PHawk managed to put the remaining enforcer down before being cored by the Victor which had not lost a point of armour at this stage. The final turn was my hunchback, missing an arm and with no torso armour left, against a mint condition Victor at medium range. It was like the final showdown at the end of a western. Instead of conceding I decided to go out swinging. We both alpha striked. The Victor missed with everything, I missed with everything EXCEPT the AC20 and rolled a 12 on hit location. I still have that mini to this day, it's still painted in the original white colour scheme I had before deciding to repaint my army as a memento of the victory.
@@BigRed40TECH On open maps team it with something that can hit hard at range and force them to choose which one to focus on. Hopefully they'll choose wrong and pick the long range threat
The HBK-4G is, imo, the most tonnage-effective brawler in MW5. It's awesome because it frees up that tonnage to be used on the other mechs in the lance. I find I am often running a single 4G in my lance and running some bigger mediums/heavies/assaults because of those tonnage savings.
All of my first experiences (tabletop, HBS Battletech, Mechwarrior) involving the Hunchback all have a single thing in common: Someone getting headchopped. There was an old video of a guy teaching his friend (and the viewer) how to play the tabletop with him taking an AC20 Hunchback and his friend taking an Atlas. When they got to the damage step... first turn kill on the head. In HBS Battletech, Decker (because of course) had the unfortunate experience of inspecting a fired AC20 with his face. In Mechwarrior 5, I picked up an AC20 Hunchback and took it out on the next mission I had since it was the only other mech I had that wasn't damaged and ended up headchopping a Battlemaster that would later go on to be my personal chariot. Between the the "standard" AC20 Hunchie, the Discoback and the Scorchback, I'm legitimately unsure of which is my favorite variant.
Mechwarrior: Okay, so hear me out. You know that Star League cache we miraculously stumbled across? Mechtech: No. MW: You didn't even hear my idea yet. MT: I know what you're going to say and the answer is no. MW: Come on, we take out the autocannon and the ammo, strip off a few tons of armor, put in one of those fancy targeting computers we found, and- MT: I am not putting a gauss rifle into the Hunchback!
@@BigRed40TECH back during early clan Era installments, it seemed like most of the mech designs were being built around the gause rifle or its derivatives. I mean they are amazing, the nightstar is flicking lit, but those designs seemed to be cheapened by making it the principle weapon of newer mechs. I think they passed on the a hunchback variant because they were busy shipping the new mechs which I don't care much for since I focus on 3rd and 4th succession wars.
My favorite easy swap in MW5 is to fill the 4g with a Gauss rifle and a small pulse laser in the head, with double heat sinks you can have good cooling and still hold like 2.5 tons of gauss ammo. My second favorite is swapping the AC 10 on the 4H with an lb10x, and 5 small pulses :V
Hell Yeah! The Hunchback is absolutely amazing, just so solid and versatile, I enjoy the laser variant so much it makes legging salvage so easy, great video Big Red nice on!
"Mech based assault gun." is what I remember that mech by. There are a lot of variants but it always comes back to that first time I met it with its ac20 and its ac20 met my mech. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it good? Its decent, but that gun. That big gun coring my mech all the time back left a mark. I just can't underestimate that thing. Variants? The AC10 one has better range is more balanced, probably better. I don't care. For me that mech will always be a walking gun. A walking big gun. And sometimes that is all you need.
I love me a good Hunchie. 4G is such a serious threat that once I know I'm up against one it's immediately a priority target. If I'm playing one, there's nothing more fun than running up to an enemy to give them a quick Blap Slap before moving on to the next target to wash, rinse and repeat. I use it as my go-to can opener. I use the 4P much the same way.
The HBK pretty much exemplifies everything that is a medium mechs role. It does everything it needs to do and does it well. Another proud product from the Draconis Combine!
o/' I keep workin' my Swayback to you babe, and it's burning up inside.... o/' That's especially with the 4P and 5P variants. The HBK is a real HeartBreak Kid with all it's firepower and plethora of mods. The thing is, you really need to stick close to your lancemates in open terrain when piloting this beast, as for the most part it usually doesn't sport long range weapons. Thanks for another good video.
the hunchback feared all the time comparisons to the former linemech, the shadowhawk, both share a shoulder mounted ballistic weapon, but their purpose cant be more different. the slow moving 50t mech was designed for engagements within limited movement. the shadowhawk was meant to fulfill the role of a fast moving and well armned medium mech. where the hunchback development got further into a weapon platform, the shadowhawk driftet into an more ranged support unit.
And let's not forget the Clan's take on the mech as a way for old mechjock to die in style. Two UAC 20 for a massive 'screw you' first strike before dying of ammo depletion.
I used this Mech so much in MechWarrior 5 I've used two "Laser Show's" *fully kitted with lasers* "one Broadside" with an AC/20 autocannon; and the last a "missle boat" as much as a hunchback can be. I've not played a MechWarrior game sense 2; so it felt nice to play a game that's supposed to be a heavy prequel to the clan wars later in the age of wars go for the Houses.
