New Dawn in the Sun's (Battletech AU)

[Blade4]

Once they got approval they could start producing, although at a low rate of production. The machine tools and lines were set up already, mostly to service the SHD refits. The 2D was never satisfactory, while the 2H wasn't impressive enough. Switching that to producing at least swordsman is relatively easy.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I try and poke at the design but with out weight saving tech it is annoyingly hard to make a balanced design. Still they can produce a good mech and perhaps they can branch into building their own design? But till then if they can ramp up production of at least swordsman it should give a good cash flow.

 

[Blade4]

Interesting thing if you pull the srm for two mml-3 and a single ton each of lrm and srm it works quite well as a easy refit...

Spoiler: Thug

Thug THG-11P
Mass: 80 tons
Chassis: Standard Biped
Power Plant: 320 Fusion
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Standard
Armament:
2 PPC
2 MML 3
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 2835
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-X-E-D
Cost: 7,760,640 C-bills
Type: Thug
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Tonnage: 80
Battle Value: 1,485
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 8
Engine 320 Fusion 22.5
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sink 19 9
Gyro 4
Cockpit 3
Armor Factor 232 14.5
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head 3 9
Center Torso 25 33
Center Torso (rear) 10
R/L Torso 17 24
R/L Torso (rear) 8
R/L Arm 13 25
R/L Leg 17 33

Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Heat Tonnage
2 Heat Sink RT 2 - 2.0
MML 3 RT 2 2 1.5
MML 3 SRM Ammo (33) RT 1 - 1.0
Heat Sink LA 1 - 1.0
PPC LA 3 10 7.0
3 Heat Sink LT 3 - 3.0
MML 3 LT 2 2 1.5
MML 3 LRM Ammo (40) LT 1 - 1.0
Heat Sink RA 1 - 1.0
PPC RA 3 10 7.0

Features the following design quirks: No Torso Twist

 

[Bofors40mm]

would be a 10 model of some sort model no Endo or DHS but yeah its not a bad mix. albeit in many ways my design is superior since its a brutalist at closer ranges and can jump. plus 240s are a lot easier to get than 320 especially given Brockton and company have a line for them. still probaly could merge the two ideas via axing the jumpjets and putting in a 21st heatsink since the one downside is the heat of MML plus the PPCs is more than ideal period without DHS. mind you the redesign work to accommodate the MMLS and the ammo for them vs the SRM-6s would be a right bitch

 

[Blade4]

Not sure it is worth the loss of speed for more guns myself but both are useful paths to explore or perhaps merge but yeah what they need is the more advanced tech to open up space.

Spoiler: thug endo/freezer

Thug THG-11P
Mass: 80 tons
Chassis: Endo Steel Biped
Power Plant: 320 Fusion
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Standard
Armament:
2 MML 5
2 PPC
3 Medium Laser
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 2835
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-E-D
Cost: 8,496,840 C-bills
Type: Thug
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Tonnage: 80
Battle Value: 1,677
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure Endo Steel 4
Engine 320 Fusion 22.5
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 0
Double Heat Sink 14 [28] 4
Gyro 4
Cockpit 3
Armor Factor 247 15.5
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head 3 9
Center Torso 25 38
Center Torso (rear) 12
R/L Torso 17 26
R/L Torso (rear) 8
R/L Arm 13 26
R/L Leg 17 34

Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Heat Tonnage
2 Medium Laser CT 2 3 2.0
MML 5 SRM Ammo (20) RT 1 - 1.0
MML 5 RT 3 3 3.0
Double Heat Sink RT 3 - 1.0
MML 5 LRM Ammo (24) RT 1 - 1.0
PPC LA 3 10 7.0
MML 5 SRM Ammo (20) LT 1 - 1.0
Medium Laser LT 1 3 1.0
MML 5 LT 3 3 3.0
Double Heat Sink LT 3 - 1.0
MML 5 LRM Ammo (24) LT 1 - 1.0
PPC RA 3 10 7.0

Features the following design quirks: No Torso Twist

 

[Bofors40mm]

on another note do you want specs for a PPC instead of AC/10 focused vulcan variant I have laying around

 

[GSpectre]

March 12th​ 3016
GalaPort
Galatea, Lyran Commonwealth

With Janet off to collect her new charges, a group of doctors who were playing at being a mercenary unit the First Prince wanted badly on his payroll, Harry had been left somewhat at loose ends. His original plan to continue on to Solaris with examples of the light and rotary autocannons in the hold of a civilian liner having been put on hold due to a message from home. He was supposed to keep his Icarus II as a demonstrator while sending everyone else back home and wait for a rep to back him up during his negotiations with the Lyran businessmen he was scheduled to meet. During the journey here his time had been taken up by repairing the damage that the mechs had taken in their brief combat debut. Mostly fixing armor plating, but he and the rest of the techs had a devil of a time getting the Shadow Hawks arms back on. The Kingston Legionnaires had been a bit too accurate with their PPC fire and had wrecked the joints as well as amputating the arms.

Despite his best efforts he had failed to click with any of the other mech jocks. He was regarded as too much the over educated new Avalon fuckhead for them to accept him, although he did get some respect for his skills in a mech. Helping out with the techs hadn't done a damn thing to correct the other pilots first impressions of him, or help him clean up after his spectacular screw up in front of the First Prince. The other pilots might be regarded as march militia scum by others, but they held to their oaths all the harder because of that scorn. Harry had committed a cardinal sin in their eyes, performing les majesty, and even if they agreed with his opinion, they couldn't be seen agreeing with him because of that.

