Whispering waves on Plymouth Landing’s northern shore murmured in Valliant’s cockpit as we stood at the city’s edge. The old Zeus ZEU-9S had been a gift, handed down by the Force Marshal to give our local lance of Marshals a bit more oomph in these trying and troubling times. Our cut of the Sphere had been tossed into chaos with so many pirates rising in force to come down like a tidal wave on Spencer’s shores, enraged and frightened by the ruthlessness we had seen fit to inflict upon them.

A Marshal’s Justice was what the Force Marshal had called it. Our refusal to allow any who would inflict this callous brand of barbarism upon the people of the Reaches had ruffled feathers. Made the rim’s miscreants all the more desperate and hateful. Made them more predictable.

“Command Marshal, you there?” My comm buzzed, Major Kalen’s voice speaking out over the ocean’s gentle song.

I sighed, sparing another glance at the lapping waters, shimmering gold in the afternoon sun before turning to trudge toward the dunes at the shore’s edge. “Aye, Major, I am. Send traffic.”

“Lookouts are calling ‘Mechs on approach from your sector, reports indicate a light to medium lance. Aeromarshal Cullum has been harrying them for the last hour or so.” Kalen stated, pausing for a moment as a packet of target data flowed into Valliant’s systems. “Want the rest of your lance vectored your way?”

“No.” Valiant’s feet crunched into the sand beneath us as I answered, flicking through the reported models before continuing. “Keep them at their posts and run a picket behind me in case that Locust or Cicada slips by.”

“Understood.” A soft click punctuated the word, leaving behind only the sound of Valliant’s humming actuators, whining capacitors, and growling feed trays to keep me company.

Before long we were over the dune, peering out across the rolling plains that surrounded Plymouth Landing, scanning for the approaching pirates. A billowing cloud of dust marked them on the horizon, like animals on a stampede they zigged and zagged as a circling spot banked in hard. Cullum came down like a lightning bolt, his ‘Mechbuster hammering fire into the formation before pulling out and thundering away, the roar of his plane’s engines shaking Valliant to her bones as he ripped over our heads.

“Hollen, Cullum.” He all but growled, the weight of the turn apparent in his voice as he came back around. “You ready to put the brakes on them?”

“Always.” I smirked, planting Valliant’s feet and leveling her guns on target against the lead ‘Mech, pulling the view in a little tighter. The bobbing green and turquoise form of the lead Dervish that filled my scope was pockmarked with laser burns and stray shell hits that marred its armor. “Burrying the lead.”

“Wilco, I’ll be on your shoulder, Thunder-Head. Good hunting.” Cullum laughed, flipping his craft’s nose around.

The piercing bark of Valliant’s PPC sent a stream of particles down range into the ‘Mechs' side as the howl of her laser seared new molten rivers into its armor. A cacophony of popping kicker motors resounded from her arm as the missiles took flight, corkscrewing through the air to engulf the ‘Mech in a bloom of explosions that only grew as its ammo bins joined the conflagration.

Another one in the dirt.

— Command Marshal Hollen ‘Thunder-Head’ Soprena, Fronc Reaches Colonial Marshals. Spencer, March 4th 3128.

—

Howdy ‘Mechwarriors and welcome back to another ‘Mech overview! This week I am delving into an area of the Sphere that I rarely go: the Lyran Commonwealth. Yes friends today we’re heading into Steiner space to take a look at one of their staple machines: The Zeus. Though this may not be the king of the gods, nor king of the battlefield, it's certainly one of the kings of the Steiner TO&E.

A stalwart friend to the Steiners and their many methods of war the Zeus is a versatile and flexible machine with a lot of variants across its near 400 year life span. Originally built in 2787 for the Hegemony with the 5T the Steiners quickly took to the machine and produced their own variant in the 5S. This spawned a long and fruitful relationship of new variants that spans all the way up to the most recent entry in the pantheon that comes to us in 3130 with the 11S.

Colonial Marshals Zeus ZEU-9S. Credit: porble

Chassis

An ever venerable machine the Zeus has a few things in common across all of its chassis: It’s an 80 tonner, all of its main variants go 4/6, and it carries a pair of big guns out in the arms with some form of support weapons in the torsos. Most Zeuses have a direct fire asset in the left arm, and a missile launcher in the right with some smattering of lasers, large and medium, in the torsos.

