Some of my designs (post yours here)

[Thorgrim]

Actually, Vicenium is the bulkiest of them all.

JPs use power to recharge only. Not when used. 1 PU regardless of JP quality.

Underweight titans? Ha. You know how much weight you have to give up to shave off 1 sec BMT? Not worth it.

I'd say that being able to jump 2 hexes is a much better option when escaping airdrops than only being able to jump 1... and you'll stay airborne longer, which is added protection.
And then there's crossing rivers and streams of acid and lava. Even woods or rocks. 1 hex won't do you any good there.

Hmm, the Nemesis has 36 secs jump time. Trimming it down to 30 would mean reducing JPs to... what? 5?
And yes, there are situations when a touch of insurance is most welcome (mainly reaction related). But anyway, those 6 extra secs aren't wasted in any way. They're just 6 secs less you have to recycle to be able to jump for 30 again, which might be enough to save your skin.

I don't think you understand. An LRM9, how many slots does it take, including ammo? And how many does a PG (we're talking about swapping here) take?
Vicenium, again, isn't an option. Dullaroy yes, but that reduces your heat dissipation, and LRMs are heavy on the heat, just like PGs. GMs would be a better choice in terms of heat - but not of skills, yes.

[jzpops]

When recharging, what is the rate? 1 pu/second, or some other equasion?

But in short, to recharge a JP, you need extra power.

My underweight proves quite useful in the CC defense role, or when utilized properly as a team effort.

As for the space-for-space replacement of LRM for PG, PG has the edge... if you have the heat regulator and power plant to deal with it. Or in cold climes. But power still remains a factor.

As for heat buildup, when a LRM finishes reloading, it's always cooled off, with or without fire control. For PG's to do that, well, you can't use them without the risk of shutting down. Not that many PG's, anyway.

Suffice to say, swapping one-for-one won't work with an LRM, I agree. But I'd never settle for an assault titan with so little armor in a direct-fire role.

[Sir Rechet]

Thanks for the input, guys. Here's some actual experiences with those designs.

The Nemesis was just a wild idea that I had, but it fails rather miserably at its task. Energy weapons just don't cut it in a purely supportive role, not even in Polar setting. An added problem (with my team setup anyway, having many large titans) is that many of the larger titans carry a shield, cutting very deeply into the reliability department. And even with its superb heat reduction rate AND Polar climate the thing overheats all the time unless you use like 3 out of 4 PGs only. Ergo, it would actually be an improvement to toss out one of the PGs, at least it'd let you trade that Millenia for something more useful in some places. As I noticed, it doesn't really make THAT much of a difference if your heat reduction rate is -6.1C/sec instead of "just" -5.7C/sec, especially if it means that you'll be tossing out one third of your armor to get there. It just MIGHT be worth it in Hell setting, but that'd also rule out the use of PGs due to their abysmally low damage/heat ratio.

The 4 LLs in a Lightbolt work in Polar setting, though, overheating very little when standing still. Keep in mind that a LL has a much better damage/heat ratio than PG. If and when you need to do an active scan, the added heat will be pretty much gone once you're done with it. But just as with the Nemesis, this design works better in smaller teams as the opponents won't have that many Heavies & Assaults with shields installed.

When designing the Ice Demon I already knew that there might be some problems ahead if I leave shields/ECM home. And boy, was I right! Unless you're playing rookie/green AI opponents, you'll be having called shots (esp. energy weapons) coming your way much more than any imaginable armor could withstand. Plus, being encumbered by such a large engine and having so many things reducing your chances to use the full power output to recharge weapons I found the power management too arduous to bear. Also, since the range of those CLGs is rather limited, I found it frustrating to just act like a sitting duck before I could return fire. And, by the laws of Murphy, once you finally get in range, the first couple of titans you'll encounter WILL have shields, and you're scr3wed.

As a matter of fact, the CLG has a rather interesting problem with it - it's plain impossible to max out the heat reg with it due to power output problems, since you can't just expect to stand still when you have such a lowsy range in your weapons. It works better to ambush your enemies with it, though, and I'd imagine it being a lot more usefull in Hell settings, where even the best heat regs have trouble coping with all that extra heat.

[Sir Rechet]

On the subject of Jump Jets:

Interestingly enough, smaller titans really don't need jump jets for moving around, other than for crossing rivers and such. Their run speed is already in the same league as the jump speed, and adding a Jump Jet 6 only to get a small speed advantage seems too much of a waste to me. The possibility for DfA is, however, more than enough of a reason for many, for rather obvious reasons.

However, as we get into larger titans, you should pretty much ignore the speed differences of those different chassis types. A jump jet is what's going to get you into (and out of) the action in any reasonable time. And, while we're at it, having the possibility to jump two consecutive hexes instead of just one makes all the difference in the world when both speed AND getting to places is concerned, making Jump Jet 6 pretty much the only viable choise for Assaults. JJ5 would have all too slim safety margins for my taste and I could find ten less critical places to save one extra tonne if in dire need.

An immediate anomaly is titans with energy weapons. Weapons have a higher priority than recharging jump jets, which basically means that once you start blazing away with your energy guns, your jump ability goes bye bye, or you need to be extra careful with those recharge patterns. All in all, this nothing but makes the idea of creating an energy-based Assault Close Combat titan a foolish one, as you REALLY need that extra speed from the jump jets to get into the action! (Or you'll just need to upgrade your engine once again.)

[Sir Rechet]

About heat:

I've played a lot of games lately in the Polar terrain, which supposedly helps energy titans. Alas, the advantages are rather slight at best - the enemy titans can pretty much ignore the heat constraints of having their shields up at all times as well.

