Big fan of the Ost family of mechs, I kind of wish there were a few more lines of mechs that did the same thing from light to assault. Kind of feels like looking at a Pokémon evolution tree
Excluding the joke of "Urbanlord" your best bets for aesthetic kindred to the Urbanmech are the Imp and Flashman, but for purpose, the Annihilator is probably the best mood kindred among an assault mechs. As for my thoughts on the heavy crab shaped hole, I'd love to see what a melee focused design could bring to the "family."
I like the MechFrog variant, though that ER Small Laser is painful because it brings it from 12 tons of weaponry to 12.5, and since Inner Sphere targeting computers weigh 1 ton and take up 1 critical space for every 4 tons of applicable weaponry, that's effectively 1.5 tons for that single weapon-i'd like it a lot more with an extra jump jet and half-ton of armor.
Oh man I've been waiting for the whole Ost line. By far, they're my favourite battlemechs. From the humble Ostscout to the mess that is the Ostwar, the whole range is better than expected but also somehow as unpopular as can be. Thanks for another great video Frog
You can carry 2 3ton shields, or 1 6 ton shield under carry weight rules. Dunno why so few use them. Works for bolt ons, hand carried weapons, booster packs, and cargo pods full of infantry.😊
Ironically given its beginnings, the Ostroc (and its sister the Ostsol) has made the transition into the ilClan art style *incredibly* well. Look at them go, they're gorgeous.
I'm a relatively new adopter of Battletech, and the newest art is my first exposure to the Ostroc. As a result, I think it looks fantastic. My personal favorite is the 2D, but even the 2C is a solid performer, in my experience. I'm loooking forward to the Heavy Recon pack for the Merlin first, but the Ostroc is a close second.
My first exposure to the ostroc was in HBS battletech with the BEX modpack. I immediately stripped out the SRM for more heat sinks and armor and that thing was throwing hands until i eventually upgraded to an Orion about 8 in-game months later
i'm a big fan of the Ostroc, Ostsol, and Ostscout (though not as much the Ostwar, and definitely not the Ostscout IIC) love the egg 'Mechs a lot of it is having started with the newer ilClan-era art, which is really very good thanks for the video, MechFrog!
Well as we all know, Blake was also a concert pianist, classical portrait artist, mathematical genius, fluent in 42 languages, and the true inventor of the hamburger.
I do love that the Ostroc's weapons are all torso mounted. If you get close enough to start roughhousing, you can fire off all your weapons and still get in a pair of punches.
Naturally enough, when you announced this video was coming, I had to make my own ISM variants of it. I actually do like the Ostroc, the whole "Ost" series as a matter of fact, though it never did end up in my top 5 'Mechs, sadly. Still, as an urban warfare focused design, I may do a mini or 2 up for my Urban Defense League unit. I came up with 3 ISM variants of the Ostroc, with the 3rd one being done just this morning. The first, the OSR-2ISM, sticks solidly with IS equipment (and according to my Mech Factory app, costs just over 9 million C-bills). It utilizes a Light Engine to save some weight, keeping the 5/8/0 movement of the OSR-2C. Both its armor and internal structure remain Standard, though its 15 heat sinks are now Doubles giving it 30 heat dissipation. Now for the fun part. The 2 Medium Lasers are upgraded to ER models, while the SRM-4 is dropped in favor of an MML-5 with 4 tons of CASE-protected ammo; typically split into 2 tons each of long and short range missiles. The right torso Large Laser is replaced with a Medium Pulse Laser, in order to allow the left torso Large Laser to be replaced with a Plasma Rifle and 2 tons of ammo. The OSR-2ISM-2 is almost 3 million C-bills more than the OSR-2ISM, as it utilizes Clantech for the engine, internals, armor, and heat sinks. A Clan XL engine, Endo Steel structure, FF armor, and DHS make it lighter and more easily able to dissipate heat. Sort of. Its weapons load puts it 4 above its 30 heat dissipation, but that's only if you Alpha Strike. Replacing the Large and Medium Lasers are Re-Engineered versions, making it able to deal with the plethora of special armors available in the ilClan era. Backing these up is a Clan iATM-6 with 3 tons of CASE-protected ammo; thank you, Clan chassis with in-built CASE. The tons of ammo allow it good flexibility for mission loads, though typically it is loaded with 1 ton of ER ammo....and 2 tons of Inferno rounds. The final ISM variant is the OSR-2ISM-3; figures, right? Anyways, this one aims to improve the Ostroc's mobility by adding 5 Jump Jets. Again, Clantech is utilized in the design, making it more costly than the OSR-2ISM, but it's actually marginally cheaper than the OSR-2ISM-2. A Clan XL engine and Clan FF armor frees up weight at the cost of some space, while it retains a Standard structure that's of Clan manufacture now. The 15 heat sinks are now Doubles, and since it's a Clan chassis it automatically has CASE. A good thing, too, since the SRM-4 is now a Clan SRM-6 with 2 tons of ammo (and, yes, pilots typically load with Inferno rounds, shut up). All four IS lasers are now Clan Pulse versions. 2 jump jets are placed in each side torso, with the 5th in the center torso. A deadlier urban combatant now, pilots are nevertheless advised to watch their heat - in spite of the fact that it generates 2 less heat than the OSR-2ISM-2 (although both of these ISM variants generate more heat than the OSR-2ISM). Sorry for the long comment, hope I didn't bore you, lol.
The Ostroc is one of those mechs few people remember, but I've had a bit of success with it at times. A post-FedCom loadout I run with it uses endo-steel, a light engine, and an XL gyro to save weight, and fourteen double heat sinks. Armor's increased to twelve tons, and armament consists of two large pulse lasers and two medium lasers linked to a targeting computer, and four RL-10s for opportunistic crit seeking. Where things really get fun is that it also has triple-strength myomer, and with its arms free of any weaponry it can throw punches while blasting foes with lasers all day long. It has enough heat sinks to run while firing the lasers without any issue, but if the situation calls for it one can disengage some of the heat sinks to deliberately run it hot and go in for melee attacks (or run away if things get dicey). That said, I do generally prefer the Ostsol to the Ostroc in introtech games.
I've always liked all the Ost-mechs. I'm a rare die-hard supporter of the funny pods on legs. I think the biggest fallout was that they were Unseen. The original variants didn't hold much that other mechs already were doing, and they didn't have the same art draw as the Macross destroid mechs before all of those were swept away by lawsuit. I always liked that each Ost-mech was janky in some way: the Ostscout which is barely a mech outside of the ECW rules, the paddle-arms on the Ostwar, the useless arms on the Ostroc... they just have a ton of underdog character
I've been playing the video games since '96, but I'd never played tabletop until this year. This was my ride in my first group campaign. (Although I wasn't running an OSR-4L, that's the one that got my attention.)
@@MechanicalFrog The narrow low profile was a great perk, but my build was energy-based, so it was pretty light on firepower. In the end, the Word of Blake just blew us all up lmao
Thank you for posting the video. I will fully admit I did judge this mech by its artwork and by the earlier related design of the Ostscout. I think you mounted a brilliant defense for this design.
The Ostroc is extremely underrated. It's a solid Mech. It is well sinked and has good armor and speed. It's honestly one of the most well-balanced Battlemechs in the BT universe.
Both the Ostwar and Ostroc seemed quite solid. Only reason I can think people would hate on it would be that it was almost never around in any game outside tabletop or the HBS Battletech mods BTA3062 and RogueTech. It wasn't in any mechwarrior game to date, iirc, or mech commander 1 or 2, so it's not very well known.
Ah, finally something I have a personal story of. Many, many, years ago (probably 2007 or 08) I managed to stumble into a Mechwarrior RPG DM at my local game store. We talked, and I brought a friend, and we decided to set up for a game. It was a week or so long affair where we rolled up characters, random rolled our mechs, etc etc. Well, in our level 1 tech campaign I got given an Ostroc. Not what I wanted (Its like 70% of a warhammer reeee) but I took it. It was fast, and had decent range and punch so I figured what the heck. We ball. Well, another week passes and my friend (who was the other player) was out at the LGS with me. We were waiting for the DM to show up so we could go back with him to his place so we decided to have a quick skirmish. My Ostroc versus his heavy, which I'll be blunt I don't even remember what it was. I know it outgunned the shit out of me, but that's about all I remember. The terrain? Insanely wooded. No blind rules. We maneuvered at each other for a turn or two and at about range 7 I decided to take some pot shots with the large lasers and the srms. The large lasers missed. The SRM got 4 thru armor criticals on his center torso, did an engine crit and tore the gyro out. From full health. Homie damn near flipped the table, got all his shit and left. He had been my ride. 😆 So I sat there flabbergasted that he would get so mad over what was, lets be real, the rawest of luck. The DM ended up having to give me a ride home because the game collapsed without the second player. Shout out to my boy Mike, sorry for never being able to give you your copy of MW4 Mercs back, but dude. y u hav 2 be so angry, is only game
I think you hit on the issue. The ost series of mechs really suffer from early art more than most and they aren’t optimized for the tabletop game but fit narratively so well. Quirks really helped but the most use I get out of them is bringing them myself for narrative or campaign games. Easily understandable weaknesses means that people enjoy using their knowledge to destroy the opfor.