The Hunchback. It's what you get if you combine a requirement that the thing walk on two legs, the design philosophy of the A-10 Warthog, and a field artillery piece. Just like the A-10 is a gun with wings, the Hunchback 4G is an AC-20 with legs. And that particular AC-20 being described as firing one singular shell, well that's why I mentioned a field artillery piece. Make no mistake, this is an implement of brute force. It's going to do one thing, and do it so well that it doesn't matter if you know what it's going to do or not. It has enough armor to get in and out, enough speed to keep up with its allied forces, and enough ammunition to finish the job the majority of the time with a skilled pilot that doesn't pull the trigger unless they're relatively certain it's going to hit where they want. No wonder it's so popular in Solaris, everyone loves seeing a mech fire exactly once on an opposing mech and causing some sort of critical damage.
I love the Hunchback. It's a mainstay in my command lance along with the Banshee, Spider and Marauder. I can't wait to see a video on the Marauder. I hope it happens soon.
Tex of the BPL made a Thumpback in one of his streams of mw5. Basically a stock 4g but with a thumper cannon instead of the ac/20. I highly recommend trying it.
In MW5 this thing is amazing for filling out that last bit of tonnage you can’t otherwise fill because the other 2 or 3 take up the majority. It’s a medium that has the armor and weapon(s) to hang with anything up to assault class…provided it has friends. Everyone focusing on the big boys don’t pay attention to angry AC20 running around in their midst.
Just last week ran a 2v2 with my side being a trebuchet and Hunchback 4P (laser boy). Ran that crazy little sob right at an Awesome to duck into its minimum range, it took PPCs like a champ and with like 4 different areas with a handful of structure left it managed to hit the awesome with a knockdown and crit the bajeebus out of it and came out on top. It literally ran across no man's land just to knock the thing onto the pointiest rock in existence. Top tier medium brawler.
In MWO I used one of the 9 laser variants (HBK-4P I think) with all swapped for flamers (just a crappy troll mech for when i felt like screwing around). Ended up killing a Cataphract by throwing fire at the cockpit and melting through the armor until it died. We were in the middle of a lake (his back was against an overturned cargo ship) and his cooling was enough that i couldn't force an overheat, but the fire in his cockpit meant he couldnt see crap. That shit was hilarious.
I think the key to the hunchback is that is uses 10ton of armor putting it as one of the most heavily armor Medium while also carry an above avg firepower with its boomstick. In the early game the lack of speed wouldnt be much of an issue giving that the amount of med and heavy that fall within its walking range. its only drawback particular the early designs was lack of range. So avoiding putting it in an open field this mech is a killer.
I adore my hunchbacks not just for the raw killing power but also as a speed leveler. Slap a pilot in there, he can get those 5 kills for a promotion in like 2 games... or keep him in there until he gets to elite and upgrade him to a Victor for more AC20 action.
I really enjoyed the variant from the battletech pc game with 6 medium lasers in the shoulder, get that thing into medium range and it just deletes enemy mechs.
It gets even better with jumpjets! I currently have one with 10 jump range that removes 1 assault mech a turn by backstabbing them, so much fun even if a lot of loot is lost by doing that
The hunchie... i have three of them in MWO. the Laser only version is a favorite. the AC version is okay.. I keep away from the ones with no arm weapons like the clan version
Way back when I was playing Battletech after discovering it in Jr high, we didn't care about infantry or tanks we wanted big stompy mechs so we took that small laser and put that half ton into rear armor. One friend always ripped out a medium as well for rear armor
Your schedule is killing it. Love to see so much high quality content. Are you going to go to TRO 3050 next or will you do 3026 , what about vehicles in general?
On my latest HBS Battletech playthrough; I'm enjoying a 4G with 3x UAC/2++ putting out 210 points of extreme range sniper head-hunting with called shot. Little brother to my Marauder build (2x UAC/2++ and 4x ER ML)
There are just too many! :P I only cover 3 variants per video. In the far, far distant future, there may be 2nd iterations of some videos to cover some noteworthy variants, but that'd be a LONG time from now, like, years.
In MW5: Mercs I find myself always targeting two targets above all else. First is the Urbanmech, for I fear no sound like the "SWOOOSH!" Second is the Hunchback, for they will get up-close-and-personal and being the "one weapon delivery system" like you so adequately put it, I want to get rid of that gun ASAP.
In close quarters, a Hunchie can wreck mechs half again or more its own size. In table top, I've seen a Hunchie, with a couple lucky rolls, leg a Battlemaster with a couple well placed cannon shots and kicks, then proceed to move around behind it and back-gut it. Outside of cities and forests, the Hunchie's mediocre speed and lack of jets do not synergize well with its short-range armament, putting it at a serious disadvantage against medium trooper mechs like the Enforcer, Centurion, Wolverine, or Shadowhawk, all of which mount longer range weapons.
The Distraction Carnifex of the Medium Mechs of the line - a workman's hole-punch for the discerning mercenary and a gentleman's guide to horrific close-range and melee mayhem. (You forgot to mention the dual battlefists though.) The Hunchback has a place in every company's lineup - no matter that it draws fire like a lance of Lyran Scout Mechs just by showing up on the far field.
The 4P variant was my first main mech in MWO before the Archer. Learned the basics and lost more than I won in matches...Fun times. But the original is totally a mainstay in my Lance in MW5 because that AC/20 just rips things apart and gives me heavy firepower at the early stages.
