The Thunderbolt was the mech I was given at the first real game of battletech I ever played. And while it never became my favorite mech, it still holds a special place in my heart...

In the Paradox Battletech game I wind up getting 1/3 of the Thunderbolts through ammo explosions. Whoever put the missile ammo in the CT didn't think that far ahead.

you've been THUNDERSTRUCK!!! Ancient Pre-Star-league song lyrics found on AC/DC Mercenary Company Thunderbolts.

I'd usually scrub the machine guns and ammo for an extra heat sink unless I was going against infantry

One thing I love about your videos is that they are very re-watchable.

The T-Bolt is an awesome machine. You can fulfill any mission profile with it. In a Periphery Campaign I used one to cow other factions (pirates) in their more common light and medium mechs. It easily dealt with a Rifleman and later a Crusader. The Crusader went up to an ammo hit though.

Very classic. I have a first edition box set and have e enjoyed this guy for 25 years. Watch its ammo bins. They go boof pretty easy if there is a short coming on this mech, its that. But with 500 in game years of history, there is loads of them about and its a solid heavy. So in the rpg its an early heavy choice quite often and if you run short of parts you can often shoot the parts off your enemy since there are so many out there. Protect those ammo bins on the right side and run them dry before you run out of armor in that location if you can. Empty bins dont turn you into capella confetti lol.

Another solid mech that is the forebear of an iconic clan design. In this case, the Summoner. I like the later depictions that have it looking more like its clan descendant than the earlier artwork.

A great and classic Battlemech. I love it's realistic design as if it could actually exist. It always give me the fear when seeing it on the field whether in the old days on tabletop or playing BATTLETECH by HBS on pc. Thunderbolt talk about the perfect name for such an engine of pure destruction. Looking forward to your future direction on upcoming videos. Maybe we will be blessed to hear your incredible knowledge on the many and varied mercenary companies with their different approaches to warfare and personality such as Hanson's Roughriders brute force style in comparison to the disciplined military tradition minded Eridani Light Horse. Thanks GrimDark Narrator for the always excellent honey sweet detailed history. I bet ComStar is archiving all your works :D

I acquired a T-bolt during a salvage exchange. During an extensive refit we shoehorned in some double heat sinks that seriously improved it's heat issues. A damn solid brawler.

its so bizarre having watched the anime dougram (one of battletechs BIGGEST inspirations by far) and knowing where the thunderbolt (iron foot) came from.

The Thud is such a lovely heavy, a little bit of everything going on and a lot to play with fitting wise.

Along with Warhammer, Marauders and the like, I consider the T-Bolt a Main Battle Mech (like a MBT, but a mech 😬). It’s designed to fight. Not recon. Not fire support. But a straight up fighter. Big enough to run with the big boys and even punch above it’s weight as opponents focus on heavier mechs. Also can be paired with Centurions and other 4/6 moving medium mech to form the backbone of a medium battle lance.

One of the first Heavies that I had in the Table Top. Great all around Heavy. In the BT video games, it's a great Mech to have in the mid game (just make sure to get that ammo out of the center torso!). Looking forward to you diversifying throughout the BT universe.

Hello Grim. The Thunderbolt is one of my early favorite Mechs, even with it's penchant to overheat in combat. To fix this problem, I usually dispensed with the MGs and SRM and their associated ammo bins, and added heat sinks. On some variations, I would use the saved tonnage for Jump Jets for mobility. When the Helm Memory Core was released, I redesigned the T-bolt to have Endo-Steel, Ferro-Fiberous armor, Double Heat Sinks, and upgraded weaponry... which usually had the T-Bolt sporting an ER Lrg Laser, or a ER PPC. The Lrm Launcher would be upgraded with Artemis, and the medium lasers replaced with pulse medium lasers. And of course, heat sinks with their Double variants. One variation of the T-Bolt I favored was outfitted with a Gauss Rifle in place of the large laser, along with the other mentioned upgrades. This gave me a heavily armored Sniper Mech that usually could hold its own in close range as well as melee combat quite well. The Thunderbolt is a tried and true Mech design, and one that any Commander would have in their unit. It can stand up to heavier Mechs and deal out a considerable amount of damage, while having the armoring to withstand the heavier Mech's firepower, long enough for the most part, to survive long enough for support to arrive. With a 'sniper' type pilot, the T-bolt can snipe enemy Mech cockpits with the best of them, and is a terror to anything lighter than itself. Just hearing that one is on the battlefield makes pilots sit up and notice, because things just got nastier for them. I rank the Thunderbolt right up there with other words of horror one faces in Mech Combat... like Awesome, Atlas, Annihilator, Marauder, etc. Note that all those I mention are heavier than the poor Thunderbolt... which is a statement as to it's feared presence on the battlefield.