The lower-end of the tonnage in a class of mechs is sometimes a bit of a weird place which ends up being a bit of a dumping ground for budget beaters and specialist units. In some ways the Ostroc is a specialist being a garrison mech for city fighting, its speed, energy loadout probably suggests some kind of force recon kind of fighter that can keep going over a long campaign. Hence I think when latter variants came out they probably recognised that and dropped the speed, engine size and loaded it up with more armour for brawling, jumping tall buildings etc Its a bit of a hard sell, for a half million c-bills and 5 more tonnes you can get a Thunderbolt from roughly the same time period of production Overall though, the latter variants have plenty of possibilities though and I do go a bit easier on the early era mechs in that I sometimes feel they went from prototyping and rapid production without a huge amount of testing to find out what worked and what didn't, then left to later generations to figure out what to do with it!
Exactly! The high speed, low armor, energy loadout, and lack of jump jets make it feel like they made a heavy scout and guerrilla me g instead of an urban brawler.
The engine size alone makes it a specialist in the days when running 8 for a heavy was an accomplishment. Unfortunately for it, it stopped being a novelty.
@@MechanicalFrog which really does make sense for a urban combat mech, especially when you combine it with a relatively long range energy heavy build and no jump jets. If it was really designed as an urban fighter then it would just be a 60 ton urban mech. Heavy armour, probably a ac20 or a lot of srms, jump jets, and a slow engine. Instead get something closer to what the charger wanted to be.
I love how the Ostroc manages to fail spectacularly at its own stated role of being a fast-response urban pacifier in pretty much every way it can. It has no anti-infantry weaponry (apart from Inferno SRMs, perhaps), no Jump Jets (until later), armor comparable to a Vindicator (a mech 15 tons its junior), and basically useless arms. At least they didn't give it small grade autocannons to complete the circle of fail like some mechs in its weight class I could name. My own take on the OstRoc is this: -VLAR 300 Light Fusion Engine -Endo Steel Structure -12 Tons Standard Armor -15 Double Heatsinks (12 Engine, 3 externally mounted) -5x Class III Jump Jets (2x in each Leg, 1x in CT) Weaponry & Other Gear: -4x ER-Medium Lasers (split between LT & RT) -2x Small X-Pulse Lasers (split between LA & RA) -1x SRM-4 (RT) \-2 tons of ammo (1 Ton Standard Ammo, 1 Ton Inferno Ammo) -TAG (head) -IS Targeting Computer -Guardian ECM This design is based on the stated mission of the Ostroc: Close quarters city fighting and garrison defense. It's tough, it has 20 points of precision damage on demand, it's reasonably hard to hit for a 60 tonner, pretty easy to keep cool, and will clear infantry out of buildings and cover without much trouble. The obvious weakness is its lack of piercing weaponry; this mech is not designed to punch above its weight, but the opposite, where it can bully mediums and lights that try to raid whatever objective it's defending. It will definitely need help taking on bigger threats but if something bigger lets you jump behind them for the donkey-pawnch combo, they will feel it.
Ostroc is a weird spot. It has heavy competition from other 60t and 55t mechs. Including the ostsol. If it mech dropped the mediums and added 2tons armor it would be unique enough to stand out.
I have an Ostroc in with my 3rd Canopian Fusiliers. In spite of it being a favourite of mine, I think the mechwarriors of that regiment are starting to see it as a cursed mech - out of two battles its been in its had its cockpit blown out twice. Its brother, an Ostsol, is in with my Oriente Hussars.
Have a great new year as well Mech Frog. Love listening to your vids while working so I catch the outros haha. Found a local shop with a small scene so might have to finally build a lance.
Another fun watch :-) i fought a player who had a 2 lances made up of a mixture of the ost mechs and i gotta say they work pretty well together and were a bit of a pain to kill...better than a lot of people think i think :-)
For the 3025 and 3050 Ostroc. I consider smoke ammo for the SRM-4 as that deploys heavy smoke. That is useful in cities as mobility is constrained. The Cappy variant is arguably one of the better ones especially when your using smoke on some kind of support mech or vehicle. For the MF variant using ECM would be better as that meshes well with the Plasma Rifles range. A basic loadout of two plasma rifles and two ER medium Lasers is just fine in a City. AES in the legs would be good in a city as the biggest issues would be skidding at a run.
I loved the Ostroc ever since I played one in an extended campaign. The other mechs in the lance were two Trebuchets and a Centurion. After a game or two the ammo dependent mechs were walking around with empty missile bins. The other players made fun of the Ostroc . Soon they were down to their medium lasers and hiding behind me.
The first Thing i saw was the Art piece in the novel wolfs at the border when i was 14. The next Day i ventured to a store in the next town and got this mech, only because of michi noketsuna and how cool the maschine looked. Until today, it is Part of my merc unit, first as leading mech of the combat lance, and in the blakist era it bekamen the leadmech of a whole New combined Arms Company, 2 lances mechs and tanks, one platoon borderer battle armour. I think now in the ilclan era it is the granddaughter of the first pilot who rides the beast. I hole it geht's the CGL treatment it deserves and a New Model.
MF - great video! I always felt that the "Ost" family were underappreciated because I always struggled to tell them apart. That combined with being criminally under-armored made them less used than many other heavy options. Additionally, old school 60 tonners moving 5/8 always struggled because the 55 ton option was more efficient, especially with JJ's. (I'd rather have a Griffin than a Dragon, or a Wolverine than an Ostroc). Really like the MF version - which retained the look/feel while keeping the cost reasonable.
@MechanicalFrog Can't wait for you to cover the other Ostmann Industries Designs, such as the Ostsol, Ostwar and Ostscout. With some trepidation, I will advance the idea that the Nightstar is also an Ostmann Collaboration. Norse-Storm Industries? This company wasn't even around during Star League times. The Nightstar was a collaboration between GM/Ostmann Industries/Kong Interstellar - prove me wrong. There was only one mech plant on Loxley at the time of the Marik Raid, and that was operated by Kong Interstellar. If anyone was going to make a new line, it would have been Kong, with the help of Ostmann Industries and GM. There's a story there I think. How Kong was able to create and maintain a stable supply of Gauss Rifles outside of the Terran Hegemony for the SLDF during the Amaris Civil War sounds like a great tale. The Gauss Rifle sounds like a weapon the SL would have had a trade ban on being in the hands of the other Member States before the Coup. The whole retconning of Norse-Storm into the Star League era leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and denies Ostmann and Kong the appreciation they deserve.
I really love the Ostroc, but the Ostsol has some of my favorite variants. Especially the 6 and the 8 with TSM. I love to boost the Piloting a bit on those and go swinging for the fences. Use terrain to get in close, and your Energy to get up to 9 heat. 60 ton Punches with TSM will mean any hits have a 1/6 chance of putting 12 damage into the cockpit. Few if any weapons on arms, so no worries there. It was terrifying with the old Smoke Missile rules that let an LRM 20 plop down 19 tiles of light ‘forest’ (Smoke) that does not slow your movement.
Refit mech with bird legs. Add hand claws, talons on feet, pws, jump booster, ecm and bloodhound probe, predator fc. Reinforce legs and actuators. Make JJ half improved half directional and you got a mech that makes city fighting fun. Add TSM , good armor (beef up arms definitely) , and you get a 4(6)/6(8)/ 8(10) mech. I'd go with control weaponry in missiles ammo. And CQ based pulses for lasers.
A rare heavy mech in the 3025s.. not only because it shared the same fate of many other mech designs of having their one and only factory line blewn up in the succesor wars (because having only one place where you produce your 12 metre death machines is a clever thing to do! Oh and while we are at it we will store the only copy of the blueprints at the same location... i mean its not like our factory would be a prime military target in case of war or anything.. that never happens XD) but also because as mentioned it was produced in very limited numbers to begin with. The weapons loadout is solid for a 60 ton mech, easaly outgunning mechs like the Dragon or quickdraw, and the mech has a equally solid 5/8 movement profile.. though it needs it.. badly. If you dont run all those 8 hexes youre going to be in alot of trouble. The skimpy armor means that even mechs like the centurion are a serious threat to an ostroc, and the minimal armoring of the arms means that the ostroc will be allmost a permanent guest in the repairbay since it will be loosing those arms or other components during each battle its being used. The issue with the flimsy armor is not adressed until much later in history either... wich does turn the mech from a one shot wonder into a machine with staying power, but the mech is still only available in small numbers and has to compete with machines like the argus, anvil, gallahad and the black hawk wich again, dont suffer from the low production numbers of the ostroc So unless youre an excentric Steiner noble who has the kind of cash laying around to maintain a rare mech or 2 in prime-fighting conditions at all times, i would suggest you dont pick the ostroc for campaigns. The solid offensive performance in no way makes up for the downtime and the repair bill this mech will acrue after each mission... considering that there are even medium mechs like the hunchback who can fill out its urban combat role to equal or greater capacity while neither costing as much to buy or maintain as the ostroc. While i like the ostroc, i think its more trouble to maintain then its actual worth during a campaign, especially in 3025 (solo fights without any consequences are fine though). The aforementioned dragon and quickdraw might be outgunned by it, but the quickdraw has jumpjets and the dragon a better armor profile and more importantly: both mechs and their spare parts are readaly available without having to plunder museums or a private collectors stash. Also your mech techs will be very thankfull for not having to replace the blown off arms every other weekend.
I need an emotional support ER pulse laser. I'd likely keep it away from my head though. Thanks for the video; helps me get through brainless busywork at the day job!
