It's not a terrible mech, it does exactly what it says on the tin; it's a budget LRM-boat. It's right at home with other cost-effective medium workhorses of the Succession Wars like the Vindicator and Centurion, and it's arguably much better than lighter missileboats like the Valkyrie. I'm fielding one in BTA3062, and it does the job well enough. But with that said, it's definitely not a mech I'm going to be keeping around for long once the good salvage starts rolling in.
@@cobalt968 Not only is it a decent lrm medium on a tight budget, it still has enough medium lasers to do solid work by 3025 standards. Not outstanding, but it can function after ammo is depleted.
cheap, cheerful, solid. it won't win by itself but it can contribute a fair bit of firepower for it's size. good as part of a lance and it lets you bring something scary to distract the enemy with while this thing just keeps plinking away. later on I'm sure you can do better. but with introtech? this is a consistent performer.
If you can't afford a dervish or Catapult for your frontline units, need a decently priced Fire support Unit for your militia unit, or if you're a merc unit just starting out, the whitworth is a go-to
What it seems is that, this machine was just fairly easy to make after the Helm Core was passed around. Like the fact that 300 were still working by the 4th succession war with hand made parts means that a lot of it was just simple enough to keep them going despite the flaws. And that prephiry states can effectivly refit them speaks to how simple they are to open up and work on.....other then those faulty legs on the first batch. It just defines what a Garrison or Merc machine is. It does the job, but its not good enough to take on a House or Clan unit. Its so cheap and low maintenance that planetary and merc units on a budget snap them up.
Hello Prof. The Whitworth Mech was a fairly good Mech when I started playing the game back in 1984... roughly a month after the first release of the first box set available and the first TRO, later that year. For 3025 Era designs, it was not all THAT bad. Two LRM-10s and three Medium Lasers was fair weapons for such a Mech at the time. One incident that comes to mind from my old Playing Group, is when as 'Salvage' from a mission, the BM (Battle-Master, read like Game Master) awarded me a few dozen hand actuators for Sentry Mechs... mostly as a joke. I was surprised and thanked him profusely for the generous salvage dump (along with the actuators, I got a bunch of MGs, Small Lasers, and a few extra LRM-10s, along with ammo for the MGs and the LRMs. This led to my pulling all Whitworths I had (about 6 at the time, due to aggressively trading for them with other players), and adding Sentry hand actuators to all of them. Even though a bit 'slow', I had the Whitworths (upgraded with hands) shadow some of my Scout units, providing LRM fire support, and then moving in to help move any salvage gained. Without hands, it was ruled that a Mech could only have salvage tied to a Mech with chains and steel cables, which basically covered one or more portions of the Mech (for instance; A Jenner could handle 3.5 tons of salvage, total, but it would cover the rear center torso). Now this is not a problem for most hand-less Mechs, but some do have rear firing weapons, which would be blocked by the tied on cargo. The group ruled that having one hand allowed the same weight capacity to be lifted with that hand and moved, like walking with a suitcase. If the Mech had TWO hands, double the weight could be moved, but would block all front torso weapons. So, my Whitworth Mechs, with hands, could walk off with 8 tons of cargo, but their LRMs would be blocked from firing, unless I spend one round putting the cargo down to free up the torsos for combat. Having hands on the Mech is very useful 'out of battle', when the Mech can be used as a crane to lift heavy things, as well as move equipment, ammo, etc around your Drop Ship, or planetary base of operations. A successful counter-attack while moving cargo from a raided location was not all THAT rare, but rare enough that it was advantageous to have two hands on a Mech. Which led to just about every player adding hands to Mechs that didn't have them. At lest one, and often more. (note, I even saw a player use a Warhammer that had hands added to the gun-arms of the Mech. Odd looking certainly, but he could move 14 tons of cargo fairly easily. With the 'advance' of Tech during 3050, 3055, and 3057, I was able to upgrade the Whitworth's Engine to an XL version that increased its speed, although not up to double the speed, since some of the saved weight was used up for things like more armor, more ammo, CASE, and jump jets to match the new 'top speed'. You mentioned that the Whitworth was sort of like a lighter Archer, without hands. Well, my variant made that a truism... a lighter Archer, with hands added to the Mech. Oh, and half a dozen Whitworths, even 3025 Era designs, put out quite a nice amount of firepower to suppress Enemy flanking maneuvers and charges at your line of battle. Six of them, like I could field, laid down enough missiles to make any Enemy Light Mech pause to consider if they really wanted to run through such missile 'rain'. Now on to some History. Although it is not mentioned anywhere that I know of, a talk with a FASA representive during a visit to their Chicago HQ, revealed that the Whitworth was designed as fire support for Star League forces, and later down graded like everything else when the higher tech parts became unavailable. He also let on that most Whitworths produced during the Star League Era were for export, and to be used for planetary militia units, as well as sold to House units and Mercenaries groups. A cheap, reliable (yes, the leg issue was a problem), long ranged, fire support unit was a 'boon' to most militia forces, and Mercs snapped up as many as they could afford for thier own uses. At the time, I was playing as a Davion Heavy Guards Commander, given a short Regiment of mostly Light units, and often tasked with Recon duties for heavier Regiments that would follow on behind me. Once going Mercenary, I was able to pretty much replace all my units, including the Withworth Battlemechs, and run a mostly 'light' Regimental unit for hire. Just about everyone teased me for being a Davion Heavy Guards Commander, without Heavy Mechs. I did have a handful of Mediums and Heavies, and a single Assault Mech (the Regimental Commander's Mech). But, the vast majority of my units were Light Mechs of one type or another. The whitworths were about 70 percent of my Medium Mechs. All I can say is that with care, the Whitworth was a valuable Mech to have in a company during the 3025 Era. And careful upgrading made it 'relevant' to the battlefield until Clan Tech became available. Enough from me, Frank-ly Speaking, Col. Alexander Leonidas Granger, Star Lions Mercenary Regiment.