Harry had been grateful for the work that the techs had provided him, it kept him from stewing on his mistakes, and worrying about just who his father had dispatched to be his minder. He wasn't looking forward to that, especially the tongue lashing he was sure was coming. His parents, and their business partners, had trusted him enough to assign him a point position in the upcoming negotiations and he had thrown that trust away in a drunken fit. With the mechs work gone he had gone looking for more work to distract himself, thus neatly explaining what he was doing sitting on the shoulders of his Icarus II after having repainted the head again. Fortunately, his small staff had found a working bay to store the mech in while they all waited, mostly Harry thought to get him out of their hair.

"Moping again? I swear you boys. I didn't have nearly as much trouble with the girls," Brenda Brockton said from behind Harry, making him start.

"Mom!" Harry couldn't help the plaintive note which entered his voice as he kept himself from slipping off his perch and plunging to the unforgiving ferro crete many meters below.

"Still seeking out high points to mope at I see."

"I was fixing the paint job," Harry tried to retain some of his dignity. He was well aware that it was a futile effort, but he tried anyway. Surprisingly his mother joined him at his perch, rather than pulling him back into the inactive bay.

"A good use of your time, I guess. Still, things have gotten complicated." Harry noted that his mother was frowning.

"Beyond my screw up on New Avalon?"

"Well beyond that," Harry noted just how his mother's nose tightened in annoyance. "You damn near derailed Clara's husbands' career with that stunt Harry. What were you thinking! I know I taught you better than that."

"It was supposed to be a low-key mixer, no higher nobility involved, so I thought I could relax for a bit…" Harry admitted. "We had just finished the first of the test runs, and turned over the prototypes to the AFFS evaluators. Nothing was announced yet so there was no reason for the First Prince to be there, I'd pulled security for dozens of those types of mixers and none of the upper-level nobles ever attended."

"Most of your service was under Ian, who hardly ever was on New Avalon. Hanse is a very different man, much more hands on politically, but I suppose I can understand what you were thinking. Still, try to keep your head about in the future? For me at least." Brenda found that Harry's explanation was actually understandable. He had evaluated the situation based on his past experience like she had taught him and come to a conclusion. It had been incorrect, but there had actually been some thought to his actions. Letting off some steam in a lower pressure environment before he headed to a place where he would need to be on his guard twenty-four eight was understandable. "Still things are worse than you know."

"Alright, hit me with it." Harry frowned at the nerves his unflappable mother was displaying.

"There are questions being asked back home about when you are going to settle down and get married." Brenda put it bluntly. "Between Hanse Davion's mourning, and your complete failure to date while you were off with the Guards…"

"That's not completely accurate," Harry started to object.

"Did you bring anyone home? No? Then you don't have room to talk. Your sisters at least would bring their current boyfriends home every now and again."

"Clara went to school on Brockton, and Mindy is a jump ship captain with Brockton on her regular route." Harry's voice was defensive. "It's a little bit different from being stationed across the realm."

"It's the optics of it Harry," Brenda couldn't help but sigh as she said that. "People are worried that you're going to remain a bachelor forever, like the first prince, and then Hasek is going to put one of his cronies in charge."

"Why would they worry about that?" Harry asked in confusion. "Erics my heir, and even if something happens to him while he's in service Clara has a perfectly respectable husband."

"Your brother is a spoiled brat," Brenda said with a fair amount of venom in her voice. "He went out to party on Point Barrow and was pulled in by the local PB for a moral's violation. Then he refused the families help, but not our lawyer or money, in getting him out of his jam."

"Mina?" Harry asked mildly. The entire family was well aware of Erics preferences, and for the most part didn't care. He was of their blood and they would love him anyway. The rest of the inner sphere? His proclivities could very well end up with Eric dead in a ditch beaten to death no matter what his social rank. Getting him cover so that he wasn't at risk of judicial murder on top of that would have been his mother's highest priority.

"Mina, an internship under Theresa, and a private home he could entertain who he liked in. Naturally Mina was a bridge too far for your brother, no matter how it would affect the rest of the family. Thank God your sisters are already married, although I suppose our wedding gift to Clara's husband didn't help the rumors."

"Mom, you and dad gave him an assault mech. Of course, people were going to talk."

"We needed to indicate our approval of the match," Brenda sniffed in distain. "Some of the other Dukes were beginning to talk, not realizing that the young man was headed to New Avalon to take up a highly placed position in the ministry of agriculture. Who cared if he was a commoner. Did those cretins not realize just what a catch he was for your sister, and the rest of the family?"

"Assault mech."

"Well yes, we also needed to get it out of the Garg's hanger before uncomfortable questions started being asked." Brenda shrugged lightly. "Strikers aren't the most well regarded but Rogers second oldest was about to head off to Albion. If he didn't send her with it then questions would have been asked."

"Questions like why?"

"Exactly. We really don't want those questions asked, because the logical answer is exactly what we did." Brenda flashed a predatory smirk as she said that. "We're almost ready, but not yet. Anyway, while we mostly suppressed the news of the arrest… rumors got out, which is making our position weaker than is comfortable."

"I thought we had a relatively strong position? We certainly don't have any opposition at home, not real opposition at least. A few nutters who want a republic… but considering just how much time dad and you spend off world being business barons…"

"It's off world we need to worry about. Clara was supposed to be our in to the court, because your father almost has the pieces, he needs in place to finally get back at Corean. Unfortunately, while I agree with you about her husband, he didn't serve. That's disqualifying to the nobles who would be in charge of arbitrating the succession. Eric of course doesn't care about that, it's all about him at the moment."

"He's a teenager, give him time."

