It's a great all-arounder, it moves at 4/6 which is good enough, it has near max armor and it's got an asymmetrical layout that balances long and short range weapons between both sides of the record sheet so that if one side torso gets popped, you can still hit back.
This is why the Battlemaster is my favorite assault.
I like to joke that the Thunderbolt is my favorite medium mech. Those extra fifteen tons let it be very well rounded in it's capabilities.
Can't forget the -5SE variant that really is a 65 ton medium. It drops the MGs and the SRM-2 and downgrades the LRM-15 to an LRM-10 to fit jump jets and two more heatsinks, keeping the LL and three ML. So its 4/6/4, still asymmetrical, and keeps the 13 tons of armor, and its basic Succession Wars tech. There's also the -9SE for the Clan Invasion era that swaps out the LL for an LPL, drops a ton of LRM ammo but goes from 17 SHS to 15 DHS and with that one ton of LRM ammo moved to the LT from the CT it adds CASE and another half ton of armor to max it out.
Machine Gun Arrays are fucking hilarious.
Personally, I'd drop one of the machineguns and rejigger the medium lasers and heatsinks around so you get at least some jump jets. If you're driving a light 'Mech you're already at the mercy of RNG so as to avoid getting one-shot by anything heavier than a Locust, and if your objective is to TAG things for artillery you're going to want to be able to get in and out of line of sight without having to deal with intervening terrain. A single MG will maul infantry just fine. As for the light vehicles, the rest of the lance should be able to take care of them. Or, if you're feeling ballsy, you can just run up and punt them.
I haven't tried them, will report back with opinions.
Not sure how to do that in MekLab but I'll try it out after my first engagement. I'd like to test drive the build a bit before making a call. The build has about a ton of armor extra I think so I could shed that to help fit on jets if ever.
My recommendation is to ditch the Commando and take a jumping bug instead, but this is because I hate the Commando for some reason unknown even to me. It's probably one of your better choices if tonnage is the only restriction here, though. Still, for an increase of 10 tons and a half million C-bills you could pilot a Panther instead, and that's my favorite little shitbox.
Its essentially a Mongoose but its a pretty decent 25t build, personally I'd put the ammo in the head though.
I would've recommended a Javelin-10F for that.
>Commando
I picked it knowimg nothing about it, what's good about the Commando compared to other mechs?
I checked out the 10-F after you posted and yeah, with jump capabilities and basically the same weapons as what I had it is definitely a better learner 'mech.
The GM eventually put a 3 million C-bill budget for lights, which I think the Panther still would have fit in quite nicely.
Just enough for the Wolfhound 1B. It runs hot and can't jump, but at least you'll look really cool before getting ran down by the very mechs it was designed to hunt.
Don't get me wrong, it's not the best. I just like its design and armaments, but it's a pretty solid mech. Good heat, good weapons (usually), can punch pretty hard if you target the right mechs, only major issue is that it tends to run light ammo so you'll have to use them sparingly. I will say the 7X is probably one of the better variant simply because it has another laser and an extra ton of ammo on default, which imo should be the only build you should run with it. Speed is life, especially on lights, especially on the Commando due to how lightly armored it is. It's also not even that good in terms of speed either, but as mentioned makes up for it with good firepower.
My personal favourite is the 3A, strips another ton of armour to up the 4 to a 6 and adds on a flamer. Load it up with inferno and in SuccWar era you're going to keep mechs redlining constantly.
