Highlander IIC: Battlytics | Mercenaries Kickstarter | BattleTech Mech Review | Clan Invasion
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- Do you know the meme where the dude is walking with his girlfriend, but is looking over his shoulder at another girl that just passed by? That is basically how I feel about the Highlander versus the Highlander IIC. This thing packs all the guns a boy could love, and more (like streaks an Artemis-guided missiles) - but it comes with an eye-watering price tag of almost 3000 BV.
Grab a snack, sit back, and relax. Will it be worth it? Mark your predictions now.
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Pretty great in MWO too- they added some XL variants like the IIC-C, which drops the Artemis from the 20 and one SRM-6 to exchange the gauss for TWIN UAC/10s. Which in a non tabletop setting are much more devastating
The IICs seem to be so good the Clans might have successfully invaded the Inner Sphere if not for their bias for Omnimechs. lol
Omnimechs are good machines, but they do have a few points of contention.
1) The cult of speed at any cost.
2) The "let's have a config with three LB2X AC's with one ton of ammo and a bunch of ER Small Lasers, oversink it and then call it an Urban variant." problem of weird configs because they look weird because the Clans are supposed to be weird and alien.
3) Coming up with the "Super-duper mega configuration of ultimate spheroid doom" but then forgetting there is such a thing as heat sinks and armour. "Bah the amazing skills of our Warriors will easily overcome that issue." So you get a 2-3 pilot and you're still unable to use more than 25% of your weapons because you overheat badly otherwise.
4) And will somebody finally tell me wtf do Clans that are supposed to be all about dueling enemies in succession have NARC, TAG and Arrow IV configs ?????"
Many IIC variants often swap good weapons for better ones while retaining all the virtues of older machines but with DHS. The Omnis are for the people who think resources fall from the sky and production is just a matter of having the Elementals whipping the Scientist caste harder so they can prance around and pretend they are the furry avatar of doom. IIC mechs are for people who get wars done by killing the other guys first and leave the pageantry and delusions last.
This mech is insane even in Alpha Strike with 7-7-4 damage value. I hear William Wallace whenever i see this out in the field. "Well my kilt will fly up. Imma gonna pick a fight."
*bagpipes intensifies*
Most of the IIC mechs are great evolutions of their originals...another great analysis with a unsurprising result.
While clan mechs with XL engines may be able to really pour on the damage, the clan mechs with a standard fusion engine really hit the sweet spot of efficiency. They may not hit as hard, have the same percentage of armor coverage, or be as fast but nearly all of the stock models seem to hit all the right notes to be able to rank on the upper side of that curve
One of the absolute best Inner Sphere mechs ever created was given Clan tech to make it one of the best assault mechs in the game. Driving one makes you feel invincible and absolutely unstoppable.
The Highlander IIC is everything I love about the Highlander, just more of it. It can just wade into combat and lay into whatever's in it's way.
Highlander +++
Love this thing.
Make a review of the Locust IIC. Did a quick check on it awhile ago, id say dang. On AS its the same damage output as an Atlas but waay faster. Strap in a vet or elite pilot and that is one heck of a fun for you, and a hell time to your opponent having to deal with a TMM of 3. Good spotter as well for your missile boats and no Ammo crit! 😅 im interested on your in depth review on this mech.
As the Highlander motto goes, "There can only be one".
And this is the one.
Toss a couple dice and this bad boy into your cargo shorts pocket, and you're ready to throw-down anywhere in the 48 contiguous States.
If you've got the BV for it. Damn it's a stout boy.
Base config is RUDE!
But using Mega Mek lab, I dropped the LRM20 to a 15 and dropped one ton of LRM ammo, for a 4/6/3 XL engine and an extra half ton of armor.
I mean it's a Clan XL, and it's not MWO where you can easily focus fire a single component (or 2 components because Clan XL).
No XL! That's got to make it more expensive as well. It's good as is.
Jumping assault mechs, these are the way of Po Ding!!!! Great Battalytics review as always, gentlemen!
Been a victim of a Highlander on the high ground with gauss and LRM20 and so much dang armor. It is a daunting opponent!
The Highlander was always my go-to mech, and the Clans just made it better. Thanks for making this vid.
Thanks for watching!
