That is very much a vet saying. It just needs to be good enough. Which I know kinda goes against another very vet saying - Why use a hammer when you can use a sledgehammer.
Hello Red. I am a 'grey warrior'. One of those Players that started back in 1984. I have played just about every Mech and vehicle that was available from 3025 through 3057, as well as Star League Era machines. Like the Locust, I dabbled with altering the Wasp's design. And Like the Locust, I fielded a version that swapped the SRM-2 out for a LRM-5. I fielded this variant along side it's un-altered brothers to confuse my foes. Usually only firing the LRM's behind cover in 'indirect fire' mode. Although not really effective damage, it seemed to mostly convince most other Players that I had a Catapult, or some other LRM carrier unit behind the hill that a 'swarm' of Wasps would leap over. Another method was keeping the LRM Wasps there behind the hill, raining missiles, while the other Wasps closed on target. Then swarming forwards while the Enemy was distracted by close ranged fire. This usually netted me several 'back' shots into Enemy units as the second wave of Wasps closed, and often resulted in cries of indignation and dismay. For maximum effectiveness, I once fielded this same force, but backed up by Locusts. The Locusts would flank around the Enemy's formation and come in from their rear when the first wave of Wasps closed. This was usually sufficient to distract them for the LRM Wasps to close to add their firepower as well. I will admit that you need about a 3:1 ratio to make this work, but fielding so many light, fast, and maneuverable units, usually tilted the battle in my favor. Yes, I would lose a few Mechs during battles. Mostly due to near-impossible shots actually hitting my units, but the value of taking down so many Medium and Heavy Mechs would more than pay for such losses. Just my memories, spoken Frank-ly
I'm really new round here,only having played MW 5 and Hairbrained's BattleTech game,but hearing how common these little guys are makes me wonder why they didn't show up. Though a Jenner with an LRM 5 served as my early harasser in MW 5 so role filled I guess. Got a friend who considers it his favorite mech alongside the Catapult,guy loves LRMs and generally being a nuisance to the enemy.
@@combativeThinker : Why thank you. I have a LOT of memories from playing literally EVERY weekend for over 20 years from 1984 through around 2008 or so. I played thousands of games over that time period, so I have quite a lot of experience in the game.
I can never shake the thought that the SRM located in the leg was an error. THe original art shows it in the right shoulder. After printing so many books I think FASA just went with it.
Wasp I simply look as a militia mech. Good for any duty not main line. Good for scouting missions you might need hands. Also in combined arms not a bad mech to put infernos in and go vehicle hunting. Fact that it's easy on logistics is a plus as well. Cbills and BV it's dirt cheep.
Also, early Battletech releases made infernos exclusive to the SRM 2 instead of being a universal ammo type like they are today. At the time, this gave the Wasp the unique property of being the most widely available incendiary unit that didn't have to stay within 3 hexes to do its job. Its biggest direct competitor for the price, the Locust 1S, was a Steiner exclusive and had the resilience of a particularly fierce piece of origami.
Not one of my favorites, but much like the Urbanmech, one of the Wasp's biggest advantages is cost. They're cheap enough to field several of them for the same price as a single much heavier design. Quantity is its own type of quality.
I'm so pleased with these new designs for BattleTech. For years I thought I'd never hear the end of Harmony Gold trying to gouge pennies from BattleTech under it's dying breath. We all know and accept some of the original designs (like the Wasp) were stolen, but it's been decades and more than enough concessions. I'm just glad we finally have a fresh new look.
Yeah the new designs are really good. You can instantly tell tell what they are. They just capture the essence of the OG unseen (I'm looking at you project Phoenix). The MAD and the WHM are perfect examples of this.
Not to mention the original design was predicated on the idea that it was a transformable aircraft. Which, for the LAM idea, was OK, but if you were designing a non-transformable, purpose-built Mech, you would NEVER incorporate things like the thrust-reverser feet, jet-engine intakes, etc. I love the VF-1 Valkerie design, but out of the Macross/Robotech universe, it was out-of-place.
But..... nothing beats the fear of God on the pilot's face of an 80ton Transit fighter when you transform, grapple his fuselage, and start punching his canopy.... Huzzah Mechwarrior TTRPG....
Stolen? Fasa had the the license to use the images, what harmony gold did was slapp suits. The suits would ultimately fail, because if fasa had the license from same illustrators case would not stand and as finally proven hg only owned the name Robotech and the characters of the series not the mechs. Slapp suits are by design prevent participation by overwhelming individuals and small companies with immense litigation. They were being sued across 50 states, even HBO would have trouble paying lawyers through all that which is why this particular act became a poster child for reforms which includes providing the burden of proof that you actually have a case to begin with. It's still an issue today but many states have now enacted measures to prevent this sleazy form of litigation.
