Yeah, its current art on Sarna looks like it's leveling its hatchet in a challenge to call someone out while bringing its guns to bear in the same moment. I recall first finding the Scarbus on Sarna and being very impressed with how vicious it seemed.
Fun Fact: in BattleTech's sister franchise, Shadowrun, the Nightsky is a model of limousine. I don't recall if there were any accounts of the prime runner street samurai Hatchetman ever riding in one, but given that they're often used by high end corporate executives (both the limo and the runner), it seems likely to have happened at some point. (Defiance is in Shadowrun as well, making small arms like shotguns and tasers.)
Defiance T series shotguns continue to be a favorite of mine to this day. Nothing like getting an affordable, manufacturer-approved shorty stock shotty that fits into a cyberlimb compartment or nearly any drone of your choice. (I am a much bigger fan of Shadowrun than BattleTech)
Ah yes, a personal favorite. If you want to make a hatchetman good, you simply upgun the engine and up armor it by dropping the autocannon for a large laser. You can turn a basic 4/6/4 glass cannon into a rapidly approaching 5/8/5 jumping nightmare. That said, if you want to make it even scarier, give it Tsm. 19 DAMAGE PER SWING, WHICH POTENTIALLY CAN EVEN SWING TWICE.
The AC10 is a great weapon on those closing ranges, but you sacrifice so much damn weight for it being there on a 45t mech. If it was a 60t mech it'd still be worth keeping it there. But on a close range specialist lighter end of the medium bracket, you may as well keep that specialisation and just look at what you 'can do' to get him in range with the superbonker as fast and unscathed as possible. Course if you can't leave home without a blaster, an LB-X 5 is quite a good all-rounder which is much lighter Overall the Nightsky was quite a bit more workable and resilient than the Hatchetman, I'm just surprised no one put out a Supercharger version so you can go full 50tonnes, 50IQ trunk-monkey on people :)
Love this doofus. The Hatchetman and Axman were designed with the hatchet as a backup weapon, which is why they have guns on the hatchet arm that impede hatchet use. Nightsky was the first mech to say, "actually melee is bad ass, what if we designed a mech specifically to deliver hatchets to clanner heads?"
I think it’s fairly clear that the Hatchetman is heavily weighed down by the AC-10. It’s speed is fine for the era it was built, but if you take out the autocannon and its ammo, you can max the armor, get a large laser, a medium laser, and a few heatsinks. You lose 2 damage at your longest range, but you get much more survivability and longevity in the form of armor and no longer being able to be ammo exploded.
I know why I love the Nightsky. It's the hatchet mech done right. Make it fast, give it a hatchet. Simple. Hatchetman and Axman don't really commit or optimize the concept. The Charger is close, but no hatchet, and it was meant to be a really heavy recon mech. Even the Black Knight, cool as the Clanbuster variant is, is an improvised solution. Nightsky is the first to commit fully to the concept. I notice Calgary's Battletech community has a lot of teams favoring the Nightsky too.
The nightsky is a great mech, and its actually in the command lance of my anti-clan merc battalion. Love the pulse lasers. In one of my games with it, while engaging with blakists he was junping around, doing his thing, somehow not overheating at all even with my constant alpha striking. He got some good hatchet hits in, but later he got crippled by a wolverine, losing a leg. Despite this, he managed ro not die for the rest of the game.
@@MechanicalFrog indeed (I just edited in a story of you want to come back and read it). I also found it funny that you didn't use the new art at all... but I gotta say, I hope they give that OG art another go with the new model. It does have some swagger
Sweet. The reason I didn't use the new art is that I didn't have access to a good resolution shot of it. It's just the little picture in the RecGuide pdf.
Defiance Industries in the ilClan Era is actually able to make Clan-grade Extralight fusion engines, along with a number of other Clan-grade components such as Clan-grade ER Medium and Large Lasers and Clan-Grade LRM-5 and LRM-15 Launchers (so yes, that's Clan ER Medium Lasers from an Inner Sphere manufacturer, terrifying). This has led to some monstrous new Atlas and Zeus variants, along with others like the Nightsky-7S. There's no Sea Fox dependency there! Similarly, the Free Worlds League's Technicron Manufacturing can now make Clan-grade Double Heat Sinks and Endo Steel, which they use for a powerful new Awesome variant, the AWS-11H, with 3 Heavy PPCs. The FWL is still dependent on Clan Sea Fox for Juliano parts, though, iirc. I believe GM might have some Clan-spec/Clan-grade manufacturing in the Federated Suns, but I can't find the details.
@@MechanicalFrog it's mixed. Their Hesperus II factories were hammered by the Wolf/Jade Falcon invasion, and Defiance Industries was severely disrupted with the whole fiasco over their CEO, Duke Vedet Brewer, seizing the Archonship and then fleeing in 3143 (George Dyson is the current CEO). On the other hand, damage to the facilities themselves on Hesperus II was limited, and their Furillo lines are running at full steam and expanding, so they're still in a pretty strong position.
Fed suns GM can produce some clan tech spec weapons and equipment in the ilclan era but due to the fall of new Avalon to the kuritans fairly reliant to clan sea fox for weapons and equipment.
I first saw the night sky in the Kell Hounds Striker Lance Force Pack. As an Alpha Strike player, as soon as I read the card, I fell in love. I'm glad to see it is just as enjoyable in classic.
The 6t is a very dangerous mech in alpha strike, I have use it to crack open, a vanquisher, 2 stone Rhinos, and one annihilator. No one pay attention to it, aloud it to flank in to the rear arch and proceeded to hit with 5 damage every turn. Second house steiner inherited the archroyal defense corridor when wolf in exile fled and the falcons left for terra. So they inherited the wolf factories and are making clan tech.
With a name like Nightsky, I'd love to make a stealth variant. Use clan spec components to make room for an ECM, use stealth armor, inspire nightmares with a lance of these.
My own mod of the mech when it first came out, was simply to drop the small pulse laser on the 4S and add a ton of armor. The added durability is nice, and you only build up heat if you jump. Pair a 4S with a Hunchback 6S and you have a powerful striker combo. The Nightsky chases lighter faster targets, while the Hunchback cracks open slower more heavily armored targets. Throw in a Griffin 3M for the LRMs and a Firestarter omni for mission specific loadout, and you have a well-rounded mobile medium lance. As a small criticism of the MF Variant: max armor capacity of a 50-ton mech is 169. 10.5 tons of armor gives you 168. The extra half-ton of armor only gives you 1 point of armor. There may be more efficient ways of using the weight. 2 IS medium pulse lasers have the same tonnage heat and damage output as 4 IS small pulse lasers The difference is that medium pulse lasers have double the range. Unless you're concerned with anti-infantry operations or just want more damage groups at the cost of range, the 2 medium pulses will serve you better. Overall, it still looks like a fun variant. One of the first times I used the Nightsky, I managed to get on the rear of an Atlas, the laser fire didn't penetrate the back armor, but the follow up with the hatchet penetrated weakened rear torso armor a detonated AC 20 ammo. it's a good day when you can take out a 100-ton mech with one half its weight.
The NightSky is everything I love about Battletech aesthetics; it manages to look impossibly awkward and goofy but still somehow like it'll mess you up in less than a minute. I quite like the MF variant, it fits in with the good variants very well. Also, original OstSol art might come close to the NightSky's swag, as well as the original Caesar art. The three look like they'd be strutting around the boardwalk, looking for trouble.