"Time is something we do not have." Brenda stated flatly. "Between our passing along of the MML system, and developing new types of autocannons, the crabs are already pulling on our legs. If that boy could just swallow his pride, send off a sample, and accept he was married on paper… we would have one less vulnerability. It's not like he would need to see the girl, it would just be a bit of paper."

"Not to mention it would let dad bank a favor with the Garg family when their famously sapphic inclined niece turned up married and pregnant." Harry agreed mildly.

"Right, which brings us to you and your shopping list. You knew about the MacEnroe Motors data we wanted, along with any machine tooling, from O'Leary…"

"Mountain Wolf is running deep in the red, I thought that an infusion of cash would be enough to get us what we want…"

"Was. Was running deep in the red. The Archon just dumped a shit ton of Kroner into their coffers. It was just announced today."

"They made the jump…" Harry couldn't help the reverence in his voice. For any company, or family, involved in the militia mech market the jump was the holy grail. Going from producing militia mechs to all up Battlemechs was often tried, but never succeeded, until now it seemed. "Shit. We're fucked, aren't we?"

"Not quite that bad… but almost. Defiance isn't going to be willing to help us, at least not with our tooling problems, but we might be able to get the plans for the Sentinel. They did shut down that line."

"We're about to let them revive it," Harry stated grimly. "They aren't going to want to let go of an exclusive. The Garg's have gotten that close?"

"They figured out how to modify Ajeet's plant to put out both types of engines, it runs slow but… they have production." Brenda confirmed. "What we don't have is a product that takes those engines."

"If you slow down the Striker…"

"NO." Brenda glanced over her shoulder to make damn sure that the hatch was still closed. "Starting out of the gate with an assault is just the sort of action which will have mercs showing up at all our plants. Assault mechs are prestige units, and having one be our first fully in house design would look like we're aiming for Corean. They would have to act before we were fully established."

"We do have some production on Brockton," Harry pointed out.

"Which everyone thinks is fueled by purchases in the outworlds."

"Are people idiots? We've barely done any business with them since 2998 when they passed the heritability requirement for seeds into law." Harry scrunched up his brow in confusion. He had never understood just how the Alliance parliament had managed to get that law through. "Before then it made sense to ship our seeds out there and then take our local currency and convert it into engines… but without a product to ship."

"People see what they want to see, and we did it that way for a long time. We kept it up even after we managed to build our own engine and gyro tooling."

"Why don't we spin up those resources and put new lines in all of the factories?" That was something that Harry had never really understood. They could make the tooling, at least as far as he understood it, but they had refrained from putting it into their other factories off world.

"Several reasons, first the last time we did that the entire Tsamma plant was burned to the ground. The lines we built take five times the manpower to run one of our lines as it should. Then you get into our native electronics industry, which with machines we built can only fab chips with a five-to-ten-year lifespan in the quantities needed. Do you need me to go on?" Brenda very carefully didn't mention the engine plant Andrew was setting up on Basantapur, where they could take advantage of the existing electronics lines and trained manpower.

"So, we can sort of do it, but it would ruin our reputation and we'd be spending a lot of money for little gain."

"Exactly. If we can get examples of the tooling, we want…"

"Duplication?"

"That's the idea." Brenda pursed her lips and frowned as she tried to find a delicate way to tell her son. Finally, she gave up and just said it bluntly. "Between your brothers' antics, our precarious position socially, and the big moves that we want to make you're going to need to make a few sacrifices for the family. I know you wanted to find love, but the political realities don't give us the luxury of waiting. It isn't fair, I know, but we need you to do this."

"Positions of power and responsibility given to the nobility are contingent on the nobilities ability to make sacrifices commiserate with the power and responsibility they have been entrusted with." Harry repeated his mother's favorite truism. It was something she had drilled into her children, trying to make them understand her own position. Being the daughter of the Duke of Baxley, she had been sold to his father when she was just sixteen and his father had been pushing thirty. They had made a life together since then, but she never forgot her origins. The DeBrinion family hadn't had anything of value to offer the Brockton's, except for their daughter, while trying to save their world from a famine. That it had worked out only reinforced the truism Brenda had imparted on her children.

"I'm not happy about this, and neither is your father, but one way or the other you are coming home married to someone respectable. If the Doons family has a disreputable cousin…" Brenda trailed off and then shook her head. "Worst comes to worst after an heir is born, we can arraign something to let you get remarried."

"I understand." Harry couldn't help but close his eyes in frustration at the situation.

"Well, given where we are you will be glad to know you don't have to drive the demonstration unit all the time, I brought your mech with me. At the very least that should give you some respectability here in the commonwealth, you know how they are about your mechs weight."

 

[Bofors40mm]

Honestly if they want a respectable heavy mech using the 240 could basically go with 2 Large lasers, 4 mediums, a SRM-6 and 1 ton of ammo, 12.5 tons of armor, and 16 heatsinks. If nothing else it's a respectable heavy mech which can fill the slots that riflemans and jagermechs currently fill in heavy AFFS lances not geared towards the support role. Alternatively if they can get FE 275 a favorite design of mine for a introtech medium is a 55 tonner with 1 LL, 4 MLs, a flammer and 2 LRM-5s and 1 ton of ammo and 11 tons of armor with 12 heatsinks. Basically meant to go beat the stuffing out any fast heavy in this era and mediums as well. And have the armor and flexibility to serve in basically any role that isn't assault or high speed scout
Sadly no jump Jets for either design though. That mass went into armor. That and putting jump Jets in the 60 tonner without loosing anything requires 10 more tons and even that loses a half ton of armor

 

[GSpectre]

