Still to this day my favorite table top memory was taking my first turn, charging my Locust at my friend's Atlas, listening to him laugh. The dice rolls went like this. Machine gun, hit, critical, head, cockpit. The following five minutes taught me many new uses for the F word.
It reminds me of all the times said "brace yourself" when rolling the location of where a single lrm struck and get center torso crit. He gets real mad when I call it.
Was playing the BTA 3062 mod for the PC game and it started me off with one of the Mechs being a locust armed with nothing but a pair of LRM 5s and no Jump Jets. Ended up getting some clan salvage and swapped its armor for clan ferro fibrous and its LRM 5s for the lighter weight clan versions, which then let me use the saved tonnage to mount jump Jets and even up armor it a bit. Loved ripping into the backsides of bigger Mechs at range with that little bugger.
as someone who plays almost exclusively light combat vehicles in any wargame im allowed to do so, crazy and daring is how you survive when everyone else is heavier. its also waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy more fun to take out something way above your weightclass or just really piss them off
@@marsar1775 when you are under armored like the locust and the champion, the +3 movement modifier is your defense. It's just a little trickier for a 5/8 movement mech.
well when ya only got 4T of total armor at base ya got to be on something to happy run as one :P and ya that is basicly how i play my locuest when in mp in mw5 hehehe because i do run i tihnk the one veriant with 200km speed ya really can be crazy plus its so cheap i really cant argue their use.
It's not totally possible in tabletop, but this was my *favorite* mech in Mechwarrior 1 on PC. You're up against 4 BattleMasters. You run up fast as all heck, get behind them, and then sink every machine gun round into the legs at point-blank range. The BattleMaster couldn't target you at that close range, and you could run if one of the others in the lance tried. It's probably a cheap trick, and it didn't work with lighter mechs, but I knocked out anything over 80 tons with this back then. Just a fun story about why I love the Locust. :)
Did you play MPBT 3025 online on the GEnie network.? Back than 93 playing a 1000 player server was unheard of. We used Locusts called The Swarmers It cost us 2.99 a hour and no one else complained.. So many complain about 15 a month. 2.99 a hour and most of us played 15-20 hours a week.. I know at times I was hitting 300 a month during planetary assaults.
My first video was testing scenario play with a friend did a scouting objective game. My Lance consisted of a griffin for command and long range support a wasp a Phoenix hawk and locust. Had to scan 3 objectives and escape from garrison forces. Locust was the one I sent deep for the last two objectives. It had to run a gauntlet to get home but it took a kick from a shadow hawk lost a side torso but it didn't matter. Armor kept it alive and moving in one of the most intense games I've ever played. Won the day and it didn't fire a shot. Reason it is now my mech of choice for this kind of mission.
oh ya they can pull off some devishly good BS with scouting objectives. gauntlets? fuckem so many mechs ya cant count? eh nothing bit of challange dont hurt. VTOL? ok now we got problems. everything smol or turret based? food. and ya its just adrinalin junky grade madness im shure in world
This is my favorite mech in MWO. Theres nothing better than finding an assault mech that was left behind and slowly killing it while it helplessly turns back and forth to target you
I never thought much of the Locust. But one time, while playing HBS Battletech (modded), I was playing the mission where you get the Argo ship. And in the final fight, three of my lance goes down. All thats left is the boss (in a Thunderbolt?) and my green af pilot in a Locust with a single med laser. For some reason I decided to stick it out instead of restarting. That locust ran around that Heavy for close to a hour taking pot shots, narrowly escaping death every round, till the boss took that one final laser shot to the back center torso and exploded. That was the first time I ever saluted my computer screen lmao.
the Star league's Royal variant is pretty unique in the sense that it's one of the few mechs from that era that uses all 4 major weight saving technologies: XL engine, endo steel, ferro fibrous, and double HS at the same time
Mechwarrior 5 has a star league relic mech lct-1vb which can mount up to 9 small lasers. It's fast, can core mediums and heavies in a few shots from the back assuming the Armor spread is front heavy, and pretty much destroy most tanks, infantry and turrets and speed out. Mechs in this game also get an evasion bonus based on speed, making it fairly durable as well.
I remember doing a death from above with one once. Ran it off a cliff and onto the head of a Rifleman camped out below. Totalled my mech, and the Rifleman was taken out by a teammate the next round. :) (Tabletop in the early 90's)
XD when in rome, dont FUCK with a locust pilot just drinking, they likly are mearly on a weekend breack from madness before happly jymping back into the mess because they can live dirt cheap.
I reckon the most effective use of a Locust’s load-put potential is to give it maximum armour and arm it with lasers: lasers do the most damage per ton and Locusts won’t carry so many lasers that they would overheat the mech (at least with some care).
A tricked out Locust in something like HBS Battletech can EVISCERATE mechs 50 or 60 tons heavier than it. I forget the exact loadout, but it's damn near heat neutral and alpha strikes every other turn. It's like the mech equivalent to a velociraptor tbh. And considering how cheap they are in general, it would be entirely possible to loadout 2 full lances (love that compact quirk) with weapons for nearly any operation and still not break the bank.
I love using the pirates bane in MechWarrior 5. I've taken the pirates bane all by itself on 100 difficulty missions, (the most difficult) and come out on top
I've Always Enjoyed and appreciated the Locust. My friends that we played Mechwarrior combined with Battletech in the 90's to present, with found them laughable. So I threw 10 and 2 cicadas at them while they piloted their clan mechs of assorted medium to heavy Omni's. They stopped assuming 2 things that day. 1.) clan tech would guarantee an easy win, and 2.) never underestimate a mech you can't target. 12 movement on the map got the locusts from tree patch to tree patch to mountain cover till they had position and initiative. Pouncing they mauled the clanners before diving back into cover after receiving light return fire from out of position mechs. Then back to cover, till the clanners were finally able to catch groups of them and start picking them off enough that the rest had to flee for later harassing plots.
Possibly my all time favorite Battlemech. I have fond memories of a time I managed to pull an entire assault lance and it's two heavy escorts into a gully where I was able to use the elevation difference as cover as I circled them hitting them from different directions with the single large pulse I had mounted. In the meantime the rest of their forces were forced to fight a foe double their strength without assault Mechs handily winning the battle.