Its not a Nightsky, but my personal favorite melee story involved playing a game against my friend who I had been teaching how to play Battletech for a while. He had an Axman 3S and I had a Banshee 5S. My rolls for the Banshee had been terrible overall and things eventually closed into melee range. I made the stupid mistake of underestimating how much damage that hatchet could do and willing got into melee, thinking that I could punch the Axman down, but sure enough my poor rolls bit me in the ass, while my friends Axman got a hit on my Banshee's head with its hatchet, killing it instantly. Despite that, it was such a hype moment I couldnt even be mad and we ended up high fiving when it happened, plus it was mitigated later when I blew up his Warhawk Prime :p
Yeah this is a mech that deserves the swagger. You just see it come on the field and you know the party’s about to start. Many a game with a Nightsky watching that hatchet do it’s work would bring a wide smile to me. Man I like that TSM variant.
i LOVE the Nightsky and always feel like I do well with one in my games. Its just such a solid performer. I do prefer the 4S version though but thats due to me being a stickler for the accuracy boost. The jump jets are what really sell this mech to me. It can move very well no matter the terrain and close on a target fast, making that lack of armor not that much of a big deal. A variant that is simply the 4S but with clan grade weapons would be absolutely vicious for my personal use
I actually have a custom mech story, the mech in question called the Mad Axe, it's mercenary built 100 ton tripod mech with TSM and two hatchets for those that can wield both of them proficiently along with 5 clan ER-M-Lasers, a 100 rated engine but with mechanical jump boosters and partial wing to go 1/2 and 9 jump, it's main purpose is to heat up, jump to range, and cleave enemies with both hatchets while ranking damage The game I first brought the mad axe into was against a Wolverine, Griffin, and hornet (I don't remember the exact enemy composition) while I had my mad axe and another of my custom mechs the badger, a claw mech. We had forgotten the limits on melee attacks though. Badger was taken out quick by a engine meltdown but took another mech with it while damaging another, while the last 2 were against the mad axe, it was a blood bath as they couldn't meaningfully escape the movement of the mad axe and it hacked them to pieces, against the Griffin the first time it brought it's one hatchet it hit the CT for 40 damage which destroyed it instantly. The last mech escaped but was badly damaged while the mad axe wasn't meaningfully damaged in turn. In general it was a good first time show and the next variant I played did just as well, again forgetting the limits but whatever.
Ya, imagine a 100ton mech jumping 9 hexes to hit you with 80 total damage from both hatchets while shrugging off your attacks in return, later variants have hardened armor and a huge amount, while one is supposed to have proto TSM , but meklab doesn't have that option even if I set the time exactly within the specified years, in general all variants had relatively low BV
My hatchet story- Many years ago the rules did NOT state that you couldn't use 2 hatchets in the same turn. It only stated that you can't use both a ranged weapon attack and a physical attack from the same arm. Naturally I put a Hatchet in both arms of a Berserker and 3XMyomer. With the 3Xmyomer heated up that was two hatchets doing 40 points of damage EACH during a turn. That's why my old player groups play canon variants only now. That's also why the rules were amended to allow only 1 hatchet attack per turn. Sorry . 😂
There's just something special about seeing your oppents eyes widen as they realize the last two turns of careful, tactical moves trying to anticipate the most worthwhile firing angle no longer matters because he is about to get hit with a giant beating stick😂
First time i played my nightsky I had to tangle with a Hunchback. Managed to avoided the big gun until I had the initiative then i rushed in alpha strike with all weapons and bearied the hatchet in his mechs center torso got a critical into his gyro and finished him of the nexy turn with a hatchet to the head.
Did anyone else spend the first nine minutes of the video waiting for a variant with Triple-Strength Myomer? It's a melee BattleMech with energy weapons that runs hot, all the other variants are sorely missing it.
The true outdoor activity of choice in Lyran space: Having a cordial family picnic within spitting distance of the local heavy industrial manufacturing plant. And yes, the 5S always needs a stern talking-to and a good deal of finger wagging. Maybe even a dunce cap for extra pedagogical humiliation.
I was running the BL-9-KNT with some other comstar forces against some clan interlopers. I put the black knight right up next to an overextended yet undamaged gosshawk. One hatchet hit to the head later and the gosshawk crumpled under the sheer power of the black knight. I cannot believe the sheer magnitude of boxcars that come up on hit rolls in games i play lol
Ah The Nightsky my old enemy, you misshapen brawler. I want to love you like all meele equipped Battlemechs. But the Placement of your Hatchet is so uncanny valley for me that I always shudder in disgust. Love the video Mech frog
Heya Frog. Ah, the NightSky. For me, a true successor of the Hatchetman. I did get to use NightSkys 'back in the day', playing on tabletops, using the 'old school' rules and manner of play. I did fairly well with them, and had a preference for the NGS-5T. Although, I would modify it a bit. Changing the internal structure to Endo-Steel and 'losing' the small laser, freed up enough weight to max out the armor (1.5 tons) and allow the addition of a 3rd Medium Pulse Laser in the Head. I then added TSM to the Mech design when I saw there was more than enough critical slots remaining. The ER-PPC of the 5T variant allows the Mech to have a much-needed long range firing option as it closes upon its target. 10 IS-DSHS do well in allowing the Mech to move and fire, even if using jump jets. The trio of Medium Pulse Lasers usually allow for a further weakening of enemy armor as the Mech closes to CQB (Close Quarters Combat) range. In one battle that comes easily to mind and memory, my NightSky jumped from heavy forest and performed a 'snapshot' of the PPC at an enemy Griffin's rear armor, scoring a direct hit to the center torso. This ate away the armor there and caused some internal damage and a single critical that failed. The enemy got the initiative and spun to confront my Mech. He failed to hit with both the PPC and LRM-10 rack, and my NightSky charged into CQC. All three MPLs hit, and then the hatchet swung down upon his Mech. What my opponent had NOT expected was a 'modified' NightSky. So, not only having 'maxed' armor, and 3 MPLs, it also had TSM. So, what would have been a 10-point hit of the hatchet was modified by the TSM to do 20. What made it so 'special' was that all 3 MPLs had hit the center torso, and was followed by the hatchet strike to the same location (yeah, VERY rare occurrence, I know). Basically, the Griffin's torso just 'folded' inwards and crushed the Engine, leaving my NightSky to pry out the hatchet and turn to the next enemy Mech... A Locust, that took one look, and did a 'NOPE!' and ran from the battlefield as fast as its little legs to carry it. Seeing that the Locust was near a map edge, I did not get a 'back shot' as it fled. I wished I could have. A PPC shot to any of the torso locations in the rear would have basically eviscerated the Locust. Ah, well... The 'one-shot' kill on the Griffin was amazing enough, it would have been pressing my already good luck to have a 'one-shot' kill on the Locust as well. My opponent though, after the battle, looked at the map and wondered if I would have made the shot anyway. So, we measured the range, and I rolled... Bang... center torso hit of an ER PPC to a Locust. Enough damage to insure at least one critical hit, and possibly more. He laughed and said he was going to get a NightSky for his one forces (He did, but never really got the 'hang' of hatchet combat, or the cunning needed to set yourself up for such an 'ambush' to make it work well for you). Ah, the memories. :)
Damn I wish more people near me loved battletech the way you do. I have a modified campaign version I created that I'm dying to play. Basically, it's all the normal rules of battletech but with a strategic layer to including logistics and economics.
