Salvage makes the ‘sphere go ‘round and that’s no different out here.

There’s an old saying among mechwarriors that’s been passed down from generation to generation like a glowing pearl of wisdom: Any ‘mech is better than no ‘mech. Fresh off the lot, or hauled smoking and decrepit into a grumpy ol’ ‘tech’s bay, it’s better to have a chassis and not need it than need it and not have it. Even here in the 392nd, under the Dominion’s dime, it still reigns supreme. It’s easier to put a busted up slab of salvage back together than it is to tool up a new line to build ‘em from scratch. And that’s what we’re here for.

Experience has taught me there’s many a way to haul in salvage: busted down, shot apart, rusted out, in a pile of parts, and, my personal favorite, scorched and ready to be put right back to work…

After a quick cockpit refresh, at least.

Plenty of Star Commanders pick the easier route, beating ‘mechs into submission and hauling back the left over parts for the ‘techs to sort through. Trueborn and Freeborn Commanders alike always love throwing the weight of their machines around, smashing their way through the enemy and having someone else clean up after them. Against the Combine, the Lyrans, the Falcons or the Horses that was all well and good, better to succeed and pick up the pieces than to fail and hand true enemies victories.

But against a fistful of Pirates and the other Periphery rabble that dared push the Dominion’s Coreward border? Against those that would attack us with decrepit wrecks and ancient engines that long yearned for rest and respite? They deserved a far more embarrassing defeat. 

One that Fylgja and our friends were all too happy to provide. 

“Inferno Star, we have reports of a Pirate Lance advancing south by south-west of your position, two kilometers. Tasking you to intercept.” The transmission wavered through my nuerohelm as a feed of tracking information trickled in and got us set on the right path.

“Den, Interrogative.” I replied, swinging Fylgja’s arm up to indicate to the rest of the Star we were breaking course and getting into the action. 

“Aff, Inferno.”

“Do we have any information on the Lance’s composition?”

“Aff, Inferno. Two lights, one medium and an assault, pre-invasion.”

“Understood, Inferno moving to intercept.” It wouldn’t be long until we were on target; a minute at full sprint, if that. The telltale sound of armor meeting armor above me on Fylgja’s roof rang through the cockpit, drawing my attention back to the comm. “Hroarr, how’re you and the boys hangin’ in up there?”

“Well enough, Commander. We are ready to act on your target.”

“Good to hear.” I grunted, pitching Fylgja around the outside of the tree as Falen, Kira and Darius pushed past me, the brilliant golden rays of Richmond’s northern plains shining on their Howler’s hulls. A quartet of sloven, beaten and rusted ‘mechs cut shadows across the rolling grasses, trudging westward none the wiser as we hurtled towards them. Fylgja’s systems quickly spat out a series of identifications, labeling each decrepit ‘mech as we approached. An old Shadow Hawk, long past her prime, and a pair of Fleas criss-crossing ahead of her, doing their best to screen for… 

Is that a fucking Thunder Hawk? 

A grin split my lips as I watched the lumbering mass of armor and guns turn, all but jumping as it spotted us on our approach. “Inferno, put it to ‘em.”

“Aff, Commander.” “On it Reg’.” “Don’t have to ask me twice, Sir.”

The Star broke around me, falling on the Thunder Hawk like a pack of hungry wolves to their meat as I banked towards the scrambling lights. Fylgja’s laser howled to life, carving away the first Flea’s leg, toppling it over to fall in a heap, skidding through the dirt as I hurtled toward his friend. The Shadow Hawk and his little companion did their best to swat away the trio of Howlers that were harassing their heavy element. Trying and failing to dissuade them as the ancient Thunder Hawk ground slower and slower, burying gauss slug after gauss slug into the dirt between their feet.

Fylgja’s reactor purred as the laser recharged and I brought her arm up and on target, the second Flea’s back filling my sight picture as the sound reached a crescendo. The thundering CRACK of an autocannon split the air, throwing my aim off as the shell slammed into our arm, whipping the beam high over the Flea’s shoulder for a moment, scouring the air as I walked it on target. A stream of molten metal trailed behind the fleeing ‘mech as I gave chase, the old machine slowing, grinding to a halt before crumpling to the ground in a smoking pile. 

“Commander, primary has haulted.” Hroarr grunted, a note of excited anticipation in the young Point Commander’s voice. 

“Copy, prepare to disembark.” I acknowledged, banking Fylgja around and sprinted towards the shuddering ‘mech’s form as it slumped into an undignified shutdown. 