Someone was a fan of the A10, saw this gun and went, That needs a tough small mech around it. My favorite variants got Jump Jets and traded out the 20 for a Gauss Rifle, LB10, or PPC. Gave it some unexpected mobility and long range umph that only degraded at point blank.
Whoever played MWO / MW5 knows that the Hunchie is really easy to hit on the right torso. Ac20 sounds good until you face Enforcers or Centurions engaging from superior range, so at the end Gauss is the best modification.
My favorite build so far in mwo is 4 med lasers and 2 mrm 10s they pair well and put out a decent punch and mid and close range and I just love my 4sp in general.
You can see from the gameplay that it isn't too bad. Even in MWO I don't really lose much situational awareness since most movements are detected via sensors or seismic first
Yeah... This is a BIG threat to anything. An AC/20 is NEVER a joke. The version that replaces it with 8 Medium Lasers is also powerful, but I find it's a bit more of a joke in the HBS game; since each laser has it's own accuracy check that means the damage gets spread a lot more and can even miss. Not to the point you can write it off, but I prefer seeing it on the other side. Been playing MW5 and kinda amazed at how many version there are. One downside is a tendency for most versions to pack all of it's weapons on the right side.
Packing everything on a side is actually kinda nice, since you have a side you can use as a pure shield. If you can move the ammo to the right leg, or go ammoless especially.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Sure... If you can keep that side alive. Blow off most Hunchie's right sides and they might have a small/medium laser left. And if you can pincer it, well, it can't shield from two directions at once.
“…more so by the Draconis Combine…” I knew there was a reason why I didn’t like the Hunchback. XD I agree that the Hunchback is more of a fit with the former Kapteyn nations. My Marik-space mercs would probably find a use for the Hunchback, most likely in its close combat role. There was a Small World contract during the Chaos March era, most specifically a canyon scenario, where I could have used a Huncback instead of the Hermes I had. My Davion-space unit uses cavalry style tactics , and thus would have no need for close quarters mechs like the Hunchback. If range of combat gets into mech-fu range, in their opinion they’ve failed.
Great video as always, Red. I liked your choice of variants to highlight as well. I missed the -4P and the -4SP though, both variants that I've taken to the battlefield over the standard AC/20 version.
They're great versions, but despite being laters or missiles, I didn't find they were 'different' enough to justify looking at, same with the 4H. So it left it up in the air to the 4J or 4N, I picked the 4N because its a bit of everything.
I really like the Hunchback. Specially the AC20 based models. It's not a pretty Mech, but it's ugly on a beautifully charming way. It's hard to explain.
3:08 "For Offensive capabilities, the HBK-4G is essentially one weapon, with three others to trick the pilot into thinking they have some other role on the battlefield. They don't."
Quote of the year right here.
Disco Hunchback is one of my favourite mechs. AC20 version is also great, but for me 8 medium lasers on medium mech are overkill.
The Partyback is best:
th-cam.com/video/CeDIm5Qpmx4/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TheB33F
Yes. It overly kills its opponents.
I have a bunch of rookie pilots, so more chances to hit is A good thing.
@@BigRed40TECH Without need of ammo party never stops. :)
It's impressive, but it's like SRM6's too random to be dependable as overkill.
My favorite mech of all time.
Rumor has it that if you make an Hunchback II-C jump up and fire both AC20's at the same time, the mech does a backflip.
I really like how the Draconis Combine and the Capellan Confederation, the two main users of the Hunchback in the Inner Sphere, have completely different outlooks on the same mech.
The Combine likes how it's an honourable one-on-one duelist. The Confederations views it as a practical and dishonourable assassin.
Always trust a Capellan to stab you in the back. They have centuries of practice at it.
Just like Quasimodo himself, huh? Wants to be a nice guy, but fate deals him several dirty hands.
There are so many swayback variations of this thing, you can have a Hunchback for whatever role you need. It is the most trooper of the trooper mechs.
I just love the gumption on this guy. It's either, I'm winning this thing or I'm going home in a fucking box. Used to be my favorite medium mech.
Nothing says hello like an AC20. lol
"USED TO BE" need more info than that lol
@@Original-Yellow Look, for intents and purposes, I still love the Hunchback. I just find the Wolverine more useful and more mobile.
Battletech: [ uses existing things ]
General Motors: "Ah, sure why not we get a kick out of it"
Nissan: "If you're not copying cars or branding, we don't really care"
Tatsunoko: "Here's your license, go to town"
Harmony Gold: 😡😡😡
To be fair, they're fundamentally different kinds of companies. Harmony Gold is a rights holder and property management company.
The hunchback is what I refer to as "caveman design"; it's a 50 ton brute that commands respect from anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves on the wrong end of that massive cannon and has enough armor that it *will* get at least one or two shots off before you are able to incapacitate it... unless of course you get behind it because yeah: that thing has nothing in the rear.
Still though, a legit nightmare in an urban environment.
I introduced somebody to Mechwarrior by giving them a Hunchback and saying "Walk up to somebody. Stand in front of them and hold this button until they go away."
It worked.
@@cameronstrathdee1772 The hunchback really is a good "learning" mech; it's not too complicated, has clear strengths and weaknesses and new playerss seeing how it behaves relaative to other mechs will be able to see how the game is very much about building a diverse team that compliments each other.
