Nova Prime is a lovely demonstration of the fact that, while Medium Lasers are the most tonnage-efficient damage source in the game, you cannot simply fill all available weapon tonnage with Medium Lasers.
As a Nova Prime main in MWO the alpha strike button talks to me like the Green Goblin mask yelling at Norman telling him “we have a new world to conquer.”
More fun than bobbing for apples in a toilet- _NO!! I DON'T CARE IF YOU STERILIZED IT AND THOUGHT IT'D BE FUNNY AND A HOOT FOR THE PARTY!!!_ _...Don't make me revoke your frat card._
I fell in love with the Nova as a kid playing Mechwarrior 2. Turns out lots of medium lasers makes for good firepower especially with a pinpoint alpha strike. I insisted on playing every mission with it and even won one of my trials accidentally when I ran around the corner to see a mad dog. I panicked and tried to jump jet over it. Instead, my right foot caught the cockpit just right and I took out the pristine mech without firing a single shot. That sort of event has a way of cementing loyalty for a design.
Totally understand. The Nova was my favorite mech in MW2. My was modified with a 300XL engine, 6 jump jets, and Endo-Steel internal chassis. All the lasers were removed and replaced with 10 machineguns with 10 tons of ammo. My Nova can easily run up to an opponent mech, jump to its flank or rear, then open up with all 10 MGs and shred it to pieces while not have to worry about heat built-up from the non-stop weapon firing.
The Nova was actually the first mech I piloted in MWO. I unleashed the full Alpha Strike of Lasers without knowing about heat management. I overheated, obviously, and a whole lance of enemy mechs sent me to join Kerensky. On another note, Mini Frog is a lucky kid, having such a cool dad. Good reading too, you can tell he gave his best. Keep being awesome, you two.
17:30 great work MiniFrog! Is that your first professional reading? Keep it up, public speaking is an important skill and transferable to so many arenas. Hopefully we'll hear from you more often.
First of all: well done mini-frog! Secondly: this was the first mech I ever saw and the one that brought me into the game. I believe my first build was six med lasers, jump jets and AMS. I lost, it was glorious and I'm now a fan of the game. You always remember your first.
The Clans uncovered an ancient tome in their Star League Archives, from pre-Spaceflight Terra. It possessed within, the phrase: ‘Let him cook’. They took this as an omen from Kerensky himself. And the Nova was their answer.
It's funny, despite the Nova being an iconic mech used by many clans, it's actually only very rarely that I see them in the local classic and alpha strike games. MiniFrog's narration was excellent and hopefully we'll hear more as he masters the craft.
The Nova: "You get a laser! And you get a laser! And you get a laser! Lasers for everybody!" To borrow from Tex... it makes you wonder if Discount Dan opened a satellite site near Strana Mechty, and HH couldn't resist that kind of bargain on "surplus" lasers...
The Nova prime is just classic, good movement, armor, and may blake help you if it decides to go all in! Great video, and well done to mini frog, he did great!
Well, it's still a good knockout punch. And if you've got a good enough pilot skill, it might be worth the shutdown risk in a pinch. In all seriousness, I've realized that the Nova was never meant to work alone (despite what clan doctrine would have you believe). If you have support, riding the heat curve suddenly is a lot less concerning.
There was a Solaris 1v1 duel tournament run at a local game store near me. It was unique in that there was no BV limit - "Heavy mechs or below, up to 3061, no experimental. Go nuts!" I was scared that the Timberwolf TC or Bounty Hunter, almost 3k BV monsters that alot of people have models of, was going to be "the" meta. I warned the TO about that, he said it'd be fine. I chose not to be "that" guy, and instead of the top 3 highest BV mechs in the format I chose like #8. The Nova Prime, 2400 ish BV. I had my game plan written out - heat neutral at 7 lasers, one less if I jump, can go up to 9 without risking shutdown checks if I got a space to jump to and cool next turn. I was the only dude who brought clan tech. The next highest BV unit was the Marauder Bounty Hunter, at 2050 BV. Lost against it first round, then had hard fought battles in the losers bracket to meet him again at the end of the tourney, otherwise undefeated. Dramatic final boss fight I won fair and square, but I still feel dirty XD
That was an amazing fight, so don't feel dirty. In fact, I think that only made the victory at the end better. You basically lost and went through a whole training arc to reclaim your honor. XD
Also: I wanted to comment that I've taken the "make the world a slightly better place" motto, and applied it to work... so: I work at Walmart. Yes, I know, but it's a job, okay? I support my team as best I can, distributing smiles and trying to make their jobs just a ... well, just a slight bit better. So thank you, MechFrog, for your influence and support.
Hey, my wife works at a Walmart. So there's no shame in my eyes. Just keep providing good service, do a good job, and I think you'll be doing your part well. (^^)b
@@MichaelJCaboose013 The Hunchback 4P and 5P carry enough heat sinks to make reasonable use of their 8 medium lasers. They do not have the "ability" to shut themselves down with a single volley.
My strongest memory of the Nova is the first mission you get it in Mechwarrior 2. I came up on the first target, an isolated mech. From the table top game, I knew you could fire all lasers, and instantly shut down. Since the target was isolated, I decided to kill it with an alpha strike, since I could recover from the shutdown afterwards. I'll never forget triggering that alpha strike and instantaneously exploding from the heat.
For me what's really interesting about the Nova is it's lore and how it's changed over the 40 odd years of the battletech setting's existence. It was originally basically built as a dedicated infantry support mech (A much needed role given the scarcity of tracked, wheeled, and hover vehicles for the clans that often take on that role in inner sphere or other periphiary forces in the setting) before some either genius or moron (which it qualifies as is probably going to be debated by the old battletech fans forever) got the idea midway through development "hey what if we could use it to rapidly transport infantry?" Part of the genius of this is that this meant the original version of the Nova ended up being sort of a transitional step between conventional battlemechs and later omnimechs, in many ways benefitting from the inherent advantages of both designs such as the conventional battlemech's relative ease of finding parts for repairs and usually simpler geometry that makes repairs faster or the omnimech's ease of swapping out weapons and specialty equipment. The reason why most variants of it have an all small or medium laser armanent is specifically because these weapons are relatively short, compact, and easily changed out of pods but still offer a decent amount of damage right in the primary intended role of the original design; close support for clan infantry. Some variants of the Nova literally had fixed machine gun mounts in the side torsos as a primary infantry support weapon, even. This was important, because the Nova went through a variety of designs in it's intended secondary role as an infantry carrier, before the creation of clan elemental suits pretty much turned that role into a dedicated power armored infantry carrier/ medium to close range laserboat. At one point it literally had infantry transport pods underslung on the arms and back, which is one reason why in the original art the arms and legs are so low to the ground, so the original version of the Nova could essentially bend forward or backward slightly, and deploy infantry from ramps that deployed from the armored transport pods. These transport pods also carried heatsinks for the mech itself and ammunition resupply specifically for the infantry that were supposed to be transported. The mech was basically in universe a victim of the success of it's secondary capabilities, and other technological advances that substantially changed it's mission, role, and even overall design to the point it bore little resemblance to it's original self.
Favourite Clan omni. Everyone talks about the Prime's alpha strike, but firing just the lasers on one arm is still more damage than most mechs and easily managed by the heatsinks. Moreover, if and when you lose one arm you're still fighting at 100% sustainable damage output. A force of Prime, A, and S Novas makes for a scary shell game for the opponent.