The howl of the Elemental’s jump jets roared in my ears, sending a shudder through Fylgja’s frame as they lept free towards the Thunder Hawk’s burning form. Falen stayed glued to the machine, running circles around it as Kira and Darius chased down the panicking Shadow Hawk pilot, eagerly dousing them in preparation of the same fate that would soon befall their compatriot. 

Hroarr’s Point climbed ever higher up the Thunder Hawk’s armor, dripping with fire and inferno fuel as they scrambled around gun barrels and dug their claws into ancient armor. The cockpit of the machine was undoubtedly a living hell now, awash in heat, sweat, and fear as the first of the Point’s battle claws tapped on the viewport before digging in.

A thunderous explosion rocked the ground ‘neath Fylgja’s feet, knocking us over a step as the Shadow Hawk’s mangled, smoking barrel clattered off of her armor. 

“There you are, you little Rat.” The Thunder Hawk shuddered again as Hroarr all but growled into the comm, tearing the last panel free and ripping the pirate free of his cockpit.

“Den, Inferno, Lance dispatched.”

“Aff, Inferno. Dispatching Claw to relieve you.”

All in a Day’s work.

Star Commander Reginald ‘Reg’ Lancet, Phantom I pilot, Rasalhague Dominion 392nd Assault Cluster, Inferno Star, Richmond, December 3143.

—

Howdy Mechwarriors and welcome back to Mech Overview! I have a dream that someday I’ll be granted reprieve from the clan lands but for now I’m quite squarely stuck here. At least the ‘advisor’ is being generous with the Battlemechs! This week we’re looking at the Howler, or ‘Baboon’ if you’re of a more spherical origin.

I have to say, the Howler is easily my favorite Clan light, from the shear mountain of ‘little guy’ energy the model exudes to the absolutely criminal steal of a price most of them are I cannot help but love this damned thing. There isn’t a recent game I can remember with my Rasalhague Dominion forces that I didn’t bring a pair of Howler’s to.

I have to actively restrain myself from buying more Clan Ad Hoc Stars for the sole and express purpose of my love for these and Kodiaks.

Chassis

Since my sentence to the Omni-mines has been suspended once again we have some actual variance to talk about here.

Howler’s are 20 tonners with most of them having a heavy bend towards missiles, very light armor, enough heat sinks and a basic movement profile of about 7/11. 2 of the 6 variants are slower than this and one gets some jump jets to play with.

Howlers are cheap, cheap enough that I consider them to be the absolute go to for Clan line fillers. Two variants are sub 600 BV, one of these being IMO the best variant, and two are over 1,200. Interestingly the expensive ones are the only ones that choose to mount not missiles.

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).

Howler Standard

Peak Little Bastard.

It doesn’t get any more ‘Little Bastard’ than the standard. This is the absolute KING of the Little Bastard zone and he knows it. For a mighty 645 BV you get less than 10 armor on all locations, 8 at its thickest on the CT, a 7/11 movement profile, three LRM5s with one ton of ammo a piece and the standard 10 double heat sinks.

This is a wildly oversunk ‘mech, being -12 on heat during a running alpha strike. You can take both engine hits and not even notice that it happened to you, which is good because with an empty left hand torso you’re going to take more engine hits than average in this machine. That being said there is a total of 12 points of health on that torso between the armor and the structure meaning your opponent is probably only going to get one, maybe two, attempts at the crit-transfer before the location is just gone anyway.

This thing is simple, absolutely dirt simple, it runs around, being a nuisance all game and either your opponent wastes a turn trying to shoot it dead  or leaves it be for so long that it actually starts becoming a problem as it pecks at ‘mechs with already open locations, eagerly grasping at those juicy internals like a four year old at the arcade-prize counter who’s just seen the rainbow bear on the top shelf.

Liberty’s Rating: C+. Genuinely, at this cost, especially in the clan tech base, ‘functional machine that isn’t an active detriment’ is astounding to have around.

Howler 2

Tactically punching above its weight since ‘63.

The 2 is the ATM caddy of the gang, mounting four ATM 3s with two tons of ammo and the same armor as the standard. To make space for all the extra weight Clan Snow Raven swapped the old standard engine with a downrated XL, bringing the movement profile to 6/9(12). This is an odd movement profile but could certainly be worse, at least with a 12 hex speed boost from the MASC you have a good chance of hitting your 4+ TMM on the way in, or out, of a tube run. With a maximum damage, if you land all four tubes and get full cluster, of 36 with HE shells the 2 can do a damned good job of punching up.