The T-Bolt followed a solid design philosophy: Make it fast enough to do the job, give it as much armor as you can, and then mix the weapon loadout. Like many larger designs, the Thunderbolt has a missile launcher for extreme range, a large laser for mid-range, and medium lasers for brawling. They kept the lasers OUT of the arms so they can be fired while brawling. Larger mechs, like the Battlemaster and even the Atlas, follow a similar 'missile/beam/brawl' weapon collection.

Whooo hooo another stompy the Thunderbolt always reminds me of the summoner

This, along with the Crusader greatly improved once Lostech was rediscovered. Just adding double heat sinks make a good Mech better. Adding CASE also helps.

The Thunderbolt is one big sucker. When you face one in combat, make sure you aim for the legs.

One of the best all around mechs ever to take the field. Fast, well armored and armed and deadly at any range. My favorite part about this mech is how customizable it is. You can put nearly any weapon config on it and it will perform brilliantly.

I love a mech with an offset cockpit.

One of my favourite Mechs

Definitely a Mech worth having an any company. Can put out some very interesting variations with the new technology.

First time I ran across this was in one of the novels. That Sunglow heavy laser was pretty devastating.

The fact that there's no Thunderbolt variant that carries Thunderbolt missiles is an absolute crime.

Yes! My jam. Specifically, I love the TDR-7M. Ferro-Fibrous Armor, an ER Large Laser, and a Streak SRM-2 were pretty much all this beauty needed. My other favorite is the TDR-9SE. It's a T-bolt with jump jets, what's not to love?

Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼

Glad you're diversifying your topics though I love the meck videos I also love the fluff of the BattleTech universe

Used to put battle tech and robotech models together. Would be cool to get my hands on them now .

Looking forward to the new diversified Battletech videos.

As I said over on Sarna, the Battletech heavy trooper mech. Nothing I've seen since has changed my mind on this one iota.

Not too keen on the mechs that look human myself as I've said before I'm a timber wolf/dire wolf mech pilot but the thunderbolt I think is definitely on the edge of what I like to dislike. I might just have to go and play the game and give the thunderbolt a chance to impress. Great video grim thanks for your work

Second all time favorite.

One of my favourite mechs

The Eridani Thunderbolt is my favorite, Gotta have those Jump Jets!

I'm sure the tbolt and summoner share a similar relationship as the catapult and mad cat have (mad cat is catapult with marauder arms!).

One of my favorite heavy mechs .. just the old standard template was great ..Always thought it was a very down played mech .

Hey Grim. I play with a mekhq crew, and my character ran a modified T-bolt 5ss. The thing is unworldly as a damage dealer and as a tank. Unfortunately, a thru armor crit touched off the srm ammo (left torso). Poor Brutus

the mech used by the Callandra Witch

KEEELLLLLLLL HOUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Along with the highlander, one of the best in my opinion

the problem with the thunderbolt is the ammo is in the central torso which if hit will cost you the mech

And people say the Capellans can't do anything right...

That thing running at you at 86 km/h and doing 120 mtr long rocket jumps would be terrifyingly pants filling enough; before you even consider the heavy; heavy weaponry load. The Death Korps of Krieg and the Armageddon Steel Legion would love and approve of it, not to mention the Iron Warriors and Khorne also.

MOOOOAR

Although Battletech and Warhammer 40k lore are not related, I like to think that Battletech was during the "Stellar Exodus" of human history, far before the DAOT. But, with how GW has lost its mind lately, I have grown to really like Battletech. I'm thankful that the community is very welcoming.

Say LRM Missile launcher is a bit redundant

The third picture is NOT a TBolt its a Clan Summoner.

I hate this mech. They never seem to fight fairly. Always showing up in pairs as medium range mechs keeping me from attacking LRM boats. The worst is when they pair down the heat intensive weaponry and tack on more armor. They might not do much damage themselves, but in a war of attrition, that can be almost impossible for all but a Stiener scout mech lance