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Havoc~Ronin
Federated Suns
Major
Joined: 13-Nov-2003 00:00
Posts: 427
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 Posted: 06-May-2004 09:31 Post subject: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Since I am 3025 freak and have a curious mind (not always a good thing), I was wondering what "y'all" thought of the Victor and the Zeus?
Prior to the merger of the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns, the Victor and Zeus designs must have met in battle numerous times. Each one has definite weaknesses, some versions more than others. Therefore I picked the Zeus ZEU-6S and the Victor VTR-9B to compare. I like the weapons package on the Zeus with the long range capability, but the Victor's close in power and jump jets win me over...but that is only my opinion. I am curious to see what everyone else thinks. Will House lines stick with their mechs or will they choose the mech they see as better suited for their style?
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Pinhead
The Bloody Clans
Joined: 25-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1258
Location: United States
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| Posted: 06-May-2004 10:40 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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I've always been a Victor fan..
Tough to use it well, but if you know what you are doing with it, the mech is a nasty customer.
Pin
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ralgith
Blighted Sun Battalion
1st Company
"Ralgith's Renegades"
Colonel
Joined: 18-Aug-2003 00:00
Posts: 2021
Location: United States
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| Posted: 06-May-2004 10:43 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Victor in any close in situation, but it just can't close fast enough in open terrain so the Zeus would wipe the floor with it.
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Colonel Ralgith t'Mayasara
Blighted Sun Battalion
1st Company 'Ralgith's Renegades'
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Nightmare
Lyran Alliance
Kommandant-General
Joined: 03-May-2002 00:00
Posts: 2214
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| Posted: 06-May-2004 15:16 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Didn't someone ask this same question recently?
Both mechs run rather cool, and have the same amount of armor. The Victor has a bit more armor on it's backside, making it a better infighter. This is only made more obvious by the Victor's guns. Assault mechs are fine and good, but if I want to rush people with an AC/20 I can use a cheaper Hunchback. If I want to jump around in enemy formations I'll use a Grasshopper.
I'll pick the Zeus, just because it gets to start shooting long before the Victor.The Zeus is built for long-to-medium-range combat, making it more useful in a world where mechs are worth more than gold. It simply takes less searching for special situations to make the Zeus useful without risking too much.
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Vagabond
Mercenary
Mr. Referee
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 5792
Location: United States
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| Posted: 06-May-2004 16:25 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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i agree with the common sentiment thus far. the Zues.
While the Victor can be nice in the right situations it is a 1 shot wonder mech. if i stay beyond 9 hexes your badly messed up. sorry, i like it but in this case its out performed.
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Seraph
Blighted Sun Battalion
2nd Company
"Seraph's Slaughter"
Major
Joined: 11-Mar-2004 00:00
Posts: 1744
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| Posted: 06-May-2004 17:52 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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I beleive this was the subject of a previous post.
I will again back up the Victor. I was interested in the results and in a best of 5 in 5 different terrains the Victor came out on top 4 times. The Zeus is not fast enough to remain at longer ranges and it's harder to hit at longer ranges than closer up which works into the Victor's hands. The armor is comparable and the speeds are the same. The Victor can jump so even if the Zeus turned around and ran the Victor would eventually catch up.
Sorry for all you Zeus fans out there ( and there's a bunch of you); but the Victor will come out on top more than half the time barring through armor floating crits. Then it's anyone's game.
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Steelfang
3rd Bn, The Winchester Rifles
Major
Joined: 18-Sep-2003 00:00
Posts: 100
Location: United States
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| Posted: 07-May-2004 04:21 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Zeus. It has range weapons that can keep the shorter-ranged and lightly armor Victor at bay. Aside from the Victor's jump capability their movement profiles are identical, so there's not much of an edge unless they are fighting in cities or similarly restricted terrain.
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-Mud
ex-Jade Falcon
Bounty Hunter
Joined: 04-Nov-2003 00:00
Posts: 1082
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| Posted: 07-May-2004 08:58 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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I'll go with the Victor. Sure, the Zeus will chew it up a little bit at long range, but once the AC/20 starts hitting, you can say bye-bye to the Zeus real quick like. The Victor can also always jump behind the Zeus to deliver the killing blow. The only way the Zeus will win is if it gets lucky early and knocks out the Victor's autocannon.
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Havoc~Ronin
Federated Suns
Major
Joined: 13-Nov-2003 00:00
Posts: 427
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| Posted: 07-May-2004 09:24 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Well, so far it is 4 for the Zeus and 4 for the Victor, an even match. I am surprised that few of the Fed Suns and Lyran supporters have thrown their opinions into this pot. We will have to see if either mech begins to gain stronger support.
