It's a elemental hunter, 2 hits from any of its weapons kills an elemental, it can outrun them, has enough armor to weather return fire, can jump to disengage if it has to. That's it's real job.
And it's barely more expensive (BV wise) than the Komodo which is literally stated to be an Elemental hunter, but is lighter and more fragile with less range.
Absolutely adore this mech! I love the idea of the variant that swaps the medium pulse lasers for ER medium lasers + a targeting computer & two more double heat sinks.... but it does add another 300 BV. As-is, it's just a rock solid mech, and I also love the look of it, ESPECIALLY the new sculpt. Great breakdown on a great mech, thanks!
As someone else said in the comments, the 6T variant is great. ERs instead of the pulses, a targeting computer, and a couple extra heatsinks. One of my favorite heavies of that era I think.
The Penetrator looks like a bodyguard to me. It's tough and can hit things at range, but it really comes into its own when a fast-moving hunter-killer tries to hit its protectee.
Plus you are hopefully using the MPL to crit seek. 6 hits work like a stronger SRM-6 volley. Hopefully your long range machines have opened up holes for the Penetrator to exploit.
Very good review! I've got a homemade 3-D printed penetrator & a CGL penetrator coming in this Friday! Looking forward to fielding one, if not both, on the table soon!
Another great analysis :-) this was another random assigned mech I had during a campaign and I've gotta say it was far more effective than I thought it'd be :-)
I definitely appreciate a mech with good efficiency forva Gunnery 4 pilot. The play to get up close feels like a liability except the speed with jump seems good enough to reliably face-hug enemy mechs.
It’s a newer Grasshopper basically. ML have that better longer range so will take the edge with a better pilot. The PTR however can take a 3 or 4 pilot fur to those pulses and the longer short ranges of those ERLLs.
In the olden days the IS AMS used 2d6 points of ammo when it was triggered. Making the CT ammo location far less of a problem compared to the current AMS rules. With the AMS and the MPLs it was an excellent Elemental hunter/deterrence mech.
Just enough to stop 1-2 volleys if SRM's from a point of elementals and then weather the fire of the pesky small lasers while hopefully picking off 2-3 elementals per turn.
Feels like a "training" mech where you transition someone of importance from the school yard to the battlefield. So this hangs around your assault company to defend your fancy gauss mechs, not needing to wade into the front line. Be a nice ride in MW5 with only two weapon systems. Pluse Lasers are also brutal on light mechs as normal lasers sandpaper more there.
I use a penetrator as a guard for my command Marauder 2 (it has a HAG40!!) folks get scared of the hag and run up to take it out, but, theres 6 medium pulses and solid armor to ruin their day!
Honestly, a real steal for 1687 BV. There's a ton of things you can do with it if you get creative or just really need to tie someone up in knife-fighting range. While I don't mind the AMS, I have swapped it out for ECM or BAP as needed, because why not surprise the other guy in a double blind city fight?
Well considering the Grasshopper is a well liked mech in Davion line-ups. I play the Penny as a skirmisher much like a Grasshopper. I use the Grasshopper as heavy scouts in heavy cavalry or assault lances. What the mech is best at is killing Toads or IS battle armor because of the AMS, the battery of MPL's, and the Jump Jets. The MPL's help with the counter to heavy smoke and improved stealth of Infiltrator Mk II's. This was useful in the Fedcom Civil war. Agreed about the Vanguard role. When your thinking of the mechs like the Flashman or Black Knight this mech wins out because of the dedicated role. Standard engine, low speed but jump jets, 75 ton weight, and all energy load out for sustain. When your a Davion player this mech comes recommended. The why many players never played it in the past was because the model looked horrible. The new plastics look great.
I like the basic idea of a 'harass at far/punish up close' mech, and this one is very similar to a Grasshopper without the dead weight LRM 5, but much improved weaponry in many senses. To force a close engagement without getting chewed up on your way in would be tough but your jump jets can situationally help, I would say more skirmisher role overall (MPL's help you move the enemy around the map, they know those are going to hurt) but you are unlikely to get close to an opponent who has any other option, and your zombieness helps reinforce your ability to survive in a 'trade skirmishing fire' scenario. TL;DR - Use it as a hard to kill bully that can't be impeded by terrain (much), push the enemy out of position and form flanking movements, or use it as a body guard that can provide support fire like you advised. Flexible without being overbuilt, survivable, overall nice mech.
