New Weapons
Black Knight will feature nine new weapon types, including X-Pulse Lasers, a cluster bomb launcher, and new autocannons. Expect the cluster bomb launcher to function like a long tom, though probably covering a noticeably larger area. Hopefully, the X-Pulse Lasers will give a legitimate reason to actually *use* pulse lasers.

New autocannon types have been mentioned as being included, and in a screenshot recently released by Microsoft of the black market interface, two new autocannons are visible. These are a standard autocannon 20, and a clan ultra autocannon 20. Each weapon consumes three weapon slots, but we don't know any other details about them. The autocannon lines in MechWarrior 4 are currently represented in bits and pieces, so we expect to see the standard, LB, and ultra autocannon lines expanded to have 2, 5, 10, and 20 caliber representations pretty much across the board.

Depending on what exactly is meant by a weapon "type," this still may leave room for a surprise weapon or two. Our guess is probably not, however.

New Chassis
There will be five new mech chassis in Black Knight, all of which have been identified at this point. Since MechWarrior battlemechs have consistently matched their Battletech forbears in tonnage, we can guess the weight of each chassis. Beyond that, it comes down to speculation.

Mech Name: Uller Tonnage: 30 Tech Type: Clan
The Uller is one of two light mechs included in the expansion, which is a bit disappointing. While there were fewer light mechs than any other class, their use is limited with the emphasis of MechWarrior 4 on combat. Hopefully, the new multiplayer game types will increase the value of light mechs.

Expect the Uller to pack a good punch for its size. Its status as an omnimech should give it a lot of versatility in choice of weapon, but it will lean towards a mix of beam weapons and missiles, primarily the latter. Non-omni slots in the arms should be for beam weapons, while those in the torso will be for missiles.

The speed of the mech will probably be more akin to the 35-ton light mechs than the like-tonned Osiris. It may be comparatively weak in its component options, with only three or maybe even two choices.

Mech Name: Wolfhound Tonnage: 35 Tech Type: Inner Sphere
The second light mech added to the game will likely also be an offensive-minded design. This mech may be tooled exclusively to use beam weapons, a good choice for a light mech. Expect it to be able to fit its biggest weapon in the right arm, with smaller lasers in the left arm and torso. Expect it to be slower (or at least not faster)  than the other light mechs.

Wolfhound variants will probably show less variety than those of most other chassis.

Mech Name: Ryoken Tonnage: 55 Tech Type: Clan
The Ryoken is a welcome addition, as the 55 ton weight class currently is not represented by a clan mech. One of the strategic weaknesses of MechWarrior 4 is that certain weight classes contain a plethora of battlemechs, while other classes are left out entirely. Battletech allows for mechs to be included at five-ton intervals. MechWarrior 4, for example, has Clan battlemechs in the 35, 45, 60, 65, 70, 75, 90, and 100 ton weight classes, with two present at 70 tons (the Thor and the Nova Cat). Of the nine Clan mechs in the game, five are grouped within fifteen tons of one another.

The Ryoken's biggest competition will be the vulture, a Clan mech just five tons heavier. The Ryoken should be faster (this could be a major selling point of the design), though the weapons slot arrangement could be remarkably similar. The Ryoken will almost certainly have fewer (the Vulture is well endowed in that arena), probably 13 or 14. It is also very likely that the placement of the slots will mimic that of the vulture, with the beam slots in the arms and missile slots in the torso. The mechs' appearance makes it unlikely that the bevy of slots in the torsos will be anything but missile, but if the arm slots turn out to be omnis, the resultant versatility will help distance it from the Vulture.

Don't expect the Ryoken to have the Vulture's 360 degree torso turning ability, but it may have more component choices available. 

Mech Name: Black Knight Tonnage: 75 Tech Type: Inner Sphere
The looks of this mech have been altered noticeably since its original BattleTech schematic, which is a good thing (though it does look reminiscent of a transformer now). Expect a laser-heavy design, with slots located mostly in the arms. In components, expect a Beagle Active Probe for certain. Since it is being billed as a commander's mech, look for four component options total.

The Black Knight is a curious choice for inclusion, in that it is only five tons off of the Awesome, another inner sphere design, and looks to have a very similar configuration. The two mechs should be close in speed, and both look to be almost exclusively beam weapon-based. The Black Knight could have as many as fourteen or fifteen weapons slots, same or better speed, and almost certainly better component choices than its beleagured bigger brother. The Awesome has always been a poor design, but it could be completely outmoded by the Black Knight. Weapons slots on the latter could be grouped to prevent usage of PPCs (the Awesome's specialty) and instead encourage medium and large lasers, making it an Inner Sphere counterpart to the Clan Nova Cat.

Mech Name: Sunder Tonnage: 90 Tech Type: Inner Sphere 
Of all the new mechs, we find this one to be the most intriguing. This is the newest of the designs; all of the others except for the black knight have been in the game system since the introduction of the clans, and even the Knight was introduced six years before the Sunder. Most importantly, though, is that the Sunder was introduced as one of the first Inner Sphere omnimechs. Might we see omni slots on an Inner Sphere design?

