Part 134: Delaying Action - Contest Part 3
Due to the length of this, the contest entries must be shortened into bite-sized portions. For your viewing pleasure:Part 3:
Ferrosol posted:
Quickdraw 4K. An upgrade to the long serving Quickdraw 4G the 4K trades the originals jumpjets, lrms, srms and 2heat sinks for a potent new Gauss rifle
Quickdraw 4K
Mass: 60 tons
Cost: 5,157,760 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,403
Chassis: Standard
Power Plant: 300 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 54.0 km/h
Maximum Speed: 86.4 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: 8 tons, Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle (8 shots)
4 Medium Lasers
Heat Sinks: 10 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
Our first quickdraw submission and… it’s a gauss rifle with four medium lasers. Heat management is an issue, but I like that. I’d field one, but I can’t help but wish it mounted SRMs or LRMs in place of the lasers, just for a little variety.
Carbolic posted:
The QKD-4K is a field refit of the common, although frequently maligned, QKD-4G Quickdraw produced by Luthien Armor Works. Desperate for any technological edge over the invading Clans Hell's Horses, Goliath Scorpion and Widowmaker, the Draconis Combine leapt at the opportunity provided by Comstar's release of the technical specifications to construct the Star League-era Gauss Rifle. Lacking in technicians capable of directing an efficient overhaul of the entire Luthien Armor Works factory to produce new models of BattleMech, and not wishing in any event to suspend production for the several months necessary to retool production, the Combine has instead embarked on an ambitious retrofit program of existing Battlemechs such as the Grand Dragon and Quickdraw. Some 75% of new QKD-4G Quickdraw BattleMechs exiting the Luthien Armor Works facilities are immediately stripped of many of their freshly factory-installed components and converted into the QKD-4K model. Ironically, these same components are then returned to the LAW factory to be installed in new QKD-4G chassis and then promptly removed again in the retrofit process. While seemingly inefficient, this procedure permits the LAW's semi-automated factories, which are the slowest point in the production process, to operate at maximum capacity.
The QKD-4K strips all missile weaponry, one heat sink, and its rear-mounted medium lasers in order to fit the massive Gauss Rifle into the left torso. The QKD-4G's jump jets were also reluctantly sacrificed to free up necessary tonnage. While the Gauss Rifle is highly heat-efficient, the QKD-4K retains all 12 of its engine-mounted heat sinks, the removal of which would require tinkering directly with the fusion engine of the BattleMech and is therefore beyond the scope of a simple field refit.
The QKD-4K keeps the mediocre armour profile of the original Quickdraw and is best employed as a mobile sniper.
Type/Model: Quickdraw QKD-4K
Mass: 60 tons
Total Cost: 5,100,160 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,245
Chassis: Technicron Type E Standard
Power Plant: 300 VOX Fusion
Walking Speed: 54.0 km/h
Maximum Speed: 86.4 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor Type: 8 tons, Riese-475 Standard
Armament:
2 Medium Lasers
1 Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
Heat Sinks: 12 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
Efficient. Oversinked… but the loss of the jump jets really hurts this Quickdraw’s viability. It’s a decent sniper, but the Hunchback we just saw does it cheaper and with more battlefield longevity. Then again, expense has always been the Quickdraw’s problem—for the price tag, there’re so many better options. I like Ferrosol’s better, because heat management is actually a thing.
Raverrn posted:
The Clan invasion was perhaps hardest on the fire support 'mechs that the Inner Sphere had become dependent on. Armed with inferior missiles, they were slow, lightly armored and were easy prey for faster, more mobile clam machines. Worse still was the introduction of the AMS, rendering the attacks of just one or two LRM racks impotent. The Catapult fared better than most designs, maintaining heavy armor and good mobility through it's jump jets, but the loss of its LRM striking power still rendered it a liability. Many of the surviving Catapults were therefore refitted with newer, more potent weapons. The boxy LRM mounts were easy to fit or replace and had ample room for ammunition feeds and targeting sensors - and better yet could support one of the massive Comstar superweapons. The most common Draconis modification was to lift both missile pods and three heat sinks, and replace them with a support frame for a massive Gauss Rifle. Centered as such balance was easily controlled and the procedure could be done in a matter of days. Pilots often commented that aiming such a high-mount weapon was awkward, but wiser 'mechwarriors often used it to snipe over buildings or hills. These modifications also maintained the Catapult's secondary laser armament, which did an excellent job of covering the Gauss Rifle's minimum range and provided bite if the weapon ever malfunctioned or ran dry.