Just fr fun I decided to see if I could create a variant with jump jets--I had to increase the size to 25 tons IIRC, but it worked. Haven't playtested it in game yet, but my "Grasshopper" sure is cute! I put the jump jets in the legs, and I imagine it as looking like a standard Locust wearing metal legwarmers. Yeah, it's weird, but it works!
The absolute strangest thing about this mech is that it doesn’t have the “ubiquitous” quirk. Dude, it’s only the second or third most built mech in the Inner Sphere.
The only thing that I can imagine is that the rate of destruction for these little things all but requires that. That said you do find some rather silly stuff happening with these things so that if that is the reason I wouldn't have it any other way xD
i think the not ubiquitous part came from that Locusts are basically the mech that aspiring pilots repair/rebuild by themselves in the hangar, thus making every locusts unique with some pare parts aren't interchangable.
I've run a 1E Locust a few times and it's speed and firepower made us a huge problem for the opponents. When LRM platforms can't fire because a 1E is perpetually in its rear arc, you've not only tied up an asset, but prevented damage to your allies who may be approaching much slower. :)
Hello Red. The Locust has always been a favorite Mech design of mine. I have many versions of it for my personal Mercenary Unit. Both before, and after, being betrayed by House Liao during the 4th Succession War. Before, during the 3025 Era, my redesign of the Locust merely stripped off the MGs and ammo from the LCT-1V version. Replacing them with a Medium Laser in each arm. (for efficiency, I later moved the lasers to the left and right torsos). This was done previous to being betrayed by House Liao during the 4th Succession War, while the unit was still named the Star Lions Corps. When the 3050, 3055, and 3067 TROs were released, I created a much more efficient Locust, based upon the LCT-5M. (my version was originally named the LCT-XM10X, but later was redesignated as the LCT-5M-GL) The LCT-5M-GL (GL stands for Ghost Lions Legions) utilizes Endo, Ferro, a 200 series XL engine, has TSM, and mounts a single ER Small Laser in the head, and a single ER Large Laser in the Center Torso. The Mech has maximum armoring for its weight class. Is able to move at 10-15-0 (tabletop). If TSM is activated, the Mech can move at 11-17-0. A quick scan of the 'movement penalties' table will show you why this Mech was designed to be 20% faster than the original. With TSM activated, the GL Locust can run 15- 17 hexes, gaining a penalty against being hit of either +5 or +6. OR, it can move a total of 15 hexes and still be able to make two single hex side turns. This speed, if used correctly, can almost guarantee that the Mech can get behind any larger Mech and fire at its relatively thin rear armor. Should the Locust gain initiative, it can always get behind the 'enemy' to fire at its rear armor. Usually from a range that ensures a solid it upon the foe. The Mech is best used in 'swarms' of between 4 and 8 Locusts of this design. Against a Heavy or Assault Lance, 12 to 14 Locusts can assure victory. Yes, a few will be destroyed, and a couple disabled, but the Locusts will always win. Cost-wise, the loss of a few Locusts, even ones as expensive as the LCT-5M-GL, are minor in comparison to the loss of so much 'heavy metal'. Tonnage wise, the balance is even further tipped in the Locust's favor. And before you scream about BV, I can field a total of EIGHT in a 6,000 point game, since the LCT-5M-GL 'only' costs 750 BV. As for C-Bill values... a single Mad Cat costs over 24 million C-Bills. The LCT-5M-GL costs 2,877,500. Simple division shows that one can buy 8.42 Locusts for the cost of ONE Mad Cat. Fast, deadly, hunts in swarms, efficient, and 'cheap'... you can see why my old Playing Group hated the design, and ended up 'banning' it. Not because it was 'illegal' in any way, shape, or form... but because they could not defeat it, nor combat it effectively.
Easily the mech I use most. I adore this mech. Especially the clan 2C version&the 300ph variant that carries only a single small laser. I love the speed.
The Locust is perfect for what it is designed for. Its fast and cheap. I wouldnt really want to drive one though. I prefer a Jenner for better armor, firepower and addition of jump jets.
The Locust is very fast, deadly enough to punch up with artillery support, and effective at scouting, recon, and raiding. It isn’t a straight-up fighter, but nothing short of an assault ‘mech is, when you’re employing them properly. In my experience they’re so fast you can ram it into the back of ‘mechs ten times its size and be too evasive to hit, even at point blank, and run all the way back out of effective range or behind a hill so that the artillery it was spotting for can rain down with impunity.
Locusts can make a deceptively fierce mobile battery, especially in a mixed lance. Throw in a Raven with Guardian ECM, Beagle and TAG system to make them pinpoint-accurate and almost untouchable. Add a medium to act as bodyguard, and suddenly you have an artillery barrage that that's nearly impossible to nail down and can kneecap anything walking with laser focus.
The 'new' visuals for the Locust made me dig up my old GURPS Vehicles and GURPS Mecha books to work on creating a complete set of Mecha weaponry and Battle Mecha for a game I'll never play.
Totally underestimated and a lot better than most people think :-) there's a reason it lasted so long....I like to mass them to harry larger mech whilst your bigger mechs come to bare....great overview :-)
2 ML and 2 SL, covered in 4 tons of armor and running at 129kmh, for only 1 and a half million c-bills is nothing short of incredible. The locust in my opinion is the greatest scout mech hunter in the game. Yes, pocket terrorists like the Javelin and Jenner will trash it, but again, for 1.5 millions this is one of the most cost effective machines in the entirety of battletech. It's a dependable, easy to maintain, readily available strategic asset.
I know that the mechs, especially the 3025 mechs, were deliberately constructed to be sub-optimal. As my gaming has evolved into role-playing, this has become less of a problem. Still, I have to wonder at the choice of 200 rounds for machine guns on such a light mech... hah. I know, the rules didn't allow for half-tons of ammo, back when it was designed. But my favourite Locust (which I call the Locus) - minus armour mods - is just replacing the 2MG with 4 Small Lasers - is my favourite "sting the unprepared enemy" version. Good video!
My fave config upgrade was an endo steel with MASC and an er medium laser with 4 er small lasers and double heat sinks. It was one hell of a drive by mugger
This one, this is the mech which got me hooked to MW5, before it I have been using the Centurion and even everyone's favourite Urbanmech, but there was this mission were I had gone overtonnage, so I said to myself, what the hell, and decided to use a lokhust. Man, the moment I accelerate to attack speed I could fill that thrill which has become more and more difficult to get in these days of have-seen-it-all, and when the machine guns started roaring, spitting death towards my enemies, yes, this is how it's suppose to be, it was like you have become lightning, unchained and free. to unleash havoc upon the enemy.