The armor changes, the guns change, the sinking changes, and the guys building it change, but its always gonna be the same old dorky bastard we all know and love.

So, without further ado lets get into what makes the Steiner Stalwart such a longstanding staple of our iron fisted friends!

Variant

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).

5S

Hockey season is fully here and the 5S is absolutely going to set the tone for the rest of this review.

The 5S is the most basic of bitches when it comes to the Zeus family. At 1,474BV its honestly very representative of the average Zeus’ price. Packing in acceptable enough, if disappointing, armor the 5S is AC/20 proof everywhere except for the side torsos.

Armament wise we’ve got a simple loadout:

One(1) UAC/5
One(1) ER Large Laser
One(1) LRM 15 w Artemis IV
And a pair of Medium lasers, one fore one aft.

It can build a maximum of 27 heat while running. It sinks 28. That includes the aft firing laser.

This thing is boring, and I mean that as a compliment. This is the trooperiest assault of all assaults and it is perfectly comfortable doing that exact job, in numbers.

Liberty’s Rating: C. Perfectly average, as all things should be.

5T

Someone’s been eating their wheaties.

The 5T is a 5S but with more armor, making it AC/20 proof all over except the rear arc. To get this all it has given up is…

Well honestly the UAC. Its using Ferro-Fibrous which probably is helping to boost those pips a bit. It’s still got the ERLL and LRM 15 with Artemis, same 2 Medium Lasers… and an ERPPC with the requisite double heat sinks in place of the now missing UAC.

Now, these changes have boosted the amount of heat this can generate on the run up to 40, 37 without the rearward ML, and 34 just without the other one. This means the 5T is, once again, perfectly average, as all things should be.

For 1,729 BV a well armed and armored 4/6 80 ton assault is honestly right at home. Unfortunately the 5T isn’t very often available but it is certainly a good pick if you don’t care about the MUL.

Take a look at this machine. Do you have it in your mind’s eye? You do? Good.

This is the future, soon comes the past but all after it shall look A FUCKING LOT LIKE THIS.

Liberty’s Rating: C+. A good use of the price if you just want a trooper dork with good long and medium range hits and easy heat management, honestly I like it.

Zeus, Big Kev's Brigade

6A

Woe betide, the ever present march of the sphere’s warcrimes upon ye.

This Zeus is a weird Zeus. The first, namewise, of the succ-war refits the 6A starts out with a 5S before doing some significant ‘ah fuck the Zeus factory blew up… need to figure some shit out’ changes. These changes entail retaining the past armor, dropping the 14 Double Heat Sinks down to 17 singles, and doing a lot of shit to the weaponry.

Namely, the UAC is now a bog standard PPC, the ERLL is a normal LL, and the Artemis equipped LRM has been replaced with 3 SRM 6s… Well that’s fuckin’ funny. Oh, the medium lasers are still here, I guess.

In total this new loadout can generate a whopping 38 heat on the run while only sinking 17. That in mind though if you properly bracket your way out then at long range with the PPC and LL you go up 1+movement and at short range with the forward ML and SRM6 volley you’re actually at heat neutral running.

Honestly, for 1,405 BV I’d run the shit out of this thing.

Even if the right torso has nothing in it. At this price you’re buying it to be a brick to be shot at and flaws like that are liable to garner your opponents attention, and fire.

Liberty’s Rating: C-. I like him, has some problems with that side torso though.

6S

Oh no, I’m having flashbacks to the Marauder MAD-3R, lord help me.

Ah, the actual ‘my factory got worse’ machine.

The 6S is a 5S that has just been downgraded. Much like the A bumping itself up to 17 single heat sinks the 6S is still a relatively solid ‘Mech for its meager 1,348 BV price tag. Even if the once empty right torso now carries exactly one crit: Your LRM ammo.

That comparison made though this is a little less egregious, the LRM bin only has 8 salvos in it so it’s not unreasonable to aim to have it empty, and more importantly this ‘mech can only build 22 heat total at a run. Once again that includes that damned rear facing medium laser, for all the fucking good that thing will do you but god has ordained that Zeuses will always posses useless rear facing medium lasers and so the men and women of Defiance Industries have made it so.

