The Catapult

A Mad Cat without arms. That’s the way I used to describe today’s choice of battlemech. It always looked to me that the Inner Sphere salvaged a Mad Cat and put enough “stuff” into to get it running. I figured the scientist and engineers of the Inner Sphere were ‘reverse engineering’ the Maddy to see what made it tick. I figure they got it running and left the arms off simply because they forgot them, or the unit they salvaged already had the arms blown off. Somewhere in there, the research teams decided that if they put jump jets on this thing, it would be a ‘killer’ design.

That’s my impression of how the I. S. ended up with what we know as the Catapult. At first appearance, it does look like an armless Mad Cat. Weighing 65tons with 18.5tons of reactive armour on an endo steel frame, The Catapult is any interesting battlemech with a purpose.

This machine offers BAP, Jump Jets, LAMs and Advanced Gyro, a very good selection of electronics. The slots are straightforward and simple. Each ‘ear’ has a 4-slot missile rack. There are no arms but the torsos, right, left and center house a 2-slot energy.

This mech was designed to be a long-range support mech. Its main purpose is to be a missile boat. In the early days, reactive armour worked better against missiles than did the other options, so, similar to the Vulture, I suspect that is why the Catapult comes stock with reactive armour. The Catapult can hold two Arrow Thunderbolts or just about any combination of missiles. An interesting change of battle configs brings us 2 or 3 Large X-Pulse lasers. With plenty of heatsinks strapped on, the LXP Cat is a very deadly machine.

The Catapult is a very tough battlemech. Maybe it’s the reactive armour, Im not sure, but the Cat seems to absorb a large amount of damage before dying. The problem with this one is that it is on an endo steel frame. Once an area of the mech is blown out, the damage rapidly spreads to the CT. I am not completely sure, but I think the ‘ears’ or missile racks are actually special sections. These do tend to get blown off faster than any other part of the mech. The legs are probably the next weakest section.

Interestingly enough, when people see a Catapult, the initial instinct is to blow off the missile racks. That is why I think the LXP Cat is such a deadly config. If the ears are special sections, there is a good chance that the damage does not transfer to the torso once they have been blown out.

Jump Jets and BAP are essential electronics for this mech, especially if you want to use it as a missile boat. The Catapult does not climb very well. This is where the jump jets come in, giving the Cat that extra little boost in hilly terrain. You can also use the jets to make this a jump sniper. A couple of arrows, hiding behind some terrain feature, a little juice on the jets, up you go and the BAP allows rapid target lock. Fire those arrows and float gently back to safety.

The Catapult does not seem to handle as easily as other mechs. The turn radius just doesn’t seem small enough or fast enough. It’s really not a good idea to get into a brawl with the Catapult, stay outside the fur ball and peg away at stuff in brawl.

Vettie’s View? I like the Catapult. It’s not one of my favourite mechs, but it is a tough mech. Pilots that enjoy missile boats will love this mech. It holds up well and does its job. At 65tons, it is a bargain for the drop dec. I rate the mech at 3 ½ minutes. Good for a Heavy mech.


MP3s Catapult


I had a hard time coming up with a review of the Catapult. The reason is pretty simple, the Catapult is not one of my favourite mechs. I have never been very effective in one and I have had team mates get whacked relatively quickly in them. On the other hand, I have seen Catapults that seemed to take an extraordinary amount of damage before blowing or even managing somehow to survive the entire wave.

That fact that I don’t care for Catapult doesn’t mean that is not a decent or even good battlemech. As I mentioned, I have seen the Catapult used very effectively and I have seen them do lots of damage. So, I will do my best to give you an objective review solely based on the facts about this mech. I invite your comments as I am sure there are Catapult fans out there.

Weighing in at 65 tons, the Catapult comes from the factory with a nice set of weapons and a decent set up. The Speed is pre-set to 75kph and the mech is packed with Reactive armour. I don’t know if the reactive armour load traces its roots back to ‘battletech’ but I suspect it just goes back to Vengeance (the early days prior to Microsoft updates) when reactive armour was the armour to use against missiles. Loaded in each missile rack is an Artemis LRM20 (ALRM20). A Large Laser is packed in the center as well a medium laser in each side torso. The package is rounded out with BAP, Jump Jets and 2 heat sinks.

Additional electronics are offered for the Catapult in the form of LAMs and Advanced Gyro. The Missile racks are actually 4-slot racks that are capable of holding any missile currently in the game. Each torso holds a 2-slot energy or beam rack and the center torso holds 2 of these dual slot beam racks. The speed ranges from 61kph to 103kph. 75kph up to 89kph seem to be the most suited for this mech making it ‘handle’ a bit better.

