Locust LCT-1V

"The basic Locust 1V has one big advantage: speed. It's not meant to put up much of a fight, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a 'Mech that goes further and is harder to hit." - Yang Virtanen

The Locust LCT-1V is a Light-class 'Mech in Battletech.

Description
The Locust 1V is one of the lightest - and fastest - 'Mechs ever entered into service. Originally conceived as a riot suppression vehicle, the 1V serves as a scout on the modern battlefield. Lightly armed and armored, it is extremely fragile.

Loadouts

 * The LCT-1V is arguably the worst of the Locusts due to its terrible hardpoints: yes, it's technically possible to mount an AC/2 with a ton of ammo on this 'mech and it will even let you choose which arm you prefer to mount the weapon on, but you won't have a single point of armor if you do this, and with early-game gunnery extreme-range sniping is a dicey game with little reward. This leaves you, effectively, with three antipersonnel and one energy hardpoint.
 * Mounting an LL (or heaven forbid, a PPC) in the CT is technically possible if you're a big fan of sniping (and hate armor), but to really make the most of the LCT-1V, be brave and use the support hardpoints.
 * In early missions, a MG build (the stock one) can actually be quite useful by scoring the occasional head hit thanks to the sheer amount of ammo it throws around, making it easier to bring 'mechs down in a salvageable manner, 'mechs which of course can immediately replace the Locust. You can go all-in on this strategy and replace the ML with a third MG, which will even allow the LCT-1V to quite effectively take out poorly maintained vehicles with melee attacks early in the game: 30 pinpoint damage opens up the armor and the MGs do the rest.
 * The best damage/ton comes from stripping the MGs and sticking SLs in all the energy hardpoints, a build which can use the hit-and-run tactic quite effectively to carve open poorly maintained 'mechs in the early game and ignore evasion with most of its weapons to boot. Even then, don't expect the Locust to remain useful for long; even the hardpoint-starved Spider can run a similar build (2xML, 2xSL) while being just as fast, packing JJs, and having more armor. Really, the LCT-1V is just there for the brave, the foolhardy, and those who just don't have another 'mech to drop at this very moment.

Strategy

 * As the 'fifth wheel' to your starting 'mechs, the LCT-1V can serve as an emergency replacement if you somehow lose a 'mech early on to at least allow you to field a full lance. Unfortunately, its capabilities are pretty much limited to scouting (preferably from behind cover, with sensor lock) and the occasional brave (read: suicidal) hit-and-run attack. That said, if you have to...
 * Surviving:
 * In order to survive any kind of open combat while still contributing damage, Locusts need to take advantage of their speed to maintain maximum evasion at all times. Note that, without the tonnage to mount a meaningful number of jumpjets, the terrain of certain maps can make it very difficult to maneuver around the enemy in the way that you want. If the terrain allows it, try to maneuver to the enemy's rear arc, where even the lightly-armed Locust can do some meaningful damage in the early game.
 * Alternatively, you can play with the initiative order by running in behind cover, reserving on the next turn until all enemy turns have passed, running in, firing, and then immediately ducking behind cover again at the top of the next round. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam. If the terrain doesn't get in your way (and the enemy doesn't have the speed to chase after you), this strategy can work wonders and keep the Locust perfectly safe, but it takes a lot of time to do significant damage since you're only firing the already anemic weapon loadout every other round. Getting the Ace Pilot skill removes the damage penalty, but by the time that you've got pilots with Ace Pilot, you should have something better than a Locust for them to take to the field in.
 * In single player, since it has no armor, don't ever take it. Ever. At least it makes it easy to wipe out.