The new and updated Wasp design is, in my humble opinion, one of the prettiest mechs in the entirety of Battletech. I absolutely adore that hardworking little bug.
All the Bug-mechs are recon-centric and don't really have roles that fit well with the lance-based objective raid centric smash -and-grab warfare of the 3rd SW, but come into their own with the rebirth of combined arms in the 4th SW and Clan Invasion.
I like to think, that the engineers at General Mechanics purposely made the jumpjets make a "bzzzt bzzzt" sound when fired, on purpose for S&Gs, and nobody since has corrected this.
I wonder if in-universe a reason for The Wasp being such a survivor being that it's... well, good enough. Decent armor, decent movement, decent armament, and even a decent price. By Battletech standards, it's basically one of those recon jeeps with a MG atop. You just don't get that false sense of safety of zipping along in a Locust at mack 5, or the delusional high-command thinking your Flea with its paper armor can melt a dang Assault if its just 'positioned right' when you're the low ranking pilot of 'Good Enough.'
The ubiquitous Mech, found in every military capable of fielding and supporting Mechs (and a few not so capable). Any minor power or would be house strives to produce, at the least, the Wasp. A true survivor, this design and it's small horde of variants have fought in nearly every conflict, large and small, in the IS and beyond. Most likely, the shear numbers produced over the centuries have aided in its longevity and existing numbers. For many, like myself, our first mech units included at least one Wasp, if not more. Ignore the large numbers serving in House and mercenary units and consider the vast array of Bandits, Lone Wolves, distant (and not so distant) forgotten worlds where Wasps still ply their trade.
I have found it consistently easier and more cost-effective to do this thing’s job with a locust. Or even a Shadowhawk. Then again, I have a thing for that ‘mech. I have not found a thing it couldn’t do decently.
@@b1laxson Now I'm imagining a Locust being forced to crash through a Dick's Sporting Goods and coming out the other side in a cloud of concrete dust, footballs, and athletic gear. Cut to the pilot, who's suddenly wearing a Mets jersey.
When playing IS in my challenge games and if the tech level was picked to play my 1000 dollar game. I put a couple of wasps with tag and a couple of arrow 4 tanks.. Omg it pissed off My challengers..
A medium laser on a 20 ton mech is pretty spicy, however the missile launchers don't make much sense to me, especially with them being mounted on the hip. I guess they give some alpha strike potential but come at the cost of spending money on ammo and having to ensure it doesn't blow up with case! The twin small lasers and flame thrower make a lot more sense to me, you burn armour off with the medium laser and damage structure with the small lasers, get in close and over heat the mech with the flamer. Sure you are in knife fight range, but if any thing catches you when you are in a light mech the other guy is probably also in another light mech of equal speed and you are going to end up fighting up close. Fighting any thing heavier? Run away!
.... the wasp us one of the only mechs I kinda like the srm2 on because by the time you get an ammo explosion on it you already almost are actually dead anyway granted another med laser and more armor would have been better but can't have every thing
Just good for recon and not much else. I would be a bigger fan if the SRMs were not leg mounted. What is fun is if you load it with inferno rounds. Just annoy other mechs with those nasty fires. Especially bad since we play with the local rule of "hit with inferno, all heat sinks are halved, round down." 20 tonners are for backwater worlds, bandits and small cheap merc units. They are super cheap and do the job and there are a lot of them. Salvage for the win.
When you can't afford a jenner or hate the locust for some strange reason you buy a wasp, or its 'I'm a wasp with a different head' cousin the stinger....to be fair there is a wasp with a load of small lasers that's actually a good light mech and vehicle killer....just because there are a lot of them doesn't make it good :-)
Between this and the Locust, I would love to see you do a video on the Unseen, Project Phoenix, and the new redesigns that finally put the legal problems to bed. The BattleTech TV Tropes page has a Screwed By The Lawyers page dedicated to the whole sordid after, but a good, comprehensive video would be nice.
Can we just remember how there was a period of maybe 4 days with a pewter mini of the newseen Wasp out there. And then they took it out of the shops. I will never wait again to put an order to something I actually want.
This is a very curious mech. In my Merc outift, my collection so far. I've got 2 Wasps, 2 Warhammers & 2 Pheonix Hawks. Which are the most numerous mechs in my outfit. But I plan to get a 3rd Warhammer.
Watching older videos. 6:07 oh yeah that sting is for sure. Where I have my house, is an area with lots of real world wasps. And it's really fun with these buggers get in the house 🙂. One time a couple years ago while working from home, on lunch I was cleaning up stuff in the yard going in and out of the house I left the back screen door open and I let about 6 wasps in the house. So here I am at like 2:30, I'm supposed to be working, and I'm chasing wasps through the house 😀; looking back at it now its really funny 😎.
