u/Bookwyrm517

My current work in progress. It's meant to be an artillery vehicle that's a fusion of mech and tank. It's taking a while to get done because it's hard to find time to work on .

And I'll be honest, I'm thinking of tearing it down and refactoring it. The top just feels too tall and bulky, and I think I could make a better wheelbase (treadbase?) in vehicle form. I'll have to fiddle with it more when I get the time.

I also plan to add color once it's further along, right now I'm just making sure it works.

I'm back with my third warship design, and this one is a bit silly: the Cachalot Class Cruiser!

The inspiration for the class was a silly idea of how to counter the proliferation of AMS on warships: more missiles! While I did follow through with that idea, I did try to make it more viable.

Pretty much all the weapons on the Cachalot are missile-based. You've got your standard LRMs, SRMs, and AR-10s, but also some less seen launchers like Thunderbolt 20s, Extended LRMs, and probably the coolest part, Kracken-T capital missiles. I did make some concessions to practicality in the form of some Naval Lasers, PPCs, and MPLs, but they are more for if the missiles fail than as main weapons.

The gameplan for the Cachalot is to sniff out enemy warships before they notice it using the Naval Comm-scanner suite, then move in and get the first strike with a barrage of capital missiles. If that fails, it will unleash wave after wave of missiles until the foe is overwhelmed. I'm not sure how effective it would be, but it certainly would be a sight to see in action.

Finally, a fun fact. I've started naming my Warship classes after kinds of whales. This is the true for the Cachalot, but you probably know it by a different name. If you want a hint, it's a name if a whale species that I don't think anyone could take seriously (especially with it's missile-based loadout).

Stats for the nerds:

Cachalot Missile Cruiser Mass: 580,000 tons Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced) Introduced: 3145

Mass: 580,000 Battle Value: 80,245 Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-F Cost: 21,193,162,000 C-bills Fuel: 5,000 tons (12,500) Safe Thrust: 4 Maximum Thrust: 6 Sail Integrity: 4 KF Drive Integrity: 13 Heat Sinks: 1097 (2194) Structural Integrity: 80

Armor Nose: 142 Fore Sides: 120/120 Aft Sides: 112/112 Aft: 82

Cargo Bay 1: Fighter (12) 6 Doors Bay 2: Small Craft (4) 2 Doors Bay 3: BattleArmor (IS) (16) 2 Doors Bay 4: Cargo (41768.0 tons) 0 Doors Dropship Capacity: 4 Grav Decks: 1 (100 m) Escape Pods: 42 Life Boats: 0 Crew: 41 officers, 142 enlisted/non-rated, 65 gunners, 140 bay personnel

Ammunition: 480 rounds of AR10 Killer Whale ammunition (24,000 tons), 768 rounds of Anti-Missile System [IS] ammunition (64 tons), 160 rounds of Barracuda (Tele-Operated) ammunition (150 tons), 480 rounds of Thunderbolt 20 ammunition (160 tons), 30 rounds of MRM 40 ammunition (5 tons), 480 rounds of AR10 Barracuda ammunition (14,400 tons), 60 rounds of Kraken (Tele-Operated) ammunition (6,000 tons), 320 rounds of Extended LRM 20 ammunition (80 tons), 240 rounds of SRM 6 ammunition (16 tons), 192 rounds of LRM 20 ammunition (32 tons)

Notes: Equipped with lithium-fusion battery system, 1 Mobile Hyperpulse Generators (Mobile HPG), 1 Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (Large), 4 Space Mine Dispenser, and 800 tons of ferro-carbide armor.

