Hear that rumbling in the distance? The assault mechs are coming, and the Awesome is
the first to lumber into view. Characterized as simply weighing eighty tons or more,
assault mechs are kings of the BattleTech battlefield. Not especially fast, they are made
to slug it out and leave the running to smaller mechs. The Awesome traditionally sports three particle projection cannons, a tradition
the layout of the mechs' weapons slots promotes. Of thirteen total slots, eleven are
devoted to beam weapons and two to missiles, making the mech more one-dimensional even
than the Nova Cat. Wherever the Awesome goes, heat will find it.
This is the fastest of the assault mechs, which is kind of
like saying Coke has less calories than Mountain Dew. Its base speed is respectable,
with a base of seventy-five KPH achievable with the sacrifice of only three tons.
Acceleration and deceleration are not that great (but better than the Thanatos, at least),
and the torso twist range of eighty degrees is downright poor, a common problem among
assault mechs.
Overall, the Awesome is not a terribly impressive
design. It has the second-worst available tonnage-to weight ratio of any mech in the
game (the Mauler gets that prize by 1.25%), and has less available tonnage and many fewer
weapons slots than the five-tons-lighter Mad Cat. Speed between the two mechs is
about equal, making that extra five tons of internal structure staying power and the
ability to pack on a little more armor the only reasons beyond aesthetics to choose the
Awesome.
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Thanatos