I think its a fairly solid mech, a "Light" Heavy mech. Its background is the most interesting thing as an Unseen that never really looked like an anime-mech, already being altered so much to look nothing like the Macross battlepods. It was just too goofy. Functionally its a big too hot with not enough heat sinks to fires its 2 primary Large Lasers without overheating, and its armor is light. I would probably take a Thunderbolt instead. Its not in any of the videogames Ive played. Maybe its in Mechwarrior Online or Mechwarrior 5. A real trick with custom variants is to make is distinct from its brother, the Ostol. I would emphasis the Ostol as a fast attacker, with upgrades to longer ranged weapons. The Ostroc would instead get more close range weapons. The problem is that trying to equip Pulse Lasers requires tonnage the Ostroc cannot really afford. Double Heat Sinks would be greatly helpful. Another issue is the lack of Jump Jets. Being that its a Heavy mech its Jump Jets are 1 ton each, twice as heavy as if it were a Medium Mech. Its problem reminds me of the Quickdraw. The Quickdraw is mostly armed with Medium Lasers, an SRM launcher, and an LRM launcher just in case. Its also lightly armored, but has Jump Jets. Oh and it had a unusual feature that could be really helpful in urban combat, arms that could face backwards. Issues like this are one of the reasons why I came up with design policies like "55t or 75t"
"Why Do We Love the Ostroc?" Well, back in the 80s, there was a TV commercial that ended up burned into my brain. It featured this freaky guy with wild hair and a black turtleneck shirt (who years later I found out was John Kassir, the voice of the Cryptkeeper on Tales from the Crypt). In the commercial the first thing he does is call out a woman's name followed by him screaming "Ostrocs!" before saying "Which. Way. To. Go?" in this weird cadence while the editor rotated his image 90 degrees on each word. Then he started shouting other nonsense words like "Tektites!", "P-p-p-p-Peahats!", and "Leevers!"... Ok, actually he doesn't scream "Ostrocs!", it's really "Octoroks!" and this was just one of those weird commercials for the original Legend of Zelda (not the one with the white boys trying to rap at least). So I got nothing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I have two of these in lead. Like many mechs they're actually quite good with some minor modifications like getting the ammo the hell out of the center torso. No paddle hands on them, proper arms and I think they look even better than their updated art. I think you're focused too much on it being a urban machine though, with that movement and two large lasers it perfroms just fine in open areas although you're gonna lose an arm no matter what if you don't add some armor to them. Double heat sinks (that the mech was crying out for) and extended range large lasers make it more than fine at range, I've taken my brothers warhammers with my 2D. I could keep up the pressure with constant fire and reposition better than he could. But if it has to stay urban, light fusion engine and two snub nosed ppcs and two medium lasers? Or two plasma rifles and medium lasers for backup, use endo and we can add jump jets to either and max out the armor. Edited for ideas.
I have a fondness for cohesive design language and families of mechs like the Ostman line of mechs fills a satisfying niche for me. I wonder though, for the Ostroc, though thr arms are empty don't they alsonfuction as capably blunt force application? Urban and dense terrain lend themselves to to such close quarters toucy-feely moments? Maybe give it a hatchet!
The thing that should have been done in 3050 is use Endo Steel and add three tons of armor. Swap to DSHS, yes you're heat sink boating. So swap the Large Lasers for ERLL and get toasty. Over heating with alpha striking and running for only 5 each turn is not that bad. More or less a OSR-2D but with Endo and more armor. Oh and to run one as seen in the 3025 art. Drop one LL for 2 more Med Lasers and one more SRM4 pack w/ammo. Move the left over LL to the CT. 2 ML in each side torso. Last the SRM's and ammo in each arm. Kind of works. Adding DSHS works better as in all things.
Excellent video. I've always liked the ostroc angd ostsol. They may not be great mechs, but they are good. I've always understood the lack of popularity being due to its lack of consistency of the artwork and its description
@MechanicalFrog wasn't that the original intent of the design? Them maxed armor, usable arms, And JumpJets! No flamers, so it won't appeal to your mini-antagonist...
The Ostroc is a mech I haven't had the chance to test drive, but am looking forward to when the plastic model from the kickstarter releases next year. The official variant I'm most interested in is the 4K, which is pretty close to what I first imagined an Ostroc better designed for urban defense would look like. Snub PPCs, ER medium lasers and improved jump jets give the 4K the mix of mobility and short-medium range firepower it needs for this role without breaking the bank. Can't wait to add one to my mercenary force in a few months.
I don't know why, but thought of armoring up the arms and giving it the Mech equivalent of Daggers and jump jets came to mind. So you can leap out from behind building and mess up their back armor.
Even though I tend to really like the anime 'inspired' mechs, the OST series has never done it for me. They are good on paper so maybe the KickStarter plastic will see some play in my area. I have the old IWM OSTs but they don't see much play outside of RPG OpFor. Great video once again.
Adding an ammo-based secondary weapon on a mech that can run very hot with its energy-based main weapons is a bold move. But I do love the weapons mix. Though I agree: Not much armor and then there's no jumpjets? That's not terrible, but not a good combination. There's a jump-capable Hunchback variant with an LB-X 20 irrc, that's a proper urban brawler.
Ok... I never looked at the Ostroc or the Ost family before. You have intrigued me, sir. And thank you for sticking to the CGL redesigns. The originals are, as you said, odd looking. And the Project Phoenix art (4L and 4W) looks like some kind of walking tree due to the really odd tree-stump legs. :-/ On the other hand, this is RIGHT up my normal "refit" alley and is just crying for a makeover....
Sadly I think that for those of us that started playing back in the beginning, many of us may have had (fair or unfair) a bias against it from its perceived connection to the Zentraedi Battlepod.
The entire Ost series is a victim of bizarre circumstances and a LOT of retconning. Going by memory : The first Ostroc was the 9C which for 35 years was only available to you if you saw the sheet made available in the Battledroids box set that came with model kits for the Ostroc and Marauder. It was an illegal build because it had jump jets in the arms so it disappeared until a WAY later retcon. If you didn't see it there you wouldn't know the 9C existed until it was modified and included in a FAR later product in 2021. In TRO 3025 the Ostroc had the wrong/ugly art you showed that was later retconned to be an Ostroc using Ostwar arms for repairs. Also in the original TRO 3025 the Ostsol and Ostscout art were switched. Added to that the art that was meant to be for the Ostscout had pin like arms and no hands, leading to a production mini that also had pins for arms and no hands. ( The Ostcout DOES have hands BTW) This is why you might see multiple unseen Ostscout minis with different arms. Users often modified the minis with other mech's arms to make it more correct. The artwork for the Ostscout still wasn't corrected for TRO 3050 either , so they made a sheet for the 7K without hands when the other variants still had them. All considered the Ost's may have the most convoluted history of all mechs. I think all this combined with the Ostroc/Ostsol being at the bottom of their weight class led to their current situation. With the newer revised artwork and minis coming I think it'll increase in popularity once more people actually use it. I'm looking forward to it.
Part of what makes it such a good mech is the Narrow/Low Profile quirk, It is easy in universe to love a well-designed 'Mech form that's hard to hit in motion. Your MF loadout is very nice too.
Catalyst has done us a solid by redoing the design of the House of Ost. Maybe now they'll get played more. Good job with the Ostroc, which is basically the Ostol with some weapons diversity. The Ostroc was a little more prevalent in the pre-Clans era, mainly because 3025-3049 era force builds used it a lot. (See Mechwarrior 1.0 RPG for examples thereof.) I do like the examples from later eras, which show that people like having a relatively speedy & economic mid-range battler. As always, your MF variant gives us a good Ilclan era version.
Field mod, remove srm4, add one heat sink and 2 tons of armor . Ranged fighting with only movement heat, or trade one large for 2 mediums in close and be running around ruining light and medium mechs days. As a merc, I like a little bit more armor between my guys and the bad guys, plus having hands to load loot after the fight helps :) My .02 c-bills (from 3025).
I think that the Ost mechs really benefitted from the CGL art. They look legitimately cool now. I always liked the Ost heavies in terms of raw stats, but didn't like the art for them very much, when they did the art refresh for them that renewed my interest in the mechs, I'm excited to get them in plastic. In any event, the Ostroc is a pretty poor city fighter in my estimation, but excels as a raider. I want to say that I recall that the FRR had a decent number of Ostsols and Ostrocs, which I have to imagine fared poorly against Clan weapons with their light armor.
Such an underrated mech and yes I do believe its art has something to do with it. I tend to use its brother design the ostsol more, but they are so close. both are very capable of out maneuvering many contemporary 3025 heavies getting behind 4/6 designs and shooting them in the back or jumping something and getting physical with it while firing all its weapons. Low armor on the arms yes but not T rex arms these are not. 6 damage punches are nothing to sneeze at in the back.
The Ost series of mechs are ones I like, but understand why they aren't super popular. they're not as visually interesting as some of the compitition, and they're just good at their job, not great. But that said i did get one of the force packs because it had the ostroc in it because i like them round boys. As for the MF version i think the plasma rifle should be in the right torso to keep the silhouette looks akin to the standard, might be able to reuse the armour molds depending on which plasma rifle you use to fool targeting computers. I agree with the person who said the ER small is dead weight that could be used on another jump jet, that extra 1 hex would increase its survivability a great deal. Outside of "put clan lasers in" though i have nothing else to add, a solid design.