Catapult CPLT-C5
Mass: 65 tons
Cost: 5,631,725 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,677
Chassis: Hollis Mark II
Power Plant: Magna 260
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: 4 Anderson Propulsion 21
Jump Capacity: 120 meters
Armor: 12 tons, Durallex Heavy
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
4 Medium Lasers
Heat Sinks: 12 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
One gauss, four medium lasers. Sorry, Raverrn… this Catapult’s good but I’ve seen this song and dance a few too many times before, so this doesn’t really stand out.
Hob_Gadling posted:
The development of NDA-1K No-Dachi was not without its problems. At one point the whole project was to be scrapped. This presented a problem: what to do with the already built chassis parts? In an attempt to get some use out of the struggling project, a team of engineers were tasked to refit the No-Dachi with basic equipment and a powerful Gauss rifle. The project was originally named something else, but nickname Onibaba (demon woman who disguises herself as samurai) stuck to everyones mind.
Capabilities:
Onibaba can do most of what No-Dachi was supposed to do, just worse. It carries a massive Gauss Rifle in the left arm, replacing the more sophisticated and rare Lord's Light 2 ER PPC. Left torso houses a bunch of SRM launchers in place of the originally designed MRM 20. Two medium lasers round out the array of weapons. Onibaba features no exotic building materials, no triple-strength myomar or sword and no double heat sinks. These features were deemed to rare and expensive to a possibly failed project. The mech suffers from slight imbalance due to weapons loadout being concentrated on left side. This lopsided gait further reinforces the demonic imagery of the mech.
Deployment: The few hundred that were built were shipped mostly to elite units. A scant few loners liked the design; the remaining units were quietly transferred to units of less prestige in exchage for other, more popular designs. Today Onibaba is considered a limited success at best.
Type: NDA-1O Onibaba
Tonnage: 70
Cost: 15,784,387 C-bills
Battle Value: 1,178
Internal Structure: Endo Steel
Engine type: Fusion XL
Walking MP: 5
Running MP: 8
Jumping MP: 0
Armor Factor: 12.0 tons, ???
Weapons and Ammo
Medium Laser
Medium Laser
Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
SRM 6 (45 shots)
SRM 6
SRM 6
Heat Sinks: 11 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
A prototype No-Dachi? I like it. The only downside? I see Endo Steel and an XL Engine, which disqualifies this entry since ComStar is still sitting on both of those technologies.
Rorac posted:
Komodo KIM-3R
7.5 tons of normally distributed standard armor(well, distributed by SSW)
255 XL engine
4 standard jump jets, all placed in legs (feel free to apply a +1 penalty for landing due to difficult to balance thrusting)
10 standard heat sinks
Full arm and hand actuators on each arm.
Gauss rifle is located in the left arm, with 3 tons of ammo in the left torso.
There's 2 medium lasers on the right arm. According to the engine rules there's one heat sink floating around; toss that in the head.
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
This is actually cheaper than the base Komodo, which is pretty impressive given the gauss rifle. Downside? One Gauss plus X mediums again.
AJ_Impy posted:
With the Draconis Combine needing a 'mech to mount the Gauss rifle as swiftly as possible, they turned to their pre-existing productions. One of the Combine's success stories was the Panther PNT-9R, a light 'mech that packed a powerful punch and was relatively inexpensive. With Ashlain Weapons needing to relocate in the face of the Clan advance, it was decided that this potential disaster could be made into an opportunity. Taking the basic PNT-9R chassis, the weapons, jump jets, three heat sinks and two tons of armor were sacrificed for a Gauss rifle and two tons of ammo, replacing the PPC mount.
The resultant 'mech was named the Sasori, the Japanese word for scorpion, due to its small size and deadly sting. Fielded in sufficient numbers, even the mightiest of the clan warriors might be given pause.
Sasori SOI-0N
Cost: 2,370,960 C-bills
BV: 820
Movement Profile: 4/6
Armor Points: 72
Armament:
Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
Heat Sinks: 10 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
A new design, but it’s functionally identical to the AUTRO Hollander. It’s neat, and the Combine could probably field them pretty quickly, but an actual refit of the Panther with a gauss rifle in the arm may have been enough to set this little guy apart.
Andrevian posted:
This file includes the contest 'Mech, the Yumitori as well as the base design that it could have come from, the Tachi (note: Tachi has been excluded).
The Tachi was designed originally as a heay mech for battling Lyran forces in built-up areas. Seeking to match the Lyran close-range advantages with their heavy autocannons, the Tachi is armed with an AC/20, PPC, and medium laser. At 75 tons, its jumping range of 120 meters is often surprising to those facing it. It sacrifices armor and heat sinks for this speed, making it a tool of the elite. It was designed for use by highly trained 'MechWarrors, able to ride the heat curve and to use its speed to avoid taking hits.
