Played it for another 6 hours.
This game easily triggers all the "just one more turn" buttons my brain has.
What I like most about it is how it avoids the frustrations inherent in XCOM by defusing the importance of a single RNG roll; Mechs, even light ones, are durable enough to tank a bit of fire, and so there is not as much risk of losing one because you misjudged movement options and get flanked.
Simultaneously, this allows you to pivot strategies if you need to; There was one story mission where my "tank" force (A Centurion and a Shadow Hawk) ran into an ambush (I'm starting to think that "suddenly, a Hunchback" is a strategy on the part of the AI), but because of that durability, I was able to pull back and focus fire the HBK (and kite the rest of the OpFor) long enough for my strike forces (the starter Blackjack and Glitch's Vindicator) to achieve the objective.
Also, while I'm on the subject of the Blackjack: I am kinda happy that this Mech is more useful now than it ever was in the tabletop. A lot of it has to do with HBS choosing to make the AC/2 matter; in the tabletop, situations where an AC/2 (no matter the variant) is useful are really rare. Here, with the AC/2 dealing damage on par with medium lasers for a lot less heat and at much greater ranges, it is a weapon to take serious.