🤓 actually if you look at the design of the neural helmet it covers your entire head. Even modern CVC in the military have head phones that cover your ears and allows you to hear orders coming over the radio. That could provide adequate coverage also if the pilot wanted to protect their hearing more they could also get some ear plugs. 🤓
The 3052 Battle of Luthien is a really fun, brutal part of the lore. The DCMS going "this far, no further" and burying two clans in a mountain of corpses from both sides.
Absolutely. The defeat for them too was just staggering in its scale. It screwed over Smoke Jaguar for all future conflicts. Some of their best, lay dead on Luthien.
@@Bomfunker91 I suppose so, but I find it very difficult to give any credit at all to the same folks that butchered countless unarmed civilians along the Davion border. Remember Kentares IV!
I still wonder what Takashi must have thought when he saw Wolf's Dragoons show up on Luthien, considering the scene at the wedding - and the events on Misery before that...
Also somewhat ironic that the current Coordinator, Kurita Yori, is a descendant of Franklin Sakamoto, who famously served alongside a captured Daboku in the Somerset Strikers. RIP to the descendants of Kurita Theodore and Kurita Hohiro. Better fortune to the survivors of Clan Nova Cat.
I wonder if the DCMS ever had hilarious amounts of infighting akin to the real-life Imperial Japan militaries. "Now, with this battlemech, we can strike at our true foes!" "The Federated suns?" "No." "the Lyran Commonwealth?" "Dave from accounting, you moron! That man stole my bagel and it's personal!"
@@BigRed40TECH Wonder what the mortality rate from honor duels is. I so find it hilarious that they spent time and money trying to rebuild the sword into a katana so their Mechwarriors could LARP around as robot samurai.
There's a novel dealing with Nova Cat absorbing into the Combine where the main characters from each side decide to have an honor duel in the midst of a bunch of fighting. Some other DCMS pilot sees the Clanner and decides he would gain much honor by shooting him. He does, the main Combine guy immediately scuttles up to him in his Bishamon, jams the MRM20 to the cockpit and fires, shouting something about "muh honor!" Whenever I mention this to a combine player, they chuckle, shrug, and say "yep, that's the Combine."
I was involved in a big DCMS campaign (TT) back in High School. Yeah, there was a lot of infighting. Not only in at the High Command level, but within the units as well. The Ronin War was particularly interesting.
Never forget one of the most famous pilots of the Mauler - Captain Hawkins of the 1st Sommerset Strikers, formerly of FedCom Intelligence, and veteran of the war of '39.
Though in lore, to explain away lore inconsistencies in the cartoon, the Sommerset Strikers were relegated to being a FedCom propaganda video series with deliberate vagueness as to whether it was based on any aspect of reality or pure fiction within the universe. Still I LOVED the cartoon series (even if it misrepresented the clans from lore perspective) from the first time a friend from a local game shop brought a tape of the series so I could watch it.
@@Gorbz Yeah. The Falcon guy apparently had some wacky times in a courtroom trying to sue FedCom broadcasting after learning that, no, they were not accepting duels.
I like mechs like the Daboku--a decent, if flawed, idea (for it's era), the lore puts the nail in it's coffin and is just like "oh yeah, and also it's broken on every conceivable level." I like putting mechs like that on the table in a campaign setting, seeing people get excited, then being like "okay but every time you take damage to the CT you roll to see if you accidentally eject." I like to see who's willing to roll with the negative flavor! Excellent video! Really appreciate your content!
"Alright let's see what this new mech can do!" *Gets shot once* "Congratulations Pilot you are being saved!" *Sends a space Japanese dude into low orbit.*
Still one of my favorite 'mechs in MWO. I swapped it from a long-range shooter to a close-up brawler with two simple changes: 1. I replaced the Large Laser in each arm with 3 Medium Lasers. _and_ 2. I replaced the 4 AC/2s in the torsos with a pair of RAC/5s. If you turned the corner and saw this monster, you had about half a second before your cockpit sounded like you were inside a metal drum being rolled down a gravel hill. 🤣
Excellent, excellent overview! I knew a little about the Daboku, but I hadn't realized just how bad it really was. It's almost reminiscent of the Gotterdamerung in its lethality to its own pilot.
The Mauler. A great example of what new fangled FASAengineering gave the Combine. It's a visually impressive, technical long range compromise that never lived up to its potential. This is a lovely video on the history and early renaissance of Kurita's rearmament during the war of 3039 and the Clan invasion. I hope a new rescuplt gets released so it can generate a 5R in a Rec Guide that brings the Mauler into its final form. Well done BigRed40K.
Awesome video! Was fiddling with Mauler builds in MWO last night! It’s not the best but it’s got great support potential. Also shout out to living legends! So happy to hear ya mentioning it. Awesome devs and great community! If you’re scratching that true tactical itch, MWLL has it.
Talking just about the basics, i think its easy to see a flawed mech which is comically under-armored for its weight. But if you ever got to use a Mauler 3R or 2R in tabletop on range and were able to keep it there, its surprisingly competent.
@M F Literally all the shortcomings of the mauler are removed with it's shitty-ass default aresenal which I then replace with two clan gauss rifles. Poor ol Kulin in his pathetic little mad cat never has a chance. And neither does that fuckwad burke with his thou-art-no-thor. And let's not even talk about what happens when I get a fucking daishi and replace it's shitty-ass default aresenal with THREE clan gauss rifles. Goodbye william.😁
I recently decided to add Battletech to minis games I am playing (I only played Crescent Hawks Inception on Amiga and read one novel). I am waiting for my game boxes to arrive and devouring novels and this channel is such a great source on mech and lore info. Truly great presentation, practically makes you fall in love every mech design and drags you into setting stories. Looking forward to next video.
I have watched this video 3 times and I love it. Red honestly this is Tex level of detail, but more concise and easier to take in. Keep up the excellent work man. I can't wait to see what's next.
i have three verisons of the mauler in MWO One has 4 missile reacks one has ballistic weapons in the arms. if there is a variant that exemplifies the name "MAULER" its the variant with ballistics in arms. Give it twin LBX cannons and set it loose in cities.
