Howdy and welcome back to Mech Overview. This week we are taking a look at the Exterminator, a mech that certainly does have stats and variants. Full disclosure, for every Mech we have looked at so far I have either used it or played against it in the tabletop game. For whatever reason, I have never actually seen an Exterminator on a table. No idea why, the box it comes in is decently popular but I guess people just prefer to cut this mech out of forces compared to a Black Knight or Highlander, which is fair. Not really a particularly well known mech compared to those two. I am going to be writing this introduction and the chassis section before I take a good look at the variants, so it will be interesting to see how different my expectations are from reality.

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Chassis

The Exterminator is a 65 ton heavy mech, and was apparently designed to hunt down enemy command mechs. I have no idea how it intends to do that considering that the majority of Exterminators are badly outgunned by the most common command mechs of its era, the Marauder, Cyclops, and the like. Most variants are extremely fast and could probably go after the Phoenix Hawks that tend to lead light mech lances, but wasting an entire heavy mech full of advanced tech to hunt down a Phoenix Hawk just seems like a complete waste of resources. The Exterminator reminds me the most of a Quickdraw, and I mean that as a slur. It is in a similar weight class and has similar armaments and issues, and I honestly am just a bit befuddled why you would use one of these to try to headhunt.

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).

EXT-4A

The 4A is a pretty simple mech. Moving 5/8/5 and coming in around 1372 BV, this is actually a pretty decent leader for a force of contemporary Griffins. For weapons, we have an LRM-10 to chip in at range, 4 medium lasers pointing forwards, a small laser for some fucking reason, and a machine gun in case you feel like tickling some Stones Commandos or something on the off chance Infantry ever show up on your table. In 3025 this is actually a menacing mech, with high mobility, adequate armor, and reasonable close in guns. It does only have 10 single heat sinks, which sucks, but again, for the era, not as bad as it could be.

I keep saying “for the Era” here because don’t get me wrong, this is a bad mech and costs too much, but this is a mech that is far better in its original context than it is in general. With mechs like the Warhammer 6R and Atlas 7D I think they are bad in the context of 3025 and very bad in the context of anything else, but as the big meanie leading a lance of Griffins and protecting them from enemy light mechs/close range dorks in 3025 I actually genuinely don’t think there is a better mech to fill that role than an EXT-4A. Total piece of shit once you get to a period where people can actually shoot you and hit sometimes but this is a better version of the stock Quickdraw, which is cool.

RATING: D

EXT-4C

The 4C is the Star League one, and is both very similar to the 4A and very different. It has similar armor and weapons, just trading the machine gun out for an anti missile system and dropping a couple points of armor. It is a bit more expensive at 1420. For that hike in price you get a comically better mech. First off, it is now moving 6/9/6, which would already be worth the BV hike and would make it very good at hunting Phoenix Hawks, as mentioned. The real spice though is that you get a Null Signature System and a Chameleon Light Polarization System. These are two pieces of stealth equipment that make the EXT-4C a slippery bastard as it closes in, much harder to hit at medium and long range. This makes the quad medium laser load make a lot more sense, it is counting on the high mobility for its weight and the stealth systems to keep it alive until it can use them. It also carries double heat sinks, which is great, and an XL engine, which is whatever.

This is a decent little hunter of light command units, so if you see a lot of brittle 5/8 dorks or 6/9 dorks this can go bully them. I could really see this getting a lot of use against someone who liked to bring Hollanders, it can close in with them, avoid gauss fire, and bully them to death up close with lasers. Interesting idea.

RATING: C+

EXT-4D

This variant is identical to the 4C but lacks the stealth systems and is 1385 BV. Still fine but just get the one with the stealth systems, this is not nearly enough of a savings to be worth it.

RATING: C-

EXT-4Db

This is the cool SLDF Royal variant, so it is gonna have some neat stuff going on. It comes in at 1694 BV and is significantly better armed and armored, carrying great armor for the weight and a potent weapon’s load of an ER large laser, six medium lasers that all point forward thank god, and a small laser for some fucking reason. It is still 6/9/6 and has enough double heat sinks to only build two heat while jumping and firing all of its medium lasers. The ER large is just for when you can’t get in to use the laser light show. Six medium lasers on a 6/9/6 with this much armor is a lot to deal with, and in my opinion this is well worth the price. It is probably best used as a fat Phoenix Hawk, considering that stat wise it is almost exactly just a significantly upgunned and uparmored PHX-1. Actually love this mech. Wish it had the stealth systems. This is the first Exterminator that is a genuine threat to an actual heavy mech command unit like a Marauder or an Orion.