Oh neat I started with a Wasp in BTA 3026 it for whatever reason had only a SRM4 and I slapped a tag on there to make mildly more useful. I say that but it cored a Wyvern by itself with a back shot then got shit rocked by a Marauder's gauss cannon. That duel was weird. Involved alot of kicking a Marauder in the shins then blasting it with a trebuchet's medium lasers till the bastard finally got sick of it slapped both me arms off and then punched out for some reason. But hey the pilot of the Wasp lived and it wasn't too expensive to repair so happy ending.
Not really fond of either the Wasp or the Stinger because of the weaker armor compared to the Locust. Last time i used the Wasp in the Battletech VG (Extended Commanders Edition) my pilot got killed by a lucky AC shot of an Urbie, and it was'nt the first time i had a casualty when using that mech . Since then i simply salvage, assemble and sell them.
@@BigRed40TECH Well i've used them plenty of times but after the 3rd time it happend i was done with it. And tinkering with the design like removing jumpjets to increase the armor was'nt good in my opinion since it could just hop very short distances after that. Nah, to me the Locust is the best 20 tonner.
> to be used to keep other lights off the backside of your heavies and assaults. I'd rather have a medium like Phoenix Hawk or Griffin for that. But if we need to consider scenario balance, then sure.
I never liked running the medium laser srm 2 Wasp cause, I didn't like the "line of sight" vulnerability aspect. Unlike MWO a lite making face to face contact with a heavy or an assault mech was VERY VERY VERY BAD DAYS for the Wasp pilot and other lights for that matter. In MWO a light with a machine gun can kill an assault, but in real turn based combat the assault would simply slap the ever loving shit out of the light sending one half over the mountains along with the pilots remains and stomping the other half. MWO has no comprehension of battle mech roles they just make shit playable and completely unreal. Lights are so OP right now it don't make sense. Why develop a machine like a battlemech if a goddammed pirus with a machinegun can take it out? Stupid right? In turn base combat however you inevitably take return fire. I preferred a Wasp with a small laser and an LRM 5 for long range harrassing using cover to displace and harass from a different locations. The Wasp LAM mech was a whole different thing, that mech, in it's "guardian" mode (sorry macross) could leap unbelievable distances. It could almost leap the entire map but it was vulnerable to having the LAM equipment damaged. If that happened most Wasp operators would just remove it altogether bc it was too rare and too expensive to fix and or replace so it would be parted out for stupid C bills. 1 LAM actuator alone could run you millions of C bills, you can buy a whole new-ish mech for that so people would part em out and make em into straight Wasp mechs. MWO is fun though just not a true to the game set up, it's for profit of those who put it out so they'd rather make it playable than be realistic.
Comparing a Turn based game to a Real time game is where there is a huge disconnect. Also comparing a game that actually USES the arms and legs to hit/swat/kick vs a game that only has ranged weaponry make a difference too. Although if we had Hatchetmen in MWO you can bet your butt there would be quite a few legged assaults from sneaky attacks.
Like the AC/2 I have to wonder why the SRM2 exists when the medium laser weighs less, does more damage has a longer range, doesn't require ammo, requires less crit slots (and in later eras a CASE system making the weight and crit advantage even higher) and doesn't have to roll on charts for its damage. Why burden a mech like the Wasp, which needs all the spare tonnage it can get, with such a pointless system?
The Wasp should perform better than the other bugs due to it's range advantage, but the SRM-2 is just such a bad weapon system. You are only going to hit with both SRMs 42% of the time. The Stinger and Locust may have limited range but both are probably fast enough to get close enough to their target and generate a good defensive movement modifier, be accurate with their machine guns and get a kick off. A Wasp trying to hold the range probably isn't going to be able to match their point blank damage. If I have to take a bug mech, I generally go for the 2 ML Stinger, or if I can get away with a non-bug 20 tonner, I take the Thorn.
@@BigRed40TECH don't let the lawyers spook ya. Wasp LAM was the 2nd mech I ever died in on the tabletop and that was after making a GM figure out what a "punch table" vs a Transit Aerospace fighter should be. 😏🤜
@@johannesbowers7467 Lawyers haven't spooked me. I'm honestly not that big into LAM's. I was there for LAMs, I've played Battletech since the early 90's. :) I will cover the concept of LAMs at some point, but these videos are broad, quick overviews of designs.