@mr6johnclark No fuck that I replace with two clan gauss rifles. Poor ol Kulin in his pathetic little mad cat never has a chance. And neither does that fuckwad burke. And let's not even talk about what happens when I get a fucking daishi and replace it's shitty-ass default aresenal with THREE clan gauss rifles. Goodbye william.😁
I hope it was entertaining. I realized when I'd finished the Clan Invasion portion at like, the 45-50 minute mark, that the video might be edging on a bit too long lol
Oh, I've been waiting to see your take on this guy! The Mauler is not the heaviest, or toughest, or sexiest, or most popular mech out there. It is big and boxy but it can be quite flexible and brings a lot of long range firepower to the fight. As a fire support mech it is not meant to fight alone. But ignore it at your peril... while you focus on its more aggressive or impressive allies you're gonna get mauled.
This is a pretty great video, I always loved the war of 3039, and the mauler is a part of the reason why. The original is… just ok, but newer variants such as the 3R can be real monsters.
A video about the battle for Luthien would be nice indeed. Ideally with a brief section about what happened before between Kurita Takashi and Jaime Wolf (I still find myself chuckling over the scene at the wedding... ...even though the reason is no laughing matter.)
I obtained a Mauler in an event on MWO, It didnt seem scary at first but I maxxed its armor and refitted it with 2 RAC5's and 6 small pulse lasers and suprisingly it ended up being one of my very favorite mechs of its weight class.
Ah the 2P I think I did a dual ac20 6 medium laser and I’m fairly certain I had some SRM’s as well might have just been 4’s, thing hit like a truck. The Hero Knock out is super cool for having its ballistic and energy hard points swapped. Having a pair of lbx 10’s on your arms was a fun experience
It is a lot like the Rifleman, in that it's ok in the stock ecosystem but nothing amazing. With the smallest amount of tinkering, however, they become outrageous weapons platforms
I know they are often considered one of the "bad guy" factions of the lore. But I can't help but love the draconis combine! I've been reading the house kurita book and the idea of such a massive and militaristic empire is very interesting to me. While they definitely have a heavy amount of Japanese influence you can see were the writers used the soviet union as inspiration. The militarys dominating importance of all things in society is very similar to the soviet system. Excellent video as always red the maulers development is crazy!
I can't remember the exact loadout but the mech I used to beat the game on the hardest difficulty was a Mauler with two SSRM6, two light gauss, and (I think?) two IS large laser.
@@imasspeons i think you mean two regular clan gauss rifles, i say this because my personal configuration i used last time i played the game months ago was dual clan LBX AC20, two clan srm6 and dual clan large lasers and for the desert missions i would switch the autocanons to regular clan gauss rifles for heat management.
Great video as always Red! This is clearly one of your best, I love how you weaved BT history and lore into the story of the mech. Top notch work here on this one, keep them coming!
Whole hour on the history and the Mauler's place in it. Oh yeah this was good! I have a soft spot for the Mauler and it is quite iconic for that clan-era of the setting
Holy shit, I didn't know Battletech lore was so in depth as to go in to the medical reason a leader would waste their forces against the dragoons. A stroke explains so much, and not even in a lore belittling way. That shit would be a real problem if you have an unquestionable leader.
Hello Red. Gods above, how I hated the Mauler. In its first incarnation, it was fielded against my Merc unit and its faults were apparent. As the timeline progressed though, the Mauler became a thorn in the side of anyone that faced the newer, better designs. It got so bad, that one player fielded EIGHT MAL-1K's against me. I cannot convey in text the pain in the fundament that decision caused me. Before that battle, I had met and defeated that player's forces many times. But, that Mauler force nearly ran me off the table with the showers of LRMs it could produce. In the end, I ended up fielding a large unit of Artillery and lured the Maulers into a canyon, where I pounded them from beyond their maximum ranges into scrap metal.
Two ER large lasers on a mech with only 22 heat sinks? First thing I always did after capturing one was to change out the ER model for standard large lasers.
Yeah, the standard variants have that great balance of heat, damage, and range. If you need more range you might as well be using entirely different weapon systems. Lasers are there for that pinpoint hit, not for a snipe from 2000 meters.
The IS ER large laser is a useful as a primary weapon for light and medium Mechs. For the Mauler (an most heavy and assault class Mechs) it is not. The MAL-1R would actually benefit from using just standard large lasers. However, I would go for a vastly different weapon loadout: I would rip out the inefficient ER-LLs and AC/2s and put a standard PPC in each arm. I would fill the torso slots with four medium pulse lasers for self-defense, add 5 DHS and spend the remaining tonnage on armor and defense.
Personally I always found the Mauler to be an underperformer, not good as a break through unit, tank, or even it's job as an assault sniper, so I have devised this loadout to fix it. Armour remains ferro-fibrous but has 15.5 for maximum protection efficiency, it's engine returns to the standard 270 of the Daboku, a Double heatsink is removed, and the CASE remains. For weapons the LRM-15s and their ammo remain where they are, but the rest are swapped out. Replacing the ER Large lasers are 2 underappreciated UAC/5s with 2 tons of ammo per cannon, allowing it to run cool with additional range and a 20% boost in damage potential. Replacing the AC/2s ands their ammo now are 4 standard medium lasers giving a much needed close range punch as well as freeing up the weight needed for the rest of the changes. In the end this load out does a better job being the Assault Sniper it was envisioned as and makes it far more versatile as a platform than the original. as the additional armor and close range weapons makes it much better suited for vanguard duty and makes it a formidable brawler should the need arise A perfect machine for a Samurai, as a true warrior should not master only one form of combat
Great video as always! I always thought the poor Daboku had a lot of potential, but then they blew a third of its weight on those damn popguns and skipped all the armor and heat sinks. A most shameful display. I'm just glad the DC didn't simply memoryhole the Daboku like they did with their old Gladiators, but instead managed to rework it into something decent (despite the popguns on the first Mauler variant)
Lol the hypegasm i got... (i haven't watched the video yet). I'm seeing Big Red has a new video notification - Cool - gotta check what it is. Seeing video is about Mauler (one of my favorite mechs) - Even cooler i NEED to watch this. Open the video and seeing it's an hour long - Daaaayum...where's my popcorn - this is gonna be REAL good. :) So on that note (and with popcorn in tow) i'm starting to watch :D
I can see the intended role of the Mauler (before the Clans showed up) being to open up an enemy at range with the ERLLs from outside enemy retaliation range, and then roll potentially up to 10 crit-seekers (6 LRM rolls, plus 4 AC2s) still at a huge distance. Pairs well with the ubiquitous (in the Combine) Panther who can run around poking holes in things with it's PPC - and then let the plink-plink rain from the Maulers find the juicy exposed bits. If you can keep the range, speed isn't as important since you're not moving forward, your armor is distance, and heat is less of an issue since you're not moving fast and you can alternate between pokes and crit-seeks.