Although the Catapult was designed to be jumping missile platform there are other uses for it. Because it is known to launch a salvo or two, the ‘ears’ or racks are generally the 1st thing enemies shoot for, so even if you cant kill it, you can disarm it. When used in other roles, this works in the Catapult’s Pilot’s favour. Loading 4 large lasers or 3 Large X-Pulse or 3 Large Pulse or any combo of these, the mech can absorb lots of punishment to the missile racks while burning away at whatever is trying to shave the ears away. The 82 to 89kph speed is deceptively fast allowing the Pult to take evasive action quickly. The ability to jump adds an additional mobility element for attack or defense, allowing the pilot to jump over obstacles or hills or to use as a pop-snipe tactic.

As a missile platform, the Catapult can take a wide variety of missiles or pack in a couple of any two missiles in the game. Dual Arrows or Dual Clusters packed on a jumping platform make for a very devastating impact. BAP allows this mech to ‘see’ up to 1200 meters out and gives a quicker lock time on any missiles it packs. The Jumpies give it an added dimension. Hide passively behind a building or hill, hit the jump gas and switch on radar long enough to get a lock, fire and go passive as you float back down behind cover.

The Catapult climbs fairly well for a jump jet based mech. As I mentioned earlier, at 75 to 89kph, it handles decently. It doesn’t have a very good turn ratio or torso twist, but it wasn’t made for ‘in fighting’. The basis of the design suggests this mech was created to be a support mech, selecting a target from afar and splattering it with missiles while lancemates moved under cover to finish off whatever was left of an enemy. I am not saying that a Catapult cant brawl, in fact, loaded with MRMs or SRMs or even Artys and some medium pulse or medium X-Pulse lasers this thing can really do a lot of damage up close. What I am saying is that it wasn’t designed for close up fighting and it doesn’t handle well when the fighting gets tight.

The lack of ballistic slots hold this mech back a bit, in my opinion. Having to use only missiles or lasers or combinations of both let the enemy know right away what kind of platform they are facing. The addition of Artemis Missiles has helped this mech, again, in my opinion. Loaded with Beagle Active Probe, an Artemis Missile system is an almost insta-lock platform. However, Artemis Systems weigh a bit more, especially when you consider the fact that you almost always have to pack on extra ammo.

I personally believe that the Catapult works best if used in pairs. I don’t mean pairs of missiles, I mean pairs of mechs, 2 Catapults. One should wing for the other. Once a target has been selected the pair of Catapults should alternate firing on the target with about a 1 second break between salvos (assuming a missile load out). Two of these rascals reigning missiles on pretty much anything is almost guaranteed to ruin its (the target) day. I envision two Catapults both load with dual ALRM20s and plenty of ammo sitting just behind the peak of a hill. The 1st jumps up, goes radar active and fires a complete salvo on some poor Gladiator or Deimos some 900 meters away. As the missiles leave the 1st Catapult goes radar Passive and descends back to its hiding spot while the other goes active and jump repeating the actions of number 1. It doesn’t take many of these to do away with the (any) target and soon the search is on for another.

One thing I do like to do with a Catapult is to make sure that it has a secondary weapon. I like to load on a large laser or large X-Pulse laser (usually in the CT) along with whatever missiles are need for its role for that mission. This always allows the Catapult a way to defend itself in the event missile racks (the ears) are blown off. It also allows for a decent weapon should a smaller (medium class or light class) mech somehow make it close enough to begin to work on the missiling menace.

I don’t know how many of you played Mech Commander or Mech Commander 2. I played MC2 a lot. That game was loaded with Catapults and they always seemed pretty tough whether up close or from far away. You would shoot them, hit them, knock them down but they would just keep coming at you and flailing away at you with missiles. You always seemed to salvage some of them if they were used against in a mission. I didn’t like ‘em much, but they brought good C-Bills that you could use to buy other things.

In NBT, we faced these things on a few occasions but none were better at them than a team called CC (Cappellan Confederation). They (CC) had a guy known as Krazy A who was a pretty good pilot in whatever he drove. I remember a match we had against CC on a team only radar, light fog filled map of River Canyon. Krazy and another pilot (sorry I cant remember the name of the rest of their pilots) were in Catapults. Krazy’s mech was loaded with 2 or 3 Large X-Pulse Lasers while the other pilot had twin Arrows. They set up a pretty good ambush for us. The 2 Catapults had backed themselves a bit up a ridgeline, both covers by the big pipes sticking out of the mountainside. Depending on which way you entered the area where they were, one of the 2 Catapults would be hidden unless you came for over the top of the mountain.

CC had some other mechs, I remember a couple of Uziels and a couple of Wolfhounds. We had a mixed bag of mechs including a Thor and a BK. I was driving a Hunchback. We had done away with most of their mechs and I was chasing a Wolfhound. The battle had been going on for some 15 minutes. CC had 3 mechs left, the Wolfie I was chasing and 2 we had not seen yet. We were down to four, my hunchie, Buddha in a Bushwacker, Cow in a Thor and Smaga in a BK.