Got one of these in a recent specialty lance at barnes and noble. My first thought was: "another hatchetman?". My thought after using it was: "I can work with this..."
I run a merc company mainly focused around the dark age and one of my favorite mechs in the Banshee. So when I discovered that the Banshee 8s was a thing i was all onboard. 4/6 movement from an assault mech with a hatchet is pretty good but then throw in TSM, a snub nose PPC, an ECM and enough lasers to melt the mech if you decide to alpha strike and wrap that in 18 tons of armor and now you got a party. Only had a chance to run it in MM so far but run it like a 40k Ork and it can make an atlas sweat. Really looking forward to fielding it against some friends.
I like the Ti Ts’ang better. An all energy mech with a hatchet and Triple Strength Myomers. Might as well do something useful with all that extra heat.
Ti-Ts’ang is THE “Hatchet” mech. It’s Alpha Strike can cause a PSR. It’s Axe swing (with TSM) causes another PSR. Its weapons load out helps manage heat at that magic number of “9.” No need to turn in or off heat sinks. It walks/runs/jumps more hexes than an Axeman…and that’s before TSM.
I like them a lot, very solid design concept. I have a fuzzy memory of one being called a "Nightski" in one of the Gray Death books, but I could be remembering wrong.
I am a fan of the Nightsky. However, any mech walking around with a hatchet on the battlefield. It's going to get my admiration. I like the various alternate configurations of this mech. Personally, I would drop the large pulse laser for a clan ER PPC. I would also get rid of the small pulse laser for armor to bring it up to a full 10 tons. I would keep one medium pulse laser and exchange the other for 2 ER mediums.
I really need to get my Lyrans painted up so I can rock a Nightsky in my next game. I found a fondness in the old art, especially the art piece where it's going full tilt against a Hunchback (I forget which book that is in). The new art is "chefs kiss" beautiful. I love that the grinning teeth effigy is still maintained, as I think that is a very recognizable aesthetic to the Nightsky as a whole. Wouldn't mind picking up one of the OG Nightskies for a throwback lance. Funny enough, my only hatchet experience was with a Scarabus. Nasty little mech. Great coverage Frog!
@@MechanicalFrog I would say it’s worth getting the Kell Hounds pack for that mini, since the Crusader and Wolfhound poses are pretty good. The Griffin is ok, but the weird shaped launcher is just meh. Would have preferred one more angular than oval.
Another great mech :-) fast enough to get in close before being dead and can hit like a brick with a decent pilot :-) love it in solaris the pulse help with range hits and the medium mechs cant take many hits from the hatchet before they go down :-) cheers for the overview
I’m running a Nightsky with a slightly different loadout- Clan XXL Engine ( that a nice Ocean Puppy found for me), TSM for a nice friendly tickle and a supercharger. Weapons loadout is one you will absolutely love, two Improved Heavy Large Lasers and a Micro Pulse laser array for those pesky PBI and Armor. Finally a targeting computer to hopefully make those lasers actually hit something although I’ve been known to fire one off just for the TSM
I’ve used a Nightsky only once. And bullied a Thunderbolt the entire time. That combo of pulse lasers and melee and it’s speed makes it a threat that can’t be ignored.
I'm not a hatchet guy, but I regularly run a Crosscut IIC or two in my Sea Fox solahma force. Nothing is more satisfying than bringing a chainsaw to bear at the speed of a Fire Moth... even if it is almost certainly going to be swatted down just as fast if not faster.
The Nightsky looks like a turtle that is standing up, particularly the head. Sound like a mech I would like to try out in MWO! To bad there isn't physical combat in the game.
Not a nightsky story, but a melee one. My favorite BT game involved my son face rolling a madcat in front of my longbow, him shutting down, falling down, and then I got to boot his cockpit into orbit. It was a 3v1 game so I didnt feel the least bit bad about doing it.
only thing I hate about the Nightsky is the XL engine. Fragility is a concern. When I redid it, I used a Light engine, stripped the JJ's, added a snub PPC and 3 MPL's. heat neutral, with a bit more punch. I've used Nightsky, Hatchetman, No Dachi and Berserker. my usual opponent hates the luck I have with hatchet armed machines. I'm th only one he's seen on three decades get the hatchet attack off with a no dachi's TSM active.
As a leftie myself, i appreciate a left handed hatchet option. in a mech i can probably adapt to right handed, but left just flows better if only it didnt look so... like it is
I mean its a good mech, aesthetically i just wish it would commit to curves or boxes. the flat front and arched back really isnt doin it for me. wouldnt complain if i piloted one, i just have some tweaks to the hull
My first taste of melee mechs was sadly the Dark Age ClickieTech melee & Industrial mechs which as a clanner at heart seemed blasphemous! I admit it was only in the last few months finally playing Classic & reading some novels that melee has grown on me & I believe it was the Yen Lo Wang with those claws & TSM as well as how brutal the damage & piloting checks can be for your victim that really opened my eyes to the beauty of close in melee fighting. I really need to sit down & install MegaMek for my next work trip out of town so I can try some other mechs & their variants & really experiment with some of these other units. Between Mech Frog & Red's mch videos I have learned so much & have curiosity piqued about some new & old designs instead of staying in my rut of the tried & true mechs I have loved since MW2 & 3.
Energy weapons times hatchet equals long fights of fun. And if you're lucky, that hatchet can take a head. The only thing you can do (aside from using clan spec parts to free up tonnage and space for more fun) is to make it bigger. Add they did, giving us the mighty and SUPREMELY EXPENSIVE Berserker.
Good video, and a better build, my compliments. Add some Triple Strength Myomer to your build and true carnage ensues once you close range. TSM + Hatchet is the PBnJ of Battletech melee encounters.
honestly I got the kell hounds box set just for the jumping crusader since my homebrew Merc unit exclusively uses jump capable mechs so the jumping variant was a good fit but I'm actually really wanting to cram a nightsky into a list as I already love the hatchetman and axman
So, my train of thoughts after you complaint about the hatchetman fanart: It maybe as popular as an Urbanmech? Could you imagine an urbanmech with a meleeweapon? Think more of angry marines! Well, it looks kind of aerodynamic... propably you could fire an Urbanmech from a huge gaussrifle... Hrm... 30 ton Urbie... propably 30 ton gaussrifle... an Atlas or a superheavy could technically carry them... could you build a superhuge king crab with two urbanmechfiring gaussrifles? You might ask why would anyone do this? No, someone will do this... hell... mechs are metallic, sombody propably has done it. Maybe there exists some kind of warship with such launchers. On the direwolf, the flagship the wolfes were mechs running during the invasion. They took part in the battles on the warship. It's just a little step more...
I wonder why they never did a model with a TAG and a Beagle or Guardian. Use the 4T as a base, drop Mpulse to ER and the SPulse. You can even add a bit of armor
I don´t like the first drawing by Dana Knutson, but both the Matt Plog and Harri Kallio versions looks great IMO. The XL engine leaves the mech vulnerable to side torso destruction, but the speed it gains through it might just be worth it. Especially in combination with the jump jets. Ok, with TSM the Nightsky becomes even more of a nightmare in melee, not gonna lie. Man, the AES is also alarming... yes, nightfire discussion, that´s one way to phrase the addition of a flamer. But your version should prove powerful.