@@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285 It also has enough armor and ammo to forgive a few mistakes but not so much that you can just fail your way to success, forcing you to actually use it tactically
Another mech that's really good for beginners is the Shadow Hawk SHD-2D. It has a little bit of everything and will pretty much never overheat, but because it does nothing especially well, you have to learn how to optimally bracket your weapons to deal as much damage as you can.
Unga Bunga from BEHIND! Still drive my Hunchbacks religiously....also with the AC20 on a 50 tonner its got the design as i like to call it "a medium to make an atlas blush" hot damn i miss the old interior :(
@@z3r0_35 shadowhawk is an amazing mech, its well rounded and is easily customizable. I would trade one missle bay to upgun the other personally but you can trade either rack and its ammo to upgrade the autocannon. It's a fun mech to work with.
The hunchback is simply the offensive/defensive lineman of medium mechs.
I love that the clans looked at this mech and the only way they could think of to improve it was to stick a second AC20 on it.
Then I remember that that it was almost exclusively used by older pilots to commit suicide by banzai charge for the unspeakable crime of living until 60.
The clans have such cool shit. And are so, so dumb.
I think it was twin AC10, two AC20 weighs too much
@@depth386 according to the Sarna wiki the Hunchback IIC weighs 50 tons, has a 200 xl engine, 12 double heatsinks an endo steal chassis and a whole 6 tons of armor.
For weapons it has 2 ER Medium lasers, and 2 *ULTRA* AC20s.
It is a battleship cannon made of paper mache that walks.
IIRC it wasn’t even 60, it was 35. No matter how silly you think they are, the clans are worse than you figure lmao
@@emptankah yes, the pocket king crab
Love the old Hunchie. Always wanted one of the experimental ones with a Gauss Rifle.
I have one in mech warrior 5. It’s so good. But I only allow myself to pilot it.
@@bogohothegrand241 Once you get level 60 Mechwarriors the AI will do a great job with that 'mech. I was fortunate enough to get one very early on in game. Sold everything I had to afford it.
Grid Iron is great!
I love this thing in higher point games as a distraction.
Hunchbacks draw attention, and that feature is a great boon.
Hunchy gang represent. Loved swapping guns on this mech for missions on the HBS Battle tech game, lbx 20 for city fight, ultra ac20 for multi role, gauss rifle for long range b gone.
Something i have said on many channels that have covered the Hunchback.
The clans did one thing right with it, something I wish was done on the IS. Move the arm mounted medium lasers to the CT. That would allow for the mech to also alpha with everything than fallow up with the left hook right hook combo.
Doubly funny since the clanners abhor melee
As someone who plays a lot of MW5, these things showing up on the field usually make me stop and consider my positioning, knowing that it - like the AC/20 burst Urbie - will really put a dent in my profits if it has a chance to do more than catch a salvo or three from my LRM boat.
It's basically a medium size Urban Mech (which I call Uber Mench on the com for obvious reasons.)
Thankfully they are easily recognizable so you can focus fire that right torso. Usually once I've taken it's right side off I'll let my squad mates mop up. Same for the urbie
Standard Hunchback is protected just as well as a standard model Cyclops.
Is that why it's one of the slowest medium mech I seen.
@@mikecampos1193 the faster mediums need that speed to survive they don't hit as hard as or have the same survivability as slower mediums like the Hunchback and Centurion
@@mikecampos1193 It's tied with a lot of others in the general "trooper class" though being so shortrange in the AC20 and Medlas versions makes it feel slower than others
Oddly enough moat 50 ton mechs are only 60kph. Many 55 ton mechs are 80kph. It doesn't make much sense to me either. Until you get into later era's and start getting 90kph 50 tonners.
@@MrDmitriRavenoff 64 and 58 I think.
YES! There's a mech that will ring your bells!
th-cam.com/video/jdIP2xmDqx0/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=JohnMaverick
So one of the most popular 3050 upgrades done by players to any mech with an AC20 is to replace it with a Gauss Rifle. The downsides of a Gauss Rifle is it weighs 1 ton more than an AC20, and does 5 less damage. The upside is you get 8 instead of 5 shots per ton, it only generates 1 heat when fired (instead of 7), and the Gauss is one of the longest ranged weapons in Battletech, instead of being a medium ranged weapon.
To modify the HBK-4G the simplest solution is to drop the AC20 and ammo, and remove the 3 heat sinks. Now add in the Gauss Rifle, an additional ton of ammo (with longer range, you will get more opportunities to use the Gauss) and an additional ton of armor. Performance improves despite removing 3 heat sinks. Firing the Gauss, both medium lasers and running generates 9 heat. If you manage to fire the small laser as well you start to gain heat. 10 heat sinks is plenty. This turns the Hunchback from being a close range hammer to being ... a long range hammer. Honestly it doesn't change the Hunchback's role, just expands its capabilities. While the mech is marginally weaker in close combat the overall performance is dramatically improved.
I love the AC20 Hunchback,but the 4SP has a special place in my heart.
Disco death mode. And with the pinpoint aiming of MW5, it can really punch above its weight.
Glorious. Its brutal, straightforward, and effective. I love mechs based around one or two big weapon systems.