Demon Ostroc variant. CQ City fighter. Start with systems. Bloodhound Probe, TC Pulse, and ECM clan. Frame is ferro composite, armor is full clan FF. A hotseat is added to increase movement and melee damage. Internal is IS light engine w DHS RT & LT get 4 Medium pulse lasers of clan variety. MML3 in RT with toolkit munition Pack in Case 2 in RT and LT (inferno. HE. Tandem and acid in half tons. Lrms are fascam A, sensors, swarm and EMP) CT runs Hellblazer fusion flamers x2 Legs have 4 sprawling improved JJ for extra distance in jumps. Arms have heavy clawed fists, reinforced actuators melee (vs fine control for weapons. Kinda industrial level tech. It's in Sol7 gear stuff ) TSM gives the mech a reason to ride the heat, or stockpile extra for moment you charge from shadows or through a building into the midst of the enemy. All weapons are Torso mounts to ensure that you can keep firing while in a melee brawl. What to do with remaing slots and carry weight? Handheld plasma rifle or combat shotgun are viable options. Though I think this mech would be a good platform for a micromissile sytem 10 in RT, and downgrading laser to pulses. Heck 2 MMS 20s 4 tons ammo, and some cq lasers and flamers would make this mech very scary indeed. The ability to F&F 2x normal ROF in each launcher ensures that any light or med mech facing this barrage, will regret life choices. The rears of heavies and assaults could really be in danger. Using inferno, tandem, or std ammo offers this mech loadout many options. Though tonnage is a problem. The heat spike from F&F mode can be handled. Ive a preference for Sol 7 Gladiator & Periphery upgraded Industrial mechs for city fighting. You could give the base mech a 6 ton shield for defense and as a battering ram for charges too. Having a small wall you can take with you to hide behind can not be underestimated.
The Ostroc’s 2nd older appearance I didnt really like until a few years ago, when I began to appreciate pod-like shaped battlemechs more, like the Flashman. The Phoenix Upgrade art I think looked really good in comparison to most mechs that got the “reseen” treatment (it might be one of the best IMHO). I have never used one, but I did own old Ral Partha sculpt at one point. I had it in a lance alongside an older Ostsol and Ostscout (keeping in theme) for my 21st Centauri Lancers army I once had.
The thing that killed the Ost series for most people playing in the 80s was the original art. They play well in the game. The Ostroc's paddle hands and the Ostsol's pointer arms (regardless of whether or not it was an art swap between the Ostol and the Ostscout) really drained support. Overall, they weren't much better than the designs they were based off of, the Zentraedi pods in Macross/Robotech. Of course the only way to truly make the Ost series appealing to players is to make them all LAMs.
@@MechanicalFrog nope, but its taken on a battlemaster. got messed up, gyro hit and lost an arm, but losing the arm with no loss in firepower was a shock to my usual opponent who was unfamiliar with the design.
Because I care about Hunchback Orthodoxy, not Ostroc Orthodoxy, the OSR-3XR, or Ostroc eXtended Range: The engine gets downgraded to a 240 Standard, but I compensate by giving her four jump jets, split between the left and right torsos for a 4/6/4 movement profile. I also upgrade her to endo steel structure and twelve and a half tons of armor with CASE in the right torso. Finally, I strip out one heat sink, but the fourteen that remain are doubles. The SRM 4 and two torso-mounted medium lasers remain, but I add two more lasers and two M100 machine guns with a half ton of ammo. They're mounted one each in each arm for close in fighting and anti-infantry work. The XR part of the name comes with a pair of ER Large Lasers in case the 'Mech is required to do some open-field fighting. With her double heat sinks, she can fire both large lasers while jumping or everything *except* one of them while at a walk and remain heat neutral. At less than six million C-Bills, my thinking is that the XR is a solid militia 'Mech with a focus on urban fighting that *can* step out in the open if it has to.
So, in general I like a decent amount about the MF variant (am also a man of high culture in my enjoyment of plasma rifles), but one thing really bothers me. The IS targeting computer is 1 ton for every 4 tons of weapons. The total weight of the weapons is 6+2+2+1+1+0.5 which comes to...... 12.5 tons. So the small laser in the head makes the targeting computer 1 ton heavier than it needs to be. I'd personally take the small laser out, and take the extra ton and a half and put an ECM on it, making it even better at sneaking up on fools in dark alleys. Apologies if I got something wrong in my math, it's a really cool variant otherwise :)
Thank you for the effort you put into this video, it was nice! Honestly, I really don’t like the Ost series of mechs. No real strong reason why, they all just look weird and have weird loadouts as well as being fairly rare. But it was nice to watch a video going a bit more deeply into one of them. Honestly the light armour on a heavy mech is a huge deal killer for me, I get the idea for a fast hard hitting heavy mech but that little armour especially on the arms is just a bad idea. Especially for a mech that relatively rare and niche, it would need to have the rugged or ubiquitous quirk for me to even consider using it. Because after a few fights that things a hangar queen waiting for more arms to come along. But that’s personal taste, I love mechs with lots armor over speed or firepower. Honestly your MF variant is probably my favorite out of all of them.
Big fan of the Ost family of mechs, I kind of wish there were a few more lines of mechs that did the same thing from light to assault. Kind of feels like looking at a Pokémon evolution tree
We still need our heavy Crab mech.
Something like a light UrbanMech, medium UrbanMonitor, heavy UrbanMight and assault UrbanMaster?
@@h.a.9880 I’m in the anti-urbie camp, but yeah sure if you really must
Excluding the joke of "Urbanlord" your best bets for aesthetic kindred to the Urbanmech are the Imp and Flashman, but for purpose, the Annihilator is probably the best mood kindred among an assault mechs.
As for my thoughts on the heavy crab shaped hole, I'd love to see what a melee focused design could bring to the "family."
I like the Capellan family of them.... they are ironically more like a stealthy Ostsol, but still tough and well sinked
I had originally planned to include that but the video was getting a bit long
I like the MechFrog variant, though that ER Small Laser is painful because it brings it from 12 tons of weaponry to 12.5, and since Inner Sphere targeting computers weigh 1 ton and take up 1 critical space for every 4 tons of applicable weaponry, that's effectively 1.5 tons for that single weapon-i'd like it a lot more with an extra jump jet and half-ton of armor.
Fair point.
Oh man I've been waiting for the whole Ost line. By far, they're my favourite battlemechs. From the humble Ostscout to the mess that is the Ostwar, the whole range is better than expected but also somehow as unpopular as can be. Thanks for another great video Frog
They deserve some love.
If there was ever a mech that you could rip off the arms and staple two mech sized shields to, it would be the Ostroc. Thanks for the video.
Just go full egg.
Tie fighter with legs
You can carry 2 3ton shields, or 1 6 ton shield under carry weight rules. Dunno why so few use them.
Works for bolt ons, hand carried weapons, booster packs, and cargo pods full of infantry.😊
It really is one of the mechs that you have to be reminded exists in the setting.
That MF variant is terrifying
"Oh yeah... that thing..."
"Ostroc, what is that again?"
"Oh, that one. Oh no."
With all those pulse lasers, the MF variant's catchphrase should be "Disco never dies!"
Ironically given its beginnings, the Ostroc (and its sister the Ostsol) has made the transition into the ilClan art style *incredibly* well. Look at them go, they're gorgeous.
I'm a relatively new adopter of Battletech, and the newest art is my first exposure to the Ostroc. As a result, I think it looks fantastic.
My personal favorite is the 2D, but even the 2C is a solid performer, in my experience.
I'm loooking forward to the Heavy Recon pack for the Merlin first, but the Ostroc is a close second.
The Merlin is a great one.
My first exposure to the ostroc was in HBS battletech with the BEX modpack. I immediately stripped out the SRM for more heat sinks and armor and that thing was throwing hands until i eventually upgraded to an Orion about 8 in-game months later
Directly addressing the two biggest issues with the stock. Excellent plan.
@@MechanicalFrog also gives a lot more durability from the lack of kaboom
Battle claws + tsm / since it's gonna run hot anyway...
i'm a big fan of the Ostroc, Ostsol, and Ostscout (though not as much the Ostwar, and definitely not the Ostscout IIC)
love the egg 'Mechs
a lot of it is having started with the newer ilClan-era art, which is really very good
thanks for the video, MechFrog!
They're weird but fun. I'm glad they exist.
Do I love the Ostroc? No, but I dont dislike it either. Its a decent mech and probably my favorite of the "Ost___" series.
It definitely has character.
Ostroc is a long time favorite! Yes we do hide in the shadows & back alleys waiting to mug unsuspecting mechs & vehicles. ✊
Well as we all know, Blake was also a concert pianist, classical portrait artist, mathematical genius, fluent in 42 languages, and the true inventor of the hamburger.
I do love that the Ostroc's weapons are all torso mounted. If you get close enough to start roughhousing, you can fire off all your weapons and still get in a pair of punches.
Kick...Punch...Kick....Kick... Kick, Punch...
Naturally enough, when you announced this video was coming, I had to make my own ISM variants of it. I actually do like the Ostroc, the whole "Ost" series as a matter of fact, though it never did end up in my top 5 'Mechs, sadly. Still, as an urban warfare focused design, I may do a mini or 2 up for my Urban Defense League unit.
I came up with 3 ISM variants of the Ostroc, with the 3rd one being done just this morning. The first, the OSR-2ISM, sticks solidly with IS equipment (and according to my Mech Factory app, costs just over 9 million C-bills). It utilizes a Light Engine to save some weight, keeping the 5/8/0 movement of the OSR-2C. Both its armor and internal structure remain Standard, though its 15 heat sinks are now Doubles giving it 30 heat dissipation. Now for the fun part. The 2 Medium Lasers are upgraded to ER models, while the SRM-4 is dropped in favor of an MML-5 with 4 tons of CASE-protected ammo; typically split into 2 tons each of long and short range missiles. The right torso Large Laser is replaced with a Medium Pulse Laser, in order to allow the left torso Large Laser to be replaced with a Plasma Rifle and 2 tons of ammo.