Playing battletech on PC I remember fitting one with 2 med and 2 small lazors and as much armor as I could fit on it. This began its rain of terror over another friends lances as he never could make the decision to target it, or ignore it. On its own it was a good platform for scouting and with the right pilot, pinging enemy lance's. Its fire power is nothing to write home about until the target ignores it. Then it'll burn through normally weaker rear armor. I've had a pair of these bring down assault mechs. Even after DLC's brought in the raven and another with target baffles(right the Flea), my friend has a personal hated spot just for my Locust I called the Biting Locust. Because I never put anything in its 'arms' this allowed me to use their structure as more armor. Allowing it to even tank AC20 rounds with no drop in performance (unless they hit it in the legs >.
There is nothing quite like watching a Locust make four piloting checks to get across a number of buildings Mario hoping style to then High Jump Kick a King Crab for a total of two damage, and then watch it fall because of a damaged gyro. Glorious moment.
My favorite custo use of the Locust is as a NARC mech that's also equipped with Flamers. The idea is to mark a target with NARC for some LRM missile boats (like a Catapult or Archer). Then use the flamers to hopefully overheat and shutdown an enemy mech. It's all about making the missile boats job easier.
@@BigRed40TECH i get the feeling that wasp's, stinger's and locust's are so common that you might stumble arcoss one in grandpa's old barn in a bachwater Planet 😅
@@furikuri6585 you do have to worry about maximum armour for chassis though, so I think you can get another ton plus heat sinks to deal with the 4 mediums :-) but yep great mech if not a bit odd looking :-)
This is probably my favorite mech of all time. It’s fast, maybe undergunned and also soooo good looking. Back in the day when I still played MWO I had a blast with this mech, getting 400-600 Danage Matches on a regular basis. Just stay away from streaks . I mean who could harm this cute little mech ? Only a monster.
A quite versatile Mech. Also one that takes either a lucky or clever pilot to get the full use out of. It's my opinion that next to Wasp and Stingers, the Locust is the Mech most likely found in every force around. From private security forces to Bandits commands. It's also not a Mech (in my opinion) for new players to begin with.
agreed, having played mw5 heavly its deffintly not friendly to beginners hell its not even intermediate its for thoes who have done a bit into heavy and learned tactics of most mechs to even start.
It's good to put a spotlight on something other than the biggest, baddest machines. Something to point out is low firepower isn't bad if you know what your enemy should be. A single medium laser is an imminent threat to any vehicle that isn't well armored, like artillery, missile carriers, and supply vehicles. Machine guns do good work against infantry which in numbers can be a big threat. Put that on a cheap, highly mobile package and you have an easily deployable and capable saboteur.
I love my 5M in MWO. It goes 165 kph, carries 5 medium lasers and enough armor to take some hits plus 2 AMS....I also named it Dingleberry and painted it blue as an injoke I double anyone would get unless they played a particular group of killing floor servers back in the day.
Use them on the flanks. Try to keep some terrain between it and your opponent's mechs and try to get in behind after they have moved. If you can get directly behind them at short range, you can fire everything and also get a kick attack as well, which will force a Piloting Skill Roll if it connects. Since the armor isn't that much, you need to keep your speed up in order to avoid enemy fire instead of standing still to try and finish off a downed opponent. Since it's got more than enough heat sinks to handle it's weapons and movement, there's no reason to hold back with your shooting. Even if you're only going to hit on a 12, go for it and take the shot!
When i have a Locust 1V in the Battletech VG the one thing i always try to do is to switch out the MG's for a pair of small lasers and also add a ton of armor, that way it's not only better protected (at least a little bit) and there's no problems with either running out of ammo or it exploding . A pity that i can't do that in MW5 though.
Check the workshop. I'm running a mod that lets you put energy weapons in ballistic slots, and vice versa. Makes for a greater creative approach when building your mechs!
Always preferred the basic model over the assorted variants mgs and laser all you need, its not supposed to fight anything other than PBI unit's and the odd other recon unit.
I need to try something with the 1M, swap out one of the LRM5 and put in an SRM on it. See if it can do any better up close and personal on heavier 'mechs. If the 1V variant runs around with MGs going constantly being a nuisance, then I want to see how much armor will get deleted with an SRM on it in a similar fashion.
And lets not forget in combined arms they can close and squish those filthy ground pounders or, if like me you like BBQ, you can switch in a couple of flamers for the MGs. Toasty!
Headcanon is it's this mech why infantry plays little role in Mechwarrior. Basically everyone has it avaliable and it`s a nightmare to face for the common trooper. Forget the Awesome, this thing comes in close and personal, is faster than anything and would take its time to kill you specifically. A heavy or assault has bigger fish to fry, a locus might just take the time to quickly kill your squad...
I wish we had a Battletech or MechWarrior game that had lore-friendly scenarios. Rare mechs, lots of infantry, technicals, tanks, and aircraft. In the setting, mechs are usable on rough terrain and are great for their versatility, but you get most stuff done with vehicles, aerospace, and infantry due to availability and cost.
Never been a fan of the Locust or any other 20 ton light mech tbh. I've found that generally 35 ton light mechs can do the same job just aswell while offering more firepower and/or survivability.
I'm new to battletech and currently reading Grey death legion book 2 and wondering why mechs don't have air conditioner in cockpit :D they always seem to overheat
@@BigRed40TECH well there is life support which would have 'air conditioning' as it is a sealed environment with recirculating air etc but the vests would be more efficient (funny how they came up with the concept all those decades ago and there is research into elite sport showing it is sort of on the money). One of the early novels mentions something about the air flow/recirc, I remember it cause it made me think of those old dash mounted fans you would see in trucks occasionally (and less so cars). Oh back on point, yeah as the reactor got hotter and the mech got hotter, even though the delta t for cockpit air would increase it would be harder and harder to sink it using what we see as air con (phase change?) as all the air around the mech would become super hot. I guess what I was saying is just find a lake and stand in it. Kinda like a old person on a hot summer day.