@@ambientlight3876 Replay to AmbientLight In regards to upgraded Whitworth Yes, it can be upgraded a lot. I started with the 3070 WTH-K, and did the following: Endo Steel structure. 260 XL Engine. 10 IS-DSHS. DSHS added to LT. 8 tons of Standard Armor. Speed upgraded to 6/9, so, 6 Improved Jump Jets added to give even farther ranged jumping. Jump Jets located: 1 LL, 1 RL, 1 LT, 1 CT, 2 RT. Kept the two MML-10s and 2 tons of ammo, plus CASE (1 MML-10, 1 ton ammo, plus CASE, in each torso). Kept the two ER Medium Lasers in the arms, but added the ER Medium Laser back in the head. Added Hand actuators to both arms. Endo Steel critical s placed in both arms. Resulting Mech has one remaining critical slot in one of the arms. NOTE: Removing both CASE from the torsos, frees up 2 crits and one ton. It is possible to add an additional ton of armor to the Mech in this manner. Ditto for keeping the CASE, and doing without the Head ER Medium Laser. Please note... the new jump jets allow a jumping distance of 9 (same as standard), take up twice the number of crit spaces, BUT... jumping 9 hexes only costs THREE heat. Suggesting Variant naming: WTH-K2a, WTH-K2b, and WTH-K2c. Variant 2a as per above. Variant 2b without head ER Medium, but with added ton of armoring. Vaariant 2c without CASE, but with added ton of armoring. Amberlyn McFairlain, Head Mech Tech, Star Lions Corps Mercenary Regiment.
The Whitworth is Missile Support on the cheap. It pairs well with other 4/6/6 medium/light mechs. The Panther and Vindicator are two mechs that are well worth pairing with a Whitworth. It isn't meant to take on an entire army. But it is part of your complete battlemech lance, particularly for Garrison and Protection Duties.
Always liked the Whitworth. It might need some work to get the best out of it, but it's cheap with lots of potential. One modification kit that would be nice is Javelin arms with the medium lasers not in the way of the hands.
The "Whit" of this video proved its "worth". It has been called the poor man's Archer, and that's essentially how its best used, a dedicated LRM Boat. I always like Jump Jets, as I prefer to reposition whenever possible to avoid being flanked, or to flank an enemy.
In my opinion, there is no better medium missile fire support 'mech for the price until the Hellspawn comes out. The Dervish is nice, but the Whitworth actually has more armor.
It’s not a bad Fire support mech in 3025. Especially when you see just how few and far between those heavy mechs are, and the even rarer Assault mechs.
Whitworth was a famous inventor for Manchester England. He invented the Whitworth rifle for one, which your snipers used during the American civil war. The Whitworth is also my favourite medium mech.
IIRC some Whitworth & Armstrong cannons also got shipped across the water to make things interesting too. British firepower got a good workout during our in-house quarrel.
This thing is the Archer's mini-me! A great and affordable light/medium fire support unit, if you are playing an intro-tech lance of 4000-5000 BV, this is a great choice for a "bodyguard" for your lance leader. Speed isn't a huge problem, since it can keep up with heavier mechs and use the Jump Jets for quick repositioning. Heat isn't an issue if you stick to range brackets . 3 medium lasers can be a nasty surprise for any light mech trying to flank or backstab you, and 2 LRM10's provide decent fire support for the cost. In all, it's quite affordable at less than 1000 BV2. Avoid the SRM version, as it's too slow and runs too hot. The TBT-5S Trebuchet does that job far better. The Artemis version from 3050 isn't worth it either. A very nice assessment video!
As a fellow old-timer you said everything I would say, mostly. I just wish it had hands. The Artemis version is too much for the weight rating, and the SRM model doesn't have the ability to be a real brawler. Budget Hi-Mo Archer all the way!