I fell in love with the Nova back in the 90s with Mechwarrior 2. That low & wide profile was almost as good as extra armor, since you could evade plenty of shots. In the old PC games when MFBs & refits were a fantasy, the laser loadout was dependable.
I ran one at a home table game more than once. After the first time, I dropped 3 of the ERML and dropped in 2 more heatsinks. With the addition of a targeting computer, I became a bane of anything I could get the side of or behind. Only time I lost equal weight was against a hunchback that rolled boxcars on the big AC/20 at it's max range. I couldn't even complain. He needed a 12 and got it twice. Karma can be like that sometimes.
Nothing is more glorious than a Nova Prime Alpha Strike! Why is it called a Nova? Cause it glows brighter than the sun when it Alpha Strikes. I love this thing. I have been on the receiving end more than not, but it’s always fun to see it.
Thanks for doing my ride justice Frog! I cannot express how floored I was when I found my canon character entry inside ilclan rec guide volume 14. The first mech I ever piloted when I was first exposed to MechWarrior 2 way back when I was in 8th grade, and its held a place in my heart and TOE ever since. I love the Prime and the A configs, and also have fun with my custom: an ATM 9, and an ER PPC with capacitor.
My campaign group ran into two of the damned things yesterday on the tabletop. Luckily for us we head clipped the prime before it could get a chance to do too much damage. The Gauss rifle variant was another story. It stayed back and tried to use its TC to target specific areas. Luckily it missed more than it hit attacking with that method.
Most mechs glow when viewed in thermal. Some mechs glow in NODs. The Nova just glows in visual because it's that hot. To be fair, I pick on the Black Hawk Prime, but when I have to play Clans I use a Prime variant with the left arm carrying an ERPPC so you jab with the left at range, and hook with the right up close. Clantech PPC is an energy based gauss, same way the IS PPC is an AC/10 equivalent. Or hunt BA with half the ERMLs replaced with small pulses. I like where they were going with the T, but they went all out, rather than half regular ERMLs and half chemical MLs
I recently went through and made “fixed” versions of the Nova’s standard variants (aimed at keeping their intended roles and similar weaponry loadouts) that would seek to make them a bit more balanced and effective. My Nova builds are down below, note that I followed the rules with not changing the armor, structure, engine, or any fixed equipment: *Nova Prime - FIXED* 22 Double Heat Sinks ER Medium Laser x6 (LA/RA) ER Medium Laser x2 (LT/RT) *Nova A - FIXED* 15 DHS Large Pulse Laser x2 (LA/RA) Small Pulse Laser (CT) Medium Pulse Laser (HD) *Nova B - FIXED* 14 DHS ER PPC (LA) Ultra AC/5 (RA) - 1 ton of ammo (20 shots, RA) Medium Pulse Laser (HD) *Nova C - FIXED* 14 DHS LB10-X AC (LA) - 1 ton regular, 1 ton cluster ammo (20 shots total, LA) SRM6 (RA) - 1 ton of ammo (RA) Flamer (CT) ER Medium Laser (HD) *Nova D - FIXED* 15 DHS ER PPC (LA) LRM15 (RA) - Artemis IV FCS (RA) - 2 tons of Artemis-capable ammo (RT) ER Medium Laser x2 (LT/RT) Flamer (HD) *Nova S - FIXED* 15 DHS Medium Pulse Laser x6 (LA/RA) Flamer x2 (LT/RT) ECM Suite (CT) Active Probe (HD) This kinda thing is, of course, likely to not really vibe with some people, but feedback would be appreciated as far as the design goes. My personal favorite is the A-variant redesign.
These seem alright, though they aren't quite as good battle armor carriers thanks to all the side torso weapons. Still, if I were given a Nova I'd definitely be rocking something similar to your A config. Honestly, I'm surprised that the restraint on Pulse Lasers though. For a mech that loves boating energy weapons, the only Nova to boat Pulse lasers is the S. Also, what would your take on the E, H, and L configs be? I don't know what I'd do for the L, but for the H, if I'm trying to keep the same role, I'd pull 3 Heavy Mediums from each arm and 2 of the Double Heat Sinks to add two Medium Pulse Lasers to each arm. While it looses a chunk of firepower, it gains some accuracy and can jump and alpha without any penalties. I'd say it's more effective without going overboard.
@@strcmdrbookwyrm while a few of them wouldn’t be as good for BA carriers, they still all retain the majority of their firepower in their arms, but now if they were to lose an arm, it wouldn’t be exactly half their firepower. Also, CT and HD weapons are actually not blocked by Elementals riding the mech, only LT/RT ones, so that’s gonna help several of these. As far as the E, H, and L, I’ve not messed with those, largely due to my unfamiliarity with that spot in the timeline (I have always avoided that area cuz of the WoB “event” and such, I just did not like the direction that was taken with the story and some of the weapons got kinda complex), but I can give those a shot, lemme get back to you on that. Edit: also, on the Pulse Lasers, while I am absolutely a fan of Clan tech Pulse Lasers, many of the standard variants didn’t really use them, and I was trying not to limit their range too much in order to prevent them from being too much of a knife-fighter. The Nova isn’t a pushover on armor, but it’s still only a 50-tonner. The engagement range advantage plus a good pilot would help mitigate the majority lacking Pulse Lasers. On top of those reasons, it was about tonnage and having a tad more firepower. Pulse Lasers are most effective on Heavies in my opinion, the pod space just allows them to shine the best, though platforms like the Stormcrow are fairly viable for boating some Mediums.
@@strcmdrbookwyrm okay, tried to do those 3 variants some justice. The E was probably the hardest to feel “right” about, considering it’s a fairly good build, though it can be argued that the ammo is over the top, so as a result I actually made 3 versions that I’ll detail below. The H was tough cuz of criticals and it’s not heat neutral (though if you run or just don’t jump more than 2, you’ll be perfectly in the heat limit), and the L was just strange because the Plasma Cannons are a bit heavier than I thought they’d be, so I ended up taking a swing at a v2 and v3 for that as well. *Nova E - FIXED* 14 DHS Medium Pulse Laser x3 (LA) Medium Pulse Laser (HD) ATM9 (RA) - 1 ton of each ammo type (21 shots total, 7 per type, RA) *Nova E - FIXED v2* 16 DHS ER Medium Laser x3 (LA) ER Medium Laser (HD) ATM12 (RA) - 1 ton of each ammo type (15 shots total, 5 per type, RA) *Nova E - FIXED v3* 16 DHS ER Medium Laser x3 (LA) ER Medium Laser (HD) ER Small Laser x2 (LT/RT) ATM9 (RA) - 1 ton of each ammo type (21 shots total, 7 per type, RA) Targeting Computer (CT) *Nova H - FIXED* 22 DHS Heavy Medium Laser x6 (LA/RA) Targeting Computer (RT) *Nova L - FIXED* 18 DHS ER Medium Laser x4 (LA/RA) ER Medium Laser x2 (LT/RT) Plasma Cannon (CT) - 1 ton of ammo (LT) Targeting Computer (RT) *Nova L - FIXED v2* 16 DHS ER Medium Laser x4 (LA/RA) Plasma Cannon x2 (CT/HD) - 2 tons of ammo (LT/RT) Targeting Computer (RT) *Nova L - FIXED v3* 16 DHS ER Small Laser x8 (LA/RA) Plasma Cannon x2 (CT/HD) - 2 tons of ammo (LT/RT) Targeting Computer (RT) Hit me with any feedback you have, or if you need any explanation why I did something for a particular variant :)
I like the Nova. It's fun stomping around and lighting up targets with a bunch of lasers, even if it makes for a toasty time, lol. Tell Mini-Frog he did an awesome job with his voice work and we hope to hear more from him in the future! Thanks for the informative video and stay safe out there!