And the Left Torso isn’t empty now! That’s nice!

At the low-low price of 757 BV the 2 is still a pretty great deal for what it can manage!

Liberty’s Rating: B-. This many ATMs at this cheap a price is a great throw-away striker or support piece that is well worth the investment if you’ve got the spot!

Howler 3 “Devil”

GET DOWN HE’S GOT A GUN!!!

The 3 is a 2 that trades out the ATMs for an ERPPC and a targeting computer. This raises the cost to 1,277 BV. Honestly a very funny variant that does a variant of the Pack Hunter’s job on a different little guy frame. I like the idea and this thing has a damned good chance of landing that big hit which helps.

That being said this thing, especially with terminal ‘dying-of-deathitis’, is going to attract your opponents ire. YMMV as to what they send to kill him but, as much as I love Howlers, if it’s anything with even a pair of IS Medium pulses little man is going to die.

Liberty’s Rating: C-. Hilarious machine that will do its job and have a great time doing it if you’re looking for something to harry an enemy force from afar, just don’t be surprised when it explodes from Wraith based violence.

Howler 4

Falling with style.

The 4 is a standard with three key differences: Only one LRM 5 and ton of ammo, a touch more armor– bringing the CT up to 10 and the legs up to 8 – and 7 jump jets.

This is pitiful damage and only really makes sense when viewed through one of two lenses. On one hand the 4 is a fun support piece capable of helping to keep a Star, or Trinary, on track to its objectives by laying smoke, setting enemy cover ablaze or just generally being a nuisance. OR it’s a harasser meant to pop up on a distant ridgeline, ripple off a couple salvos into an enemy column and then fade back into the terrain only to do it again a half-hour later like the little shit that it is.

Both of these are probably far more suited for a narrative campaign in general but it can see plenty of fine use in a pickup game for one gleaming reason.

It only costs 506 BV.

In Clan space I think that’s considered a rounding error. This thing, this whole ass ‘mech, is straight up only 94 BV more expensive than a Clan ERPPC. Not something that carries a cERPPC, just the gun itself.

A steal.

Liberty’s Rating: C. Limited influence or not, 500 BV for some good movement, misc. damage projection and another target to harass your opponent with is a nice thing to have in the options bin.

Peri: I requested to be added to this article specifically because this thing is utter dogshit and I can’t stand for us publishing this at a C without protest. 500 BV is far too much to pay for an LRM-5. There are better units that double the ammo, tube count, utility, or other things for less BV. As I got in an argument with Liberty about this stupid thing about “Well what does it better?”, here are some examples.

The Harasser LRM is an incredibly fast (10/15/0 IIRC. Hover Tanks can have jump MP so I have to mark that, that is not a joke. Its buried in Alternate Eras I think.) hover tank with an LRM-10 that is 412 BV, nearly 100 cheaper for twice the damage output.

The Stinger 5T carries 2 MML-3s, giving it the ability to shoot SRMs if it needs to, and it has 2 tons of ammo so it can pick whatever it needs. It is only 6/9/6 and is a bit more fragile, but it is much cheaper at 341 BV while doing much more damage due to SRMs and having more flexibility.

The Locust 3D is less armored but moves 8/12/0 so a hair faster on the ground, and it carries 2 LRM-5s to once again double the tubes. It is cheaper at 436 BV.

If the only thing you want is a cheap thing to shoot special munition LRMs at people with, there are just cheaper and more accessible options. Even if you are looking at canon availability, everyone should have access to something better to do this job, so it fails to even find a niche there. Maybe IlClan era Jade Falcon, but by IlClan so many things exist that will eat this alive and it really just isn’t worth spending 500 BV on when you can do the same job cheaper.

Peri’s Rating: D

Howler 5

Spendin’ the big money for the light show!

The 5 is a standard that drops the trio of LRM 5s and their ammo for a six pack of cERMLs. That’s it, that’s the change. Standing tall at 1363 BV there’s a couple problems with the 5, namely the cost of course but also another glaring issue that the upgrade did not address.

Heat.

With a running alpha the 5 goes up 12 heat, slowing it down from 7/11 to 5/8. Now, you could drop some ERMLs and be fine, only firing off four of them on the run will net you +2 heat, but that defeats the point of the ‘mech in my opinion. You’re losing a third of your possible damage output which hurts quite a bit as it has no capacity to bracket fire. I think the best way to use this little abomination is to build your TMM, swing it up into an overlook position where it will have a medium range shot into an enemy with low TMM, rip the cord into them and dip back below the ridge to sink the heat out next turn and then pop up for it again.

