OBT Forum

Nah i'm good

I'm fine, I've just given design contests a pass as of late. Mainly due to a lack of motivation and a dearth of creative juices with regard to fluff writing. I believe I mentioned this in the Crimson Langur thread.

Any other thoughts on the Stormcrow guys? This is one of my favorites that the Clans employ.

I saw, very nice bud. Can't wait to see what u can come up with here.

Very nice Ice!

Anyone else want to jump in the pool??

Six and a half hours left!!

Well it took two weeks but here we are with another completed design contest in this massive effort. I am looking forward to putting all these fantastic concepts together into one big fanbook. To the Stormcrow fluff first off I felt that drakensis who took the Snow Raven point of view for the design was spot on and I awarded him the bonus point for fluff. Both marauder648 and Ice Hellion went with the Smoke Jaguars who would no doubt have had an interest but I wonder how many Stormcrows they have left after the invasion.

Primary Configuration was a pretty solid canon design featuring two ER Large Lasers and three ER Mediums along with a dozen Double Heat Sinks. I wanted to keep this feel and two of our three competitors did their level best to update the Prime. Don’t worry Ice we will see your ER PPC entry a little later on as a basis for another design. The mobile attempt from drak was interesting for certain but I liked marauder648’s which added one more ER Medium while dropping a Double Heat Sink. This causes a little overheat but it is not too bad especially when the original canon version was slightly overcooled. Point to marauder648!

The mixed generalist A configuration with an LRM-20, two Streak SRM-6s, and four Medium Pulses was pretty solid but along came drakenis and maruader648. Again, Ice I haven’t forgotten about you superb entry just look for it later on. Both proposed a simple change to the base which removed a Medium Pulse and added a Double Heat Sink with an Artemis IV FCS for the LRM. Very nice and I approve of this but I have to chose a winner so basing that on fluff and original submission time the tie goes to drak. Point to drakensis!

My favorite canon version of the Stormcrow is definitely B with its massive Ultra AC/20 complemented by six ER Mediums. This close-range brutalizer definitely has overheating issues for an Alpha Strike (46 heat compared to 20 cool) but it can just do so much damage (82 potentially) that is attractive to almost any Clan warrior. Kind of hard to overcome but possible. Both drak and Ice Hellion changed out the Ultra AC for their B so we will see them both later on. However, in Ice Hellion’s E proposal he has a mobile Ultra AC/20 platform with a Targeting Computer and 3 ER Mediums I will discuss here. Not too shabby attempt at streamlining B but I don’t love the jump jets here especially when two Double Heat Sinks could have mitigated overheating almost completely. Another proposal made by marauder648 swapped the ER Mediums for ER Smalls and added two Medium Pulse Lasers. This is a nice attempt but I have learned to be wary of shorter range weapons like the Medium Pulse and ER Small over the ER Medium. It puts a lot of stress on the Ultra AC/20 with only ten rounds of ammo to be the longest-range weapon along with the Medium Pulses in this case. But I am going to award the point to canon B as a fearsome mid to short range devastator as is. Point canon!

A combination I have learned to love especially against aircraft is the Large Pulse Laser teamed with a LB 10-X Autocannon which is the basis for canon C. Supplemented by two Medium Pulse Lasers it is a very solid variant for the Stormcrow to field. Only marauder648 took direct aim at it with his C which drops the Pulses for an ER Medium, twin Machine Guns, and some advanced electronics. With both an ECM and Active Probe this thing becomes a conventional vehicle hunter-killer while retaining its anti-aircraft capabilities even though its secondary firepower is somewhat reduced. I like it, point number two for marauder648!!

For D we have our LRM fire support variants come out to play and I have to rip canon for its Narc Missile Beacon. I suppose it is not horrible given its improvement over the InnerSphere model but won’t an Artemis IV FCS variant be more effective? Everyone of the contestants thought so too so I can’t be too wrong in that assumption. Ice Hellion C was the biggest departure using four LRM-10s with Artemis IVs supplemented by an ER Medium and two Small Pulses while adding four Jump Jets. I think two LRM-20s with Artemis IV is a more weight efficient option (12 tons compared to 14 tons) then what you propose. Both marauder648 and drakensis D do just that with intriguing differences. I really liked the ER Large that marauder648 pops in with a Double Heat Sink to add to the long-range support config but ultimately drak narrowly gets the win with his more mobile six jump jet model which is backed up with two ER Mediums. Both good options though but point number two for drakensis!!

For the new Configuration E we will look to the twin ER PPC entries (Ice Hellion Prime and drakensis C) for inspiration. Both are quite formidable with perhaps Ice’s being for more offensive (65 damage, 55 heat, 32 cool) with 5 ER Mediums supporting it but drak’s is ideal to me even though the two ER PPCs are its only weapons. Its advanced electronic package with a three ton Targeting Computer, ECM Suite and Active Probe make for a super scout or scout killer with its 16 Double Heat Sinks it can Alpha Strike accurately all day forever. Point number three for drakensis!!!

Super accuracy at least at mid-range is achieved by Ice Hellion D which will become the new F configuration for the Stormcrow. Twin Large Pulses and four Streak SRM-4s along with a Double Heat Sink make for an always hitting the mark without a Targeting Computer variant which I personally love. Think it is a nice addition to the Stormcrow arsenal, well done Ice point to you!

G is for Gauss and that was the weapon basis of this configuration of which each entrant had one submission. With two tons of ammo backed up by 3 Streak SRM 4s and an ER Medium I thought drakensis E while good was the third best. A personal favorite of mine is the Gauss-ER PPC combo which marauder648 featured in his E that had three tons of Gauss ammo and two ER Mediums for support. However, it was Ice Hellion B with its Gauss linked Targeting Computer and two ER Mediums with two LRM-5s I felt was the winner by a narrow margin here. I like the accuracy and figure it makes a good sniper so point two to Ice Hellion!!

H is for Heavy meaning another one of those twelve-ton big guns which in this case means LB 20-X AC. B entry from drakensis tries to correct the flaws of canon B but creates a nice option for city environments and superb tank destroyer. With four tons of ammo for the 20X it can hang in the fight for a long time and is backed by 2 ER Mediums and 4 ER Smalls. This mix of weaponry and three additional Double Heat Sinks creates a fearsome heat neutral variant. Very nice indeed point four to drakensis!!!!

Lastly for Configuration I, our tenth and final variant, it was Ice Hellion A which drops the LRM-20 of canon A adds Double Heat Sinks and Jump Jets to create a highly accurate and mobile fighter. Opponents who run into this thing in a dark alley are really in a tough spot and I approve. Point three to Ice Hellion!!!

With a total of five points (1 fluff and 4 design) the winner of this challenge is drakensis, congrats! Ice Hellion made an impressive debut with three design points and marauder648 banks two more points as we roll on. Thanks again everyone who participated and I have a few more thoughts on the Stormcrow which I will share with you all in a few days hopefully. See you tonight for the start of our next design contest until then be good folks.