The OSR-2ISM-2 is almost 3 million C-bills more than the OSR-2ISM, as it utilizes Clantech for the engine, internals, armor, and heat sinks. A Clan XL engine, Endo Steel structure, FF armor, and DHS make it lighter and more easily able to dissipate heat. Sort of. Its weapons load puts it 4 above its 30 heat dissipation, but that's only if you Alpha Strike. Replacing the Large and Medium Lasers are Re-Engineered versions, making it able to deal with the plethora of special armors available in the ilClan era. Backing these up is a Clan iATM-6 with 3 tons of CASE-protected ammo; thank you, Clan chassis with in-built CASE. The tons of ammo allow it good flexibility for mission loads, though typically it is loaded with 1 ton of ER ammo....and 2 tons of Inferno rounds.
The final ISM variant is the OSR-2ISM-3; figures, right? Anyways, this one aims to improve the Ostroc's mobility by adding 5 Jump Jets. Again, Clantech is utilized in the design, making it more costly than the OSR-2ISM, but it's actually marginally cheaper than the OSR-2ISM-2. A Clan XL engine and Clan FF armor frees up weight at the cost of some space, while it retains a Standard structure that's of Clan manufacture now. The 15 heat sinks are now Doubles, and since it's a Clan chassis it automatically has CASE. A good thing, too, since the SRM-4 is now a Clan SRM-6 with 2 tons of ammo (and, yes, pilots typically load with Inferno rounds, shut up). All four IS lasers are now Clan Pulse versions. 2 jump jets are placed in each side torso, with the 5th in the center torso. A deadlier urban combatant now, pilots are nevertheless advised to watch their heat - in spite of the fact that it generates 2 less heat than the OSR-2ISM-2 (although both of these ISM variants generate more heat than the OSR-2ISM).
Sorry for the long comment, hope I didn't bore you, lol.
I like that MML variant with the 15 double heat sinks.
Love the entire Ost series for Logistics reasons, including the Ostscout. If I can keep it in the field and you cant, I win.
Logistics wins wars... always and forever.
The Ostroc is one of those mechs few people remember, but I've had a bit of success with it at times. A post-FedCom loadout I run with it uses endo-steel, a light engine, and an XL gyro to save weight, and fourteen double heat sinks. Armor's increased to twelve tons, and armament consists of two large pulse lasers and two medium lasers linked to a targeting computer, and four RL-10s for opportunistic crit seeking. Where things really get fun is that it also has triple-strength myomer, and with its arms free of any weaponry it can throw punches while blasting foes with lasers all day long. It has enough heat sinks to run while firing the lasers without any issue, but if the situation calls for it one can disengage some of the heat sinks to deliberately run it hot and go in for melee attacks (or run away if things get dicey).
That said, I do generally prefer the Ostsol to the Ostroc in introtech games.
I've always liked all the Ost-mechs. I'm a rare die-hard supporter of the funny pods on legs. I think the biggest fallout was that they were Unseen. The original variants didn't hold much that other mechs already were doing, and they didn't have the same art draw as the Macross destroid mechs before all of those were swept away by lawsuit. I always liked that each Ost-mech was janky in some way: the Ostscout which is barely a mech outside of the ECW rules, the paddle-arms on the Ostwar, the useless arms on the Ostroc... they just have a ton of underdog character
I've been playing the video games since '96, but I'd never played tabletop until this year. This was my ride in my first group campaign. (Although I wasn't running an OSR-4L, that's the one that got my attention.)
Nice! I hope it worked out well for you.
@@MechanicalFrog The narrow low profile was a great perk, but my build was energy-based, so it was pretty light on firepower.
In the end, the Word of Blake just blew us all up lmao
Never really knew about this mech but its loadouts have left me....Awestruck
It sure is... unique.
Thank you for posting the video. I will fully admit I did judge this mech by its artwork and by the earlier related design of the Ostscout. I think you mounted a brilliant defense for this design.
Thanks for giving it a try.
The Ostroc is extremely underrated. It's a solid Mech. It is well sinked and has good armor and speed. It's honestly one of the most well-balanced Battlemechs in the BT universe.
Really depends on the variant.
Both the Ostwar and Ostroc seemed quite solid. Only reason I can think people would hate on it would be that it was almost never around in any game outside tabletop or the HBS Battletech mods BTA3062 and RogueTech. It wasn't in any mechwarrior game to date, iirc, or mech commander 1 or 2, so it's not very well known.
Their original art wasn't the greatest and I think that hurt them a bit.
Ah, finally something I have a personal story of. Many, many, years ago (probably 2007 or 08) I managed to stumble into a Mechwarrior RPG DM at my local game store. We talked, and I brought a friend, and we decided to set up for a game. It was a week or so long affair where we rolled up characters, random rolled our mechs, etc etc.
Well, in our level 1 tech campaign I got given an Ostroc. Not what I wanted (Its like 70% of a warhammer reeee) but I took it. It was fast, and had decent range and punch so I figured what the heck. We ball.
Well, another week passes and my friend (who was the other player) was out at the LGS with me. We were waiting for the DM to show up so we could go back with him to his place so we decided to have a quick skirmish. My Ostroc versus his heavy, which I'll be blunt I don't even remember what it was. I know it outgunned the shit out of me, but that's about all I remember.
The terrain? Insanely wooded. No blind rules. We maneuvered at each other for a turn or two and at about range 7 I decided to take some pot shots with the large lasers and the srms.
The large lasers missed.
The SRM got 4 thru armor criticals on his center torso, did an engine crit and tore the gyro out. From full health.
Homie damn near flipped the table, got all his shit and left. He had been my ride. 😆 So I sat there flabbergasted that he would get so mad over what was, lets be real, the rawest of luck. The DM ended up having to give me a ride home because the game collapsed without the second player.
Shout out to my boy Mike, sorry for never being able to give you your copy of MW4 Mercs back, but dude. y u hav 2 be so angry, is only game
What a lovely rage-story... Glad to hear the Ostroc out-performed that day.
The old mini has always been a favorite of mine
It definitely has character.
personally i really like the Ost Family including the Ostroc.
i just think they're neat even if i don't often play them.
I think you hit on the issue. The ost series of mechs really suffer from early art more than most and they aren’t optimized for the tabletop game but fit narratively so well. Quirks really helped but the most use I get out of them is bringing them myself for narrative or campaign games. Easily understandable weaknesses means that people enjoy using their knowledge to destroy the opfor.
The disconnect between tabletop use and in-universe use can be a bit discomforting.
Throw a Flashman, two Ostrocs, and an Ostscout you'll have the legendary Humpydumpy lance. 😂
Also one hell of a light show
@@lagger7772 it is. I've run this lance a couple of times. 😁
All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't escape in time from the big stompy fury...
@@MechanicalFrog also have a lance that uses the Osctroc, and Imp and two Ostscout. The eggs mechs are fun to roll out.
Love this old Heavy Mech!
I actually gave a series of Ostroc Minis to my Battletech Group as a gift to everyone! I wanted to see it played more often, so I did so by FORCE lol
Hah. Perfect way to press the issue.
OG Zombie mech with shield arms. I really liked it.
I'm glad to find out that it has some fans.
Emotional support ER small laser had me rolling!
The little zap zap makes me happy...
I LOVE the OST mechs. Great designs.
I'm glad they have some fans afterall!
The lower-end of the tonnage in a class of mechs is sometimes a bit of a weird place which ends up being a bit of a dumping ground for budget beaters and specialist units. In some ways the Ostroc is a specialist being a garrison mech for city fighting, its speed, energy loadout probably suggests some kind of force recon kind of fighter that can keep going over a long campaign. Hence I think when latter variants came out they probably recognised that and dropped the speed, engine size and loaded it up with more armour for brawling, jumping tall buildings etc
Its a bit of a hard sell, for a half million c-bills and 5 more tonnes you can get a Thunderbolt from roughly the same time period of production
Overall though, the latter variants have plenty of possibilities though and I do go a bit easier on the early era mechs in that I sometimes feel they went from prototyping and rapid production without a huge amount of testing to find out what worked and what didn't, then left to later generations to figure out what to do with it!
Exactly! The high speed, low armor, energy loadout, and lack of jump jets make it feel like they made a heavy scout and guerrilla me g instead of an urban brawler.
The engine size alone makes it a specialist in the days when running 8 for a heavy was an accomplishment. Unfortunately for it, it stopped being a novelty.
@@MechanicalFrog which really does make sense for a urban combat mech, especially when you combine it with a relatively long range energy heavy build and no jump jets. If it was really designed as an urban fighter then it would just be a 60 ton urban mech. Heavy armour, probably a ac20 or a lot of srms, jump jets, and a slow engine.
Instead get something closer to what the charger wanted to be.
That new art makes it look very cool
A big improvement, for sure.
I love how the Ostroc manages to fail spectacularly at its own stated role of being a fast-response urban pacifier in pretty much every way it can. It has no anti-infantry weaponry (apart from Inferno SRMs, perhaps), no Jump Jets (until later), armor comparable to a Vindicator (a mech 15 tons its junior), and basically useless arms. At least they didn't give it small grade autocannons to complete the circle of fail like some mechs in its weight class I could name.