They actually have a plan at least for Basantapur, MacEnroe has all the data for the Crossbow, which can be adapted to a 240 relatively easily and as long as you keep the weapons swaps to the arms its not too large of an engineering challenge. That means a missile carrier though, Dropping the engine rating buys you enough tonnage to put an MML9 into the weapons pods, as long as you stick with the large laser from the primitive model, so you have a respectable amount of armor (finally!) enough heat sinks to operate (Are we sure this is a Crossbow?) and a weapons load out of dual medium lasers, a large laser, and a pair of MML9's. It turns a joke of a mech into a semi respectable brawler.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Probably need new electronics as well to remove the bad a long range Quirk. On another note I assume that the raid was a definitive success is at least helping the case of the new designs in the AFFS's procurement department? Mind you as I said previously the real way to get AFFS procurement clamoring for anything Brockton can make isn't mechs its military dropships. Starlifters, Stings/Ajaxes(up to you what to call that Drost variant I personally prefer Ajax but the person whose story I came up with the OG variant for likes the name sting), and Lions if available at a rate of say 3 or so each year initially would be a big deal given how limited dropship production is in the 3rd SW in general for everyone. Not helped by the huge ass at least partially fixable facility Salvatore Incorporated is sitting on at Layover and refuses and March or Federal help in getting working beyond a handful of seekers a year being made....out of a facility that at its peak probably exceeded Galax's current dropship output by a far margin and covered something like 500 square kilometres of assorted facilities and a lot of additional testing grounds.

 

[GSpectre]

While I agree with your premise about dropship, the Lion isn't the right ship for the 3rd war. You cant use it in raiding or small unit operations because its designed to operate as part of an integrated fleet. The lack of fighter cover is a killer for its reputation in the environment its in. Hanse would be interested in the idea... But its not large enough. There isn't a reduction in the number of collars needed to move a large unit like an RCT which is something the suns needs badly. Because of this the Brockton haven't focused enough interest in their aerospace assets, even going so far as to use some as off world investments rather then putting them into production (the Vulcan). Andrews a ground pounder to his core, and it shows in his priorities. Harry has some ideas, but they're externally focused because he doesn't know what's available to him. He's been off world doing his duty to god and Davion as it were, so hes less knowledgeable about the families businesses. His impression is that the aerospace sector is almost purely civilian, and changing that would take an investment that they can't afford at the moment. Not to say it isn't going to happen eventually its just going to take some story time to get there.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Honestly the thing about the Lion is that as the clan and WD refits showed its highly configurable. As in adding a pair of ASF bays and increasing the mech and vehicle count to 12 at the expense of 1300 tons of cargo is probably viable. Or hell you could make a dedicated ASF carrier with space for 18 birds and a decent sum of cargo to support them. Not to mention stuff like the overlord and union show you can have legions of variants. Indeed in both cases the two designs are noted as having too many to practically list but here are the "stock" ones. Still probably best for someone else in his group of dukes/counts pushing for industry to bring up the aerospace side of things. But yeah the lion's overall curse is that it invests a lot of mass going 4/6 vs 3/5 and having a 2 kiloton capacity for general cargo. Which makes it great for say supporting a battalion or regiment mostly using a mix of Leopards,Unions, and Overlords and thus probably has more ASF bays than most regiments get in terms of ASF count but yeah stock it's not a ship meant to be on its own

 

[Blade4]

That is a kinda weird update. So gloomy when he should run with what he did. He told off the first prince then backed it up with deeds. He should own that. And they have several potential products to sell and why cant they make their own heavy or assault weight? Take the shadow hawk which does not quite work right now and see if they cant bulk it out and remove the jump jets? Or crossbow... They have plenty of options and their should be plenty of girls willing to marry or carry a noble child.

Though the brother? I assume he is some sort of pedo? That is a very dangerous weakness to keep around. They may love him still but he is a dagger waiting to be planted in their back by their many enemies so he either needs to be hidden away till he grows up a bit or he needs to be dealt with. Preferable exile far away.

 

[Bofors40mm]

honestly I don't get why going for assaults would be a problem. given all of 2 worlds in all the suns make them at the present date and its literally just the atlas, victor, and longbows in production (well that is if you don't count Blackwell and the magical plot armor the Wolf Dragoons have in ensuring that somehow said company wouldn't get nationalized when it told the AFFS that it wouldn't be selling them equipment even when the WD where working for the Liaos when the Marauder II came out) and in fairly limited numbers at that Hanse basically would have to send in a damm good unit to protect the place. ditto any non crap heavies. the suns literally only only make the marauder on that front at least in canon. mind you why kallon isn't making the crusader in the suns when they do in the FWL and they make the right sized engine on talon beats me but whatever.

 

[Blade4]

A idea? What if Hanse gives them the licenses to several mechs/aero/vehicles with a quota decree? They can produce mechs as is and have useful products and just need some upgrading to really start production. Their position means they are pretty safe from raids and they could be a rally point for the outback to build up and excess production can be very useful else where in the suns.

 

[GSpectre]

Yeah, this was probably the weakest update, i don't think i quite hit the mark with it. Harry's running into a combination of things, social stigma of being 'known' as the Suns go to bio and chem warfare family, which reduces the families cachet on the inner worlds, then the lower nobility of the outer worlds not liking that he mouthed off to the first prince because they view him as a check on the planetary dukes. The out worlds planetary dukes don't like the Brockton's because they are successful, proving that the issues their planets are facing are the dukes fault. The brother isn't a pedo, he's gay in the future of the eighties where that's a whole lot less acceptable then today. It also brought up questions about just why Clara's husband was gifted an assualt mech as a wedding gift, when he wasn't a mechwarrior. It looks an awful lot like a bribe to take a troublesome daughter off the families hands and keep her out of the spotlight, not a bribe to look favorably at the families companies when he's high up in the ministry of agriculture which it was.