These things show up all the time in the battletech video game... some pirate groups will run 4-8 of them and nothing else. And when you are fielding medium, and even heavies... they just get out classed so badly. speed is one thing, but when a 60 ton dragon can get into melee range with them... and even blackjacks rip them apart with their "light" armament. Though thats nothing, when they come around the courner to find a King Crab with 2x UAC-20's, that had been hidden by a ravens ECM field... hit the left leg... damage transfer... hit the right leg... damage transfer... target destroyed as its 2 little arms, and head fall to the ground. everything else destroyed.
Thing is that's a battletech clusterfuck of a game that does not allow scout mechs to fully utilize their speed to mitigate hitchance %, as arrows of evasion are not exponential and there is not enough of them even with mods limiting locust to EVA almost on par with what some heavies can achive and without anything remotly fair like % modificator for SIZE of frames, and even if, you can still bypass all evasion with melee and handfuck 129km/h locust at full speed with an 35km/h assault that was stationary...while in reality you would not get into melee range with Locust almost EVER. In this regards MW5 is much more relistic game -.- And no shit you outclass 20t mech with mediums and havies which are of heavier class... that all is suppose to show locust is crap?
@@DeepInsideZettaiRyouiki Huh? table top, i've seen locusts end up in melee range all the time. heck i've seen an urban mech DFA a locust. In the table top. And no, the point is, the locust is "ok" but its still only a 20 ton mech. and they don't last long in combat. they suffer from the "Destroyer life expectancy". In ww2, tin can destroyers, were small, fast, used for screening, anti-sub, and anti-air duties... but if a big ship even looked at them they would vanish. And if all you are fielding is... locusts... well they vanish quickly when they run into anything with armor and firepower.
@@SimonAshworthWood yep. course the FUNNIEST thing i ever saw was a locust run straight through an LRM minefield. lose both legs "falling" sliding down through another minefield... and coming to a stop 1 hex from an atlas. Can just picture that as the legs being blown clean off the body falling and landing on the street and sliding up to the atlas... Only thing that would have made that perfect would be if the atlas kicked the locust like a soccer ball sending it back to its own lines.
The Lrm locusts would be pretty great for any commander with there speed they can get within harassment range hit with the missiles and fade I can imagine a lance of them would be an effective long range team that could use leap frog tactics to keep fire with one 2 man team while the other team prepositions. Playing the worst game of monkey in the middle.
None of the games, MechWarrior, MechCommander, Battletech, etc.. None of them really do recon properly. Locusts are always front line units in the earliest and easiest missions and skirmishes piloted by fresh green recruits who have no idea how to avoid death. Furthermore you almost always know exactly what the objective is and where it is without recon.
Still to this day my favorite table top memory was taking my first turn, charging my Locust at my friend's Atlas, listening to him laugh. The dice rolls went like this. Machine gun, hit, critical, head, cockpit. The following five minutes taught me many new uses for the F word.
Haha! Like a tactical nuke hunting for jiffy pop.
"Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're getting closer?"
"I can't kill your pilot without getting closer."
It reminds me of all the times said "brace yourself" when rolling the location of where a single lrm struck and get center torso crit. He gets real mad when I call it.
Was playing the BTA 3062 mod for the PC game and it started me off with one of the Mechs being a locust armed with nothing but a pair of LRM 5s and no Jump Jets. Ended up getting some clan salvage and swapped its armor for clan ferro fibrous and its LRM 5s for the lighter weight clan versions, which then let me use the saved tonnage to mount jump Jets and even up armor it a bit. Loved ripping into the backsides of bigger Mechs at range with that little bugger.
Wait so had you already stripped the head armor? If my head armor was down there is no universe where I'm not absolutely horrified dude.
You forgot to mention to mention that many in the bt universe consider locust pilots to be crazy and prone to do daring actions.
To quote the 3025 tech readout: "WOOP WOOP WOOP!!!"
as someone who plays almost exclusively light combat vehicles in any wargame im allowed to do so, crazy and daring is how you survive when everyone else is heavier.
its also waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy more fun to take out something way above your weightclass or just really piss them off
@@marsar1775 when you are under armored like the locust and the champion, the +3 movement modifier is your defense. It's just a little trickier for a 5/8 movement mech.
well when ya only got 4T of total armor at base ya got to be on something to happy run as one :P and ya that is basicly how i play my locuest when in mp in mw5 hehehe because i do run i tihnk the one veriant with 200km speed ya really can be crazy plus its so cheap i really cant argue their use.
when your in a locust go big or punch out
The image of the Locust stomping on the cockpit of a fallen mech in the Crecent Hawks Inception has stuck with me for 30 some years.
Ah the lightbulb on legs. It crunches so nicely under my Highlander.
It's not totally possible in tabletop, but this was my *favorite* mech in Mechwarrior 1 on PC. You're up against 4 BattleMasters. You run up fast as all heck, get behind them, and then sink every machine gun round into the legs at point-blank range. The BattleMaster couldn't target you at that close range, and you could run if one of the others in the lance tried. It's probably a cheap trick, and it didn't work with lighter mechs, but I knocked out anything over 80 tons with this back then. Just a fun story about why I love the Locust. :)
Dude never even ran to the rear. They could not target you so just run straight at them.
Did you play MPBT 3025 online on the GEnie network.?
Back than 93 playing a 1000 player server was unheard of.
We used Locusts called The Swarmers
It cost us 2.99 a hour and no one else complained..
So many complain about 15 a month.
2.99 a hour and most of us played 15-20 hours a week..
I know at times I was hitting 300 a month during planetary assaults.
A literal ankle biter there
equip the locust with a targetting computer and you can totally pick the legs out in tabletop
A love letter to butt munching.
My first video was testing scenario play with a friend did a scouting objective game. My Lance consisted of a griffin for command and long range support a wasp a Phoenix hawk and locust. Had to scan 3 objectives and escape from garrison forces. Locust was the one I sent deep for the last two objectives. It had to run a gauntlet to get home but it took a kick from a shadow hawk lost a side torso but it didn't matter. Armor kept it alive and moving in one of the most intense games I've ever played. Won the day and it didn't fire a shot. Reason it is now my mech of choice for this kind of mission.
oh ya they can pull off some devishly good BS with scouting objectives. gauntlets? fuckem so many mechs ya cant count? eh nothing bit of challange dont hurt. VTOL? ok now we got problems. everything smol or turret based? food. and ya its just adrinalin junky grade madness im shure in world
This is my favorite mech in MWO. Theres nothing better than finding an assault mech that was left behind and slowly killing it while it helplessly turns back and forth to target you
I never thought much of the Locust. But one time, while playing HBS Battletech (modded), I was playing the mission where you get the Argo ship. And in the final fight, three of my lance goes down. All thats left is the boss (in a Thunderbolt?) and my green af pilot in a Locust with a single med laser. For some reason I decided to stick it out instead of restarting. That locust ran around that Heavy for close to a hour taking pot shots, narrowly escaping death every round, till the boss took that one final laser shot to the back center torso and exploded.
