I Spent 300 Hours In A Sandbox Game This Year and I Want More 

Honestly, this felt more like Splat showing us his cool, new toy. He talks with such enthusiasm. I'm here for it. This is a great game.

"We don't talk about the Charger" "I beg your pardon?" - Charger 1A5

The Battltech/MechWarrior universe is one of my favorite Sci-Fi universes. It is underappreciated, especially given the depth of the universe. So glad you like the title. Excited for the clan release!

"Hippidy hoppidy, get off my property." - old Taurian proverb Splat, would be awesome to see you play some tabletop Battletech

I don't think I've put 300 hours into gaming this year overall. I'm slipping, I think I need an intervention.

Ah love MW5. Mods make it absolutely incredible.

MW5 with the YAWC mod: Cram as many Clan LMG pods (or MGs or HMGs for that matter) onto your Urbanmech as you can. Outfit it with the largest engine it can handle reasonably. Then install a Supercharger or MASC unit, and finally some ammo and whatever weight you have left over goes to armor (hardened, preferably). I think I fit 13x CHMGs on mine, with about 6500 rounds or so of ammo...which doesn't last long at all. You now have an assassin, capable of running 130 Km/H and absolutely demolishing the toughest Atlas in the galaxy. Sprint toward them, aim at the cockpit, and unleash all guns at once. It's my favorite stupid build to play, and it murders--just don't get hit by the big guys! Alternatively, regular or ER-Flamers are nasty too. Just like the MGs, they have no bullet drop or travel time, and instantly bake the pilot to death. Either one of these builds is perfect for salvaging enemy mechs, as there is minimal damage to the rest of its parts. Shout out to my favorite hero mech, the Anansi Spider (SDR-A) with two AMS slots and a normal top speed of 129 Km/H, along with jump jets. Absolute terror on beachhead missions while the rest of the bois are running Cyclops, Atlas, or other Heavy and Assault mechs; the Anansi is running around nailing those artillery cannons while the rest take out the trash.

I've been a battletech/mechwarrior fan since the 80's. I still have the books that had the old Robotech models that were eventually phased out due to bad blood between the Macross distributors. I really need to play Mechwarrior 5 more, and I'm looking forward to their Clan release as well.

I've got like a hundred battletech/mechwarrior books that span like 500 in universe years. Absolutely love the universe.

Man, the Mechwarrior 3 demo I got from a PCGamer magazine was what introduced me to the BattleTech franchise. I think that might be the reason my favorite mech is, still, the Bushwacker.

Definitely didn't expect Mechwarriors 5 on this channel! I've had a lot of fun with it, especially with mods. Coyote recently updated his mod, and it's been great playing with the fighters and of course getting them in the first place

Funny thing is that when Splatt said "the game is heavily modded", it still only means in this case that everything is unlocked, the mechs arent too strict anymore setupwise and the pilots can be sent to learning courses to get better. Yeah, base game is reaaaally strict, but for a player who never played with this universe, I think is enough for a start

I've been always more into the simple FPS games, but since I've tried MW5 I got hooked. I love that you can be an FPS focused player, and can enjoy it, but as soon as you get to the more complex Mechs, you should use your tactical knowledge instead. I loved the learning curve as well! I've already got all the DLCs and I can't wait the Clan Wars one to come out. Good vid by the way!

Wasn't aware of the modscene for this game. I guess it will be another example of "mods so good they made me buy that game" like happened to me a few times....

Always happy to see BT get some love in any form. I don't have a PC I can play any of the games on, so I'm stuck with MW5 on a console with their DLC, but it really screams for mods.

Serious sleeper hit! I was BLOWN AWAY by how much I fell in love with this game. It has the hook of Call of Duty multiplayer (basic kill your enemies ad infinitum) with a SUPER DEEP management sim. Not a perfect game by any stretch but MAN is it fun. I must have invested 300+ on my PS4 and now I started over on the PC with mods and its like a whole new game! Looking forward to adding some Timberwolves and Mad Dogs to my collection now!

One thing worth mentioning is that once you install yet another mechlab make sure to look at the panel for it in main menu because by default it sets the enemy hp to 3x… I’ve played yesterday and was wondering why is the main campaign so punishing and didn’t notice that… I only noticed that because I’ve checked yt for tips for beginners and some guy played first mission and was one shooting most enemies when for me it took 2-3 salvos with all weapons. So yeah, make sure to adjust that.

Dude I love that you basically made a well-armored, 95 ton Jagermech.