Outstanding Aaron! I love these things. Thanks for sharing 👍
In an ironic twist, as a Blood Spirit enjoyer of all things second line, I'm not actually all that much of a fan of the Highlander IIC compared to the royal Highlander (which the clans also field as a second line unit)
The two big problems are that
1) that left torso is a *huge* ammo bomb, and if it goes up, your only other weapon left is the Gauss Rifle, while the standard Highlander fits the lasers in the right torso for a more balanced distribution
2) this is the rare design where more does not equal better - the Highlander has a total net heat of +2, but you typically won't ever need to worry about it because of the LRMs minimum range competing with the medium lasers maximum range.
But the IICs LRMs don't have minumum ranges, so once you enter 12 hexes/inches... yer in range for everything so it can very quickly overheat with +6 turn on turn...
I'm a much bigger fan of the IIC 4, which while still hot as hell, fixes the ammo distribution so if you lose the ATM ammo, you don't *also* lose the LRM.
Sound those bagpipes!! 🎉
Such an absolute beast of a mech. It's pretty pricey to include in a list, but with a capable gunner at the helm, if you get stuck in you'll get a return on your investment.
Jump-capable, armor for days, long range head-capping, and a standard fusion engine? What's not to like?
Rule of Thumb, if your mech has a higher BV than the year it was first produced, you're good.
LOL love this
I always find it hilarious that clans have SRMs still when their LRMs have no short range issues and are so compact!
I mean the LRM's max out at 5 damage per ton (of weapon), with SRMs being 8dmg/t. I mean streak SRMs are 4dmg/t but ignores the cluster hit table (plus the other streak specials).
@@mathewfitzpatrick5645 Yeah, but you have to store more ammo of a different type, and TBH I think just taking more LRMs will pay off more often. The flexibility is worth it, especially when you factor in indirect fire.
Right - and the better range mod - you are +0 out to 7 hexes, which is a +4 for standard SRMs.
@@TinBane I disagree, depending on what you're trying to do.
For 2.5 tons you have a C-SRM-6 and a ton of ammo that out to 12 inches/hexes, on average, can crit fish 4 locations compared to a 5+1 ton C-LRM-20's 3 locations, or 3+1 tons for a C-Streak 6, and it's 6 locations.
If you're looking for brawling damage, SRMs are still more weight efficient. 4.5 tons of 2xC-SRM-6 + 1 ton ammo is averaging 16 damage for 7 and a half turns. The 6 tons of C-LRM + ammo is averaging 12 damage for only 6 turns. And all the same to-hit modifiers, to my knowledge, excluding range mods.
Yes, the LRMs do have a much longer range, but if you PLAN, or expect to do some knife-fighting I don't think SRMs (base or streak) aren't a worthless idea.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Oh, oops, I didn't realize basic Clan SRMs are 3/6/9 and don't match theC-Streaks' 4/8/12 range..
As an MWO player I never got into this one, but it looks great here. Will be testing it out.
One of my all-time favorite mechs, hands down. ❤
TFW garrison units get stronger and tougher assaults that some frontline invasion galaxies
Paint it in Clan Wolf!
this must be a awesome mech in your BTOD,
That Left torso is trouble. you really gotta protect it. An ammo hit there takes off most of your firepower. That said, I've had one of these kill a fresh TW:Prime in one turn.
Is it possible to make a Battlytics episode about Warhammer-7A. It seems kinda forgotten, which is really weird considering out of all the Warhammer variants out there, its the only one which does what a Warhammer is supposed to without sacrificing anything AND not having half a dozen range brackets. Didnt even know about it until i was playing around in Sarna to figure out how do these variants compare with one another.
PS: Sorry if it sounds irrelevant to topic, didnt know where else to write this.
Holy cow, I knew this mech was good but not this good. Don't think I've ever faced one on the table either. Just as an aside I know you have been doing Battlytics for 3-4 years. Have you thought about a Battlytics awards video? The best of the best and worst of the worst sort of video? Just a thought. Cheers Mr. Aaron.
It could happen!?
Do you have a video explaining your testing model and what certain stats mean?
Some of the earlier vids explain this in detail. Also battlytics.com has some addition “tool tip” style info.
The Highlander IIC is a great one-handed mech whose design was based on a classic mech with the best tech available.
