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It always seemed weird to me that no one did something like the cataphract earlier and that no one tried to do a slower Banshee for literally centuries
It took a VERY long time and desperate circumstances for the Draconis Combine to modestly rework the Charger as the Hatamoto-chi. Sometimes a bad rep takes a long time to shake off.
I think that nobody bothered to tinker with the Banshee because it’s a very strange nice but it performs it pretty well in competent hands - it runs down heavies or slow mediums like the Hunchback or Centurion. It has no heat issues to speak of (barring the BNC-3M model, but I’ve still found that manageable) meaning it can run and shoot with no issues. Every turn that heavy or medium spends trying to return fire is just slowing it down and building heat while the Banshee keeps running. Once it closes into melee it’s typically over for the heavy. It’s got a bad reputation because people want to compare it to slow, heavy firepower assaults like the Stalker or Awesome when it’s a Hunter-killer that runs down and exhausts anything smaller than itself and batters them to death while they overheat from trying to run and fight. It’s a hussar of a mech, not a footman. Not to say that the Steiner modifications make it worse, but they were the first to really try and build it to be a true assault.
@@NotQuiteSteele I love the Banshee for this very reason. Plus think how cheap and relatively easy it is to maintain with so few weapons systems and the like. I did inevitably did end up customizing the one I use in one of the monthly campaign play gaming groups I’m in, I left in the original weapons and just added more to them. Will list the build below if interested. I should mention it’s 3041 currently for the era this one is from, started in 3015. Banshee Custom “Graf Von Grim” 18 Heat Sinks Movement - 3/5 Armor - Torso (F) 47 & 32 (R) 12 & 8, Arms 30, Legs 40 Weapons - PPC, 3 ML, AC5 (1t ammo), SRM6 (1t ammo), 2x LRM10 (4t ammo)
In the Banshee's case, it was relegated to second line because it was considered terrible. It was only after all of the Frontline mech forces were destroyed that the Lyrans got desperate enough to retool factories to make the S version. Keep in mind, retooling a factory was a major undertaking in the Succession Wars; if something broke, the entire factory could be made useless. Plus, the Lyrans were making lots of Zeus and few Atlas per year, so the Banshee wasn't really seen as a priority.
I view the Merlin and other 3SW mechs like the Mackie. More a prove of concept that proved people *could* still invent new mechs, even after the world was blown to heck by the Succession Wars. There may have been other mechs invented that surprassed these mechs, but they opened the door. thanks for the video
It is really not very good due to the constant heat issues it has. The WLF-2 is just that much more fantastic compared to it that I would assume every single WLF-1 were refitted to mark 2s as soon as the tech kits were available on the fronts. I haven't seen one in the factory in AGES, and when it showed up, guess what the customer asked?
@@shawnarmitage7955 THIS! Putting ammo on a melee mech always seemed weird to me. But they did get help from the NAIS, if I remember correctly. So ACs were gonna end up on there, lol.
@ogrehaslayers605 that's true, NAIS love them some ac action. And move the m laser from the hatchet arm to anywhere else so you can shoot it and use both
The Merlin is a surprisingly good mech. It manages to be like the Witworth. Somehow, it gets worse with better technology. Though the Merlin can benefit from a little. Namely, the Endo Steel and Double Heat Sinks can give it a good upgrade.
Cheapest would be to stick Ferro on it, while a double heat sink replacement is harder to do as a refit, it is possible with a team of okay techs and engineers. Endo is better than ferro-fibrous for sure, but you need a production line doing an entire skeleton, which is not "a refit" but a brand new variant. The Clan-tech Merlin is perfectly average, but quite functional, in the end.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn definitely! I was unclear in my statement. What I meant was, that the attributes of a mech like the Merlin or Witworth, doesn't transfer as well to upgrading to higher tech variants. Their merits are that they are super cheap! 😊
You know what's funny, I actually think one of the better uses for the Raven is as a faster version of the Panther. It can be similarly armored, carry the same armament, and is far more mobile. It's one of the better ways to use it outside of its EW package.
If you are looking for a realtively cheap, durable and versatile medium to heavy Mech during the succession wars era, the Merlin is a surprisingly good choice. The Merlin´s TRO does not look spectecular but it is a great team player and performs well in a wide range of missions. It has good mobility, armor, heat management and staying power. It´s weapon loadout can deal with targets like Mechs, vehicles and infantry. It is basically a Vindicator on steroids.