That was the first time I ever saluted my computer screen lmao.
the Star league's Royal variant is pretty unique in the sense that it's one of the few mechs from that era that uses all 4 major weight saving technologies: XL engine, endo steel, ferro fibrous, and double HS at the same time
Mechwarrior 5 has a star league relic mech lct-1vb which can mount up to 9 small lasers. It's fast, can core mediums and heavies in a few shots from the back assuming the Armor spread is front heavy, and pretty much destroy most tanks, infantry and turrets and speed out. Mechs in this game also get an evasion bonus based on speed, making it fairly durable as well.
I remember doing a death from above with one once. Ran it off a cliff and onto the head of a Rifleman camped out below. Totalled my mech, and the Rifleman was taken out by a teammate the next round. :)
(Tabletop in the early 90's)
XD when in rome, dont FUCK with a locust pilot just drinking, they likly are mearly on a weekend breack from madness before happly jymping back into the mess because they can live dirt cheap.
I reckon the most effective use of a Locust’s load-put potential is to give it maximum armour and arm it with lasers: lasers do the most damage per ton and Locusts won’t carry so many lasers that they would overheat the mech (at least with some care).
A tricked out Locust in something like HBS Battletech can EVISCERATE mechs 50 or 60 tons heavier than it. I forget the exact loadout, but it's damn near heat neutral and alpha strikes every other turn. It's like the mech equivalent to a velociraptor tbh.
And considering how cheap they are in general, it would be entirely possible to loadout 2 full lances (love that compact quirk) with weapons for nearly any operation and still not break the bank.
The pirate's bane is an amazing setup which gives this speedy mech fire power and an ecm suite to make it a nightmare to rear armor!
I throw Stealth armor on mine and then run around shooting the rear armor of Atlases... and telling my teammates "I touched the butt."
I love using the pirates bane in MechWarrior 5. I've taken the pirates bane all by itself on 100 difficulty missions, (the most difficult) and come out on top
I've Always Enjoyed and appreciated the Locust. My friends that we played Mechwarrior combined with Battletech in the 90's to present, with found them laughable. So I threw 10 and 2 cicadas at them while they piloted their clan mechs of assorted medium to heavy Omni's. They stopped assuming 2 things that day. 1.) clan tech would guarantee an easy win, and 2.) never underestimate a mech you can't target. 12 movement on the map got the locusts from tree patch to tree patch to mountain cover till they had position and initiative. Pouncing they mauled the clanners before diving back into cover after receiving light return fire from out of position mechs. Then back to cover, till the clanners were finally able to catch groups of them and start picking them off enough that the rest had to flee for later harassing plots.
Possibly my all time favorite Battlemech. I have fond memories of a time I managed to pull an entire assault lance and it's two heavy escorts into a gully where I was able to use the elevation difference as cover as I circled them hitting them from different directions with the single large pulse I had mounted. In the meantime the rest of their forces were forced to fight a foe double their strength without assault Mechs handily winning the battle.
One of the quirks of the locust is its compactness which allows two locusts to be transported in one mech at on a Dropship.
Just fr fun I decided to see if I could create a variant with jump jets--I had to increase the size to 25 tons IIRC, but it worked. Haven't playtested it in game yet, but my "Grasshopper" sure is cute!
I put the jump jets in the legs, and I imagine it as looking like a standard Locust wearing metal legwarmers. Yeah, it's weird, but it works!
The Locust, the only light mech I have just wish there where more sculpture of it.
It's such an incredible little mech. I expect to see new sculpts for it in either the new Alpha Strike Box, or in another set that comes out. :)
The absolute strangest thing about this mech is that it doesn’t have the “ubiquitous” quirk. Dude, it’s only the second or third most built mech in the Inner Sphere.
The only thing that I can imagine is that the rate of destruction for these little things all but requires that. That said you do find some rather silly stuff happening with these things so that if that is the reason I wouldn't have it any other way xD
i think the not ubiquitous part came from that Locusts are basically the mech that aspiring pilots repair/rebuild by themselves in the hangar, thus making every locusts unique with some pare parts aren't interchangable.
I've run a 1E Locust a few times and it's speed and firepower made us a huge problem for the opponents. When LRM platforms can't fire because a 1E is perpetually in its rear arc, you've not only tied up an asset, but prevented damage to your allies who may be approaching much slower. :)
Hands down the best spotter for LRMs. It can run and gun, while keeping laser targeting for indirect fire from a missile boat.
I love the locust for LLRP and anti-infantry missions. Just KEEP MOVING! :-)
Rapid fire MGs make this considerably more nasty an opponent, but agreed that it isnt really meant to fight other mechs
It’s best used to deal with Non mech threats: Turrets, Tanks, VTOL’s and Artillery Emplacements
Hello Red.
The Locust has always been a favorite Mech design of mine.
I have many versions of it for my personal Mercenary Unit. Both before, and after, being betrayed by House Liao during the 4th Succession War.
Before, during the 3025 Era, my redesign of the Locust merely stripped off the MGs and ammo from the LCT-1V version. Replacing them with a Medium Laser in each arm. (for efficiency, I later moved the lasers to the left and right torsos).
This was done previous to being betrayed by House Liao during the 4th Succession War, while the unit was still named the Star Lions Corps.
When the 3050, 3055, and 3067 TROs were released, I created a much more efficient Locust, based upon the LCT-5M. (my version was originally named the LCT-XM10X, but later was redesignated as the LCT-5M-GL)
The LCT-5M-GL (GL stands for Ghost Lions Legions) utilizes Endo, Ferro, a 200 series XL engine, has TSM, and mounts a single ER Small Laser in the head, and a single ER Large Laser in the Center Torso.