I was chasing this Wolfie in my Hunchie and blazing away with medium X Pulse lasers and a HVAC20. He made it over a rise and made right turn as I fired on him. I followed over the rise just in time to see a Catapult locking in on me. At 500 meters, he was out of the reach of my lasers but not of my HVAC20 which was in process of reloading. I heard the beep, beep beep signal of missiles achieving lock. I fired just as I was hit by 2 Arrows. The impact was enough to blow out my HVAC20 and knock my mech down.

I screamed over comms that I had found them and that I needed help. As with most times in a league game, once you get knocked over within range of an enemy you are pretty much dead and this time was no exception. Before my Hunchie could back to its feet, the sting of blue lasers lit me up. BOOoooom! Buddha had been following behind managed to take out the Wolfie that I did leg before the Catapults got me. But they got him too.

From where I died, I could see both the Catapults. That’s when I realized one had lasers and the other had Arrows (in most league games, the camera ship is turned off for dead mechs, once you are dead (in no respawn games) you are dead and can only see out in front of where your mech died). I got on comms giving the best intel I could to Cow and Smaga. Cow’s Thor was a ‘standard’ load out, 2 Clan Gauss rifles and an ERLarge Laser while Smaga had opted to load his BK with PPCs. I suggested that on come to the front of the ‘v’ area and keep the laser mech busy while staying low enough to avoid the arrows while the other went over the mountain to hit them from behind.

Cow went in from the front and began pegging away at the ‘ears’ of the Arrow Pult. Smaga made his way around behind the mountain and started climbing over. I remember watching those Catapults take round after round from those gauss rifles. Cow lost an arm somewhere in the fray but did manage to take out both of the Arrows. He started to close on that damaged mech when the other started firing away with those LXPs. Just as Cow’ second gauss was stripped, Smaga began firing on the XPulse Catapult from above. The combination of PPC fire and heat build up from LXPs shut the Laser Pult down. Cow turned to fire his remaining ERLarge at the Arrow Mech who was now charging him in hopes of taking him out with a suicide maneuver. The Arrow Mech blew up in front of Cow but did not kill him.

The XPulse Pult had recovered from shut down by now and began firing on a shut down Cow driven Thor. It was enough. Cow exploded right in front of my dead mech. It was also enough to shut the Catapult down that had done the killing. Smaga laid into him with round after round of PPC, chain firing on him until he died. When the smoke settled, we had won the fight but only by 1 mech. I had gained a new respect for the Catapult as Krazy and the CC team used them very effectively.

I am still not a big fan of the Catapult, but they are a decent mech. When used correctly, they can be very effective. I originally rated this mech at 3 ½ minutes. I have no change to that rating.

The ShadowCat

The Clan Shadowcat. A very popular medium class mech weighing in at 45tons. This battlemech represents an excellent design and weapons lay out. The Shadowcat is an all-purpose mech that can fill many roles. Its fast, it jumps, it can carry a deadly weapon load, it can brawl and it can be a missile boat. What more do you want?

Vengeance gave me a 1st look at this mech and I used them a lot in the open servers days of respawn battles back then. MechCommander 2 gave me another look at this battle mech. It was a no-brainer to be part of Mercs.

This Clan design offers BAP, Jump Jets, LAMs and Enhanced Optics. The Shadowcat has good slots capable of a wide variety of weapons. The right arm has a 2-slot energy while the left arm holds a 3-slot omni. The right torso has another 2-slot energy and a 2-slot ballistic while the left torso holds a 3-slot missile. All that packed on an endo steel frame of almost full ferro armour at 9tons.

The “Scat’ doesn’t act much like a mech built on endo steel. It is very tough. The Scat spreads damage well too. The arms may be the weak points, holding less than a ton of armour each.

The Shadowcat is small. The body is compact, almost wedge shaped. This is probably why it does spread dame so well. It handles heat fairly well too.

Because of the varied weapons slots, a Shadowcat can be fitted to many roles. The 3 ERLL config is very popular on this mech. Having jump jets installed it becomes a deadly pop sniper slamming those green waves of energy in from 800 meters. But you can replace a laser or two with some tweaking and add a gauss rifle. Now you have a sniper with some instant punch. Prefer energy weapons? Drop the gauss and lasers replace them with an ERPPC and Lt PPCs. Ouch from beyond 800. For brawling load up a couple LBX10s and HML or 2. Need missiles? The omni slot and missile rack can hold up to 6 LRM10s, chain those at your friends…

The design team for the Clanners got this one right. They needed a do all mech that weighed in under 50tons. They needed it to be tough but carry a weapons load of a heavy class mech. They needed speed and jump jets. The Shadowcat was the result of their efforts and a damn fine result it is.

Vettie’s View? I rate this mech at 3 ½ to 4 minutes. Very good for any class, excellent for a 45ton mech. The Shadowcat is a general all purpose mech, it can be used for almost any situation and whatever role you put it in, it does the job very nicely. Did I mention I just think it looks cool on top of all the other stuff? No? Well, I think it looks cool, too.

