Argus XT

I mentioned before that MekTek has brought to life many a classic chassis and some interesting ‘custom’ chassis. The Argus XT is a ‘custom’ MekTek design and if I may say so, one that was needed for the Argus design.

I reviewed the Argus sometime back and gave it a fair rating so today I will look at the updated XT version and see what, if any, improvements this one has to offer.

Starting with the electronics, the Argus XT has a small but effective package. LAMs and IFF Jammer come standard on this mech and are the only two options available. This, with an increase in armour makes up the 5 tons this battlemech gained over the standard Argus.

The Argus XT comes in at 65tons. From the Factory it has 18.5tons of reflective armour. The slots have changed a bit as well, although the each torso still has the 2-slot energy, the Argus XT now has 2 arms. Each Arm contains a 3-slot ballistic and a single slot energy making this mech fill the role the Argus has been forced into.

If you convert the armour to Ferro, you have 13tons completely full and you have some 34.5tons to load up weapons with leaving the electronics in place and leaving the speed @ 81kph. A single increase to the speed cost you 1.5tons and gives the mech 85kph. 81kph seems fast enough but that is up to the individual pilot.

34.5tons free give you lots of options for this mech. In each arm you could load dual HVAC10s, dual Gauss or Lt Gauss rifles, dual AC10s, dual AC20s and almost 4 mini gauss (some tweaking will get you there). That allows for some serious ballistic firepower from this heavy class battlemech. I would have preferred that the new dual arm design each housed omni slots, but we got ballistics and this machine can pack ‘em in. Some of those loads still allow you to add in a single large laser, or LXP or, in some cases, dual large lasers.

The Argus XT still handles like the Argus. It is agile, quick and responsive, some we all look for in a mech. It takes a good bit of punishment and opponents can no longer target ‘the arm’. IFF was a good additional making the Argus XT hard to target in passive mode at range.

The XT Version is no longer a medium to short range ‘closer’. The Dual ballistics and the options you can put there allow this mech to be a brawler, a support mech and a long-range hunter.

I really like the flexibility that is now offered with the Argus XT. It is my opinion that the XT modification pulls a ‘limited’ use mech into more frequent service. The XT seems tougher, even though that may be because of the extra arm / extra ballistic capabilities.

Vettie’s View? I rate this mech 3 minutes. An improvement over the standard Argus but still average for its weight class.


I reviewed the Argus XT and I liked the mech. MP3 did bring some changes and, at least I think, for the better. We will look at those as well as the rest of the XT version today.

The Argus XT, like it previous model, the standard Argus, comes from the factory with near full reflective armour. I never really understood why the XT version had reflective instead of reactive. The Argus is a tough, mid-range to brawler mech well suited for city fighting. In Vengeance, the Argus was well suited for reflective because the weapons of choice were ER Large Lasers. Again, in my opinion, the XT and the Standard should be equipped with reactive armour.

From the factory, along with the reflective armour, the XT comes with 2 medium lasers, 2 small lasers, an UAC5 and a LBX20. More ore less, still a brawler config. Stripping those weapons and converting the armour to reactive yields you 29 tons to load up weapons with assuming you leave the electronics, LAMs and IFF, and the speed set at 81kph. This is where we see the change MP3 brought to the Argus XT.

The right and left torsos of the XT, prior to MP3, were 2-slot energy racks. The gurus at MekTek did a wonderful thing here and converted those slots to direct fire hard points. What that means to you and me is that you can put beam weapons or ballistic weapons in those slots. MY opinion? This was a great change. It allows the Argus XT to be one mean mech. Enemies can no longer target the ‘arms’ to take you out of the fight.

These 2 new slots allow for so many configs I don’t even know where to start. IF you convert the armour to standard ferro, the armour becomes completely full and you gains 5.5 tons to work with for weapons without altering speed or electronics. This will allow for 4 RAC2s. F O U R RAC2s! Ouch, that will chew up many to any mech! A little tweaking will get you 4 Mini Gauss.