I still prefer the FASA Veritech based Wasp. I really prefer the looks of ALL the original FASA game mechs. Wretched scum suckers at Harmony Gold trying to cheat the anime creators ruined it all. But I’m also willing to admit that I hate what the introduction of Star League tech and the Clans did to the game.
kind of with you. before clans, the battles were long and required nice strategies to gain advantage. after clans, it's run in, alpha strike. mech down.
the lam makes all similar mechs a game changer, and also, as should b obvious to all, why fasa got into legal trouble with the Robotech ppl as this machine and others are the biggest influences in the game!😉
@@skytiger23 It's all good. I just don't really go into it due to it being really obscure at this point. I try to keep things tight and to the point in the videos. :)
Honestly? Light mechs need to have a purpose to be worth using. The Wasp... lacks purpose. If you want to point to cost, its cheap for a mech. However, both the base model Locust and Urbanmech are both cheaper than the Wasp. As maligned as the Urbanmech is, it fills the role of a cheap defender that hits hard. Locust is a superior scout in most situations. The only time a Wasp is superior would be if the mech was going to be deployed in an area filled with woods or uneven terrain where jump capability is more important than speed. Honestly, in the low end Tanks provide better capability for the price. A Wasp (1.65 million) would find a Savannah Master (5 ton hover tank, 1 medium laser, 92k price tag) to be a severe threat to its existence. For the cost of 1 Wasp, you could purchase 16 Savanna Masters. For slightly more than the Wasp, actually closer to the price of a Commando (1.8 million) you could get a LRM Carrier (60 ton tank, 1.9 million). Instead of a lance of Wasps you could field 2 LRM Carriers, 1 SRM Carrier (1.9 million), and 6 Savanna Masters which would make for a better defender, attacker or patrol unit.
The ubiquitous Mech, found in every military capable of fielding and supporting Mechs (and a few not so capable). Any minor power or would be house strives to produce, at the least, the Wasp. A true survivor, this design and it's small horde of variants have fought in nearly every conflict, large and small, in the IS and beyond. Most likely, the shear numbers produced over the centuries have aided in its longevity and existing numbers. For many, like myself, our first mech units included at least one Wasp, if not more. Ignore the large numbers serving in House and mercenary units and consider the vast array of Bandits, Lone Wolves, distant (and not so distant) forgotten worlds where Wasps still ply their trade.
How did tex phrased it? "Just good enough..." Never touch a running system
It's so true. At least IS side pre Clan era.
Tell that to pgi xD
That is very much a vet saying. It just needs to be good enough. Which I know kinda goes against another very vet saying - Why use a hammer when you can use a sledgehammer.
There’s an actual phrase: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Hello Red.
I am a 'grey warrior'. One of those Players that started back in 1984. I have played just about every Mech and vehicle that was available from 3025 through 3057, as well as Star League Era machines.
Like the Locust, I dabbled with altering the Wasp's design. And Like the Locust, I fielded a version that swapped the SRM-2 out for a LRM-5.
I fielded this variant along side it's un-altered brothers to confuse my foes. Usually only firing the LRM's behind cover in 'indirect fire' mode. Although not really effective damage, it seemed to mostly convince most other Players that I had a Catapult, or some other LRM carrier unit behind the hill that a 'swarm' of Wasps would leap over.
Another method was keeping the LRM Wasps there behind the hill, raining missiles, while the other Wasps closed on target. Then swarming forwards while the Enemy was distracted by close ranged fire.
This usually netted me several 'back' shots into Enemy units as the second wave of Wasps closed, and often resulted in cries of indignation and dismay.
For maximum effectiveness, I once fielded this same force, but backed up by Locusts. The Locusts would flank around the Enemy's formation and come in from their rear when the first wave of Wasps closed. This was usually sufficient to distract them for the LRM Wasps to close to add their firepower as well.
I will admit that you need about a 3:1 ratio to make this work, but fielding so many light, fast, and maneuverable units, usually tilted the battle in my favor.
Yes, I would lose a few Mechs during battles. Mostly due to near-impossible shots actually hitting my units, but the value of taking down so many Medium and Heavy Mechs would more than pay for such losses.
Just my memories,
spoken Frank-ly
Hey man, I may not be that old (in the hobby), but I started up in 1994. :)
I'm really new round here,only having played MW 5 and Hairbrained's BattleTech game,but hearing how common these little guys are makes me wonder why they didn't show up. Though a Jenner with an LRM 5 served as my early harasser in MW 5 so role filled I guess. Got a friend who considers it his favorite mech alongside the Catapult,guy loves LRMs and generally being a nuisance to the enemy.
Hey, I remember you! You’re the guy who made those TSM ER LLAS Locusts. Hearing your stories from the games you’ve played is always a treat.
@@combativeThinker : Why thank you. I have a LOT of memories from playing literally EVERY weekend for over 20 years from 1984 through around 2008 or so. I played thousands of games over that time period, so I have quite a lot of experience in the game.
Hey Ravannion, I thought you died back in 3023! What gives?
I can never shake the thought that the SRM located in the leg was an error. THe original art shows it in the right shoulder. After printing so many books I think FASA just went with it.