Weapons: Nose (158 Heat) 2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher), AR10 Barracuda Ammo (40 shots), AR10 Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)

2 Thunderbolt 20, Thunderbolt 20 Ammo (60 shots)

2 LRM 20, LRM 20 Ammo (48 shots)

2 SRM 6, SRM 6 Ammo (30 shots)

4 Anti-Missile System, Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (96 shots)

4 Medium Pulse Laser 2 ER PPC 1 MRM 40, MRM 40 Ammo (30 shots) 2 Tele-operated Missile (Barracuda-T), Barracuda (Tele-Operated) Ammo (40 shots)

FRS/FLS (374 Heat) 2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher), AR10 Barracuda Ammo (40 shots), AR10 Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)

2 Tele-operated Missile (Kraken T), Kraken (Tele-Operated) Ammo (30 shots)

2 Naval Laser 45 2 Thunderbolt 20, Thunderbolt 20 Ammo (60 shots)

2 Extended LRM 20, Extended LRM 20 Ammo (80 shots)

2 SRM 6, SRM 6 Ammo (30 shots)

4 Anti-Missile System, Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (96 shots)

4 Medium Pulse Laser 2 ER PPC

RBS/LBS (226 Heat) 2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher), AR10 Barracuda Ammo (40 shots), AR10 Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)

2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher), AR10 Barracuda Ammo (40 shots), AR10 Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)

2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher), AR10 Barracuda Ammo (40 shots), AR10 Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)

2 Thunderbolt 20, Thunderbolt 20 Ammo (60 shots)

2 LRM 20, LRM 20 Ammo (48 shots)

2 SRM 6, SRM 6 Ammo (30 shots)

4 Anti-Missile System, Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (96 shots)

4 Medium Pulse Laser 2 ER PPC 2 Tele-operated Missile (Barracuda-T), Barracuda (Tele-Operated) Ammo (30 shots)

ARS/ALS (294 Heat) 2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher), AR10 Barracuda Ammo (40 shots), AR10 Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)

2 Naval Laser 45 2 Thunderbolt 20, Thunderbolt 20 Ammo (60 shots) 2 Extended LRM 20, Extended LRM 20 Ammo (80 shots)

2 SRM 6, SRM 6 Ammo (30 shots)

4 Anti-Missile System, Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (96 shots)

4 Medium Pulse Laser

2 Tele-operated Missile (Barracuda-T), Barracuda (Tele-Operated) Ammo (30 shots)

Aft (127 Heat) 2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher), AR10 Barracuda Ammo (40 shots), AR10 Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots) 2 Thunderbolt 20, Thunderbolt 20 Ammo (60 shots)

2 LRM 20, LRM 20 Ammo (48 shots)

2 SRM 6, SRM 6 Ammo (30 shots)

5 Anti-Missile System, Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (96 shots)

4 Medium Pulse Laser 2 ER PPC

Hello! I'm back again with a build I can't quite figure out.

Today I had the urge to put a Void Signature System on something, so I chose to put it on an assault mech I'd made in the past, the Remarkable, for the fun of it. I thought it would be a quick little project.

Well, now I'm several hours in and feel I'm stuck in an orbit around a good Void-sig Remarkable. I keep feeling that if I make a slight tweak to this or that it'll be perfect, but instead I've found myself making the same mechs over and over. At this point I think I need outside help to find some way forward.

So, here's the rundown of what requirements I'm going for:

• The original Remarkable is a 90 ton 3/5 introductary tech assault armed with 2x PPCs, 1x AC10, 2x Medium Lasers, and 1x Small Laser. I want to keep the weapon loadout reminiscent of the original: three 10+ damage hits, preferably at long range, and some backup weapons.
• It's going to be a slow sniper. Void-sig works best when the user is stationary or at least moving only one or two hexes, so this mech doesn't need to be fast.
• I'd like to keep the left hand and both lower arm actuators if possible. Its not critical, just prefered.
• No restrictions on armor or structure, just make sure it's tough and has room for Void-sig
• Only use Clan tech as a last resort. I want to keep this as IS based as possible, so only use clan tech if its the only way to improve the build (and don't use any more than what's nessisary)

And just a few other notes:

• Compact Gyro isn't required, but you'll most likely want it.
• 16.5 tons of Light Ferro-fibros gives exactly enough to 100% cover a 90-ton biped
• I think Thunderbolt Missiles may actually be useful here. They're occupy only a few slots for their weight and can throw out big singular hits for less heat, slots, and or tonnage than the other similar damage options.

Any help with this would be appreciated, even if it's just you saying it won't work. I just want out of this torment spiral it's put me in!

About a month ago, I shared results of testing the Eruptor, a low-tech mech mortar platform, and got a lot of feedback on how it could be improved. Since then I've been using my free time to rigorously test these ideas and see which was better. I don't know if there's much of an appetite for the results, but I've decided to share the results so far for those who enjoy peeking into the process.

