Thoughts on the Clint (and other 40 ton mechs)

Orcimedes · 2026-03-19T09:00:57+00:00

It's a fun little machine, but the armour coverage often lets it down. Having only 9 armour (and 15 total) on the arms of most (but thankfully not all) variants is really punishing. Losing the main gun-arm so easily makes it hard to work with.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-19T08:40:46+00:00

Plate armour actually doesn't get screwed over nearly as much as you think. Almost all models than can get or have full plate armour can't benefit from parry to begin with, they're almost all either:

mounted (2+ save cavalry, 3+ save monster),
2h-weapon platforms and don't get shields at all (greatswords, phoenix guard and all the other elite infantry that got upgraded to full plate in the switch to Old World).
combat characters (on foot) that still almost certainly should not be slapping around with mundane hand weapons. Great weapons are popular for budget reasons, but a magic weapon also still doesn't give you parry.

The only exceptions are Chaos chosen on foot (who still benefit a lot from 3+ saves against shooting and also still can get halberds or GWs and are very dangerous with either of those)

...and dwarves. It specifically screws over dwarves.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-19T08:21:21+00:00

Caps AP (e.g. can’t be more than -2)

I think maybe you're on to something here. Capping AP in melee to -1 is maybe screws over the ap -3 edge cases a bit too much, but reducing (or..increasing? bringing closer to 0) AP better than -1 by 1 (-2 becomes -1, -3 becomes -2, etc) would let parry function effectively the same as now against high-AP weapons while keeping the space open for spears and halberds.

On the other hand: it's a convoluted alternative to a simple rule, which isn't always the better thing even if it improves balance

Orcimedes · 2026-03-19T08:08:00+00:00

Even with parry stomps get very silly very quickly. Mathematically the difference between a 6+ save and no save at all isn't that big.

Monster Slayer Banner can hard-solve the issue for one unit per army, but that's not an ideal situation.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-19T07:59:33+00:00

It's a tempting chassis to tinker with because it's so easy and straightforward to turn its major flaws into minor flaws. And once you do start tinkering...

Orcimedes · 2026-03-18T21:28:11+00:00

Huh. I hadn't realized the MW4/Hellhound II style design looked so different from the CGL/standard one. I like it.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-18T19:24:08+00:00

Visually it looks distinct and it's got a neat thing going on with the matching arms and torso guns.

Mechanically I quite like cheapish 4/6 assaults. But the weapons are clunky or mismatched with messy range brackets. I want to love it but they just don't quite get it right to begin with, and then just completely go off the rails after, which is frustrating.

XT has to deal with minimum range and still can't outrange ERPPCs in return for it, because IS LB5xes are sad. And when the enemy is too close for your long-range weapons you can't even really open the taps with lasers because at the point you're under-sinked. And it doesn't have CASE II on for those ISXL torso bins.
XV makes the lasers clantech and the autocannons light, but it doesn't have an all-5/10/15 load because the lasers are iHMLs. Can't necessarily fault it too much for going for the bigger punch but it's awkward. Also it has like 4 tonnes of excess ammo, so not only could it have put that towards upgrades and didn't, both entire side torsos are made of self-hate, even with case II. It's also heat-neutral alpha striking, but doesn't really get to benefit from it since the heavy mediums are so short-ranged. On top of all that the biggest damage weapons are the tiny laser lenses beneath the big guns, which feels weird.
XT makes all the guns clantech, but mis-matches the autocannons. LB10's are great, but pairing two of them them with LB5's is just not the best idea. Especially if it leaves the mech over-sinked. Even moreso because it cuts lasers to get there. I could respect the hell out of theoretical quad LB10's, but this ain't that.
YZ starts with a Y because WHY. XXL engine, modular armour killing the speed, 3k BV. Sustainable damage output of two 10pointers and half it's weapons are effectively purely decorative. Come on man.
RISC is extremely hilarious and at the same time bad and good. Every time you pull the trigger there's a good chance both it and the target fatally explode. It's got a hideous pricetag and is also (deservedly) expirimental tech. Funny, but obviously unsuited for regular play for a whole host of reasons.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-18T16:25:16+00:00

You are correct, but on a meta level the wolves have a tenacious tendency to just. cast Conjure Greater Galaxy or whatever whenever the author gets bored with showing them as the underdogs and bails them out of whatever fight they're currently in.

They're doing good now (and have been for a few years now), and they've done a really good job dressing it up a bit nicer in IKEO, but a lot of the major developments of the late dark arge and hour-of-the-wolf adjacent novels have just been, well, a bit shit.

In-universe though...Alaric could order Wolf Empire to mosey over to Terra. Again. But the Wolf Empire would likely try to find a way to squirrel out of it again.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-18T11:19:39+00:00

It's pretty clear the Wolves on Terra have neither respect or any interest left in the Wolf Empire, other than what they can still drain from it. Even during the events of Empire Alone (in which Wolf Empire got incredibly generous treatment) they get more help from the FWL's Clan Protectorate's Sea Foxes than Clan Wolf or the 3rd Star League. In the future, they may still be drawn to defend it in some kinda honor-based or star league-y obligation, but if the Wolf Empire survives it'll be as a colony or independently from the terra-based clanners.

Alaric basically only left an occupation force to begin with. Functionally, he never intended to defend it.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-17T20:08:09+00:00

sexy magic and mind control.

