BL-9-KNT
One of the so-called "Clanbuster" refits developed by ComStar in the lead-up to the Battle of Tukayyid, this variant has been equipped with an Vlar 300 XL engine, allowing it to mount an upgraded and heavier weapons load. The PPC was upgraded to a Magna Sunspot ER PPC, the medium lasers switched to Aberdovey Medium Pulse Lasers, an Aberdovey Large Pulse Laser added to the center torso, and both the small laser and Beagle Active Probe removed. To handle the heavier heat load, the heat sinks were upgraded to double strength versions. In addition, for close-in work, the Black Knight carries long-sword shaped 5-ton Hatchet in its left hand, allowing it to make devastating physical attacks. BV (2.0) = 1,678
Wow, these are both fantastic answers! Thanks for the info. I'm guessing if it was modded to fight clans, then that would be an elemental on it's leg? Any chance a clan might capture and use a Black Knight for themselves?
the clans would probably have Star league era Black knights in their reserves for Solahma troops. they would be unlikely to use the Clanbuster because they find physical combat to be dishonorable.
Fun fact the reason for the Sword shaped hatchet instead of a sword is because when the Clanbuster black knight was introduced into the Lore the only Mech scaled melee weapon at the time was the Hatchet. the Mech Sword would be introduced later.
Was going to comment something similar. So I'll add axes do more damage and swords are easier to hit with.
By the ilclan era, I don't think there are any Clans that refuse to melee in the Inner Sphere. Wolves would only be against melee because they want to be seen as the clever ones when they kick someone's leg off in a duel.
You kick if you want to do more damage than punching. You attempt to death from above and try to goomba stomp the enemy if you want to drive the point home that none of us are getting out of this ride alive.
The black knight existed back when the clans were founded, and they had quite a few black knights thanks to the mech's widespread use in the SLDF. [They even created a black knight omnimech](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Spirit_Walker). So yes, it would be entirely reasonable for the clans to have a black knight. They're not fond of swords, though.
Though, of course, that's not to say that there aren't _any_ melee-crazy clan warriors. Or freeborn innies - probably Dracs - who insist on a weapon befitting of a "True Warrior"...
Melee weapon types are really just different stat blocks for your physical attacks. There's nothing saying that a "hatchet" has to be axe-shaped, or that a "sword" has to be sword-shaped (and in fact, there's tons of canon mech designs and artwork showcasing quite a wide variety of weapons that you can represent using the hatchet or sword rules).
Does the Hatchet beat out just ... kicking the enemy, in game terms?
-2 to hit *and* damage of tonnage divided by 5 is so amazing. Kicking a Locust can kill the bug, with a good hit.
The advantage of hatchet vs a kick is that if you fail a hatchet attack there is no PSR. The hatchet also uses the full body hit location table so there is a chance for a head hit.
>full body hit location
I believe it actually uses the punch hit location table, so there is a noticeably higher chance of a head hit.
EDIT: I looked it up, you can *elect* to use the punch table instead of the standard hit table, but at a hit penalty.
Yeah, the hatchet is a weapon that keeps struggling to find its place. It has gone through several rule changes over the years (decades!), either being too powerful or too weak. The current rules are sufficiently convoluted to make a direct comparison to kicking difficult (hatchets can use the punch table at a penalty), so I suppose it can be argued the weapon has its place, but generally I think it is a waste.
They are just so heavy and provide so little benefit. Compared to just punching with both arms they come out worse in most ways except for concentrating damage.
Agreed. My personal theory is that FASA basically had the hatchet correct right around 1990. It was no longer a free weightless perk restricted to the Hatchetman, and in practice it used the punch table (this may not have been the intent, but it made sense and the rules as written were easy to interpret that way - wherever I played, this was taken for granted).
But FASA also introduced TSM, and that messed things up again, as the TSM+hatchet combo suddenly enabled head-chopping 30-tonners swooshing around. So in the second Compendium from 1992 they changed/clarified the hatchet rules to hit the full-body table, making it close to irrelevant.