One of my favourite medium mechs, and I love medium mechs, so that's high praise coming from me! The Prime, Config A, and Config S are the best IMO. As for my own config, a small tweak of the prime is my go-to rebuild: - Remove 4 lasers, leaving it with 8 ER Medium Lasers in total, - Add a targeting computer - add 2 additional heatsinks, bringing the total to 20 It's heat neutral when alpha striking at a standstill (or on the move with the advanced ruleset), and the targeting computer helps put the two thirds of the original's firepower to more efficient use. A good refit for longer duration missions where stamina is more of an issue.
A fun homebrew for the Nova is to mix the Prime and D versions. 5 ER Medium lasers, LRM-20 w/Artemis IV, 2 tons of ammo, and 2 extra Heat Sinks always made for a good mix in the invasion era
@bthsr7113 found in game on periphery. Disabled a Party truck and got the Disco lasers. Next mission two nasty vtols with rotary chem lasers. Bought the large and small rotary chem lasers from the faction store. Was periphery allied temp with Tortuga.
Configuration I is one of those configurations where one of the pluses is that it is easy enough to build a mini representing it with readily available IWM pieces, those being a spare PPC arm and a Nova H base mini.
@0:16 there was a Nova in Borderlands? Also, this is only mildly related, but in Mechwarrior 3, i stripped down a SuperNova, and gave it 6 CERPPCs. I Alpha Striked durring a mission, and Crashed to Desktop. EDIT: Man. To'Kasha's (SP?) atmosphere has all the side effects of getting punched in the face. EDIT: Your Air Compressor neighbor is working on his mini backlog.
In the classic rules, Target Interlock Circuit rules, ie group fire, you roll separately for each weapon. I’d house rule it, so if the group fire weapon is a direct fire, same class and in the same location, then it hits the one location like in the Mechwarrior games. Yes it means a Nova group firing 6 er-med lasers will hit one location, because that’s what it’s designed to do.
The thing about the Nova that always got me was that design with the chicken walker legs and the low torso and how there is no way that those joints wouldn't keep crashing into the arms/body when it would run and gun in a firefight. Granted it's not the only mech with this kind of weird design situation of low hanging limbs that would interfere with the legs (looking at you, Timberwolf) but the Nova was kind of on the extreme edge of this.
The Nova Prime: The only Clan omnimech with the dubious honor of being outperformed by its Inner Sphere counterpart, the Black Hawk-KU, whose shorter range and less damaging lasers it can fire much more frequently due to their lower heat burden. Let's go, MiniFrog! Great job!
Though to be fair, the PRIME would be just as scary if you swapped the ER Mediums with Inner Sphere standard versions. It can handle the heat of an alpha strike without penalty if it doesn't move.
The Nova S quickly became one of my favorite clan mechs when I played an Escalation league this last spring. 6 medium pulses would rip apart most light and medium mechs while still remaining a threat to anything larger than itself. The jump jets worked to keep the mech out of striking distance of anything too big for it to safely engage.
My favorite config for the Nova was a modification of the A, the two ER PPCs + two ER medium lasers + 2 extra heat sinks (though sometimes I'd swap one of the extra heat sinks for a pair of ER small lasers if there was a higher chance of short range wrasslin').
Nova is amazing in Mechwarrior 5 Clans. The Prime variant with the ER medium lasers replaced with ER small lasers is devastating. In that game, the ER small lasers are crazy overpowered. They only do slightly less damage than mediums, but have a quicker recharge rate, and can shoot over 600 meters. I don't know what the devs were thinking.
That beast summarizes the Clan's early combat style: Unload a massive Alpha Strike, hopefully kill the target, then spend the next few turns cooling down and restarting the 'mech.. The Prime config. can flatten nearly any target in one shot.
I forget this thing all the time for flashier mechs and then remember my unbridled love for the thing. Its such a good workhorse, both in the MW2 computer game and tabletop+cardgame. Also! Good job, mini-frog!
The Nova Prime is a bit like the Hunchback. Regardless of if you like it or not, you've got to pay attention to it and the threat it poses. Yes, an alpha strike from one might cripple the Nova for a turn, if it's done at the right time and at the right target, it can change the course of a battle.
Nova Prime and H are dangerous, but the A and E have to be the best all around variants that can handle many dangerous roles. The U Variant was obviously designed to repel boarders on WarShips, JumpShips, and Space Stations.
The Nova prime is the kind of mech to make you scratch your head. Then you remember it was meant to carry battle armor into combat, and it makes more sense. It can soften up enemy Elementals for its own to finish off, ward off enemy battlemechs from interfering in what its elementals are doing (nobody wants to be alpha strike’d by a Nova), and in general be annoying as hell to deal with in close.
I had that realization too. It also makes Alpha Striking a bit less risky for the Nova too, as the Elementals can cover the Nova while it takes a turn to cool down.
12:03 16 tons of Pod Space and the C config. You have to ask whomever was designing the original 16 back in 1989-1990, in why they put a SPL and SRM4 as 'backup weapons' but with those 16 tons, the Nova could mirror the Kit Fox's (and visa versa) more successful configurations, in this case, the Kit Fox A.
I'll say it. I'm not a fan of inaccurate weapons, heavy lasers included. Targeting computers plus pulse lasers for the forever win ;-) MiniFrog voiceover is adorable!!
My MWO Nova for a while was a 12xERSL brawler. Saved tonnage went towards both DHS and a large TC. With the TC and quirks I could get around standard medium laser range, which was enough as long as you timed your strikes. If I made it to late game it would clean up most fights.
Mini Frog's first appearance! Make sure that he did a good job, and that I hope to hear more from him in the future. I think the Nova is interesting because it's actually a good base for an omni-mech. It has decent mobility, armor, and pod space, so it can fit almost any role. It just tends to go all in on whatever roll it chooses. I also learned that it's a good transport for battle armor, which isn't something I'd thought about. I think my favorite non-prime configuration is the E configuration. It can use it's ATM 12 well, thanks to all that ammo, still has a respectable punch if it runs out of ammo, and is still a good option to carry and work with battle armor. The only real fault of the E config is that it's slightly oversinked, but to me it's an acceptable amount of oversinking. One thing I'm wondering is why no one has tried swapping the ER Medium Lasers for a Inner Sphere Standard Lasers? I did the math, the heat sinks could handle an alpha strike. ...as long as you stood still. I think it's what the T config was going for, but they didn't want to touch "primitive inner sphere lasers."
Always had fun with my own custom 3070 refit. 12 Clan Improved Heavy Small Lasers, 5 Jump Jets, a Mark 2 Targeting Computer, 16 Double Heat Sinks, 250 Clan XL Engine, Clan Ferro-Fiborous armor, Clan ECM and a Void Signature System. Go stealth, pick your targets, run up behind them, alpha strike them in the rear CT and then run away while the downed pilot's friends try to figure out what happened. Perfect for reconnaissance, sabotage, hit and run, assassination and escort duty.
As for my custom config back in my Mechwarrior 3 days I use an imitation of the Black Hawk KU prime to great effect. you could walk the fire onto the target with the pulse lasers and then fire the ER's when your on target.