Due to the unusual feature of the heavy autocannon, the Tachi was an excellent choice for refitting with new Gauss Rifle technology. Due to strain on the chassis, the PPC had to be removed as well. In its place, a second medium laser and two surplus Panther SRMs have been added, to make up for the close range firepower which has been lost with the replacement of the heavy autocannon. This new version is dubbed the Yumitori.
Yumitori TCH-9K
Mass: 75 tons
Cost: 6,969,000 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,762
Chassis: Unknown Standard
Power Plant: Unknown 300 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 43.0 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.5 km/h
Jump Jets: 4 Unknown
Jump Capacity: 120 meters
Armor: 13.5 tons, Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
2 Medium Lasers
2 SRM-4s (25 shots)
Heat Sinks: 11 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
Interesting, but no fair trying to sneak in two new designs when the contest called for one. I’m not disqualifying the Yumitori, but it has to stand on its own merits. I do like the mix of secondary weapons and the Yumitori certainly has the armor and mobility to be a nasty infighter… but the Tachi’s better for that role.
Pinguliten posted:
Well here it is, after I did it I realised it was just a 5ton heavier Hollander with jump jets. It's also not as fast or as heavily armoured as I'd want it to be but well, no XL engines at least I could strip all but a token amount of armour points from the arms and add some to the legs and torso. I guess they would be somewhat good defending against light mechs or if you have a bunch of them, trying to take down bigger prey.
DMO-P Daimyo
Mass: 40 tons
Cost: 2,781,893 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,027
Chassis: Daimyo Standard
Power Plant: Unknown 160 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 43,2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64,8 km/h
Jump Jets: Icaros 81
Jump Capacity: 120 meters
Armor: 6 tons, Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
Heat Sinks: 10 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
Pinguliten said it best: It’s a 40-ton Hollander with jump jets. Not a bad design, but not a standout and not something I’d expect the Draconis Combine to field.
Leperflesh posted:
OK I don't know much about doing this so I hope I didn't fuck it up?
The Hamato-Chi is a Drac Combine mech that according to the description is among the first new designs post-succession wars utilizing lostech. I have modified the base 27T design by removing one PPC and placing a Gauss Rifle into the torso as a replacement. To make room, the engine is downgraded, so the mech is a little slower than the base Hamato-Chi (3/5 instead of 4/6) but this does allow for extra armor and heat sinks - with a max heat of 21 and 20 total heat sinks, the mech is capable of alpha striking repeatedly. With two tons of gauss rifle ammo, 16 shots should be sufficient to devastate opponents - and even after it runs out, the mech can continue to fire away with its remaining PPC or get in close to exploit the big holes with the two SRM-6 launchers.
The mech also has excellent armor to protect that explosive gauss rifle, and with a non-XL engine a gauss explosion isn't necessarily fatal (the mech comes standard with CASE for its SRM ammo as well).
One oddity is that dropping the PPC has left the mech with a new hand on one arm - potentially useful in a physical combat situation since there are no weapons on that arm, and also leaving the mech with an "ablative limb" (although the mechwarrior would be well-advised to avoid exposing that side to TACs given the explody-gauss).
I have given it the designation HTM-27G (G is for Gauss!) but I dunno if there's some standardized way to designate these things.
Hatamoto-Chi HTM-27G
Mass: 80 tons
Cost: 7,018,920 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,797
Chassis: Endo-Steel
Power Plant: 240 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 32.4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54.0 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Standard Armor w/ CASE
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
1 PPC
2 SRM-6s (30 shots)
Heat Sinks: 10 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
Little-known facts about the Hatamoto-Chi: It was built around the Charger chassis exactly, allowing it to be produced extremely quickly. It was patterned off the Star League-era Thug, with two PPCs and two SRM-6s; which also allowed it to utilize existing computer systems for targeting and weapons control. The downside? It doesn’t exist yet; and it relies on Endo-Steel for weight savings. CASE is also lostech, so I’m afraid this refit is disqualified.
Felime posted:
Imagine you're a no good snake. You've got a bunch of Gauss Rifles that could explode at any minute! Where do you put them? Well, it turns out that if you strip pretty much everything(including a ton of armor) off of a panther, You can fit on a gauss rifle and a ton of ammo! A whole ton! It wasn't using that armor anyways.
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
This was sent as a MegaMek file, and was pretty much what I expected from a Gauss Panther. It’s not a winner, but I’m tempted to field some anyway because it does make logical sense.