Background:

For context, the original Eruptor I tested was a 90 ton assault armed with 2 large lasers, 2 medium lasers, and 3 mech mortar 4s with 4 tons of ammo. While originally built with a homebrew engine, I did the testing with a approximation that used a XL engine and compact gyro. It performed about as well as you would expect a Introtech assault to perform, but it ran too hot to use its firepower effectively and the mortars felt anemic even when using alternate ammo types.

Even with its many drawbacks, the design was received positively and I got several recommendations for ways to tune the Eruptor to be (somewhat) more effective. These can be simplified into two groups:

1. Dedicate the Eruptor fully to being a Mech Mortar platform, or

2. let the mortars take a back seat so the Eruptor can use its other weapons more easily.

Above I included the two frames I developed to tset these two schools of thought. Both have the same 270 engine, 15.5 tons of armor, and at least 24 heat sinks spread across the frame. Both also are changed in ways that make the compact gyro unnecessary, meaning that they are technically legal in a Succession Wars level game.

The ERPT-LR prototype swaps to 4x Medium Lasers and 2x Mech Mortar 8s with 6 tons of ammo, and adds a heatsink. It now boasts greater Mortar firepower than the previous prototype, but the size of the Mortars required the heat sinks to be shuffled around. I was however very sad to loose the third cannon and alter the Eruptor's unique silhouette.

The ERPT-SE prototype simply decreases the size of the mortars compared to the previous model, going from 4s to 2s. The saved weight and space allowed the engine and Gyro to be returned to standard form, otherwise its basically the same as the first prototype.

The Tests:

I wanted to try my best to put the Eruptors through realistic conditions while also controlling some variables so I could extract meaningful data on their performance. So while I don't think its the best, my tests were set up as follows.

Each Eruptor frame would participate in 10 matches. Each match would be a 10 round deathmatch, with each team using approximately 5300BV. My team would have two Eruptors, a CRB-27, and a Raven 4X. Half the matches would be with just standard ammo, with the Raven being swapped to a -3L model if Semi-guided shells were used. The enemy team and arena would be randomized, though the area would always consist of two map sheets.

In hindsight, the biggest flaw in this testing environment is the BV each team could use. At ~5000, it resulted in the opfor consisting mostly of heavy mechs. This means that effectiveness has to be judged more on damage and mission kills than "hard kills." The other flaw is that I wasn't the best at taking notes, so the analysis won't be as comprehensive as it could be. I also need to admit that I'm not 100% done with the -SE's tests, it's a bit of a drag.

Results:

Offense:

Thus far, the -LR is proving to better upgrade of the two.

While the Mech Mortar 8s don't always deal the most damage, they make make up for it with the sheer number of hit locations they role. Most of the -LR's kills came from TACs and Head hits, sometimes taking down opponents before their armor was breached. Though the qualifier is if you can get a hit. The other downside is the ammo bins. Even at 6 tons, the -LR would frequently run through most if not all it's ammo by the time a test finished.

The -SE is a marginal improvement over the original, though it feels like it lacks punch. Mech Mortar 2s just aren't great for dealing damage. However, the -SE can effectively bracket fire around 6 hexes, firing either both large lasers and the Mortars or the medium lasers and land at +0 on a run. So while the firepower is still weak, it is more consistent.

Defense:

Both prototypes are very tough. Their thick hides and heavy crit-padding let them shrug off damage, with their most common deaths being engine or gyro destruction and head distruction. Strangely, there have been relatively few deaths due to ammo explosions so far. The only time it has happened was due to the Eruptor-LR getting rushed before it could sufficiently deplete its ammo bins. (It seems the somehow shallow bins are both a blessing and a curse)

The LR also lacks firepower once something gets into the Mortar's minimum range. 4 medium lasers is still nothing to sneeze at, but they won't stop a determined opponent. Especially if they are fresh.

Both prototypes are slow, but it feels a bit worse with the LR. Since it prefers to hang back and bombard with the mortars, the LR keeps a sizable chunk of armor away from the frontlines, leaving it's allies to be shot up.