I would be remiss in not mentioning Diamond Shark Ace Enders, who used a Nova-A to win the rank of Star Captain, taking it with him to compete for his bloodname. When the pulse laser was damaged in the grand melee and the Burrocks were intransigent in letting him replace it, he and his tech acquired two additional DHS instead, a modification that served him well until his superiors insisted he piloted something heavier, since he was now assigned to an Assault Cluster. His choice of a Stormcrow was probably not what they had in mind.
"Listen, MechWarrior... We can either repair the A Variant arm pods for the Star Colonel's Timber Wolf, or the A pods for your Nova. You can guess which one the Star Colonel picked. If you want that damage at range, you're stuck with the B Variant. So which is it, MechWarrior? The Prime, or the B?" - The fed up 'Mech tech.
If I needed range, I'd take the B. While the B isn't outstanding, it does have the distinction of being one of only two configs that use pulse lasers effectively. And while there are five total configurations that mount pulse lasers, about half the time it's only one. I'm honestly that we don't have a version of the A config but with Large Pulse lasers.
Mini-Mechanical Frog is great! May I suggest that, when you are featuring contesting points-of-view on a mech variant, that each of you vocalize a side.
I love this mech, I replace all the weapons with standard IS medium lasers just to cut down on heatsinks for a larger engine or jumpjets. This also means replacement lasers are easier to get.
Nice video, probably my favorite this far of the OmniMechs (except maybe the Timber Wolf). I really love the Nova it’s one of those that (to me anyway) has aged well, and remained relevant. Favorite config would be the Prime, though not going to lie when I was way younger totally did an alpha strike and admittedly smoked my opponent but the after effects wasn’t great! Nice job to Mini Frog, can tell he worked on it.
First off, thank you for talking about the Nova. I have run this Mech since the release of Mechwarrior 2, and haven't looked back. On the tabletop, I have been defeated a total of ONCE while operating it, and I have fought A LOT with it. The Prime is generally my go-to, and it has eliminated targets much larger than itself. Though, I am one of those crazies who like the H variant and, of course, the solid S variant. In all cases, it is always accompanied by Battle Armor, as this was the units intended purpose. More often than not, the Nova is my largest unit in a force, being accompanied by faster Lights, tanks, and battle armor. It is only recently that the Loki II (Prime) has been added to my rotation, becoming the largest Mech in my forces - but with a Nova (Prime) alongside it. Lastly, I would like to thank you for your...somewhat...nod to Clan Hells Horses. The fiction likes to portray us as the keystone cops of the Battletech universe, but things change when anyone ACTUALLY faces us on the battlefield. I have ben the target of a lot of Ghost Bear, Inner Sphere, and Jade Falcon smack talk...until someone wants to roll dice. Then things get reeeaaally quiet. Thanks for all you do. And may I say, hearing Mechanical Tadpole read a section filled me with a little pride. Always a good sign to see another generation carry on the tradition.
Though my preferred clan is the Ghost Bears, I don't think Hell's Horses gets enough credit. Despite the lore sneering down at them, they've managed to persist relatively unchanged throughout the years, at least when compared to the other clans. They also have some nasty mechs on their side, and even manage to make quad mechs look scary. I personally have a soft spot for the Balius, as it's blatantly horse features have gotten her interesting in playing. (Though I do think the Doom Courser is a better mech overall, and one of the best quads out there). I think the Nova H is a bit over the top, I think if you mashed the H and S configs together you could get something very terrifying. I once tried the Heavy over Pulse combo on one of the Incubus variants, and I've loved the combo ever since. Might be something worth trying on the Nova.
The first clan mech I piloted in MWO. Always looked down by owners of a MadCat but this baby has the great looks and some firepower behind it. Plus that mobility with good speed and jump jets. Good thing clans arent around in the campaing for another year cause I would have to paint a star of these buggers. Cheers nice vid. If Minifrog recorded that in one take then hes got some future in this industry xD
The H was probably popular in the same way the HBK II C was, take it into a trial, establish range, then pull the ripcord and either you punch out their body cork or you're done for.
5 extra heatsinks on the Nova-I, not 15... Don't know where that came from.
Please give Mini-Frog an internet high five on my behalf. He did a really good job!
Will do!
Seconded
Agreed 👍
The Nova Prime might be a one-trick pony, but it's one hell of a trick.
Very true.
If Ghost Rider drove a 'mech.
Nova Prime is a lovely demonstration of the fact that, while Medium Lasers are the most tonnage-efficient damage source in the game, you cannot simply fill all available weapon tonnage with Medium Lasers.
@cameronstrathdee1772 That's why it has jump jets.
@@cameronstrathdee1772 you mean CAN simply load all weapon tonnage with medium lasers
Aw mini frog cameo 😂 also love the idea of a star of Nova-Hs causing chaos with all those heavies 😂
As a Nova Prime main in MWO the alpha strike button talks to me like the Green Goblin mask yelling at Norman telling him “we have a new world to conquer.”
For a minute my wires got crossed and I thought you meant the prime variant of the Nova Warframe.
Licking the raw cookie dough from the beater is one thing, but you *really* don't need to leave the beater running while you do it.
Where is your sense of adventure?
More fun than bobbing for apples in a toilet-
_NO!! I DON'T CARE IF YOU STERILIZED IT AND THOUGHT IT'D BE FUNNY AND A HOOT FOR THE PARTY!!!_
_...Don't make me revoke your frat card._
@@MechanicalFrog burned away in the flames
I fell in love with the Nova as a kid playing Mechwarrior 2. Turns out lots of medium lasers makes for good firepower especially with a pinpoint alpha strike. I insisted on playing every mission with it and even won one of my trials accidentally when I ran around the corner to see a mad dog. I panicked and tried to jump jet over it. Instead, my right foot caught the cockpit just right and I took out the pristine mech without firing a single shot. That sort of event has a way of cementing loyalty for a design.
Totally understand. The Nova was my favorite mech in MW2. My was modified with a 300XL engine, 6 jump jets, and Endo-Steel internal chassis. All the lasers were removed and replaced with 10 machineguns with 10 tons of ammo. My Nova can easily run up to an opponent mech, jump to its flank or rear, then open up with all 10 MGs and shred it to pieces while not have to worry about heat built-up from the non-stop weapon firing.
The Nova was actually the first mech I piloted in MWO. I unleashed the full Alpha Strike of Lasers without knowing about heat management. I overheated, obviously, and a whole lance of enemy mechs sent me to join Kerensky.
On another note, Mini Frog is a lucky kid, having such a cool dad. Good reading too, you can tell he gave his best. Keep being awesome, you two.
I don't know about cool but, I do what I can. :D
The Nova was my main from MechWarrior 2. You never forget your first love
17:30 great work MiniFrog! Is that your first professional reading? Keep it up, public speaking is an important skill and transferable to so many arenas. Hopefully we'll hear from you more often.
MiniFrog: Thank you!
First of all: well done mini-frog!
Secondly: this was the first mech I ever saw and the one that brought me into the game. I believe my first build was six med lasers, jump jets and AMS. I lost, it was glorious and I'm now a fan of the game. You always remember your first.
The Clans uncovered an ancient tome in their Star League Archives, from pre-Spaceflight Terra. It possessed within, the phrase: ‘Let him cook’.
They took this as an omen from Kerensky himself. And the Nova was their answer.
Hellbringer and Adder must have been spawned from this philosophy as well.
I love overheating with no checks for ammo explosions. That's why
Why not just have fun with it? :D
Riding the red line is always a good time.
It's funny, despite the Nova being an iconic mech used by many clans, it's actually only very rarely that I see them in the local classic and alpha strike games.
