A.I. Playing M.G. By Melanie Carter Player ID# 716590

Final Words on The Gigus Mecha By Pat Willis#224534

Gigus : A Second Opinion by David McCallum #701548

Cue large dramatic sigh.


I'm supposed to provide a counterpoint to Kenneth's opinion on the Gigus.


It's a good job this design is so ancient, because that actually leaves me with a coprolite, as opposed to the more fresh version. There's the slimmest possibility that I can polish a coprolite.


So lets get some things out of the way. What it isn't is the greatest mech since sliced bread. It isn't fast or particularly well shielded. It also isn't a niode mech, so let's not bother comparing it with them.


Let's concentrate on what it is then.


It is a crystal mech, so it's comparatively cheap. It is, or at least was until the advent of the Poryphorus, the first crystal mech with decent fire specialisation you could get. It is also the next missile mech you get since the 65 ton Orester. Yes, other mechs come after that do it better, but the tonnage gives it some mileage.


Kenneth has his relegated to a fire specialisation slot. That's fine, that's his choice. I personally still use mine in the extremely common single and double rainbow and it is of course a shoe in for the odd 80 ton specialist weirdo that you find out there.


And since I've had to learn to live with it in my war formations, I've had to learn to do something decent with it.


Thankfully you can still take Betrus Processors in a Gigus, so you have a good mix of precision and crit kill, a definite issue for larger mechs. Take the built in damage bonuses rather than using precious cockpit space enhancing them, and if you add on a few of the lower power freebie niode fire weapons like the Birthday Fist, you might just bag a few one shot kills.


Delta shielding gives you better protection than anything under 75 tons, and the same as some of the better mechs above that level.


Engines? Not flash, but come to terms with the fact that it is at least half of a missile platform and therefore as slow as Patrick on a good day, and you aren't going to end up too worried about speed.


The saving grace is its chassis capability. The one thing that is going to keep this machine in the fight is the ability to not be there when the shot arrives. Choose wisely, for this is the area where you can make or break the build.


So yes, there are ways to get at least a modicum of respect from this mech under certain conditions, and there are times when you need to come to terms with the fact that its either going to be this or a mech 10 or more tons lighter than it.


Either that or accept the fact that what you are indeed attempting to do is polish a poo.

Submitted by David McCallum #701548

Apples and Oranges : a Mech Comparison by David McCallum #701548

It's not like Patrick would have you believe here at the offices of Galaxy Gathering.


We all get along.


Patrick turns a blind eye to my petty larceny and the odd confidence trick.


I, in turn, ignore the fact that he's a drunken sot with the personal hygiene of a midden at the hippy commune and the table manners of a 6 month old with an ice cream.


We both keep a weather eye on Kenneth who is gullible to the point of embarrassment and ensure he doesn't fall for the latest Illyrian banking scheme that's doing the rounds.


Any suggestion that we would segregate the office and draw battle lines based on something as petty as, say, a discussion on whether the Krampus or the Bishop is the better mech is one that is quite frankly ludicrous.


Besides which, Patrick and Kenneth are both of course wrong.

You can't make a fair comparison between the two, and I wish people would stop trying to do this type of thing. Yes, make a comparison between mechs that are the same tonnage and can therefore use the same after market parts as I have previously when comparing the Oggun and the Fides.


But in this case, not only are the mechs of different tonnage, but they belong in different weight categories.


I shall explain.


Yes, the Mecha Galaxy Technical Manual slits mechs into groupings from light through to BFM. They did, of course, get those groupings wrong. The big step change in moving from one class of mech to the next is that all important point where you can mount different shield grades on the chassis.


So in the case of the Krampus and Bishop, while the manual classifies both as being heavy mechs, the former is in fact a Gamma shield user while the latter is one of the first of the Delta chaps. Just keep this in mind as you read on.


Since we are carrying out this futile comparison to decide which is the better mech, lets start with that protection factor. Armour point wise, the Bishop does not have a huge advantage despite its larger tonnage. Perhaps it can take another shot at most.