Now, should you drop that ML, you only build movement heat. Which means if you drop the other one, say for range, you’re fine. As well, if you’re putting the ML on you probably don’t have a great shot with the LRM in the first place so that probably won’t even be adding its heat anyhow.

This is… I mean for 3025 its par for the course, a mediocre meat machine that’s meant to get beaten on and dish out… some amount of damage in due time. For IlClan play? Honestly at this price for something like this its kinda hard to be too bad.

Liberty’s Rating: C-. Cheap as chips and happy to sling bricks all day until its rapid unscheduled deconstruction means its perfectly usable.

6T

AC/5? Lame. Stupid. The machine that dispenses misc. particles at appreciable portions of C? Sick as fuck, gimmie 12.

The 6T takes a 6S, drops the AC/5 and its ammo and uses the tonnage to take a PPC and two heat sinks instead. This is good, especially because in doing so it has placed those two heat sinks next to the LRM ammo meaning a side torso crit is not guaranteed to send your ‘Mech into low earth orbit.

Note though that this is just a downgraded 5T, hence the name. As well, 19 heat sinking is not enough to handle the heat generated by a PPC, a Large Laser, and an LRM 15 as this ‘Mech builds 31 total heat on a running alpha. The best firing order, dependent on current goals or range, is the PPC and the LRM or the PPC and the ERLL, one being heat negative and the other being down one heat for a heat neutral walk or +1 heat run.

I’d say that means you should just save the LL for self defense but unfortunately this ‘Mech does not want to be in close quarters because THAT FUCKING MEDIUM LASER IS STILL POINTING BACKWARDS.

Also it’s 1,436 BV. This is fine for the mildest of improvements over the 6S.

Liberty’s Rating: C-. Slightly better than the 6S but somewhat loses close range versatility with the PPC’s added heat load.

6Y

Sometimes I forget just how funny the succ-wars can really be.

The 6Y takes a normal 6A Zeus, drops all the lasers and drops the LRM 15 down to a 10 pack. Now, why does it do this?

Simple, to replace all the lasers with a singular Blazer Cannon. I love him.

It sinks 17 heat which means it builds movement heat with the B-Cannon and the AC/5 or is thoroughly in the negative when firing off the AC/5 and the LRM at long range.

God this thing is funny, and at only 1,323 BV I just fuckin’ might give it a shot.

Liberty’s Rating: C+. I… look a cheap head chopper is worth some good weight in my heart and this thing is hilarious.

Battletech Zeus. Credit: 40khamslam

9S

FUTUREEEEEEEE… FUTUREEEEEEE

We’re here, the future promised in the 5T and… Look, the difference between this and a 5T is that the 5T has artemis and this thing fucking doesn’t. It takes that extra tonnage to buy slightly more armor and CASE for the LRM ammo.

For this its 1,639 BV. This is a wonderful price for a good brick of a machine that just wants to advance and do its job. Love this thing and I use it anytime I put a Zeus to the field with my Marshals.

BUT WAIT! Good God there’s more! The Medium lasers they’re… they’re pulse lasers now!

AND THAT ONE’S STILL FACING BACKWARDS, GOD DAMMIT.

Liberty’s Rating: B-. I quite like this thing and see great use from it on a consistent basis. Good heat management, acceptable durability, and a hankering to put out some consistent damage is a nice thing to have for a sub 1700 BV 80 ton frame.

9S2

Oh god, the missile storm is here.

The 9S2 is our first… mild departure from the usual Zeus formula, only insofar that it has gotten rid of its myriad lasers and picked up an XL engine to have some extra long range goodies. Namely a gauss rifle and a second LRM 15.

It can build a maximum of 25 heat and sinks 24. This is perfectly acceptable and workable heat management, just drop an LRM every now and then, or head close to where they’re not even useful in the first place and the issue will leave.

Though the four fucking tons of ammo parked next to the XL in the right torso sure won’t. That’s all that’s in there, by the way. XL engine and LRM ammo. None of this is good to get shot in but good god is this thing gonna be visible from orbit.

