Howdy and welcome back to BattleTech. Catalyst just released a surprise 33rd installment of their Recognition Guide series, which are small, bite sized PDFs that have been slowly updating old mechs and tanks with new art and modern variants. The Rec Guide variants tend to be some of the strongest variants for a given chassis, and there are quite a few excellent units in this latest installment, so let’s dive right in. This article will be covering the new tanks from Rec Guide 33. Mechs will come in a follow up article.

New Goodies

These units 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 and our general methodology).

Harasser

The Harasser is probably the most iconic BattleTech hover tank, and is burned into my memory because of a single voice line in Mechwarrior 4. It is a cheap and very fast light hover tank, and it has several new variants in Rec Guide 33.

Harasser (Speed)

Coming in at 509 BV, the speed variant is pretty solid. It moves along at a pretty great clip, 12/18, and carries 2 SRM-6s with enough ammo to split between Infernos and standard SRMs. You are basically paying 70 extra BV compared to a standard Harasser to go from 10/15 to 12/18, which is a pretty good deal.

Rating: B-

Harasser (Heavy Ferro)

Costing 519 BV, the Heavy Ferro is nearly identical to the (Speed) variant, just with a single extra point of armor in each hit location. This actually does matter, because it now mounts exactly enough armor that a standard IS large laser doesn’t go internal and crit it. Probably better than the (Speed) variant as a result, but they will be nearly identical against any 5 or 10 damage weapons, which are the most common.

Rating: B-

Harasser (iNarc)

Costing 375, the (iNarc) is identical to the (Speed), but it exchanges the weapons out for an iNarc launcher and 2 SRM-2s. This is a disgustingly cheap way to add an iNarc to a list, and iNarcs are one of the most potent force multipliers in the game. When loaded with homing pods, iNarcs can be fired at the enemy, and if they successfully hit, will grant -1 to hit and +2 to cluster to all missiles that target that enemy. That said, you do have to load Narc-capable missiles in your missile launchers, so you can’t use Artemis or any other special munitions, like Infernos or Swarms, just basic missiles. Throwing in a pair of iNarc Harassers can be such a huge force multiplier to any LRM units you take for a very low cost. They also provide pretty good bonuses for SRM units, including, hilariously, other Harassers.

Rating: B+

Harasser (LFE)

Costing a very high 765 BV, as much as a lot of light mechs, the LFE Harasser might actually be worth it. It has a movement profile of 14/21(28) due to having a bigger engine and a supercharger, making it blindingly fast. For weaponry, it carries 3 medium lasers, and it will nearly always be able to get a good shot with them with that kind of speed. It has the same armor as the (Heavy Ferro) variant though, so large pulse lasers and precision AC-10s will savage it pretty bad. It can do good work, but I find it a little underwhelming compared to the other Harassers, for the price.

Rating: C-

Harasser (Marian)

Showing once again that the Marians have some of the best mechs and tanks in the game for the BV, the Marian Harasser comes in at 487 BV. It only moves 10/15, which is the standard for most Harassers, and actually carries more armor than the (Heavy Ferro), with 9 points on most locations. This allows it to survive a hit from an Inner Sphere grade large pulse laser, which is a pretty nice break point. For weaponry, it carries an MRM-20 with Apollo, and a TAG. TAG’s are excellent if you are using artillery or semi-guided LRMs, and Apollo MRMs don’t have the to-hit penalty that MRMs usually do. The MRM-20 has slightly less DPS than the paired SRM-6s you usually see on Harassers but with improved range. I really like this variant, it is affordable enough to spam, hits hard, moves fast, and can support allied units with TAG.

Rating: B+

Scorpion

The Scorpion light tank is the T-34 of BattleTech. It is an adequate little dork tank that comes dirt cheap and does better than you expect it to. The Rec Guide Scorpions here are mostly huge improvements on the base variant, which I already consider one of the better tanks in this whole game.

Scorpion (Ultra)

Coming in at 425 BV, the (Ultra) is pretty good for that price. It carries reasonable armor for a tank as light as it is, 17 points in the front and 12 on each side. For weaponry, as the name suggests it’s main gun is an ultra AC/5. It also carries a backup machine gun for emergencies. This is a very simple little tank, and at 5/8 it is fast enough to get into a good position to start plinking away. Scorpions sit in a really nice zone where they are so cheap it is a waste to shoot them, have exactly enough armor to sometimes survive getting shot, and do exactly enough damage that it is annoying to ignore them. This is a pretty solid little tank, though it is perhaps a bit expensive for it’s intended role.