MiniFrog's narration was excellent and hopefully we'll hear more as he masters the craft.
The Nova: "You get a laser! And you get a laser! And you get a laser! Lasers for everybody!"
To borrow from Tex... it makes you wonder if Discount Dan opened a satellite site near Strana Mechty, and HH couldn't resist that kind of bargain on "surplus" lasers...
Why do I like the Nova? Cause it's fun ball of lights I can blind my enemies with. And I'm not even aiming at them!
Everyone enjoys a good light show.
The Nova prime is just classic, good movement, armor, and may blake help you if it decides to go all in! Great video, and well done to mini frog, he did great!
It's a solid one. MiniFrog: Thank you!
Absolutely flawless musical introduction for the Clan’s Most Violent Convection Oven.
Imma save that quote.
Bake until Mechwarrior is at the desired level of black and crispy!
Opening with a hard drum beat and electric guitar? That's what Battletech is about! More of this please.
"You see random Comstar pilot! With one press of a button I can turn my cockpit into an industrial grade oven!"
- Nova pilot probably, 3050, colorized
Everyone: It's better to burn out than to fade away!
Me: YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO ALTERNATE BETWEEN ARMS, YOU NUMBNUTS!!!
"Just don't fire them all at once!" What? I can't hear you over the awesomeness of this light show.
Use your arm groupings like a boxer is the advice I was told regarding the Nova.
Well, it's still a good knockout punch. And if you've got a good enough pilot skill, it might be worth the shutdown risk in a pinch.
In all seriousness, I've realized that the Nova was never meant to work alone (despite what clan doctrine would have you believe). If you have support, riding the heat curve suddenly is a lot less concerning.
@@strcmdrbookwyrm Nova was built with combined arms in mind. That could be why it's somewhat less Clan-like than other mechs.
There was a Solaris 1v1 duel tournament run at a local game store near me. It was unique in that there was no BV limit - "Heavy mechs or below, up to 3061, no experimental. Go nuts!"
I was scared that the Timberwolf TC or Bounty Hunter, almost 3k BV monsters that alot of people have models of, was going to be "the" meta.
I warned the TO about that, he said it'd be fine.
I chose not to be "that" guy, and instead of the top 3 highest BV mechs in the format I chose like #8. The Nova Prime, 2400 ish BV. I had my game plan written out - heat neutral at 7 lasers, one less if I jump, can go up to 9 without risking shutdown checks if I got a space to jump to and cool next turn.
I was the only dude who brought clan tech. The next highest BV unit was the Marauder Bounty Hunter, at 2050 BV. Lost against it first round, then had hard fought battles in the losers bracket to meet him again at the end of the tourney, otherwise undefeated. Dramatic final boss fight
I won fair and square, but I still feel dirty XD
That was an amazing fight, so don't feel dirty. In fact, I think that only made the victory at the end better. You basically lost and went through a whole training arc to reclaim your honor. XD
OMG mini Frog has a cameo cool
The Nova and Supernova are some of the most unique mech designs in BT lore.
Also: I wanted to comment that I've taken the "make the world a slightly better place" motto, and applied it to work... so: I work at Walmart. Yes, I know, but it's a job, okay? I support my team as best I can, distributing smiles and trying to make their jobs just a ... well, just a slight bit better. So thank you, MechFrog, for your influence and support.
So glad to hear it. We cannot make people be better but we can model the behavior we want to see in others.
@@MechanicalFrog Exactly my view. Thanks MF. I feel that minifrog is in good hands
Hey, my wife works at a Walmart. So there's no shame in my eyes. Just keep providing good service, do a good job, and I think you'll be doing your part well. (^^)b
My favorite config was a variation of the prime with 4 less lasers for 2 more heat sinks and a TC, Very well done Mini-frog in narration.
The Nova prime feels like one of those “heck, why not go all in” designs, and that makes it flawed but highly memorable
Reminds me a lot of the IS Hunchback laser disco config
@@MichaelJCaboose013 The Hunchback 4P and 5P carry enough heat sinks to make reasonable use of their 8 medium lasers.
They do not have the "ability" to shut themselves down with a single volley.
@hermes7587 true. I just get that "YOLO, alpha strike" vibe with the Hunchy, and the Nova is just that turned to 11.
My strongest memory of the Nova is the first mission you get it in Mechwarrior 2. I came up on the first target, an isolated mech. From the table top game, I knew you could fire all lasers, and instantly shut down. Since the target was isolated, I decided to kill it with an alpha strike, since I could recover from the shutdown afterwards. I'll never forget triggering that alpha strike and instantaneously exploding from the heat.
Great reading from the guest pilot!
Great job by mini frog. I’ve never had the chance to use a Nova. Now I look forward to it.
For me what's really interesting about the Nova is it's lore and how it's changed over the 40 odd years of the battletech setting's existence. It was originally basically built as a dedicated infantry support mech (A much needed role given the scarcity of tracked, wheeled, and hover vehicles for the clans that often take on that role in inner sphere or other periphiary forces in the setting) before some either genius or moron (which it qualifies as is probably going to be debated by the old battletech fans forever) got the idea midway through development "hey what if we could use it to rapidly transport infantry?"
Part of the genius of this is that this meant the original version of the Nova ended up being sort of a transitional step between conventional battlemechs and later omnimechs, in many ways benefitting from the inherent advantages of both designs such as the conventional battlemech's relative ease of finding parts for repairs and usually simpler geometry that makes repairs faster or the omnimech's ease of swapping out weapons and specialty equipment. The reason why most variants of it have an all small or medium laser armanent is specifically because these weapons are relatively short, compact, and easily changed out of pods but still offer a decent amount of damage right in the primary intended role of the original design; close support for clan infantry. Some variants of the Nova literally had fixed machine gun mounts in the side torsos as a primary infantry support weapon, even.
This was important, because the Nova went through a variety of designs in it's intended secondary role as an infantry carrier, before the creation of clan elemental suits pretty much turned that role into a dedicated power armored infantry carrier/ medium to close range laserboat. At one point it literally had infantry transport pods underslung on the arms and back, which is one reason why in the original art the arms and legs are so low to the ground, so the original version of the Nova could essentially bend forward or backward slightly, and deploy infantry from ramps that deployed from the armored transport pods. These transport pods also carried heatsinks for the mech itself and ammunition resupply specifically for the infantry that were supposed to be transported.
The mech was basically in universe a victim of the success of it's secondary capabilities, and other technological advances that substantially changed it's mission, role, and even overall design to the point it bore little resemblance to it's original self.
Thumbs up for the video and an extra 🌟for Mini Frog's very well done voice over.
Thank you kindly
Favourite Clan omni. Everyone talks about the Prime's alpha strike, but firing just the lasers on one arm is still more damage than most mechs and easily managed by the heatsinks. Moreover, if and when you lose one arm you're still fighting at 100% sustainable damage output.
A force of Prime, A, and S Novas makes for a scary shell game for the opponent.
I fell in love with the Nova back in the 90s with Mechwarrior 2. That low & wide profile was almost as good as extra armor, since you could evade plenty of shots. In the old PC games when MFBs & refits were a fantasy, the laser loadout was dependable.
I ran one at a home table game more than once. After the first time, I dropped 3 of the ERML and dropped in 2 more heatsinks. With the addition of a targeting computer, I became a bane of anything I could get the side of or behind. Only time I lost equal weight was against a hunchback that rolled boxcars on the big AC/20 at it's max range. I couldn't even complain. He needed a 12 and got it twice. Karma can be like that sometimes.
