So, as far as I know, there are some 'unused' tonnages at present. Of course, nature just abhors a vacuum, so this is a perfect chance to talk and speculate the more distant future (as opposed to the what mech would you like to see most thread). We can discuss the possible 'needs' of a faction in a given weight range and talk about the merits of the units that could possibly fill the gaps.
Anyhow, here are said gaps (as I am aware, anyhow)
IS Assault: 85 & 95 tons
Clan Assault: 80 & 95 tons
IS Heavy: 60 tons
Clan Heavy: 65 tons
IS Medium: 40 tons
Clan Medium: 40 tons
IS Light: 20-25 tons?
Clan Light: 20-25 tons?
Now then! Onto the discussion:
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IS 95 ton assault: A tough one at first, but a quick glance shows IS has no assault jumpers, either existing or planned. The Sagitairre would fit such a role nicely.. slow, but with JJs, and a good armament
IS 85 ton assault: A perfect slot to work in 1 of 3 iconic mechs: the Battlemaster, Stalker, or Longbow. At present, I prefer the former or latter, the latter serving as a superheavy fire support mech (the next best mech the IS have for such being 20 tons lighter), or an 85 ton brawler in the former (as the 80 ton and 90 ton mechs are both fire support oriented). The Battlemaster is also a very famous and well-liked mech.
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Clan 95 ton assault: A no brainer for me, I pick the Executioner, an even-tempered balance between the all-brawl Kodiak and the more support oriented Blood Asp & Monstrosity Mk2
Clan 80 ton assault: Not many options here unless you go for 2nd line mechs (But clan already has 2 of such in the assault category). The Gargoyle is a great pick anyhow, serving as something of a fast/heavy brawler that should complement the Madcat and the Warhawk quite well.
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IS 60 ton heavy: Ah, had quite the debate over this one. I prefer the Grand Dragon.. with faster speed than the Bushwacker, C3, MASC, and a solid amount of firepower, the Grand Dragon could serve as a super heavy scout and skirmisher that would offset the massive speed dropoff the IS otherwise sees in the heavy class.
Clan 65 ton heavy: There are two ways you could look at this. One is to say that there are no 2nd line mechs in the heavy range for clan currently, making the Rifleman IIC, a clan upgrade of an iconic mech. On the other hand, you could say 'well, they have TWO second line mechs in the assault category' and address something the clans are lacking in the heavy range: a true brawler. The Ebon Jaguar, another iconic clan mech, would fill this role beautifully. It's a nasty piece of work.
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IS 40 ton medium: Something the IS notably lacks until the 50 ton Uziel is heavy energy weapon based firepower. Everything below 40 tons is scout and harasser oriented, the 45 ton Hollander II is more of a medium range fire support mech on the whole. Two options could fill this hole: the 40 ton Daimyo, which is a 40 tonner with decent speed and a solid array of weapons, or the Hermes II, which packs similar speed but a different blend of weapons. Either way, these two mechs could conceivably fill a gap in the IS arsenal.
Clan 40 ton medium: Where the IS lacks punch at that range, the Clans lack speed. The heavier Shadowcat, while not slow, is more of a hard hitting jumper, and the Adder and Cougar are relatively slow (by clan light standards), one being a heavy support light and the other being a hunter-killer. The extremely fast Phantom would bridge this gap quite adequately, bringing nasty short ranged weapons to bear at blazing speeds, making for an irritating backstabber and excellent BA killer.
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IS 20-25 tonner: If there's anything that'll ever have a use below 30 tons, it would have to be an absurdly fast scout/harasser mech. This is why I propose the 20 ton Locust, a ridiculously fast light further supplemented by MASC and just enough firepower to be a thorn in someoe's side.
Clan 20-25 tonner: Following a similar philosophy with the Clans, I'd take the 20 ton Fire Moth.. while a little slower than the Locust, it'd still be faster than any other mech, and on top of that, packs surprising firepower for its size.. the canon D variant, for example, packs 5 ERMLs and a flamer.
Now what ideas do you guys have?