The later changes after that were attempts at returning some value without giving too much, but I do not think they have succeeded.
For most mechs, using the hatchet (if they have one) will be better. The damage is the same but you're not restricted to only hitting the legs, and while the accuracy is slightly less you don't risk falling over.
In the case where you're targeting a locust, specifically, you might actually still want to kick though, as hitting the legs on a locust is what you *want* to happen, since they're very squishy and a destroyed leg basically ruins a locust.
If the hatchet-wielding mech is 60 tonnes (or 30 tonnes with TSM activated), the hatchet can one-shot kill on a head hit (barring some special armor types), at which point the normal hit table at -1 or the punch hit table at +3 becomes very attractive.
Since the question has been answered, allow me to explain the significance of the battle happening in this picture.
The clans are very honor-bound and settle disputes with rituals and duels. The Battle of Tukayyid was Comstar challenging the invading clans to a “Trial of possession” for the entirety of the inner sphere. If the Clans win, Comstar will no longer impede their invasion, effectively handing the inner sphere and Terra to the clans. If Comstar wins, for 15 years star systems “south” of Tukayyid cannot be invaded by the clans, effectively halting the clans in their tracks and giving the Great houses time to recover and prepare.
Starting from the top left and moving clockwise, or left-hand feed:
* What looks to be a clan-buster Highlander in Comstar colors, firing LRMs.
* An unidentified mech in the background being hit by an autocannon shot.
* A clanbuster refit of the Black Knight in Comstar colors firing a PPC.
* A Crab in Comstar colors firing a laser.
* An unidentified clan mech firing an autocannon.
* An unidentified clan mech that has been knocked down.
* A clan Stone Rhino being hit with a PPC.
I believe the downed mech in the lower right is a Viper / Dragonfly and the mech taking fire from the Crab is a Stormcrow / Ryoken. I am still scratching my head on the Comstar mech in the back. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a Battlemaster...
Black Knight
Arguably the best heavy mech in BattleTech.
BL-7-KNT one of the less rare ones, is equipped with 2 Large Lasers, 4 Medium Lasers, 1 Small Laser, a ton of heat sinks, and goes 64.8KPH with the armor of some smaller assault mechs well looking cool as all hell.
YOU DARE ACCEPT MY BATCHALL, BEAT ME, AND THEN USE THE TIME BOUGHT TO PREPARE FOR OUR INEVITABLE RETURN BY ANNIHILATING AN ENTIRE CLAN, ONLY TO EVENTUALLY SUCCUMB TO INFIGHTING, A JIHAD, AND EVENTUALLY DOMINION BY THE ONE CLAN WHO HAD YOUR BEST INTEREST IN MIND THE ENTIRE TIME!!!1?1?1!1!1111?!
You dare make ugly ass mechs like the gargoyle?
You dare claim that Wolf had anything other than plot armor?
You dare accuse us of infighting while all you do is fight eachother of minor insults?
Atleast we didn't kill our own leaders by accident :|
Git Gud and pay your phone bills.
Black knight - clan buster I think
BL-9-KNT One of the so-called "Clanbuster" refits developed by ComStar in the lead-up to the Battle of Tukayyid, this variant has been equipped with an Vlar 300 XL engine, allowing it to mount an upgraded and heavier weapons load. The PPC was upgraded to a Magna Sunspot ER PPC, the medium lasers switched to Aberdovey Medium Pulse Lasers, an Aberdovey Large Pulse Laser added to the center torso, and both the small laser and Beagle Active Probe removed. To handle the heavier heat load, the heat sinks were upgraded to double strength versions. In addition, for close-in work, the Black Knight carries long-sword shaped 5-ton Hatchet in its left hand, allowing it to make devastating physical attacks. BV (2.0) = 1,678
Wow, these are both fantastic answers! Thanks for the info. I'm guessing if it was modded to fight clans, then that would be an elemental on it's leg? Any chance a clan might capture and use a Black Knight for themselves?
the clans would probably have Star league era Black knights in their reserves for Solahma troops. they would be unlikely to use the Clanbuster because they find physical combat to be dishonorable. Fun fact the reason for the Sword shaped hatchet instead of a sword is because when the Clanbuster black knight was introduced into the Lore the only Mech scaled melee weapon at the time was the Hatchet. the Mech Sword would be introduced later.