Factor in the fact that we are talking about crystal mechs and are therefore being budget conscious, you will start of using Gamma grade shields on both, and the Krampus can mount more of them. That evens things up very nicely.


Speed wise, the throw weight of both mechs are very similair. The Krampus has more engine slots available and can utilise the smaller, more powerful Pebble Bed Reactor. When you also add in the fact that Krampus is geared to use the faster projectile weapons, it should win hands down in a quick draw.


Evasion wise, the Bishop has greater flexibility with its chassis. The thing is though, that as you start going up in tonnage, you find you have more space to add extras in, and such is the natural order of things. The same goes with the Bishops larger cockpit area.


It's another reason why comparing mechs of dissimilar tonnage is a bad idea. However that's taking me off topic.


Yes, due to the expanded cockpit facilities, the Bishop can gain a 33% increase in its targeting accuracy over the Krampus. It also gains built in weakness seeking enhancements to the A.I. that give it an even greater chance to one shot an enemy.


But the thing is, and we have touched on both reasons, that its frankly preposterous to do a comparison between the Bishop and the Krampus as to which is better is that they were designed for different jobs!


The Krampus is a main battle unit that is designed to throw munitions downrange as fast as possible and chew into rear ranks to weaken them as they deal to those in front.


The Bishop is a sniper, there to take out a mech with a single shot so as to gain superiority in numbers as soon as is practicable.


Apples and Oranges.


So which should you buy?


Both of them of course. They are both beautiful machines. These tonnage ranges mark perhaps the golden age of mech design. Krampus, Freon and Inferno are for their weight at 70 tons perhaps some of the strongest examples of their particular weapon specialty. The new Spitfire appears to have been designed in the same vein.

At 75 tons, the Bishop is also in illustrious company. The Ammonite, lauded by any veteran pilot you speak to. The Sever and the Dilophos, stone cold killers and pains in the backside to face. The only one I have heard a poor word said about is the Rook, and even then there are no pilots I have known that would not gladly have any of these 75 tonners turn up in their hanger.


The only thing you need to choose between the two, and this is a vitally important point, is where in your line is the place where you need the mech more capable of taking damage and carrying on.


While you are using only Gamma grade shields, that spot belongs to the Krampus. But at the point where you can replace even a single Gamma with the vastly superior Delta shield, then couple it with its superior dodge and slightly higher armour points, that position in the line should go to the Bishop.


That is your fulcrum, the tipping point of superiority between one and the other.


But for two mechs of differing tonnage, and what by rights should be differing weight classes, it's been a close run thing.


That's why I refuse to choose between the two... as I stated before, it's a ludicrous suggestion.


Submitted by David McCallum #701548

Much Maligned Mecha Review – The Gigus By Kenneth Hicks ID# 846092

What is a mech?

Was it always deemed to be a giant robotic man, equipped with the latest weaponry? The designs and the science have been inspired by numerous philosophies and imaginations, and the results have always been mixed. Simply put, there has never been a perfect mech.

The most terrifying, formidable, and arguably significant mechs weren't built by humans. They were grown. Giant, planet-razing monsters unseen and unknown to any library or man. And when they were grown, their organic parts were replaced mercilessly, and simply for efficiency. No issues of synthetic rejection--their biology adapted to them perfectly.

This in my opinion is one of the best lead ups to an introduction for a mecha ever. The very paragraphs bring you to the edge of your seat in anticipation for the carnage you’re about to wreak, 80 tons of pure living nightmare which thirsts for the blood of its burnt out and crushed opponents. Then you get to own one.

My first Gigus was a let-down to me something akin to when I went and saw Star Wars – A Phantom Menace. “Good googly moogly! You had all the great lore, the set-up, the fracking story could of written its fracking self! And this is what you did with it! Hehhhhhhhhhhh…

For some basics, the Gigus is the very first 80 ton mecha at which a player can buy at Level 52 and has upgrades extending to level 90. At max, it has four cockpit, six chassis, four engine, and three shield slots. By these stats, the Gigus does not look too bad for a crystal lined mecha.

