QKD-4G Quickdraw

 

To celebrate sarna.net’s latest Bad Mechs feature, here’s my assessment of the Quickdraw. Let’s see if it fares any better in Mobile Frame Zero.

The Quickdraw was designed to replace the Rifleman, but frankly is does a poor job of it. The Rifleman was designed as an anti-aircraft Mech but is also used for fire support. It has considerable firepower and great medium- to long-range damage-dealing potential, but also has paper-thin armor, has average speed for a heavy Mech (which is to say it’s slow), and tends to overheat. The designers of the Quickdraw wanted a much more versatile Mech and focused on fixing the Rifleman’s weaknesses, but this was at the expense of the Rifleman’s strengths.

The 60-ton Quickdraw has SLIGHTLY more armor than the Rifleman and is 33 percent faster. It also uses jump jets for added mobility. Just these features took up half the weight of the Mech, however, and that’s not including other essentials like a cockpit, gyro, and internal structure. As a result, the mech’s armament is relatively small, and it still tends to overheat (although not as fast as a Rifleman going all-out). With a single mid-sized long-range missile launcher, it can’t hold up in long-range fighting, and with only a mid-sized SRM launcher and two forward-mounted medium lasers, it is out-gunned at close range by the Jenner, a mech that weighs just over half as much. The biggest advantage of the Quickdraw is its two rear-mounted lasers. You could say that this Jack of no trades and master of nothing is better at running away than other Mechs of the same size, but that’s about it.

The Quickdraw fares somewhat better in Mobile Frame Zero, however.

QKD-4G Quickdraw: Size Heavy (60 tons), Speed Average, Armor Medium. Long-Range Missiles, Laser Gauntlets, Jump Jets, Short Range Missile Pod (1Rd8S). 2RA/2RD/1G/2W/1Rd8S. [Already has only 3 systems for battles with advanced/clan tech]

The QKD-4H takes the torso-mounted medium lasers and moves them to the forward firing arc, but moves the SRMs to the back. Since facing does not matter in MFZ, it does not affect the loadout.

QKD-4H Quickdraw: Same as -4G.

The QKD-5A is designed for longer-lasting missions with less ammunition available. It replaces the LRM-10 with two more medium lasers and additional heat sinks.

QKD-5A Quickdraw: Torso-Mounted Laser Cannons, Laser Gauntlets, Jump Jets, Short-Range Missiles (1Rd8S). 2RD+d8/1G/2W/1Rd8S [3 systems]

The upgraded QKD-5K is similar to the QKD-5A, mounting double heat sinks but identical weaponry.

QKD-5K Quickdraw: Torso-Mounted Laser Cannons, Laser Gauntlets, Jump Jets, Short-Range Missiles (1Rd8S). 2RD+d8/1G/2W/1Rd8S [Advanced Tech]

The QKD-5M matches the -4G in weaponry, though it uses only a single shot SRM 4. As we are treating almost all SRMs as single-shot rockets, however, this makes no difference to the MFZ loadout.

QKD-5M Quickdraw: Long-Range Missiles, Laser Gauntlets, Jump Jets, Short Range Missile Pod (1Rd8S). 2RA/2RD/1G/2W/1Rd8S.

An alternative loadout for the QKD-4G, -4H, and (maybe) -5M could drop the SSR and combine the SRMs and LRMs into one system called Missile Batteries (1RA/1RD). This would probably more accurately portray a Quickdraw in battle, with its relatively light long-range weaponry. (1RA/3RD/1G/2W)

Because the Quickdraw has only three systems in MFZ, it can be used for underbidding. The combination of long-ranged and short-ranged weaponry is less useful in MFZ battles, however; you usually want to pick one range and stick with it. I would probably use a Quickdraw for seizing enemy stations and mid- to long-range fire support. If it takes a hit, I would drop one of the weapon systems; which one depends on what enemies are how far away.