I loved using the introtech Whitworth in MegaMek so much that I refitted a Crusader I got as salvage into a bigger Whitworth. It's worth all the bills.
A mech which much like the dervish, stalker, and honestly every inner sphere much using LRM-10s would be much better served to swap those out for 2 LRM-5s and use the saved ton somewhere else. Well that and for the Whitworth proper if you gave it hands and fixed that flaw the legs have you'd make it a vastly better mech
The biggest disappointment in that regard is the Valkyrie. By dropping the unneeded extra Heat Sink and switching the LRM-10 to two LRM-5s the engine could be bumped up to a 6/9/6. Then it could keep up with the Wasps and Phoenix Hawks and such..... So disappointing.
For me, at least in theory, the whitworth looks thoroughly solid The base variant is 2/3rds of a basic Catapult for 2/3rds the BV, and the variant that drops one SRM6 for 8 RLs seems like just the right balance between having a big rocket punch while also not being useless afterwards
For those of you interested in seeing the Whitworth in action check out Death From Above Wargaming's Bora V Uprising Batrep #'s 1 & 2. The pilot has a Gunnery of 1 which is kind of crazy for an Inner Sphere pilot but you get to see just how effective a Whitworth can be in a support role. I also strongly encourage you to check out Batrep #3 of the same campaign as well. 10,000 BV each side and on the Capellan side is a Marauder II which winds up taking 80 to 100+ points in damage per turn once everyone gets into pattycake range which, in my opinion was pretty impressive.
Needs HANDS!!! For real though, this and the Chimera are the 2 Mechs I most want to roll to get in BT Advanced. The Whitworth becomes a decent skirmisher with a bigger XL engine to get movement to 8, Endo Steel, and some Apolo MRMs.
Replay to AmbientLight In regards to upgraded Whitworth Yes, it can be upgraded a lot. I started with the 3070 WTH-K, and did the following: Endo Steel structure. 260 XL Engine. 10 IS-DSHS. DSHS added to LT. 8 tons of Standard Armor. Speed upgraded to 6/9, so, 6 Improved Jump Jets added to give even farther ranged jumping. Jump Jets located: 1 LL, 1 RL, 1 LT, 1 CT, 2 RT. Kept the two MML-10s and 2 tons of ammo, plus CASE (1 MML-10, 1 ton ammo, plus CASE, in each torso). Kept the two ER Medium Lasers in the arms, but added the ER Medium Laser back in the head. Added Hand actuators to both arms. Endo Steel critical s placed in both arms. Resulting Mech has one remaining critical slot in one of the arms. NOTE: Removing both CASE from the torsos, frees up 2 crits and one ton. It is possible to add an additional ton of armor to the Mech in this manner. Ditto for keeping the CASE, and doing without the Head ER Medium Laser. Please note... the new jump jets allow a jumping distance of 9 (same as standard), take up twice the number of crit spaces, BUT... jumping 9 hexes only costs THREE heat. Suggesting Variant naming: WTH-K2a, WTH-K2b, and WTH-K2c. Variant 2a as per above. Variant 2b without head ER Medium, but with added ton of armoring. Vaariant 2c without CASE, but with added ton of armoring. Amberlyn McFairlain, Head Mech Tech, Star Lions Corps Mercenary Regiment.
You'd probably have to change the entire arm assembly, and outside of Clan IIC models, there aren't many "two handed" 40 ton mechs around. Which is odd.
When running low BV or low tech games, it is a pretty nifty little thing that will help out in many situations. 3 medium lasers is still very good at closer range.
The Whitworth is a decent lrm boat for its time and when paired with some brawlers it really shines as they draw the fire allowing it to do its job....on this comment line ive noticed people choosing a dervish over it which is a surprise really...the dervish has less armour and with its firepower tends to be used more as a brawler by most players which really doesnt suit it...also people have said swap the lrm 10 for 5s...this idea it very strange...the lrm 5 is one of the worst weapons in the world...when rolling on cluster hits you are usually only hitting with an average of 3 missiles compared to the 6 on the 10s...you really dont need the extra armour on a mech that isnt designed to get too close to its opposition :-)
The Whitworth WTH-1 is a efficient, light fire support Mech for the 3025 era. It is a very solid workhorse with almost no flaws (except for the missing hand actuators) and makes the best possible use of the small 40 ton chassis. The main problem is that the Mech isn´t competetive in later eras. It gains very little through advanced tech and it small size and slow speed become liabilities with the advent of advanced, long-range weapons and pulse lasers.
Actually, the rifle came AFTER the Whitworth name was used for a type of threading of screws and bolts. The screws and bolts predate the rifle by at least a decade or more.
@@franksmedley8619 But I seem to remeber in one of FASA's rags that they put out back in the day. They said that it was named after the rifle, not the screw.
Personally? I hate the thing. Simply not a fan. If I want fire support, I'd like FIRE SUPPORT. Otherwise Ill take something that emphasizes a different role.