The Mech has maximum armoring for its weight class. Is able to move at 10-15-0 (tabletop). If TSM is activated, the Mech can move at 11-17-0. A quick scan of the 'movement penalties' table will show you why this Mech was designed to be 20% faster than the original.
With TSM activated, the GL Locust can run 15- 17 hexes, gaining a penalty against being hit of either +5 or +6. OR, it can move a total of 15 hexes and still be able to make two single hex side turns. This speed, if used correctly, can almost guarantee that the Mech can get behind any larger Mech and fire at its relatively thin rear armor.
Should the Locust gain initiative, it can always get behind the 'enemy' to fire at its rear armor. Usually from a range that ensures a solid it upon the foe.
The Mech is best used in 'swarms' of between 4 and 8 Locusts of this design. Against a Heavy or Assault Lance, 12 to 14 Locusts can assure victory. Yes, a few will be destroyed, and a couple disabled, but the Locusts will always win. Cost-wise, the loss of a few Locusts, even ones as expensive as the LCT-5M-GL, are minor in comparison to the loss of so much 'heavy metal'. Tonnage wise, the balance is even further tipped in the Locust's favor.
And before you scream about BV, I can field a total of EIGHT in a 6,000 point game, since the LCT-5M-GL 'only' costs 750 BV. As for C-Bill values... a single Mad Cat costs over 24 million C-Bills. The LCT-5M-GL costs 2,877,500. Simple division shows that one can buy 8.42 Locusts for the cost of ONE Mad Cat.
Fast, deadly, hunts in swarms, efficient, and 'cheap'... you can see why my old Playing Group hated the design, and ended up 'banning' it. Not because it was 'illegal' in any way, shape, or form... but because they could not defeat it, nor combat it effectively.
Easily the mech I use most. I adore this mech. Especially the clan 2C version&the 300ph variant that carries only a single small laser.
I love the speed.
The Locust is perfect for what it is designed for. Its fast and cheap. I wouldnt really want to drive one though. I prefer a Jenner for better armor, firepower and addition of jump jets.
The Locust is very fast, deadly enough to punch up with artillery support, and effective at scouting, recon, and raiding. It isn’t a straight-up fighter, but nothing short of an assault ‘mech is, when you’re employing them properly. In my experience they’re so fast you can ram it into the back of ‘mechs ten times its size and be too evasive to hit, even at point blank, and run all the way back out of effective range or behind a hill so that the artillery it was spotting for can rain down with impunity.
They're very effective even outside of combined arms, you just can't use them brazenly. Terrain is the king of Battletech.
I have nostalgic love for the Locust from the cover of Crescent Hawks’ Inception
Locusts can make a deceptively fierce mobile battery, especially in a mixed lance. Throw in a Raven with Guardian ECM, Beagle and TAG system to make them pinpoint-accurate and almost untouchable. Add a medium to act as bodyguard, and suddenly you have an artillery barrage that that's nearly impossible to nail down and can kneecap anything walking with laser focus.
The 'new' visuals for the Locust made me dig up my old GURPS Vehicles and GURPS Mecha books to work on creating a complete set of Mecha weaponry and Battle Mecha for a game I'll never play.
Dame I will have to watch this after work but at least I have something to looks forward to
Totally underestimated and a lot better than most people think :-) there's a reason it lasted so long....I like to mass them to harry larger mech whilst your bigger mechs come to bare....great overview :-)
the mech equivalent of a TIE fighter, Speed Is Life!!!
I haven't played the table top but atleast in the videogames especially MechWarrior online I love the Locust
2 ML and 2 SL, covered in 4 tons of armor and running at 129kmh, for only 1 and a half million c-bills is nothing short of incredible.
The locust in my opinion is the greatest scout mech hunter in the game. Yes, pocket terrorists like the Javelin and Jenner will trash it, but again, for 1.5 millions this is one of the most cost effective machines in the entirety of battletech.
It's a dependable, easy to maintain, readily available strategic asset.
I know that the mechs, especially the 3025 mechs, were deliberately constructed to be sub-optimal. As my gaming has evolved into role-playing, this has become less of a problem. Still, I have to wonder at the choice of 200 rounds for machine guns on such a light mech... hah. I know, the rules didn't allow for half-tons of ammo, back when it was designed. But my favourite Locust (which I call the Locus) - minus armour mods - is just replacing the 2MG with 4 Small Lasers - is my favourite "sting the unprepared enemy" version. Good video!
It can operate for longer periods of time with that much ammo tbh.
My fave config upgrade was an endo steel with MASC and an er medium laser with 4 er small lasers and double heat sinks. It was one hell of a drive by mugger
This one, this is the mech which got me hooked to MW5, before it I have been using the Centurion and even everyone's favourite Urbanmech, but there was this mission were I had gone overtonnage, so I said to myself, what the hell, and decided to use a lokhust.
Man, the moment I accelerate to attack speed I could fill that thrill which has become more and more difficult to get in these days of have-seen-it-all, and when the machine guns started roaring, spitting death towards my enemies, yes, this is how it's suppose to be, it was like you have become lightning, unchained and free. to unleash havoc upon the enemy.
Playing battletech on PC I remember fitting one with 2 med and 2 small lazors and as much armor as I could fit on it. This began its rain of terror over another friends lances as he never could make the decision to target it, or ignore it.
On its own it was a good platform for scouting and with the right pilot, pinging enemy lance's. Its fire power is nothing to write home about until the target ignores it. Then it'll burn through normally weaker rear armor. I've had a pair of these bring down assault mechs. Even after DLC's brought in the raven and another with target baffles(right the Flea), my friend has a personal hated spot just for my Locust I called the Biting Locust.
Because I never put anything in its 'arms' this allowed me to use their structure as more armor. Allowing it to even tank AC20 rounds with no drop in performance (unless they hit it in the legs >.
😂
There is nothing quite like watching a Locust make four piloting checks to get across a number of buildings Mario hoping style to then High Jump Kick a King Crab for a total of two damage, and then watch it fall because of a damaged gyro.
Glorious moment.
My favorite custo use of the Locust is as a NARC mech that's also equipped with Flamers.
The idea is to mark a target with NARC for some LRM missile boats (like a Catapult or Archer). Then use the flamers to hopefully overheat and shutdown an enemy mech. It's all about making the missile boats job easier.