Nothing is more glorious than a Nova Prime Alpha Strike! Why is it called a Nova? Cause it glows brighter than the sun when it Alpha Strikes.
I love this thing. I have been on the receiving end more than not, but it’s always fun to see it.
The Nova C reads to me as the "Trial" configuration. Its time for your Trial of Position or Bloodname and your a Nova pilot, this is for you.
I don't play MWO too often these days, but my twin LPL Nova can be a nasty little bugger. I LOVE the Blackhawk KU, too.
Thanks for doing my ride justice Frog! I cannot express how floored I was when I found my canon character entry inside ilclan rec guide volume 14. The first mech I ever piloted when I was first exposed to MechWarrior 2 way back when I was in 8th grade, and its held a place in my heart and TOE ever since. I love the Prime and the A configs, and also have fun with my custom: an ATM 9, and an ER PPC with capacitor.
Happy to give the Nova some love.
My campaign group ran into two of the damned things yesterday on the tabletop. Luckily for us we head clipped the prime before it could get a chance to do too much damage. The Gauss rifle variant was another story. It stayed back and tried to use its TC to target specific areas. Luckily it missed more than it hit attacking with that method.
Most mechs glow when viewed in thermal. Some mechs glow in NODs. The Nova just glows in visual because it's that hot. To be fair, I pick on the Black Hawk Prime, but when I have to play Clans I use a Prime variant with the left arm carrying an ERPPC so you jab with the left at range, and hook with the right up close. Clantech PPC is an energy based gauss, same way the IS PPC is an AC/10 equivalent. Or hunt BA with half the ERMLs replaced with small pulses. I like where they were going with the T, but they went all out, rather than half regular ERMLs and half chemical MLs
I recently went through and made “fixed” versions of the Nova’s standard variants (aimed at keeping their intended roles and similar weaponry loadouts) that would seek to make them a bit more balanced and effective. My Nova builds are down below, note that I followed the rules with not changing the armor, structure, engine, or any fixed equipment:
*Nova Prime - FIXED*
22 Double Heat Sinks
ER Medium Laser x6 (LA/RA)
ER Medium Laser x2 (LT/RT)
*Nova A - FIXED*
15 DHS
Large Pulse Laser x2 (LA/RA)
Small Pulse Laser (CT)
Medium Pulse Laser (HD)
*Nova B - FIXED*
14 DHS
ER PPC (LA)
Ultra AC/5 (RA)
- 1 ton of ammo (20 shots, RA)
Medium Pulse Laser (HD)
*Nova C - FIXED*
14 DHS
LB10-X AC (LA)
- 1 ton regular, 1 ton cluster ammo (20 shots total, LA)
SRM6 (RA)
- 1 ton of ammo (RA)
Flamer (CT)
ER Medium Laser (HD)
*Nova D - FIXED*
15 DHS
ER PPC (LA)
LRM15 (RA)
- Artemis IV FCS (RA)
- 2 tons of Artemis-capable ammo (RT)
ER Medium Laser x2 (LT/RT)
Flamer (HD)
*Nova S - FIXED*
15 DHS
Medium Pulse Laser x6 (LA/RA)
Flamer x2 (LT/RT)
ECM Suite (CT)
Active Probe (HD)
This kinda thing is, of course, likely to not really vibe with some people, but feedback would be appreciated as far as the design goes. My personal favorite is the A-variant redesign.
These seem alright, though they aren't quite as good battle armor carriers thanks to all the side torso weapons. Still, if I were given a Nova I'd definitely be rocking something similar to your A config. Honestly, I'm surprised that the restraint on Pulse Lasers though. For a mech that loves boating energy weapons, the only Nova to boat Pulse lasers is the S.
Also, what would your take on the E, H, and L configs be? I don't know what I'd do for the L, but for the H, if I'm trying to keep the same role, I'd pull 3 Heavy Mediums from each arm and 2 of the Double Heat Sinks to add two Medium Pulse Lasers to each arm. While it looses a chunk of firepower, it gains some accuracy and can jump and alpha without any penalties. I'd say it's more effective without going overboard.
@@strcmdrbookwyrm while a few of them wouldn’t be as good for BA carriers, they still all retain the majority of their firepower in their arms, but now if they were to lose an arm, it wouldn’t be exactly half their firepower. Also, CT and HD weapons are actually not blocked by Elementals riding the mech, only LT/RT ones, so that’s gonna help several of these.
As far as the E, H, and L, I’ve not messed with those, largely due to my unfamiliarity with that spot in the timeline (I have always avoided that area cuz of the WoB “event” and such, I just did not like the direction that was taken with the story and some of the weapons got kinda complex), but I can give those a shot, lemme get back to you on that.
Edit: also, on the Pulse Lasers, while I am absolutely a fan of Clan tech Pulse Lasers, many of the standard variants didn’t really use them, and I was trying not to limit their range too much in order to prevent them from being too much of a knife-fighter. The Nova isn’t a pushover on armor, but it’s still only a 50-tonner. The engagement range advantage plus a good pilot would help mitigate the majority lacking Pulse Lasers. On top of those reasons, it was about tonnage and having a tad more firepower. Pulse Lasers are most effective on Heavies in my opinion, the pod space just allows them to shine the best, though platforms like the Stormcrow are fairly viable for boating some Mediums.
@@strcmdrbookwyrm okay, tried to do those 3 variants some justice. The E was probably the hardest to feel “right” about, considering it’s a fairly good build, though it can be argued that the ammo is over the top, so as a result I actually made 3 versions that I’ll detail below. The H was tough cuz of criticals and it’s not heat neutral (though if you run or just don’t jump more than 2, you’ll be perfectly in the heat limit), and the L was just strange because the Plasma Cannons are a bit heavier than I thought they’d be, so I ended up taking a swing at a v2 and v3 for that as well.
*Nova E - FIXED*
14 DHS
Medium Pulse Laser x3 (LA)
Medium Pulse Laser (HD)
ATM9 (RA)
- 1 ton of each ammo type (21 shots total, 7 per type, RA)
*Nova E - FIXED v2*
16 DHS
ER Medium Laser x3 (LA)
ER Medium Laser (HD)
ATM12 (RA)
- 1 ton of each ammo type (15 shots total, 5 per type, RA)
*Nova E - FIXED v3*
16 DHS
ER Medium Laser x3 (LA)
ER Medium Laser (HD)
ER Small Laser x2 (LT/RT)
ATM9 (RA)
- 1 ton of each ammo type (21 shots total, 7 per type, RA)
Targeting Computer (CT)
*Nova H - FIXED*
22 DHS
Heavy Medium Laser x6 (LA/RA)
Targeting Computer (RT)
*Nova L - FIXED*
18 DHS
ER Medium Laser x4 (LA/RA)
ER Medium Laser x2 (LT/RT)
Plasma Cannon (CT)
- 1 ton of ammo (LT)
Targeting Computer (RT)
*Nova L - FIXED v2*
16 DHS
ER Medium Laser x4 (LA/RA)
Plasma Cannon x2 (CT/HD)
- 2 tons of ammo (LT/RT)
Targeting Computer (RT)
*Nova L - FIXED v3*
16 DHS
ER Small Laser x8 (LA/RA)
Plasma Cannon x2 (CT/HD)
- 2 tons of ammo (LT/RT)
Targeting Computer (RT)
Hit me with any feedback you have, or if you need any explanation why I did something for a particular variant :)
I like the Nova. It's fun stomping around and lighting up targets with a bunch of lasers, even if it makes for a toasty time, lol. Tell Mini-Frog he did an awesome job with his voice work and we hope to hear more from him in the future! Thanks for the informative video and stay safe out there!
i love the Nova because Clan ER Medium Lasers are fun
Minifrog! Good cameo :)
Thanks! 😄
One of my favourite medium mechs, and I love medium mechs, so that's high praise coming from me! The Prime, Config A, and Config S are the best IMO. As for my own config, a small tweak of the prime is my go-to rebuild:
- Remove 4 lasers, leaving it with 8 ER Medium Lasers in total,
- Add a targeting computer
- add 2 additional heatsinks, bringing the total to 20
It's heat neutral when alpha striking at a standstill (or on the move with the advanced ruleset), and the targeting computer helps put the two thirds of the original's firepower to more efficient use. A good refit for longer duration missions where stamina is more of an issue.