Wasp I simply look as a militia mech. Good for any duty not main line. Good for scouting missions you might need hands. Also in combined arms not a bad mech to put infernos in and go vehicle hunting. Fact that it's easy on logistics is a plus as well. Cbills and BV it's dirt cheep.
Also, early Battletech releases made infernos exclusive to the SRM 2 instead of being a universal ammo type like they are today. At the time, this gave the Wasp the unique property of being the most widely available incendiary unit that didn't have to stay within 3 hexes to do its job. Its biggest direct competitor for the price, the Locust 1S, was a Steiner exclusive and had the resilience of a particularly fierce piece of origami.
Not one of my favorites, but much like the Urbanmech, one of the Wasp's biggest advantages is cost. They're cheap enough to field several of them for the same price as a single much heavier design. Quantity is its own type of quality.
No, it's more like a ruger 10/22; just barely big enough to use in a fight, so cheap and numerous that anyone can have one.
I'm so pleased with these new designs for BattleTech. For years I thought I'd never hear the end of Harmony Gold trying to gouge pennies from BattleTech under it's dying breath. We all know and accept some of the original designs (like the Wasp) were stolen, but it's been decades and more than enough concessions. I'm just glad we finally have a fresh new look.
Yeah the new designs are really good. You can instantly tell tell what they are. They just capture the essence of the OG unseen (I'm looking at you project Phoenix). The MAD and the WHM are perfect examples of this.
I LOVE the redesigns.
Not to mention the original design was predicated on the idea that it was a transformable aircraft. Which, for the LAM idea, was OK, but if you were designing a non-transformable, purpose-built Mech, you would NEVER incorporate things like the thrust-reverser feet, jet-engine intakes, etc. I love the VF-1 Valkerie design, but out of the Macross/Robotech universe, it was out-of-place.
But..... nothing beats the fear of God on the pilot's face of an 80ton Transit fighter when you transform, grapple his fuselage, and start punching his canopy....
Huzzah Mechwarrior TTRPG....
Stolen? Fasa had the the license to use the images, what harmony gold did was slapp suits. The suits would ultimately fail, because if fasa had the license from same illustrators case would not stand and as finally proven hg only owned the name Robotech and the characters of the series not the mechs. Slapp suits are by design prevent participation by overwhelming individuals and small companies with immense litigation. They were being sued across 50 states, even HBO would have trouble paying lawyers through all that which is why this particular act became a poster child for reforms which includes providing the burden of proof that you actually have a case to begin with. It's still an issue today but many states have now enacted measures to prevent this sleazy form of litigation.
The new and updated Wasp design is, in my humble opinion, one of the prettiest mechs in the entirety of Battletech. I absolutely adore that hardworking little bug.
All the Bug-mechs are recon-centric and don't really have roles that fit well with the lance-based objective raid centric smash -and-grab warfare of the 3rd SW, but come into their own with the rebirth of combined arms in the 4th SW and Clan Invasion.
I like to think, that the engineers at General Mechanics purposely made the jumpjets make a "bzzzt bzzzt" sound when fired, on purpose for S&Gs, and nobody since has corrected this.
The marketing department would have loved that.
Sting like a bee do ZERO damage to anything larger than itself
I wonder if in-universe a reason for The Wasp being such a survivor being that it's... well, good enough.
Decent armor, decent movement, decent armament, and even a decent price. By Battletech standards, it's basically one of those recon jeeps with a MG atop.
You just don't get that false sense of safety of zipping along in a Locust at mack 5, or the delusional high-command thinking your Flea with its paper armor can melt a dang Assault if its just 'positioned right' when you're the low ranking pilot of 'Good Enough.'
It's definitely the king of Good Enough. lol
The ubiquitous Mech, found in every military capable of fielding and supporting Mechs (and a few not so capable). Any minor power or would be house strives to produce, at the least, the Wasp. A true survivor, this design and it's small horde of variants have fought in nearly every conflict, large and small, in the IS and beyond. Most likely, the shear numbers produced over the centuries have aided in its longevity and existing numbers. For many, like myself, our first mech units included at least one Wasp, if not more. Ignore the large numbers serving in House and mercenary units and consider the vast array of Bandits, Lone Wolves, distant (and not so distant) forgotten worlds where Wasps still ply their trade.
Battletech wasp = US Army MA-2 (.50cal)
Not great for all scenarios but is so good at what it does there is no reason to change it.
M2?
@@baker90338 Also called the Ma Deuce (or Ma 2)... very well known nickname for nearly anyone who's worked with an M2 Browning.