Utility:

Both chassis have showed different degrees of success with various ammo types. The LR has gotten good use out of Airburst and Semi-guided ammo, using them to sandblast armor off on an enemy and prod for critical hits. However, using Smoke rounds proved to be as much a hindrance as a help. The large mortars would cause the smoke to linger for the whole match, becoming an aid to the enemy as much as it was to the user's team.

For the SE, the opposite appears to be true. The small vollies make the damage focused rounds less than optimal, but are great for throwing up temporary smoke screens for allies to use as cover. It seems that while both mechs can use either round type, this does not mean they should.

Conclusion:

Of the prototypes tested, thus far the LR seems to be the most promising prototype. Though this is not the final verdict as I still need to finish the test games for the SE, just in case something comes up.

I also have a third prototype I want to test. Suggested by u/JDUB73-ART, it's a sort of compromise variant that uses 2x Large Lasers, 2x Medium Lasers, and 2 Mech Mortar 4s. I want to see if this will perform any better than the SE and will strike the middle ground of the two protypes from there. But as it stands currently, a tuned ERPT-LR is looking to be the prototype that goes into "production."

Hope you all enjoyed the update, the next will probably be here in around a month.

(Art by me BTW)

While testing of the various Eruptor prototypes is ongoing, I thought I'd share a second Aerospace fighter I've been working that's a bit on the silly side. Born from a strange desire to create an Aerospace fighter that can actually be a threat to capital-scale ships (or at least their armor), I present the Mola.

Out-of-universe, the idea behind the Mola was actually quite simple: put as many RISC Hyper Lasers on a Aerospace fighter as resonably possible. But after some expirimenting, I decided to dial it back only to circle back to the Hyper Lasers later.

In-universe, the Mola was being developed with the goal of creating a resonably flexible ASF that packed as much punch as possible, preferably without a need for ammunition. With a strong enough main battery, it was believed it could perform adequately in a ground attack, fighter, and even as a dropship interceptor.

While the guns for it's main armament were being sourced, the Mola's engineers had to figure out not only how to make the Mola fly, but fly well. After several rounds of testing small-scale prototypes, a blended wing body design was selected to maximize lift and minimize drag. To aid in control in various speed regimes, the Mola's wings were able to pivot both up and down and change the angle of their sweep. With proper trim the Mola could be made to perform similarly in a variety of conditions, as well as adjust it's profile to maximize it's loiter time while in atmosphere.

Prototypes were developed with a variety of weapons, but the weapons were quickly narrowed down to a laser battery. The original plan was to ship with a ER Large Laser array, but shortly before testing was concluded a deal was reached with Clan Sea Fox for the Mola to be produced with Improved Heavy Lasers instead. This caused production to be delayed, as the whole cooling system needed to be reworked to accommodate the increased load. The Mola MO-2 did see production, though the ER Large Laser variant, the MO-1A, did end up being produced for buyers who found the price for the Improved Heavy Lasers too high.

Though in a twist of irony, right before the Mola MO-2 was about to enter production, the engineers were approached by RISC to see about attaching their new Hyper Laser to the new Aerospace Fighter. So while production was underway for the Mola, testing continued with the Mola MO-X. With such a high heat load, the Mola X had to shed most secondary weaponry to keep from overheating. The wing-mounted pulse lasers were even given extra insulation for fears of heat bleed from the Hyper Lasers damaging them. Testing on the Mola X seemed promising, but was put on hold when a internal explosion caused the Hyper Laser capacitors to catch fire, leading to a rapid cascading failure across all the Mola X's systems. The pilot managed to eject safely despite severe injuries, but the Mola X crashed and burned for hours before it could be recovered. The cause of the explosion and resulting fire are still unknown, with the Mola X project being put on hold until the cause is found.

(Side note: I considered trying to write a very short story about the Mola X incident, but got cold feet because I've never written a story before.)

While I have written up extensive lore for the Mola, I haven't really tested it. I can only speculate on it's performance, but I suspect it will perform along a similar vein as the Hunchback IIC: It'll either fail miserably or absolutely pop off with no in-between.

