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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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 Posted: 29-Jun-2013 10:23 Post subject: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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BattleMech Technical Readout
Type/Model: Grand Crusader GRN-D-03
Tech: Inner Sphere / 3075
Config: Biped BattleMech
Rules: Level 3, Standard design
Mass: 80 tons
Chassis: Crucis-ES Endo Steel
Power Plant: 320 Hermes XL Fusion
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor Type: Maximillian 45 Standard
Armament:
2 ER Large Lasers
2 ER Small Lasers
1 Beagle Active Probe
1 Guardian ECM
2 MRM 30s
1 Laser AMS
1 ER Medium Laser
Manufacturer: Gibson Federated BattleMechs
Location: Gibson / FWL (GFBM)
Communications System: O/P COMNET 210A
Targeting & Tracking System: Garret A99 w. Artemis IV Interface
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Type/Model: Grand Crusader GRN-D-03
Mass: 80 tons
Construction Options: Fractional Accounting
Equipment: Crits Mass
Int. Struct.: 122 pts Endo Steel 14 4.00
(Endo Steel Loc: 4 LA, 4 RA, 1 LT, 1 RT, 2 LL, 2 RL)
Engine: 320 XL Fusion 12 11.25
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: 11 Double [22] 0 1.00
Gyro: 4 4.00
Cockpit, Life Supt., Sensors: 5 3.00
Actuators: L: Sh+UA R: Sh+UA 12 .00
Armor Factor: 244 pts Standard 0 15.25
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head: 3 9
Center Torso: 25 35
Center Torso (Rear): 12
L/R Side Torso: 17 26/26
L/R Side Torso (Rear): 8/8
L/R Arm: 13 26/26
L/R Leg: 17 34/34
Weapons and Equipment Loc Heat Ammo Crits Mass
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1 ER Large Laser RA 12 2 5.00
1 ER Small Laser RA 2 1 .50
1 Beagle Active Probe RA 0 2 1.50
1 ER Large Laser LA 12 2 5.00
1 ER Small Laser LA 2 1 .50
1 Guardian ECM LA 0 2 1.50
1 MRM 30 RT 10 32 9 14.00
(Ammo Locations: 2 LT, 2 RT)
1 MRM 30 LT 10 5 10.00
1 Laser AMS CT 7 2 1.50
1 ER Medium Laser HD 5 1 1.00
CASE Equipment: LT RT 2 1.00
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TOTALS: 60 76 80.00
Crits & Tons Left: 2 .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 19,282,801 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,301
Cost per BV: 14,821.52
Weapon Value: 1,436 / 1,436 (Ratio = 1.10 / 1.10)
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 24; MRDmg = 12; LRDmg = 5
BattleForce2: MP: 4, Armor/Structure: 6/3
Damage PB/M/L: 3/2/1, Overheat: 4
Class: MA; Point Value: 13
Specials: ecm, prb
I envisioned this as a major boss for the Mechwarrior game I've been putting together in my head, if not *the* end boss.
Originally, the idea was "What could I do with a Grand Crusader if I traded out the LRMs for MRMs?". I then proceeded to go from there based on different factors as I tinkered.
It's true that the machine suffers somewhat in range and accuracy. However, not only is the pilot sending more missiles downrange in a single volley, the pilot gets more total volleys (8 vs. 5). And since these are MRMs, there isn't a minimum range; anyone who tries to close will get blasted with MRMs before being torn apart with the laser array.
So this means a sniping battle would be best, right? Nope. The switch-over to a LAMS system, the ECM gear, and the machine's faster top speed mean that it's now going to be harder to hit. And if you do hit it, the addition of an ER Medium in the head means that even if the arms are gone and the bins dry, it can still defend itself until it gets back to friendly lines.
The only real weakness with the machine is its heat curve; about all an opponent can do is wait for the machine to overheat and then nuke it while it's shut down.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Karagin
Imperial Karagin Army
Imperial General
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 4120
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Jun-2013 16:14 Post subject: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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Heat is a MAJOR weakness for this variant, and given that its ECM is only going to work if it has LOS and is range of the target attacking it will it gain from the ECM. It might have been better to go with Angel ECM vs the Guardian ECM since the Angel can do more.
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Karagin
Only the dead have seen the end of war. - Plato
"Wasted trip Man. Nobody said nuthin' about lockin' horns with no tigers." Oddball
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 29-Jun-2013 21:53 Post subject: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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As far as the heat goes -
A smart pilot will know how to balance everything out, and so as far as the tabletop game goes this'll work for experienced players.