There are a few pilots out there that can drive an XT very well. Harry is one, Dragon Slayer is another that instantly come to mind. The next two that pop into my head are D-Day and Genghis Prawn. I hate to roll over a hill or around a cliff or big rock formation and find one of these guys lurking around out there waiting for some n00b like me to poke my mech out where they can get a shot. Thing is deadly with either of the configs I mentioned, but add one these guys in the cockpit and well its going to be a long battle for the opposite team.

Another config that rears its head a lot is 2 RAC2s and 2 Large Continuous Beam Lasers. You had a heat sink, double up the ammo on the RACs and bump the speed to 88 and you have an aggravating machine that can strip the armour off anything in just a few seconds.

Running passive and utilizing the IFF electronics, a pilot can be a very long range sniper or harasser. Peak, shoot, and move, repeat the action. Harry is one of the absolute best at doing this, not to take anything away from any other pilots, but I think the XT is his favourite mech.

Don’t get me wrong because I have listed ranged configurations for the Argus XT, it can still brawl. Two AC10s and 2 Large lasers make it a very tough mid range support mech with rapid reload time (on the AC10s). Want a brawler? Load up two LBX20s or AC20s and a Large X-Pulse laser. You can even use RAC5s for when you expect the fight to be up close and personal.

One thing I did like about the XT that doesn’t get mentioned much when we talk about it, is the fact that all of the weapons are mounted relatively high on the mech. They are all almost equal to the head. I like this in a mech. For you hill humpers, this allows you to roll to the hill and slightly raise your head above ground level, from there, what you see si where you can shoot without exposing the rest of your torsos and legs. Roll up a little, shoot and roll back. It works well with this one.

Ok, ok, we talked about configurations and we have talked about various uses for the mech, but how does it stand up under fire? That’s the real test isn’t it? The Argus XT is just about as tough as any mech in its weight class. The Tenchi is probably tougher, but I think the Tenchi is in need of some hit box adjustments, but that is just my opinion. The Argus XT holds 13 tons of ferro armour when full. There are no special slots, just standard hit boxes. The arms are a bit weak on the XT and tend to get blown off usually 1st in any conflict. The rest of the mech is very solid. You need to remember this is a relatively small mech and it has a small profile. This all plays as an advantage to the Argus XT, making it tougher to target, especially when the IFF is used.

The XT will not stand up under sustained fire, but then again, not many mechs do. You have to keep moving and twisting that torso. Use your speed, Luke and let the Force be with you. You can cover a lot of ground almost as fast as some light class mechs. IF you tangle with a bigger large class mech or any assault, hit and move, don’t stand there. Circle him, duck and weave, twist and turn, but don’t be stationary or you wont last long.

I have also noticed the head and/or HUD seems to get blown out. I attribute that to the fact that the XT is a short, low profile mech and assaults are shooting down at it to hit it. Losing your HUD is never fun, but it happens.

Assault mechs such as the Canis and Gladiator, oh, and of course the n00b mech called the Behemoth II with n00b cannon, can take out an Argus XT with one or two well placed alphas. The strongest points on an Argus XT are its center torso and its legs (unless you cheat some armour). Use the terrain to your advantage and hit these guys hard but don’t let them get and ‘free’ shots on you or the XT wont live long.

GP has made the XT one of the mechs of the month for June. Hopefully several of you had tried this machine out and hopefully many have found it to be an ‘I will use it’ kind of mech. It s a fun thing to drive and it can pack a punch.

In its class, the Argus XT is one of the better heavy mechs. Lots of speed, good fire power and agility, all the things you look for in a mech. Put it in Sunder and it drops some in value simply because it is a smaller mech outclassed in firepower. My rating of 3 minutes still stands, but in the right hands this mech could easily change its rating to 4 minutes. Run up against a few assaults and the rating drops rapidly if you don’t play smart. So, 3 to 3 ½ minutes it is. Try the XT, it’s a good ride.