RATING: B+

EXT-4Db-EC

This is an Early Clan variant, and swaps the 4Db’s medium lasers out for 4 ER medium lasers. Technically it has 4 prototype ER medium lasers, but these are statistically identical to standard Inner Sphere medium lasers, other than weighing 1.5 tons instead of 1 ton, which literally doesn’t matter at all in BV balanced games. In my opinion this is a bit of a downgrade, and the BV agrees with this variant costing less at 1611. Still not bad, but less good.

RATING: C+

EXT-4DX

This is a weird one. Sarna assigns this the sub-designation “Caine” but MUL has it as just the 4DX, and I am going to trust MUL. Also, good lord, this is a bizarre mech. At 1794 BV it strips out all the weapons on a standard 4D and a bit of armor, and changes the speed to 5/8[13]/5, using MASC and a supercharger to get that speed. For weaponry we have an anti-missile system and six medium pulse lasers with laser insulators. Laser insulators are weird bits of tech that reduce the heat generated by the weapon they are attached to by 1. This means that it can alpha strike all of its pulse lasers while running 13 and be heat neutral, which is frankly kind of terrifying. This is a very fast mech with very high close range damage only really limited by a pretty extreme price point. Even with junky IS medium pulse laser range I still think this mech is worth it, it has the speed to get to point blank range of an enemy commander and feed them 36 points of very accurate damage. Quite a good mech.

RATING: A-

EXT-5E

At 1532 BV the EXT-5E is a fun variation on the Exterminator. Carrying an iNarc, four ER medium lasers, and a C3i system, the 5E is built as a support mech and heavy recon unit rather than a head hunter. It also changes the movement to 6/9[12]/0, using MASC. If you have never used one, iNarcs are extremely strong if used correctly in conjunction with LRM carriers and your preferred LRM mech. It is also a pretty decent C3i spotter, having good armor and good speed. Overall a pretty good piece in a C3i force, and outside of a C3i force this is a durable iNarc delivery system, which is a good thing to be if you like to LRM people.

RATING: C+

EXT-5F

Another alternative identity for the Exterminator, the 5F costs 1485 and changes the role from iNarc support mech to long range annoyance machine. It has the same armor, weapons, and C3i as the 5E, but trades the guns for two light PPCs, an ER small laser for some fucking reason, and an MML-7. MMLs are quite good but this is kind of a shitty mech. You are spending 1485 BV on something with similar ranged fire output to a 769 BV Panther. Just take two Panthers. You will not regret taking 2d6 Panthers to every game. Love Panthers. I wish I had more of them.

RATING: D-

EXT-6CS

At 1592 BV the 6CS is a bit of a return to form. It moves 6/9/0, has good armor, and we see the return of the Chameleon LPS and Null-Sig System. For weaponry it carries two light PPCs, two medium pulse lasers, and an MML-7. I mean, its a significantly better long range annoyance device, but my point about just taking two Panthers remains. Very seriously take more Panthers, I have never been disappointed by a Panther. If you want to annoy people at long range for cheap, accept no substitute.

RATING: D

EXT-7X

I know some people who swear by the 7X and I sorta get it, but this is such a hard to use mech. Costing 1674 BV, the 7X uses Stealth Armor instead of the complicated SLDF stealth tech. For weapons, we have some good shit, with four medium variable speed pulse lasers, an MRM-10 which is cool I guess, an ER small laser for some fucking reason, and a laser AMS. It moves 5/8[10]/5 and can only sink 26 heat. It builds a lot more than 26 heat. The intended method of using this mech is that you keep the stealth armor on and line up, then go screaming in with the stealth off and supercharger on, blast away with the VSPs, and then dart out with jump jets and cool off. I think this is straight up not a great way to use a mech. Paying 1674 BV for something that could do cool stuff every other turn is bad in a game where I could pay BV to get something that can do cool stuff every turn. A 3S Banshee is only about 60 BV more, and if you want fast VSPs the Quasimodo is 100 BV cheaper, doesn’t cook itself, and has TSM for cool big damage kicks. I really don’t see the point in using the 7X over a mech that can fight every turn instead of requiring this weird jousting pattern that you usually see on mechs like the Locust or Cicada. Not unusable, but there are better ways to spend BV.

RATING: D+

Conclusion

Why don’t people use more Exterminators? The stealth versions are cool and the 4Db is straight up a fucking menace to any mediums and slow lights on a table. It isn’t quite as good as a Highlander or Black Knight but it is for sure better than a King Crab. I actually want to get my hands on one of these, I might ask around locally and see if anyone has one left over from a box they bought for other mechs and neglected the poor Exterminator that they came with. I was kinda expecting to bully it considering how little play it seems to get locally but no, there are some standout variants here.

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