Can you imagine going up against a star of vat-borns in IS tech? Without the quirking and nerfing of MWO... the Clanners will be faster, shoot farther, run cooler, and pack more weapons for a given tonnage...and their pilots should be well above average.
If the first mission against them isn't a retreat or overwhelming loss, they aren't being done justice.
That's one of the reasons for having larger unit sizes once the game is sped up though.... one lance won't do much against more than 2-3 clan mechs, especially if we get to move away from the "brawling line of sight" that this game has to a point where direct-fire long range weapons are actually relevant.