12 hardy Mechwarriors showed up on Saturday to test their mettle in heavy 'Mechs. Heavies are the workhorses of the Battletech universe - they're used in just about any role you can think of and in every corner of the galaxy. They have the greatest diversity of weapon loadouts, from generic jack-of-all-trades packages to extremely specialized builds designed for a single purpose. Yet it Battletech: Firestorm, they're the least used weight class.
To encourage pilots to experiment with this underused class of 'Mechs, we ran a 4-round standard Grand Melee style tournament restricted to stock Heavy 'Mechs. Each pilot would need to have 5 picks (the 5th being for the finals, if needed) with the maps unknown until right before the round in question. Maps were generated randomly at the last minute to make it harder to plan picks - do you want to take your cool-running machine gun 'Mech in the normal temp Inner City, or save it just in case Hotplate or Jungle show up next round? Choices, choices.
Over the 4 preliminary rounds, the usual pilots filtered their way to the top. But the usual 'Mechs did not - in part because there really aren't any "usual" heavy 'Mechs. Vultures (4), Lokis (6), Thors (6), and MadCats (7) were all popular giving weight to their "best for Rookies" designation, but the Grizzly (6), Nova Cat (5), Black Knight (4) and Ares (7) were also very popular. Which is somewhat surprising in the case of the Ares, because that 'Mech doesn't have a good reputation in Seattle. It performed well, too - a pair of 1st, a second, two 4ths, and two 5ths. Only the Grizzly and Vulture also secured a pair of 1sts.
The finals consisted of SpeckX and Zax in Avatars, Oblivious and Dalkin in Vultures, Dalkin, Justice in a Thanatos, and KwikPain in an Ares. Interestingly, the Avatar was only used in the finals and only one other Thanatos was used. Were people saving those 'Mechs for last, or did people run out of "good" choices?
The results were very close with the top 5 pilots changing positions throughout the fight. As the time wound down, though, SpeckX held on for the win while Oblivious, KwikPain, and Dalkin scrambled for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Congratulations guys! For his victory, SpeckX receives a custom 'Mech of his own design and a free pass all this coming week! Come on down and ask him to hold your ammo for you.
Next week's tournament will be another Grand Melee with a few twists thrown in. Since those twists are going to require some thought, I'm going to detail them here so that pilots can prepare ahead of time.
First off, there will be the normal 4 rounds plus a final. So you're going to need 5 different 'Mechs. We'll be using relative scoring instead of tournament points in appreciation of Father's Day. Of note for this tournament, 'Mech selection is not restricted! Even customs are allowed if you really want to use them.
Why wouldn't you want to take a custom? Well... because there are going to be multipliers applied to your score based on the type of 'Mechs used, and the color of your 'Mech will be determined by the type of 'Mech you've chosen. Here are the details:
BLUE Stock 'Mech: 150% multiplier
GREEN Stock Test 'Mech (aka Beta 'Mech): 130% multiplier
YELLOW Variant with 3 or fewer missle racks AND 20 or fewer double heat sinks: no multiplier
ORANGE Variant with 4 or more missile racks, OR 21 or more double heat sinks, OR custom with 3 or fewer missile racks AND 20 or fewer double heat sinks: 80% multiplier
RED Custom with 4 or more missile racks OR 21 or more double heat sinks: 70% multiplier
If I have somehow managed to leave a loophole in those groupings and some 'Mech qualifies for more than one group, it will receive the lowest multiplier of the groups it belongs to.
If you'd like to start researching your choices for the tournament, Zax has created a searchable online database of the available options. You can access his database here: Battletech: Firestorm 'Mech Search BETA
I hope to see you all next weekend!
-- Roadkill OUT
To encourage pilots to experiment with this underused class of 'Mechs, we ran a 4-round standard Grand Melee style tournament restricted to stock Heavy 'Mechs. Each pilot would need to have 5 picks (the 5th being for the finals, if needed) with the maps unknown until right before the round in question. Maps were generated randomly at the last minute to make it harder to plan picks - do you want to take your cool-running machine gun 'Mech in the normal temp Inner City, or save it just in case Hotplate or Jungle show up next round? Choices, choices.
Over the 4 preliminary rounds, the usual pilots filtered their way to the top. But the usual 'Mechs did not - in part because there really aren't any "usual" heavy 'Mechs. Vultures (4), Lokis (6), Thors (6), and MadCats (7) were all popular giving weight to their "best for Rookies" designation, but the Grizzly (6), Nova Cat (5), Black Knight (4) and Ares (7) were also very popular. Which is somewhat surprising in the case of the Ares, because that 'Mech doesn't have a good reputation in Seattle. It performed well, too - a pair of 1st, a second, two 4ths, and two 5ths. Only the Grizzly and Vulture also secured a pair of 1sts.
The finals consisted of SpeckX and Zax in Avatars, Oblivious and Dalkin in Vultures, Dalkin, Justice in a Thanatos, and KwikPain in an Ares. Interestingly, the Avatar was only used in the finals and only one other Thanatos was used. Were people saving those 'Mechs for last, or did people run out of "good" choices?
The results were very close with the top 5 pilots changing positions throughout the fight. As the time wound down, though, SpeckX held on for the win while Oblivious, KwikPain, and Dalkin scrambled for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Congratulations guys! For his victory, SpeckX receives a custom 'Mech of his own design and a free pass all this coming week! Come on down and ask him to hold your ammo for you.
Next week's tournament will be another Grand Melee with a few twists thrown in. Since those twists are going to require some thought, I'm going to detail them here so that pilots can prepare ahead of time.
First off, there will be the normal 4 rounds plus a final. So you're going to need 5 different 'Mechs. We'll be using relative scoring instead of tournament points in appreciation of Father's Day. Of note for this tournament, 'Mech selection is not restricted! Even customs are allowed if you really want to use them.
Why wouldn't you want to take a custom? Well... because there are going to be multipliers applied to your score based on the type of 'Mechs used, and the color of your 'Mech will be determined by the type of 'Mech you've chosen. Here are the details:
BLUE Stock 'Mech: 150% multiplier
GREEN Stock Test 'Mech (aka Beta 'Mech): 130% multiplier
YELLOW Variant with 3 or fewer missle racks AND 20 or fewer double heat sinks: no multiplier
ORANGE Variant with 4 or more missile racks, OR 21 or more double heat sinks, OR custom with 3 or fewer missile racks AND 20 or fewer double heat sinks: 80% multiplier
RED Custom with 4 or more missile racks OR 21 or more double heat sinks: 70% multiplier
If I have somehow managed to leave a loophole in those groupings and some 'Mech qualifies for more than one group, it will receive the lowest multiplier of the groups it belongs to.
If you'd like to start researching your choices for the tournament, Zax has created a searchable online database of the available options. You can access his database here: Battletech: Firestorm 'Mech Search BETA
I hope to see you all next weekend!
-- Roadkill OUT
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