2:55 If you`re playing with the YAML mod, where you can change the engine, there`s absolutely nothing wrong with the Charger. An assault that you can loot early game, with 7 energy hardpoints. This as your main mech, while having 3 urbies (that are super tanky for their weight) for the AI, and you can dominate the early-mid game.

I tried getting mods to work shortly after the first expansion dropped and it was causing all sorts of issues that scared me off them. Seeing all of yours running so smooth makes me excited for the next time I dive in!

Listening to you talk about this game and world absolutely made me go buy it and all the dlc. I would love to watch much more MechWarrior content from you

I've been playing Mechwarrior/Battletech since the C64 days and except for Mechwarrior 1 on the PC (missed it), I loved every one and was even happier that the series was continued. I now have over 1200 hours and several runs (unmodded/modded) in MW5.

I do love the fact that we're finally seeing the "unseen" mechs again - marauders, phoenix hawks, all of the Robotech models that Harmony Gold was complaining about for many years... marauders and warhammers ftw :D

Dude I think it would be amazing if you could make a series out of this game. I know it's not your main form of content but this was such a good watch IMO and would love to see more.

Tex does tons of crazy detailed video content explaining lore or history in mechwarrior on the blackpantslegion channel. This includes a new to battletech tutorial style video and plenty on the mechs.

Don't forget MechWarrior Online. It's the PvP F2P partner to MechWarrior 5. MWO is probably the best it's ever been right now, and just added the Longbow to the roster of mechs. Plus, it has a hell of a competitive scene.

Put respect on the chargers name mr splattercat, before I kick your car into the next state with my hot-rodded, supercharged charger

I’ve never been able to get a cicada to work, but turning the charger into a pure speed/melee build is fun.

40k could be cashing in on the "mech" or "mecha" genre with making a "Warhammer 40,000: Adeptus Titanicus" but they don't understand the term "Limited Lease Liscensing"

One of the best things about BattleTech/MechWarrior is the rules are compatible over the whole 40 years the game has been developed. There has been errata along the way, and every few months seems to see a new piece of equipment or whole new unit released, but it is still largely recogniseable. This means that you can open a campaign sourcebook printed over thirty years ago, give it a look over if it seems cool or not, then just sit down and play it. Other gaming companies (I shall not name them) take a different approach, and decide to release whole new versions every couple of years, completely invalidating everything that has come before, in what is a simple and obvious cash-grab. The people who make BattleTech actually like the game and the setting, and it shows.... ...for the most part. Don't mention porches on the official forum.

Mech Warrior is one of those old near an dear classics they hardly miss.... sooo many memories playing Mech 1 an Mech 2 in the early 90s as a kid ugh Nova/Gargoyle so much fun

I love how excited he is to share! Might give mechwarriors a try myself. Always love watching your videos.

Just starting with this after your last vid, and the mod list is REALLY useful - cheers Splat.

Our DropShips peal out thunder, shrieking down through cloven skies; As a planet's grim defenders gather in a host to die; Then open hatch! Forward men! Enemy in sight! They're closing now, the battle's joined. All 'Mechs prepare to fight! Our heavy 'Mechs deliver volleys stroke on burning stroke; As the company advances through the battle fog and smoke. Now open fire! Target lock! Deploy the Recon Lance! Then it's blasting guns and stabbing beams as Battlemechs advance!

Yeah dude! I've been playing since MW2 as well. A friend of mine had access to a commercial printer and he would take beautiful screenshots of these horribly low poly mechs with barely any textures and basically make posters for all his friends walls.

I was a new father when Mech Warrior came out. I tried to play it on my first computer, but I just never had the time to really put the time in that was needed. I might have to think about checking out MW5 now that I am a lonely old man. :D

Hey Splat, I've been playing Battletech/Mechwarrior games for just about as long as you, they are some of my favorite games. I do so love stomping around in a giant death machine and laying waste to all the things! The TTRPG version is much fun as well.

If anyone wants to listen to documentary quality and above content on Mechwarrior lore, look up Tex at the black pant legion, his thesis on the warhammer and hunchback are legendary.

Haha. Splatty, *none* of your viewers are going think you're chasing another hit with this video. If they released Cooking Mama Mechwarrior Edition you'd buy a Switch before the trailer was finished. I love this. It reminds me of being a teenager and excitedly showing stuff to friends.

Just impulse bought this! Thanks for alleviating the "was buying this a mistake" anxiety while it downloads.

With the YAML mods, the Cicade variant that has 4 ballistic slots (I think it's the CDA-3C) can mount four clan light machine guns. Loaded up with a bunch of ammo, armor, and an up-sized XL engine you can zoom around the battlefield just chewing everything up. I kept that thing well into the realm of Assault 'mechs because it was ridiculously good against everything but VTOLs.

