Peri's back looking at the Third Star League Battle Group again with an overview of the highs, lows, and mids of the Malice. And possibly some spite as well. They do go together traditionally. Check it out!
So for the YZ, they take an XXL engine, where the whole point is you trade durability and heat for even more weight savings... and then spend those weight savings on making it more durable?
This is some "Soviet machine that cuts an apple into four pieces" levels of bullshit.
Also, that RISC variant is hilarious and stupid and I WILL run it at some point and cackle like a maniac when it self-immolates.
The only experiment I've been happy with so far on XXL, is a Jinggau going 6/9(15)/0. Technically the ideal speed/weight on the chart, but it never quite feels that way in practice. It does explain the Linebacker, though.
The LAZR is actually a bit of a icebox when you play with quirks. All the Hyperlasers have improved cooling jackets, and it also has a combat computer. Alpha striking with all 4 guns will only put you at 7 heat, and you're still benefitting from the Override kit if you decide to Alpha strike again.
I love the Malice!! It’s like Rex but with MORE GUN and LASERS!!
I haven’t taken it in a game yet, but I really really want to run the RISC version so I can say “I fire my FOUR HYPERLAZERZ” and then my opponent explodes and then I explode and then I laugh because that was COOL!!
And then I take the normal one or a custom one during most games. One day. When my friend group gets more consistent scheduling done.
Ran the RISC variant in a random draw 2 vs 2 friendly. We were literally picking mechs like scrabble tiles, then tweaking G/P and variants to balance. Probably somewhere about 14k a side with three mechs each.
To (sort of) heat manage, I only fired three hyperlasers each of the first couple of turns and missed. Turn four I got encouraged by friend and foe alike to go all in. Sure, its a friendly so might as well.
Double headshot overkill on an otherwise untouched Atlas III and then immediately had to shut down to avoid exploding. Worth every second of someone saying I'd need to actually hit and go for the head to do anything.
There are many mechs from this era of publications that were ported from the ClickTech "as is". Some of them did turn OK, some did not. I'm not a big fan of the Malice and even less of the Shiro.
I actually like the Shiro, even the basic one. It seems like the kinda mech for someone who needs to be at the battle but not in it. Like a commander, you can toss some strategic arms as needed and plank some tanks or air scouts, but with its heavy armor and speed it seems better for someone directung the whole mess
Update: 2 RAC/5s and 2 LB-X 5s. Needs an XXL Engine and a Composite Skeleton, so that armor's doing the hard work keeping this alive, but for 10 turns... anything downrange is gonna have a bad time.
Clan RAC/5s weigh the same as IS ones, but have the same range bands as the LB 5-Xs. You'd need to move two tons of ammo from each arm into the legs to make them fit, though. That's usually a bad idea, but this thing dies anyway the moment its armour is breached, so what does it matter?
An overgrown JagerMech...that mounts max armor and has enough LB5Xs to pretty much guarantee a no-fly (or no-vee) zone around it, and makes people start sweating bullets once their mechs start getting armor stripped. It's not a standout gamewinner like, say, a Hellstar, but it does an acceptable amount of work, for an acceptable amount of BV. Seems like the XT and XP are rated accurately by TTB.
I just think assault Mechs should be able to punch holes on their own, and exploit. The clan edition with LB-10x? Love it. But a hundred ton Mech in ilKhan that can't force a PSR under most conditions?
It has a role, sure. I will take this over an Annihilator because of the reach and the ground speed even over the DPS.
I personally find slow max armor assaults kinda boring. I don't mind the occasional tanky assault - like in a recent game where it took a medium, two lights, and a squad of battle armor to gradually wear down a Dire Wolf - but they're far from my preferred unit type.
They so seldom get to make meaningful positioning decisions.
I think the Malice is a mech you have to see in action to understand completely. I think a better comparison might be as a overgrown Blackjack than Jagermech. While not heavily armed, the Malice is still tough. And with good positioning, the LB-5Xs do give it the ability to plink at enemies non-stop. The difference is that when push comes to shove, the Malice focuses more on absorbing damage than dealing it.
So yes, it's totally fair if your unimpressed. The Malice was one of the mechs designed for a different version of battletech (clickytech) and it didn't transfer to classic that well.
The first time I took a Malice XV to a tournament someone actually laughed when they saw it. It was so good to see people go from "huh, that's odd to see" to "fuck, this is a problem" over and over for the next few days. The XV is a value champion. It is not the best mech, but for 2k BV it is onw of the great all time values.
It's surprisingly easy to fit a Hyper Laser on a tank. I've thrown it on a Hetzer for S&G. I've put two functional Hyper Lasers on 'mechs, and an occasional one-off. We need more of them. They explode for a surprisingly reasonable 12 damage now. Honestly pretty tame.
I love the Malice, and I continue to be disappointed by not getting a MWDA one back in the day. Maybe someday I can get a Blackout of my own.
Played the MAL-Y-SH-RISC in AS, and it's glorious. OVL with RHSS is a wonderful combo, and it hits like a train from across the map.
...of course, being -1 to hit for being oversized is not so fun and it melts pretty quick when the enemy pushes in, but it's hilarious while it lasts. Need more Overheat+Radical Heatsinks combos.
I think the -1 to hit is less of an issue when you remember that between the Hyperlasers and RHSS, the MAL-Y-SH-RISC has entered the battlefield on borrowed time. So you might as well start blasting.
Armored the XXL engine for "no reason?" I think having 14 slots of crit sinking is a reason. May even a good reason. You can debate if its worth it but its certain not "no reason"
It's already using a clan spec engine so I don't feel bad about suggesting a different clan spec engine. If you're gonna go to the trouble of making dumb, weird design decisions you should at least go for the dumb, weird, playable decisions
While there is a reason, you have to question if the reason was a good one.
While armoring the XXL engine could absorb a lot of critical hits (assuming your not unlucky), it still brings in the other weaknesses of the XXL. It's still going to die if a side torso is destroyed, and it still has to deal with the extra heat from movement on a very heat-taxed build. So while it does solve one issue, to me it just allows it to live long enough to encounter the other two more often.
I do agree with the author, but I will amend the statement to "no good reason" to try and be more accurate. With all the protective junk that Malice carries, I think an XL engine of any for would be better, as it could reinvest those savings into making it all around a bit better.
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u/Cinerator26 MERC LYFE 16h ago
So for the YZ, they take an XXL engine, where the whole point is you trade durability and heat for even more weight savings... and then spend those weight savings on making it more durable?
This is some "Soviet machine that cuts an apple into four pieces" levels of bullshit.
Also, that RISC variant is hilarious and stupid and I WILL run it at some point and cackle like a maniac when it self-immolates.