Shadow Cat MP3


My first review of the Shadow Cat gave it pretty good marks for a mech of its size but I feel like I didn’t go into much depth. Maybe today, I can fix that and give you all the juice on this feisty feline.

Vengeance is where I first saw the mech in a video game. It may have been part of MW3, but I don’t know for sure since I never actually played it. I do know it was in Mech Commander 2 and even though it was a 45 ton mech, it looked bigger.

In Vengeance, you are given one to start with in the campaign. I often used them in online open servers. It was small enough and quick enough that I could get lots of hits on bigger mechs like the Daishis, Masakaris and Atlas that dominated the open servers. I would run around them blasting away with ermedium pulse lasers and just rip away at their (usually) weak rear armour until someone else killed them or, if I was lucky, I did.

I remember playing on Frostbite, with the snow falling and team only radar. I think there was some fog but it may have been set to default visibility but either way the sight distance was limited. I mounted an erlarge pulse laser and 2 standard erlarge lasers. I joined the blue team. When we launched I headed off to the right of our spawn. The other team was loaded with Daishis and Thors and an Awesome or two. In those days, while in the lobby awaiting launch, the lobby showed you what mechs everyone had chosen. My team mates had Cauldron Borns, Daisys, Thors and my Scat. IT was a respawn game and it was mixed tech. Anyway, after I went right I tried to get up on some of those hills and catch some of those big guys as they came off the hill from their drop zone. I could shoot , using the pulse I could manage several blasts, and fade back beyond the hill (now we call it hill humping) before they could figure out where the hits were coming from. I managed to get in a few kills before a couple guys from the other team wised up in their Thors and came in from behind me and blasted me right off the hill. Because my mech was smaller, I racked up a lot of points smacking those Daisies even managing a few kills. I would go from side to side on the map doing more or les the same thing.

The Shadow Cat is small enough and fast enough to evade the big guys for awhile. Not much about the mech ahs really changed since then. Even the slots are about the same, just the weapons are a bit different, oh yeah, the opponents are a little different too.

Lets look at the Shadow Cat and see whats it is made of then we can discuss it uses. With the speed set at 102kph it is obviously built for speed. The range goes from 77kph to 112kph. The cost increments from 102 to 112 a relatively cheap as there are only 2 steps costing 1.5 tons and then an additional 1.75tons. Dropping from 102 to 97 gets you back 1.25 tons and 97 is still very fast.

The mech comes equipped with 5 heat sinks, jump jets and LAMs. BAP and Enhanced Optics are also offered. I Like the BAP option, the EO depends on the usage of the mech. IF you are going to build a missile mech or a sniper or ranged fighter, then EO may be a good choice.

The weapons load out leads you to believe the mech was set up for in fighting. It is pre-loaded with 3 ermedium lasers, a Clan machine gun, a CSTRK6 and an erlarge laser for that bigger punch or to hit something at a distance. If you remove all the weapons you get to the slots. The right arm is a 2 slot beam rack and the left arm is a 3 slot omni rack. The right torso houses a 2 slot beam rack and a 2 slot ballistic rack while the left torso holds a 3 slot missile rack. I always thought it funny that the depiction of the mech showed missile racks on either side of the cock pit but the slots only have missiles on the left torso. My thinking was that the there should be either a 2 slot missile rack or maybe a 2 slot omni rack in place of the ballistic rack. Another option would be to change the depiction.

The Shadow Cat is loaded with 9 tons of Ferro Fibrous armour, .1 ton away from being completely full. All this is mounted on an Endo Steel Frame. Ferro is a good option for this mech providing good all around protection. The mech is fast enough and agile enough to avoid or spread damage in most situations. The Arms are the weak points holding only .8 tons of ferro when full. This is important to remember when loading those slot with weapons, the arms usually are the first things lost in battle, especially if you put a ‘big’ weapon in the left arm.

I like to strip the heat sinks and the weapons and add BAP. This gives you 17 tons to load up weapons before any armour shaving or speed reductions. One of the more popular configs is to load 3 erlarge lasers and the 5 heat sinks. This provides potential pilots with and excellent sniper mech in a small, fast platform. For those that like them, 3 Lt PPCs and 2 heat sinks also make a fine sniper with a bit more range (875 meters for the LtPPC as opposed to 800 meters with the erlarge option). For those that don’t like armour shaving, lower the speed and remove some of your electronics (leave the jets on) you can load 2 erlarge and a Clan gauss rifle giving you some nasty punch at 800 meters. Using 4 heat sinks and BAP @ 97kph allows you to pack an erPPC and 2 LtPPCs. This is a very effective sniper machine that is fast enough to avoid the enemy and still pack a smack.