Runner-Up Entry:
Shoeless posted:
Crockett CRK-5003-0-G
Mass: 85 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-F-D
Production Year: 2881
Cost: 7,371,325 C-Bills
Battle Value: 2,038
Chassis: Standard
Power Plant: 255 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 32.4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54.0 km/h
Jump Jets: 3 Unknown
Jump Capacity: 90 meters
Armor: 16.5 Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
2 Large Lasers
1 SRM-6 (30 shots)
2 Small Lasers
Heat Sinks: 15 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
Holy shit, it’s a Katana! And a damned good one at that! This is precisely the kind of command vehicle that the Draconis Combine loves: It’s slow, it’s tough, and it eats lesser ‘Mechs alive. Look at that battle value, ladies and gentlemen! This thing’s an absolute monster for the era. The Banshee 3S? BV 1,751. The only problem with this design: due to border concessions, House Davion controls Crockett production. Sadpanda. :C
Second Place:
ShadowDragon8685 posted:
In the wisdom of the Dragon, it was known that eventually, the might of the Star League would be restored to the Inner Sphere, and more specifically, to the Draconis Combine. But the wise and venerated elders of the Combine knew that, even if a fabled, nigh-mythical Star League Memory Core were located tomorrow on Luthien, they were not ready.
All of the chassis currently being fielded by the Draconis Combine had been engineered to the limits of their present ability, but they would be unsuited to rapidly refit with Star Leauge Technology. But an opportunity came in 3024, and the Dragon pounced.
The Capellan Confederation was offering to sell the full schematics of a 'mech they had designed, the Linesman. A broad, massive 90-ton BattleMech, it was the only sound decision to make; if the Combine didn't acquire it, the Dragon might find the design falling into the hands of its hated enemies, the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. After it was acquired, a scholar working at Luthien Armor Works, who had been given the design, realized that the broad 'mech was perfect for the integration of LosTech, when and if it should reappear. The massive chest cavity and elevated shoulders were perfect fits in the event the schematics for the Extra-Large Fusion Engine were recovered, and the inefficient Capellan armor mounting would leave plenty of room for Ferro-Fibrous Armor; the same could be said of the 'mech's skeleton, to a lesser extent.
A prototype mock-up was constructed, and in their artistic wisdom the designers saw fit to give the 'mech appropriate styling that hearkened back to the armor of the ancient Samurai, without overtly copying and turning homage into parody.
It sat in a LAW hangar for a decade, a test-bed used to simulate the effects and mounting of the long-lost Star League equipment, until it was seen by a young and influential DCMS officer, a favored nephew of the Coordinator. He was touring the facility and demanded entry into the experimental hangar; when he saw the design, he immediately fell in love with it, moreso than he had fallen in love with his woman, he commented. He wanted to know when they would be coming off the assembly line, and when he learned there was no such line, he became upset.
The young officer told his uncle, the coordinator, of the beautiful 'mech, and the Coordinator himself deigned to walk among the common folk to view the 'mech. Upon hearing of this, it was removed from storage by its caretakers, its armor plating refurbished and shined, and the 'mech was given a fresh coat of paint. The unarmed test bed was presented to the coordinator by its test pilot.
After the viewing, the Coordinator decided that the BattleMech was as ugly as a fresh bruise; and as fearsome to behold as a bruised warrior who refused to yield, launching himself at his opponent with the clear and sole purpose of destroying him. So it was named Daboku by the Coordinator, who commanded that the DCMS begin procurement procedures immediately.
Luthien Armor Works duly constructed an assembly line and began drawing up the plans, even as the designers scrambled to find an adequate weapon load-out for the 'mech. The original Linesman it was based on had crippling ammunition-feed problems with the four Class-2 Autocannons in the chest, but the design intention still called for some sort of long-range sniping. Thought was given to upgrading the LRM launchers to LRM-20s, or simply adding more LRMs. The heat issues for the original design's lasers were still troubling, as without the Star Leauge's Double Heat Sinks, it would be very difficult to compensate for the heat load, but these were all problems the designers were confident they could solve, just not quickly. Fortunately, the 'mech's robust construction gave them time, as the chassis could be greatly assembled before weapons needed to be installed.
By this time, disaster was beginning to strike. The Combine was coming under attack by invaders from beyond the edge of the Inner Sphere, invaders whose technological prowess exceeded that of the Star League. The outlook turned more and more grim by the week, when a flickering hope of salvation began to appear. ComStar had transmitted the design specifications of the Star League era Gauss Rifle to every Hyper-Pulse Generator in the Inner Sphere.