On the other hand, cannon titans that are designed to work in Classic terrain have way overdone Heat regs for their needs, never having to leave heat black condition unless they specifically want to and have enough cannons to push the heat there. Not that it's bad as such, but at least I get the feeling of carrying unnecessary dead weight with me plus all those vulnerable heat reg slots.

I suppose you'll agree with me that this terrain clearly favors the Gauss Cannon-based designs, maybe with a slight modification of one or two added lasers to take advantage of the added heat reduction capability. All other cannon types have no problems whatsoever with heat - they very possibly won't even need to have the Class A heat reg installed to stay cool at all times!

[Sir Rechet]

Titan Name: (Annihilator P) (Assault Close Combat Titan)
Chassis: Mark MK-A4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 200.0t (200t maximum) Height : 19 [meter]
Bmt : 34 (35 kph) Reduce Heat: -4.4C/sec.
Jmt : 14 (85 kph) for 30 secs Cost : 460361 ($)


Equipment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Component/Type/Location

Engine :Morola M5 [Engine 5] [CBT ]
Heatreg.:Mark MH-II [Heat A]
Shield :Simson-Light [Shld1] [LowT]
LifeSup.:B.M.I. [Life 3] [Head]
Scanner :Mark X-S [Scan 6] [CT ]
Computer:Mark BC-X [Comp. 6] [Head]
E.C.M :TraCop [E.C.M. 5] [CT ]
JumpPort:Morola MJ [Jump 4]


Weapons:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Location/Weapon/Ammunition/SL

[RT ] GAUSS CANNON (045) [3]
[LT ] GAUSS CANNON (045) [3]
[RA ] GAUSS CANNON (045) [3]
[LA ] GAUSS CANNON (045) [3]
[RL ] LARGE LASER
[LL ] LARGE LASER


Armor:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Loc/Internal/Armor/Points/mm

[Head] (15) Dullaroy 027 [039mm]
[RT ] (29) Dullaroy 066 [095mm]
[CT ] (29) Dullaroy 069 [099mm]
[CBT ] (19) Millenia 035 [089mm]
[LT ] (29) Dullaroy 066 [095mm]
[RA ] (29) Dullaroy 046 [067mm]
[LA ] (29) Dullaroy 046 [067mm]
[LowT] (19) Vicenium 064 [107mm]
[RL ] (25) Dullaroy 069 [099mm]
[LL ] (25) Dullaroy 069 [099mm]

Armorindex: 4.03 [Total APts/T]
Internal: 248 [APts]
External: 557 [APts] Max:[107mm]
Total Armor: 805 [APts]


JOCK requirements:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Piloting: skill on Assault Titan incl. Jump
Weapons : Energy Cannon
Skills : Defensives Scanner Warfare(ECM)

Here's a Polar-climate version of the famour Annihilator design. With a minimal add to the engine power, there's now enough power to keep two Large Lasers happy with it. The added heat is partially negated by the climate bonus, but one will need some caution when firing - a top priority should always be given to more accurate Gauss Cannons, as the weapons also happen to have the same maximum range. I decided to drop one GC in favor of superb electronics in the CT instead, this also leaves more work to do for the LLs.

The missing DCS can be explained by there being no risk of ammo explosions, plus the engine being in the CBT, mesons won't have a chance to damage it for quite some time. The lowsy Jump Jet serves only one purpose - to get to that hilltop, period. Any jump is better than having to walk/run that hillside, right?

[Thorgrim]

Originally posted by jzpops
When recharging, what is the rate? 1 pu/second, or some other equasion?
But in short, to recharge a JP, you need extra power.

Yep, 1 PU/sec when on the ground.
Yes you do, but that applies to JP6 as well as to JP3 or 4, which was what you proposed

My underweight proves quite useful in the CC defense role, or when utilized properly as a team effort.

Somehow I don't see this as coming from being underweight... besides, speed advantage is not that useful in defensive roles. More in attack.

As for heat buildup, when a LRM finishes reloading, it's always cooled off, with or without fire control. For PG's to do that, well, you can't use them without the risk of shutting down. Not that many PG's, anyway.

Heh. Ever played the Devastator?
Don't forget that alphastrikes *are* affected by heat level.

Suffice to say, swapping one-for-one won't work with an LRM, I agree. But I'd never settle for an assault titan with so little armor in a direct-fire role. [/B]

Why not? If you could fire all the PGs, I would. And that was the intention of Jukka. Granted, it was flawed, but if you could fire 4 PGs 40 armor is enough.
That's what happens with the Ancient Mariner. With all those HMGs, its thin armor is not something you worry about cause your opponent goes down before he breaches yours. And it is a direct-fire titan.

[tarendelcymir]

Here's a Polar-climate version of the famour Annihilator design. With a minimal add to the engine power, there's now enough power to keep two Large Lasers happy with it. The added heat is partially negated by the climate bonus, but one will need some caution when firing - a top priority should always be given to more accurate Gauss Cannons, as the weapons also happen to have the same maximum range. I decided to drop one GC in favor of superb electronics in the CT instead, this also leaves more work to do for the LLs.

The missing DCS can be explained by there being no risk of ammo explosions, plus the engine being in the CBT, mesons won't have a chance to damage it for quite some time. The lowsy Jump Jet serves only one purpose - to get to that hilltop, period. Any jump is better than having to walk/run that hillside, right? [/B]

It's an interesting idea to make a climate-specific titan. Some designs would be really effective in one climate and totally useless in another. But you'd have to guarantee you'd always get the climate you need for the titan you're using. How's that working for you?