Now for the issues. As you level it grows slower. At level 90 (the extent of its upgrades) it’s sporting a -22 speed, so the engine slots are there to basically bring its speed bonus to somewhere just North of zero. Fantastic.

Another huge negative is the number of weapon slots which is twenty-one max. This is the smallest amount of weapons for any mecha in its weight range which allow it to be outgunned on a regular basis.

And the other big negative is the three shield slots. This isn’t as big of a deal breaker in the lower levels, but when you start facing bigger competition that an 80 tonner should expect to face, those three shields ultimately leave you very vulnerable.

What you end up with is a big boy mecha who has no speed, not many guns, and is easy to target once you figure out which two weapons groups its carrying vulnerabilities to.

So in conclusion, if you are lower level, this is not too bad of a mecha which will be a good work horse for you. But as you gain level, just put it in a garage for fire spec formations or scrap it for its components. It served its purpose long long ago.

Hack Laser Limited Release Weapon Review By Pat Willis#224534

An oldie but a goodie has been re released into circulation via the shop. All pertinent information and availability are current as of the time of this writing.

In the niode laser evolution table it appears the Hack Laser sits between the Duboce, and the Flavian Spear at least in its damage and speed. However the Duboce is only available at level 41, and the Flavian Spear to level 45 and up.

The Hack Laser is ready to go for level 22 and up. For a lower tier pilot this is a taste of some nice straight damage, decent speed, a precision boost, as well as a modifier to their X3 damage potential. Given the damages on most weapons in the 20-30 range have the high 20's for damage and even peaking at 30 for crystal and the 40's for niode, you really can't go wrong.

As always your mecha build stats, skill point allotment, and equipment load out will help significantly with the handling of this weapon.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Equipment Review – The Frost Reactor By Kenneth Hicks ID# 846092

Once upon a time in a Galaxy far far away Boreas pilots all cried. A thousand souls all crying out at the same time. “Why oh Gods of our Mecha Universe do all of our engine choices suck Snavrum butt?”

The Elder Gods (known as the Dev’ Elopurrs) heard the cry and bestowed a blessing unto the hapless Boreas pilots in the form of a mighty engine. This engine is the Frost Reactor.

Okay, that was all a little over the top, but it does signify exactly how important and awesome the Frost Reactor is to the Boreas mecha. Without it, you just don’t end up utilizing this phenomenal machine of freezing destruction to its full potential.

The Frost Reactor gives you excellent speed for a big mech (+nine), auto repair of three, laser damage of eight percent, and freeze damage of ten percent. And best yet, you get all these goodies with no negatives.

The mechanics of the Frost Reactor work by siphoning off entropy from micro degrees Kelvin which the Boreas produces from its Cold Fusion core. In essence, the mech feeds the engine unlimited energy which in turn provides the mech power in an infinite power loop. Perfection personified.

So now comes the sad part of this tale. They aren’t available for purchase. Anywhere. The only place you can obtain them is through CW raids or the vortex. While this makes them highly prized, it also drives the bulk of the Mecha Galaxy partially insane. This beautiful shiny engine of magnificence, perfect for your Boreas fleet, but only available through rolling the dice of chance. In sight, yet just out of reach.

The Gods are cruel in their humor. But to those who have been lucky enough to get one of these prized beauties, crush your enemies in a hail of sleet and ice.

Buchis Defender by David McCallum #701548

You know, Kenneth is a thoroughly naive and nice chap.


He's perfectly happy to flash the GG credit card to buy a round of drinks. Nice of him.


He unfortunately also works for Patrick, who is the kind of chap who will borrow your GG credit card, use it to get hammered on the top shelf imported good stuff, then wake up with a hangover and go over your expense claims with a fine tooth-comb.