One of my all time favorite mechs. A sublime mix of missiles, energy weapons, ballistics, and armor. Only problem is its a little difficult to work ridge lines on account of everyone shooting my missile racks before I can see em lol
the Snub-nose PPC always had me wondering. It has a larger short-range bracket, which is nice, but less range overall. And it inflicts less damage at medium and long range, while retaining the same heat. All that for 1 ton less.. I think Id rather just keep the standard PPCs and not have the damage dropoff, even with the minimum range. I can always disengage the PPC inhibitors afterall ;)
SNPPCs are for mechs that can play range brackets super hard. Mechs like the Men Shen, Wight, and Vindicator can abuse them to great effect while punishing your foe.
There was a joint Marik-Kurita Awesome that had two ER PPCs and one Snub-PPC backed up with anti-missile (and I think a small Las for infantry). The two ER did a excellent job punching the foe as you or the enemy was busy closing the distance gap for Snub use. Can tell you this from the time I got to run it. I forgot the model's unit number and letter. I hope someone here can remember it. Sorry. :(
I may always say that this was a lemon, but whats more embarrassing? Piloting one or being cored as a heavy by one, especially as either a wobbie or clanner vat born monster in an "objectively better" weapon system?
Suggestion, Big Red, if possible for future videos, include those little chapter mark things to divide up the different variants of a mech? I have no idea how it works, nor how easy or difficult it is, so if its too much thats all good!
@@BigRed40TECH I still love that the ER PPCs for the initial production run of the Akuma were the ones returned from Panther pilots who took the armor,missile, and CASE upgrades, but kept the standard PPCs.
I'll never begrudge you for your opinion, Big Red 40k. I may disagree with it, with myself being a fan of both Clan Wolf and Crusader Clan Wolf, but I respect you for your hard work regarding Battletech, and your honesty regarding this subject. I hold no disdain or hate, as every fan of Battletech has his or her own biases, one way or another. What matters at the end of the day, is coming together peacefully for a wonderful universe with giant metallic lords of war doing battle, and the space opera tragedy laced with pockets of hope. :)
If you get the chance you should probably do a nice expose on one of House Davion's greatest mechwarriors of all time. A pilot of unparalleled skill and talent who struck fear into the hearts of clan Smoke Jaguar... The elite fighter known only by his callsign: Rooster
I love this mechs design. The even layout is very OCD friendly. Something alota mechs don't have. Of course it's a horribly equipped mech that needs a full refit and overhaul whenever you get one.
*surprised blink* You might be one of the few Ive ever heard use the normal 'family name, given name' format for Japanese names in battletech context :o Nice
Excellent video, thank you for helping to spread knowledge of the universe and it's lore. I hope this does not come off wrong, just wanted to correct a minor mistake I noticed, one which I think you self-corrected later in the video. The project name was the DCMS-MX90-D "Daboku", (Da-bow-kuu) not "Dakaboo" as you pronounced it @8:17.
Maulers are my favorite brawling platform. Reasonable armor, symmetrical weapon layout, somewhat swift for it's size. If only it had less cooling issues..😅
....A Mech that lends itself well to experimentation, should opportunity permit. ...In one case, a lance of my Merc unit took part in a lengthy recon raid behind the lines of Lyran part of FedCom space. The lance comprised 2 Dragons (unit variant), a Hatamoto-chi (the variant that replaced the SRM-6s with medium pulse lasers), & a Mauler--soon to be modified. The LRM-15 racks would be replaced with LRM-10 racks: for a small reduction in salvo damage, it gained 50% more ammunition--more useful for a lengthy deployment behind enemy lines--& also offered advantages of commonality: the same LRM-10 was already in use in the Dragon/Grand Dragon, so service skills & spare parts were already available. The ER Large Lasers would be replaced with Donal PPCs: despite the inferior range, these had a proven record in the Warhammer, & again were widely available. Though not more powerful overall, it was ultimately more efficient: It could jump & fire its PPCs without heat build up, which the production Mauler with its ER lasers could not do. If it didn't move, the it was able to alpha strike with all of its weapons without much heat build up, which proved an unpleasant surprise to a damaged Ostsol. Its success caught the attention of the Kurita liason officer & upon return to the Combine the unit's Techs compared notes with a number of Kurita personnel. A proposed upgrade if this refit would replace the AC/2s & ammo with 4 Medium Pulse Lasers, giving it some point defense it had been lacking; it also dropped the ferro-fibrous armor for standard armor freeing up space to upgrade the LRM-15 racks to the same LRM-20 racks employed on the Archer, & though it only has 2 tons of ammo each, both racks have Artemis FCS, making its salvos more effective; as with the refit, Donal standard PPCs replace the ER Large Lasers; extra armor improves the survivability further, as has replacing the XL engine with the standard engine. Alas, this version would never see the battlefield: though the schematics still exist, & it appears to perform well in simulators. ...Ahhhhh, memories!
Ive never understood why LAW insists on the 4xAC2... drop 2 of them to add more than enough DBLHS to fire both lasers and missiles.. drop the other two for some more armor and some close range weapons, maybe SRMs to keep with the missile theme *flings snake at its lower abdominal plate*
I remember the mauler used to be the first assault you could salvage by far in mw4. Slap a pair of clan gauss, streak srm6 and 4m lasers and you got a build that will be viable for the rest of the game
Excellent review on the Mauler. I really enjoyed the in depth background on the design and it's role in Battletech history. As designs go, I was never a fan. While looking incredibly cool I saw mechs 20 tons lighter take it out. Even the venerable Archer (Marik variant) seemed to outperform it. I was surprised that there never seemed to be a heavy PPC variant in honor of its inspiration, the Awesome.