Love that picture of Grayson Carlyle being super smug. While no "new" mechs came out before the beginning of the First and end of the 3rd Succession Wars, there were a lot of new variants for mechs. This confuses me because that means that there were working computers and technology. Theres plenty of lore about new lines of common mechs being made just as much as theres lore about certain mechs having their factories being destroyed. Its inconsistent. Theyre just weird. The Merlin is mediocre at everything. Its far too similar to the Thunderbolt in particular. Tha Marauder II isnt terrible, in fact I would take it over the original Marauder any day. Its kind of underwhelming in firepower for an assault mech. Those Jump Jets are costly. The Hatchetman is a nice experiment. I could make it better by using a Large Laser instead of an autocannon. The Raven with lostech is great, but I wouldnt use it with that antique electronics gear from the Succession Wars. The Cataphract is just a worse Warhammer 6d. The Wolfhound is a nice light combat mech, but not as fast or mobile as I want my scouts. In particulare its unfavorably compared to the Phoenix Hawk. Overall the problem with these new mechs is if they filled a niche. A lot of the time they just dont seem as good as early Battletech units.
Technology in Battletech is weird because they retcon retcons retconning retcons most of the time. All the Mechs from TRO:2750 got a Succession War variant rather than going extinct because of the Unseen debacle, as an example. Originally, nobody could produce new fusion engines, then someone realized this was completely stupid and would work. In 40 years, things got progressively muddier, see the Pillager video for a good example of that. Thanks for the watch, thanks for the comment!
The Wolfhound isn't really a scout. It's built to *eat* scouts. A large laser and a brace of mediums on a cheap and durable 6/9 plattform is something 3rd SW Bug Mechs, Spiders and similar must be extremely careful around. Quite a few of them eat internal damage from the first hit from that LL, and at 6/9 it's fast enough that running from one while under fire can be a real challenge. And it excels at stomping Jenners and Panthers, of course. Enough speed and armor to close the range and then roflstomp the Panther at brawling distance. Enough armor and firepower to slug it out with a Jenner up close, and the range of that large laser and its speed means it can actually kite for a bit or again chase down a fleeing Jenner. There's a reason it pissed off Kurita to the point where they eventually introduced a Mech designed specifically to counter it. The Phoenix Hawk gets jump jets (admittedly a big thing) and a slight bit more armor. While paying an extra million C-Bills for it (33% price increase) and having a glass jaw with that low cockpit armor. I'd consider the Wolfhound a very worthy alternative there.
@@magni5648 I don't know that it's bad per see at hunting light mechs, but I do find the wolfhound conspicuous in its absence whenever the topic of good light mech bouncers comes up. Admittedly, things like the Wraith and Nightsky seem to be the ideal to which such mechs aught aspire, and those are both 3050s mechs. So it may be an era difference. Personally, I like to use the Wolfhound in that role because of it's Lyran association, but it has never shown itself to be very good in the games were I have used it, whereas the Phoenix Hawk has. Though, that may just be me being bad at game and being to easily tempted into using such mechs as light mechs instead of hunters, a role which the Pheonix Hawk can preform decently, but which the Wolfhound flounders at. It may also be my tendency to use only introtech mechs which works out with the Phoenix Hawk, but the Wolfhound is horribly undersinked in its introtech configuration and it's lack of an ER laser makes it struggle to reach out and touch the speedy true lights.
As one of my Khajit friend would say, this one is not implying this, it is known. After the Jihad, they have no more power over anyone, and I will call them out on their actions.
Remember that you can join the channel for exclusive pre-releases, access to a Discord channel for other engineers, crazy talk and such and even potentially play MegaMek games together!
th-cam.com/channels/qu1nIx3lnjblDLNa0K48Vw.htmljoin!
It always seemed weird to me that no one did something like the cataphract earlier and that no one tried to do a slower Banshee for literally centuries
Well, it might be because the Banshee was SO BAD nobody wanted to try making the same thing?
It took a VERY long time and desperate circumstances for the Draconis Combine to modestly rework the Charger as the Hatamoto-chi. Sometimes a bad rep takes a long time to shake off.
I think that nobody bothered to tinker with the Banshee because it’s a very strange nice but it performs it pretty well in competent hands - it runs down heavies or slow mediums like the Hunchback or Centurion. It has no heat issues to speak of (barring the BNC-3M model, but I’ve still found that manageable) meaning it can run and shoot with no issues. Every turn that heavy or medium spends trying to return fire is just slowing it down and building heat while the Banshee keeps running. Once it closes into melee it’s typically over for the heavy.
