Hi,

I like Dragons fury, Spirit Cats, ROTS, and Jade Falcon. What are the best mech/pilot combos out there nowadays for these dudes??

The new pilot and loki mech on the July prizes look pretty awesome.

Flodd

For Jade Falcon:

Black Rose
>Malvina Hazen
>ECM (optional; makes it pricey. More palatable if you use a Sanglamore graduate)

This mech is, pure and simple, a beast. Insane starting stats; 7/11/23 on a 250pt mech. Defense drops in a hurry, but it's JF and it DFAs hard, and the heat dial's great. With Malvina, you force the enemy to shoot you. If they ram/DFA you (after needing to hit a 23) any small-vehicle rammer is dead (5-6 clicks does that; they eat a click for the ram AND you nail them for 5. And if they're not dead, you WILL kill them on your own turn.) and any mech is taking the same heat they're dishing out (a JF'd mech will do 5-6 to you. You'll do 4 to them this turn and 4 the next, and 2 heat. kerSPLAT on them for trying to DFA you.). They HAVE to shoot the 23. The ECM just lets you close; if you have the Slangmore grad you get 1/1/0 and lose Perfect Reflexe,s but it's still a hardy mech.

JF Goshawk
>Sakhara Graduate

For less than Blitz + pilot, you get a mech with better attack and equivalent move/defense that does 1 less on the MDFA (no brawling). 143 for 10/11/21, 3-click primary energy weapon, and a token ballistic weapon with a good heat dial and vent. This mech is a beast, and you can easily field a pair with some quality backup.(170ish in back points remaining in 450...enough for, say, a JF MHI APC and a pair of Towed Thunder Launchers along with basers)

Thanks!!

Anyone have any good combos for Dragon Fury, Spirit Cats or ROTS?

Flodd

The Duke with Appropriate Pilot and then Decoy is for ROTS....

EXPENSIVE, but can deal reliably with both mechs and infantry. SO long as you have something to shut down arty/MDFAers, you're golden (a few Sashmash will do).

For SC, I'd tend to use the NC Nova Cat, with Stark, and Decoy, Command, Retractable Blade, or ::Ghasp:: Reactive armor. The NC deals out oodles of dammage and with stark at the helm, you have an 8/12/23 mech, combined with the already 0/16 range, it's GOLDEN!!!

Not sure for DF, I still think the original BH should work, but then again, the new one's not bad either...

Just some ideas ^_^

Mid :)

From the WK Liao forums; my analysis of the ROTS hellion:

The Hellion is very capable of running with just a pilot. Personal preference is Albion for the defense, but the Galdon enhances your mobility nicely.

Gunslingers, either Milhew or Turner, drive up the price, but offer better stats. Chiefly what you get here is +2/+1/0 over the Albion pilot. It's another 15-16 points for that, though. It turns the Hellion into a real hitter.

Of course, JP Milhew grants you excellent attack/mobility/def bonuses, but he drives the cost of the mech to 140 after the ROTS recruit. You do have 11/12/20(22) numbers, though, so if you want to make the Hellion a serious hitter, Milhew can do that. I would then add Armor Piercing to the mech to allow you to stay at range and tackle armored targets (which I see as very likely appearances; given the H-Reactive gear and the Kuritan mechs AND proliferation of non-AP arty) and it gives you a price tag of 163.

Once it costs that much, I think I might consider a Targe instead of it, due to the armor, but this thing DOES boast the same starting defense, trades 1 damage for 2" of range, and is much more mobile and pushable, if ultimately a little less durable.

Personally, I think Evade is the premier light mech card just because it's +2 to defense and grants excellent mobility. The ROTS Hellion has this built in. This means that you don't have to add the gear to it, and you can add in another gear. For the defensive, I would of course go with Decoy. Albion/Decoy gives you a 22 versus ranged, which is very workable.

I would poo-poo Grapple on this mech, since you can get a Fa Shih for ROTS (or Liao) for much cheaper, and this negates the mech's evade.

IT is a possibility; 11IT cracks open targets and lets you hit RHDMs, but the Hellion's 2-click bean-bag toss won't faze a fatty. Also, if you're using it for the SA, this thing's probably more likely to be a running +2 to hit and a problem solver.

Decoy is a great defensive chpoice; hit that 22 twice will ya?

Inferno Ammo is good for anti-mech/vehicle use, thopugh I'm still not overly convinced of it's usefulness. Then again, I've never used it, so your mileage may vary.

Double Rate has potential, I suppose; you do have a nice attack, and double-rate is a solid bit of gear.