The problem with heavies and assaults is engines, although Bansantapur has an answer there, since they make 240s. The plan is to revise the Crossbow there and start churning them out, getting established as a 'real' mech maker in the eyes of the public. Assaults were considered, but they are inherently a political statement of power. If you can make them, then the first prince is going to back you up because they are so rare. The suns in this time period has Quiton and Crofton as assault production sites, though i may be missing another site here, thats it. Trevlu making assaults would catapult them into being one of the more important production sites in the Suns. Corean couldn't allow that to happen, and would move heaven and earth to prevent it. The Brockton's, and Garg's, aren't sure if they weather the backlash both politically, Corean being based on new avalon has a lot of political power, and militarily, Andrew's screw up coming back to bite them in the ass here they have to rely on their own resources because he got them blacklisted with the MRB. If they could hire mercs then they would be a lot more confident, but as it stands... they have their own defence forces, planetary militia, and the local crucis march militia as defences, a good merc unit or even a large one has a pretty good chance against that, and corean has the money to hire the best. The hope is once they are established as being a 'real' mech maker and not just a primary militia grade company to bring out a version of the Striker with a downrated engine.

 

[GSpectre]

May 11th​ 3016
Hayward Arena
Solaris VII, Lyran Commonwealth

The clash of mechs that they were here to observe was audible even in the sound proofed suite that they were watching the match from. Harry hadn't wanted to do business here, but Brandon O'Leary had insisted. To some watching the debut of a new heavy mech would have been an honor, but to Harry it felt like O'Leary was rubbing his success in the Brockton delegations face. He had to know they were just as invested as he had been in rebuilding their family mech works, there was no need for him to be this blatant about pointing out he had succeeded while they were still trying.

"An impressive mech," Harry managed to keep his jealousy out of his voice. "It is in production? Not just a prototype?"

"The first lance is already off the production lines." Brandon stated proudly. "We would have debuted two years ago but the Archon had first call on our production. It was one of the deals we struck in order to obtain our tooling."

"Still I would have thought you would put your Merlin into the mercenary market, not entered it into the class four limited matches." Brenda observed, she was less effected by this display then Harry was and her political experience let her hold on to her temper better. "It seems a bit wasteful."

"Advertising." Brandon said sourly. "Much as I think of my work no ones going to accept it as is without proof its as good as I say it is. Putting the Merlin into the games was the fastest way for us to obtain the recognition that we deserve. No matter how well we do in the circuit, especially given we're competing in the limited category, everyone's going to hear about the Merlin and see its better qualities for themselves."

"Have you thought about licensing? Our Basantapur…" Harry began only to be cut off.

"No. Trading some data to Trevlu is possible, especially in regards to a field which Mountain Wolf is looking forward to abandoning in the future, but beyond that I'm not able to help you." Brandon shook his head.

"Not unwilling, unable," Brenda's voice was contemplative.

"You made a lot of enemies back in three thousand when you disrupted the Centurion deal. Lockheed- CBM has a lot of weight, and I'm not willing to go up against them." Brandon stated pleasantly, not showing his true feelings. He was well aware that there could be advantages Mountain Wolf would reap if they partnered with Trevlu, but the political realities constrained him.

"Lockheed still got the data they were after though…" Harry's brow furled in confusion.

"But not everything. They were looking forward to getting an intact line for a minimal investment. Your counter offer meant they needed to buy everything, rather then just moving tooling from the suns. Even with the additional cash that Jalastar ponied up for the missing tooling Lockheed's bottom line had a hole in it that you could drive a dropship through. The board hasn't forgotten or forgiven that, and they're more then willing to go out of their way to inconvenience you. Mountain Wolf might be the apple of the Archons eye now, but we aren't a heavyweight like Lockheed is, and slights are remembered for a long time in this business." Brandon was firm on this point.

"But there will be no problems with the MacEnroe Motors data?"

"Both our lawyers have gone over that deal, and it has the Archons stamp of approval." Brandon grinned as he said that. The Brockton's were going to be reducing his debt to the Archon, for what was in his view data that would be useless in a few years. Given he had succeeded in bring Mountain Wolf back out of the militia market he thought that other companies would be following him, reducing the need or desire for militia grade gear. "It's a done deal, and I don't have any problems with it."

"But no interest expanding on it," Brenda said in understanding.

"It's not that I'm uninterested in what you have to offer but…" Brandon sighed and leaned back a bit in his chair. "You've already drawn the ire of Lockheed, what possessed you to also annoy Coventry? Right now, you're radioactive in the commonwealth business community. If our deal wasn't practically done, and approved, I would have had you out the door as soon as you showed me your newest offerings. Coventry is just deploying their MML Commandos, and you show up with your own version?"

"Our system has been cleared by commonwealth lawyers," Harry stated defensively. "We checked."

"It still looks like it's derived from industrial espionage," Harry opened his mouth to object but Brandon overrode him, continuing in a voice of iron. "Yes, the idea has been around for a long time, usually as something merc techs threw together for a franken mech, but no one before Coventry made that concept into a production weapon. What you have is different enough to patent as a separate system, but having it ready to go as soon as Coventry debuted their version is the problem. You annoyed Coventry, like I said, and, this is the more important bit from my perspective, you showed the entire sphere your investment in industrial espionage. There's no way you could have moved as fast as you did without some damn good spies. You might play fair with me, but I can't trust that, so in order to protect my own secrets its best if we leave things as they are and go our separate ways."