It’s got a bad reputation because people want to compare it to slow, heavy firepower assaults like the Stalker or Awesome when it’s a Hunter-killer that runs down and exhausts anything smaller than itself and batters them to death while they overheat from trying to run and fight. It’s a hussar of a mech, not a footman.
Not to say that the Steiner modifications make it worse, but they were the first to really try and build it to be a true assault.
@@NotQuiteSteele I love the Banshee for this very reason. Plus think how cheap and relatively easy it is to maintain with so few weapons systems and the like. I did inevitably did end up customizing the one I use in one of the monthly campaign play gaming groups I’m in, I left in the original weapons and just added more to them. Will list the build below if interested.
I should mention it’s 3041 currently for the era this one is from, started in 3015.
Banshee Custom “Graf Von Grim”
18 Heat Sinks
Movement - 3/5
Armor - Torso (F) 47 & 32 (R) 12 & 8, Arms 30, Legs 40
Weapons - PPC, 3 ML, AC5 (1t ammo), SRM6 (1t ammo), 2x LRM10 (4t ammo)
In the Banshee's case, it was relegated to second line because it was considered terrible. It was only after all of the Frontline mech forces were destroyed that the Lyrans got desperate enough to retool factories to make the S version. Keep in mind, retooling a factory was a major undertaking in the Succession Wars; if something broke, the entire factory could be made useless. Plus, the Lyrans were making lots of Zeus and few Atlas per year, so the Banshee wasn't really seen as a priority.
I view the Merlin and other 3SW mechs like the Mackie. More a prove of concept that proved people *could* still invent new mechs, even after the world was blown to heck by the Succession Wars. There may have been other mechs invented that surprassed these mechs, but they opened the door. thanks for the video
Good work on a good video.
I had honestly forgotten about the original WLF 1.
It is really not very good due to the constant heat issues it has. The WLF-2 is just that much more fantastic compared to it that I would assume every single WLF-1 were refitted to mark 2s as soon as the tech kits were available on the fronts.
I haven't seen one in the factory in AGES, and when it showed up, guess what the customer asked?
God, guns, and Battletech. Love the Hatchetman, I know it's not the best but have had a ton of fun running all ax force.
It's not the best, but far from the worst. I like the original version with minor tweaks better than most modern versions.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn I pretty much all ways replace an ac10 with a large laser. Ammo away seems to get me.
@@shawnarmitage7955 THIS! Putting ammo on a melee mech always seemed weird to me. But they did get help from the NAIS, if I remember correctly. So ACs were gonna end up on there, lol.
@ogrehaslayers605 that's true, NAIS love them some ac action. And move the m laser from the hatchet arm to anywhere else so you can shoot it and use both
@@ogrehaslayers605Hence why the Berserker is the pinnacle of melee Mech perfection.
Awesome video, enjoyed every single second of it!
Always a pleasure to make those.
The Merlin is a surprisingly good mech. It manages to be like the Witworth. Somehow, it gets worse with better technology.
Though the Merlin can benefit from a little. Namely, the Endo Steel and Double Heat Sinks can give it a good upgrade.
Cheapest would be to stick Ferro on it, while a double heat sink replacement is harder to do as a refit, it is possible with a team of okay techs and engineers. Endo is better than ferro-fibrous for sure, but you need a production line doing an entire skeleton, which is not "a refit" but a brand new variant.
The Clan-tech Merlin is perfectly average, but quite functional, in the end.
@@ProfessorHeyTeeEn definitely! I was unclear in my statement.
What I meant was, that the attributes of a mech like the Merlin or Witworth, doesn't transfer as well to upgrading to higher tech variants. Their merits are that they are super cheap! 😊
Huh there is a C model these days with Clan Tech try to keep up
@@mathewkelly9968 speaking of "keeping up" did you not actually read my statement where I specifically mentioned the clan variant? 🧐
You know what's funny, I actually think one of the better uses for the Raven is as a faster version of the Panther. It can be similarly armored, carry the same armament, and is far more mobile. It's one of the better ways to use it outside of its EW package.
As a missile spotter with a NARC, the standard 3050 version, it's not awful if you have a lot of missile boats as well.
Great content. Thankyou.
Glad you enjoyed it!