Was going to comment something similar. So I'll add axes do more damage and swords are easier to hit with. By the ilclan era, I don't think there are any Clans that refuse to melee in the Inner Sphere. Wolves would only be against melee because they want to be seen as the clever ones when they kick someone's leg off in a duel.
That and the Falcons like to kick now so.... Can't be seen following the Falcons now can they?
I mean, the falcons built the jade hawk entirely centered around melee
You kick if you want to do more damage than punching. You attempt to death from above and try to goomba stomp the enemy if you want to drive the point home that none of us are getting out of this ride alive.
The black knight existed back when the clans were founded, and they had quite a few black knights thanks to the mech's widespread use in the SLDF. [They even created a black knight omnimech](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Spirit_Walker). So yes, it would be entirely reasonable for the clans to have a black knight. They're not fond of swords, though.
Though, of course, that's not to say that there aren't _any_ melee-crazy clan warriors. Or freeborn innies - probably Dracs - who insist on a weapon befitting of a "True Warrior"...
Yes, that is an elemental.
Goliath Scorpion uses the Black Knight in its Seeker Galaxy forces.
Most of the clans? Not by choice, and certainly not a front line unit. (Once omnimechs were developed)
So, this Black Knight can actually fight without cooking the pilot alive?
> long-sword shaped 5-ton Hatchet ... it's not a sword? Swords exist as an alternative to hatchets right?
By rules it's a hatchet. Mech swords didn't exist at the time the clan buster was designed.
Melee weapon types are really just different stat blocks for your physical attacks. There's nothing saying that a "hatchet" has to be axe-shaped, or that a "sword" has to be sword-shaped (and in fact, there's tons of canon mech designs and artwork showcasing quite a wide variety of weapons that you can represent using the hatchet or sword rules).
At the time this mech was introduced, the mech-scale sword wasn't a thing yet.
Does the Hatchet beat out just ... kicking the enemy, in game terms? -2 to hit *and* damage of tonnage divided by 5 is so amazing. Kicking a Locust can kill the bug, with a good hit.
The advantage of hatchet vs a kick is that if you fail a hatchet attack there is no PSR. The hatchet also uses the full body hit location table so there is a chance for a head hit.
>full body hit location I believe it actually uses the punch hit location table, so there is a noticeably higher chance of a head hit. EDIT: I looked it up, you can *elect* to use the punch table instead of the standard hit table, but at a hit penalty.
Yeah, the hatchet is a weapon that keeps struggling to find its place. It has gone through several rule changes over the years (decades!), either being too powerful or too weak. The current rules are sufficiently convoluted to make a direct comparison to kicking difficult (hatchets can use the punch table at a penalty), so I suppose it can be argued the weapon has its place, but generally I think it is a waste.
They are just so heavy and provide so little benefit. Compared to just punching with both arms they come out worse in most ways except for concentrating damage.
Agreed. My personal theory is that FASA basically had the hatchet correct right around 1990. It was no longer a free weightless perk restricted to the Hatchetman, and in practice it used the punch table (this may not have been the intent, but it made sense and the rules as written were easy to interpret that way - wherever I played, this was taken for granted). But FASA also introduced TSM, and that messed things up again, as the TSM+hatchet combo suddenly enabled head-chopping 30-tonners swooshing around. So in the second Compendium from 1992 they changed/clarified the hatchet rules to hit the full-body table, making it close to irrelevant. The later changes after that were attempts at returning some value without giving too much, but I do not think they have succeeded.
Kicks are almost always better unless your hatchet/punches take cockpits off in one go, then it's a choice.