There's nothing quite like seeing a mech for the first time, and then dying inside as you watch half your mech disappear in one hit-
Mini-Frog did a great job!
Having had surgery for a torn retina, I am not going anywhere without that respirator!
Thank you.
A fun homebrew for the Nova is to mix the Prime and D versions. 5 ER Medium lasers, LRM-20 w/Artemis IV, 2 tons of ammo, and 2 extra Heat Sinks always made for a good mix in the invasion era
Ah, the original "taste the rainbow" "discoball of death"
Imagine it using 4 Disco Lasers or 4 med rotary chem lasers...
Party and heats up targets too.😊
@@keebbles Hang on.... ROTARY chemcal lasers? Is that an actual thing? Crud, maybe I can't fully write off the chems.
@bthsr7113 found in game on periphery. Disabled a Party truck and got the Disco lasers.
Next mission two nasty vtols with rotary chem lasers.
Bought the large and small rotary chem lasers from the faction store.
Was periphery allied temp with Tortuga.
Configuration I is one of those configurations where one of the pluses is that it is easy enough to build a mini representing it with readily available IWM pieces, those being a spare PPC arm and a Nova H base mini.
@0:16 there was a Nova in Borderlands? Also, this is only mildly related, but in Mechwarrior 3, i stripped down a SuperNova, and gave it 6 CERPPCs. I Alpha Striked durring a mission, and Crashed to Desktop. EDIT: Man. To'Kasha's (SP?) atmosphere has all the side effects of getting punched in the face. EDIT: Your Air Compressor neighbor is working on his mini backlog.
My favourite ride from Mechwarrior 2. Used it for all of my trials of position save the last ❤
In the classic rules, Target Interlock Circuit rules, ie group fire, you roll separately for each weapon. I’d house rule it, so if the group fire weapon is a direct fire, same class and in the same location, then it hits the one location like in the Mechwarrior games. Yes it means a Nova group firing 6 er-med lasers will hit one location, because that’s what it’s designed to do.
The thing about the Nova that always got me was that design with the chicken walker legs and the low torso and how there is no way that those joints wouldn't keep crashing into the arms/body when it would run and gun in a firefight. Granted it's not the only mech with this kind of weird design situation of low hanging limbs that would interfere with the legs (looking at you, Timberwolf) but the Nova was kind of on the extreme edge of this.
The Nova Prime: The only Clan omnimech with the dubious honor of being outperformed by its Inner Sphere counterpart, the Black Hawk-KU, whose shorter range and less damaging lasers it can fire much more frequently due to their lower heat burden.
Let's go, MiniFrog! Great job!
Though to be fair, the PRIME would be just as scary if you swapped the ER Mediums with Inner Sphere standard versions. It can handle the heat of an alpha strike without penalty if it doesn't move.
The Nova S quickly became one of my favorite clan mechs when I played an Escalation league this last spring. 6 medium pulses would rip apart most light and medium mechs while still remaining a threat to anything larger than itself. The jump jets worked to keep the mech out of striking distance of anything too big for it to safely engage.
Nova was one of the first clan mech i played. 14-year-old me just loved all those lasers.
A solid pick.
My favorite config for the Nova was a modification of the A, the two ER PPCs + two ER medium lasers + 2 extra heat sinks (though sometimes I'd swap one of the extra heat sinks for a pair of ER small lasers if there was a higher chance of short range wrasslin').
Nova is amazing in Mechwarrior 5 Clans. The Prime variant with the ER medium lasers replaced with ER small lasers is devastating. In that game, the ER small lasers are crazy overpowered. They only do slightly less damage than mediums, but have a quicker recharge rate, and can shoot over 600 meters. I don't know what the devs were thinking.
We played it with Medium Pulse Lasers and it ate faces.
That beast summarizes the Clan's early combat style: Unload a massive Alpha Strike, hopefully kill the target, then spend the next few turns cooling down and restarting the 'mech.. The Prime config. can flatten nearly any target in one shot.
I forget this thing all the time for flashier mechs and then remember my unbridled love for the thing.
Its such a good workhorse, both in the MW2 computer game and tabletop+cardgame.
Also! Good job, mini-frog!
the Nova was my baby in MWO and i always mod it into other BT games like MW5/HBS BT cause its gotta be there with me piloting it.
The Nova Prime is a bit like the Hunchback. Regardless of if you like it or not, you've got to pay attention to it and the threat it poses. Yes, an alpha strike from one might cripple the Nova for a turn, if it's done at the right time and at the right target, it can change the course of a battle.
Nova designer- how many medium lasers ?
Clan Warrior case- all of them
Yes... Every one of them.
Nova Prime and H are dangerous, but the A and E have to be the best all around variants that can handle many dangerous roles.
The U Variant was obviously designed to repel boarders on WarShips, JumpShips, and Space Stations.
I really like the Nova MF. It's the kind of do anything trooper medium mech I prefer. Good job.
Was exposed to the nova in MW2, and was a bit of a shock. Playing IS all my life I was happy to see the clans were also terrible at heat management.
The Nova prime is the kind of mech to make you scratch your head. Then you remember it was meant to carry battle armor into combat, and it makes more sense. It can soften up enemy Elementals for its own to finish off, ward off enemy battlemechs from interfering in what its elementals are doing (nobody wants to be alpha strike’d by a Nova), and in general be annoying as hell to deal with in close.
I had that realization too. It also makes Alpha Striking a bit less risky for the Nova too, as the Elementals can cover the Nova while it takes a turn to cool down.
Mini frog narrator was a nice twist. MF config looks fun. Im gonna have my group get frog raided. I may even paint them one day. Gonna be fun.
Thanks a lot!
12:03 16 tons of Pod Space and the C config. You have to ask whomever was designing the original 16 back in 1989-1990, in why they put a SPL and SRM4 as 'backup weapons' but with those 16 tons, the Nova could mirror the Kit Fox's (and visa versa) more successful configurations, in this case, the Kit Fox A.
Nice!! Great video and love mini frog appreance! Well done mini frog....well done
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks a lot.
That intro went hard today Frog!! Great video as usual 👌
As a fan of combine arms any mech design with that in mind is a plus in my book.
There's benefit in going all arms on the omnis. Namely you don't have to hold fire while Elementals cling to your torso sections.
I'll say it. I'm not a fan of inaccurate weapons, heavy lasers included. Targeting computers plus pulse lasers for the forever win ;-)
MiniFrog voiceover is adorable!!
I don't really like lasers that explode.