Battletech is to WH40k the way Star Trek is to Star Wars. By that I mean one is SciFi and the other is SciFan and they're both great IPs overall.

"I just keep modding and adding more stuff to it" - yep, sounds like a typical battletech/mechwarrior experience ;)

Yesssss this game rocks with mods. I discovered Mechwarrior and Battletech for myself a couple years ago and I fell in love instantly, so I am 100% for getting this game some more attention.

I've been playing battletech for years now and played the old mechwarriors, but had no idea the newest one looked this good I may have to scoop it on up thanks for showing it off

This video got me into mechwarrior for the first time ever. I play on console unfortunately but I plan to move to pc for mods eventually. Thanks for putting this on my radar splattercat.

I love hunting Hero mechs, it keeps me coming back for more. Just added the Atlas Boars Head, giddeup! (Grind War Dog, +15% speed is good on every Mech in the game)

"They got rid of the Genoeva Convention like 400 years ago because it made war-criming really, really inconveniet." 🤣

I had a loadout that was insanely devastating for MW3. Basically jump jet right into the enemy and unleash 10 to 15 medium pulse lasers all synced to one key, with every other slot being heat sinks and one LRM 20 for fun. It could destroy any mech within one second.

Battletech is a spin-off that was created when they couldn't get Mechwarrior working on Apple IIs. The intent to make a first person mech game came first, even if the actual game release didn't.

Don't lump the Cicada with the Charger... It's very useful for kiting behind assault mechs.

Love this game and although I know it all I'm absolutely here for it. Keep preaching Splat

I would love a version of this, where you have a full merc company, deploying multiple lances, tanks and aircraft. Have a base, and potentially have a Warband/Bannerlord style system where you can take over systems and carve out your own place in the world. I know its unlikley to ever happen, yet I can hope.

I reinstalled this because of seeing all the mods Splat had and remembering how fantastic this game is WITH mods specifically. Love MW games since the 90s as a kid, too. Leave it to the community to make a mediocre game in the franchise into the best modern MW game out there. You modders are the absolute best ❤

Right then, got this game during christmass as i wanted to give myself something, and been using your mods and a few more... i have lost 147 hours in this fudging game so far and i aint stopping, Marauders all the way baby! And some awesomes too, gotta love a good PPC machine.

The Cicada is a precious bean! The Charger and all its variants can go rot though lmao!

Star Citizen has Cockpit Glass mod in vanilla, like it already has those features. You have to press a button to wipe your helmet in extreme environments. There is some customization but not quite as much as Mech games. It's still in Early Access but there is talk of a release by the end of 2024. Squadron 42 is a single player version of Star Citizen and will be releasing before the MMO, if anyone is interested in that.

I'm unsure about the Geneva Conventions in the BT universe, but they actually made rules of war which were supposed to prevent large scale warcriming (Ares Conventions). They then decided to ignore them because rules are less fun than galactic domination. Also, autocannons are not machineguns >:(

Mechwarrior 2 was my first mechwarrior as well. I don't recall what I originally played it on, but I remember sinking hours into that game.

I started the Mechwarrior series on a Tandy 1000TX. I was excited to find MWO and well over 4500 hours in play time. I picked up MW5 and all the DLCs plus hundreds of mods with over 460 hours. I love the customization and the variety of missions. I have a tendency to play scorch earth on missions. I figure if I'm called in, the bad guys need to go and not come back!

16:45 tbf the only time the BoS has ever been portrayed as the good guys was in Fallout 3, and that was mainly because you and them share a common purpose to not let the Enclave literally destroy the entire Capital Waste's water supply. And even in that game, they weren't exactly shy about taking and hoarding old world tech (evident by them having the only functional aircrafts, and a literal Mech) and in New Vegas they're in a Bunker hoarding tech not allowing anyone inside

Came for Splats latest awesome video, and I'm a huge fan of MW5. However, I definitely cheered at the Sabaton reference. One of my absolute favorite bands!

I do feel like the only way you can play this game is modded, and I remember trying this back in 2022 and it was a really fun. Now with my hearing loss it's still cool to play but not quite the same because it's the radio chatter, the environmental sounds like the mechs and the guns that really bring to life the game. Anyways thanks for the video Splat I do love hearing you waffle on about things you enjoy.

"The Cable Company is the most scary", lol, nice one

I only started getting into Battletech with MWO, and boy did I love that game despite all the hate it got. Those few games where I ended on a terrible team that gets wiped out, only to clutch a 1v12 are still the highlights of my gaming life. especially when I did it in a *Centurion*.