While I made sure that each Mola's main battery is usable, I did try my best to avoid going overboard. As such most have just enough cooling to fire their nose and wing guns, but will build up any other heat they generate. If the Molas are somehow minmaxed in that regard: I apologize, it wasn't intentional.

Another thing I tried to avoid was having the Mola end up being built like a brick-fishhouse. It still kinda did, but I want it to be clear that this is only about 50% of the max armor it could carry. The Mola should be able to survive having huge chunks taken out of it and keep flying due to having armor to spare.

And that's about it for the Mola. Im really open to comments and criticism, even if it's just what sort of weapon battery you want to see squeezed into the nose next.

Lately I've been testing a custom design of mine, and it's been... a bit disappointing, if I'm honest.

I've mentioned the Eruptor here before, though I've never been able to produce a mechsheet for it due to it using a custom engine. The Re-Engineered Fusion Engine, as I called it, is a awkward in-between of the IS XL and Light Fusion Engines, putting 3 Engine slots in each torso to cut the engine's mas by one-third. As you have probably already guessed, I caught a lot of flack over the engine, as it didn't create any real value to justify its weaknesses.

In order to test the design in Megamek, I decided to approximate the engine with an XL engine, a compact gyro, and CASE in each side torso to use up the missing ton without effecting performance. Otherwise it's ~~all~~ mostly introtech, and the stats are like this:

• 90 tons
• 270 engine for 3-5 movement
• 15 tons of armor with standard distribution
• 23 heat sinks: 10 engine, 2 in each leg, 2 in each side torso, 2 in each arm, 1 in the head (if I wasn't approximating, there'd be 3 per side and 2 in the CT instead of the arms)
• Weapons are a Large Laser in each arm, a medium laser in each side torso, and a Mech Mortar 4 in each torso. The Mortars draw from 4 tons of ammo, two in each side torso.

If your wondering why mech mortars, it was so the Eruptor would have something unique aside from the engine. I had tried triple lasers, autocannons, and LRMs, but none felt right, like it was just a copy of another mech but with a weird engine.

I tested a pair of them in a series 5000BV matches, both sides running with three or four mechs. Each match lasted 10 turns and were played on maps that limited line of sight so I could be sure the Mortars would get tested. The last couple matches I allowed myself to load alternative ammo, usually 1 ton of smoke, 1 ton of Airburst, and two tons of Semi-guided.

With all that preamble out of the way, the testing revealed:

Pros:

• It was tough. Even with the XL engine, the Eruptors usually absorbed a lot of damage before going down. Though I suspect that they would have perished if the matches had gone on just a few turns longer. About 1 in 5 Eruptors tested were destroyed though at least half suffered sever damage or were mission killed.
• Indirect Fire allowed for the Eruptor to be constantly present in the battle. Pretty much as soon as the first shooting phase started, the Eruptors could start firing on enemy targets even without line of of sight. Hit chances were often extremely low, but the constant fire meant that the enemy was never truly safe.
• Alternate Munitions worked like a dream. Airburst was an obvious win, as targeting the hex made shots much easier to land (and absolutely deleted an enemy battle armor squad). Semi-guided was fun, but not too much to write home about. I had a lot of fun pairing it with a set of Buraq Battle Armor, as they could run about and tag foes with ease. The real gem was the Smoke rounds. A single Eruptor could throw out a thick smokescreen that would last most of the game. This was great for helping the Eruptor's allies, but too much smoke turned from a help to a hindrance very quickly.

Cons:

• It's slow. And not just due to the 3-5 move profile, but because I'd often be walking the Eruptors for that tiny boost to the Mortar's accuracy. This often resulted in them arriving to the main fight late, reducing the armor and firepower I had to work with. This most definitely also affected the results on survivability too.
• It suffers from poor damage output. This is pretty much the fault of the Mortars. While their reach is good, the damage can be downright pitiful at times. With standard ammo it's almost useless to hit heavier targets while they're fresh, indirect fire can't hit the faster targets that they'd meaningful damage. The Mortars also sap tonnage away from the main armament which, while solid, is at best only hitting as hard as a low-end heavy.
• Cooling. It's technically both a pro and a con, as it can fire all three Mortars and a large laser or all the lasers and only build movement heat. The issue is the Mortars create a conflict of interst, as using the lasers is in constant conflict with the desire to constantly fire the mortars.
• Shallow ammo bins. If constantly firing, an Eruptor will burn through its ammo supply ​in eight turns. This does help the Eruptor avoid ammo crits, but means that if it's constantly firing the Mortars it will run out of ammo in eight turns, leaving it with only a BJ-1DB's worth of firepower. And this does get worse when you load alternative ammo.
• It needs support. Pretty much anything with mech Mortars needs a good spotter, and the Eruptor is no exception.