Guess who Kenneth last lent his company credit card to?


Like I said, nice, but very very naive.


As for James Waddington, he's thoroughly disreputable. I worked with him during Faction War 3. He was being helpful and analytical, using a spreadsheet to keep track of who's round it was at the bar so nobody got stiffed while they were drunk.


I of course hacked his files and found that he had managed to miss his own name of the list.


Like I said, very analytical, thoroughly disreputable. I like him.


He, however, like Kenneth, is wrong.


The mistake they have both made is in their interpretation of the advertising phrase "Mecha of the Warrior". They may have been watching too much Space Opera, believing that a Warrior is square jawed, 7 foot tall with a gleaming smile and bulging biceps.


The other definition of warrior is the poor sod getting shot at, the one who would either prefer to be somewhere else, prefer the guns to be pointing somewhere else or at the very least would like several foot of battle steel between them and the guns that are pointing in their direction.


Oh look, here's a Buchis. The only mech with five shield slots under 75 tons. Admittedly its Gamma grade shielding (hence the reason for me mentioning 75 tons) but that is still a fair swag, bearing in  mind the base damage around the level you get the fifth slot is only 57 from the crystal based Chemthrower.


Now if you don't have a place in your formation for something that can mitigate large amounts of damage then perhaps you should double check your lines.


Now lets address some of those bleats and moans about how bad the Buchis is, eh?


Low speed? It's faster than a Megazome... Also remember that fire rate is a function of speed and weapon slots which niode mechs get in abundance.


Low dodge? Look at the Smilodon. Nobody complains about them, and they need more dodge than a snake in a four wheel drift seeing as how they are the most fragile mid range mech there is... and the Buchis can dodge just as well as them.


Yes, the lack of accuracy is an issue, but at the end of the day as a Warrior you will have plenty of swords out there with you.


Sometimes a warrior needs a shield.


It may not be glamorous, but then getting shot at isn't either.

Submitted by David McCallum #701548

Why Do We All Play By Pat Willis#224534

I was sitting here and thinking about it not that long ago, Why do we all regardless of level still keep going with this game? I mean compared to other mech games out there it's kind of simplistic, pretty straight forward, and is pretty much what it is advertised as, Mecha vs mecha game. I do not say this to down play any portion of MG so please don't get me wrong there. I just want to be clear on where I am coming from.

Yup, it's a simple straightforward mecha vs mecha game, complete with the little side scroll toons to go with it.  But isn't that the simple beauty of it? We don't have to worry about all this other character stat crap, no surprises really to the game, well outside of winning free mechas from missions. You log in, you do your missions, go to war, do your raid, rinse and repeat with some battles and KOTM in the downtime.

But we all have goals, hell to be honest it could be argued I didn't even start really figuring out mecha builds till into my 100's level wise. I've long since given up hope of joining Division 1, simply because I have visited that nightmare zone for a couple of Faction wars. You have to remember as you are trying to close the level gap to get to division one, everyone in division 1 is leveling and making the gap even wider as they take div 1 higher and higher level wise. So unless you power level your fool head off, have immensely deep pockets, or get an invite to a div 1 crew, just look and ohh and ahhh.

So it sounds pretty redundant, simplistic, and even off balance when you read it as I just laid it out. So what is the selling point, what is the goal, what is the end game? Depends on the player really, maybe they want an all niode line up, then all crystal, maybe they want that one mecha, to be in that one specific clan, to hunt the recovered mechas during missions. The answers are as varied as the individuals playing the game. But one thing holds true for us all as to why we keep playing.... it's friggin addictive and fun! So why do you play?

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Wondering What You Ladies And Gentlemen Think By Pat Willis#224534

I was in the news room this evening and Kenneth was running his mecha review past David and myself (the very review that ran earlier today). There was a little discussion on the piece and somehow I jumped in, and next thing you know we are trying to figure out pros and cons of different mechas.