Rating: C+

Scorpion (Armor)

The (Armor) Scorpion is perhaps a bit dishonestly named. Costing 325 BV, the (Armor) variant adds 1 point of armor to each hit location on the tank compared to the (Ultra). However, it slows down to 4/6 and drops the ultra AC/5 down to a standard AC/5. This is functionally the same as the stock standard Scorpion, but paying slightly more for a bit more armor. I’d honestly take this over the basic Scorpion any day of the week, and I really like the stock Scorpion, but not being 5/8 really hurts it compared to some of the other variants in this PDF.

Rating: C

Scorpion (Hardened)

The (Hardened) Scorpion comes in at a pretty pricy (for a Scorpion) 477 BV. For that cost though, it upgrades the armor on a stock Scorpion to hardened armor, at the cost of “downgrading” the main gun from an AC/5 to a LAC/5. I think that LAC/5s are usually just better weapons than stock AC/5s, but on a Scorpion that is less certain. Scorpions tend to get their tracks blown off and get stuck in one place for most of the game, so the extra range on the stock AC/5 really helps. The (Hardened) Scorpion will last quite a lot longer, what with it halving all damage taken, but you run the significant risk of this weirdly expensive 4/6 tank getting stuck somewhere where it can’t do anything. It’s still cheap as all hell though, and in the right situation or on the defensive this is a pretty solid upgrade.

Rating: C-

Scorpion (MRM)

The (MRM) costs 393 BV and is basically just a stock Scorpion with an MRM-20 instead of an AC/5 and marginally thicker armor. This raises its max damage by quite a lot, but the poor accuracy of MRMs really hurts it, and it is just as likely to get bogged down and die as any other Scorpion. Take the Marian Harasser instead of this if you just want a really cheap MRM-20, it will do a lot better in most cases.

Rating: D

Scorpion (RAC)

Costing 385 BV, the (RAC) is functionally the same as the (MRM), but with a RAC/2 instead of an MRM-20. I love RAC/2s, and this is a very, very cheap RAC/2. It has pretty long range for when it gets tracked, and will do more damage than your enemy is expecting every time it fires. I am a huge fan of this variant, RAC/2s are usually held back by the unit carrying them being too expensive, so having one that is this cheap is wonderful. Functionally you are shooting your opponent with an SRM-6 with a short range of 6 hexes. Much like all Scorpions, it is begging to be spammed and mixed in with other, more threatening tanks and mechs.

Rating: B+

Scorpion (Rifle)

This is a weird one. Costing 339 BV, the (Rifle) exchanges the AC/5 and machine gun that are standard to the Scorpion out for a Heavy Rifle. Heavy Rifles are basically modern tank guns, and seem very impressive with 9 damage out to a 6 hex short range. However, they have several issues. The Heavy Rifle does 3 less points of damage to any unit with modern-grade armor, so in practice it only deals 6 points of damage to most mechs and tanks. It also has pretty bad ammo per ton, with the (Rifle) Scorpion only carrying 12 rounds. In addition, Rifles cannot load precision ammo or any other special ammo type. This is a fun tank for flavor, but in practice you would usually be better off with any other Scorpion.

Rating: D-

Scorpion (Thunderbolt)

Costing 414 BV, the (Thunderbolt) is another excellent one. It is functionally the same as the (MRM) variant, but exchanges the MRM-20 for a Thunderbolt-10. This gives it the highest single location damage value of any Scorpion we have looked at out to a pretty decent range. I like this, but the (RAC) is probably better than it, if only by a little bit. This is one of the cheapest ways to get a 10 damage long ranged attack with any amount of armor though, and that is worth something.

Rating: B

Scorpion C

The Scorpion C comes in at 354 BV, and is a very light upgrade. It has the same movement and armor as a stock standard Scorpion, but upgrades the main gun to a Clan LBX-5 AC, and adds an extra machine gun. This is pretty decent, the Clan LBX-5 has a lot more range than a stock AC/5, so the Scorpion C can hang further back from the fighting and plink away at things. It is a bit more expensive, but the extra range and ability to fire cluster ammo at any VTOLs that decide to move near it is well worth it.