@@kevinbray3724 oh I know that, it’s just MA2 confused me
I have found it consistently easier and more cost-effective to do this thing’s job with a locust. Or even a Shadowhawk. Then again, I have a thing for that ‘mech. I have not found a thing it couldn’t do decently.
lovely vids, keep up the work
High run speed is great until the scout comes to a cliff... or a mega mall. Wasp can cross that.
But it can jump it! :D
@@BigRed40TECH Wasps can jump. So it gets to front of the mall line up while default Locust is spiralling up every parking lot level.
@@b1laxson Now I'm imagining a Locust being forced to crash through a Dick's Sporting Goods and coming out the other side in a cloud of concrete dust, footballs, and athletic gear. Cut to the pilot, who's suddenly wearing a Mets jersey.
@@CharlesUrban being followed by police urbanmechs ala blues brothers
Wasp the problem with this mech? I don’t know but it’s not the stinger.
I've always enjoyed the WSP-3S, good spotter with the TAG. Plus I don't need to worry about that blasted SRM launcher in most variants.
When playing IS in my challenge games and if the tech level was picked to play my 1000 dollar game.
I put a couple of wasps with tag and a couple of arrow 4 tanks..
Omg it pissed off My challengers..
I somehow always imagine that a 100 ton Atlas or so is flattened by 30 wasps^^. So command scurrying cloud style XD
My favorite Light 'Mech well the Raven gives it a solid run for it's money on that
WSP-1D with nothing but small lasers, jump jets and armor. Tiny backstabber until you get something like Firestarter or Vulcan.
The WASP that can STINGER a LOCUST.
Damn right! :P
Great video, keep up the great work.
A medium laser on a 20 ton mech is pretty spicy, however the missile launchers don't make much sense to me, especially with them being mounted on the hip. I guess they give some alpha strike potential but come at the cost of spending money on ammo and having to ensure it doesn't blow up with case!
The twin small lasers and flame thrower make a lot more sense to me, you burn armour off with the medium laser and damage structure with the small lasers, get in close and over heat the mech with the flamer. Sure you are in knife fight range, but if any thing catches you when you are in a light mech the other guy is probably also in another light mech of equal speed and you are going to end up fighting up close. Fighting any thing heavier? Run away!
.... the wasp us one of the only mechs I kinda like the srm2 on because by the time you get an ammo explosion on it you already almost are actually dead anyway granted another med laser and more armor would have been better but can't have every thing
Keep up the battle tech uploads!
Useful mech when starting out. Affordable and some variants are excellent guerilla warfare mechs.
Just good for recon and not much else. I would be a bigger fan if the SRMs were not leg mounted. What is fun is if you load it with inferno rounds. Just annoy other mechs with those nasty fires. Especially bad since we play with the local rule of "hit with inferno, all heat sinks are halved, round down." 20 tonners are for backwater worlds, bandits and small cheap merc units. They are super cheap and do the job and there are a lot of them. Salvage for the win.
When you can't afford a jenner or hate the locust for some strange reason you buy a wasp, or its 'I'm a wasp with a different head' cousin the stinger....to be fair there is a wasp with a load of small lasers that's actually a good light mech and vehicle killer....just because there are a lot of them doesn't make it good :-)
Between this and the Locust, I would love to see you do a video on the Unseen, Project Phoenix, and the new redesigns that finally put the legal problems to bed.
The BattleTech TV Tropes page has a Screwed By The Lawyers page dedicated to the whole sordid after, but a good, comprehensive video would be nice.
Can we just remember how there was a period of maybe 4 days with a pewter mini of the newseen Wasp out there. And then they took it out of the shops. I will never wait again to put an order to something I actually want.
This is a very curious mech. In my Merc outift, my collection so far. I've got 2 Wasps, 2 Warhammers & 2 Pheonix Hawks. Which are the most numerous mechs in my outfit. But I plan to get a 3rd Warhammer.
Watching older videos. 6:07 oh yeah that sting is for sure. Where I have my house, is an area with lots of real world wasps. And it's really fun with these buggers get in the house 🙂. One time a couple years ago while working from home, on lunch I was cleaning up stuff in the yard going in and out of the house I left the back screen door open and I let about 6 wasps in the house. So here I am at like 2:30, I'm supposed to be working, and I'm chasing wasps through the house 😀; looking back at it now its really funny 😎.
Oh we aren't going to talk about the LAM version? 😁
If I do cover LAMs, they'd get their own video.
Oh neat I started with a Wasp in BTA 3026 it for whatever reason had only a SRM4 and I slapped a tag on there to make mildly more useful. I say that but it cored a Wyvern by itself with a back shot then got shit rocked by a Marauder's gauss cannon. That duel was weird. Involved alot of kicking a Marauder in the shins then blasting it with a trebuchet's medium lasers till the bastard finally got sick of it slapped both me arms off and then punched out for some reason.