Kuritans have had such tremendous complexity and depth through out all the arcs... Michael J. Ciaravella has his work cut out for him. (uncle Chandy is my favorite Kurita) 🙂
I hope he had a legitimate and/or illegitimate kid somewhere. I was very sad when he died. :( He was one of the few Dracs from the royal family that knew the importance of economics and studying foreign cultures. He was Legends Thrawn if he was a noble spymaster instead of an Admiral and played the act of the jolly fool.
Shrapnel Issue 15 has new lore on the Mauler, including the mysterious Cappelan Developed versions and it's odd duck proliferation at the time of the Clan Invasion
There's some new information and variants for the Mauler in the latest Shrapnel and Rec Guide if you want to see the FedCom and later era variants of the Mauler
I like to imagine some alternate universe where AC2s are good and this 'mech was a legitimate threat on the battlefield. The 1k is as close to that dream as we can get. This thing is a 'mech customizer's dream, and my ride of choice in Mechwarrior 4. I always wondered if there was a variant that used LBX10s instead of the AC2s and MMLs instead of LRMs. Thanks for this, I always loved this design even though it's painfully, painfully flawed.
I love that around 3050, most assault mech plants are said to be kicking out a half dozen or so mechs a year, but somehow the Combine spits out 300 Daboku seemingly over night.
Replace AC2s with LBX 20 and Ultra 20, keep the lrms, drop the large lasers for 4 medium lasers, add heatsinks and then armor. Now a proper assault mech.
I saw this first on the cartoon (I assume it and the Awesome were the only IS Assaults because of limitations of the 3D technology at the time) and I think I first used it in MW4. I stripped the AC2s out for an LBX10 in my last one and uparmored it. I might have swapped the LRMs for SRMs as well; I like to brawl in the games.
- Has too little armor to tank fire and lead a breakthrough, nor is it fast enough to preform its role of fire support. - Can't provide dedicated fire support through either ballistic nor missile, operating one of the least effective autocannons, the dreaded AC2. - Crippling defects in manufacturing and core functionality. - Plagued by bad reputation, poor decision making and political shenanigans. So in essence, it was the stereotypical and sadistic recreation of the Bradly Wars.
Mauler AKA "I am deaf because my weapons are too close to cockpit"
That's what you get for not wearing your PPE while pilotng. And there's no VA in the Inner Sphere.
I got all kinds of upgrades and my mech is fully blinged, I like to fire my cannon just to hear my own ears ring...
🤓 actually if you look at the design of the neural helmet it covers your entire head. Even modern CVC in the military have head phones that cover your ears and allows you to hear orders coming over the radio. That could provide adequate coverage also if the pilot wanted to protect their hearing more they could also get some ear plugs. 🤓
What?
@@terrinils3165 your disability isn't service connected
The whole "get hit in the dick and eject" background is a nod to the Mauler toy made for the cartoon. It had a similar pilot eject gimmick.
Oh I'm aware. I just don't refer to the Cartoon much lol
@@BigRed40TECH And for that we all respect you ;)
Premature ejection is a guys worst nightmare, especially when it's time to perform in those critical moments.
The 3052 Battle of Luthien is a really fun, brutal part of the lore. The DCMS going "this far, no further" and burying two clans in a mountain of corpses from both sides.
Absolutely. The defeat for them too was just staggering in its scale. It screwed over Smoke Jaguar for all future conflicts. Some of their best, lay dead on Luthien.
Thanks entirely to the efforts of the Kell Hounds and Wolf's Dragoons.
@@brianhenry152 Oh they 100% helped the Combine triumph, but it was still the DCMS' victory, and sweeping that under the rug is disingenuous.
@@Bomfunker91 I suppose so, but I find it very difficult to give any credit at all to the same folks that butchered countless unarmed civilians along the Davion border.
Remember Kentares IV!
I still wonder what Takashi must have thought when he saw Wolf's Dragoons show up on Luthien, considering the scene at the wedding - and the events on Misery before that...
Also somewhat ironic that the current Coordinator, Kurita Yori, is a descendant of Franklin Sakamoto, who famously served alongside a captured Daboku in the Somerset Strikers. RIP to the descendants of Kurita Theodore and Kurita Hohiro. Better fortune to the survivors of Clan Nova Cat.
I may be a FedSun at heart, but I've always been a big fan of the Mauler.
It looks great in blue and white :3
It does have plenty of dakka for
Davions.
It's yours if you want it, I say. We took your Victor factory so it's only fair.
I wonder if the DCMS ever had hilarious amounts of infighting akin to the real-life Imperial Japan militaries.
"Now, with this battlemech, we can strike at our true foes!"
"The Federated suns?"
"No."
"the Lyran Commonwealth?"
"Dave from accounting, you moron! That man stole my bagel and it's personal!"
It does have infighting yes
@@BigRed40TECH Wonder what the mortality rate from honor duels is.
I so find it hilarious that they spent time and money trying to rebuild the sword into a katana so their Mechwarriors could LARP around as robot samurai.
There's a novel dealing with Nova Cat absorbing into the Combine where the main characters from each side decide to have an honor duel in the midst of a bunch of fighting. Some other DCMS pilot sees the Clanner and decides he would gain much honor by shooting him. He does, the main Combine guy immediately scuttles up to him in his Bishamon, jams the MRM20 to the cockpit and fires, shouting something about "muh honor!"
Whenever I mention this to a combine player, they chuckle, shrug, and say "yep, that's the Combine."
Hey, we know what our Faction is. No point arguing against facts
I was involved in a big DCMS campaign (TT) back in High School. Yeah, there was a lot of infighting. Not only in at the High Command level, but within the units as well. The Ronin War was particularly interesting.
Never forget one of the most famous pilots of the Mauler - Captain Hawkins of the 1st Sommerset Strikers, formerly of FedCom Intelligence, and veteran of the war of '39.
A gruff, but competent officer.