Brenda gave Harry a look, telling him not to keep pushing. Her instincts were telling her that they would only be running into a brick wall if they tried to keep pushing. Brandon O'Leary wasn't their only option, and it was better to leave things as they were rather than offending him. Given what he had said their best chance would be the Brewers, because if there was one corporation in Commonwealth space that had the political capital to go up against Coventry and Lockheed-CBM it was Defiance. Better to save what they could and use it where they had a chance of success.

"I see you have a substantial investment in dealing with infantry," Brenda said leading the conversation. "Is there a reason for that?"

"Requirements from Mount Asgard," Brandon's mouth was tight as he said that.

"Draconis combine is on the border," Harry acknowledged, following his mother's lead in talking about the Merlin. "Unfortunately, you need the infantry defense, without it things can get a bit tight. Good decision on the jump jets, there were more then a few times when I was on the Drac border I wished I was riding one of the Capellan SE mods for my Thunderbolt."

"You usually ride a heavy?" Brandon turned to the younger man in surprise. "You brought…"

"A demonstration unit, my usual ride is more traditional," Harry's face displaying his distaste for his current ride as he said that, there hadn't been a reason to pull his real mech off the dropship so far this trip. He had spent most of his time at parties or business meetings, the only mech time he had gotten was when he needed to demonstrate that the rotary autocannon worked. "As much as we work with Thunderbolts in the refit yard, our engineers know our own products better."

"Not to your taste?"

"While we license them, the Icarus is a Corean product. Give me a Swordsman or a Whitworth and I'd be happier, I was low man on the totem pole in the demonstration unit we put together so I made do with what I'm assigned." Harry's light voice didn't betray the extreme reaction he had when he had found out about his assignment. The truth was more complicated, of course, but it wouldn't do to tell a rival about the issues Trevlu had with their larger rotary autocannon. Having one blow the arm off an Icarus due to an ammunition feed fault had been disastrous.

"I was under the impression that everything you produced was licensed, and yet you seem to have distinct preferences…" Brandon's inquiry was relatively light, but the question behind it was obvious for everyone to see.

"Whitworth's are a complete reworking, everything but the torso of the mech was changed out." Harry answered promptly. "We couldn't get the armor to bend the way the hegemony could without compromising its structural integrity. Without those curved bits fitting the third laser in became a hazard during ejection, at least in our tests, so we deleted it for more ammo. Everyone knew about the leg issues, so we stole from our Swordsman designs for the legs, then stole the arms as well as it gave back hands which was another constant complaint. The end result is a mech that we did most of the engineering on… of course this was back during the second succession war."

Harry knew that he was lying through his teeth but accepted that as the price of doing business. Having defective tooling as an excuse was much more respectable than what had actually happened. The designs for the torso of the Whitworth had been passed on to the family through the good offices of Stephan Amaris, though his agents had declined to give the Brockton's the rest of the mech. It was a confusing decision, but Harry wasn't a psychotic mass murderer intent on killing his way to the throne so it didn't bother him that much that he didn't understand. Perhaps it had been the revival of the Talos which had interrupted the rest of the deal? Either way letting on a close connection to Amaris here would have been a mistake, especially after what had happened to Apollo militia when they tried to revive the Phoenix as a militia mech. LOKI wasn't subtle and their message had been delivered loud and clear.

"Swordsman's the same I would imagine…"

"That was more reworking the internals to accept an engine and gyro package from the Outworlds," Harry had to wince as he said that. "They were supposed to be making the same thing but when we got our hands on the first shipment…"

"Proprietary design work?"

"Something like that," Harry shook his head. "I'm not an engineer so I can't say if it was on our end or if it was on theirs… but considering their parts mate pretty easily with everything else in the sphere? Or at least I've never heard of an Alliance built engine having trouble fitting into a non-alliance mech. Corean was probably fucking with us even back…" Harry waved his hands indicating the distant past.

 

[Bofors40mm]

The problem with heavies and assaults is engines, although Bansantapur has an answer there, since they make 240s. The plan is to revise the Crossbow there and start churning them out, getting established as a 'real' mech maker in the eyes of the public. Assaults were considered, but they are inherently a political statement of power. If you can make them, then the first prince is going to back you up because they are so rare. The suns in this time period has Quiton and Crofton as assault production sites, though i may be missing another site here, thats it. Trevlu making assaults would catapult them into being one of the more important production sites in the Suns. Corean couldn't allow that to happen, and would move heaven and earth to prevent it. The Brockton's, and Garg's, aren't sure if they weather the backlash both politically, Corean being based on new avalon has a lot of political power, and militarily, Andrew's screw up coming back to bite them in the ass here they have to rely on their own resources because he got them blacklisted with the MRB. If they could hire mercs then they would be a lot more confident, but as it stands... they have their own defence forces, planetary militia, and the local crucis march militia as defences, a good merc unit or even a large one has a pretty good chance against that, and corean has the money to hire the best. The hope is once they are established as being a 'real' mech maker and not just a primary militia grade company to bring out a version of the Striker with a downrated engine.