So I'm unsure what to do now. The Eruptor has proven to be less useful than I thought it would be, and needs tuning to make it better. The question is where to go from here and what to change. Is it a salvageable design, or should I accept it's not going to live up to my hopes for it?

What do you all think? Any comments and criticism is welcome.

I don't know how many people saw it, but when I posted my Sailfish ASF that I was working on a carrier for it to operate from. Well, after a few months of struggling over the art work, I present to you: The Wright Class Light Carrier!

The Wright Class was originally planned to function more as a "space seaplane tender" than a regular carrier, loitering near a battlefield to allow local ASF forces to refuel and rearm in the local area rather than having to return to base. Unfortunately Battletech rules are not conducive to this, so the Wright ended up functioning more like a standard carrier, carrying a large ASF complement.

To that end, the Wright class can carry a impressive array of fighters for it's size. One bay holds 40 fighter cubicles, allowing for it to quickly unleash a swarm of ASF once it reaches a battlefield. These are backed up by a bay holding 40 superheavy vehicle bays. These can be used to hold more ASF or small craft, though with only 4 bay doors These craft will be much slower to deploy. To manage all these ASF forces, it also carries 10 tons of Communication Gear to allow it to act as "air control" for the local battlefield.

While not exactly a fighting ship itself, Wright Class ships have been built for long patrols and quick response. With 5000 tons of fuel capacity, almost 32000 tons of cargo space, a Lithium Fusion battery, and a Mobile HPG, and high speed, a Wright can remain on station to quickly respond to a call for support when needed. Its two grav decks help keep the crew in good health, though quarters are cramped when a full fighter complement is loaded.

But what the Wright class is probably best known for is it's ability to fight when nessisary. While a small carrier might seem to be easy pickings for a larger warship, a cornered Wright will often turn to joust with it's advisary using its array of Naval Lasers mounted in the bow. That, combinde with its unexpected maneuverability, allows a Wright class carrier to inflict enough damage to cause other warships to think twice. Other than token Naval Autocannons, most of the Wright's weaponry is focused on fighting off ASF fighters, creating a safe bubble for them to retreat to if things get hot.

Thus far, only one Write class has been completed, with a second under construction. While it has been effective in stopping and detering pirate raids, it has yet to see combat with another warship.And thats basically the Wright Class Carrier. It was a lot of work due to me doing all this by hand. Let me tell you, Warships are a pain to put together. I honestly think I overdid it a bit, and it could have been a bit smaller or a bit more heavily armed. But for a first try, I don't think its too bad. Trying to do the art for it was a pain though, I must have gone through at least 10 drafts before I got something I could work with.

Stat dump below for those who are interested:

• Mass: 600,000 tons
• Length: ~850 meters
• Sail Diameter: ???
• Fuel: 5000 tons (125000)
• Tons Burned/Day: 39.52
• Safe Thrust: 5
• Max Thrust: 8
• Sail Integrety: 4
• KF Drive Integrety: 14
• Heat Sinks (double): 1160 (2320)
• Structural Integrity: 64
• BV: ???