I quite literally just got this mech and I can already foresee my self using it alot besides my Berserker in my breakthrough forces. The Hatchet man is unfortunately too slow, and doesn't have the armor of the Axman
Is it me, or does the side profile 'swag walk' pic make the Night Sky look like a off brand airplane transformer in 'robot' mode? Still interesting mech... even if I'm not sure about taking IS pulse lasers over an AC10
I admit, hearing that a left-handed version of the Nightsky exists makes me think of Ned Flanders selling it at the Leftorium >.> Just imagine, behind the rows of inexplicably left handed whisks and left-handed feather dusters... there's a Battlemech with a left handed hatchet. It's 1:30 am and this is how my brain has decided to spend it's unreasonable waking - I am okay with this.
Being mostly ambidexterous... My variant would be the -3S with the IS LPL pulled (because it sucks) in favor of a right AND left hatchet hand, and a second RT medium laser. When available, four ERMLs. And I would dub the mech "Little Lizzie" in honor of Miss Bordon.
I do not have any stories about a Nightsky in CQB, however, a Berserker, YES! It's disconcerting to see a fire-breathing, ax wielding monster that was equipped with TSM run up and split an assault mech in half! Not a pretty sight.
I know I’m wrong but I’ve used the one without jump jets twice because I didn’t have the points to get the base but I’ve won both games with him and he’s got a vendetta against my friends trebuchet
It definitely performs worse than the base but my friend underestimated my ground movement and I always manage to be able to run to him I also ran a mean pilot card that let me hit him in the shooting phase
Oh yes the terrifying nightsky, it got the swagger and funny grin of a serial ki::er ready the plunk the hatchet down. While I prefer the looks of the older Axman and Hatachetman lines, This machine gets it ax to face can only be achieved if mech gets their quickly enough to not be torn apart by enemy fire.
In general I am not a fan of melee weapons. IMO it´s a waste of tonnage but among the hachet-equiped Mechs it is definetly one of the better and more useful designs. The Nightsky is a very solid skirmisher and hunter-killer. It probably works best in small skirmishes in difficult terrain. It could be devastating to heavy and assault class mechs if it can ambush them but it should not try to take on heavy head-on. It should also stay away from large, pitched battles due to it´s lack of range and lack of staying power. IMO the Nightsky is most useful for hunting light and medium Mechs and for supporting scout units.
The exaggerated swagger of an inner sphere BattleMech
"I do what I want." - Nightsky
I get it, the Scarabus does that for me. Just a very aggressive set of splash art selling the idea that this is a mech to get in your face.
Yeah, its current art on Sarna looks like it's leveling its hatchet in a challenge to call someone out while bringing its guns to bear in the same moment.
I recall first finding the Scarbus on Sarna and being very impressed with how vicious it seemed.
Scarabus is a fun mech. Curious to see what redesign art it may get.
Fun Fact: in BattleTech's sister franchise, Shadowrun, the Nightsky is a model of limousine. I don't recall if there were any accounts of the prime runner street samurai Hatchetman ever riding in one, but given that they're often used by high end corporate executives (both the limo and the runner), it seems likely to have happened at some point.
(Defiance is in Shadowrun as well, making small arms like shotguns and tasers.)
That's cool that Defiance is in both.
Defiance T series shotguns continue to be a favorite of mine to this day. Nothing like getting an affordable, manufacturer-approved shorty stock shotty that fits into a cyberlimb compartment or nearly any drone of your choice.
(I am a much bigger fan of Shadowrun than BattleTech)
It amuses me that defiance is making buckshot and shotguns in both settings
... holy crap... I've played both for *decades* (albeit with a long off-time for Battletech) and... I never put that together. *Frigging amazing*
“Deliver the hatchet.” I love it! 😂 “Pardon me sir, you seem to have my huge hatchet wedged in your skull, please sign here to acknowledge receipt.”
Blunt force trauma delivered certified mail. Please sign here.
Ah yes, a personal favorite. If you want to make a hatchetman good, you simply upgun the engine and up armor it by dropping the autocannon for a large laser. You can turn a basic 4/6/4 glass cannon into a rapidly approaching 5/8/5 jumping nightmare. That said, if you want to make it even scarier, give it Tsm. 19 DAMAGE PER SWING, WHICH POTENTIALLY CAN EVEN SWING TWICE.
The AC10 is a great weapon on those closing ranges, but you sacrifice so much damn weight for it being there on a 45t mech. If it was a 60t mech it'd still be worth keeping it there. But on a close range specialist lighter end of the medium bracket, you may as well keep that specialisation and just look at what you 'can do' to get him in range with the superbonker as fast and unscathed as possible.
Course if you can't leave home without a blaster, an LB-X 5 is quite a good all-rounder which is much lighter
Overall the Nightsky was quite a bit more workable and resilient than the Hatchetman, I'm just surprised no one put out a Supercharger version so you can go full 50tonnes, 50IQ trunk-monkey on people :)
@@krissteel4074a large laser can do similar work for less than half the weight.
Yeah the AC10 is just too much for it.
Davions ruin every mech they touch. The poor hatchetman was equipped with ac10.
How would you swing twice? Where are those rules?
Love this doofus. The Hatchetman and Axman were designed with the hatchet as a backup weapon, which is why they have guns on the hatchet arm that impede hatchet use. Nightsky was the first mech to say, "actually melee is bad ass, what if we designed a mech specifically to deliver hatchets to clanner heads?"
"Hey, that's not fair." - Clanner
I always hated that the other two had weapons in the hatchet arm. Seemed stupid to me as well.
I think it’s fairly clear that the Hatchetman is heavily weighed down by the AC-10. It’s speed is fine for the era it was built, but if you take out the autocannon and its ammo, you can max the armor, get a large laser, a medium laser, and a few heatsinks.
You lose 2 damage at your longest range, but you get much more survivability and longevity in the form of armor and no longer being able to be ammo exploded.
Agreed.
I really enjoyed this one. I liked the Nightsky always anyway. But when I say that, I mean I think this is one of your better videos. Great job Frog!
Thanks a ton!
If it wants to ambush, the Nightsky-MF is missing a way to actually hide from enemy sensors. At minimum, an ECM Suite wouldn't be unwelcome.
True, but then again, there is some advantage to your enemy knowing the Nightsky is out there, and forcing them to pivot.
I know why I love the Nightsky. It's the hatchet mech done right. Make it fast, give it a hatchet. Simple. Hatchetman and Axman don't really commit or optimize the concept. The Charger is close, but no hatchet, and it was meant to be a really heavy recon mech. Even the Black Knight, cool as the Clanbuster variant is, is an improvised solution. Nightsky is the first to commit fully to the concept.
I notice Calgary's Battletech community has a lot of teams favoring the Nightsky too.
The hatchet mech done right is the Ti-T’sang
@@g2fxgraphics we found the capellan spy!
@@1nONLY_DRock Capellans or not…Ti-T’sang is objectively the better Hatchet-mech
The nightsky is a great mech, and its actually in the command lance of my anti-clan merc battalion. Love the pulse lasers.
In one of my games with it, while engaging with blakists he was junping around, doing his thing, somehow not overheating at all even with my constant alpha striking. He got some good hatchet hits in, but later he got crippled by a wolverine, losing a leg. Despite this, he managed ro not die for the rest of the game.
Excellent choice. Form and function.