Though in lore, to explain away lore inconsistencies in the cartoon, the Sommerset Strikers were relegated to being a FedCom propaganda video series with deliberate vagueness as to whether it was based on any aspect of reality or pure fiction within the universe. Still I LOVED the cartoon series (even if it misrepresented the clans from lore perspective) from the first time a friend from a local game shop brought a tape of the series so I could watch it.
@@mattlewandowski73 It was, yes. However the characters themselves existed within the greater universe as I recall it.
@@Gorbz Yeah. The Falcon guy apparently had some wacky times in a courtroom trying to sue FedCom broadcasting after learning that, no, they were not accepting duels.
His signature entrance "konichiwa kurita scum !!!" cemented his place in history :)).
I like mechs like the Daboku--a decent, if flawed, idea (for it's era), the lore puts the nail in it's coffin and is just like "oh yeah, and also it's broken on every conceivable level." I like putting mechs like that on the table in a campaign setting, seeing people get excited, then being like "okay but every time you take damage to the CT you roll to see if you accidentally eject." I like to see who's willing to roll with the negative flavor!
Excellent video! Really appreciate your content!
Negative quirks is kinda awesome for lore, but mechanics wise, it's rough.
"Alright let's see what this new mech can do!" *Gets shot once* "Congratulations Pilot you are being saved!" *Sends a space Japanese dude into low orbit.*
Computer: "Ammo explosion detected, auto-eject engaged."
(Yeet seat fires)
Kurita Mechwarrior: "You cowardly computer whoooooore!!!"
Ammo explosions in w/o CASE are no joke!
Auto eject systems can be tricky.
We’ve had this happen irl….
I remember playing in the invasion era. We got a Mauler as a “Gift” for being one of the CMS to get back with intelligence. Passed it off for 30 DHS.
CMS? DHS?
Combine Mustard soldiery. Double Heat Sinks.
Still one of my favorite 'mechs in MWO. I swapped it from a long-range shooter to a close-up brawler with two simple changes:
1. I replaced the Large Laser in each arm with 3 Medium Lasers.
_and_
2. I replaced the 4 AC/2s in the torsos with a pair of RAC/5s.
If you turned the corner and saw this monster, you had about half a second before your cockpit sounded like you were inside a metal drum being rolled down a gravel hill. 🤣
That’s oddly specific and I like it
Dakka
when the Dragon is not simply sending waves of Locusts
Excellent, excellent overview! I knew a little about the Daboku, but I hadn't realized just how bad it really was. It's almost reminiscent of the Gotterdamerung in its lethality to its own pilot.
The Mauler. A great example of what new fangled FASAengineering gave the Combine. It's a visually impressive, technical long range compromise that never lived up to its potential. This is a lovely video on the history and early renaissance of Kurita's rearmament during the war of 3039 and the Clan invasion. I hope a new rescuplt gets released so it can generate a 5R in a Rec Guide that brings the Mauler into its final form. Well done BigRed40K.
Awesome video! Was fiddling with Mauler builds in MWO last night! It’s not the best but it’s got great support potential.
Also shout out to living legends! So happy to hear ya mentioning it. Awesome devs and great community! If you’re scratching that true tactical itch, MWLL has it.
One of the images I used was from the original LL, so I figured I had to do it.
Talking just about the basics, i think its easy to see a flawed mech which is comically under-armored for its weight. But if you ever got to use a Mauler 3R or 2R in tabletop on range and were able to keep it there, its surprisingly competent.
I like to switch from fero fibrus armor to endo steel. Us the added weight to increase armor.
@M F Literally all the shortcomings of the mauler are removed with it's shitty-ass default aresenal which I then replace with two clan gauss rifles. Poor ol Kulin in his pathetic little mad cat never has a chance. And neither does that fuckwad burke with his thou-art-no-thor. And let's not even talk about what happens when I get a fucking daishi and replace it's shitty-ass default aresenal with THREE clan gauss rifles. Goodbye william.😁
I recently decided to add Battletech to minis games I am playing (I only played Crescent Hawks Inception on Amiga and read one novel). I am waiting for my game boxes to arrive and devouring novels and this channel is such a great source on mech and lore info. Truly great presentation, practically makes you fall in love every mech design and drags you into setting stories. Looking forward to next video.
I love how the ejection system problem came from a defect in the toy version made as a tie-in for the Battletech Animated Series.
I have watched this video 3 times and I love it. Red honestly this is Tex level of detail, but more concise and easier to take in. Keep up the excellent work man. I can't wait to see what's next.
Awesome, thank you!
51:49 "They made on big mistake. They attacked my home planet!" Paul Moon, shortly before getting his ass handed to him.
i have three verisons of the mauler in MWO
One has 4 missile reacks
one has ballistic weapons in the arms.
if there is a variant that exemplifies the name "MAULER" its the variant with ballistics in arms.
Give it twin LBX cannons and set it loose in cities.
@mr6johnclark No fuck that I replace with two clan gauss rifles. Poor ol Kulin in his pathetic little mad cat never has a chance. And neither does that fuckwad burke. And let's not even talk about what happens when I get a fucking daishi and replace it's shitty-ass default aresenal with THREE clan gauss rifles. Goodbye william.😁
Entertaining video. Boo Smoke Jaguar.
I hope it was entertaining. I realized when I'd finished the Clan Invasion portion at like, the 45-50 minute mark, that the video might be edging on a bit too long lol
@@BigRed40TECH It didn't feel long. I ate lunch and finished a script while listening. Good stuff.
Oh, I've been waiting to see your take on this guy!
The Mauler is not the heaviest, or toughest, or sexiest, or most popular mech out there. It is big and boxy but it can be quite flexible and brings a lot of long range firepower to the fight.
As a fire support mech it is not meant to fight alone. But ignore it at your peril... while you focus on its more aggressive or impressive allies you're gonna get mauled.
This is a pretty great video, I always loved the war of 3039, and the mauler is a part of the reason why. The original is… just ok, but newer variants such as the 3R can be real monsters.
The original has issues fighting mechs but against any other unit it’s phenomenal.
A video about the battle for Luthien would be nice indeed. Ideally with a brief section about what happened before between Kurita Takashi and Jaime Wolf (I still find myself chuckling over the scene at the wedding... ...even though the reason is no laughing matter.)
dying in an ammo explosion that can be seen from orbit..........Glory to the Dragon!!!!!!!!!
