While experimenting with Smurphy, I wanted to figure out what the ballistics limits could be on this thing...ended up with a Clanner YLW build. Not sure if it'd be worth taking into the field, but I could see the more limited firepower becoming a real cleanup hitter later on in the match. This one would, theoretically, be the perfect mech to have hanging back behind lancemates to put the finishing touch on wounded mechs.
Actually decided "why the hell not" and tried this one out...I didn't realize that it used 5 ammo per shot, so that 70 really doesn't last very long, so I've revised it to be a UAC10 model, and it works much better: Much easier to break 500 damage, though a laserboat build still seems to be superior. Thought I took a screenshot of the damage from the test game (about 489) but I guess not. It CAN work as a skirmisher, and is beastly when you catch someone from behind. If I find that 4 tons of ammo is too much, I'll scale it back and add some more lasers.
Here is my 2c. 1. Storm Crow does this better, with 4ML and the cUAC20 with good ammo to boot. Mostly because it doesn't have JJ. 2. The cLBX makes more sense, given the tendency to brawl or backstab. Therefor, I would run this, to make it a real yen-lo-nova. It is a real *itch to make this mech into a Yen-Lo. It's locked DHS and JJ are just stupid to deal with, but this could work, if your not shot in the legs.
I have noticed that, much like YLW itself, this type of build is pretty much all or nothing. When I did well with it, I would get 3-5 kills and break 500 damage easily. When I did poorly, I would have trouble getting 100 damage, since it's not very strong against a coordinated rush of enemies. It's also a lot more vulnerable to lights than the laser builds are. I'm still curious about trying out the LBX20 build...I like having the Nova, but I'd like a variant that isn't completely reliant on lasers. Sadly, I don't know if that'll ever be truly viable.
either way, none of your builds have enough ammo for the AC if i run with clan ac's i load at least 4 tons
In fairness, I did get 4 tons of ammo on the AC10 version Never managed to run out on the good rounds either...but sadly, the verdict is still more or less "no go". Even for having as many ballistic slots as it does, it just doesn't have the viability to really pull its weight compared to laser builds, which can mount more hate AND sustain better damage overall. It did make me wish for a missile hardpoint even more, which would truly make the Nova a terror (SRMs to combat a light rush? Yes please). Still, it was a fun experiment, and now I have a UAC20 and 10 waiting for the heavier mechs to be available for cbills
One of my clanmates swears by a modification of this build. He uses the LBX-20 instead of the UAC. It is more expensive, but when he points the canon at an open compartment, it kills.
Built this one myself because I had difficulties coming up with a decent build for the NVA-S. Only two tons of ammo is very limiting and if you managed to get the other arm shot off when the big gun goes dry...let's just say it isn't very fun. One positive thing is that with the wide arms it's easy to peek around corners and stay reasonably protected while firing at the enemy. tl;dr 3/5 decent, but not very good.
That said, it can be pretty hilarious to have something like a Kit Fox or Jenner round a corner at you, not expecting a Nova to pack an LBX I still dick around with this build from time to time for shits and giggles, and it really does work well as a cleanup hitter...it's just rough to try to use it at the start of the fight. If anyone ever tries this bad boy out, try to stay out of the main brawl until a few friends engage, and you will shear off parts of enemy mechs with little effort.
I'm still trying to find a good use case for the ballistic arm, but it's hard to pack enough killing power into it to ambush, or enough damage and range to snipe. Maybe they just need to put 6 ballistic hardpoints in it so we can make an MG cluster.
You get the same amount of shots per ton of ammo, so try to treat it like a regular AC20 but yeah, the stormcrow is way better at this.