We discussed Boreas (which by the way David is not fond of), we talked Fides,  we talked about Torrents. I of course brought up  the Dilos, and Frigis, but they (David and Kenneth ) started to get a glazed over look in the eye and even drooled a little. But then we got into it, which is better, the Bishop or the Krampus mecha?

Davids original argument in favor of the Krampus is very simple and point blank, "That mecha is a real killer that often gets overlooked." No way really to argue that mainly because he's right. We have all at one point or another either been on the giving or receiving end of some form of Krampus beat down.

Kenneth likes the Krampus as well but also likes the Bishop. He says ,"Both are capable of holding their own, while still able to deal out damage." Much like the point David made before he's also right. Bishops are some laser powered bad asses if outfitted right and pack some nice bonuses. We've already been over the Krampus is a bad ass so that just reinforces the point David made to begin with.

So I put in with, " I like both but projectile is often faster than laser so depending on speed variables for engine slots that may be a definite deciding factor on the winner."

To which Kenneth replied , " Ah, but using the same argument, lasers utilize crit kills much more effectively, which can turn the tables on overall speed. Also the Bishop has more cockpit slots adding for more Precision."

I had nothing to counter with there, he was right of course in both game terms and weapon ability of the mecha. So to me then it comes down to price point, which one is cheaper, therefore easier to access by pretty much everyone. Both are crystal mecha so fair game there, but the Krampus is cheaper overall. So my dear readers before we start sectioning off portions of the news room reserved for (Insert mecha model name here) lovers only, and having our own brawl here any opinions?

The Krampus or the Bishop who would you pick and why?

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Much Maligned Mecha Review – The Buchis By Kenneth Hicks ID# 846092 With Consultation by James Waddington ID# 714295

The Mecha. War machines of the year 3311. All are devastating, most are utilized, but as with all equipment, some are under appreciated or maligned. In the days to come, I’ll be discussing the later as an attempt to help give the production facilities an idea of what the community of mech pilots and clans want or look for so that they can hopefully install some redesigns and bring these beasts back to their former (or new) glory.

The Buchis is one such mecha. Touted as “the mecha of the warrior”, the Buchis is part of the 60 Ton weight class that as a whole gets a lot of grief from the community.

Many complaints with the Buchis range from low precision, low dodge, low speed, and no real specialization. This is a niode mecha that can get wiped by similar crystal mechas of a slightly greater level.

James Waddington is considered a master by many at taking little used mechas and turning them into formidable opponents with a little jerry-rigging of their modular equipment set up. This brings us to one very major flaw with this “mecha of the warrior”. You need modular equipment slots to work with.

All the way at the top of its upgrade scale, the best you can hope for is two cockpit slots, three chassis slots, three engine slots, and thankfully five shield slots, since you won’t be outrunning or dodging anything any time soon.

While the Society of Cogwerk Planets have given a go at improving this venerable line, giving it some trample capabilities and protection against the same, and also finally replacing its main cannons which had a very difficult kickback issue to deal with, they still fell very short at making this a workable mech at any level other than the level you can get one at.

James is also quick to point out that the Buchis has no job specialization. There is literally nothing that the Buchis can do that another similar leveled mecha can’t do better. When putting together Spec formations for one of the many events, this is a huge issue and will cause the Buchis to sit in the garage, collecting dust.

Improvements that have been mentioned are more cockpit and/or chassis slots. Not having decent Precision on a mech that specializes in projectile and laser is just baffling. Possibly give it some native auto repair to compensate for how easily they get tagged or even possibly a stabilization option like anchors to help eliminate kickback and add to accuracy.

So designers, engineers, draftsmen, please consider taking a Buchis model into your labs. Play with the medialization, or even introduce a strain of the Gorax virus to it to see if there’s a way to get this model out of the garage and off the sales floor into the hands of some excited pilots.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way and the first to produce a viable Buchis class mecha will invariably find themselves a much richer and affluent Craftsman for their efforts.