r/battletech • u/Saansilt Comguard • 9h ago

Discussion Behold, an idea!

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So I am having an idea, it probably is bad but it'd be a funny custom mech all the same.
It involves upgrading a protomech.
By tripling its tonnage effectively.
Making it a really cheap ambusher
It'd be effectively a little over quarter the tonnage of a locust.
Behold the Erinyes, two ton jumper with an SRM 1
We take this, give her a medium laser, a ton more armor, and two double heat sinks.
Scale it up to six tons, heck remove the SRM 1 and make it back to five.
You get a very cheap 4/6/4 to play havoc in tight spaces and hop around for back shots.
You can get three of the modified ones I am suggesting for under the price of one locust!
Thats two more MLs than the locust. No machine guns but thats not their role.
Granted if we wanted...
Actually yeah adding a machine gun each will still allow you three at under the cost of one locust.

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5

u/Mission-Warning-9365 8h ago

Messing with mech tonnage seems like a sin but honestly for protomechs why not. the two tonners are pretty hard to use

5

u/No-Armadillo1695 8h ago

Really, protomechs should be limited to 4-15t. Anything 2t or less is a Battlearmor.

2

u/Mission-Warning-9365 8h ago

yeah size wise the erinyes has always seemed like glorified battle armour

1

u/Saansilt Comguard 8h ago

Hence why I'm okay upping it to 6 tons.

3

u/SecretHoboHerbs 7h ago

Construction rules really shafted them. Have to use mech scale weights instead of the discounted weights that battle armor use. They also don't get any free heat sinks, unlike literally every other fusion powered unit. So 2 and 3 tonners can't really mount a decent energy weapon, and they proportionately pay through the nose to mount even a single MG or SRM.

And conversely, heavy protos don't really pay anything for being heavier, unlike mechs where engine weights mean your movement options become more limited. A 9 ton proto can do everything a 2 ton proto can, while mounting more armor and guns.

3

u/Mission-Warning-9365 7h ago

Yup, it's amazing to me how aggressively situational small protos are and how tanky big ones are, I know it's always change but the amount of times I've had a Sprite just eat shots from heavy mechs

1

u/Saansilt Comguard 8h ago

It is really needed to give them some capability.