@@MechanicalFrog indeed (I just edited in a story of you want to come back and read it). I also found it funny that you didn't use the new art at all... but I gotta say, I hope they give that OG art another go with the new model. It does have some swagger
Sweet. The reason I didn't use the new art is that I didn't have access to a good resolution shot of it. It's just the little picture in the RecGuide pdf.
Defiance Industries in the ilClan Era is actually able to make Clan-grade Extralight fusion engines, along with a number of other Clan-grade components such as Clan-grade ER Medium and Large Lasers and Clan-Grade LRM-5 and LRM-15 Launchers (so yes, that's Clan ER Medium Lasers from an Inner Sphere manufacturer, terrifying). This has led to some monstrous new Atlas and Zeus variants, along with others like the Nightsky-7S. There's no Sea Fox dependency there! Similarly, the Free Worlds League's Technicron Manufacturing can now make Clan-grade Double Heat Sinks and Endo Steel, which they use for a powerful new Awesome variant, the AWS-11H, with 3 Heavy PPCs. The FWL is still dependent on Clan Sea Fox for Juliano parts, though, iirc. I believe GM might have some Clan-spec/Clan-grade manufacturing in the Federated Suns, but I can't find the details.
Must be nice to be them, then...
@@MechanicalFrog it's mixed. Their Hesperus II factories were hammered by the Wolf/Jade Falcon invasion, and Defiance Industries was severely disrupted with the whole fiasco over their CEO, Duke Vedet Brewer, seizing the Archonship and then fleeing in 3143 (George Dyson is the current CEO). On the other hand, damage to the facilities themselves on Hesperus II was limited, and their Furillo lines are running at full steam and expanding, so they're still in a pretty strong position.
Fed suns GM can produce some clan tech spec weapons and equipment in the ilclan era but due to the fall of new Avalon to the kuritans fairly reliant to clan sea fox for weapons and equipment.
I first saw the night sky in the Kell Hounds Striker Lance Force Pack. As an Alpha Strike player, as soon as I read the card, I fell in love. I'm glad to see it is just as enjoyable in classic.
Unfortunately, I didn't grab that box when I should have.
@@MechanicalFrog The Kell Hounds pack is in stock at ares, fortress, and miniatures market
The 6t is a very dangerous mech in alpha strike, I have use it to crack open, a vanquisher, 2 stone Rhinos, and one annihilator. No one pay attention to it, aloud it to flank in to the rear arch and proceeded to hit with 5 damage every turn.
Second house steiner inherited the archroyal defense corridor when wolf in exile fled and the falcons left for terra. So they inherited the wolf factories and are making clan tech.
Lucky them...
10:00 Defiance Industries is actually making Clan-spec XL engines themselves by that point.
Must be nice to be them, then...
With a name like Nightsky, I'd love to make a stealth variant. Use clan spec components to make room for an ECM, use stealth armor, inspire nightmares with a lance of these.
Could be nasty with all the tactical gear on it.
According to the RecGuides, Defiance has the ability to produce clan-tech components natively now (the full suite of 3050 clan-tech, at least).
Yeah someone pointed out one of the Shrapnels had that info in it. Good times.
This is my partner’s favorite machine, and it kicks a ton of ass. Very fun to play against, you CANNOT ignore it, especially the TSM version
The 20 damage hatchet strike... dang.
I really love how the Nightsky looks as if it has an angry grin; that's gotta make enemies nervous:)
That or the hatchet.
My own mod of the mech when it first came out, was simply to drop the small pulse laser on the 4S and add a ton of armor. The added durability is nice, and you only build up heat if you jump.
Pair a 4S with a Hunchback 6S and you have a powerful striker combo. The Nightsky chases lighter faster targets, while the Hunchback cracks open slower more heavily armored targets. Throw in a Griffin 3M for the LRMs and a Firestarter omni for mission specific loadout, and you have a well-rounded mobile medium lance.
As a small criticism of the MF Variant: max armor capacity of a 50-ton mech is 169. 10.5 tons of armor gives you 168. The extra half-ton of armor only gives you 1 point of armor. There may be more efficient ways of using the weight. 2 IS medium pulse lasers have the same tonnage heat and damage output as 4 IS small pulse lasers The difference is that medium pulse lasers have double the range. Unless you're concerned with anti-infantry operations or just want more damage groups at the cost of range, the 2 medium pulses will serve you better. Overall, it still looks like a fun variant.
One of the first times I used the Nightsky, I managed to get on the rear of an Atlas, the laser fire didn't penetrate the back armor, but the follow up with the hatchet penetrated weakened rear torso armor a detonated AC 20 ammo. it's a good day when you can take out a 100-ton mech with one half its weight.
The Hunchback pair up is a solid idea. Good spot on the MF armor thing. I didn't notice that.
The NightSky is everything I love about Battletech aesthetics; it manages to look impossibly awkward and goofy but still somehow like it'll mess you up in less than a minute. I quite like the MF variant, it fits in with the good variants very well.
Also, original OstSol art might come close to the NightSky's swag, as well as the original Caesar art. The three look like they'd be strutting around the boardwalk, looking for trouble.
The Caesar has no business looking as awesome as it does in that art.
Its not a Nightsky, but my personal favorite melee story involved playing a game against my friend who I had been teaching how to play Battletech for a while. He had an Axman 3S and I had a Banshee 5S. My rolls for the Banshee had been terrible overall and things eventually closed into melee range. I made the stupid mistake of underestimating how much damage that hatchet could do and willing got into melee, thinking that I could punch the Axman down, but sure enough my poor rolls bit me in the ass, while my friends Axman got a hit on my Banshee's head with its hatchet, killing it instantly. Despite that, it was such a hype moment I couldnt even be mad and we ended up high fiving when it happened, plus it was mitigated later when I blew up his Warhawk Prime :p
Never underestimate the hatchet. It has ruined plans before. It will ruin plans again.
Yeah this is a mech that deserves the swagger. You just see it come on the field and you know the party’s about to start. Many a game with a Nightsky watching that hatchet do it’s work would bring a wide smile to me. Man I like that TSM variant.
It's a great example of TSM put to good use.
@@MechanicalFrog Hey! Do the Ti-T’sang. It’s a superior “Hatchet” mech.
i LOVE the Nightsky and always feel like I do well with one in my games. Its just such a solid performer. I do prefer the 4S version though but thats due to me being a stickler for the accuracy boost. The jump jets are what really sell this mech to me. It can move very well no matter the terrain and close on a target fast, making that lack of armor not that much of a big deal. A variant that is simply the 4S but with clan grade weapons would be absolutely vicious for my personal use
I really do think the jump jets are essential for this thing.
I actually have a custom mech story, the mech in question called the Mad Axe, it's mercenary built 100 ton tripod mech with TSM and two hatchets for those that can wield both of them proficiently along with 5 clan ER-M-Lasers, a 100 rated engine but with mechanical jump boosters and partial wing to go 1/2 and 9 jump, it's main purpose is to heat up, jump to range, and cleave enemies with both hatchets while ranking damage
The game I first brought the mad axe into was against a Wolverine, Griffin, and hornet (I don't remember the exact enemy composition) while I had my mad axe and another of my custom mechs the badger, a claw mech. We had forgotten the limits on melee attacks though. Badger was taken out quick by a engine meltdown but took another mech with it while damaging another, while the last 2 were against the mad axe, it was a blood bath as they couldn't meaningfully escape the movement of the mad axe and it hacked them to pieces, against the Griffin the first time it brought it's one hatchet it hit the CT for 40 damage which destroyed it instantly. The last mech escaped but was badly damaged while the mad axe wasn't meaningfully damaged in turn.