Of course Snipers aren’t the only use for this mech. IT can brawl with the best of them. Strip away the electronics and lower the speed and you can pack a LBX20, a LBX10 and 2 heavy medium lasers. If you like, pack on a heavy medium laser, 2 Clan machine guns and 5 CSTRK4’s. Make it a missile mech, with 2 ATM12Es and an erlarge laser or an arrow T-Bolt with an erlarge. It will hold 2 CLRM15s and a couple of erlarge lasers also. The BAP options allows for quicker lock times. A erlarge pulse laser coupled with a CUAC5 with double ammo keeps enemy mechs rocking while eating away their armour very quickly. For this config, drop the 2 heat sinks and lower the speed a little and you can add on a ATM6E (or M) or a CLRM15 and you have a well rounded mech. IF you don’t like the erlarge pulse, swap it for an erlarge laser and very minimal shaving gets you back to 102kph. This is an all purpose load out. As you can see from the varied load outs, the Shadow Cat is an all purpose mech.

When The Blood Pearls were a part of NBT, the Scat (as it is called by many) was a staple mech for the Clans. On those smaller tonnage battles (400 and under), we saw lots of these things. We tried to steal many of them too (*makes pirate sounds, arrrr*). They are powerful, fast, and very useful. We used many of them with the 3 erlarge laser config.

The Scat is smallish and squatty to the ground making it a tough target. The body of the mech ahs that wedge shape with no flat surfaces on the front, everything is angled. Everything, that is except the arms. They are square and boxy even where they connect to the body, making them actually easier to hit and take damage than the body (torsos) itself.

The legs are big and tall making them prime targets. The legs are well armoured (if you put armour in there!) but enemies will target the legs to slow this mech down. Protect your legs, armour them up!

Obviously, in Sunder, you don’t see that many Shadow Cats in use. Every now and then you do, but not that often. In league play you see them often and in limited weight servers / team battle servers. They are a good, tough mech that make a tough target but they don’t hold up under heavy fire from assault mechs. Certain configs CAN take them out in one shot (technically its not one shot because of the weapon travel time, maybe I should have said one alpha) but overall they hold their own.

I like the Scat and over all I think it is a good design suited for many things. They are very agile and can be very fast. They can pack some decent weapons loads and thee is not too many places on a map they cant get to. On limited radar maps (team only or no radar) they can be deadly with the ability to get real close to an assault with enough firepower to kill it quickly and never take return fire. This may be one of the best medium mechs in the game. The original review rating stands at 3 ½ to 4 minutes. Use them but be careful. Take time to learn the mech.

The Stalker

I really don’t know where to start with the battlemech up for review today. It has the potential to be the baddest mech in the game, but it never lives up to the potential. It weighs 85tons. It is an IS Assault Class mech. The name? Stalker.

If any of you ever watched wrestling in your younger days, even though you knew it was fake, you watched it anyway. If you did you may recall a wrestler named Dick Murdock. This guy was portrayed to be a big, mean, ugly SOB that really didn’t give a crap about anything but winning the match. Whatever it took to win, Murdock would do it.

The Stalker reminds me of Dick Murdock. It’s big, it’s mean, and it’s slow and methodical. The Stalker just doesn’t stop hitting you until either you die or it does. Stock has 13tons of ferro armour but when full it holds 17tons. The stock weapons load is impossible to use for more than one or two alphas before shutting down even with the 24 heatsinks packed on. It has 2 Heavy Rocket Launchers, 2 Rocket Launchers and 2 assault lasers. Could we pack on anymore heat generators than that? Doubtful…

Load up the Stalker with ECM, LAMS and Advanced Gyro (all the electronics offered) and bump the stock speed 2 notches putting you at 63kph (still slow) and now you have 42.5tons left for weapons.

What can this walking dildo take for weapons? Well if you like missile boats, this mech is for you. The Stalker has 2 3-slot missile racks plus the side torsos also have a 2-slot missile on each. The Center torso holds a 4-slot ballistic, man that’s a hell of a chin rack, huh? Oh, I almost forgot the arms. They each have a 4-slot energy and a 2-slot ballistic.

Just looking at the slots, you could pack on 4-RAC2s and 2 PPCs with all the goodies. Another config is 1 HVAC20, 2 HVAC5s and 2 Large Lasers. 4 LLs and a HVAC20 is another config that will slap you around. For a Long Range config, the Stalker easily holds 3 Lt. Gauss rifles or 4 HVAC5s or 6 HVAC2s.

Brawler you ask? Well, sure why not? Load up 4 LBX102 or AC10s. The stock config makes a fine brawler as well, if you control the heat. Those Heavy Rocket Launchers are one of the nastiest weapons in the game. The knock is unbelievable. Couple 2 HRLs with 2 Assault lasers and somebody is gonna get hurt, hell, they may even disco from the server.

All right, we know the Stalker can dish out a pounding at any range. But, can the Stalker take a beating? The short answer is yes. The Stalker can absorb lots of punishment. I have seen some in open servers that I thought would never die.