Love Mechwarrior and western style mech combat in general. Played a ton of hours with buddies. Quite a bit of fun.

You mentioning that mw is something you can always comes back to reminds me of starminer, an ancient game that came on a demo disk (eforce? eforces?) in the 90s. It was simple but enjoyable, and impossible to find these days. I consider Delta V to be its truest modern successor. Anyway, thanks for introducing so many games to us over the years.

"Thestria? That's House Kurita space!" "I may not be a space pirate, but I sure as hell know the difference between Northwind and Thestria!"

i had reinstalled this game to retry it just this last Friday, still a fun quite good to see it re-covered

As someone who could probably teach a university level course on the history of any Successor State or major Periphery state, I love your approach to it.

So, I watched the two videos you posted about what MW5 did to you and I don't even know if I should thank you or... Not only that I've put like 56.7 hours in 2 weeks in MW5 (of wich 50% was probably just adding mods, tweaking and balancing the experience) but also got really crazy about the Battletech universe and its subculture. Somehow, even tho I am past 45 and played thousands of games, I missed it entirely. I really needed something of this amplitude to spice my free time so, yeah, cool, thanks. I am a big fan of games (and not only) with a lot of depth and considerable amounts of theorycrafting, especially if that is a part of a preexisting universe of sorts. This game in its modded version really fits the bill. It is like crack... Thank the universe that my job is in the same video games area, or else I think I would have needed some serios amounts of time off...

I love that you included your modlist it makes it easier to find hidden must haves without having to cycle through dozens of pages in utter boredom lol

Splat... You have an artistic gift for describing basic things! Well done! 🧐

Dope. Dope, as in Pope. Dope Pope! This continuously looks awesome, and I kinda want to play it.

I love playing this in VR with a hotas setup, best immersive mech game out there!

@Splattercatgaming After watching this video or maybe the prior one, I bought the game and the first 3 DLC. Tried playing through the campaign and just was a very frustrating experience and I uninstalled. Recently I reinstalled and just went career mode.. and I'm having a blast. So basically thanks for getting me to buy the game, even if it did take me a couple tries and quite a bit of time to actually get into it!

Battletech, Mechwarrior, Also see, Black Pants Legion.

The one thing you missed is the fantastic UEVR mod. Playing this game in VR is the best mechwarrior experienced there is...

I will never abandon 40K, but I might find some emotional comfort in the LANCER TTRPG. It's grim, it's futuristic, it's got all sorts of mechs, and I like it.

I appreciate this love for Battletech/Mechwarrior..., but lore-wise, you are somewhat off the charts.

Hey nice to see you playing this is also have aloooottt of hours in this game its awesome. always bin a fan of battletech even run in a clan on MWO in the really begining. This game is awesome with modes

I agree with Splat about MW5. I've been playing since the day it arrived on Steam and have almost the same mods as what was shown here today. Multiplayer is an amazing experience if you have even somewhat experienced lancemates. At this point we can run specialized mechs (fire support, melee, etc) and run through contracts relatively quickly. I'd suggest playing the original story in vanilla, then mod MW5 to be the game you want.

ah that Great House view of the star league is great to hear because it makes my inner Periphery person laugh and laugh and laugh while fortunate sun plays.....

2:17 *canada has entered the chat* "Oh good we had some new ideas for geneava convention 2 electric boogaloo"

Man, MW2 and Ghost Bear's Legacy + a Microsoft Sidewinder went HARD. I had so much fun with those games. MW3 was great, I actually trialed for my boss's MW4M clan before me got me into WoW. After MW Online, I'm really happy with how MW5 turned out. I'll have to fire it up again and slap on some mods. Life-long Timber Wolf/Mad Cat fan.

Haha, the enthusiasm! So geeky. ^^ Game looks great btw. :)

In between your last video and now, somebody finally released a tool so that I can play the game with my dual-stick setup. It's everything I wanted and more. And I haven't even started messing around with mods, yet.

Lyran Alliance AKA Steiner ... where rank is more frequently bought by family wealth than by effort of merit

Ive played around 200 hours this year on MW5: Mercs. On XBX. All the DLC , Vanilla. No mods available on XBX. Love the game. Kitaros are heat beasts.