In general it was a good first time show and the next variant I played did just as well, again forgetting the limits but whatever.
Huh. That would be terrifying.
Ya, imagine a 100ton mech jumping 9 hexes to hit you with 80 total damage from both hatchets while shrugging off your attacks in return, later variants have hardened armor and a huge amount, while one is supposed to have proto TSM , but meklab doesn't have that option even if I set the time exactly within the specified years, in general all variants had relatively low BV
My hatchet story- Many years ago the rules did NOT state that you couldn't use 2 hatchets in the same turn.
It only stated that you can't use both a ranged weapon attack and a physical attack from the same arm.
Naturally I put a Hatchet in both arms of a Berserker and 3XMyomer.
With the 3Xmyomer heated up that was two hatchets doing 40 points of damage EACH during a turn.
That's why my old player groups play canon variants only now.
That's also why the rules were amended to allow only 1 hatchet attack per turn.
Sorry . 😂
Heh, yeah can't swing that these days...
There's just something special about seeing your oppents eyes widen as they realize the last two turns of careful, tactical moves trying to anticipate the most worthwhile firing angle no longer matters because he is about to get hit with a giant beating stick😂
Let me show you my new axe...
First time i played my nightsky I had to tangle with a Hunchback. Managed to avoided the big gun until I had the initiative then i rushed in alpha strike with all weapons and bearied the hatchet in his mechs center torso got a critical into his gyro and finished him of the nexy turn with a hatchet to the head.
Excellent way to bring down a Hunchback.
Did anyone else spend the first nine minutes of the video waiting for a variant with Triple-Strength Myomer? It's a melee BattleMech with energy weapons that runs hot, all the other variants are sorely missing it.
The TSM is very nice.
The true outdoor activity of choice in Lyran space: Having a cordial family picnic within spitting distance of the local heavy industrial manufacturing plant. And yes, the 5S always needs a stern talking-to and a good deal of finger wagging. Maybe even a dunce cap for extra pedagogical humiliation.
The pb&j tastes better with the faint sent of jump jet exhaust.
Having piloted the NGS on several MUSe's/MUSHes/MUXes back in the day, this mech can be a beast! I love it.
Right on!
I was running the BL-9-KNT with some other comstar forces against some clan interlopers. I put the black knight right up next to an overextended yet undamaged gosshawk. One hatchet hit to the head later and the gosshawk crumpled under the sheer power of the black knight. I cannot believe the sheer magnitude of boxcars that come up on hit rolls in games i play lol
That Black Knight 1-2 can be so much fun.
Ah The Nightsky my old enemy, you misshapen brawler. I want to love you like all meele equipped Battlemechs. But the Placement of your Hatchet is so uncanny valley for me that I always shudder in disgust.
Love the video Mech frog
Hah, thanks!
Heya Frog.
Ah, the NightSky. For me, a true successor of the Hatchetman.
I did get to use NightSkys 'back in the day', playing on tabletops, using the 'old school' rules and manner of play.
I did fairly well with them, and had a preference for the NGS-5T. Although, I would modify it a bit. Changing the internal structure to Endo-Steel and 'losing' the small laser, freed up enough weight to max out the armor (1.5 tons) and allow the addition of a 3rd Medium Pulse Laser in the Head. I then added TSM to the Mech design when I saw there was more than enough critical slots remaining. The ER-PPC of the 5T variant allows the Mech to have a much-needed long range firing option as it closes upon its target. 10 IS-DSHS do well in allowing the Mech to move and fire, even if using jump jets. The trio of Medium Pulse Lasers usually allow for a further weakening of enemy armor as the Mech closes to CQB (Close Quarters Combat) range.
In one battle that comes easily to mind and memory, my NightSky jumped from heavy forest and performed a 'snapshot' of the PPC at an enemy Griffin's rear armor, scoring a direct hit to the center torso. This ate away the armor there and caused some internal damage and a single critical that failed. The enemy got the initiative and spun to confront my Mech. He failed to hit with both the PPC and LRM-10 rack, and my NightSky charged into CQC. All three MPLs hit, and then the hatchet swung down upon his Mech.
What my opponent had NOT expected was a 'modified' NightSky. So, not only having 'maxed' armor, and 3 MPLs, it also had TSM. So, what would have been a 10-point hit of the hatchet was modified by the TSM to do 20. What made it so 'special' was that all 3 MPLs had hit the center torso, and was followed by the hatchet strike to the same location (yeah, VERY rare occurrence, I know).
Basically, the Griffin's torso just 'folded' inwards and crushed the Engine, leaving my NightSky to pry out the hatchet and turn to the next enemy Mech... A Locust, that took one look, and did a 'NOPE!' and ran from the battlefield as fast as its little legs to carry it. Seeing that the Locust was near a map edge, I did not get a 'back shot' as it fled. I wished I could have. A PPC shot to any of the torso locations in the rear would have basically eviscerated the Locust.
Ah, well... The 'one-shot' kill on the Griffin was amazing enough, it would have been pressing my already good luck to have a 'one-shot' kill on the Locust as well. My opponent though, after the battle, looked at the map and wondered if I would have made the shot anyway. So, we measured the range, and I rolled... Bang... center torso hit of an ER PPC to a Locust. Enough damage to insure at least one critical hit, and possibly more. He laughed and said he was going to get a NightSky for his one forces (He did, but never really got the 'hang' of hatchet combat, or the cunning needed to set yourself up for such an 'ambush' to make it work well for you).
Ah, the memories. :)
You had me at "Dead Griffin"
The best thing about the night sky is that it appears to be wearing a pair of savannah masters as bedroom slippers.
Dang, now I see it.
Nightsky is a great mech. Worthy of it's place in the pantheon of melee mechs along side it's Hatchetman and Axeman cousins.
Absolutely.
@@MechanicalFrog i add a supercharger or MASC to it if I can. Helps to get up close and personal with them clan Boyz. 😁
It'll leave an impression.
@@MechanicalFrog and that's why we love it. 😁
My intro to the Nightsky was the TCG, and it's art in that was pretty memorable too.
Absolutely.
Damn I wish more people near me loved battletech the way you do. I have a modified campaign version I created that I'm dying to play. Basically, it's all the normal rules of battletech but with a strategic layer to including logistics and economics.
I'm a big fan of logistics elements. My father was a logistics officer in the Army in the early 70s.
So glad this got remodelled. It's one of several 'mechs in this TRO that I love on paper, but the art makes me cry.
Aww. I think this might be a, "You either love it or hate it," situation.
Got one of these in a recent specialty lance at barnes and noble. My first thought was: "another hatchetman?". My thought after using it was: "I can work with this..."
"Like Hatchetman, but better..."
I run a merc company mainly focused around the dark age and one of my favorite mechs in the Banshee. So when I discovered that the Banshee 8s was a thing i was all onboard. 4/6 movement from an assault mech with a hatchet is pretty good but then throw in TSM, a snub nose PPC, an ECM and enough lasers to melt the mech if you decide to alpha strike and wrap that in 18 tons of armor and now you got a party. Only had a chance to run it in MM so far but run it like a 40k Ork and it can make an atlas sweat. Really looking forward to fielding it against some friends.