Rating: B-

Desert Scorpion

Breaking the mold completely, the Desert Scorpion comes in at 554 BV, making it the most expensive of the Scorpions and by a lot. It is well worth it though. Moving a brisk 5/8, the Desert Scorpion carries twice as much armor as the standard Scorpion, a genuinely impressive 32 points in the front and 20 points everywhere else, making it the only Scorpion with a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving an AC/20 shot. For weaponry, it upgrades the AC/5 to a large laser and adds a second machine gun. This is an incredible upgrade and is well worth 554 BV. I’d gladly build the core of a combined arms list around a lance of Desert Scorpions, they are good mid-range tanks with reasonable, if not impressive, damage and a lot more durability than they should have. This Scorpion singlehandedly forced me to lower the rating on every other Scorpion here. A full 12 tank company of Desert Scorpions is 6648 BV, meaning you could fit one in a 10K BV list with 3352 BV left over for a lance of mechs. Drown your enemies in an endless tide of shitty dork tanks and laugh at their misfortune as you chew them to death with little bastards that will not die.

Rating: A-

Karnov

The Karnov is basically a space V-22 Osprey. It’s a tilt rotor transport helicopter, and there is only one variant in this Rec Guide.

Karnov (BA Stealth)

This is funny as shit. For 233 BV you can get a 11/17 Battle Armor transport with stealth armor and 10 tons of transport space. That is, depending on the rules you use for transporting BA, between 5 and 10 suits of BA. Load it up with your Assault Class BA of choice and get them exactly where they need to be for basically free. Stealth armor makes it safe and the payload of BA makes it dangerous.

Rating: A-

Hunter

The Hunter is another light dork tank, and has a single variant in Rec Guide 33.

Hunter (Cell)

The Hunter (Cell) is a grossly overpriced, but interesting, tank. Costing 939 BV, it moves 7/11 and carries a fuckload of armor, 33 in the front, 24 on the sides and 18 in the rear. For weaponry, it has a single Clan LRM-20 and a Flamer. For the price it is very tough and has good range, but there are simply better tanks out there for this price, like the R10 or Zhukov.

Rating: D+

Striker

Speaking of better tanks, the Striker is a cool little wheely missile tank. It is also in the light dork space and has a single variant in Rec Guide 33.

Striker (Stealth)

The (Stealth) comes in at 634 BV and has a really good set of traits. It carries pretty thick stealth armor, with everything but the rear having more than 20 points. For weaponry, it carries 2 MML-5s and 1 SRM-6. This gives it 16 SRM tubes up close and a bit of skirmish power with the LRM setting on the MML-5s. It moves along at 5/8, and would make a great complement to any sort of decent battle line tank, using its SRMs to fish for crits or spray Infernos at priority targets/other conventional forces. I really like this tank.

Rating: B

Goblin

Moving up to the medium weight class, the Goblin is a pretty expensive infantry transport with one variant in Rec Guide 33.

Goblin III Infantry Support Vehicle

The Goblin III costs 794 BV and has a lot to like. It carries thick armor (40 points in the front), a large RE-laser for it’s main gun, a single machine gun for emergencies, and 4 tons of infantry storage. At 5/8 it isn’t slinging BA forwards like the Karnov (BA Stealth), but it will survive a lot longer and can chip in some pretty significant unmitigable damage with its RE laser. I quite like the Goblin III as a complement to something like a couple of R10 As, both loaded with whatever your preferred Battle Armor is. Durable BA transports that can draw fire away from their BA after they unload are pretty good in my experience, and the Goblin II is a perfectly reasonable example of that. The R10 is better, but the same can be said of most transports.

Rating: B-

SM Tank Destroyer

The SM is an incredibly expensive hovercraft that is designed to hunt and kill mechs. It has one variant in Rec Guide 33.

SM1B

The SM1B, or Smibby, costs an unreasonable 1512 BV for a 50 ton hover tank. It has a few good features though, it moves 8/12 and mounts a Clan Ultra AC/20, 4 light machine guns, and an active probe. The armor is a great feature, with 24 points of Ballistic-Reinforced armor on the front. Ballistic-Reinforced armor halves damage from all non-energy weapons. Energy weapons are very common, but when this helps it will really help. The Smibby is functionally a much more durable Saladin for 3 times the price, and I am not sure if that is a price worth paying. 1512 is just way too much to pay for any tank, much less one that is only 50 tons. It won’t let you down too hard, but you can get an entire, high quality, medium/heavy mech for this price.