The designers of the Daboku took it as a sign from heaven, as the lead designer on the project, whose head would be removed if he failed to deliver a completed BattleMech, was praying at a shrine when the specifications were delivered. The 'mech's arms had always been large and cylindrical, and hence they were perfect to be fitted with a Gauss Rifle; duly, it was fitted with two of them. That left relatively little weight to play with; some suggested fitting the 'mech with a chest-mounted particle cannon and a great deal of ammunition, to emulate the triple-weapon design of the Lyran's Awesome, which was reportedly experiencing less failure than other Spheroid 'mechs when it went head-to-head with Clan 'mechs, others wanted to keep it fitted with the LRM launchers.
The designers were then informed that this new 'mech would be placed into the hands of high-ranking officers of the Combine, officers who required mobility in their 'mechs. This posed a quandary; there was no feasible way to the make the 'mech faster without the Fusion XL Engine, but they could make it more mobile, with the addition of a 90-meter leaping range.
With that, the 'mech's purpose was consolidated. Three Jump Jets and two Gauss Rifles meant the 'mech would dominate all it surveyed, raining a hail of accurate, punishing silver upon the invaders. Three medium lasers were added to give the 'mech an ability to strike at any interloper foolish enough to seek safety under the minimum range of the Gauss Rifles. As reports stated that the so-called Clans saw shots to the back as cowardly, all of these weapons were fixed forward.
The Daboku DB-1 was ready to come off the assembly line, ready to bring the might of the Dragon to bear on the interloping Clans. All that could be done was to pray it was enough to turn the tides of war.
Mauler Daboku DB-1
Mass: 90 tons
Cost: 8,194,700 C-Bills
Battle Value: 2,397
Chassis: Alshain Class 100-X Standard
Power Plant: Hermes 270 Standard Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 32.4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54.0 km/h
Jump Jets: Icarus 81
Jump Capacity: 90 meters
Armor: 17.5 tons, Wakazashi Standard Plate
Armament:
2 Gauss Rifles (32 shots)
3 Medium Lasers
Heat Sinks: 10 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
I asked for one Gauss Rifle, and ShadowDragon8685 upped the ante and gave me two on a prototype Mauler! Congratulations, ShadowDragon8685, this ‘Mech is our Second-Place winner! Two gauss rifles with enough ammo to fire them at anything stupid enough to get close and terrifying heat efficiency. Colonel Eleanor Shimazu would’ve been thrilled to see a ‘Mech like this, even at the cost of the Mauler’s anti-aircraft capabilities.
First Place:
KnoxZone posted:
When the Draconis Combine acquired the technology for the Gauss Rifle in the
latter half of 3032, it was quickly decided that a new mech using this
technology would be needed to oppose the clans and to bolster the spirits of
the floundering DCMS. The designers at Luthien Armor Works decided to use the
unpopular Charger chassis as the base for this new BattleMech. Redesigned to
give the mech a strictly Kuritan appearance, the Hatamoto-Hankou was born.
Named and designed in honor of the resisting Combine defenders, the
Hatamoto-Hankou is built around the mighty Gauss Rifle which has two tons of
ammo to keep it firing for a prolonged period. Backing this weapon up is a pair
of SRM-6 launchers, a medium laser, and a small laser. This allows the mech to
use its Pitban 320 Engine to close with the weakened enemy and finish him off.
Carrying 15 tons of armor, the Hankou is capable of taking the best the Clans
can dish.
Hatamoto-Hankou HTM-25T
Mass: 80 tons
Cost: 7,664,970 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,690
Chassis: Standard
Power Plant: 320 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: 15 tons, Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle (16 shots)
2 SRM-6s (30 shots)
1 Medium Laser
1 Small Laser
Heat Sinks: 11 single
PoptartsNinja's Thoughts:
Ahaha, yes! The moment I saw someone had made a Hatamoto Chi, I hoped someone would design a prototype and KnoxZone delivered! Not as deadly as the Mauler, this is an assault-weight ‘Mech the Combine can field tons of in a hurry simply by re-tooling their collection of chargers. Technically inferior to the Hatamoto-Chi, I still really like this design. It feels like a prototype and, better yet, it feels like an eighty-ton Panther.
So, because KnoxZone won, he gets to name another Clan ‘Mech. After he choses, ShadowDragon 8685 will get to name one.
Also, as a surprise? One other person will get to name a Clan ‘Mech; and that person will be chosen by you! Even the creators of disqualified entries are eligible to win, since this is the GoonPrize. I do ask that you not vote for yourselves, however.