But hey the pilot of the Wasp lived and it wasn't too expensive to repair so happy ending.
Not really fond of either the Wasp or the Stinger because of the weaker armor compared to the Locust. Last time i used the Wasp in the Battletech VG (Extended Commanders Edition) my pilot got killed by a lucky AC shot of an Urbie, and it was'nt the first time i had a casualty when using that mech . Since then i simply salvage, assemble and sell them.
WASP's are mad that they're getting teh disrespected! :P
@@BigRed40TECH Well i've used them plenty of times but after the 3rd time it happend i was done with it. And tinkering with the design like removing jumpjets to increase the armor was'nt good in my opinion since it could just hop very short distances after that. Nah, to me the Locust is the best 20 tonner.
@@Taiko206 The Locust is the best.
For when you can't afford a Jenner but you don't want to give up the jump capability. Wasp is a decent mech.
have got miniatures of all variants from the original days including the veritech
Nice.
Excellent review!
Thank you! Hope you like the Cicada, which is coming up tomorrow :D
Wasp is a great mech to fill out a light Lance or to be used to keep other lights off the backside of your heavies and assaults.
> to be used to keep other lights off the backside of your heavies and assaults.
I'd rather have a medium like Phoenix Hawk or Griffin for that. But if we need to consider scenario balance, then sure.
@@mattikuokkanen sometimes you don't have the BV for a Pheonex Hawk
@@rmcdudmk212 That's what I said: "need to consider scenario balance"
I never liked running the medium laser srm 2 Wasp cause, I didn't like the "line of sight" vulnerability aspect. Unlike MWO a lite making face to face contact with a heavy or an assault mech was VERY VERY VERY BAD DAYS for the Wasp pilot and other lights for that matter. In MWO a light with a machine gun can kill an assault, but in real turn based combat the assault would simply slap the ever loving shit out of the light sending one half over the mountains along with the pilots remains and stomping the other half. MWO has no comprehension of battle mech roles they just make shit playable and completely unreal. Lights are so OP right now it don't make sense. Why develop a machine like a battlemech if a goddammed pirus with a machinegun can take it out? Stupid right? In turn base combat however you inevitably take return fire. I preferred a Wasp with a small laser and an LRM 5 for long range harrassing using cover to displace and harass from a different locations. The Wasp LAM mech was a whole different thing, that mech, in it's "guardian" mode (sorry macross) could leap unbelievable distances. It could almost leap the entire map but it was vulnerable to having the LAM equipment damaged. If that happened most Wasp operators would just remove it altogether bc it was too rare and too expensive to fix and or replace so it would be parted out for stupid C bills. 1 LAM actuator alone could run you millions of C bills, you can buy a whole new-ish mech for that so people would part em out and make em into straight Wasp mechs.
MWO is fun though just not a true to the game set up, it's for profit of those who put it out so they'd rather make it playable than be realistic.
Comparing a Turn based game to a Real time game is where there is a huge disconnect.
Also comparing a game that actually USES the arms and legs to hit/swat/kick vs a game that only has ranged weaponry make a difference too. Although if we had Hatchetmen in MWO you can bet your butt there would be quite a few legged assaults from sneaky attacks.
A lot of the "reee lights OP" discussion in MWO would be quelled if MWO had kicking.
Like the AC/2 I have to wonder why the SRM2 exists when the medium laser weighs less, does more damage has a longer range, doesn't require ammo, requires less crit slots (and in later eras a CASE system making the weight and crit advantage even higher) and doesn't have to roll on charts for its damage. Why burden a mech like the Wasp, which needs all the spare tonnage it can get, with such a pointless system?
wasps are trash.
-A dedicated stinger pilot
The Wasp should perform better than the other bugs due to it's range advantage, but the SRM-2 is just such a bad weapon system. You are only going to hit with both SRMs 42% of the time. The Stinger and Locust may have limited range but both are probably fast enough to get close enough to their target and generate a good defensive movement modifier, be accurate with their machine guns and get a kick off. A Wasp trying to hold the range probably isn't going to be able to match their point blank damage.
If I have to take a bug mech, I generally go for the 2 ML Stinger, or if I can get away with a non-bug 20 tonner, I take the Thorn.
I think you mispelled 'Atlas', there. But, otherwise awesome video.
The Wasp is basically a 20 ton Atlas, am I right? :P
Its weird to consider the eye of an atlas is almost the size of a wasp’s entire head.
Give the Wasp Inferno SRM, and i'ill be a hot cancer against many mechs and forests 😊
No commentary on the LAM variant?
LAM's aren't really a thing very much. I'll probably cover LAM's as a concept video, rather than for the individual mechs.