Pull the trigger, make something go away!
I love the Hunchback, in my current MW5 playthrough, I've swapped out my HBK-4G's AC/20 with a Tier 4 Gauss, So much Power!
I recently realized the letter in a mechs' designation is generally based on which great house developed them. Very neat.
That applies to variants. The letters designated to the base model have more to do with the mech's name, or the manufacturer in some cases.
The AC/10 four medium laser HBK was one of the first salvaged Mechs I got in MechWarrior 5 and it has survived almost every encounter it's been in. It's a sexy beast.
Hunchback is the most powerful Inner Sphere medium 'Mech, at least in time of the Succession Wars. However its relatively slow speed means it either gets outrun by other medium 'Mechs that are usually faster or jump capable, or end up fighting against heavy 'Mechs. When game balance measures, like overall tonnage, Battle Value, or monetary/point cost are taken into account, Hunchback & variants really hit the bell and hard.
The 4P is truly God’s Chosen Mech.
MWO vet here, I recall when the go to mech was the Hunchback, had like.. 12 mechs, was good times.
never really used the Hunchy in any of the other MW games, now I'm looken to paint up my table top Hunchie in the team colors. Love it.
And I love these little videos
My fav hunchback is the 4sp, super tanky with good missiles capacity and lots of lasers
This mech came to us from the Citytech expansion, which makes it legit OG and pretty much explains its design. Big badda-boom, make the enemy regret careless advances in built-up terrain. It's not as flexible as most of the other 3025 fifty-tonners, but who needs flexibility when there is an AC 20 to shoot!
The only thing I can remember about a Hunchback was a battle in which it got punked in its own milieu. City fight of course, my unit's command lance and fire lance were bulling through an enemy company to secure the objective while the recon lance played around on the side. As often happened, I was running the opposition as well as my Warhammer, with another player controlling the other mechs. I had a pair of Hunchbacks in the enemy unit and decided to get some optimal use of one. I had it climb up a high-rise to gain better range. It was a good shooting site, and it looked like it would pay off against the fire lance, which was impeded in the street fighting without a spotting unit. The fire lance commander's turn came up; he was a Crusader pilot and clever with it. He looked over the map and observed the Hunchback's position on a L4 building. I cheerfully went over his penalties for taking a lng-ranged shot against a higher elevation. "I'm going to shoot the building", he said. "All I have to do is destroy the building." It was a that moment I knew I had screwed up. His Crusader volleyed its LRMs into the building and destroyed it utterly. The Hunchback's pilot probably to do the Wile E Coyote "Say whut?" expression before taking a ninety-meter plunge to the ground, then breaking through the floor into the basement level. The fight progressed a couple of turns, and I passed over the Hunchback. The other players noted I was forgetting it, and asked why. I said the pilot was waiting for the world to come back into focus.
Love this mech, rocking an AC, 2 m lasers and an AMS makes a great escort for heavier designs. Or flank support for missile boats.
I owe the first game I ever won to my old starter box plastic hunchback. It was my team of a Hunchback, Cyclops, Jenner and Phoenix Hawk vs 2 Victors and 2 Enforcers on a city map. I lost my Cyclops early in the game to a golden BB crit setting off its ammo and it was up to my Hunchback to carry what was left of the team.
I bum-rushed one of the Victors with my remaining mechs and managed to destroy it but took a lot of damage in the process. Next my hunchback dealt with an enforcer on its own then ran in to help my Phoenix Hawk and Jenner who had been savaged by the remaining enforcer and Victor. The Jenner was down with one leg left and the PHawk managed to put the remaining enforcer down before being cored by the Victor which had not lost a point of armour at this stage.
The final turn was my hunchback, missing an arm and with no torso armour left, against a mint condition Victor at medium range. It was like the final showdown at the end of a western. Instead of conceding I decided to go out swinging. We both alpha striked. The Victor missed with everything, I missed with everything EXCEPT the AC20 and rolled a 12 on hit location. I still have that mini to this day, it's still painted in the original white colour scheme I had before deciding to repaint my army as a memento of the victory.
The Hunchback is a brutal machine, it has weakenesses, but if people don't aim for them? It's very hard to deal with.
@@BigRed40TECH On open maps team it with something that can hit hard at range and force them to choose which one to focus on. Hopefully they'll choose wrong and pick the long range threat
The HBK-4G is, imo, the most tonnage-effective brawler in MW5. It's awesome because it frees up that tonnage to be used on the other mechs in the lance. I find I am often running a single 4G in my lance and running some bigger mediums/heavies/assaults because of those tonnage savings.
The Hunchback is not the best or brightest mech, but it is a stalwart workhorse that can take a beating and keep on eating.
All of my first experiences (tabletop, HBS Battletech, Mechwarrior) involving the Hunchback all have a single thing in common: Someone getting headchopped.
There was an old video of a guy teaching his friend (and the viewer) how to play the tabletop with him taking an AC20 Hunchback and his friend taking an Atlas. When they got to the damage step... first turn kill on the head.
In HBS Battletech, Decker (because of course) had the unfortunate experience of inspecting a fired AC20 with his face.
In Mechwarrior 5, I picked up an AC20 Hunchback and took it out on the next mission I had since it was the only other mech I had that wasn't damaged and ended up headchopping a Battlemaster that would later go on to be my personal chariot.