Rating: D

Partisan

Finishing out the tank section of Rec Guide 33, the Partisan has several variants. The Partisan is the iconic anti-air tank, mounting a ton of AA autocannons on a slow, well armored platform that is perfectly content to shoot and kill mechs instead.

Partisan Heavy Tank (Cell)

Costing 992 BV, the (Cell) moves 3/5 and carries quite a lot of armor, 40 on the front and 20 or more everywhere else. For weaponry it carries 4 ultra AC/5s and 2 machine guns. In addition, the (Cell) mounts a C3 slave, letting it network in and slap people around with it’s UACs. 4 UAC/5s is a hell of a lot of damage out to a very long range, with the potential to be in a C3 network. It is slow as hell, but it is pretty tough and will smack the hell out of any plane, mech, or anything else that gets in it’s line of sight. I’d treat it similarly to an Awesome, and it actually has higher possible damage than the Awesome 8Q, with about the same consistent DPS, and it is about 600 BV cheaper than an 8Q Awesome. The (Cell) is one of the best examples of how tanks just get more gun per BV than any other unit type, and you can slap the hell out of a lot of fire support mechs with it.

Rating: B, A in a C3 network.

Partisan Heavy Tank (ELRM)

The (ELRM) mounts ELRMs

Rating: F

ELRMs are the worst weapon in Battletech. They have a 10 hex minimum range, but a max range of 38, so if you need to shoot at someone (and miss due to long range penalties) from an entire mapsheet away, take something with an Artillery Piece or Arrow IV. Don’t use ELRMs, they are worst at fire support than very nearly any other fire support weapon in the entire game. They have no redeeming qualities, and may god have mercy on the soul of whoever keeps putting ELRMs on Rec Guide mechs. The (ELRM) is 1156 BV by the way.

Partisan Heavy Tank (Light Gauss)

Normally I hate light gauss, and the (Light Gauss) Partisan is not changing my mind. Mounting 4 light gauss rifles for 968 BV, the (Light Gauss) has less potential damage than the (Cell), with 32 instead of 40, but a higher expected DPS and no chance of jamming it’s weapons. The issue is that the (Light Gauss) only moves 2/3. It is functionally a lightly mobile turret, and is broadly useless unless you are defending.

Rating: D-

Partisan Heavy Tank (Refit)

The (Refit) is a bit dire. Costing 835 BV, it has roughly half as much armor as the (Cell) or any of the other Partisans we have talked about so far. It moves the same 3/5, and for weapons it carries 2 machine guns, 2 LBX-10s, and an Ultra AC/5. LBX-10s are really nice and will mess up any nearby planes, but the decrease in durability isn’t really worth the lower price. Just find the extra 160 BV and get a (Cell).

Rating: C

Partisan Air Defense Tank (Cell)

Yep there are two (Cells). I am going to be calling this one Perfect Cell. Perfect Cell has slightly thinner armor than the (Cell) and comes in at 980 BV. It still mounts the C3 slave, and exchanges the general purpose Ultra 5s for 2 LBX-10s and 2 AC-2s. It also mounts an anti-missile system, which is nice. 2 LBX-10s and 2 AC-2s means that this will royally fuck up any planes or helicopters that get even vaguely near Perfect Cell, but it is much less general purpose and won’t be nearly as good at smacking around mechs. LBX-10s are really good at critting other tanks though, so it will usually immobilize any other tanks that try to fuck with it.

Rating: C+ generally, A- against air units

Partisan Air Defense Tank (LRM)

Costing a mighty 1303 BV, the (LRM) is mostly the same as Perfect Cell, but exchanges the autocannons for 4 LRM-15s with artemis IV. This is a pretty significant increase in damage against ground units, and it will LRM better than basically any mech will. C3 networks are a gigantic help for LRM units, though the (LRM) will drive the price of the network up a bit, it will also do quite a lot more damage than most other fire support C3 dorks will. Not terrible, but probably overpriced.

Rating: C, B+ in a C3 network.

Conclusion

The overwhelming majority of the new tank variants in Rec Guide 33 are incredibly good. The Desert Scorpion is the clear winner in my eyes, just a frighteningly tough tank for how goddam cheap it is. Tune in soon for the Mechs from this Rec Guide, and, not to spoil anything, but they are even better. Mostly.