I can see this working well but for that price there are just other ‘mechs that do it better while also being able to do it more consistently and with better armor, if at slightly lower speeds. I would prefer it had been built from the 2, dropping the speed in exchange for a fistful of heat sinks and weird movement that would make for an interesting little shithead that at least would be a bit more fun for the cost.

Liberty’s Rating: D. Just too expensive for what it’s trying to do, especially when you can’t even really pull everything you’re paying for out of it on a consistent basis.

Howler 6

ALL HAIL THE INFERNO, THE SRM-6 AND THE SHOULDER TURRET. YOUR LOW COST GOD HAS ARRIVED, SHINY AND CHROME. BURN ALL THAT COMES BEFORE YOU, DROWN THE WORLD IN INFERNO FUEL AND KEROSENE.

I love the 6. If I am using a Howler it is a 6. It is always a 6. It is never not a 6. If the Howler 6 has a million fans, then I am one of them. If the Howler 6 has ten fans, then I am one of them. If the Howler 6 has only one fan then that is me. If the Howler 6 has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against the Howler 6, then I am against the world.

The 6 takes the standard to the logical, and correct, conclusion of the chassis, removing the LRM 5s in favor of a pair of SRM6s, two tons of ammo, CASE II and a shoulder turret. This does not sound like much, in fact it’s quite reminiscent of a weird non-jumping Javelin if I’m being honest, but it is so much more. With a slightly worse movement profile, and armor, than a Javelin JVN-10P, the cheapest of them, the 6 mounts an extra SRM-6 pack and another ton of ammo to feed it, allowing you to take infernos.

For 40 BV less. 245 BV less if you consider the top dog Javelin 12N instead of the cheapo.

That’s right, this thing costs 550 BV. Has no heat issues. Is happy to crit-seek or fuck with heat math and is often actively annoying enough to force someone to deal with it. The shoulder turret is weird, somewhat limiting firing arcs, but once you’re used to it, it’s really not that big of a deal.

The 6, like the standard before it, mounts a standard engine and as such is actually somewhat hard to put down. This consistently ends up leading to the funny event of me pushing both of them right up to Peri’s big backline monster, dousing it inferno missiles to force it to drop guns. It will then blow one of their legs off in return and then be far too slow to get away from the other one as they continue to fuck with its heat math.

A pair of them is 1100 BV. I have used that pair to shut down and bully so many of Peri’s 2000+BV assaults it’s not even funny.

Liberty’s Rating: A+. Genuinely my pick for the best Clan list filler in the game, holy fuck is this thing value for cost incarnate. If there are people in your local that don’t respect heat, really like TSM ‘mechs, or just they’ve just been riding the heat line in general you should grab a 6 and introduce them to basic arithmetic.

Peri: Just use this one if you are using a Baboon. The rest of these are varying levels of dogshit but the 6 competes pretty well with my beloved 12N Javelin as an SRM caddy. I do think it comes in just slightly behind it, but it is a fair bit cheaper so it might fit in lists that the Javelin 12N wouldn’t. It won’t win a game on its own usually, but it is pretty cheap and spamming out SRMs is just a good thing to do with a light mech.

Peri’s Rating: A-. Good, but somewhat niche and a hair worse than a very similar mech. Spikes to S if there is something slow with 10 single heat sinks on the table.

Devil

Apparently they made a weird thing like the Howler 3 that’s just called a Devil. There’s only one variant. It goes 10/15, it has a good bit more armor, still mounts a single cERPPC and a targeting computer and now is a 30 tonner.

Also it’s 1691 BV now.

Liberty’s Rating: D+. There’s a lot of funny business to be done in a 10/15 cERPPC but good mother of god is this bitch expensive.

Conclusion

I love the Howler. You should also love the Howler. It’s cheap enough to just about always have one to flesh out your list and can do a great job as a meaningful support role that you can push in to sacrifice to draw attention off something more important, load with weird ammo to do supporting operations, or even put honestly funny amounts of damage, or a very consistent 15 heat, into something if your opponent lets you. With many of them being standard engine ‘mechs it’s genuinely surprising how annoying they can be to put down.

All of the low cost ones are worth it, take your favorite flavor and have fun. If you want my hardline suggestion grab the 6, it’s the most fun you can have with 550 BV and a dumb idea.

Go forth and watch the seas boil. The crabs will enjoy it.

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