Armor (Ferro-Carbide): 760 tons

• Fore: 94
• Fore-sides: 87
• Aft-sides: 82
• Aft: 82

Cargo:

• Bay 1: 40x Fighter Cubicles (8 Doors)

• Bay 2: 40x Superheavy Vehicle bays (4 Doors)

• Bay 3: 32,746 tons of Cargo (2 Doors)

• Dropship Capacity: 4

• Grav Decks: 2x 110m diameter

• Escape Pods: 64

• Lifeboats: 64

• Lithium Fusion Battery

• Mobile HPG

• 10 tons Communication Equipment

Crew:

• 38 Officers
• 47 Gunners
• 148 Enlisted
• 10 HPG techs
• 10 Comms Operators
• 460 Bay Personell
• 11 other

Weapons:

Nose (550 Heat):

• 4x Naval Laser 55
• 2x AMS (180 rounds)
• 2x LB-10X autocannons (100 rounds)
• 1x NAC/20 (18 rounds)
• 1x NAC/30 (15 rounds)
• 2x ER Large Lasers
• 2x LRM 20 (48 rounds)
• 4x Small Pulse Lasers

Front Left/Front Right (110 heat):

• 2x AMS (180 rounds)
• 2x LB-10X autocannons (100 rounds)
• 1x NAC/20 (18 rounds)
• 2x ER Large Lasers
• 2x LRM 20 (48 rounds)
• 4x Small Pulse Lasers

Left Broadside/Right Broadside (210 heat):

• 2x AMS (180 rounds)
• 2x LB-10X autocannons (100 rounds)
• 1x NAC/20 (18 rounds)
• 1x NAC/30 (15 rounds)
• 2x ER Large Lasers
• 2x LRM 20 (48 rounds)
• 4x Small Pulse Lasers

Aft-Left/Aft-Right (110 Heat):

• 2x AMS (180 rounds)
• 2x LB-10X autocannons (100 rounds)
• 1x NAC/20 (18 rounds)
• 2x ER Large Lasers
• 2x LRM 20 (48 rounds)
• 4x Small Pulse Lasers

Aft (110 heat):

• 2x AMS (180 rounds)
• 2x LB-10X autocannons (100 rounds)
• 1x NAC/20 (18 rounds)
• 2x ER Large Lasers
• 2x LRM 20 (48 rounds)
• 4x Small Pulse Lasers

Also known as "That's just a Wolverine with extra steps."
The Buttress was from a set of designs I made that had the restriction of using 1 piece of Helm/early Clan invasion tech, not counting CASE. While I know there's more, it's the only mech I still had any record of.

As you can see, the Buttress is designed to be a trooper. It has a tough hide, but is slightly lacking in the weapons department. My explanation is that the Buttress was initially planned to have more advanced tech, but the onset of the Clan invasion caused the design to be greatly simplified so it could hit frontlines quicker. While I don't normally assign quirks to my designs, the Buttress is getting "Barrelfist" for it's right arm, as it has been reinforced to protect the lasers mounted in it.

Now, I do have a slight issue: I can't decide on a movement profile. The two options are the faster but hotter 5-8 or the slower but cooler 4-6-4. I'm partial to the slower version, but I'm not sure how I feel about it being heat neutral on a running alpha. So feedback on that front would be appreciated.

As for variants: I've got nothing solid planned. I mainly want to fit it out using all the AC5 variants out there, even though some are clearly better than others. The current planned endpoint is a Buttress with two Light AC5s and some form of MML, though even with CASE II the ammo bomb side torso will still be a threat.

Apologies for the wait, I couldn't find the sketch. But right after I gave up on adding it to the mech sheets, I finally found it. So there is art today, even if I got the arms backwards.

I also apologize for the terrible name. I couldn't think of a good one, so I just named it after what was on my mind at that moment (my 1-year-old was hungry). Consider it a placeholder name for the time being.

I'll be upfront, I don't remember the design goal behind this one. My best guess is that it was supposed to act as a support unit to mediums and heavies. The most interesting thing I have on it is that I think I might have accidentally swapped it's tonnage with the Forerunner.

In terms of performance, I think it is pretty average. Decent movement at 6-9-6, an OK 4.5 tons of armor, and an average close-range loadout. It's heat neutral on the run (even if it doesn't have the best brackets), and can squeeze by with a +4 after a jump. The Cracker's main drawback is the ammo-heavy loadout. While the side torsos are well padded, there's no way it can blow through all it's ammo before it starts taking crits. The other weak point is the different missile launchers. While great for options, it really limits the crackers firepower.

I'm... neutral about the base variant. It's definitely not meant to run solo, but still should pull it's weight in a force.