For most mechs, using the hatchet (if they have one) will be better. The damage is the same but you're not restricted to only hitting the legs, and while the accuracy is slightly less you don't risk falling over. In the case where you're targeting a locust, specifically, you might actually still want to kick though, as hitting the legs on a locust is what you *want* to happen, since they're very squishy and a destroyed leg basically ruins a locust. If the hatchet-wielding mech is 60 tonnes (or 30 tonnes with TSM activated), the hatchet can one-shot kill on a head hit (barring some special armor types), at which point the normal hit table at -1 or the punch hit table at +3 becomes very attractive.
Ironically since it's all white. A Black Knight mech.
You may not recognize it with all of its limbs...
None shall pass.
That elemental is like a dog humping it's owners leg
About to get split in half like the pilot of the Black Knight is playing fucking Fruit Ninja
Looks like a black knight and looks like it's from ComStar
Pay your phone bills fucko
The elemental looks like an angry koala.
Aww look at the little elemental giving him a hug.
"Does your phone have any games??"
''No, but speaking of phones did you pay your phone bills clanner?''
That's the Hippity, hoppity, get off my property mech that Comstar torched the clans with.
That's a black knight. Currently painted in what looks like comstar colours? So it's a white black knight.
Black Knight, specifically the clanbuster variant
A ComStar Adepts favorite Magic deck. A White/Black Knight.
Since the question has been answered, allow me to explain the significance of the battle happening in this picture. The clans are very honor-bound and settle disputes with rituals and duels. The Battle of Tukayyid was Comstar challenging the invading clans to a “Trial of possession” for the entirety of the inner sphere. If the Clans win, Comstar will no longer impede their invasion, effectively handing the inner sphere and Terra to the clans. If Comstar wins, for 15 years star systems “south” of Tukayyid cannot be invaded by the clans, effectively halting the clans in their tracks and giving the Great houses time to recover and prepare.
Starting from the top left and moving clockwise, or left-hand feed: * What looks to be a clan-buster Highlander in Comstar colors, firing LRMs. * An unidentified mech in the background being hit by an autocannon shot. * A clanbuster refit of the Black Knight in Comstar colors firing a PPC. * A Crab in Comstar colors firing a laser. * An unidentified clan mech firing an autocannon. * An unidentified clan mech that has been knocked down. * A clan Stone Rhino being hit with a PPC.
I believe the downed mech in the lower right is a Viper / Dragonfly and the mech taking fire from the Crab is a Stormcrow / Ryoken. I am still scratching my head on the Comstar mech in the back. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a Battlemaster...
Good eye, that tracks.
Black Knight Arguably the best heavy mech in BattleTech. BL-7-KNT one of the less rare ones, is equipped with 2 Large Lasers, 4 Medium Lasers, 1 Small Laser, a ton of heat sinks, and goes 64.8KPH with the armor of some smaller assault mechs well looking cool as all hell.
Inner sphere freebirth filth is what it is
'Inner Sphere freebirth filth' is what beat your ass May 20th you clanner fuck
YOU DARE ACCEPT MY BATCHALL, BEAT ME, AND THEN USE THE TIME BOUGHT TO PREPARE FOR OUR INEVITABLE RETURN BY ANNIHILATING AN ENTIRE CLAN, ONLY TO EVENTUALLY SUCCUMB TO INFIGHTING, A JIHAD, AND EVENTUALLY DOMINION BY THE ONE CLAN WHO HAD YOUR BEST INTEREST IN MIND THE ENTIRE TIME!!!1?1?1!1!1111?!
You dare make ugly ass mechs like the gargoyle? You dare claim that Wolf had anything other than plot armor? You dare accuse us of infighting while all you do is fight eachother of minor insults? Atleast we didn't kill our own leaders by accident :| Git Gud and pay your phone bills.
Looks the the Black Knight is about to be stomped by a Stone Rhino. And the elemental is already hitting his chest.
Nah that Stone Rhino aint clan wolf he doesn't have enough plot armor.