You know what that reminds me of? The Cataphract. You sound so a video on the cataphract
Haha isnt there one out there already? Maybe not!
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming not that I can find. Not yet, anyway.
Love the IICs, but can't agree with the XL hate. Yes, you lose some durability, but the benefit in firepower and speed is so *good!*
Maaan haha I think it depends on the design. Clan XL definitely far superior to IS, so I will concede a little XL hate on the Clan side!!
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Can't argue with that!
... not much to discuss here. Best-of-the-best...
Clan Wolverine of course, or Widowmaker. Sorry I love to rub the Clans face in it, especially with their own equipment.
How anyone can delegate this kind of superior equipment to second line duty just blows my mind.
Haha no wonder it took them 100 years after the invasion to finally take terra.
12:32 yeh i agree pulse in battletech is one of the biggest problems , like you can live quite easily with inner sphere ER , Streak , LB , Ultra etc especially once you get all of them .
But the gap between the pulses is crazy , i think Clan pulse needs a massive nerf possibly as far as stock ranges (ie 15 for the large , 9 for the medium and be generous and say 4-5 for the small) i dont think will happen though and could open can of worms . Maybe nerf the BV like they did to Stealth Armour ? I dunno but is a problem
And not for nothing a -2 is massive. Not sure why -1 wasn’t sufficient enough.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I sport an swear by ENF-5Rs which have large re-engineered lasers where you get a very heavy -1 to hit large laser , they are very good .
Don't blame the Clans for not descending into a tech "dark age" as a result of Succession Wars. Inner Sphere is the reason why we can't have nice things. And the Clan pulse already had a nerf in the past, at around the time of the 3050 and 3055 TROs originally coming out.
@@Ichaerus Back in the day, there were no limits to where the tech was going. 2750 and 3050 introduced some really advanced gear with few real issues. Around the same time FASA released several books for their Renegade Legion lineup and books like the Centurion guided added new tech, but each piece came with a giant built-in weak spot. Reactive armour stopped kinetic and HEAT shells, but did squat against lasers. This carried over to BT and since then new tech has been a case of one benefit, one massive drawback. "Inner Sphere AC's are too big and inefficient ? Here is an improved one, but you lose some range ..."
Had this rule been in place before they released the TR2750 and 3050 most weapons and gear would have far more disadvantages like XL engines having extra heat, and most Clan weapons having all kinds of major issues like increased short range, and a lot of range, weight and damage reshuffling from what we see today. ER lasers probably would do less damage and Gauss Rifles would be 2 heat, 18 range and 10 damage for the same weight and 4 shots/ton with a 1 in 3 chance to blow up if you say something bad about it.
You don't like the new highlander sculpt? I'd challenge you to a trial of refusal but that's a clanner thing. I'll just use contractions and call you a Capellan instead.
LOL it’s weird, I know but it is missing something for me. It is one of the only models where I like the IWM sculpt better.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Would you say it is better or worse than the PGI design?
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming fair. Everyone has their own taste. The jumping one is such a good look standing on a DFAd Urbie, tho.
We can agree on that!! 🙂
Might need to bump the volume up a little. Quiet as a mouse compared to other videos I've been watching today
🤷🏻♂️ not sure what to tell you. All my vids are EQd and set to -6db which is industry standard.
Ghost Bear!
I wouldn't allow you to take this at 2/5 skill , our house rule is your piloting/gunnery skill have to be within 1 level of each other . I feel battletech has a real problem with min maxing BV , it's especially unfun to play against when they start stacking clan pulses and targeting computers on top , making GATOR effectively meaningless .
My typical cure is to take ALL the LB 10Xs and just hose them down with cluster hoping for head/gyro hits , although once you get the gyro hit and they can't get up the guy who brought the 2/5 large pulse tied to a targeting computer Toting no skill required clanner inevitably starts crying then .
We allow a 2 level differential in classic - but the analysis is based on 2/5 for baselining. Piloting doesn’t play into it here so it would just artificially skew the cost.
But largely agree with your sentiment!!!
I dunno besides the cheesyness of the Clan weapons range bands what does it do that a normal Highlander doesn't do ?
All the weapons weigh a lot less so you get more for less weight and FF that isn't crappy.