The Black Hawk

A milestone, ten reviews and still writing. This week the focus is on the Medium Class Battlemechs. Today’s choice is the Clan Black Hawk, otherwise known as the Nova.

Many of you, like me, have played the MechWarrior Series since the very 1st release. I did not care much for MechWarrior 1, but when Activision came out with MechWarrior 2 I had to have it. That was a great game. Probably the 1st one to bring BattleTech to our desktops.

MechWarrior 2 brought us many battlemechs but perhaps my favorite of the all was the Nova. That little beast had everything you could want, speed, weapons, jump jets, speed, toughness, speed, and weapons, did I leave anything out? I used to try to play all the scenarios on both teams using just the Nova. Man the hours spent….

That brings us to the MekTek version we have in today’s game. I have a split decision on this one. I loved the MW2 Nova. I like the MP2 Nova. They are not the same. The artist and testing teams did a fantastic job of bringing the Black Hawk to our screens, but I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. The Nova I remember had its arms connected to its legs and had no torso twist whatsoever. Our MP2 version is much different, very good, nice, but different.

The Black Hawk does hold true to its namesake form in many ways, its fast, it’s tough, it has good weapons slots and did I mentions its fast? The base speed from the factory is only 84kph, but a couple of engine upgrades and you are topping 100kph very quickly. It can take jump jets. It can hold a good variety of weapons.

The weapons slots are actually very nice. The right arm has a 3-slot energy and a 1-slot omni; the left arm has a 3-slot omni and a 1-slot energy. The ‘chin’ is split into 2 special slots, or actually 4. Each side of the ‘chin’ has a 1-slot energy and a 1-slot omni. This load of slots allows for many varied weapons. Gauss Rifle, ERPPC or 2, ERLLs, many ERMLs, Pulse Lasers of all sizes and CUACs up to and including the CUAC20.

Offensively, this mech is often used as a brawler and it is well suited for that. Heavy Large Lasers, or Heavy Medium Lasers with some Heavy Small and a crap load of speed will get the Black Hawk into any fray anywhere on the battlefield very quickly. Many use Machine Guns on this baby, coupled with its speed, a Black Hawk can chew away at any size mech. CUAC2’s are a good option, allowing the pilot to rip away, move to another position and fire again. This mech is often used as an objective killer in Mission Play maps.

At 50 tons, the Black Hawk packs 10 ½ tons of Ferro Armour when full. The chassis is very low to the ground making it a difficult target to pick up, coupled with blazing speed; it can often simply run away from danger. The torso of this mech is rounded, sloping down on the nose a bit allowing it a natural deflector of incoming ballistic shots. The arms are huge on this puppy, but do stand up well under fire. The legs are also relatively big making them prime targets for you leggers out there. I would have to say the legs are probably the weak point of the mech. I have noticed that there are a couple of spots on the rear of the mech that take damage with ease, often allowing the mech to die with only 2 or 3 shots well placed. I’ve spent a lot of time chasing these things only to end up shooting the ass end for a hopeful kill.

Not exactly like the MW2 version, this mech does have some torso twist, albeit, very limited. This tends to be a draw back if you get yourself in a close quarters fight. The speed helps you to utilize nearby terrain and break free from a close brawl. Just keep you head about you if you do get into a tight brawl and use the advantages this mech has, speed and a strong torso. Spread that damage and make your shots count. Run away and close from a different angle. Keep away from the circle of death, unless you got lots of room.

This mech is a favorite of many. It has many uses. It is tough and hard to kill. It’s easy to leg or arm. The main part of the payload will be in those arms so protect them as best you can.

Vettie’s rating? I have thought about this one for a long time. I have not been very successful in one of these, but that doesn’t make it a bad mech. As I have pointed out, it is stout and tough to bring down. The payload can be heavy and the speed is incredible. I wanted to give it a lower rating, because I seem to die so fast in one. The fact is, I haven’t spent the time in it that is required to learn this mech and its nuances. The rating, 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Very good for a 50 tonner.