So what’s the problem with the Stalker? The problem is its speed. This thing is very big and has a huge profile. It’s slow. Very Slow. It’s a big slow walking dick in the open and will take a lot of fire before it ever makes it to the battlefield. It is tough and can taking lots of hits, but it can’t protect itself if caught in open terrain. It drives like a school bus. It doesn’t turn well and it is slow to react. The CT is big, the chin rack is big and from the side, the profile is HUGE. It is a bullet magnet. Maybe its penis envy but opponents like to shoot the Stalker.

I have said in many reviews that each mech takes awhile to learn how to use it. This is one you have to spend some time with to be effective. Everyone knows it’s a missile boat that can put you away from afar, but it has very good slots and can take a powerful load out other than missiles.

Vettie’s View? Tough one to call, but I rate the Stalker at 3 ½ minutes. It’s hard to kill but it draws attention to itself even with the ECM package. If smaller mechs get close enough, the Stalker can’t turn fast enough to fight back. It can be a killer in the right hands, otherwise it’s just somebody’s dildo that got screwed.


The MP3 Stalker

This battlemech has a big following in MWL. Almost no one uses it in NBT. I don’t really see the attraction. Its big, its slow and it dies easy. It should be big and bad and tough to kill, but its really not. Lets look closer and see whats up with the Stalker.

When I see the stock load out I wonder what this mech was set up for. Its slow at 52kph and the heat efficiency is set at only 34. This would mean you have to be REAL careful when you fire the weapons or you have to be on a very cold map to use it. It does have ECM but the LAMs option and Advanced Gyro are not taken. 12 Heat sinks are installed but it is still in the red on the heat scale.

If we look at the stock weapons we see why the 34 rating on the heat scales. 1 HV20 with double ammo, 4 medium lasers, 2 standard rocket launchers and 2 heavy rocket launchers installed from the factory. All the heat comes from those 2 heavy rocket launchers. This is all packed on a standard structure frame with 13 tons of ferro armour.

The speed range on this assault class mech is set at 52kph. This is the lowest speed available. The range is from 52 to 98kph. A mere 3 tons gets the speed up to 63kph but it will cost you 6 tons (total) to get you to 68kph. Load up the ECM and LAMs packages (in my book the advanced Gyro is optional) and fill the armour so the it tops out at 17 tons. This leaves you 44 and ½ tons for weapons.

The weapons slots are interesting on this mech. The CT has a 4-slot ballistic while the side torsos have a 2-slot ballistic/missile only rack. Each arm houses a 4-slot beam rack. On top of each arm is a 3-slot missile rack. At first glance, before and even after stripping away the stock load out, this mech seems primed for missiles. Yes, it can take several missiles, but I have found that there are plenty of other ‘power configs’ that work better depending on what you want to do with the Stalker.

The Stalker can be loaded with 4 LtGauss Rifles although this takes lowering of the speed and shaving of armour. With minimal shaving or armour 5 mini gauss can be installed. A favourite config of mine is to set the speed at 68kph and install 2 CapPPCs and a Heavy Gauss with double ammo. IF you prefer range, load up the 2 CapPPCs and 2 Lt Gauss rifles. For medium range, I like the Heavy Gauss (double ammo) and 4 Large Laser version.

As a missile mech, the Longbow is a better option in my opinion. The weight is the same and the longbow is faster with a better missile payload. The Stalker can hold 2 ALRM20s and 2 ALRM10s as well as a LtGauss (or some other ballistic) or a beam weapon or two. IF you like a mixed bag of weapons how about 2 ALRM20s, 2 Large Laser and a Heavy Gauss Rifle? Another choice is 2 RACs2s, a HV5 and 2 PPCs.

The Stalker can pack some firepower, the CapPPC / Hvy Gauss Rifle version is one that sees some action but the problem is not one of firepower. The problem is incoming firepower. Even with full armour the Stalker appears to have big slots. The legs are big and easy targets because the mech moves relatively slow if it is loaded with a decent alpha factor. The CT and Side Torsos are also easy targets because of the ‘stubby’ arms and missile racks. All shots are naturally guided to either the legs or the CT. I have also noticed that the Stalker seems to fall more than other assault mechs. Maybe AG is an option that should be taken to prevent this. To hill hump, other than the missiles, the entire body of the mech has to be exposed. The cockpit is not set high on the CT, but rather lower and right in front just above the nose cannon. So, to be able to ‘see’ the mech must rise above the obstacle thus exposing the entire body of the mech.

Although it has plenty of missile slots, I see the Longbow or even the Archer (some 15 tons lighter) as better options for missiles. Perhaps its best use is a ground based long ranged sniper. It needs BAP to improve it. For no radar or team only it is a decent mid range mech offering some good fire power. I haven’t seen many used as brawlers and that may be because of the slow torso turn and limited torso turn. The accel and decel rates aren’t spectactular either.