I always liked the Penetrator as a design. However, I found it tricky to manage heat with. Everything being in units of 4 or 12 with the heat dissipation being exactly aligned made any jumping or moving + AMS fire thorny. In classic you could just jump once you hit the first move penalty. But then you were probably into the fire penalty. Or you were already laying off a lot of firepower. And usually producing far, far less heat than you can dissipate. I.e., if you are 4 over and jump, firing one erLL still leaves you with 4 dissipation that did absolutely nothing while halving your offense. It is a little easier once the MPLs come online, but I still found it tricky. And I kept finding myself considering if I did not want to use the AMS to make the next turn's heat easier to plot.
Penetrator is a "quite OK" mech. It's not a killer, not some wizard at one thing, but it's not a failure either. It has some good points, all energy, good mobility for its size, decent armour and fairly durable on the whole. Medium Pulse Lasers are kinda meh, but we're not talking OS launchers level bad. The original artwork was not very good, an extra reason to skip it for some.
I've fielded this mech a number of times in CBT. I truly love it, however I'd say it does require a little more experience than average to really get the most out of it. Don't fear the heat! The JJ's let it get out of trouble and cool off for a turn before pouncing back into the fight. Once you've gotten used to it it can be a real bully boi.
IMO the Penetrator needs a pilot with very good piloting. Gunnery isn´t that important. It needs to get close, will receive a lot of damage and needs to keep standing. A jumping heavy Mech is in deep trouble if it falls in a brawl. The Penetrator also has a high probability to get into melee range and a 75 ton kick can do serious damage.
Its probably the closest thing the IS has to what I like to play, at least for the tonnage/speed/armor. Now swap the erLL to LPLs, add some extra double heat sinks, make it a tad faster and make all that possible by making it clan...now we're talking lol. But thats coming from someone who's top 2 favorite weapons in the game are clan LPL and MPL.
Pre-watch prediction: Slow(-ish) heavy mech. Standard engine. Good armour. Meaningful long range weapons. Everything about this but the jump jets screams Battlyitcs having an instant crush. And even the BV is far from crazy, despite the JJ premium. I am guessing an 8 on the efficiency scale. (I also like the design as above average)
iv played around with the idea of swoping the er large lasers out for pp'c to reduce heat build up just a little wile also gaining an ap weapon in the prosses in your opinion is this viable ?
Love the concept of this mech but OMG, do I ever hate IS PL's. Medium lasers would have made this mech a killer in damage, range, armour, and heat management with a possible ECM. A badly designed mech imho. It even has room for Endo Steel for crying out loud.
The medium laser is a pretty good weapon, not too hot, decent range and damage for a single ton. You can have several and they will not break the heat bank, unlike the fancier IS options. Same with the humble PPC and to a lesser degree the Large Laser. People think some fancy advanced option is the better choice, but a pair of PPC's can often beat that fancy single Heavy PPC.
Archer Cristofori drives one but with Clan-tech ER large lasers, one of my favorite characters.
It's a elemental hunter, 2 hits from any of its weapons kills an elemental, it can outrun them, has enough armor to weather return fire, can jump to disengage if it has to. That's it's real job.
And it's barely more expensive (BV wise) than the Komodo which is literally stated to be an Elemental hunter, but is lighter and more fragile with less range.
Absolutely adore this mech! I love the idea of the variant that swaps the medium pulse lasers for ER medium lasers + a targeting computer & two more double heat sinks.... but it does add another 300 BV.
As-is, it's just a rock solid mech, and I also love the look of it, ESPECIALLY the new sculpt.
Great breakdown on a great mech, thanks!