The Banshee is a monster... well named horrifying mech.
I like the Ti Ts’ang better. An all energy mech with a hatchet and Triple Strength Myomers. Might as well do something useful with all that extra heat.
That's fair.
Ti-Ts’ang is THE “Hatchet” mech. It’s Alpha Strike can cause a PSR. It’s Axe swing (with TSM) causes another PSR. Its weapons load out helps manage heat at that magic number of “9.” No need to turn in or off heat sinks.
It walks/runs/jumps more hexes than an Axeman…and that’s before TSM.
I like them a lot, very solid design concept.
I have a fuzzy memory of one being called a "Nightski" in one of the Gray Death books, but I could be remembering wrong.
Sounds like something a Russian would cook up.
All flamer melee build non-sense made me so much fun in rouge tech duels.
I am a fan of the Nightsky. However, any mech walking around with a hatchet on the battlefield. It's going to get my admiration. I like the various alternate configurations of this mech. Personally, I would drop the large pulse laser for a clan ER PPC. I would also get rid of the small pulse laser for armor to bring it up to a full 10 tons. I would keep one medium pulse laser and exchange the other for 2 ER mediums.
That would be a solid setup.
I really need to get my Lyrans painted up so I can rock a Nightsky in my next game. I found a fondness in the old art, especially the art piece where it's going full tilt against a Hunchback (I forget which book that is in). The new art is "chefs kiss" beautiful. I love that the grinning teeth effigy is still maintained, as I think that is a very recognizable aesthetic to the Nightsky as a whole. Wouldn't mind picking up one of the OG Nightskies for a throwback lance.
Funny enough, my only hatchet experience was with a Scarabus. Nasty little mech.
Great coverage Frog!
I still don't have the new sculpt but the original Ral Partha one is great.
@@MechanicalFrog I would say it’s worth getting the Kell Hounds pack for that mini, since the Crusader and Wolfhound poses are pretty good. The Griffin is ok, but the weird shaped launcher is just meh. Would have preferred one more angular than oval.
I don't have much use for the Griffin but the other 3 are decent.@@meining-mech4378
As much as I love the look of this mech, the lack of shaft on the blade, means it's loosing a TON of power.
Yeah it may require a little suspension of disbelief.
Another great mech :-) fast enough to get in close before being dead and can hit like a brick with a decent pilot :-) love it in solaris the pulse help with range hits and the medium mechs cant take many hits from the hatchet before they go down :-) cheers for the overview
Looks neat, it's dangerous, and the most important thing, it's fun.
Just got a Kell Hounds box and one of these , can't wait to use the better hatchetman ......... Still not a Ti Ts'ang though
I need to get my hands on this box.
I’m running a Nightsky with a slightly different loadout- Clan XXL Engine ( that a nice Ocean Puppy found for me), TSM for a nice friendly tickle and a supercharger. Weapons loadout is one you will absolutely love, two Improved Heavy Large Lasers and a Micro Pulse laser array for those pesky PBI and Armor. Finally a targeting computer to hopefully make those lasers actually hit something although I’ve been known to fire one off just for the TSM
Clearly we needed more heavy lasers in this video... dang it.
I’m gonna say it, a LAM version would look sick as hell.
That's your solution to everything... :D
I’ve used a Nightsky only once. And bullied a Thunderbolt the entire time. That combo of pulse lasers and melee and it’s speed makes it a threat that can’t be ignored.
Poor Thunderbolt... RIP
I'm not a hatchet guy, but I regularly run a Crosscut IIC or two in my Sea Fox solahma force. Nothing is more satisfying than bringing a chainsaw to bear at the speed of a Fire Moth... even if it is almost certainly going to be swatted down just as fast if not faster.
When it works, it really works!
The Nightsky looks like a turtle that is standing up, particularly the head. Sound like a mech I would like to try out in MWO! To bad there isn't physical combat in the game.
It would sure make its mark.
Ah yes, the OMWTFYB-1A. A classic.
:P
I am surprised only one variant has the TSM. Could you imagine the variant with AES and TSM... I would do terrible things.
Absolutely.
Not a nightsky story, but a melee one. My favorite BT game involved my son face rolling a madcat in front of my longbow, him shutting down, falling down, and then I got to boot his cockpit into orbit. It was a 3v1 game so I didnt feel the least bit bad about doing it.
Sometimes a teachable moment needs to be used.
Insert Tab A into Slot B. Truly inspirational words.
Rapid onset steel poisoning.
God, guns, and Battletech. As a 6'3" guy with a beard, I have to say that I love axes.
They do tend to help make a point.
only thing I hate about the Nightsky is the XL engine. Fragility is a concern. When I redid it, I used a Light engine, stripped the JJ's, added a snub PPC and 3 MPL's. heat neutral, with a bit more punch.
I've used Nightsky, Hatchetman, No Dachi and Berserker. my usual opponent hates the luck I have with hatchet armed machines. I'm th only one he's seen on three decades get the hatchet attack off with a no dachi's TSM active.
Hah, that's awesome.
@@MechanicalFrog that short band on the snubby PPC starting at 9 hexes is nasty on something fast moving.
As a leftie myself, i appreciate a left handed hatchet option. in a mech i can probably adapt to right handed, but left just flows better
if only it didnt look so... like it is
Aww... it seems to be either a love it or hate it situation. Strange.
I mean its a good mech, aesthetically i just wish it would commit to curves or boxes. the flat front and arched back really isnt doin it for me. wouldnt complain if i piloted one, i just have some tweaks to the hull
My first taste of melee mechs was sadly the Dark Age ClickieTech melee & Industrial mechs which as a clanner at heart seemed blasphemous! I admit it was only in the last few months finally playing Classic & reading some novels that melee has grown on me & I believe it was the Yen Lo Wang with those claws & TSM as well as how brutal the damage & piloting checks can be for your victim that really opened my eyes to the beauty of close in melee fighting. I really need to sit down & install MegaMek for my next work trip out of town so I can try some other mechs & their variants & really experiment with some of these other units. Between Mech Frog & Red's mch videos I have learned so much & have curiosity piqued about some new & old designs instead of staying in my rut of the tried & true mechs I have loved since MW2 & 3.
There's so much more to cover. We're barely scratching the surface.
If I may recommend a Falcon mech for CQB that can include melee, the Jade Hawk seems fairly good at getting up into faces and leaving lots of holes.
Thanks for introducing me to megamek!
Sure thing! Enjoy!
Good morning mate
Thanks for the video mate
Good watch before work
Happy to improve your day! Have a great one.
i did mate and thanks again for a amazing lore viedo mate
@@MechanicalFrog
Energy weapons times hatchet equals long fights of fun. And if you're lucky, that hatchet can take a head. The only thing you can do (aside from using clan spec parts to free up tonnage and space for more fun) is to make it bigger. Add they did, giving us the mighty and SUPREMELY EXPENSIVE Berserker.
The Berserker is its own crazy hill of beans... maybe we can get to it someday.
@@MechanicalFrog I hope so. It is so VERY Lyran while also being a fairly formidable mech if used well.
SOLD! Immediately went out to cult3d and download 3 different poses of the Nightsky for a future print and paint. Yes its the Swagger Affect
If you paint a little polo player on the chest, you will be my hero.
Good video, and a better build, my compliments.