My own take on the OstRoc is this:
-VLAR 300 Light Fusion Engine
-Endo Steel Structure
-12 Tons Standard Armor
-15 Double Heatsinks (12 Engine, 3 externally mounted)
-5x Class III Jump Jets (2x in each Leg, 1x in CT)
Weaponry & Other Gear:
-4x ER-Medium Lasers (split between LT & RT)
-2x Small X-Pulse Lasers (split between LA & RA)
-1x SRM-4 (RT)
\-2 tons of ammo (1 Ton Standard Ammo, 1 Ton Inferno Ammo)
-TAG (head)
-IS Targeting Computer
-Guardian ECM
This design is based on the stated mission of the Ostroc: Close quarters city fighting and garrison defense.
It's tough, it has 20 points of precision damage on demand, it's reasonably hard to hit for a 60 tonner, pretty easy to keep cool, and will clear infantry out of buildings and cover without much trouble.
The obvious weakness is its lack of piercing weaponry; this mech is not designed to punch above its weight, but the opposite, where it can bully mediums and lights that try to raid whatever objective it's defending. It will definitely need help taking on bigger threats but if something bigger lets you jump behind them for the donkey-pawnch combo, they will feel it.
Yeah it's much more successful as a raider than city defense.
Your OSR-1MF finally makes want to play an Ostroc.
I haven't even heard of this critter before today. Thank you for this.
Then welcome to the wonderful world of Ostroc. ;D
Ostroc is a weird spot. It has heavy competition from other 60t and 55t mechs. Including the ostsol. If it mech dropped the mediums and added 2tons armor it would be unique enough to stand out.
Between the heat issues and the armor, it definitely has some considerable issues. Always be moving, I guess.
My big takeaway from this is that Clan Sea Fix will slap can tech onto anything and try to sell it.
Quite true.
I have an Ostroc in with my 3rd Canopian Fusiliers. In spite of it being a favourite of mine, I think the mechwarriors of that regiment are starting to see it as a cursed mech - out of two battles its been in its had its cockpit blown out twice.
Its brother, an Ostsol, is in with my Oriente Hussars.
DAMN! I LOVE the camo scheme on the MF. Has that hot mustard flectarn look I love.
I really dig it. I might need to recreate it in actual model form some day.
I used to pull the SRM for armor and HS. It’s a surprising effective field refit that’s also cheap.
That works.
Have a great new year as well Mech Frog. Love listening to your vids while working so I catch the outros haha. Found a local shop with a small scene so might have to finally build a lance.
Thanks a ton. I'm glad to hear you've found a shop that has some BT players. Go crush some mechs!
Another fun watch :-) i fought a player who had a 2 lances made up of a mixture of the ost mechs and i gotta say they work pretty well together and were a bit of a pain to kill...better than a lot of people think i think :-)
I'm glad to hear they have some fans. Every mech deserves some love.
For the 3025 and 3050 Ostroc. I consider smoke ammo for the SRM-4 as that deploys heavy smoke. That is useful in cities as mobility is constrained. The Cappy variant is arguably one of the better ones especially when your using smoke on some kind of support mech or vehicle. For the MF variant using ECM would be better as that meshes well with the Plasma Rifles range. A basic loadout of two plasma rifles and two ER medium Lasers is just fine in a City. AES in the legs would be good in a city as the biggest issues would be skidding at a run.
I do like non-standard missile ammo...
That new art is pretty great!
I think so too!
I loved the Ostroc ever since I played one in an extended campaign. The other mechs in the lance were two Trebuchets and a Centurion.
After a game or two the ammo dependent mechs were walking around with empty missile bins. The other players made fun of the Ostroc . Soon they were down to their medium lasers and hiding behind me.
Ouch, that is rough.
And then things got...difficult for them...
The first Thing i saw was the Art piece in the novel wolfs at the border when i was 14. The next Day i ventured to a store in the next town and got this mech, only because of michi noketsuna and how cool the maschine looked.
Until today, it is Part of my merc unit, first as leading mech of the combat lance, and in the blakist era it bekamen the leadmech of a whole New combined Arms Company, 2 lances mechs and tanks, one platoon borderer battle armour. I think now in the ilclan era it is the granddaughter of the first pilot who rides the beast. I hole it geht's the CGL treatment it deserves and a New Model.
Excellent to hear. I'm glad the Ostroc has its fans out there.
Love all the Ost mechs. Energy weapons armed. Fairly good armor and a good amount of speed I always loved how they were not dependent on ammo.
SRM gives Ostroc a bit more flexibility with different ammo types. Compare to Ostsol and Anvil which are without.
MF - great video! I always felt that the "Ost" family were underappreciated because I always struggled to tell them apart. That combined with being criminally under-armored made them less used than many other heavy options. Additionally, old school 60 tonners moving 5/8 always struggled because the 55 ton option was more efficient, especially with JJ's. (I'd rather have a Griffin than a Dragon, or a Wolverine than an Ostroc). Really like the MF version - which retained the look/feel while keeping the cost reasonable.
We sure know an Ost mech when we see one... for good or bad. :D
@MechanicalFrog Can't wait for you to cover the other Ostmann Industries Designs, such as the Ostsol, Ostwar and Ostscout.
With some trepidation, I will advance the idea that the Nightstar is also an Ostmann Collaboration. Norse-Storm Industries? This company wasn't even around during Star League times.
The Nightstar was a collaboration between GM/Ostmann Industries/Kong Interstellar - prove me wrong. There was only one mech plant on Loxley at the time of the Marik Raid, and that was operated by Kong Interstellar. If anyone was going to make a new line, it would have been Kong, with the help of Ostmann Industries and GM. There's a story there I think. How Kong was able to create and maintain a stable supply of Gauss Rifles outside of the Terran Hegemony for the SLDF during the Amaris Civil War sounds like a great tale. The Gauss Rifle sounds like a weapon the SL would have had a trade ban on being in the hands of the other Member States before the Coup.
The whole retconning of Norse-Storm into the Star League era leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and denies Ostmann and Kong the appreciation they deserve.
Hmm... that's a bold theory...
I really love the Ostroc, but the Ostsol has some of my favorite variants. Especially the 6 and the 8 with TSM. I love to boost the Piloting a bit on those and go swinging for the fences. Use terrain to get in close, and your Energy to get up to 9 heat. 60 ton Punches with TSM will mean any hits have a 1/6 chance of putting 12 damage into the cockpit. Few if any weapons on arms, so no worries there. It was terrifying with the old Smoke Missile rules that let an LRM 20 plop down 19 tiles of light ‘forest’ (Smoke) that does not slow your movement.
The Ostol is an interesting one, for sure.
Now we need an Ost-themed battle armor. And an Ost-flyer... an Ost-convertible jeep, a...
😜
And the rally edition one called the Ostroader.
And ofcourse, Ostmechanized Infantry
Ostmanpack Plasma Weaponry.
Refit mech with bird legs. Add hand claws, talons on feet, pws, jump booster, ecm and bloodhound probe, predator fc. Reinforce legs and actuators. Make JJ half improved half directional and you got a mech that makes city fighting fun.
Add TSM , good armor (beef up arms definitely) , and you get a 4(6)/6(8)/ 8(10) mech.
I'd go with control weaponry in missiles ammo. And CQ based pulses for lasers.
The original artwork for the OST ‘Mechs was horrendous. The new artwork is beautiful and I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the plastic minis!
Very much looking forward to the new plastic mini.
A rare heavy mech in the 3025s.. not only because it shared the same fate of many other mech designs of having their one and only factory line blewn up in the succesor wars (because having only one place where you produce your 12 metre death machines is a clever thing to do! Oh and while we are at it we will store the only copy of the blueprints at the same location... i mean its not like our factory would be a prime military target in case of war or anything.. that never happens XD) but also because as mentioned it was produced in very limited numbers to begin with.
The weapons loadout is solid for a 60 ton mech, easaly outgunning mechs like the Dragon or quickdraw, and the mech has a equally solid 5/8 movement profile.. though it needs it.. badly. If you dont run all those 8 hexes youre going to be in alot of trouble. The skimpy armor means that even mechs like the centurion are a serious threat to an ostroc, and the minimal armoring of the arms means that the ostroc will be allmost a permanent guest in the repairbay since it will be loosing those arms or other components during each battle its being used.
The issue with the flimsy armor is not adressed until much later in history either... wich does turn the mech from a one shot wonder into a machine with staying power, but the mech is still only available in small numbers and has to compete with machines like the argus, anvil, gallahad and the black hawk wich again, dont suffer from the low production numbers of the ostroc
So unless youre an excentric Steiner noble who has the kind of cash laying around to maintain a rare mech or 2 in prime-fighting conditions at all times, i would suggest you dont pick the ostroc for campaigns. The solid offensive performance in no way makes up for the downtime and the repair bill this mech will acrue after each mission... considering that there are even medium mechs like the hunchback who can fill out its urban combat role to equal or greater capacity while neither costing as much to buy or maintain as the ostroc.
While i like the ostroc, i think its more trouble to maintain then its actual worth during a campaign, especially in 3025 (solo fights without any consequences are fine though). The aforementioned dragon and quickdraw might be outgunned by it, but the quickdraw has jumpjets and the dragon a better armor profile and more importantly: both mechs and their spare parts are readaly available without having to plunder museums or a private collectors stash.
Also your mech techs will be very thankfull for not having to replace the blown off arms every other weekend.
