BattleTech Mech Overview: Crab

Hey there, MechWarriors! For this special Thanksgiving (US) week edition of Mech Overview, we'll be covering the most seasonally appropriate mech, the Jade Falcons' prized Turkin-

Wait, hang on, I'm just receiving a note...

Alright, apparently we did that one already! Looks like Crab is on the menu this time around!

Crab. Credit: Rockfish

One of the more iconic 50-tonners, the Crab has a solid identity as a reasonably quick (5/8/0 at slowest) energy boat with a focus on larger, longer-ranged weapons: usually a matched pair in its arms, with only a couple of backup lasers in the CT and head. It can, uh, usually even sink the heat from them! Fun fact: On many (though not all) Crabs, the claws are actually hands. It has hand actuators, y'all. It can pick things up!

Variants

These mechs have all been reviewed based on a standard F through S scale, which you can find described on our landing page here (along with all of our other ‘Mech reviews, the name of the box you can buy to get any of the mechs we have covered, and our general methodology).

Crab

Crab. Credit: Porble

CRB-27

The original Crab, the CRB-27 is in the same "LosTech, but barely" camp as the Guillotine 3N, with only Ferro-Fibrous chipping in to get it to 95% armor coverage. That armor's laid out pretty well: ever so slightly light on the torsos, but maxed on the limbs. With 16 single heat sinks, it only builds movement heat when firing its two Large Lasers, and at close range it can swap out one of the LLs to fire its single medium and small lasers instead to maintain the same DPS while going heat negative. With nothing that can explode, and a single heat sink in each side torso making sure that at least the first crit there stays there, this is a pretty efficient package for 1,198 BV. The only major downside is that it has to spike heat at least a bit (or stand in water) if it wants to force a PSR.

Lynn's Rating: C+

CRB-20

The Succession Wars downgrade of the CRB-27, the lack of Ferro-Fibrous means that the 20 has lost two pips of armor from every front-facing non-head location and one pip off every rear location. Unfortunately, this hits some noteworthy break points - a single Gauss round or CERPPC now goes internal on the side torsos and arms, an AC/20 round goes internal on the CT, and an IS LL can go internal on the CT rear. It retains all the speed and offense of the 27, but it's noticeably squishier, and it only saves 55 BV in the bargain at 1,143.

Lynn's Rating: C-

CRB-27b

The Star League Royal variant, the CRB-27b makes very simple changes to the CRB-27: All 16 heat sinks are now doubles, and both LLs are now ERLLs. This is a bit excessive in terms of heat-sinking - it's now heat-negative on a running alpha strike! - but it has better ability to reach out and touch you, better ability to pile on its damage in a brawl, and better resiliency to crits with its spread of DHS (as long as those crits aren't to the legs, which no longer contain heat sinks for padding). You pay a bit more at 1,308 BV, but I think this package is worth it.

Lynn's Rating: B

CRB-27sl

This one is an oddity, a Star League variant with an atypical alphanumeric code and extremely limited distribution, going entirely extinct after the Early Succession Wars period. That's a shame, because it represents a unique direction for the chassis in a couple of different ways. It adds an XL engine onto the basic body of a regular -27, buying the tonnage to add a full set of jump jets (taking it to 5/8/5) and turn most of the lasers into pulse lasers: an LPL in each arm, an MPL replacing the usual small laser in the head, and only the CT Medium Laser remaining from the normal Crab. It's down to 14 DHS, which means it goes up one heat on a running Alpha or +4 on a jumping Alpha; perfectly manageable heat. This Crab gives up a lot of range, but it has the highest damage potential of any Crab we've seen so far, and can really party once it gets to three hexes. I'd absolutely be happy to field this for 1,309 BV, though it might be more marginal when pulse BV gets rebalanced.

Lynn's Rating: B+

Crab, Big Kev's Brigade

CRB-30

A post-Great-Refusal ComStar upgrade, the CRB-30 once again starts with the same structure and armor as the 27, though it swaps to an XL engine like the 27sl did. Its equipment has been comprehensively upgraded: an ERPPC in each arm, the CT Medium Laser and head Small Laser both upgraded to ER models, Guardian ECM, and a C3i unit for battlefield coordination. Small problem, though: It's got the same 14 DHS as the 27sl. With its hotter armament, it goes up two heat just firing the ERPPCs while standing still. I've still used this to good effect within a C3i network in a campaign: it can manage its heat okay as a backfield sniper, can pull the same "I've swapped one of my long-range guns for my close-range guns and am now heat negative" trick as the base CRB-27, and can still soak a lot of punishment for a 50-tonner before it loses effectiveness, and the ability to use ECCM is always welcome in a C3 network (if you're using those rules), but it could really benefit from even just one more heat sink. At 1,509, I'm not particularly eager to reach for it outside of a campaign setting.

Lynn's Rating: C-

CRB-45

While the CRB-30 originated with mainstream/secular ComStar, the CRB-45 is a Word of Blake exclusive. It's pretty restrained for a Blakist variant: It uses a larger XL engine to get up to 6/9 speed, swaps to Heavy Ferro-Fibrous and slightly juggles armor values to slightly improve armor on the front-facing torso locations while slightly weakening the leg and rear armor, keeps the C3i but ditches the ECM, and swaps the weapons out for three Light PPCs (one in each arm and one in the LT) and an ERLL in the CT, cooled by 15 DHS. The armament swap strengthens the CRB-45's identity as a backline sniper. Within a C3i network, it can potentially start delivering effective, heat-negative alpha strikes at 18 hexes away, but within the Light PPCs' minimum range it's pillow-fisted. 1,342 BV makes this a decent value proposition in a C3i net, but it's nothing flashy.

Lynn's Rating: B- within a C3i network, C outside of one.