Between the the "standard" AC20 Hunchie, the Discoback and the Scorchback, I'm legitimately unsure of which is my favorite variant.
Mechwarrior: Okay, so hear me out. You know that Star League cache we miraculously stumbled across?
Mechtech: No.
MW: You didn't even hear my idea yet.
MT: I know what you're going to say and the answer is no.
MW: Come on, we take out the autocannon and the ammo, strip off a few tons of armor, put in one of those fancy targeting computers we found, and-
MT: I am not putting a gauss rifle into the Hunchback!
Only one experimental model uses a Gauss, it's kinda interesting how things have stayed away from that.
@@BigRed40TECH back during early clan Era installments, it seemed like most of the mech designs were being built around the gause rifle or its derivatives. I mean they are amazing, the nightstar is flicking lit, but those designs seemed to be cheapened by making it the principle weapon of newer mechs. I think they passed on the a hunchback variant because they were busy shipping the new mechs which I don't care much for since I focus on 3rd and 4th succession wars.
The G in HBK 4G stands for Gauss!
My favorite easy swap in MW5 is to fill the 4g with a Gauss rifle and a small pulse laser in the head, with double heat sinks you can have good cooling and still hold like 2.5 tons of gauss ammo.
My second favorite is swapping the AC 10 on the 4H with an lb10x, and 5 small pulses :V
Hell Yeah! The Hunchback is absolutely amazing, just so solid and versatile, I enjoy the laser variant so much it makes legging salvage so easy, great video Big Red nice on!
Absolute quality man. My brother and I loved this mech as snot nosed 9 & 11 year old brats in 1988. And we were seasoned D&D blue box veterans ♡
"Mech based assault gun." is what I remember that mech by. There are a lot of variants but it always comes back to that first time I met it with its ac20 and its ac20 met my mech. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it good? Its decent, but that gun. That big gun coring my mech all the time back left a mark. I just can't underestimate that thing. Variants? The AC10 one has better range is more balanced, probably better. I don't care. For me that mech will always be a walking gun. A walking big gun. And sometimes that is all you need.
This IS my baby! If I could, I would have a 4p with a Marvin The Martian stenciled on the side saying " IM A FIRIN MAH LASER!"
The 4P is here to PARTY:
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I have loved this mech ever since it was the first card I pulled out of my first Battletech CCG pack.
My favorite mech where I can simultaneously say "no one wants to buy Hunchbacks lmao" and "No one wants to directly face a Hunchback"
I love me a good Hunchie. 4G is such a serious threat that once I know I'm up against one it's immediately a priority target. If I'm playing one, there's nothing more fun than running up to an enemy to give them a quick Blap Slap before moving on to the next target to wash, rinse and repeat. I use it as my go-to can opener. I use the 4P much the same way.
The HBK pretty much exemplifies everything that is a medium mechs role. It does everything it needs to do and does it well. Another proud product from the Draconis Combine!
o/' I keep workin' my Swayback to you babe, and it's burning up inside.... o/'
That's especially with the 4P and 5P variants. The HBK is a real HeartBreak Kid with all it's firepower and plethora of mods. The thing is, you really need to stick close to your lancemates in open terrain when piloting this beast, as for the most part it usually doesn't sport long range weapons.
Thanks for another good video.
He's even got some Sweet Chin Music given that AC20.
the hunchback feared all the time comparisons to the former linemech, the shadowhawk, both share a shoulder mounted ballistic weapon, but their purpose cant be more different. the slow moving 50t mech was designed for engagements within limited movement. the shadowhawk was meant to fulfill the role of a fast moving and well armned medium mech. where the hunchback development got further into a weapon platform, the shadowhawk driftet into an more ranged support unit.
And let's not forget the Clan's take on the mech as a way for old mechjock to die in style. Two UAC 20 for a massive 'screw you' first strike before dying of ammo depletion.
I used this Mech so much in MechWarrior 5 I've used two "Laser Show's" *fully kitted with lasers* "one Broadside" with an AC/20 autocannon; and the last a "missle boat" as much as a hunchback can be. I've not played a MechWarrior game sense 2; so it felt nice to play a game that's supposed to be a heavy prequel to the clan wars later in the age of wars go for the Houses.
The Hunchback.
It's what you get if you combine a requirement that the thing walk on two legs, the design philosophy of the A-10 Warthog, and a field artillery piece.
Just like the A-10 is a gun with wings, the Hunchback 4G is an AC-20 with legs.
And that particular AC-20 being described as firing one singular shell, well that's why I mentioned a field artillery piece.
Make no mistake, this is an implement of brute force. It's going to do one thing, and do it so well that it doesn't matter if you know what it's going to do or not.
It has enough armor to get in and out, enough speed to keep up with its allied forces, and enough ammunition to finish the job the majority of the time with a skilled pilot that doesn't pull the trigger unless they're relatively certain it's going to hit where they want.
No wonder it's so popular in Solaris, everyone loves seeing a mech fire exactly once on an opposing mech and causing some sort of critical damage.