I would give Homing Beacon some consideration; it's +2 to your attack (13 attack) against mechs and vehicles, and can work very well with follow-up attacks that ought to be forthcoming. And, it's pretty cheap. It's just the SU part of it that's a slight downer.

Armor-piercing lets you hunt armored targets. Not a bad thing at all, I think.

Anti-personnel. Here, I think, we have a good candidate for the Hellion's gear. You will not have a problem hitting infantry, and crunching into a formation for 2 is a good thing. This lets the Hellion be a +2 to attack for the SA, and it lets it hamper enemy infantry formations, which is a good thing.

Artemis IV FCS: Never convinced of its usefulness. 1/3 chance of extra damage, 1/6 chance of being destroyed. Pricier than comparable gear. No, thanks.

And that's the Hellion's gear options.

I favor:

ROTS Hellion 114
>Albion 9
>Decoy 19
142pts, 9/11/22Decoy vs ranged. Solid, light harasser.

ROTS Hellion 114
>Albion 9
>AnP 14
138pts, mobile infantry hunter/sniper.

ROTS Hellion 114
>Galedon Grad 8

Out-and-out harassers. 11/11/19(21). I'd make it cheaper since I'm naturally nervous about a 21 defense.

ROTS Hellion 114
>JP Milhew 21 + 5 ROTS recruit
>AP 23

I know you asked for a spirit cat combo but Im listing a Novacat one. Its close enough.

Clan Novacat Novacat+Aiko Ryohara+Decoy=302 points. Sure its pricey but the only thing you have to worry about is getting hit by artillery and swarmed by infantry. With the 24 defense with decoy your enemy will have a hard time hitting the Novacat.

an easier combo

CJF Jaguar
star commander
evade or it or double rate

make them come to u. when they do you tag them with a tsemp and then you MDFA them with ya fatty. tsemp is for 3 regular so regardless if their fatty has hardened army or reflective its going through and when it shuts own due to the second token. you then jump from the top rope rope with your macho man randy savage ( oooooohhhh yeeeeeaahh!!!!! ) MDFA and in a calm manner you simply say please dont run? and if they do try to run at 13 move and 8 range on energy you shut them down again, lower their defense tag in chris benoit do the MDFA flying headbutt from the top.

back to reality tsemp works well with the jags evade adds to defense IT adds to attack and double rate adds todamage dealt.

Another fun one for Cats is The Uziel with either Dave Rees (better attack) or Cecil Neuman (better def) and the refocused laser, fairly sickening combo, a little pricey but quite effective.

refocused laser is for mediums? i thought it was just for heavies

Any more good combos or add-on gear?

Some good info here. I just got a Blackrose, but I don't have Malvina. I do have Fernali and I have two Goshawks and one Hatchetman. Can you suggest any combos there? (I've never played Jade Falcon yet)

There are, in my mind, 3 pilots for Black Rose. Malvina, Dean Sohnle (38 points; cheapest recruit and cheapest GS pilot) and the Sanglamore grad (1/1/0 and very cheap) Gear-wise, for BR, I would go ECM or maybe nothing at all. I'm leery of SU SE because of the clicks of damage. Coolant Pod looks like it might have some potential; just run BR aggressively and then cool back to normal (once, y'know, it comes out, I mean.)

For the JF Hatchetman and Goshawks? I favor the G-hawks over the Hatchet unless it's JF vs JF; the agility is the selling point in such a DFA-happy matchup, but the heat dial is still a liability.

For the G-hawks? Go with a Sakhara pilot (or Tamar) for the 11-attack DFA. Run them sans gear for a cheap pairing of DFA-monkeys, or add in pulse for some horrific CQC damage-dealing. DFA for 5/6, then pulse for 6/8, and sometihng's in pain/dead. Beyond that, there is ECM for mediums, but that's a niche-build.

Refocused laser is for Medium... Reengineered laser is for Heavies.

Tricks are for squids... or something.

BTW, put Esperanza's pilot in Duke for a 24 defense, 12 attack. You only get 6 movement, but I think you'll live.

My friend uses this strategy Peacemaker-Malice w/pilot + 2 ROTS hellions with pilots. Their evades bring them up to a 26 DV when in base wiht peace maker
Also can anyone find a way to counter this wit CJF and no mercs

Just looking over this and noticing that after two months this seems to be the base, most used deployment of the CNC-NC. Or any 22 base DV heavy mech, which is kinda sad.

Using Reactive armor on the novacat and a pilot that's not Aiko Ryohara is actually a pretty good idea, especially for all the little #### artillery running around without AP.