The Sunder's 90 ton weight puts it near the top of the mountain. The Inner Sphere desperately needed another assault mech; the Awesome is weak, the Mauler is utterly outclassed by the Mad Cat MkII, which shares its weight class, and the Atlas, while a competitive design, suffers constraints on its weapon allocation not shared by the other 100-ton mech, the Clan Daishi. The Sunder has a real chance to outpace the Atlas as the top Inner Sphere assault mech, and will hopefully at least give the Mad Cat MkII and the Daishi some competition. Our only complaint here is that it would have been nice to have seen a mech introduced at either 85 or 95 tons, since both classes are without representation in the game, and the Sunder makes three battlemechs at 90 tons.

Expect the Sunder to keep the bulk of its weapons in its arms. The right arm should have four to six beam slots. The left arm will probably be capable of carrying one big gun, our first guess being ballistic. We're guessing upwards of eighteen weapons slots on this monster, so there could be a large number on the torsos. The torsos will definitely have the ability to support at least a few small-to-mid size lasers, and probably will have a few missile racks as well. As mentioned above, we'd *like* to think an omni slot or two could squeeze its way in.

The speed of the Sunder should fall in line with that of the other assault mechs.

New Single Player
The campaign of Black Knight promises to be superior to the original MechWarrior 4 campaign. For one, the Black Knight single player campaign is not completely linear. The twenty missions included in it may be played with some variation in order (though how much variation is uncertain), with the results of one mission influencing the resources of the enemy in another. Some missions may even be playable more than once; we assume this would be similar to re-visiting an area earlier conquered but then retaken by the enemy.

An economic aspect is also introduced in Black Knight, and this should have a significant impact on the single player game. No longer is your equipment limited solely to what you can salvage from battle - instead, you can buy and sell on the black market. You have an agent who works for you; if there's something you want, tell the agent and give him the resources to purchase it. He'll try to find it and purchase it with what you give. Of course, the seller might think your offer to be insufficient, in which case your agent will return with a request for more to barter.

As far as the storyline, the player's character is an ex-Davion lance commander who has risen to second in command of the mercenary Black Knight Legion. Part of the campaign will take place on Kentares IV, after Ian Dresari, the protagonist from MechWarrior 4, has resumed control. Apparently, Black Knight follows the second ending of MechWarrior 4, wherein Ian's sister Johanna is killed, engineer Karl defects, and Ian is left ruling the world instead of Johanna.

The game also adds six vehicles: "the Nightwind, Stiletto bomber, Mobile Orbiter Defense Laser (MODL), and the Demolisher II, Quad Panzer and Myrmidon tanks." We assume that these will only be present in single player. 

We assume that the Nightwind is an LRM-equipped helicopter.  The Stiletto, as stated, is a bomber, and may take a good deal more punishment to bring down than a helicopter. The MODL sounds more like a target than a direct threat to 'mechs (perhaps it needs to be destroyed in one mission to enable air support in another). The Demolisher II will, we expect, be a large vehicle sporting heavy autocannon, something a 'mech should not take lightly. We have no specific guesses about the other two tanks, but BattleTech rules tend to favor ballistic weapons in tanks. 

New Multiplayer
Five new multiplayer modes will be included in Black Knight: Absolute Attrition, Goliaths, Clan vs. Inner Sphere, Mech Strongholds, and Siege Assault. 

Goliaths pits a group of player-controlled small mechs against a group of assault mech bots that increase in numbers. According to a published interview, the player mechs are 35-tons, but hopefully other light mechs will also be permitted. 

Clan vs. Inner Sphere is a welcome concept since the game needs a way to differentiate the Inner Sphere mechs from their more powerful Clan counterparts in multiplayer.

Mech Strongholds and Siege Assault both involve bases that must be attacked and defended. Turrets will be present to assist in defense. Our guess would be that Strongholds leaves each team with the task of defending its base while destroying that of the opposing team, while Siege Assault places one team squarely in the defensive role, and the other in the offensive.

This is pure speculation, but our thoughts on Absolute Attrition are that it will award points solely for damage dealt and not for kills. We also suspect that it could be a "last man standing" sort of thing, with all mechs respawning only after one survivor remains.

Goliaths sounds mostly like it will be good for a change of pace, and Clan vs. Inner Sphere probably won't gain too much popularity (except from those who like a challenge or the role of the underdog) unless it has a good system in place to encourage players to take the role of the Inner Sphere. The other three types, however, all sound like they could be quite popular in the multiplayer circuit. Considering that only Attrition and Capture the Flag of the original multiplayer types are very popular, two or three good new multiplayer game types will inject a tremendous amount of life into the game.

Also, the addition of new multiplayer maps will give the game a boost. The eight that have been released from Microsoft since the Launch of MechWarrior 4 have helped extend replayability, and those included with the expansion should deviate further from the norm.

Overall, Black Knight promises to add a significant amount of gameplay to Mechwarrior 4. Even if it is only moderately successful in living up to what it promises, it should be a worthy investment for any MechWarrior fan. Look for a review on HappyGamers.com as soon as it hits store shelves.