Variants: I actually tried to add a bit of variety on this one, despite my limited options.

The -C1S, -C1L, and -C1IG are all field refits that swap one missile launcher for the other, typically dropping the ton of ammo for armor. The -C1IG is a small exception, as it upgrades the SRM 4 to a SRM 6 and replaces the LRM with 3 machine guns and a half-ton of ammo. (You can probably guess where the "IG" comes from)

-C2: the C2 is the Helm/early clan invasion upgrade to the cracker, and it keeps it simple. Endo-steel and Ferro-fibros armor are applied, the ML is upgraded to a Medium Pulse Laser, and the SRM 4 is swapped for a pair of Streak SRM2s. I'd have added case, but the Ferro didn't grant enough armor to shave off a ton. It's debatable if it's a upgrade , as all helm upgrades tend to be.

-K1: It's a Kurita spin on the design that, true to form, turns into it's own thing.

I wanted two things on this cracker: an MRM launcher and a C3 slave. I added Endo and Ferro to make tonnage for the C3, adding CASE and a half-ton of armor. After the normal CT ML, I had trouble deciding on what to put in the left arm. I didn't have enough tonnage for another launcher, so I bounced between MLs, SPLs, a one-shot SRM4 and Flamers. Eventually the MLs won because the DHS gave it more heat budget than it could ever need.

I am still torn on if I should give it an XL engine or not. If I exchanged the Ferro-fibros for an XL, I could fit another MRM10 and some more lasers or other goodies. I just didn't know which way to commit and ended up with the more bland option. Regardless, I think it'll serve as a decent C3 spo​tier.

But thats about it for the cracker, and probably the last of my ancient light mechs. I think we'll be moving into mediums next. Not idea when that'll be though.​

My next most ancient design (at least the next one to be interesting enough to survive) is a slightly more advanced scout mech, the Forerunner.

Like the Longshot, this design is at least... woah, ten years old!? Based on an the date I saved the sketch, it's at least ten years old. Wow.

Anyway, like the Longshot, some of the details on the original Forerunner design is both very old and very hazy. I'm reconstructing it from memory, terrible design decisions and all.

The role given to the Forerunner was to be a mix of scout and fire support unit, with the added stipulation of being able to reach developing engagements as quickly as possible.  To do this, the Forerunner was designed as a 25 tonner with powered by a XL 175 engine. It's top speed is a impressive 118kph, with MASC letting it reach speeds of 130kph for short bursts. It's short but broad profile was designed to help avoid enemy fire, but had the side effect of mechwarriors using the low-hanging arms to do "handbrake turns" when cornering at high speed. RRMW techs despised this practice, but after a few years consented and reinforced the Forerunner's arm and hand actuators so that pilots would stop mangeling them with the practice.

The Forerunner has a variety of weapons at it's disposal, but all of them lack punch. It's main weapon is a pair of LRM 5 launchers in the Left shoulder, fed by one ton of ammo. The original goal was a LRM 10, but it had to be split in two to save weight. The other main weapon is a medium laser in the center torso, positioned right below the cockpit and above the MASC systems. The Right and left arm hold a small laser and machine gun, respectively, with 100 rounds of MG ammo sitting in a CASE protected bin in the Left Torso. Finally, a Beagle Active Probe sits in the Right Torso. 4.5 tons of armor give the Forerunner adequate protection

I have no idea why I included a solitary machine gun, I must of felt obligated to put at least one of every weapon type on my mechs at the time. It is useful for clearing infantry, but that job could be done better by a small pulse laser or flamer. Otherwise, it's basically almost a boondoggled Valkyrie. It's lighter, faster, and has more sensors, but at the cost of it's jumps and a hefty price tag. I feel in it's current form, the Forerunner is usable but niche.

As for Forerunner variants, there aren't any yet. I'm sure there's plenty of refits that swap the machine gun for something else (or even swap the SL for another MG), but I haven't tried to improve on the design at all. I think the best way to go would be more sensor tech, and either CASE II or a Light engine to improve survivability. It certainly will enjoy MMLs if it turns up in that era.

But that pretty much covers the Forerunner. Unless I find something older, I think my next entry will be another light might mech, though this one seems to have never received a name.