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-Mud
ex-Jade Falcon
Bounty Hunter
Joined: 04-Nov-2003 00:00
Posts: 1082
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| Posted: 10-May-2004 10:15 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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The Victor is hardly a solely Federated Suns design. The Draconis Combine has a production facility, and the Capellans had one in the St. Ives Compact for hundreds of years.
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Havoc~Ronin
Federated Suns
Major
Joined: 13-Nov-2003 00:00
Posts: 427
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| Posted: 10-May-2004 14:08 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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I see your point, but I wasn't being exclusive. I should have expanded my statement to include other Houses. However, the Lyrans see the Zeus as one of their assault mechs (with some pride to say the least). The Davions, although they lost their Victor factory for awhile (ok, quite a few decades), they still fielded a number of these mechs. I was trying to stir some rivalry....
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SaberDance
Federated Suns
Colonel
Joined: 07-May-2004 00:00
Posts: 837
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| Posted: 10-May-2004 16:15 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Well, the Victor just took the lead.
Can't have that.
I vote for the Zeus.
I'm a medium mech man myself, preferably in support/recon roles, but I've seen a few protracted battles in my day.
If the battle is one on one and over fast, the Victor has a distinct advantage: hitting power. Comparing Alpha Strikes (assume max damage) the Victor scores 42 damage to the Zeus' 34. After about two salvoes, the Zeus is toast.
Now, let's consider a real battle. Multiple mech lances with support and screeners (my kind of battle). The Victor is toast. It can deal an incredible ammount of damage, but after 3-4 turns of full action (a must in a pitched battle) the Victor has massively overheated. The Zeus, on the other hand, has stayed at long range, pelting the Victor with its LRM 15 and protected by well armored screeners. Once the Victor has shut down, the Zeus or its minions can scrap the mech at their leisure.
In a protracted campaign, the Victor fairs even more poorly. After 15 shots it is spent. All it has left in a dinky little set of 2 MedLas. The Zeus still has an additional LargLas.
Even in constricted battles I don't think the Victor can compete. Even if it can jump over obstacles, it will only increase its heat load while the Zeus can put things between itself and the Victor (and while the Victor is in the air it makes a lovely target either for the Zeus or other mechs: and look at those under-armored legs).
Even fight, Victor wins. But if you're looking for an even fight, play ping-pong. Stay out of war. (And you don't want me as your GM, either.)
Matt "SaberDance" Howell
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Seraph
Blighted Sun Battalion
2nd Company
"Seraph's Slaughter"
Major
Joined: 11-Mar-2004 00:00
Posts: 1744
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| Posted: 10-May-2004 17:44 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Dude, I like you already.
And out of curiosity, what about the Victor's lancemates? Surely the Victor pilot wouldn't take on a Zeus with close in support by himself.
And I like battles over one-on-one any day too.
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SaberDance
Federated Suns
Colonel
Joined: 07-May-2004 00:00
Posts: 837
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| Posted: 10-May-2004 20:41 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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Victor is a close in 'mech devourer. The Zeus stays as range and then closes to finish the work his LRM and LarLas started.
So, the Zeus needs screeners. Assuming we're using homogenous lances (75-100 tons) the Zeus's support mechs would be something like the Charger SB. At the start of the battle the Chargers would get out about four or five hexes in front of the Zeus and keep the bad guys away with LarLas barages. They should be able to keep the fire up long enough for the LRMs to do their work.
So, the Victor needs something that can clear the screeners and allow the Victor to close to AC/20 range and engage the Zeus one-on-one. I'd use something like the Awsome 8Q to clear the Chargers out. I might also carry an 8R model with the LRMs to keep the Zeus busy until the Victor can close the distance (the jump jets will help in this a little).
At the begining of the engagement, the Zeus needs to pick its target and pulverize it at range, knock off large chunks of armor so that it can finish with MedLas and LarLas. The Victor needs to get to 6 hex range without firing a shot (keep the heat down) and chew its target apart without getting mauled by the Charger that is five hexes away from the Zeus.
Another possibility for both sides is aerospace support or artillery support. The Zeus in particular likes standing still in the early part of the battle, so artillery could mess up it's plans. Alternatively, a well placed barage or a precipitous drop of napalm from the air could keep the victor at bay long enough for the LRMs to do their magic.
Of course, if we were to be totally unrealistic we could haul up Battlemasters and Stalkers to beat each other into a pulp, and then we're back to one-on-one.
Matt "SaberDance" Howell
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Nightmare
Lyran Alliance
Kommandant-General
Joined: 03-May-2002 00:00
Posts: 2214
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| Posted: 10-May-2004 23:35 Post subject: RE: The Victor and the Zeus - Who's the Baddiest? |
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You might try my little Lyran Heavy Lance
One Banshee 3S, two Zeus and a Phoenix Hawk. On the other hand, the Banshee is the main attraction there, supported by the Zeus with the PHawk watching their backs.
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