Click to shrink...

new valenica makes the Marauder II at a rate of 16 or so a year by 3025 with initial production starting in 3012 but due to plot armor reasons its WD exclusive production.
As for a shorter term solution to do something with excess FE240 production maybe go with plan Manticore and/or plan devastator or plan schrek (the demolisher variant with that name not the mech). Because sure the suns might like their mechs but their RTCs eternally want more high quality combat vehicles and with comstar trying to stir the pot getting licenses for the last two from aldis probably won't be too hard and the Manticore is made by Jalastar so getting a license there probably won't be hard either

 

[GSpectre]

I know what i'm going to be using for a sixty tonner, and i don't have plans to use a new 55 tonner. I might eventualy get around to a new production model gladiator, but thats going to be a LC exclusive. I would like some help on refining ideas for the liberator though, as it becomes plot relevant soonish. The fault was in the cooling system, because it had a revelutionary new torso design, but there weren't rules for it. I'm trying to think of how to make the torso design into something that has advantages and disadvantages, something like half the crit slots in the side torso in exchange for being able to carry more armor... any ideas there would be welcome.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Honestly not sure I'd be of help on that. Not good at coming up with new rules. Mind you one rule I do follow is Bruce Quests rules on weapon ranges not being stupidly short and tank engines not inexplicably weighing more than Mechs and tanks being unable to take DHS in later eras. Well that and the whole not having the XL markup be ludicrously high.

 

[GSpectre]

Anything economic can be binned and it benefits the game. FASAnomics are a meme for a reason. To tell the truth i'm not good at rules changes either, but from a story point of view having a revolutionary torso design not have some effect is moronic. Thus the need to figure out how it would effect things in combat, which means figuring out house rules.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Well if you want to the BT general thread on either here or SB would probably be willing to help. Or you could go poke Bruce Quest's discord server which has a massively large in terms of contect section devoted to the design and discussion of BT designs

 

[Bofors40mm]

As far as using the liberator goes back of the head math indicates if the problems with the Torso and heat system can be solved using 3 MML-3 in place of the 2 LRM-5s and SRM-2 will save half a ton which in can be used to upgrade the armor to 7 tons
Hoenstly if a FE 200 was available I'd use that and put in 5 jump Jets and a addtional half ton into armor and 1 into heatsinks with the mass savings 3 tons from the engine and 1 ton from the smaller gyro. Alternatively axe the extra heatsink for more armor

 

[Inbredmartian]

So just started to read, love it bye, and what's CBT and cannonshop? Would love to read more like this

 

[GSpectre]

So just started to read, love it bye, and what's CBT and cannonshop? Would love to read more like this

Click to shrink...

Classic battle tech forums, Cannonshop is one of the more prolific authors over there. Older works is a good repository of the stuff which inspired me, his new stuff is good but much more focused on the naval aspect of the game, well worth reading.

 

[Bofors40mm]

well the specs for the liberator aren't on MML so I'll have to figure things out. On another note is going for a mech that failed horribly a good business option other than to get the last of the needing tooling for proper mechs and then use it in another design?

 

[Blade4]

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Liberator_(BattleMech)

 

[Bofors40mm]

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Liberator_(BattleMech)

Click to shrink...

Meant stuff like where the crits on the equipment are.

 

[Blade4]

Meant stuff like where the crits on the equipment are.

Click to shrink...

Type: Liberator
Technology Base: Inner Sphere
Tonnage: 40
Equipment
Mass
Internal Structure: 4
Engine: 240 11.5
Walking MP: 6
Running MP: 9
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: 10 0
Gyro: 3
Cockpit: 3
Armor Factor: 104 6.5
Internal Armor Structure Value Head 3 9 Center Torso 13 15 Center Torso (rear) 4 R/L Torso 10 13 R/L Torso (rear) 4 R/L Arm 6 8 R/L Leg 10 13 Weapons and Ammo

Location Critical Tonnage LRM-5 RA 1 2
Ammo (LRM) 24 RA 1 1
Large Laser CT 2 5
SRM-2 LT 1 1
Ammo (SRM) 50 LT 1 1
LRM-5 LA 1 2

Sorry formatting borked try to fix. Have the book from as pdf.

 

[GSpectre]

Because i didn't double check where i left off posting... this got left out. I think i managed to fix it when you're in reader mode, but it should be read between chapter 4 and 5, in reality it should be chapter 5 but i can't edit the thread marks here.

August 8th​ 3015
Foxes Den
New Avalon, Federated Suns


"So, I trust you had a good trip?" Hanse teased his long-time friend and confident as Ardan dropped into one of the over stuffed armchairs across from the First Prince. "Your report was certainly enlightening. Though I was surprised that Harry was coming back with you."

"Harry has his own agenda," Ardan replied with a snort. "He's here to sell you new weapons, and not just what they got off the Taurian's."

"Oh? None of that was mentioned in the dispatches you sent from Brockton…" Hanse trailed off meaningfully.

"It would have offended our hosts if we had." Ardan shrugged uncomfortably. "Ran thought, and I agree with him, that it was best not to aggravate them. They're doing us a service again, and if they want to keep what they found quiet we weren't going to offend them. Especially not with what we found on world."

"They don't trust Comstars discretion?" Hanse frowned at that. He had his own questions about just how neutral the Terran based organization really was, but it sounded like the Brockton's had more solid evidence then the straws to the wind he had currently. "Or is it something else?"

"With them… something else. The Precentor assigned to the world is originally from Highspire, and the Brockton's organized both our biological and chemical response units. Needless to say, that assignment went over poorly with the public, and especially with the duke." Ardan said evenly. It was something of an open secret that the CCAF chemical weapons industry had been, and possibly still was, based on Highspire. There was a reason why the border world was the personal holding of Romano Liao, and had been held by main line Liao's throughout the succession wars. "It doesn't help that Duke Brockton is a firm believer in holding grudges and getting even… which is another problem I'm glad to be dumping on your plate."

"That doesn't sound good. Hit me with it," Hanse turned serious when Ardan mentioned a problem. He trusted the other man's good sense, even if he tended to be a bit too idealistic.