The entire time The Blood Pearls were in NBT I never saw a Stalker grace the battlefield. In fact, I only saw 2 in our stay in MWL. I have seen them in the opens but not very often. Maybe others share my feelings about this mech. At 85 tons, there are better options.

My original rating of the Stalker was 3 and ½ minutes. I don’t like to downgrade mechs but in this case I have to. 3 Minutes for the MP3 Stalker. I appreciate your comments and I am sure many of you have configs that work well. Post them and lets discuss it.

The Blood Asp

I have this game called Mech Commander 2. It is a fun game. It has Mechs and pilots that talk to you. You can customize the mechs and you direct them into battle and select their targets. The campaign is set that you fight 2 or 3 different opponents and you get to see many different battlemechs.

One mech from Mech Commander was named the Blood Asp. House Liao (forgive me if I spelled it wrong, but its been awhile since I played the game) uses the Blood Asp towards the ending of the campaign against them. In Mech Commander the Blood asp is big and mean.

Fast forward to today. MekTek added the Blood Asp to Mercs. It looks a little different, but it is still big and mean. Weighing 90tons, this Clan Assault can and will put a hurting on you. Built on a standard frame, the Blood Asp is the first mech presented to us utilizing the dual overhead gun rack.

Homer doesn’t care much for overhead gun rack. He thinks they can be blown off too fast. I am not going to argue that point because some can do it with ease and then there is me, the guy that is just lucky to hit the mech at all.

Since I started down that road, I will continue to talk about the slots and weapons and discuss the electronics a bit later. Most of the power of the Blood Asp is packed into those gun racks or the arms. Each overhead gun rack is a 3-slot ballistic capable of holding a gauss rifle. The arms house a 3-slot energy and a 2-slot omni. The right and left torsos have only a 1-slot energy while the CT houses a 2-slot missile.

Ballistics and energy weapons are the forte’ of the Blood Asp. Dual gauss rifles and 4 ERLL or dual gauss and 2 ERPPCs and almost standard configs. A stock config has the dual gauss rifles and 4 HMLs as well as a CSTRK6.

The Asp comes with 14.5tons of ferro armour but if packed full will hold 17.5tons. The stock config has no electronics, but ECM, BAP and LAMs are offered. I suggest them all. If you pack it full of armour and take all the electronic goodies offered you still have 44.5tons free for weapons. That’s a lot of whoop ass.

The Asp has a 360torso, unusual for an assault, but a nice touch. This meanie can brawl. It is one of the few battlemechs that can take 2 LBX20, 2 LBX10 and 2 HML with full armour and electronics. Ouch!

The Blood Asp can be a long-range threat, simply pack on 2 ERPPC and the 2 Gauss rifles. One of favs for this mech is to go near full reactive armour and pack on the config I just mentioned. It can hit from 900 meters or a smack from 800 and take a return punch. With the reactive armour, the light gauss hitting you because not much else can reach you does very little damage.

The Blood Asp is a big target. It is very tall and presents itself with almost a square shape from a distance. It appears to move slow but comes stock set at 64kph while topping out at 88. Engine upgrades are very expensive. The first upgrade cost you 4tons and bumps you to 70kph. It’s all uphill from there. The ECM is needed because of the size and speed of this mech.

You see a lot of these in the opens because they are tough and can pack a lot of firepower. The Asp makes a good CUAC2 boat. Eight will fit while allowing you to keep all the electronics and near full ferro armour. I prefer the 6 CUAC5s. Although the range is on 700, the recycle rate is very fast at 1.5 seconds and you do 5points of damage per round fired. That’s 30 points of damage every 1.5 seconds. Hmmm sounds like a Clan RAC….

I am not a big fan of the Blood Asp, but I don’t dislike it. It has a lot going for it with the electronics package and firepower potential. The 360torso adds to the spice of the mech too.

Vettie’s View? I rate the Blood Asp a solid 3 ½ minutes. I tokes a beating and can dish out one as well. Its big and square making it a big, easy target.


The Blood Asp Re-visited

MP3 brought us many new mechs and several changes to existing mechs as well as a few new weapons and some weapons changes. I reviewed the Blood Asp some time back and today I will look at it again to see what if any changes were made and to explore this mech a little deeper.

I always seem to start my review with a view of the stock load out. The main reason for this is because this is the 1st look at the mech you get when you go to create your own version. I try to tell you what the mech has pre-loaded as well as most of the options available to you so you can decide what to put on the mech based on your needs. Maybe, just maybe, I will manage to point out some little fact that perhaps you overlooked or toss out a config you may want to try.

The Clan Blood Asp is an assault mech weighing 90 tons. The speed is set at 64kph. 17 Heat sinks are pre-installed but no electronics are loaded. ECM, BAP and LAMs are all options and in my view are all requirements. The armour is Ferro Fibrous and the Asp has 14 and ½ tons installed. 2 Clan Gauss, 4 Heavy Medium Lasers and a Clan Streak 6 are also installed.