All quite true. I think I would take a Dragon over an Ostroc, and that's saying something.
Love the cow-print camo one XD
It started as a joke but, it is now cownon.
I need an emotional support ER pulse laser. I'd likely keep it away from my head though.
Thanks for the video; helps me get through brainless busywork at the day job!
Glad I can help. Have a great one!
I think its a fairly solid mech, a "Light" Heavy mech. Its background is the most interesting thing as an Unseen that never really looked like an anime-mech, already being altered so much to look nothing like the Macross battlepods. It was just too goofy. Functionally its a big too hot with not enough heat sinks to fires its 2 primary Large Lasers without overheating, and its armor is light. I would probably take a Thunderbolt instead.
Its not in any of the videogames Ive played. Maybe its in Mechwarrior Online or Mechwarrior 5.
A real trick with custom variants is to make is distinct from its brother, the Ostol. I would emphasis the Ostol as a fast attacker, with upgrades to longer ranged weapons. The Ostroc would instead get more close range weapons. The problem is that trying to equip Pulse Lasers requires tonnage the Ostroc cannot really afford. Double Heat Sinks would be greatly helpful. Another issue is the lack of Jump Jets. Being that its a Heavy mech its Jump Jets are 1 ton each, twice as heavy as if it were a Medium Mech.
Its problem reminds me of the Quickdraw. The Quickdraw is mostly armed with Medium Lasers, an SRM launcher, and an LRM launcher just in case. Its also lightly armored, but has Jump Jets. Oh and it had a unusual feature that could be really helpful in urban combat, arms that could face backwards.
Issues like this are one of the reasons why I came up with design policies like "55t or 75t"
"Why Do We Love the Ostroc?" Well, back in the 80s, there was a TV commercial that ended up burned into my brain. It featured this freaky guy with wild hair and a black turtleneck shirt (who years later I found out was John Kassir, the voice of the Cryptkeeper on Tales from the Crypt). In the commercial the first thing he does is call out a woman's name followed by him screaming "Ostrocs!" before saying "Which. Way. To. Go?" in this weird cadence while the editor rotated his image 90 degrees on each word. Then he started shouting other nonsense words like "Tektites!", "P-p-p-p-Peahats!", and "Leevers!"...
Ok, actually he doesn't scream "Ostrocs!", it's really "Octoroks!" and this was just one of those weird commercials for the original Legend of Zelda (not the one with the white boys trying to rap at least). So I got nothing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well, that sure is an interesting connection.
I have two of these in lead. Like many mechs they're actually quite good with some minor modifications like getting the ammo the hell out of the center torso. No paddle hands on them, proper arms and I think they look even better than their updated art.
I think you're focused too much on it being a urban machine though, with that movement and two large lasers it perfroms just fine in open areas although you're gonna lose an arm no matter what if you don't add some armor to them. Double heat sinks (that the mech was crying out for) and extended range large lasers make it more than fine at range, I've taken my brothers warhammers with my 2D. I could keep up the pressure with constant fire and reposition better than he could.
But if it has to stay urban, light fusion engine and two snub nosed ppcs and two medium lasers? Or two plasma rifles and medium lasers for backup, use endo and we can add jump jets to either and max out the armor. Edited for ideas.
Going the Snub-Nosed PPC route is definitely viable.
I have a fondness for cohesive design language and families of mechs like the Ostman line of mechs fills a satisfying niche for me.
I wonder though, for the Ostroc, though thr arms are empty don't they alsonfuction as capably blunt force application? Urban and dense terrain lend themselves to to such close quarters toucy-feely moments? Maybe give it a hatchet!
While punching is fun, I often find myself asking, if you can punch, why not kick?
@@MechanicalFrog And if you can kick, why not Can Can dance?
The thing that should have been done in 3050 is use Endo Steel and add three tons of armor. Swap to DSHS, yes you're heat sink boating. So swap the Large Lasers for ERLL and get toasty. Over heating with alpha striking and running for only 5 each turn is not that bad. More or less a OSR-2D but with Endo and more armor.
Oh and to run one as seen in the 3025 art. Drop one LL for 2 more Med Lasers and one more SRM4 pack w/ammo. Move the left over LL to the CT. 2 ML in each side torso. Last the SRM's and ammo in each arm. Kind of works. Adding DSHS works better as in all things.
Lots of little things could be done to improve. It's a shame.
The opening "Plains of Portent" is certainly an apt name given what playing host to the Blakists ultimately brought to Gibson.
It was the only piece of fiction I could find that mentioned the Ostroc... And it's getting completely obliterated. :D
My name is Michi Noketsuna and I approve this message.
Sound policies for a sound administration.
I've always liked it honestly. The name is interesting and the mech is a solid one regardless of the arms.
It definitely has character.
Excellent video. I've always liked the ostroc angd ostsol. They may not be great mechs, but they are good. I've always understood the lack of popularity being due to its lack of consistency of the artwork and its description
OSTSOL!
Rough artwork, some retconning, and a couple of drawbacks in design that are hard to move past.
3050 full clan tech rebuild of the beloved Ostroc
60tons, 5/8/5 movement, 10.5 tons fero-fiberous for 201 armor factor (maxed), 3t endo-steel, 6 tons cockpit and gyro, 5 tons jump jets, leaving 26 tons of pod space.
PRIME Config: 2 Streak SRM-4's (R/LT), 2 tons ammo (R/LT cased), 2 Large Pulse Lasers (R/LT), TAG ((RT), AP (H), ECM (LT), 4 DHS (2 r/ll, 2 r/lt), 2 JJ (RT) 2 JJ (LT) 1 JJ (CT)
Alt-Config A: 2 Large Pulse Lasers (R/LT), 2 MPL (R/LA), 2 SPL (R/LA), Tag (RT), Active Probe (H), ECM (LT), 5 DHS (2 r/ll, 2 rt, 1 lt)
Sounds like a formidable city-fighter.
@MechanicalFrog wasn't that the original intent of the design? Them maxed armor, usable arms, And JumpJets!
No flamers, so it won't appeal to your mini-antagonist...
The Ostroc is a mech I haven't had the chance to test drive, but am looking forward to when the plastic model from the kickstarter releases next year. The official variant I'm most interested in is the 4K, which is pretty close to what I first imagined an Ostroc better designed for urban defense would look like. Snub PPCs, ER medium lasers and improved jump jets give the 4K the mix of mobility and short-medium range firepower it needs for this role without breaking the bank. Can't wait to add one to my mercenary force in a few months.
I don't know why, but thought of armoring up the arms and giving it the Mech equivalent of Daggers and jump jets came to mind. So you can leap out from behind building and mess up their back armor.
Perhaps a mace?
@@MechanicalFrogThat too, even Claws.
Even though I tend to really like the anime 'inspired' mechs, the OST series has never done it for me.
They are good on paper so maybe the KickStarter plastic will see some play in my area.
I have the old IWM OSTs but they don't see much play outside of RPG OpFor.
Great video once again.
The eggspired macross/robotec/whatever designs definitely aren't for me.
Adding an ammo-based secondary weapon on a mech that can run very hot with its energy-based main weapons is a bold move. But I do love the weapons mix.
Though I agree: Not much armor and then there's no jumpjets? That's not terrible, but not a good combination. There's a jump-capable Hunchback variant with an LB-X 20 irrc, that's a proper urban brawler.
Opportunity Cost is a cruel mistress and she spares no one.
I am a huge fan of the Ostmecha. I would love to see what an Ostmann medium mech would look like.
A slightly smaller egg...
Ok... I never looked at the Ostroc or the Ost family before. You have intrigued me, sir. And thank you for sticking to the CGL redesigns. The originals are, as you said, odd looking. And the Project Phoenix art (4L and 4W) looks like some kind of walking tree due to the really odd tree-stump legs. :-/ On the other hand, this is RIGHT up my normal "refit" alley and is just crying for a makeover....
Excellent. Yes I think this is one of those cases where the CGL re-visiting of the art was needed and pulled off very well.
Sadly I think that for those of us that started playing back in the beginning, many of us may have had (fair or unfair) a bias against it from its perceived connection to the Zentraedi Battlepod.
Fair enough. I just remember really not liking the original art and it led to us never using it.
Happy New Year Mech Frog !
Happy new year!
The entire Ost series is a victim of bizarre circumstances and a LOT of retconning.
Going by memory :
The first Ostroc was the 9C which for 35 years was only available to you if you saw
the sheet made available in the Battledroids box set that came with model kits for
the Ostroc and Marauder. It was an illegal build because it had jump jets in the arms
so it disappeared until a WAY later retcon. If you didn't see it there you wouldn't know
the 9C existed until it was modified and included in a FAR later product in 2021.
In TRO 3025 the Ostroc had the wrong/ugly art you showed that was later retconned to
be an Ostroc using Ostwar arms for repairs. Also in the original TRO 3025 the
Ostsol and Ostscout art were switched. Added to that the art that was meant to
be for the Ostscout had pin like arms and no hands, leading to a production mini
that also had pins for arms and no hands. ( The Ostcout DOES have hands BTW)
This is why you might see multiple unseen Ostscout minis with different arms.
Users often modified the minis with other mech's arms to make it more correct.
The artwork for the Ostscout still wasn't corrected for TRO 3050 either , so they
made a sheet for the 7K without hands when the other variants still had them.
All considered the Ost's may have the most convoluted history of all mechs.