Aw yeah, one of my all time favs. My current ride in the RPG has swapped the cannon to a RAC5 and the lasers to light PPCs
I love the Hunchback. It's a mainstay in my command lance along with the Banshee, Spider and Marauder. I can't wait to see a video on the Marauder. I hope it happens soon.
Tex of the BPL made a Thumpback in one of his streams of mw5. Basically a stock 4g but with a thumper cannon instead of the ac/20. I highly recommend trying it.
God I loved the hunch back, named mine the bad time mech. Gave it an AC20 burst cannon, loved watching the enemy mech just light up.
Excellent video as always, red. Was waiting eagerly for this one
I was happy to do this one. :)
Love the Mechcommander 2 background music.
In MW5 this thing is amazing for filling out that last bit of tonnage you can’t otherwise fill because the other 2 or 3 take up the majority.
It’s a medium that has the armor and weapon(s) to hang with anything up to assault class…provided it has friends. Everyone focusing on the big boys don’t pay attention to angry AC20 running around in their midst.
I made a custom Hunchie just in time for this video to upload a few hours later. Good timing.
Just last week ran a 2v2 with my side being a trebuchet and Hunchback 4P (laser boy). Ran that crazy little sob right at an Awesome to duck into its minimum range, it took PPCs like a champ and with like 4 different areas with a handful of structure left it managed to hit the awesome with a knockdown and crit the bajeebus out of it and came out on top. It literally ran across no man's land just to knock the thing onto the pointiest rock in existence. Top tier medium brawler.
Personally, I adore the HBK-4P with 6x Light PPC's. Looks terrifyingly to fire in MWO, and makes sure you stay nice and toasty 🔥
In MWO I used one of the 9 laser variants (HBK-4P I think) with all swapped for flamers (just a crappy troll mech for when i felt like screwing around). Ended up killing a Cataphract by throwing fire at the cockpit and melting through the armor until it died. We were in the middle of a lake (his back was against an overturned cargo ship) and his cooling was enough that i couldn't force an overheat, but the fire in his cockpit meant he couldnt see crap. That shit was hilarious.
Every unit mounting an ac-20 demands respect. If you face it you must focus on that unit so that it doesn't get too close.
I think the key to the hunchback is that is uses 10ton of armor putting it as one of the most heavily armor Medium while also carry an above avg firepower with its boomstick. In the early game the lack of speed wouldnt be much of an issue giving that the amount of med and heavy that fall within its walking range. its only drawback particular the early designs was lack of range. So avoiding putting it in an open field this mech is a killer.
Ahh the Hunchback, the mech that was destroyed in the intro cinematic of MechCommander.
I slept on the hunchback for a while, realized i dreaded going against one so tried it. Its now one of my favorite mechs.
I use the hero hunchback with ac20, Srm 6 stream 2 medium lasers and small laser. This thing kills 100 ton mechs after a few blows. It’s my go to mech
I adore my hunchbacks not just for the raw killing power but also as a speed leveler. Slap a pilot in there, he can get those 5 kills for a promotion in like 2 games... or keep him in there until he gets to elite and upgrade him to a Victor for more AC20 action.
Original HBK designer, "Let's see how big of a boom-stick we can put on it."
I really enjoyed the variant from the battletech pc game with 6 medium lasers in the shoulder, get that thing into medium range and it just deletes enemy mechs.
It gets even better with jumpjets! I currently have one with 10 jump range that removes 1 assault mech a turn by backstabbing them, so much fun even if a lot of loot is lost by doing that
The hunchie... i have three of them in MWO.
the Laser only version is a favorite.
the AC version is okay..
I keep away from the ones with no arm weapons like the clan version
Nothing Scarier Playing MWO Seeing 4 of these come over the Top of a hill AC20s Aimed right at you....
Way back when I was playing Battletech after discovering it in Jr high, we didn't care about infantry or tanks we wanted big stompy mechs so we took that small laser and put that half ton into rear armor. One friend always ripped out a medium as well for rear armor
Your schedule is killing it. Love to see so much high quality content. Are you going to go to TRO 3050 next or will you do 3026 , what about vehicles in general?
Why is it that I hear Peter Gabriel singing in my head?
Up there with the Hollander as one of my favourite mechs, excellent to plan manoeuvres around.
I love the Hollander. Can't wait to cover it.
The legendary Grid Iron Hunchback is an absolute beast. It's one of the best medium 'Mechs in MW5.
On my latest HBS Battletech playthrough; I'm enjoying a 4G with 3x UAC/2++ putting out 210 points of extreme range sniper head-hunting with called shot. Little brother to my Marauder build (2x UAC/2++ and 4x ER ML)
Great video! Informative both for lore reasons and gameplay reasons!
"I can't cover all the variants today."
And here I thought they called you Big Red.
There are just too many! :P
I only cover 3 variants per video. In the far, far distant future, there may be 2nd iterations of some videos to cover some noteworthy variants, but that'd be a LONG time from now, like, years.
In MW5: Mercs I find myself always targeting two targets above all else.
First is the Urbanmech, for I fear no sound like the "SWOOOSH!"
Second is the Hunchback, for they will get up-close-and-personal and being the "one weapon delivery system" like you so adequately put it, I want to get rid of that gun ASAP.