If you max out the armour, the Asp holds 17 and ½ tons of Ferro armour. This is mounted on a standard frame. Speed increases or engine upgrades are costly. From the 64kph setting it will cost you 4 tons to move up to 70kph. From there it cost another 5 tons to increase to 76kph, ouch! 9 tons to speed up from 64 to 76. This beast ranges in speed from 46 to 88kph. At 88kph and full armour, you do have 26 tons to play. The 64 or 70kph speeds work well on this mech, even the 58kph is not too bad depending on your goal for your variant.

IF you leave the speed at 64kph with full ferro armour and add all the available electronics you have 44 and ½ tons which to spend on weaponry. As far as slots, MP3 doesn’t seemed to have changed much if anything. The dual overhead gun racks are still 3-slot ballistic racks and each arm houses a 3-slot beam rack and a 2-slot omni rack. Each torso has a 1-slot beam rack while the CT houses a 2-slot missile rack. As you can see, the gun racks and the arms hold most of the armament for this mech. To protect the arms, the torso offers a 360 twist feature. Not many mechs offer this, but you see it more on Clan mechs than on IS.

The Blood Asp can take a variety of load outs. One of the most popular is often seen on the Canis and that would be 2 Clan Gauss Rifles and 2 ERPPCs. Load this beast with heat sinks because it doesn’t do well with heat. Dropping the speed to 58kph allows you to load 8 CUAC2s. One of Soth’s configs is to load 6 CUAC2s and an ERPPC or a LtPPC, very nasty. Actually, you can put 2 LtPPCs on this but again, careful with your heat. You can load 2 Clan Gauss and 4 ERLLs but it is very hot, even with 7 heat sinks. An effective config for cooler to cold maps is 2 ERPPCs and 2 ERLLs or 2 LtPPCs, at 70kph and a bunch of heat sinks, this baby will hurt you.

This rascal can brawl too. The 360 torso allows you to keep firing on enemies as you pull away from them or to turn and shoot an enemy you normally couldn’t because you could twist without turning. Loaded with Ferro armour, the Blood Asp can take 2 LBX20s, 2 LBX10s and a couple of Heavy Medium Lasers, nice smack. With full reactive armour, I like the 5 LBX5, 3 HML version. Chain those puppies and watch you opponent bounce. Again, Full reactive and 6 CUAC2s @ 64kph is a good config too. Near full reactive @ 58kph still gets you 2 Clan Gauss and 2 ERPPCs but you have to be careful with the heat.

Offensively, other than missiles, although you can pack 3 ATM12Es with 2 ERPPCs, the Blood Asp is a well rounded machine. It packs plenty of fire power for most any situation. It can fire at range, it can brawl and it can be a boat, beam or ballistic. The downfall of the Asp is its defensive ability.

The Blood Asp is very tall. Those two Gun Racks on top add to the height and become instant targets because many configs will have 2 Gauss Rifles or a few UACs mounted inside. Take those out and you have cut down on the outbound fire of the Asp significantly. Also, the Blood Asp offers a wide torso. The CT is not very strong nor are the arms. I suppose this is why the mech has a 360 torso, so you can turn and twist and spread the incoming shots to avoid damage as much as possible. The legs hold as much armour as the CT but are prime targets for many. The speed of the mech, normally set at 64kph also allows for easy targeting by missiles or ballistics. This is why I suggested taking all the electronics offered, ECM, BAP and LAMs. Each of these electronics help in some way to the defense of the mech. As I said, the Blood Asp is big and presents itself as a big square target even at range. There is nothing you can do if you have been acquired via a visual but try to move and get out of the open.

I like the Blood Asp. I like the ‘look’ of the MechCommander 2 version a little more, but the Blood Asp we have is big and tough. Although slow, it moves and handles well. It does climb well but I find it slow to start moving from a dead stop or to go forward if in reverse. Along those lines, I also find it a bit slow to back up, but this mech does have 360 so you shouldn’t have to go in reverse very often. The Asp is an offensive powerhouse capable of many varied load outs. Protect its CT and it will serve you well.

I used a Blood Asp on a few drops when we were in MWL Clan vs IS Ladder. I got a few kills with it. I never had the chance to use one (that I recall) while we were in NBT although we did use them. ~BP~Buddha was our Blood Asp specialist. He was/is a very accomplished pilot and the Asp worked well for him. We even stole a couple (well, we were pirates and that was our job). Its amazing what Clans or IS Houses will just leave laying around. I was surprised that when we fought some of the Clans in NBT, we never faced a Blood Asp (again, that I recall). We saw more from the IS side than from the Clans. Sure, they had them, they just didn’t use them against us for whatever reason.

In my original review I rated the Blood Asp at 3 and ½ minutes. That’s reasonably solid for a mech of its class. It has some nice things going for it and it can hand out a serving if punishment. Protect it and you will be out there a long time. IF you think you are invincible in one you wont last long at all. My rating stands.