@@MechanicalFrog No, neither do I. There's enough trouble with internal shots without introducing MORE. You might say it's a ... kerfuffle! :D
My MWO Nova for a while was a 12xERSL brawler. Saved tonnage went towards both DHS and a large TC. With the TC and quirks I could get around standard medium laser range, which was enough as long as you timed your strikes. If I made it to late game it would clean up most fights.
Mini Frog's first appearance! Make sure that he did a good job, and that I hope to hear more from him in the future.
I think the Nova is interesting because it's actually a good base for an omni-mech. It has decent mobility, armor, and pod space, so it can fit almost any role. It just tends to go all in on whatever roll it chooses. I also learned that it's a good transport for battle armor, which isn't something I'd thought about.
I think my favorite non-prime configuration is the E configuration. It can use it's ATM 12 well, thanks to all that ammo, still has a respectable punch if it runs out of ammo, and is still a good option to carry and work with battle armor. The only real fault of the E config is that it's slightly oversinked, but to me it's an acceptable amount of oversinking.
One thing I'm wondering is why no one has tried swapping the ER Medium Lasers for a Inner Sphere Standard Lasers? I did the math, the heat sinks could handle an alpha strike. ...as long as you stood still. I think it's what the T config was going for, but they didn't want to touch "primitive inner sphere lasers."
I'm sure he will want to appear again.
The power of the sun, in the palm of your hand. Or where your hand used to be. And the rest. And the mech.
A very brief star.
No plasma? Mini-Frog, wink twice if you need to be rescued!
Always had fun with my own custom 3070 refit. 12 Clan Improved Heavy Small Lasers, 5 Jump Jets, a Mark 2 Targeting Computer, 16 Double Heat Sinks, 250 Clan XL Engine, Clan Ferro-Fiborous armor, Clan ECM and a Void Signature System. Go stealth, pick your targets, run up behind them, alpha strike them in the rear CT and then run away while the downed pilot's friends try to figure out what happened. Perfect for reconnaissance, sabotage, hit and run, assassination and escort duty.
Literally my #1 favorite mech, what a treat
As for my custom config back in my Mechwarrior 3 days I use an imitation of the Black Hawk KU prime to great effect. you could walk the fire onto the target with the pulse lasers and then fire the ER's when your on target.
Fun bit of lore: the Supernova is actually an older design than the Nova. The Nova omnimech is descended from the assault battlemech.
I would be remiss in not mentioning Diamond Shark Ace Enders, who used a Nova-A to win the rank of Star Captain, taking it with him to compete for his bloodname. When the pulse laser was damaged in the grand melee and the Burrocks were intransigent in letting him replace it, he and his tech acquired two additional DHS instead, a modification that served him well until his superiors insisted he piloted something heavier, since he was now assigned to an Assault Cluster. His choice of a Stormcrow was probably not what they had in mind.
The Nova prime looked at a HPK-4P and said, "hold my beer.."
"Listen, MechWarrior... We can either repair the A Variant arm pods for the Star Colonel's Timber Wolf, or the A pods for your Nova. You can guess which one the Star Colonel picked. If you want that damage at range, you're stuck with the B Variant. So which is it, MechWarrior? The Prime, or the B?" - The fed up 'Mech tech.
If I needed range, I'd take the B. While the B isn't outstanding, it does have the distinction of being one of only two configs that use pulse lasers effectively. And while there are five total configurations that mount pulse lasers, about half the time it's only one. I'm honestly that we don't have a version of the A config but with Large Pulse lasers.
Here me out pull 4 heatsinks the ER mediums and exploit the combat computer quirk and rock 8 medium pulse lasers to make most mechs regret facing it
Would be an insane light hunter
*screams from S configuration*
Rename it from the Nova to the Pulsar, make Scout mechs cry.
24:32 that’s the problem I have with streak missiles. the excess ammo tends to explode in my experience.
YES! My number one favorite mech!
I still love the Prime config. You can't improve upon perfection ;)
Mini-Mechanical Frog is great! May I suggest that, when you are featuring contesting points-of-view on a mech variant, that each of you vocalize a side.
Noted!
I love this mech, I replace all the weapons with standard IS medium lasers just to cut down on heatsinks for a larger engine or jumpjets.
This also means replacement lasers are easier to get.
I approve the intro music.
Personally, Bill McClintock "Burn" fits very well too
We needed something rockin for the light show.
Mine was just a rental so I had to have the funk groove
Nice video, probably my favorite this far of the OmniMechs (except maybe the Timber Wolf). I really love the Nova it’s one of those that (to me anyway) has aged well, and remained relevant.
Favorite config would be the Prime, though not going to lie when I was way younger totally did an alpha strike and admittedly smoked my opponent but the after effects wasn’t great!
Nice job to Mini Frog, can tell he worked on it.
Thank you!
Completely agree with you about the TSEMP cannon. It's the one piece of tech my group doesn't allow
First off, thank you for talking about the Nova. I have run this Mech since the release of Mechwarrior 2, and haven't looked back. On the tabletop, I have been defeated a total of ONCE while operating it, and I have fought A LOT with it.
The Prime is generally my go-to, and it has eliminated targets much larger than itself. Though, I am one of those crazies who like the H variant and, of course, the solid S variant. In all cases, it is always accompanied by Battle Armor, as this was the units intended purpose.
More often than not, the Nova is my largest unit in a force, being accompanied by faster Lights, tanks, and battle armor. It is only recently that the Loki II (Prime) has been added to my rotation, becoming the largest Mech in my forces - but with a Nova (Prime) alongside it.
Lastly, I would like to thank you for your...somewhat...nod to Clan Hells Horses. The fiction likes to portray us as the keystone cops of the Battletech universe, but things change when anyone ACTUALLY faces us on the battlefield. I have ben the target of a lot of Ghost Bear, Inner Sphere, and Jade Falcon smack talk...until someone wants to roll dice. Then things get reeeaaally quiet.
Thanks for all you do.
And may I say, hearing Mechanical Tadpole read a section filled me with a little pride. Always a good sign to see another generation carry on the tradition.
Though my preferred clan is the Ghost Bears, I don't think Hell's Horses gets enough credit. Despite the lore sneering down at them, they've managed to persist relatively unchanged throughout the years, at least when compared to the other clans. They also have some nasty mechs on their side, and even manage to make quad mechs look scary. I personally have a soft spot for the Balius, as it's blatantly horse features have gotten her interesting in playing. (Though I do think the Doom Courser is a better mech overall, and one of the best quads out there).
I think the Nova H is a bit over the top, I think if you mashed the H and S configs together you could get something very terrifying. I once tried the Heavy over Pulse combo on one of the Incubus variants, and I've loved the combo ever since. Might be something worth trying on the Nova.
Oh!
A Mini-Frog cameo
Love it.
More!
The first clan mech I piloted in MWO. Always looked down by owners of a MadCat but this baby has the great looks and some firepower behind it. Plus that mobility with good speed and jump jets. Good thing clans arent around in the campaing for another year cause I would have to paint a star of these buggers. Cheers nice vid. If Minifrog recorded that in one take then hes got some future in this industry xD
I myself have used both Prime and Alt. Config A. A being my personal favorite.
Give Mini-Frog a fist bump from he, he did a great job with that quote!
Will do. Thank you.
The H was probably popular in the same way the HBK II C was, take it into a trial, establish range, then pull the ripcord and either you punch out their body cork or you're done for.
Mini frog stole the show for me! He did an awesome job and i can only hope I can have a son to share my battletech with once i become a father as well
A noble goal. Someone has to play Battletech once we're all gone.