Like the Thanatos, the Argus was originally designed as an omnimech but rejected by the Federated Suns military, before being redesigned as a regular battlemech. I think this fluff was created to somewhat reflect the increased customization seen on it in Mechwarrior 4, where the ‘mech was first designed. Like the Thanatos, it’s a cavalry heavy, with decent move speed and armor for the weight, with the Argus running a complimentary role carrying an active probe to the Thanatos’ ECM.

Chassis

At 60 tons, the Argus moves 5/8 across all variants, running either an XL or light engine. Most variants carry about 95% of a full armor load – the one long range variant is still carrying 87%, so it’s no slouch. The XL and light engines do leave it being somewhat brittle and prone to death once that armor is depleted, but that’s pretty common among fast IS heavies, and isn’t a big deal so long as it doesn’t have so many guns it’s taking a big chunk of your BV to field.

Variants

These mechs have all been reviewed based on a standard F through S scale, which you can find described on our landing page here (along with all of our other ‘mech reviews, the name of the box you can buy to get any of the mechs we have covered, and our general methodology).

AGS-2D

The one long range variant of what’s generally a short range ‘mech, the 2D carries a pair of Artemis IV LRM 15s and an ER PPC. This leaves it in the same realm of fire support mech as a Catapult, costing a little more for that extra 10 damage hit and some added speed. All three weapons are hitting the same range bands, and it builds 1 heat at a run. It’s definitely not flashy, but at 1,556 BV it does a good job of sitting at 7 hexes and dropping in decent damage – being 5/8 instead of 4/6 makes it much much better at holding that exact range.

Jack’s Rating: B

AGS-4D

This is a little bit of an all-rounder, though leaning towards close range, running a rotary AC/5, LRM 10, two ER medium lasers and a machine gun. All of the guns are linked to a targeting computer, and it’s got more than enough heat sinks to fire everything at a run, so it’s pretty well set to keep moving around with a high-ish TMM and sandblasting with 5 damage hits. The MG is pretty superfluous and I’d rather it get turned into anything else. I do think that 1,636 BV is on the high side for generally doing 25-30 damage in 5pt clusters even with the accuracy bonus, but no so high it’s unusable.

Jack’s Rating: C+

AGS-5D

Far and away the most expensive Argus at 2,065 BV, this variant leans in to brawling with a pair of streak SRM 6s, pair of medium lasers, and a heavy PPC. It retains the targeting computer, so the heavy PPC has good accuracy, but the weapon mix doesn’t quite line up on ranges. The heavy PPC is minimum 3, while short range on everything else is 3, so you’re going to be losing a little accuracy somewhere. It’s not awful, it just feels awkward in use. The main issue though is the MASC that pushes the BV way up. Drop that so it’s 5/8 instead of 5/8(10) and I’d be much happier, as with no other changes it would save 250 BV. It carries a c3 slave, but isn’t really a great choice as a spotter – it’s really designed to be used as part of a brawling lance where everything with c3 gets close, as that enables it to stay at 4+ hexes for the heavy PPC while still being at short range for the SRMs.

Jack’s Rating: C+

AGS-6F

This is by far my favorite Argus. It’s dropped down to a light engine instead of an XL, increasing survivability, and runs the simple weapon load of an AC/20 with 4 tons of ammo, SRM 6, and pair of ER medium lasers. 4 tons of AC/20 ammo is 6 shots of precision and 5 shots of regular ammo, plenty to last out most games – especially as it’ll get focused down once it makes a light ‘mech vanish. 1,524 BV also leaves this as the cheapest Argus – a great buy.

Jack’s Rating: A

AGS-8DX

Back to the rotary AC/5, this time with a pair of ER medium lasers, MML 7, and no machine gun. It still carries a targeting computer, so has the same relatively good accuracy as the -4D. The main trade is losing potentially 3 damage at longer ranges from LRMs for a significant uptick by being able to use SRMs, which actually ends up costing less – this variant is only 1,598 BV. It’s also carrying a c3 boosted slave and is a much better spotter than the 5D, but still isn’t something I’d particularly pick for a c3 lance.

Jack’s Rating: B

Final Thoughts

This is mostly a pretty simple ‘mech, with almost all the variants doing the same thing in slightly different ways. My preference is definitely for the 6F, which is hilarious to use with good speed and plenty of precision ammo for the big AC. It’s good into light mechs, as a 20 damage pulse laser is very mean, and it’s good into heavies or assaults, none of which like taking 20 point hits (especially as 5/8 is about fast enough to semi-reliably get to the rear).

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