A cursed Cicada story: Along with 3 other mechwarriors I was leading, I let a Champion run up front, while I was trailing in the rear behind a slowpoke and an Atlas in a close line with a Flea. We had just combed the masses of rubble and were on our way up and around the hill. It seemed like we were walking on old foundation of cities and carcasses of buildings and shrapnel everywhere. Up front, all seemed clear. While moving I looked down for a moment, and caught a red glint in my right window. As soon as I turned to look, this Cicada was bolting like a demon, and bulldozed my Flea to the ground. I fucking exploded from full health. I stayed quiet for a long time. When they turned to see my Flea behind them, there was blood.

Great video! I'm just getting back into MW5 since release and the updates since then have completely changed the game! I'm absolutely loving it. I'm having trouble getting all the mods listed in your description to work. YAML seems to be giving me the most issues. Are you using the mod loading tool that's available or just the mod settings in the game?

You're commentary is underrated and hilarious

I love this game so much, and can never reccomend it enough - its a solid 9/10

Hey now, if you get the right varient, you can make a Cicada a really good hit and run laser boat with armor to spare. you just need to get creative.

I've put probably about 200+ hours into MW5 vanilla since summer time. Had to give it another go when I got a ps5 and yup hooked me again immediately. But then again I've been a lifelong fan of BT since MW2.

The biggest difference between Battletech and Warhammer is Battletech relishes your mods where Warhammer sends you a nasty lawyer letter to stop.

I just recently reinstalled Battletech because I was getting the MW itch and I was getting impatient waiting for Rogue Trader to drop. Was already considering starting a new MW5 run with some mods once I'm done with RT. It's such an exquisite game. I would not at all be mad about dropping biannual "Yep, still playing and loving the heck out of MW5" videos.

Thanks for the mech showcase! ^^

Get that hero blackjack, the white/black one with the 6 machine guns on it. Use that in the beach head missions, to clear out the artillery. It is fast, and can jump good. And absolutely obliterates tanks, turrets, buildings, and artillery. And it punches WAY above its weight, because it absolutely shreds mechs too. I would pit that mech against your so-called "dakka mech". Use that mech and know the true meaning of "overpowered".

this game, especially modded, is absolute fire if you're into beam/projectile/self-propelled-smart-and-or-dumb-munitions slugging matches and perfectly customizing your experience. there are definitely bugs, some exacerbated by mods, so it may take a few partial-playthroughs to snag every hero mech, but man, i cannot for the life of me find a replacement for my 6x gmg king crab or 3x ac5-bf + drones hero corsair. the other mechs vary, i'll drop the headshot king crab to otherwise account for weight, but that corsair is so nice to have available on nearly any mission. a full loadout of mine definitely includes command mechs; your whole lance can build off of each other with things like NARCs and TAGs and C&C components, unfortunately afaik stealth (as an attribute beyond using light(er) mechs on infiltrations) is useless despite plenty of cool components related to it. in lieu of stealth, regeneration has been my #1 goal, followed by any kind of flat damage reduction (narrow torso, blueshield pfd, armor with damage reduction, AMS for sure, etc. etc.) followed by armor followed by ammo capacity and/or heat reduction (because ballistics for life) followed by dps/heat, (the whole list is only for components, for mech mods it's armor -> damage (because rpm and damage mods are matched but rpm costs heat and ammo as opposed to being completely free) -> range (because hitting them first is either/both free in terms of ammo and inc. damage, but you can't always engage at range) -> heat reduction (first flat rate reduction, then priority determined by weapon type weighted towards ammo-less weapons)), with modded opponents (i love fighting clan to get their stuff, but except for hard story missions 100% of my casualties have been due to clan, might just be the mod but if it is it's a must-have, yaml and yaml clan derivatives though some clan mechs can't be built from spare parts, perhaps user error). even vanilla, the importance of armor and flat damage reduction cannot be understated; you always want to strategize what plate is exposed to fire and avoid as best you're able using the environment, but you also, and i cannot stress this enough, absolutely need to be able to take down or evade or survive a knife fight (melee is painful) with a hero assault mech at pretty much any time (perhaps exceptions on story missions with forewarning/meta-knowledge) with any build. you could also emphasize other strategies besides my priorities listed above; alpha strikes are lower on my priority than endurance, because some missions can take a lot of dakka and higher difficulties hit super hard, and i'd rather take 1 ton of ammo than 2 of heatsinks (for lasers), but again I'm playing modded; though iirc vanilla likes energy less because there are fewer options for mitigating heat. there's a hero mech called 'the lich' which is pretty fire besides the hero corsair. based on only 500 hours of modded and maybe a few of vanilla. and certain annihilators with 5 ac-5bfs. tried to be lore-agnostic here; i just really like efficient dakka which means star league mechs with clan hardware lol also i spent too much time on this reply so i'm'a just leave it here