If you are looking for a realtively cheap, durable and versatile medium to heavy Mech during the succession wars era, the Merlin is a surprisingly good choice.
The Merlin´s TRO does not look spectecular but it is a great team player and performs well in a wide range of missions.
It has good mobility, armor, heat management and staying power. It´s weapon loadout can deal with targets like Mechs, vehicles and infantry.
It is basically a Vindicator on steroids.
It's one of those things that is pretty much forgotten because of how it was buried in Battletech lore and rules. I somewhat enjoy the Merlin.
Love that picture of Grayson Carlyle being super smug.
While no "new" mechs came out before the beginning of the First and end of the 3rd Succession Wars, there were a lot of new variants for mechs. This confuses me because that means that there were working computers and technology.
Theres plenty of lore about new lines of common mechs being made just as much as theres lore about certain mechs having their factories being destroyed. Its inconsistent.
Theyre just weird.
The Merlin is mediocre at everything. Its far too similar to the Thunderbolt in particular.
Tha Marauder II isnt terrible, in fact I would take it over the original Marauder any day. Its kind of underwhelming in firepower for an assault mech. Those Jump Jets are costly.
The Hatchetman is a nice experiment. I could make it better by using a Large Laser instead of an autocannon.
The Raven with lostech is great, but I wouldnt use it with that antique electronics gear from the Succession Wars.
The Cataphract is just a worse Warhammer 6d.
The Wolfhound is a nice light combat mech, but not as fast or mobile as I want my scouts. In particulare its unfavorably compared to the Phoenix Hawk.
Overall the problem with these new mechs is if they filled a niche. A lot of the time they just dont seem as good as early Battletech units.
Technology in Battletech is weird because they retcon retcons retconning retcons most of the time. All the Mechs from TRO:2750 got a Succession War variant rather than going extinct because of the Unseen debacle, as an example. Originally, nobody could produce new fusion engines, then someone realized this was completely stupid and would work. In 40 years, things got progressively muddier, see the Pillager video for a good example of that.
Thanks for the watch, thanks for the comment!
The Wolfhound isn't really a scout. It's built to *eat* scouts. A large laser and a brace of mediums on a cheap and durable 6/9 plattform is something 3rd SW Bug Mechs, Spiders and similar must be extremely careful around. Quite a few of them eat internal damage from the first hit from that LL, and at 6/9 it's fast enough that running from one while under fire can be a real challenge.
And it excels at stomping Jenners and Panthers, of course. Enough speed and armor to close the range and then roflstomp the Panther at brawling distance. Enough armor and firepower to slug it out with a Jenner up close, and the range of that large laser and its speed means it can actually kite for a bit or again chase down a fleeing Jenner. There's a reason it pissed off Kurita to the point where they eventually introduced a Mech designed specifically to counter it.
The Phoenix Hawk gets jump jets (admittedly a big thing) and a slight bit more armor. While paying an extra million C-Bills for it (33% price increase) and having a glass jaw with that low cockpit armor. I'd consider the Wolfhound a very worthy alternative there.
@@magni5648 I don't know that it's bad per see at hunting light mechs, but I do find the wolfhound conspicuous in its absence whenever the topic of good light mech bouncers comes up. Admittedly, things like the Wraith and Nightsky seem to be the ideal to which such mechs aught aspire, and those are both 3050s mechs. So it may be an era difference. Personally, I like to use the Wolfhound in that role because of it's Lyran association, but it has never shown itself to be very good in the games were I have used it, whereas the Phoenix Hawk has. Though, that may just be me being bad at game and being to easily tempted into using such mechs as light mechs instead of hunters, a role which the Pheonix Hawk can preform decently, but which the Wolfhound flounders at. It may also be my tendency to use only introtech mechs which works out with the Phoenix Hawk, but the Wolfhound is horribly undersinked in its introtech configuration and it's lack of an ER laser makes it struggle to reach out and touch the speedy true lights.
For the algorithm
Appreciated. Hope you enjoy the videos!
AHEM. Surely you're not implying that Comstar had some responsibility for the 2nd SW? Please choose your words very carefully next time, yes?
As one of my Khajit friend would say, this one is not implying this, it is known. After the Jihad, they have no more power over anyone, and I will call them out on their actions.
I hate the Reseen and Shimmy Marauder 2 so much.
The Reseen Marauder family is a shame to begin with.
Yeah, that and the Marauder were FUGLY 😢