At a, still mostly acceptable, 1,769 BV this is still a pretty cheap platform for the job its endeavoring to do.

Liberty’s Rating: C. Good long range hitter, though it does get a sudden increase in fragility from that XL and the bomb that is the right torso. I still like it but I can see some big problems in the execution here that may let you down quite hard.

9S-DC

Oh god, Statler and Waldorf except they’re fucking Steiners this time.

This is a 9S with a dual cockpit. To get it they… GOOD GOD ITS GONE!!!

They dropped the rear facing MPL and a heat sink, that’s it, that’s the change. If you’re using dual cockpit rules and you like the 9S this is good, if you’re not then just go grab a normal 9S.

Also its 1,612 BV so I suppose if you have a mild issue with smushing a normal 9S into the BV hole and a whole 27 BV less will do it then grab this one?

Liberty’s Rating: C+ in a game without command rules, B-/B in one with them?

9T

Ok but why?

The 9T is a 9S with a touch more armor, ART IV, an extra ton of LRM 15 ammo, and an extra ERML. It gets these things by using a light engine instead of the old standard. It is also 1,832 BV for the privilege.

ALSO both MPLs are facing forward now! By god!

Heat wise this is fine, it still sinks 34 so it has the same firing pattern as the 9S, just drop the ERLL and LRM-15 once you get into short range so you can give someone the business with the ERPPC, ERML, and both MPLs. You’ll be down 4 heat so it gives a little bit of padding for plasma or infernos coming in.

Liberty’s Rating: B. Honestly this is a perfectly usable machine and getting towards the upper point of how good I think you can really make a ‘Mech that’s doing this specific job in the way the Zeus insists on doing it.

10WB

A sudden change in the job market.

The 10WB is a hilarious departure from standard Zeus doctrine and I love it. At 2,075 BV we’ve got some changes:

Missiles? Gone.

ERPPC? Gone.

Aft firing lasers? Gone.

ERLL? Strangely, still here.

In their place we have a Zeus with yet more armor, no ammo, and a bad attitude. This is a weird, budget Flashman 9M that has decided to do the job in an incredibly strange way. It mounts a pair of Heavy PPCs, one in each arm, the standard ER Large in the left torso, a light engine, an XL gyro, 17 double heat sinks, and 4 ER Medium Lasers that all fire FUCKING FORWARDS, YA KNOW, WHERE THE ENEMIES ARE.

This gives us two brackets:

The Heavy PPCs which is -2 heat on the run.
And the Steiner house electronic laser light show which is heat neutral on the run.

Hell yea.

The Mariks are usually the one trying to give people LASIC but this motherfucker is approaching at appreciable speeds with a hankering to really just rearrange the fuck out of your corneas.

I love him.

Liberty’s Rating: B+. I love this thing, anything that does a fun pair of medium lasers and HPPCs is a great time that I greatly appreciate. Though in a just world they’d be normal Medium lasers and the ERLL and a heat sink would be replaced by like 5 more of them… That’s just a Warlord 2G. God I love the Warlord 2G.

Zeus. Credit: Rockfish

11S

Hello, my name is John Clanner an- what? No, that is my bloodname. Yes it is. Shut up, spheroid, you know nothing.

The 11S is straightforwardly a 9T with one helluva tune up after lessons learned from the ‘Zeus X’ program which we will fucking get to. First off it is built of Clan components, using clan ferro, a clan XL engine, and clan weapons. Also it has a compact Gyro which is padded out by a Double Heat Sink and one of the ERMLs. Seemingly the only non-clan built item here is the Beagle Active Probe, the sinks, and the Gauss Rifle. What then do we get to play with on this strange strange machine?

One(1) Gauss Rifle, with 3 tons of ammo in a CASE II bay.
One(1) Clan ER Large Laser in the left torso.
One(1) Clan LRM-15 with ART IV and 3 tons of ammo in a CASE II bay.
Two Clan ERMLs.

This thing builds 4 heat on a running alpha, which you won't do because we have gone back to the land of a rear facing ERML. For 2,280 BV I am all aboard with what this thing is doing and incredibly happy to let it get to work.

