I don't see a lot of people use this mech.......most likely due to Seka's Pride, but I really wanted to use it because..........

I need defense and staying power to survive. I always get hit and often. My other issue is cursed rolls so I need a high Attack.

Seka has a better defensive starter, but lacks armor and is down a click to start. (Can't use Aiko because I need The Jesus for attack value.) After 5 clicks the difference in staying power is massive.

Now I understand the odds of hitting Seka at 24 or even 25 defense, but you must understand that I am looking at this from the standpoint that no matter what my dfense is I am gonna get hit. (quick example: Persuader with Camo on in Hindering...had a 26 defense. Got nailed with a 27 from a direct shot for 5 damage.)

This is why I like the Emperor over Seka's Pride (I do love the gear options on Seka which is just a beautiful mech!)

Emperor has a base 22 defense with Hardened armor. (Helps against the basic Merc Pride and anything non-armor piercing = +1 to staying power

With Emperor's Pilot you add 1 to defense for a 23 Hardened armor = +1 for staying power.

With Decoy you now have a 23 Hardened Armor x2 shot and a Decoyed 24 Hardened defense against an assualt. +1 for staying power.

The armor lasts for 5 clicks as does a base 21 to 22 defense and it stays above 20 for 7 clicks. +1 to staying power.

The heat dial has 2 clear turns and a minor shutdown on 3. Worst case scenerio is you take 2 clicks and shutdown.

The Pilot gives a +3 to attack and can give infantry or vehicles a token within line of sight no matter distance.....(Helps against Merc Kelswa etc) +1 to staying power

A 13 attack helps me do something and if I can play it right he has decent options as weapons between Energy and Ballistic. I like tio use the token ability on vehicles and approaching infantry while heating a mech up.

The biggest weakness is damage being at 4 for both weapons even though both vultures drop damage at the rate.

Any comments or advice?

I had the same question a while ago...

And eventually i decided that Seka was the better mech.
This is because Emperor with Chris Hart, while really tough doesnt do enough damage to justify its point value.

My concept for an Emperor army was:

Emperor
- Chris Hart
- IT
Sei-Gi
- Dirks
- Repair
+ Inf
This army is quite fun to play, but it just does not have a great damage output (and low-ish ranges)
With Seka you can have quite a bit of support, and really if you allow yourself to get hit with that 25 decoy you are doing something wrong.
Yes i know, lucky shots can happen but there's no planning for that.

Its also fun to put Hyperlaser on Emperor, and play it with a +damage faction pride.

Emperor 230
- Hart 67 + 15
- HyL 19
Sei-Gi 137
- Dirks 37
- Repair 23
2x CNC ATV 28
3x HK ATV 39
HK FP 20

This variant is a lot more powerfull, but i havent tried it yet


The reason i put Sei-Gi in there is that with its own pilot (Dirks) you can CCAO out of base contact, so if you need to get repaired badly you only have to roll one escape for Emperor. (and he gets up to a 12 printed attack)

I have "emperor" and he has no repair markers so bring a VERY light repair vehicle

if you manage to repair thats good. otherwise you have distracted them from him and have probably managed to get a few lucky shots in.

Combat Technicians would work better, since you could also repair in formations. Also, the use of a Light Mech with Repair would work better than any repair vehicle.

If you feel like spending the points you can put repair on Thumper with it's pilot. With the pilots ability to be given two action in one turn you have a much better shot of repairing all the way up to the starting marker. Also, it's got AAMS which can stank onto Emperor's hardened armor.

Formations do not work, since repair ignores all modifiers except heat!
But having say a transport with recon and 2 loaded CT's will give you two repair attempts for two orders (the Merc CT would do wonders)

Thumper doesnt always get two orders, and would go straight to shutdown if it did.
Plus its not a good mech to start with, its stats are poor and that printed 9 attack will probably mean it wont get to hit that repair that often

The pilot's got a +3 attack and it doesn't go straight into shutdown if double order on green. Besides, if it shutdowns you can vent twice provided you make the roll. Thumper can be a very effective support unit as long as you have something big to protect it.

Emperor has one thing that Seka does not. Survivability. One solid hit to Seka, and she's done for. The same hit to Emperor (given the right army setup) is merely an annoyance and will delay him a bit as he gets repaired. Being able to repair back to full strength is a very powerful feature. He may do a little less damage but keep in mind he isn't the only piece in your army either. Emperor recruited to BR with the repair FP walking in and blasting the target and then following it up with a BR Vixen armed with Advanced Pulse can be brutal.

The +3 to attack isnt really helping with repair attempts, and with a 10" range it needs to get very close to the enemy to be able to do anything.
With Emperor only doing 4 damage and having a 12" range that means that if you feed some basers into it you can rather easily destroy thumper.

I still dont really see it as a big help to Emperor.

Indeed you are right, but nowaday people mostly plan on hitting Seka, wich means that they will not have a difficult time hitting Emperor.
If you indeed pair him up with a BR Vixen you solve the problem of the damage output.
But it leaves you with no other way to repair Emperor then your FP.
Wich will not likely be enough to come back from any big hits.

And uhm, with his high pointcost there isnt going to be a lot of other things in your army :P



Dont misunderstand me, i have the mech, and i love him... i just dont see him as effective enough to play him.
Mind you though that i play on very high levels (my opponents are some of the best of the world, and if i do not min-max then i'm a goner)