I obtained a Mauler in an event on MWO, It didnt seem scary at first but I maxxed its armor and refitted it with 2 RAC5's and 6 small pulse lasers and suprisingly it ended up being one of my very favorite mechs of its weight class.
Ah the 2P I think I did a dual ac20 6 medium laser and I’m fairly certain I had some SRM’s as well might have just been 4’s, thing hit like a truck. The Hero Knock out is super cool for having its ballistic and energy hard points swapped. Having a pair of lbx 10’s on your arms was a fun experience
It is a lot like the Rifleman, in that it's ok in the stock ecosystem but nothing amazing. With the smallest amount of tinkering, however, they become outrageous weapons platforms
@@HalcyonDaze149 I think I did that same build the only change eas I used RL instead of SRMs.
@@boneshaman8912 actually that may have been it!
So many terrible or "meh" mechs can be turned into weapons of death with customization.
I know they are often considered one of the "bad guy" factions of the lore. But I can't help but love the draconis combine! I've been reading the house kurita book and the idea of such a massive and militaristic empire is very interesting to me. While they definitely have a heavy amount of Japanese influence you can see were the writers used the soviet union as inspiration. The militarys dominating importance of all things in society is very similar to the soviet system. Excellent video as always red the maulers development is crazy!
The Draconis Combine is my Favorite faction in Battletech. They have a cool name, a badass national symbol, plus black & red are my favorite colors.
I’d also see a bit of a ghengis khan vibe from their light usage.
Mauler will always be for me the coolest mech from MW4:Mercs.
Not only it looks cool, but it can also do anything you want
I can't remember the exact loadout but the mech I used to beat the game on the hardest difficulty was a Mauler with two SSRM6, two light gauss, and (I think?) two IS large laser.
@@imasspeons i think you mean two regular clan gauss rifles, i say this because my personal configuration i used last time i played the game months ago was dual clan LBX AC20, two clan srm6 and dual clan large lasers and for the desert missions i would switch the autocanons to regular clan gauss rifles for heat management.
@@ShadrackMeduson it's possible - been the better part of a decade since I last played MW4.
Great video as always Red! This is clearly one of your best, I love how you weaved BT history and lore into the story of the mech. Top notch work here on this one, keep them coming!
It was so much work, lol
You should totally do a piece on the battle if luthien. Sounds like a really cool battle!
Amazing work. You're doing great work for the Community!
Much appreciated!
Whole hour on the history and the Mauler's place in it. Oh yeah this was good!
I have a soft spot for the Mauler and it is quite iconic for that clan-era of the setting
Holy shit, I didn't know Battletech lore was so in depth as to go in to the medical reason a leader would waste their forces against the dragoons. A stroke explains so much, and not even in a lore belittling way. That shit would be a real problem if you have an unquestionable leader.
Great video! I love the way you went into the history of the Daboku as a precursor to the Mauler. Also really enjoyed all the lore!
I'll never forget that first time I saw a mauler when dcms let me borrow a prototype on luthien
"Borrow?"
@@dubuyajay9964 I just...haven't had a chance to return it yet. The kitty Clans kept me busy for awhile and then uhhhh...stuff happened.
RE: the 3R, What more could it ask for? A working CASE II implementation.😂
Love the look of the mauler absolutely menacing but always seemed under armed. With the upgrades definitely not a pushover
Some of the later variants are absolutely vicious.
Hello Red.
Gods above, how I hated the Mauler.
In its first incarnation, it was fielded against my Merc unit and its faults were apparent. As the timeline progressed though, the Mauler became a thorn in the side of anyone that faced the newer, better designs.
It got so bad, that one player fielded EIGHT MAL-1K's against me. I cannot convey in text the pain in the fundament that decision caused me.
Before that battle, I had met and defeated that player's forces many times. But, that Mauler force nearly ran me off the table with the showers of LRMs it could produce. In the end, I ended up fielding a large unit of Artillery and lured the Maulers into a canyon, where I pounded them from beyond their maximum ranges into scrap metal.
Two ER large lasers on a mech with only 22 heat sinks? First thing I always did after capturing one was to change out the ER model for standard large lasers.
I prefer standard LL and Standard PPC's to ER ones, at least for Spheroid weaponry.
Yeah, the standard variants have that great balance of heat, damage, and range. If you need more range you might as well be using entirely different weapon systems. Lasers are there for that pinpoint hit, not for a snipe from 2000 meters.
The IS ER large laser is a useful as a primary weapon for light and medium Mechs. For the Mauler (an most heavy and assault class Mechs) it is not.
The MAL-1R would actually benefit from using just standard large lasers.
However, I would go for a vastly different weapon loadout:
I would rip out the inefficient ER-LLs and AC/2s and put a standard PPC in each arm.
I would fill the torso slots with four medium pulse lasers for self-defense, add 5 DHS and spend the remaining tonnage on armor and defense.
i loved the bits about all the combine history
Love the video thanks for the sneak peak the day before it came out
Glad you enjoyed!
Personally I always found the Mauler to be an underperformer, not good as a break through unit, tank, or even it's job as an assault sniper, so I have devised this loadout to fix it.
Armour remains ferro-fibrous but has 15.5 for maximum protection efficiency, it's engine returns to the standard 270 of the Daboku, a Double heatsink is removed, and the CASE remains.
For weapons the LRM-15s and their ammo remain where they are, but the rest are swapped out. Replacing the ER Large lasers are 2 underappreciated UAC/5s with 2 tons of ammo per cannon, allowing it to run cool with additional range and a 20% boost in damage potential. Replacing the AC/2s ands their ammo now are 4 standard medium lasers giving a much needed close range punch as well as freeing up the weight needed for the rest of the changes.
In the end this load out does a better job being the Assault Sniper it was envisioned as and makes it far more versatile as a platform than the original. as the additional armor and close range weapons makes it much better suited for vanguard duty and makes it a formidable brawler should the need arise
A perfect machine for a Samurai, as a true warrior should not master only one form of combat
I love this war machine so much, mainly because of its look, its name, its role, and its origin as a DCMS Mech
Great video as always! I always thought the poor Daboku had a lot of potential, but then they blew a third of its weight on those damn popguns and skipped all the armor and heat sinks. A most shameful display.