Add some Triple Strength Myomer to your build and true carnage ensues once you close range.
TSM + Hatchet is the PBnJ of Battletech melee encounters.
If I were to tweak the MF built, it would add the TSM.
honestly I got the kell hounds box set just for the jumping crusader since my homebrew Merc unit exclusively uses jump capable mechs so the jumping variant was a good fit but I'm actually really wanting to cram a nightsky into a list as I already love the hatchetman and axman
maybe I'll do a melee focused Merc unit as well who knows
could be fun.
So, my train of thoughts after you complaint about the hatchetman fanart: It maybe as popular as an Urbanmech? Could you imagine an urbanmech with a meleeweapon? Think more of angry marines! Well, it looks kind of aerodynamic... propably you could fire an Urbanmech from a huge gaussrifle... Hrm... 30 ton Urbie... propably 30 ton gaussrifle... an Atlas or a superheavy could technically carry them... could you build a superhuge king crab with two urbanmechfiring gaussrifles? You might ask why would anyone do this? No, someone will do this... hell... mechs are metallic, sombody propably has done it. Maybe there exists some kind of warship with such launchers. On the direwolf, the flagship the wolfes were mechs running during the invasion. They took part in the battles on the warship. It's just a little step more...
The Frog kills it again! Good!
Glad you enjoyed.
I wonder why they never did a model with a TAG and a Beagle or Guardian. Use the 4T as a base, drop Mpulse to ER and the SPulse. You can even add a bit of armor
It is a better hatchetman, but my motivations are much more simple. I can put it in a lance with three other mechs that has the word "Night" in it.
"I have refined tastes..."
Make sure to carry Nighthawks on your Night Gyr.
I mean, I want to have a lance of Excalibur, Lancelot, Galahad and Merlin. And a lance of different Hatchet mechs.
Sometimes we just want to have fun.
This is a good solid design.
Quite good.
Jumping makes your Hatchet less accurate, so occasionally it's not worth the tonnage and heat.
Hmm... very occasionally...
an the ninja turtle mech. gotta love how the reach on the hatchet is less than its punch
"It's small but it's fierce."
hey if any mech deserves the intimidating/distracting quirk is this one for that mean grin it has@@MechanicalFrog
I don´t like the first drawing by Dana Knutson, but both the Matt Plog and Harri Kallio versions looks great IMO.
The XL engine leaves the mech vulnerable to side torso destruction, but the speed it gains through it might just be worth it.
Especially in combination with the jump jets. Ok, with TSM the Nightsky becomes even more of a nightmare in melee, not gonna lie.
Man, the AES is also alarming... yes, nightfire discussion, that´s one way to phrase the addition of a flamer. But your version should prove powerful.
Plenty of interesting variants. As it should be.
I quite literally just got this mech and I can already foresee my self using it alot besides my Berserker in my breakthrough forces. The Hatchet man is unfortunately too slow, and doesn't have the armor of the Axman
It's a fun one. I definitely prefer it over the Hatchetman in most situations.
Is it me, or does the side profile 'swag walk' pic make the Night Sky look like a off brand airplane transformer in 'robot' mode? Still interesting mech... even if I'm not sure about taking IS pulse lasers over an AC10
The Swaggering Nightsky would like to meet you out in the parking lot of the local Buffalo Wild Wings for a discussion.
I admit, hearing that a left-handed version of the Nightsky exists makes me think of Ned Flanders selling it at the Leftorium >.>
Just imagine, behind the rows of inexplicably left handed whisks and left-handed feather dusters... there's a Battlemech with a left handed hatchet.
It's 1:30 am and this is how my brain has decided to spend it's unreasonable waking - I am okay with this.
Being mostly ambidexterous... My variant would be the -3S with the IS LPL pulled (because it sucks) in favor of a right AND left hatchet hand, and a second RT medium laser. When available, four ERMLs. And I would dub the mech "Little Lizzie" in honor of Miss Bordon.
Any thing with Physical weapon should have TSM. Just to give you that boost in damage.
It is hard to justify not taking it.
I do not have any stories about a Nightsky in CQB, however, a Berserker, YES! It's disconcerting to see a fire-breathing, ax wielding monster that was equipped with TSM run up and split an assault mech in half! Not a pretty sight.
20 damage is quite scary.
My Hatchet story was in my first game ever where my nearly dead hatchetman dfa’d an awesome with both being knocked out as a result
"If I can't win, no one can." - DFA Casualty.
Pretty much, at the same time my grasshopper was getting its face canned in by a marauder so y'know little victories@@MechanicalFrog
A machine for those who love to just run up like a berserker and bash your opponent's head in.
I have Berserker story that involves a Dire Wolf. It did not end well for the clanner.
flashman next the most underrated heavy in the inner sphere
That mech has the opposite of swagger.
@@MechanicalFrog bruh its a laser light show the dark age variant is a beast too.
Yeah, Flashman is an oft overlooked disco death show. Also the Urbie's tall cousin look.
May want to reread Shrapnel Issue#5 on how TharHes and Defiance have Clan-grade equipment. Clan-tech isn't as special as it once was.
Yeah I clearly missed that one.
I know I’m wrong but I’ve used the one without jump jets twice because I didn’t have the points to get the base but I’ve won both games with him and he’s got a vendetta against my friends trebuchet
Glad to hear it did well.
It definitely performs worse than the base but my friend underestimated my ground movement and I always manage to be able to run to him I also ran a mean pilot card that let me hit him in the shooting phase
Wait a minute. Did they seriously build the hatchet INTO the arm, or the ARM into the hatchet?!🤯🤯🤯🤯😵😵😵.
A question for the ages.
It looks like a Ninja Turtle
I'll put that in the Plus column.
I like the Nightsky a lot better than the Hatchetman
As much as I like the Hatchetman, it's just not the hunter it should be.
Oh yes the terrifying nightsky, it got the swagger and funny grin of a serial ki::er ready the plunk the hatchet down.
While I prefer the looks of the older Axman and Hatachetman lines, This machine gets it ax to face can only be achieved if mech gets their quickly enough to not be torn apart by enemy fire.
Plenty of fun to be had with any of the hatchet-wielding monsters.
Because of all the pretty stars
**Glorious stars**
In general I am not a fan of melee weapons. IMO it´s a waste of tonnage but among the hachet-equiped Mechs it is definetly one of the better and more useful designs.
The Nightsky is a very solid skirmisher and hunter-killer. It probably works best in small skirmishes in difficult terrain.
It could be devastating to heavy and assault class mechs if it can ambush them but it should not try to take on heavy head-on.
It should also stay away from large, pitched battles due to it´s lack of range and lack of staying power.
IMO the Nightsky is most useful for hunting light and medium Mechs and for supporting scout units.
Yeah that 10 damage goes much further on a light/medium, for sure.
Anyways thought it looked like a ninja turtle. It's the grimace
Hah!
Oh geez, I prefer slapping a hatchet on a black knight with triple strength myomer myself.
"What if the hatchetman but actually good"
This mech would benefit from a RAC 5
What if Hatchetman... *But expensive?*
5 for the price of 4 from Defiance Industries Fall Sale.
@@MechanicalFrog The sales! They just keep coming! Take my company's treasury, MF!
It looks cool no have not tested it but want to no model yet 😊to
Soon?
Phoenix hawk with a hatchet whats not to love.
Much to love.