@@BigRed40TECH don't let the lawyers spook ya. Wasp LAM was the 2nd mech I ever died in on the tabletop and that was after making a GM figure out what a "punch table" vs a Transit Aerospace fighter should be.
😏🤜
@@johannesbowers7467 Lawyers haven't spooked me. I'm honestly not that big into LAM's. I was there for LAMs, I've played Battletech since the early 90's. :)
I will cover the concept of LAMs at some point, but these videos are broad, quick overviews of designs.
A wisp run into any light mech, it dies. A dasher/ fire moth fire on it. It dies.
Dasher / Firemoth are Clan mechs, they are not comparable.
Go-Go WSP-1W!
I decided not to cover the Wolfs Dragoons ones just because they're not as mainstream as houses, but yes, WD's are awesome :D
@@BigRed40TECH That's my go-to Wasp if I choose to take one in 3025 Era games. It's so, so good.
I still prefer the FASA Veritech based Wasp. I really prefer the looks of ALL the original FASA game mechs. Wretched scum suckers at Harmony Gold trying to cheat the anime creators ruined it all. But I’m also willing to admit that I hate what the introduction of Star League tech and the Clans did to the game.
I'm personally disposed to the CGL ones, even though I was around for the old ones. I was never married to the Robotech designs.
kind of with you. before clans, the battles were long and required nice strategies to gain advantage. after clans, it's run in, alpha strike. mech down.
@@androth1502 Exactly. It’s like we were playing a game of Spitfires vs Bf 109s when suddenly one player could show up with F-16s.
Not the biggest fan of this mech but it does its job well and it common and cheap :)
Wasp, Stinger, Phoenix Hawk are Veritech/Valkerie
And we love them for it.
Along with the Archer,Rifleman,Shadow Hawk,Longbow,Maurauder, Warhammer.....
(I had to build my own Long Tom MKIII)
the lam makes all similar mechs a game changer, and also, as should b obvious to all, why fasa got into legal trouble with the Robotech ppl as this machine and others are the biggest influences in the game!😉
Remember, FASA paid for the rights to use those designs.
@@starsiegeplayer yes, ik. but..legal complications ensue..
You missed one of the wasps best features. for 5 tons it can turn into a gwoc and then into a 25 ton scout fighter.
I don't really talk about LAMs much on this channel. :\
SHHH! Do you want that chumped of real estate company to hear you?! We don't talk about LAMs anymore for a reason lol
Sorry they were a staple in a few Lance builds before the 3050 book first came out
@@skytiger23 It's all good. I just don't really go into it due to it being really obscure at this point. I try to keep things tight and to the point in the videos. :)
@@BigRed40TECH Im a clanner so I am glad those things are gone.
Honestly? Light mechs need to have a purpose to be worth using. The Wasp... lacks purpose. If you want to point to cost, its cheap for a mech. However, both the base model Locust and Urbanmech are both cheaper than the Wasp. As maligned as the Urbanmech is, it fills the role of a cheap defender that hits hard. Locust is a superior scout in most situations. The only time a Wasp is superior would be if the mech was going to be deployed in an area filled with woods or uneven terrain where jump capability is more important than speed.
Honestly, in the low end Tanks provide better capability for the price. A Wasp (1.65 million) would find a Savannah Master (5 ton hover tank, 1 medium laser, 92k price tag) to be a severe threat to its existence. For the cost of 1 Wasp, you could purchase 16 Savanna Masters. For slightly more than the Wasp, actually closer to the price of a Commando (1.8 million) you could get a LRM Carrier (60 ton tank, 1.9 million). Instead of a lance of Wasps you could field 2 LRM Carriers, 1 SRM Carrier (1.9 million), and 6 Savanna Masters which would make for a better defender, attacker or patrol unit.
I don't think the WASP is without use, but I do think that it'd not be my first choice for the BV personally.
Eventually. It'll be GARBAGE DAY!
you made me do this.
ruclips.net/video/i7gIpuIVE3k/видео.html&ab_channel=BrunoMe
It's also the same weight
👍
She ain’t pretty nor Is she the biggest or the strongest but she will get the job done if you know what you’re doing when you send her out
First
You're fast. lol
That's what she said 🤣
@@BigRed40TECH I see battletech I click immediately
The ubiquitous Mech, found in every military capable of fielding and supporting Mechs (and a few not so capable). Any minor power or would be house strives to produce, at the least, the Wasp. A true survivor, this design and it's small horde of variants have fought in nearly every conflict, large and small, in the IS and beyond. Most likely, the shear numbers produced over the centuries have aided in its longevity and existing numbers. For many, like myself, our first mech units included at least one Wasp, if not more. Ignore the large numbers serving in House and mercenary units and consider the vast array of Bandits, Lone Wolves, distant (and not so distant) forgotten worlds where Wasps still ply their trade.