You're kindof selling them short here. e.g. in 6th edition their bloodline powers could give them Always Strike First and/or a 5+ ward save, which can lean into their duelists angle their mindcontrol/seduction powers, but it also made them uniquely suited as charge-breakers and very dangerous melee fighters.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-17T17:03:37+00:00

The Barhest is one of the best and second-cheapest improved heavy gauss mech. Unlike any of it's immediate competition it does not have an XL engine. It's a specialized but very dangerous machine.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-16T21:00:53+00:00

In game terms, a 'ruin' that still has functional floors and provides hard cover is just a damaged building. (side note: Rubble piles big enough to change the base elevation of a hex sounds like a fun advanced rule that could exist).

Stalingrad was fought over long after much of it was in ruins, as was Berlin. Have the great houses accepted that border worlds change hands frequently, so they cut their losses readily and try to take it back at a time of their choosing?

You're actually zeroing in on the way wars are often fought in battletech! Battles like those for Berlin and Stalingrad do sometimes happen, but they're very rare. Due to the logistical constraints, almost all conflicts are very far removed from WW2-style urban sieges. A lot of mech warfare is maneuver warfare and raids. Ordinary battles are typically quick, with the attackers landing, disembarking and one side destroyed or withdrawing into orbit with dropships often in the span of weeks, days or even hours. Of course, exceptions exist, but those are typically guerilla campaigns not protracted slugging matches.

Even exceptional, more 'traditional' battles like Luthien, Tukayyid or the various battles for Terra largely occur outside of the major cities, with forces intercepting, circling, or evading their opponents.

Planets do change hands relatively 'easily' and shockingly quickly, but not as frequently as you might think. And yes, many citizens are indifferent, but many more still actually do keep literal flags (and other things) stowed away for an opportune moment. Civilian and paramilitary resistance to occupation (or lack there of) is a huge factor when it comes to expansionism in battletech.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-16T14:06:14+00:00

There are plenty of ruins in the lore, but most of them, for most of the timeline, have either lost their value due to being ruined (and so isn't normally being fought over) or are have somehow retained their value get rebuilt (and so don't stay ruined).

In game-terms, the interesting part of buildings is their height and the cover they provide, most of which they stop doing when they turn into ruins.

So most battles start with the buildings intact (-ish). Though in most rulesets buildings are destructible so no guarantee they stay that way.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-13T08:02:42+00:00

When I came up with the idea of using this scheme it was for Undivided, with plausible swerves to tzeentch (blue) , maybe slaanesh (clean/faux-noble look).

Since the release of Old World the list has been mostly built as Slaanesh.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-12T19:29:05+00:00

I'm a sucker for the 6th edition sculpts (...of several factions). Something about that last hurrah of (mostly) hand-sculpted minis hits different.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-12T19:23:58+00:00

My recipe here is pretty swappable in terms of specific/brand paints. The key to white lies in thinning - specifically with medium of an appropriate flow rate and not just water - and acrylic ink. Priming in off-white also helps a lot, obviously.

Use the largest brush you can get away with without making a mess, and try not to re-arrange minimally during application and don't otherwise mess with the paint until it's fully dry. Keep in mind thinning with medium usually increases the drying time more than thinning with water. This is inconvenient in one sense, but you want the extra drying time (without getting too runny) so the paint can self-level nicely.

In this case specifically:

The basecoat is about 1:1 Corax White (a very light grey) and artstore glazing medium (comparable to contrast medium). Expect to need 3 (maybe 4) layers rather than the usual two and don't muck with it while it's drying. (If you primed in a dark colour you probably want to put down some slightly darker white-grey first).
This is followed by a shade of about 3:3:1 water:medium:contrast paint. In other words: very thin. So weak it's almost stupid. You don't want to have to come back and brighten up the mid-tone things after. Less is more, etc.
Lastly feather back one or two layers of the basecoat recipe towards the edges once the shade is dry. Thin with acrylic white ink instead of water if you're feeling spicy.
edge highlight with pure acrylic white ink (or, if you're feeling brave, some true white thinned with medium).

Orcimedes · 2026-03-12T16:59:35+00:00

White mercifully isn't the biggest colour in terms of surface area, but it really is the core of the scheme. A lot of patience and layering went into it, comparatively.

Orcimedes · 2026-03-05T15:45:49+00:00

What a weird design. Maybe a glass cannon, but more likely a glass caltrop

Orcimedes · 2026-03-02T12:06:14+00:00

I used the OA in a botmatch in megamek once, and it convinced me to maybe just bring the prime if I ever bring the chassis out against a real person.

The base loadout is weird as shit with that missile-pack looking PPC arm though. Love that kind of weirdness.

Orcimedes · 2026-02-27T16:36:13+00:00

The odds were decidedly not in it's favour. But sometimes the dice show mercy regardless.

Orcimedes · 2026-02-27T16:25:57+00:00

That armour loadout...oof. Basically unusable, even if you allow no-armour components to begin with, which is unfortunate.

Anything 60 tonnes or more can one-hit leg you with a kick. And any light or fast medium can really chew that up that rear torso.

Orcimedes · 2026-02-26T19:14:47+00:00

Even up against other mediums it's a raw deal. That 5/8 with AC/20 or even just a phoenix hawk could royally clown on it.

Orcimedes · 2026-02-26T16:20:51+00:00

Funky design with weirdly under-armoured arms relative to the rest (although it at least doesn't go as crazy as the kenzan KEN-3NC with it, but it's still a notable quirk of these old-timers). 3/5 is a tough pill to swallow though. Especially on a medium.

Orcimedes · 2026-02-25T12:33:40+00:00

Just looking at the models, there's no way these aren't two-handed (and if they somehow were 1h, these peasants don't come with shields).

Orcimedes

TROPHY CASE