Liberty’s Rating: A-. Incredibly solid frontliner that just kinda keeps going until it is fully beaten to death. Love a good mix of IS and Clan tech like this.

Zeus X

Somewhere along the way in the Republic Eras the guys at Defiance Industries decided that they should really give their old frame a bit of a glow up and as such made the Zeus X project. Its a lot of fun oddball advanced tech that gets itself moving quite well, representing a switch up from the Zeus’ usual 4/6 movement profile to a much more brisk 5/8.

This is because all four of them have a fucking 400 rated XXL engine in them.

God the Steiners have too much money in their accounts.

X

EXPLODINATE!!! EXPLODINATE AND FUCKING DIE!!!

I do not know what they’re smoking over there at DI but it is abso-fucking-lutely of higher strength and grade than what corporate gives the guys back on Kathil. This thing is a horrorshow of decisions in survivability and action.

For one, XXL engine, two, composite structure, three, patchwork standard/reactive armor. Also the right torso is full of ammo for its LB-20 and MRM-30. The backup guns are a pair of MXPLs.

Why?

Heat wise we’ve got some issues, a run will build 34 heat while the ‘Mech can only sink 24 so you’ll have to drop the MXPLs to be able to keep up consistent fire which will only consist of the LB 20 and MRM.

This is 2,119 BV.

Liberty’s Rating: D-. God they’re all fucking like this aren’t they?

X2

WHY ARE YOU FUCKING LIKE THIS?

Fun fucking fact: This is one of two ‘Mechs in the game with an armored XXL. Why you’d bother armoring a XXL I don’t fucking know but this thing and one of the Malices did, for some fucking reason.

The X2 takes an X, drops the LB20 for an IS ERPPC and downsizes the MRM-30 into a 20. It does this so it can grab a few extra Heat sinks and make the dubious god-damned decision of armoring its fucking XXL engine. This at least makes it so it only builds 3 heat on a running alpha strike.

ALSO, IT STILL HAS WEIRD ASS PATCHWORK ARMOR. WHY? TO WHAT END? HOW DOES THIS HELP YOU?

Dude I don’t even fucking know.

Also its 1,915 BV which I would usually be fine with for something roughly in this ballpark but what the fuck is going on in this fucky ass ‘Mech?

Liberty’s Rating: D-. This shit is not getting better.

Kell Hounds Zeus. Credit: Jack Hunter

X3

WHY DOES THIS ONE FUCKING FLY? WHO THE FUCK AT DEFIANCE IS DOING THIS SHIT? I JUST WANT TO TALK!

OKAY. Ya know what. Fuck it.

This one has 8 IJJs and goes 5/8/8.

The MRMs? Gone.

The MXPLs? Gone.

Now we’ve got an, still IS, ERPPC and a quartet of IS ERMLs hooked up to a targeting computer. Note that this is 35 heat.

Also note that this only has 17 DHS in it so it’s building 1+ Movement on an alpha. A jumping alpha sends you up 9 heat. In reality this is solved by just dropping the ER PPC but I feel I really must ask, this was built in 3089, why isn’t this like, a snub nosed PPC or something? 4 heat I could accept and work around but 9? This is simply too much dumb in a ‘Mech.

At least the fucking weird patchwork armor is gone but its still a XXL engined ‘Mech with fucking COMPOSITE STRUCTURE.

And it costs 2,178 BV.

God I hate this ‘upgrade program’. If it weren’t for the fact that it shat out the 11S by the end of it I’d say we should just burn the Commonwealth to the ground.

Honestly the presence of the 11S still might not be enough to dissuade me of this opinion.

Liberty’s Rating: D-. Good god, stop being stupid. I beg of you, X program, make a normal fucking ‘Mech.

X4

THEY DIDN’T FUCKING LISTEN.

Well, now all the armor is reactive and the guns are weird and dumb but at least it looks more like a normal fucking Zeus. We’ve got a Light Gauss Rifle, an LRM 20, an ERLL, and a forward facing CT mounted MXPL.

And it builds 11 heat on a running alpha, 5 if beyond the effective range of the MXPL.

Homie this XXL is not worth it, I beg of you to reconsider. This is like, a cool Heavy’s worth of guns crammed into an assault with bad bones and a painful price tag of 2,193 BV.