#angry chirping locust noises... Can't wait for the clip about the jenner with the 7ton armor Version 😅
The fury of its chirping shall be a reign of terror upon the Inner Sphere!
@@BigRed40TECH i get the feeling that wasp's, stinger's and locust's are so common that you might stumble arcoss one in grandpa's old barn in a bachwater Planet 😅
Jenner is my favourite of the old light mechs....brilliant especially if you rip out the srm...its pointless and can only lead to ammo explosions :-)
@@lukedudley5030 yep, that's the one i meant: JR7-F... Instead of the srm and ammo 3tons more Armor wich should add up to 7tons in this little rascal
@@furikuri6585 you do have to worry about maximum armour for chassis though, so I think you can get another ton plus heat sinks to deal with the 4 mediums :-) but yep great mech if not a bit odd looking :-)
Great mech. Especially when paired with an LRM boat or when dealing with infantry.
Hey!
@@dobber2905 LOL. Hello!
This is probably my favorite mech of all time. It’s fast, maybe undergunned and also soooo good looking. Back in the day when I still played MWO I had a blast with this mech, getting 400-600 Danage Matches on a regular basis. Just stay away from streaks . I mean who could harm this cute little mech ? Only a monster.
A quite versatile Mech. Also one that takes either a lucky or clever pilot to get the full use out of. It's my opinion that next to Wasp and Stingers, the Locust is the Mech most likely found in every force around. From private security forces to Bandits commands. It's also not a Mech (in my opinion) for new players to begin with.
agreed, having played mw5 heavly its deffintly not friendly to beginners hell its not even intermediate its for thoes who have done a bit into heavy and learned tactics of most mechs to even start.
It's good to put a spotlight on something other than the biggest, baddest machines. Something to point out is low firepower isn't bad if you know what your enemy should be. A single medium laser is an imminent threat to any vehicle that isn't well armored, like artillery, missile carriers, and supply vehicles. Machine guns do good work against infantry which in numbers can be a big threat. Put that on a cheap, highly mobile package and you have an easily deployable and capable saboteur.
And a great distraction, or back attack.
Hunchbacks beware, you're in for a scare. lol
I love my 5M in MWO. It goes 165 kph, carries 5 medium lasers and enough armor to take some hits plus 2 AMS....I also named it Dingleberry and painted it blue as an injoke I double anyone would get unless they played a particular group of killing floor servers back in the day.
Second only to the Firestarter thank you very much!
Firestarter is a BEAST.
I have always loved the Locust. It is much more fun to take part in TTRPG sessions using a light mech.
Yeah, I gotta learn how to use the Locust better in Battletech. I run them out front too often and they get smooshed haha
Use them on the flanks. Try to keep some terrain between it and your opponent's mechs and try to get in behind after they have moved. If you can get directly behind them at short range, you can fire everything and also get a kick attack as well, which will force a Piloting Skill Roll if it connects. Since the armor isn't that much, you need to keep your speed up in order to avoid enemy fire instead of standing still to try and finish off a downed opponent. Since it's got more than enough heat sinks to handle it's weapons and movement, there's no reason to hold back with your shooting. Even if you're only going to hit on a 12, go for it and take the shot!
The weights of all these mechs are understated, they should be about 50 % heavier.
If not four times. Check how heavy tank is and compare its size to light locust...and remember tank is almost hollow.
If it's small, annoying, and scurrying around your mech legs, THEN it's a Locust^^.
When i have a Locust 1V in the Battletech VG the one thing i always try to do is to switch out the MG's for a pair of small lasers and also add a ton of armor, that way it's not only better protected (at least a little bit) and there's no problems with either running out of ammo or it exploding . A pity that i can't do that in MW5 though.
Check the workshop. I'm running a mod that lets you put energy weapons in ballistic slots, and vice versa. Makes for a greater creative approach when building your mechs!
Always preferred the basic model over the assorted variants mgs and laser all you need, its not supposed to fight anything other than PBI unit's and the odd other recon unit.
I need to try something with the 1M, swap out one of the LRM5 and put in an SRM on it. See if it can do any better up close and personal on heavier 'mechs. If the 1V variant runs around with MGs going constantly being a nuisance, then I want to see how much armor will get deleted with an SRM on it in a similar fashion.
The -1S version does that better tho. And has at least enough armor to stand up to another Bug Mech sneezing on it.
And lets not forget in combined arms they can close and squish those filthy ground pounders or, if like me you like BBQ, you can switch in a couple of flamers for the MGs. Toasty!
Headcanon is it's this mech why infantry plays little role in Mechwarrior. Basically everyone has it avaliable and it`s a nightmare to face for the common trooper. Forget the Awesome, this thing comes in close and personal, is faster than anything and would take its time to kill you specifically. A heavy or assault has bigger fish to fry, a locus might just take the time to quickly kill your squad...
I wish we had a Battletech or MechWarrior game that had lore-friendly scenarios. Rare mechs, lots of infantry, technicals, tanks, and aircraft.
In the setting, mechs are usable on rough terrain and are great for their versatility, but you get most stuff done with vehicles, aerospace, and infantry due to availability and cost.
Assault and heavy mechs to the locust in MWO: why you bully me!
Do not underestimate this little fella! It will become a nightmare if uncheck on the battlefield.
The Mightiest Mech of them ALL bow before THE LOCUST
No. We only bow to its antithesis, the URBANMECH
It may be the Locust, but it's the VW Beetle of Battletech.
My mercenary starter lance: 2 locusts, 1 panther, 1 valkyrie. Locusts run around and annoy, the others close in for the kill
In MW5 I have a Locust with an AC2/BF.
I called it Mr. Happy!!😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆
I use the LCT-3S variant with the two LRM5s and the slightly better armor all the time as a harasser. My friend hates it. Lol 😆
Even the LCT-1M has twin LRM 5's. It's pretty awesome too, if you're in the Succession Wars.
The one with SRMs is a hilarious mini shotgun too
@@Funkin_Disher The 1S variant, yea, its a blast. :D
load a few LCT-3S up with Thunder LRM missiles and see how the leg armor of the other mecha fair.
Love the locust
Never been a fan of the Locust or any other 20 ton light mech tbh. I've found that generally 35 ton light mechs can do the same job just aswell while offering more firepower and/or survivability.
I always felt the lack of jump jets was a bad idea. Without jump jets the locust can be cornered and a cornered locust is a dead one.