For a video game, it's a way of keeping it from becoming "that one boss" by giving players an opening: let it alpha, wait for it to shut down, then either saw it apart with your UAC/2s or rock its world with your PPCs.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Sleeping Dragon
Draconis Combine
Tai-i
Joined: 06-Apr-2005 00:00
Posts: 4820
Location: Czech Republic
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| Posted: 29-Jun-2013 23:41 Post subject: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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The computer is so trigger-happy to alpha with this? I thought that the A.I. would know better...
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The dragon NEVER sleeps!
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 30-Jun-2013 07:05 Post subject: Re: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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| Sleeping Dragon wrote: | | The computer is so trigger-happy to alpha with this? |
Sadly, yes.
Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance had Nova Cats as among the enemy mechs you could face.
The best way to defeat them (at least on the lower difficulties) was to wait for them to overheat and then shred them while they were powered down.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Sleeping Dragon
Draconis Combine
Tai-i
Joined: 06-Apr-2005 00:00
Posts: 4820
Location: Czech Republic
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| Posted: 30-Jun-2013 15:45 Post subject: Re: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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Sad, sad A.I. design.
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The dragon NEVER sleeps!
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 30-Jun-2013 17:59 Post subject: Re: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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| Sleeping Dragon wrote: | | Sad, sad A.I. design. |
Bear in mind that this was the same game where you had to tell your lance mates 2 - 3 times each to form up on you and then maintain a slow speed for a few seconds or else you risked their staying put at the mission start point.
This "stop and stare" glitch is even worst in MW4: Black Knight, as the final missions take place on a planet that's in its volcanic phase; your lance mates will sometimes walk into the lava and, if they find themselves engaging a target, actually forget to move, in which case their mechs cook to death in the lava.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Sleeping Dragon
Draconis Combine
Tai-i
Joined: 06-Apr-2005 00:00
Posts: 4820
Location: Czech Republic
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| Posted: 01-Jul-2013 00:35 Post subject: Re: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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I'm officially glad that I didn't play the game now...
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 01-Jul-2013 10:01 Post subject: Re: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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It gets a lot worse.
In Vengeance, you play Ian Dresari, the oldest surviving son of the ruling family of Kentares IV. The Steiner forces on the planet mutinied due to the FedCom Civil War, and as part of their mutiny they killed your father and scattered the senior leadership of the pro-Davion side of the forces. Your mission is to gather up those survivors and loyalists and use them to end the mutiny while tracking down those people responsible for it (namely, the top pro-Steiner military officers, a Steiner liaison from off-planet, and your cousin).
In Black Knights, however, we find that Dresari went nuts after assuming the throne, killed his sister, turned the government into a military dictatorship, and began purging even close friends who he felt disloyal to him. You work for a mercenary unit that was hired by the Steiner military to end Dresari's rule and return the planet to the people. In the process, you kill Dresari and two of his closest allies. Oh by the way, about halfway through Steiner cuts a deal with Dresari that sees a Steiner heavy company blow up your base, forcing you into a guerrilla campaign against both sides; if you didn't stop to save the rebels in two previous missions, then you're largely hosed as the rebels don't care about you and may actively come to see you as yet another off-world oppressor.
And oh by the way, while the boss battle in Vengeance was difficult (not only do you have to destroy the liaison's dropship before it lifts off and the pair of Nova Cats that are guarding it, your lance mates are so busy celebrating their victory that your cousin is able to bring his Daishi up and corner you for a one-on-one), the boss battle in Black Knights is virtually unwinnable if you don't have an angelic being on your shoulder (the Steiner commander has a Mad Cat II and even on the "easy" difficulty rolls boxcars whenever she fires off her LRMs and Guass Rifles; she one-shots your surviving lance mates before they can even fight back, and will snipe you where you stand if you can't close with her).
Adding insult to injury is the fact that several mechs do not have their standard load-outs, meaning that you have to modify them yourself. For example, the Loki is supposed to be sporting twin PPCs (which makes it a beast of a sniper), but actually has an LBX and an array of lasers (you practically have to stand on top of someone to hit them). They also needlessly modified the design of the Black Knight in order to remove the hands and lower arms, replacing them with gun barrels like so many other mechs in the games have.
I can tolerate Vengeance (and, in fact, have worked elements of it into my personal canon), but Black Knights has far too many "What?!" moments for my liking; the fact that they couldn't even get the original actors for Dresari and his two pals back should say something about matters.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Vagabond
Mercenary
Mr. Referee
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 5792
Location: United States
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| Posted: 01-Jul-2013 20:59 Post subject: GRN-D-03 Grand Crusader |
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I'm gonna add to this by saying:
While I dislike the lego-blocks build system that they used in MW4, the controls and ui were the best of the MW series imho. It didn't feel needlessly complicated like MW2 or clunky like moments in MW2 and 3. You felt in control as far as my experience showed.
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one must work hard to cultivate the mind and body. and one must always cultivate the mind.
//^(^_^)^\\
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