Get this shit away from me before I put an AC/20 round through Defiance Industries’ corporate suites.

Liberty’s Rating: D-. I am in pain and the answer is not more X variants.

9WD

GOD DAMMIT THERE ARE MORE OF THE- Oh, hey wait, this looks reasonably useful.

Ah, that’s why, this is from 3067 and thereby before the stupid-bug had wormed its way into the heads of Defiance’s engineers, I guess. Using a basic, normal ass Light engine to bring the 9WD to a respectable 4/6 movement profile this thing is actually reasonable in its execution.

Toting the, somewhat, familiar loadout of an LB-20 in the left arm with all 3 tons of ammo in a CASE bay on the right side, an HPPC in the right arm, and an MPL in each side torso the 9WD is a pretty usable loadout. Kinda wish that ammo was on the same side as the gun so it wouldn’t rip the HPPC off with it leaving you a single MPL when it cuts loose but we can’t have everything. At least it’s not built out of fucking Composite this time. Heat wise you go up movement -1 on an alpha which is quite workable which I enjoy.

Honestly for 1,716 BV I am quite pleased with this, good work, Defiance. My large-bore anger is staved off for another day.

Liberty’s Rating: B+. Quite useful and well priced with some big hitters and some crit seeking. I’d probably take 2 tons of solid shot and one ton of cluster to pick shit off once it’s laid down some hits but that’s just me.

Named Variants.

Zeus-X 9WD (Stacy)

9WD, save me from the sins of your dastardly and idiotic brothers, I beg of you.

Stacy here, the commander of the Black Widow Company, has taken her 9WD and done some fun tinkering. Namely dropping the LB20 down to a 10 with two tons of ammo instead of three, ditching a heat sink, and swapping the MPLs for ERMLs. This was done to be able to put an AES on the HPPC and… oh yea, mount a Blue Shield because PPCs are lame and stupid and Stacy doesn’t think they’re real, apparently.

This is a fun, very useful, side grade that has the same heat sinking as the other despite the changes, while being very resilient to the presence of PPCs. For 1,921 BV I could see getting some fun use out of this thing for purposes of specialty play with the Wolf’s Dragoons explicitly in the Jihad Era.

What an odd machine.

Liberty’s Rating: A-. Honestly telling PPCs that they should be worse is cool and good and I want more things to use Blue Shields about it.

Leonidas

This is the ‘Mech of one ‘Hauptman General Leonidas Brannok’ during his time commanding part of the Skye Guards. It looks like its just a 9S at its basest point with a couple upgrades that start to bridge the gap with the 9S2.

Namely this comes in the form of a touch more armor, upgrading the ERPPC to a Gauss rifle, upgrading the LRM 15 to a 20 with ART IV, and stuffing an XL engine into it. Heat wise its workable, an alpha strike on the run builds 5 heat but that includes aft facing MPL so +1 in the forward arc is fine, especially when considering that you’ll end up dropping that LRM at short range.

For 1,878 BV this is pretty great and I quite like it. Kinda wish this was what the 9S2 had been if I’m honest.

Liberty’s Rating: B+. Good steady unit that, though unique, I could see making good use of as a refit for your ‘Mercs or high tier operators or something. Cool ‘Mech.

Final Thoughts

Good god are Zeus’ simultaneously the same fucking thing all the time and constantly something new, stupid, and different. If I never have to look at another X again it will be too soon. Of course now that I’ve said this one will show up this week at my local circuit while one of my buddies gives me a shit-eating grin about it and makes me beat the poor bastard to death.

The only thing here I can think of that’s missing is a, not X piece of shit, weirdo IJJ ‘Mech that’s playing skirmishy picket guard or something that still retains that Zeus flavor? Maybe a pile of SSRM6s and Pulse lasers on it? Not sure there.

Anyhow, the Zeus is just one hell of a trooper assault that will soldier on and on until such point as it meets its untimely, and very violent, end at the hand of an explosion. For what you pay for them they really do do good work and I quite enjoy fucking about with them!

Until next time! Fair weather, good seas, and happy smiting-non-believers-with-your-lightning-boltsing!

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Tags: Battletech | battlemech | Mech Overview | Zeus