I think all this combined with the Ostroc/Ostsol being at the bottom of their weight class
led to their current situation. With the newer revised artwork and minis coming I think it'll
increase in popularity once more people actually use it. I'm looking forward to it.
Quite true. Thank you for the additional info.
Part of what makes it such a good mech is the Narrow/Low Profile quirk, It is easy in universe to love a well-designed 'Mech form that's hard to hit in motion. Your MF loadout is very nice too.
Any little bit helps.
I don’t know must about the ost family so I look forward to learning before the KS arrives
They're definitely unique takes on battlemechs...
Letssss gooooo mech frog on my drive homeeeeee after workkk
Huzzah! Drive safe!
Catalyst has done us a solid by redoing the design of the House of Ost. Maybe now they'll get played more. Good job with the Ostroc, which is basically the Ostol with some weapons diversity. The Ostroc was a little more prevalent in the pre-Clans era, mainly because 3025-3049 era force builds used it a lot. (See Mechwarrior 1.0 RPG for examples thereof.) I do like the examples from later eras, which show that people like having a relatively speedy & economic mid-range battler. As always, your MF variant gives us a good Ilclan era version.
House of Ost... I like that.
Field mod, remove srm4, add one heat sink and 2 tons of armor . Ranged fighting with only movement heat, or trade one large for 2 mediums in close and be running around ruining light and medium mechs days. As a merc, I like a little bit more armor between my guys and the bad guys, plus having hands to load loot after the fight helps :) My .02 c-bills (from 3025).
I think that the Ost mechs really benefitted from the CGL art. They look legitimately cool now. I always liked the Ost heavies in terms of raw stats, but didn't like the art for them very much, when they did the art refresh for them that renewed my interest in the mechs, I'm excited to get them in plastic.
In any event, the Ostroc is a pretty poor city fighter in my estimation, but excels as a raider. I want to say that I recall that the FRR had a decent number of Ostsols and Ostrocs, which I have to imagine fared poorly against Clan weapons with their light armor.
They absolutely needed the CGL art treatment. And yes I'd agree it's much better as a raider in most variants than a dedicated city fighter.
Such an underrated mech and yes I do believe its art has something to do with it. I tend to use its brother design the ostsol more, but they are so close. both are very capable of out maneuvering many contemporary 3025 heavies getting behind 4/6 designs and shooting them in the back or jumping something and getting physical with it while firing all its weapons. Low armor on the arms yes but not T rex arms these are not. 6 damage punches are nothing to sneeze at in the back.
They do work well in tandem.
The Ost series of mechs are ones I like, but understand why they aren't super popular. they're not as visually interesting as some of the compitition, and they're just good at their job, not great. But that said i did get one of the force packs because it had the ostroc in it because i like them round boys. As for the MF version i think the plasma rifle should be in the right torso to keep the silhouette looks akin to the standard, might be able to reuse the armour molds depending on which plasma rifle you use to fool targeting computers. I agree with the person who said the ER small is dead weight that could be used on another jump jet, that extra 1 hex would increase its survivability a great deal. Outside of "put clan lasers in" though i have nothing else to add, a solid design.
Fair critique.
Demon Ostroc variant.
CQ City fighter.
Start with systems. Bloodhound Probe, TC Pulse, and ECM clan.
Frame is ferro composite, armor is full clan FF. A hotseat is added to increase movement and melee damage.
Internal is IS light engine w DHS
RT & LT get 4 Medium pulse lasers of clan variety.
MML3 in RT with toolkit munition Pack in Case 2 in RT and LT (inferno. HE. Tandem and acid in half tons. Lrms are fascam A, sensors, swarm and EMP)
CT runs Hellblazer fusion flamers x2
Legs have 4 sprawling improved JJ for extra distance in jumps.
Arms have heavy clawed fists, reinforced actuators melee (vs fine control for weapons. Kinda industrial level tech. It's in Sol7 gear stuff )
TSM gives the mech a reason to ride the heat, or stockpile extra for moment you charge from shadows or through a building into the midst of the enemy.
All weapons are Torso mounts to ensure that you can keep firing while in a melee brawl.
What to do with remaing slots and carry weight?
Handheld plasma rifle or combat shotgun are viable options.
Though I think this mech would be a good platform for a micromissile sytem 10 in RT, and downgrading laser to pulses.
Heck 2 MMS 20s 4 tons ammo, and some cq lasers and flamers would make this mech very scary indeed.
The ability to F&F 2x normal ROF in each launcher ensures that any light or med mech facing this barrage, will regret life choices.
The rears of heavies and assaults could really be in danger.
Using inferno, tandem, or std ammo offers this mech loadout many options.
Though tonnage is a problem. The heat spike from F&F mode can be handled.
Ive a preference for Sol 7 Gladiator & Periphery upgraded Industrial mechs for city fighting.
You could give the base mech a 6 ton shield for defense and as a battering ram for charges too.
Having a small wall you can take with you to hide behind can not be underestimated.
Hard to deny the value of four C.Medium Pulse Lasers.
The Ostroc’s 2nd older appearance I didnt really like until a few years ago, when I began to appreciate pod-like shaped battlemechs more, like the Flashman. The Phoenix Upgrade art I think looked really good in comparison to most mechs that got the “reseen” treatment (it might be one of the best IMHO). I have never used one, but I did own old Ral Partha sculpt at one point. I had it in a lance alongside an older Ostsol and Ostscout (keeping in theme) for my 21st Centauri Lancers army I once had.
Something about the pod/egg shaped mechs just rubs me the wrong way.
The thing that killed the Ost series for most people playing in the 80s was the original art. They play well in the game. The Ostroc's paddle hands and the Ostsol's pointer arms (regardless of whether or not it was an art swap between the Ostol and the Ostscout) really drained support. Overall, they weren't much better than the designs they were based off of, the Zentraedi pods in Macross/Robotech.
Of course the only way to truly make the Ost series appealing to players is to make them all LAMs.
"Just slap some wings on it... problem solved." Dang, you cracked the code.
just like an Aerogavin lul @@MechanicalFrog
sweet a new video tnaks frog
oh btw the mechs are looking good still waiting for that discord invite mate
discord.gg/2mg9Ptgp
dammm i did not see the invite in time lol@@MechanicalFrog
I use a Royal Ostroc. its not a bad machine, and has served me well.
Does it have a little crown on it? I like to think all Royal variants do...
@@MechanicalFrog nope, but its taken on a battlemaster. got messed up, gyro hit and lost an arm, but losing the arm with no loss in firepower was a shock to my usual opponent who was unfamiliar with the design.
I feel sorry for the alternate quantum reality where Mechfrog put weapons on the arms and started the bad stuff of final days.
By this point, most of the planet has been rendered into 5,000 degree F slag and Neptune crashed into Saturn.
I liked the original art and mech. I was always looking for something more quirky to play with :)
It definitely has some character.
Because I care about Hunchback Orthodoxy, not Ostroc Orthodoxy, the OSR-3XR, or Ostroc eXtended Range:
The engine gets downgraded to a 240 Standard, but I compensate by giving her four jump jets, split between the left and right torsos for a 4/6/4 movement profile. I also upgrade her to endo steel structure and twelve and a half tons of armor with CASE in the right torso. Finally, I strip out one heat sink, but the fourteen that remain are doubles.
The SRM 4 and two torso-mounted medium lasers remain, but I add two more lasers and two M100 machine guns with a half ton of ammo. They're mounted one each in each arm for close in fighting and anti-infantry work.
The XR part of the name comes with a pair of ER Large Lasers in case the 'Mech is required to do some open-field fighting.
With her double heat sinks, she can fire both large lasers while jumping or everything *except* one of them while at a walk and remain heat neutral. At less than six million C-Bills, my thinking is that the XR is a solid militia 'Mech with a focus on urban fighting that *can* step out in the open if it has to.
So, in general I like a decent amount about the MF variant (am also a man of high culture in my enjoyment of plasma rifles), but one thing really bothers me. The IS targeting computer is 1 ton for every 4 tons of weapons. The total weight of the weapons is 6+2+2+1+1+0.5 which comes to...... 12.5 tons. So the small laser in the head makes the targeting computer 1 ton heavier than it needs to be. I'd personally take the small laser out, and take the extra ton and a half and put an ECM on it, making it even better at sneaking up on fools in dark alleys. Apologies if I got something wrong in my math, it's a really cool variant otherwise :)
You're right.
Never used one before but love the video!
Thank ya!
The Third Eagle of the Apocalypse approves of the MF variant :)
Joy!
Here is to hoping we get some Frog Fiction in '24..earlier the better!
Working on a couple of things... :ninja:
Thank you for the effort you put into this video, it was nice! Honestly, I really don’t like the Ost series of mechs. No real strong reason why, they all just look weird and have weird loadouts as well as being fairly rare. But it was nice to watch a video going a bit more deeply into one of them.
Honestly the light armour on a heavy mech is a huge deal killer for me, I get the idea for a fast hard hitting heavy mech but that little armour especially on the arms is just a bad idea. Especially for a mech that relatively rare and niche, it would need to have the rugged or ubiquitous quirk for me to even consider using it. Because after a few fights that things a hangar queen waiting for more arms to come along. But that’s personal taste, I love mechs with lots armor over speed or firepower.
Honestly your MF variant is probably my favorite out of all of them.
It's a bit of an odd duck, for sure. Thanks for coming by, as always.
@@MechanicalFrog of course! Thank you again for this video and happy holidays!
Have a Happy New Year .
Happy new year!