I'm just glad the DC didn't simply memoryhole the Daboku like they did with their old Gladiators, but instead managed to rework it into something decent (despite the popguns on the first Mauler variant)
Lol the hypegasm i got... (i haven't watched the video yet). I'm seeing Big Red has a new video notification - Cool - gotta check what it is. Seeing video is about Mauler (one of my favorite mechs) - Even cooler i NEED to watch this. Open the video and seeing it's an hour long - Daaaayum...where's my popcorn - this is gonna be REAL good. :)
So on that note (and with popcorn in tow) i'm starting to watch :D
It's fuuny Battletech Wiki also cmae up with Daboku as bad mech. Great video.
I can see the intended role of the Mauler (before the Clans showed up) being to open up an enemy at range with the ERLLs from outside enemy retaliation range, and then roll potentially up to 10 crit-seekers (6 LRM rolls, plus 4 AC2s) still at a huge distance. Pairs well with the ubiquitous (in the Combine) Panther who can run around poking holes in things with it's PPC - and then let the plink-plink rain from the Maulers find the juicy exposed bits. If you can keep the range, speed isn't as important since you're not moving forward, your armor is distance, and heat is less of an issue since you're not moving fast and you can alternate between pokes and crit-seeks.
One of my all time favorite mechs. A sublime mix of missiles, energy weapons, ballistics, and armor. Only problem is its a little difficult to work ridge lines on account of everyone shooting my missile racks before I can see em lol
the Snub-nose PPC always had me wondering. It has a larger short-range bracket, which is nice, but less range overall. And it inflicts less damage at medium and long range, while retaining the same heat. All that for 1 ton less.. I think Id rather just keep the standard PPCs and not have the damage dropoff, even with the minimum range. I can always disengage the PPC inhibitors afterall ;)
SNPPCs are for mechs that can play range brackets super hard. Mechs like the Men Shen, Wight, and Vindicator can abuse them to great effect while punishing your foe.
There was a joint Marik-Kurita Awesome that had two ER PPCs and one Snub-PPC backed up with anti-missile (and I think a small Las for infantry). The two ER did a excellent job punching the foe as you or the enemy was busy closing the distance gap for Snub use. Can tell you this from the time I got to run it. I forgot the model's unit number and letter. I hope someone here can remember it. Sorry. :(
This video took my entire lunch break to watch.
I hope it was worth it :)
I may always say that this was a lemon, but whats more embarrassing? Piloting one or being cored as a heavy by one, especially as either a wobbie or clanner vat born monster in an "objectively better" weapon system?
Many Jaguar's screamed in rage as they were pelted down by AC2's and LRM's.
I mean you can make a few of them MONSTERS in mwo
Ahhh My beloved inner Sphere Assault Gunner Mech beside the Jagermech...
Thank you Big Red
Suggestion, Big Red, if possible for future videos, include those little chapter mark things to divide up the different variants of a mech? I have no idea how it works, nor how easy or difficult it is, so if its too much thats all good!
I wonder if the Mauler is where all the Draconis Combine's Double Heat-Sinks went?
Similar to how Awesomes are where the FWL sent all its PPCs to...
It's the only reasonable explanation.
@@BigRed40TECH I still love that the ER PPCs for the initial production run of the Akuma were the ones returned from Panther pilots who took the armor,missile, and CASE upgrades, but kept the standard PPCs.
There’s something about your videos that make me want to grab the mechs they’re about and use them to style on my foes
Wow, nice great another mech video. Really this mech history and lore.
It was a lot of work. lol
I'll never begrudge you for your opinion, Big Red 40k. I may disagree with it, with myself being a fan of both Clan Wolf and Crusader Clan Wolf, but I respect you for your hard work regarding Battletech, and your honesty regarding this subject. I hold no disdain or hate, as every fan of Battletech has his or her own biases, one way or another. What matters at the end of the day, is coming together peacefully for a wonderful universe with giant metallic lords of war doing battle, and the space opera tragedy laced with pockets of hope. :)
Also, it looks goofy when it runs. Hunched over with arms out. Looks lik3 it's always about to fall over, I love it!
If you get the chance you should probably do a nice expose on one of House Davion's greatest mechwarriors of all time. A pilot of unparalleled skill and talent who struck fear into the hearts of clan Smoke Jaguar... The elite fighter known only by his callsign: Rooster
Mechcommander was so solid lol
@@BigRed40TECH everything except the damn salvage mechanic where you can apparently fully core a mech just by shooting the legs
I love this mechs design. The even layout is very OCD friendly. Something alota mechs don't have. Of course it's a horribly equipped mech that needs a full refit and overhaul whenever you get one.
By far one of the greatest episodes.
Thank you :D
In MW5 I swapped the ac2 for light rifles, the LL's for PPC's and swapped in double sinks and it actually became a somewhat useful 90 tonner.
Clan Smoke JagWire.
Loved the video
Thank you Carlos!
Great video! I would love to see a collaboration between you and Tex.. great job!
*surprised blink* You might be one of the few Ive ever heard use the normal 'family name, given name' format for Japanese names in battletech context :o Nice
Excellent video, thank you for helping to spread knowledge of the universe and it's lore. I hope this does not come off wrong, just wanted to correct a minor mistake I noticed, one which I think you self-corrected later in the video.
The project name was the DCMS-MX90-D "Daboku", (Da-bow-kuu) not "Dakaboo" as you pronounced it @8:17.
Just mispronounced it.
Maulers are my favorite brawling platform. Reasonable armor, symmetrical weapon layout, somewhat swift for it's size. If only it had less cooling issues..😅
this is a perfekt analysis, loving it
....A Mech that lends itself well to experimentation, should opportunity permit.