The sculpt is killer I enjoy my bird legged chicken walkers but this is one of the few that has dog legs imho even better
As someone else said in the comments, the 6T variant is great. ERs instead of the pulses, a targeting computer, and a couple extra heatsinks. One of my favorite heavies of that era I think.
The Penetrator looks like a bodyguard to me. It's tough and can hit things at range, but it really comes into its own when a fast-moving hunter-killer tries to hit its protectee.
It's also for breaking through elemental swarms.
Plus you are hopefully using the MPL to crit seek. 6 hits work like a stronger SRM-6 volley. Hopefully your long range machines have opened up holes for the Penetrator to exploit.
Wooooooo Penetrator!!! Fantastic mech.
Regardless of the Battlytics, Penetrator is a top 5 mech name.
Definitely gets some of the highest marks in this category.
This mech ficks
Very good review! I've got a homemade 3-D printed penetrator & a CGL penetrator coming in this Friday! Looking forward to fielding one, if not both, on the table soon!
Another great analysis :-) this was another random assigned mech I had during a campaign and I've gotta say it was far more effective than I thought it'd be :-)
I definitely appreciate a mech with good efficiency forva Gunnery 4 pilot. The play to get up close feels like a liability except the speed with jump seems good enough to reliably face-hug enemy mechs.
It’s a newer Grasshopper basically. ML have that better longer range so will take the edge with a better pilot. The PTR however can take a 3 or 4 pilot fur to those pulses and the longer short ranges of those ERLLs.
Excellent video! I use the Penetrator in my House Po Ding unit! Very rugged
In the olden days the IS AMS used 2d6 points of ammo when it was triggered. Making the CT ammo location far less of a problem compared to the current AMS rules.
With the AMS and the MPLs it was an excellent Elemental hunter/deterrence mech.
Just enough to stop 1-2 volleys if SRM's from a point of elementals and then weather the fire of the pesky small lasers while hopefully picking off 2-3 elementals per turn.
Feels like a "training" mech where you transition someone of importance from the school yard to the battlefield. So this hangs around your assault company to defend your fancy gauss mechs, not needing to wade into the front line. Be a nice ride in MW5 with only two weapon systems. Pluse Lasers are also brutal on light mechs as normal lasers sandpaper more there.
I use a penetrator as a guard for my command Marauder 2 (it has a HAG40!!) folks get scared of the hag and run up to take it out, but, theres 6 medium pulses and solid armor to ruin their day!
Okay but when's the Monitor battlytics?
Honestly, a real steal for 1687 BV. There's a ton of things you can do with it if you get creative or just really need to tie someone up in knife-fighting range.
While I don't mind the AMS, I have swapped it out for ECM or BAP as needed, because why not surprise the other guy in a double blind city fight?
Well considering the Grasshopper is a well liked mech in Davion line-ups. I play the Penny as a skirmisher much like a Grasshopper. I use the Grasshopper as heavy scouts in heavy cavalry or assault lances. What the mech is best at is killing Toads or IS battle armor because of the AMS, the battery of MPL's, and the Jump Jets. The MPL's help with the counter to heavy smoke and improved stealth of Infiltrator Mk II's. This was useful in the Fedcom Civil war. Agreed about the Vanguard role. When your thinking of the mechs like the Flashman or Black Knight this mech wins out because of the dedicated role. Standard engine, low speed but jump jets, 75 ton weight, and all energy load out for sustain. When your a Davion player this mech comes recommended. The why many players never played it in the past was because the model looked horrible. The new plastics look great.
Yes the penetrator is a wonderful mech. And it brings a big smirk to my face because I am 13.
You and me both.
I swap the ER-LL's and MPL's for two PPC's and six ML's and add two more DSHS.
I like the basic idea of a 'harass at far/punish up close' mech, and this one is very similar to a Grasshopper without the dead weight LRM 5, but much improved weaponry in many senses. To force a close engagement without getting chewed up on your way in would be tough but your jump jets can situationally help, I would say more skirmisher role overall (MPL's help you move the enemy around the map, they know those are going to hurt) but you are unlikely to get close to an opponent who has any other option, and your zombieness helps reinforce your ability to survive in a 'trade skirmishing fire' scenario.