Experienced Locust pilots are crazy but not stupid. They would never engage without a plan to quickly leave.
I'm new to battletech and currently reading Grey death legion book 2 and wondering why mechs don't have air conditioner in cockpit :D they always seem to overheat
It's too hot for air conditiong. They're sitting on top of a nuclear reactor lol
@@BigRed40TECH well there is life support which would have 'air conditioning' as it is a sealed environment with recirculating air etc but the vests would be more efficient (funny how they came up with the concept all those decades ago and there is research into elite sport showing it is sort of on the money). One of the early novels mentions something about the air flow/recirc, I remember it cause it made me think of those old dash mounted fans you would see in trucks occasionally (and less so cars).
Oh back on point, yeah as the reactor got hotter and the mech got hotter, even though the delta t for cockpit air would increase it would be harder and harder to sink it using what we see as air con (phase change?) as all the air around the mech would become super hot. I guess what I was saying is just find a lake and stand in it. Kinda like a old person on a hot summer day.
speed is it's array of MG running into a base to destroy while all the mechs and tanks only noticing the heavy mechs attacking towards them.
I love the little bugger in campaign settings for its Compact Mech trait. Got two empty Mech Bays and six mil C-Bills? You got a recon lance.
These things show up all the time in the battletech video game... some pirate groups will run 4-8 of them and nothing else. And when you are fielding medium, and even heavies... they just get out classed so badly. speed is one thing, but when a 60 ton dragon can get into melee range with them...
and even blackjacks rip them apart with their "light" armament. Though thats nothing, when they come around the courner to find a King Crab with 2x UAC-20's, that had been hidden by a ravens ECM field... hit the left leg... damage transfer... hit the right leg... damage transfer... target destroyed as its 2 little arms, and head fall to the ground. everything else destroyed.
Thing is that's a battletech clusterfuck of a game that does not allow scout mechs to fully utilize their speed to mitigate hitchance %, as arrows of evasion are not exponential and there is not enough of them even with mods limiting locust to EVA almost on par with what some heavies can achive and without anything remotly fair like % modificator for SIZE of frames, and even if, you can still bypass all evasion with melee and handfuck 129km/h locust at full speed with an 35km/h assault that was stationary...while in reality you would not get into melee range with Locust almost EVER. In this regards MW5 is much more relistic game -.-
And no shit you outclass 20t mech with mediums and havies which are of heavier class... that all is suppose to show locust is crap?
@@DeepInsideZettaiRyouiki Huh? table top, i've seen locusts end up in melee range all the time. heck i've seen an urban mech DFA a locust. In the table top.
And no, the point is, the locust is "ok" but its still only a 20 ton mech. and they don't last long in combat. they suffer from the "Destroyer life expectancy". In ww2, tin can destroyers, were small, fast, used for screening, anti-sub, and anti-air duties... but if a big ship even looked at them they would vanish.
And if all you are fielding is... locusts... well they vanish quickly when they run into anything with armor and firepower.
@@jenniferstewarts4851 Depends how the player uses their Locusts.
@@SimonAshworthWood yep. course the FUNNIEST thing i ever saw was a locust run straight through an LRM minefield. lose both legs "falling" sliding down through another minefield... and coming to a stop 1 hex from an atlas.
Can just picture that as the legs being blown clean off the body falling and landing on the street and sliding up to the atlas... Only thing that would have made that perfect would be if the atlas kicked the locust like a soccer ball sending it back to its own lines.
Speed is life
Speed is meth. Don't do meth kids. :P
For the tonnage of these mechs, the artists rendering of the cockpit sizes NEVER made sense to me.
Good mech is good.
Fast mech is fast.
@@BigRed40TECH Light mech is light
@@BigRed40TECH indeed
Easy to build, cheap to buy, can be fixed with tractor parts and looks like Catapults little brother, what`s not to like?
Very true!
for the variants background art...what are the two crazy looking mechs shooting at the locust?
Locust in Mechwarrior Online: I AM 20 TONS OF WHOOP ASS!!!
play with an urbanmech and then switch to a locust for free whiplash.
All hail the mighty Locust
I hiss whenever the Dark Ages are mentioned.
Hisssssss
The zoom mech
vroom vroom.
What is that quad mech in the back at 2:30?
But can you strap a nuke onto it like you can with an Urbanmech :v ?
No. But it is a nuke if you charge it blindly into your enemy's lines :P
Gimme a LCT 1S, and I’ll show you hundreds of dead tanks.
its the honda civic of mechs, dirt cheap and everywhere
I think the Raven’s development took all the pros of the locus and left out some of the cons
Starting in 3050, 20 tons becomes too light to survive on the battlefield
Locusts are expendable
I dunno about 3050, but DEFINITELY by 3060 lol
In MW5 speed don’t mean shit when one PPC AC10 or AC20 to one of the legs slows it down to a crawl
The Lrm locusts would be pretty great for any commander with there speed they can get within harassment range hit with the missiles and fade I can imagine a lance of them would be an effective long range team that could use leap frog tactics to keep fire with one 2 man team while the other team prepositions. Playing the worst game of monkey in the middle.
If (can bring only 4 mechs) then (Locust is poooor). If can bring 25 mechs... Pew pew pew!!!
Plague.......where you see one....expect a LOT more......even the Clans upgraded theirs ......nasty little bugs.....
A locust is just as likely to mount a DFA attack on a highlander than the other way arround... And the locust doesn´t even have jumpjets
Armor doesn't mean anything when you have a couple M Lasers and an MG aimed at someone's flank...
Ah, the Locust.
Literal target practice.
First
You've arrived so quickly. You must have been piloting a Locust.
@@BigRed40TECH I am speed
None of the games, MechWarrior, MechCommander, Battletech, etc.. None of them really do recon properly. Locusts are always front line units in the earliest and easiest missions and skirmishes piloted by fresh green recruits who have no idea how to avoid death. Furthermore you almost always know exactly what the objective is and where it is without recon.
2 light rifles and 2 slaser
I own a few but I just don't like it. It just never accomplishes anything I ask of it
I've had a different play, but I will say that it is funny when they get splattered sometimes. :P
Last time I ran one, it moved max, had thick woods for flank cover, still got left leg torn off by laser infantry platoon.
@@bryanmcmahon8593 oof lol