...In one case, a lance of my Merc unit took part in a lengthy recon raid behind the lines of Lyran part of FedCom space. The lance comprised 2 Dragons (unit variant), a Hatamoto-chi (the variant that replaced the SRM-6s with medium pulse lasers), & a Mauler--soon to be modified. The LRM-15 racks would be replaced with LRM-10 racks: for a small reduction in salvo damage, it gained 50% more ammunition--more useful for a lengthy deployment behind enemy lines--& also offered advantages of commonality: the same LRM-10 was already in use in the Dragon/Grand Dragon, so service skills & spare parts were already available. The ER Large Lasers would be replaced with Donal PPCs: despite the inferior range, these had a proven record in the Warhammer, & again were widely available. Though not more powerful overall, it was ultimately more efficient: It could jump & fire its PPCs without heat build up, which the production Mauler with its ER lasers could not do. If it didn't move, the it was able to alpha strike with all of its weapons without much heat build up, which proved an unpleasant surprise to a damaged Ostsol. Its success caught the attention of the Kurita liason officer & upon return to the Combine the unit's Techs compared notes with a number of Kurita personnel. A proposed upgrade if this refit would replace the AC/2s & ammo with 4 Medium Pulse Lasers, giving it some point defense it had been lacking; it also dropped the ferro-fibrous armor for standard armor freeing up space to upgrade the LRM-15 racks to the same LRM-20 racks employed on the Archer, & though it only has 2 tons of ammo each, both racks have Artemis FCS, making its salvos more effective; as with the refit, Donal standard PPCs replace the ER Large Lasers; extra armor improves the survivability further, as has replacing the XL engine with the standard engine. Alas, this version would never see the battlefield: though the schematics still exist, & it appears to perform well in simulators.
...Ahhhhh, memories!
"HIT THE BLAST-PANEL!"
Ive never understood why LAW insists on the 4xAC2... drop 2 of them to add more than enough DBLHS to fire both lasers and missiles.. drop the other two for some more armor and some close range weapons, maybe SRMs to keep with the missile theme
*flings snake at its lower abdominal plate*
Or drop the 4 ac2's for 2 ac 10's. Same range as the LL, packs a punch, upgrades the unit to a decent support mech.
MAULER!
I really like the looks of it ^^
I remember the mauler used to be the first assault you could salvage by far in mw4. Slap a pair of clan gauss, streak srm6 and 4m lasers and you got a build that will be viable for the rest of the game
I remember I always loved the Mauler in MW4 Mercs. But those damn arms just peel right off.
This thing is a cool-looking oversized Jagermech.
58:35 you don’t need Case if you use all your ammunition before you go down 😆
I always liked the Mauler when I played Mechwarrior 2 Mercs and Mechwarrior IV. I would put 8 ultra autocannon 2s on it, and 2 ER large lasers.
Excellent review on the Mauler. I really enjoyed the in depth background on the design and it's role in Battletech history.
As designs go, I was never a fan. While looking incredibly cool I saw mechs 20 tons lighter take it out. Even the venerable Archer (Marik variant) seemed to outperform it.
I was surprised that there never seemed to be a heavy PPC variant in honor of its inspiration, the Awesome.
Clan SmokeD Jaguar
An absolute beast.
Damn that cyclops went down in seconds 44:20
Kuritans have had such tremendous complexity and depth through out all the arcs... Michael J. Ciaravella has his work cut out for him. (uncle Chandy is my favorite Kurita) 🙂
I hope he had a legitimate and/or illegitimate kid somewhere. I was very sad when he died. :( He was one of the few Dracs from the royal family that knew the importance of economics and studying foreign cultures. He was Legends Thrawn if he was a noble spymaster instead of an Admiral and played the act of the jolly fool.
I’ve been looking for a mauler 1R to scavenge but these kuritan mechwarriors keep bringing the mx90. (Oh yeah )
Despite what some say, I love this mech. I actually have plenty of victories using this mech in MWO.
I like the Mauler despite its shortcomings too :)
I "Liberated" a 3R years ago in a campaign and it has been my personal mech since in pretty much every campaign.
Shrapnel Issue 15 has new lore on the Mauler, including the mysterious Cappelan Developed versions and it's odd duck proliferation at the time of the Clan Invasion
My mekhq merk unit has a Hoplite, I should see if I can get my hands on a Daboku as well 😅
There's some new information and variants for the Mauler in the latest Shrapnel and Rec Guide if you want to see the FedCom and later era variants of the Mauler
Yep! But this was made before that :)
I like to imagine some alternate universe where AC2s are good and this 'mech was a legitimate threat on the battlefield. The 1k is as close to that dream as we can get.
This thing is a 'mech customizer's dream, and my ride of choice in Mechwarrior 4. I always wondered if there was a variant that used LBX10s instead of the AC2s and MMLs instead of LRMs. Thanks for this, I always loved this design even though it's painfully, painfully flawed.
So many battlemechs could be fixed by just dropping a few weapons…. Drop 2 AC/2s and add ten tons of weapons and heat sinks….
You said it. Bad decisions are bad.
The Daboku having a faulty eject function is absolutely hilarious
I love that around 3050, most assault mech plants are said to be kicking out a half dozen or so mechs a year, but somehow the Combine spits out 300 Daboku seemingly over night.
Replace AC2s with LBX 20 and Ultra 20, keep the lrms, drop the large lasers for 4 medium lasers, add heatsinks and then armor. Now a proper assault mech.
LBX20X is too heavy when factoring in ammunition. Same with UAC20.
@@BigRed40TECH Not with the removal of the large lasers.
I saw this first on the cartoon (I assume it and the Awesome were the only IS Assaults because of limitations of the 3D technology at the time) and I think I first used it in MW4. I stripped the AC2s out for an LBX10 in my last one and uparmored it. I might have swapped the LRMs for SRMs as well; I like to brawl in the games.
So Takashi Kurita had "a series of mini-strokes"?
That's the gentlest euphemism for "being a bloodthirsty, warmongering tyrant" I've ever heard.
Oh, the warmongering tyrant is definitely still true.
The "Bad" moves, were as a response of his health.
- Has too little armor to tank fire and lead a breakthrough, nor is it fast enough to preform its role of fire support.
- Can't provide dedicated fire support through either ballistic nor missile, operating one of the least effective autocannons, the dreaded AC2.
- Crippling defects in manufacturing and core functionality.
- Plagued by bad reputation, poor decision making and political shenanigans.
So in essence, it was the stereotypical and sadistic recreation of the Bradly Wars.