TL;DR - Use it as a hard to kill bully that can't be impeded by terrain (much), push the enemy out of position and form flanking movements, or use it as a body guard that can provide support fire like you advised. Flexible without being overbuilt, survivable, overall nice mech.
Are you going to look at the Crab?
I always liked the Penetrator as a design. However, I found it tricky to manage heat with. Everything being in units of 4 or 12 with the heat dissipation being exactly aligned made any jumping or moving + AMS fire thorny. In classic you could just jump once you hit the first move penalty. But then you were probably into the fire penalty. Or you were already laying off a lot of firepower. And usually producing far, far less heat than you can dissipate. I.e., if you are 4 over and jump, firing one erLL still leaves you with 4 dissipation that did absolutely nothing while halving your offense. It is a little easier once the MPLs come online, but I still found it tricky. And I kept finding myself considering if I did not want to use the AMS to make the next turn's heat easier to plot.
Penetrator is a "quite OK" mech. It's not a killer, not some wizard at one thing, but it's not a failure either. It has some good points, all energy, good mobility for its size, decent armour and fairly durable on the whole. Medium Pulse Lasers are kinda meh, but we're not talking OS launchers level bad.
The original artwork was not very good, an extra reason to skip it for some.
I've fielded this mech a number of times in CBT. I truly love it, however I'd say it does require a little more experience than average to really get the most out of it. Don't fear the heat! The JJ's let it get out of trouble and cool off for a turn before pouncing back into the fight. Once you've gotten used to it it can be a real bully boi.
? Gotta admit this was confusing, I don't see this mech as part of the kick starter! I think it's in a merc lance box though!
Maybe I misspoke. This video is so old… but it’s funny out of the ENTIRE video, that’s the thing that you walk away with as confusing. lol too funny!
IMO the Penetrator needs a pilot with very good piloting. Gunnery isn´t that important. It needs to get close, will receive a lot of damage and needs to keep standing.
A jumping heavy Mech is in deep trouble if it falls in a brawl. The Penetrator also has a high probability to get into melee range and a 75 ton kick can do serious damage.
Its probably the closest thing the IS has to what I like to play, at least for the tonnage/speed/armor.
Now swap the erLL to LPLs, add some extra double heat sinks, make it a tad faster and make all that possible by making it clan...now we're talking lol.
But thats coming from someone who's top 2 favorite weapons in the game are clan LPL and MPL.
Clan LPL are awesome… a mixed tech refit with all clan pulse weapons would be sick!
I purposefully avoid mechs with more than one clan lps, clan er PCC, and any gauss.
Bv2 needs to be changed.
Great review, great mech. Could have been improved with shouts of "PENETRATOR!" though.
lol
Motion to rename to The Doorman or The Bouncer
😂
So its an IS non-mni Nova. Disco death boat...
Pre-watch prediction: Slow(-ish) heavy mech. Standard engine. Good armour. Meaningful long range weapons. Everything about this but the jump jets screams Battlyitcs having an instant crush. And even the BV is far from crazy, despite the JJ premium. I am guessing an 8 on the efficiency scale.
(I also like the design as above average)
Gah! Over by a full point and a half. thought the bracket fire would have kept the BV low enough to score better.
Love the pregame prediction!! You werent far off.
iv played around with the idea of swoping the er large lasers out for pp'c to reduce heat build up just a little wile also gaining an ap weapon in the prosses in your opinion is this viable ?
Love the concept of this mech but OMG, do I ever hate IS PL's. Medium lasers would have made this mech a killer in damage, range, armour, and heat management with a possible ECM. A badly designed mech imho. It even has room for Endo Steel for crying out loud.
6 hexes is awful. Haha regular mlas are half the weight, too!!
The medium laser is a pretty good weapon, not too hot, decent range and damage for a single ton. You can have several and they will not break the heat bank, unlike the fancier IS options. Same with the humble PPC and to a lesser degree the Large Laser. People think some fancy advanced option is the better choice, but a pair of PPC's can often beat that fancy single Heavy PPC.