In close quarters, a Hunchie can wreck mechs half again or more its own size. In table top, I've seen a Hunchie, with a couple lucky rolls, leg a Battlemaster with a couple well placed cannon shots and kicks, then proceed to move around behind it and back-gut it. Outside of cities and forests, the Hunchie's mediocre speed and lack of jets do not synergize well with its short-range armament, putting it at a serious disadvantage against medium trooper mechs like the Enforcer, Centurion, Wolverine, or Shadowhawk, all of which mount longer range weapons.
Always loved the pucker power of this mech. Nothing quite like the good old hunchie.
The Distraction Carnifex of the Medium Mechs of the line - a workman's hole-punch for the discerning mercenary and a gentleman's guide to horrific close-range and melee mayhem. (You forgot to mention the dual battlefists though.)
The Hunchback has a place in every company's lineup - no matter that it draws fire like a lance of Lyran Scout Mechs just by showing up on the far field.
The arm mounted lasers on a brawler really hurt the design... Can't pew pew AND punch.
"... it sounds like you have a very-special relationship... with said-hammer..."
- Griffin Pilot admiring a Hunchback -
The 4P variant was my first main mech in MWO before the Archer. Learned the basics and lost more than I won in matches...Fun times.
But the original is totally a mainstay in my Lance in MW5 because that AC/20 just rips things apart and gives me heavy firepower at the early stages.
Love the Partyback.
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Someone was a fan of the A10, saw this gun and went, That needs a tough small mech around it.
My favorite variants got Jump Jets and traded out the 20 for a Gauss Rifle, LB10, or PPC. Gave it some unexpected mobility and long range umph that only degraded at point blank.
Whoever played MWO / MW5 knows that the Hunchie is really easy to hit on the right torso.
Ac20 sounds good until you face Enforcers or Centurions engaging from superior range, so at the end Gauss is the best modification.
My favorite build so far in mwo is 4 med lasers and 2 mrm 10s they pair well and put out a decent punch and mid and close range and I just love my 4sp in general.
feel like the hunchie would make for a solid body guard for a long range lance
That is one of its jobs in life, although not quite as much as the Centurion, who was purpose built for the express task of protecting Trebuchets.
Such a cool mech. Tactically I would sorely miss being able to see my right side in a brawler build like the 4G.
Instrument flight rules.
Not my favorite either.
You can see from the gameplay that it isn't too bad. Even in MWO I don't really lose much situational awareness since most movements are detected via sensors or seismic first
You make someone have to mark twenty bubbles on a single section at once, they’re gonna remember that.
My husband and I run a laser boat variant in MW5 we call The Disco Lord. It has yet to fail us.
It's the Partyback!
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A hunchback was the base for a storm crow type. It hides a big secret, it takes out most mechs.that get close.
Yeah... This is a BIG threat to anything. An AC/20 is NEVER a joke. The version that replaces it with 8 Medium Lasers is also powerful, but I find it's a bit more of a joke in the HBS game; since each laser has it's own accuracy check that means the damage gets spread a lot more and can even miss. Not to the point you can write it off, but I prefer seeing it on the other side.
Been playing MW5 and kinda amazed at how many version there are. One downside is a tendency for most versions to pack all of it's weapons on the right side.
Packing everything on a side is actually kinda nice, since you have a side you can use as a pure shield. If you can move the ammo to the right leg, or go ammoless especially.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Sure... If you can keep that side alive.
Blow off most Hunchie's right sides and they might have a small/medium laser left. And if you can pincer it, well, it can't shield from two directions at once.
“…more so by the Draconis Combine…” I knew there was a reason why I didn’t like the Hunchback. XD
I agree that the Hunchback is more of a fit with the former Kapteyn nations. My Marik-space mercs would probably find a use for the Hunchback, most likely in its close combat role. There was a Small World contract during the Chaos March era, most specifically a canyon scenario, where I could have used a Huncback instead of the Hermes I had.
My Davion-space unit uses cavalry style tactics , and thus would have no need for close quarters mechs like the Hunchback. If range of combat gets into mech-fu range, in their opinion they’ve failed.
Isn't cavalry all about charging into the thick of it and then withdrawing though?
@@tullyDT we tend not to do that since the Custer incident. Doesn’t always work out well. XD
The HBK 4H, 4J, and 4SP are my favorite variants.
Now we're talking, this is my boi.
Great video as always, Red. I liked your choice of variants to highlight as well. I missed the -4P and the -4SP though, both variants that I've taken to the battlefield over the standard AC/20 version.
They're great versions, but despite being laters or missiles, I didn't find they were 'different' enough to justify looking at, same with the 4H. So it left it up in the air to the 4J or 4N, I picked the 4N because its a bit of everything.
i love the huncback, my only regret in MW5 is that by the time i get one i need heavier mechs
A multi use platform, you can find any model of this mech to suit your needs :)
If you want to be a hero, drive a Centurion. If you want to be a legend, drive a Hunchback.
I'm loving the back ground robotech music
The LRM one is a certified beast!
I really like the Hunchback. Specially the AC20 based models. It's not a pretty Mech, but it's ugly on a beautifully charming way. It's hard to explain.
So it's basically an A-10 Thunderbolt II?
@@justinjacobs1501 Something like that. haha
IIc - 2x uac/20, paper armour, pilots required to yell YOLO!.