Hastati Sentinels Crab. Credit: Jack Hunter

CRB-54

Oh, that's... that's different. So, this one's a Dark Age Republic of the Sphere innovation, which has proliferated a bit since the fall of the Republic. It belongs to the "bold choices" branch of the RecGuide WYSIWYG variant family, rather than the "ruthlessly optimized" branch. We've got a 350 XXL engine with a supercharger here, taking the CRB-54 up to a blistering 7/11[14] movement profile, plasma rifles for the arm guns (sharing three tons of ammo between them for 15 shots each), a Spheroid ERML and ERSL in the CT and head, and 15 DHS keeping it surprisingly cool for an XXL mech. It has the same load of Heavy Ferro that the CRB-45 does, but buys extra tonnage for its upgrades with, ah, Composite Structure. In terms of capabilities, this can do some fun things - two plasma rifles and some incidental lasers trucking around the board at high speed sounds like a good time - but with the speed factored in it's up to 1,964 BV, and it has a hell of a glass jaw between the XXL and the Composite.

Lynn's Rating: D

CRB-C

Don't get excited, that's the "C for C3" -C, not the "C for Clan" C. A simple Invasion-era Combine upgrade of the CRB-27s they got in Operation Rosebud, this replaces the CT Medium Laser with a C3S unit. That's it, that's the change. That drops the CRB-C's base BV to 1,135, an all-time low for the chassis, but also neuters its close-range bite and complicates its heat management just a touch. I don't think this one benefits quite as much from a C3 network as the -30 and -45 do, but it's still mostly a -27, and most-of-a-27 is still most of a decent mech, just unexciting.

Lynn's Rating: C-

Crab Conclusion

The Crab is never particularly an exciting mech - save perhaps when a CRB-27sl gets into its 3-hex party zone - but it's never painfully slow, never kills itself in an explosion, and can reliably bring its main weapons to bear, which puts it ahead of a lot of mechs out there. It's unfortunate that the most recent variant in-universe is also probably the only real dud in the bunch, but the CRB-27b has fairly wide distribution in ilClan (including the Mercenary list), and it's still a solid medium mech 433 years after its debut.

Bonus: Night Chanter

The 2022 PDF supplement Turning Points: Foster, set in the Clans' Golden Century, did something very unusual, introducing OmniMech variants of the Black Knight (Spirit Walker) and Crab (Night Chanter), represented by the same RecGuide art as their non-Omni antecedents. Since there's only two published variants (the Prime and A configurations), and it looks just like a Crab, I'm going to briefly go over the Night Chanter as well!

Chassis

The Night Chanter sheds weight for some reason, going down to 45 tons. Its base chassis is still pretty recognizable, with Standard Structure, a Standard Fusion Engine propelling it at 5/8, and Ferro-Fibrous armor, though the armor has been rearranged a bit, lighter on the limbs (though still at the 20-pip threshold on the legs), heavier on the front torso locations, lighter on the rear torso (down to a worrying 4 armor on the rear side torsos!). Incidentally, like the Crossbow, the Night Chanter has fluff limiting its customization more than most OmniMechs, establishing that only its head, CT, and the arm mounts inside its claws are configurable; the hard-mounted claws (which, again, are hand actuators!) are the biggest limitation, preventing it from using arm-mounted autocannons, gauss, or PPCs, since all of those weapons require OmniMechs to drop their hand and lower arm actuators. I'm unsure if all its heat sinks are fixed, but both its published configurations have 14 DHS, with three in the right torso and two in the left torso.

Crab. Credit: Lynn C

Night Chanter Prime

This is definitely a Clanner Crab remix, though an interestingly asymmetrical one. We've got an ERLL in the right arm, an LPL in the left arm, an MPL and ERSL in the CT, and another ERSL in the head. These are all good Clan guns, and it can handle the heat from them well: it's heat neutral running and firing everything but the ERSLs, and it's only +4 on the running alpha. At 1,645 BV, I'd call this a bargain, though I still don't love the thin rear armor.

Lynn's Rating: B+

Night Chanter A

What? Ammunition? On my Crab-descendant? Apparently, it's more likely than you think. We've got an eclectic armament here, and there's a whiff of Infantry Guy in the air. The left arm holds an LRM-10 and its ammo; the right arm mounts an ERML, two machine guns, and a full ton of MG ammo; the CT mounts an ERPPC(!); and A-Pods in each leg serve to dissuade the scourge of the Clans, the Conventional Infantryman, from making any anti-mech attacks. We've got decent damage here, zero heat problems, and the CASE-protected arms aren't the worst place to mount a couple tons of ammo, but the Night Chanter A doesn't really have a cohesive game plan. Still, 1,604 BV is pretty dang cheap for a SFE mech with a CT-mounted CERPPC that can move 5/8; I can't really be mad at it.

Lynn's Rating: B

Night Chanter Conclusion

So, good news: This is a much better Clan upgrade than the Guillotine got. Bad news: While the Black-Knight-derived Spirit Walker at least survived to the Dark Age as a Unique mech, the Night Chanter hasn't been seen since the Wars of Reaving, with Clan Blood Spirit and Clan Coyote as its last known operators. It's a crying shame this thing didn't even get to stick around as a funny Scorpion Empire toy or something. If you're playing anywhere/anywhen you can get a Night Chanter, take a Night Chanter, but I can't say it's likely you'll ever get a chance to field one without going out of your way to do so.

Final Thoughts

With the Night Chanter's tantalizing promise that a good Clan Crab is not only possible, it's been done before, I hope to see future Crab upgrades pushing it a little further beyond its comfort zone. Until then, it remains a solid contributor, but it's a surprisingly inflexible chassis which seldom does anything particularly flashy.

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Tags: Battletech | battlemech | medium mech | crab | inner sphere mech