"Corean went above and beyond what Michael Davion authorized back in twenty-eight forty-seven. They didn't just take what they owned; they robbed the Brockton system blind. Between the lost tooling and intellectual properties… we're talking a theft that could total trillions of pounds." Ardan's voice was grim as he continued. "They haven't been satisfied with that either, they've launched at least one strike to prune back Trevlu, along with continuing political pressure and an ongoing effort to keep the Swordsman as reviled as it is. If I were you, I would be extremely grateful that Andrew Brockton has trouble keeping his temper, if he hadn't executed the Free Rangers company the way he did… It wouldn't surprise me if he hired a couple of regiments to repossess Corean New Avalon for his family, be damned what a First Prince said."

"They're holding a grudge over that decision?"

"That and the way their Tsamma holdings were ransacked by Corean hired mercs, with DMI and MIIO at the time willing to swear up and down that it was a pirate raid. That finding is why we couldn't do anything to him after he had the Rangers all shot, and Michael tried. Something that's still causing friction between the former UHC worlds and the Capellan March, not to mention the issues the entire affair has generated between us and mercenaries."

"How bad is it?"

"Let me put it this way, you know how the Swordsman is regarded? The Brockton Militia and the Trevlu security run Swordsmen instead of Icarus II's. There are no Valkyries on world, and even mentioning the Centurion as anything other than a light fighter seemed like an iffy idea. Harry Brockton, who I found to be a level headed and personable man, threw a fit when he found out that he was getting an Icarus II as part of the demonstration package he has for you." Ardan shook his head. "It's a planetary grudge that the family has invested time and money in keeping alive. They have a planetary holiday dedicated to cursing Corean, Families get together and burn effigies of the Corean board, past and present."

"Not the Whitworth though…" Hanse frowned as he thought about the problem. He had to admit this was a little beyond what he had thought, and he was going to need to think about it before he figured out how to turn it to his advantage.

"Take a look at the Whitworth's that Corean, and Trevlu, make and compare them to the models from the Whitworth company."

"Ours have hands…" Hanse raised an eyebrow at where Ardan was going with this.

"Yes, they do, then compare one of our Whitworths arms to the arm of a Trevlu Swordsman. While you're thinking on that, do the same thing with the legs. You know our Whitworths don't have the complaints that the Whitworth company made ones have."

"They did the redesign work didn't they?"

"Part of that stolen intellectual property I mentioned earlier. I know you can't really punish Corean for a theft that occurred almost two hundred years ago but…" Ardan paused and grimaced. "This represents a fundamental break down in the feudal obligations your ancestors were sworn to uphold, those obligations are something the Brockton family holds tight. It's why so many of the tainted ended up on Brockton." Both men grimaced at the mention of yet another failure. The tainted were the survivors of various chemical and biological attacks who suffered under the stigma of being survivors while the worlds they were from had died. "While I doubt this was the only time those broke down… this time you really need to at least try and make things right. Especially since I would bet my Victor that the Brockton family has their hooks deep in the CrMM in the Minette area of operations. I visited with elements of the Broken Wheel CrMM and Anjin Muerto CrMM who were on world for refitting and they had a high opinion of the Brockton Family."

"That's going to be difficult," Hanse admitted, mentally he was shoving units around in his head, trying to figure out how to get a front-line regiment into that region of space. "I can't, not wont, but can not give the Brockton family what they deserve if everything you brought back checks out on our end. I'm going to have to think long and hard about how to make things right, but I will at least try. Given the history there I don't think it's a good idea to start moving against the Brockton's even if they do have an inappropriately close relationship with the CrMM. My first instinct is to pull back the 1st​ Chrisholm Raiders to Colorado, give them time to rebuild and reconnect with their roots, but that's going to put a massive hole in the Draconis March so I don't think it's a viable idea. Perhaps moving the second to Brockton directly? Something to run past the cave. Do you have any good news?"

"Well…" Ardan let himself trail off to tease his old friend. "There's a lot more production capacity out that way then has been reported. Trevlu has kept it quiet but I think they rebuilt far more then MIIO or DMI caught wind of, at the very least they aren't just getting engines from the Outworlds like we thought. They've been using it to keep the local march militia units in excellent shape, which is why no one's been interested in reporting it to New Avalon. The units I saw had a lower percentage of militia mechs then usual, although their weight was on the lower end of the spectrum. Lots of forty-ton machines filling in for Enforcers, Centurions, and Dervishes. Just a straw to the wind, but the two command mechs I saw were Thunderbolts, Taurian built, so you might be able to use the Brockton's for further back-channel negotiations with the Concordat. It rubs me the wrong way, we should talk with them directly, but with the way Michaels been acting? You might need those channels to keep the peace out there. You know about the MML system from my report…"

"Thanks. Thanks a bunch for reminding me that despite my efforts we're still behind the Free Worlds League and the Lyran's." Hanse glowered as he said that.

"What did the FWL come up with?" Ardan frowned as he asked that. He didn't have the same access to intelligence that Hanse did, but he was granted an unusual amount of access in his position of one of Hanses most trusted sounding boards. He hadn't heard anything about a new weapons system coming out of the League.

"A medium range missile system, basically from what DMI tells me it's a reloadable rocket pod, size ranging from a ten pack up to a maximum practical forty pack. SAFE, or probably more accurately the Andurien Intelligence Directorate, managed to hide it for long enough that our first hints about the development was when the newest Stalkers coming out of Shiro III were mounting what we thought were twenty packs of long range missiles, instead of the standard ten packs and six packs of short ranged missiles. At least we were luckier then the Capellans, the first they knew about it was when the 1st​ Defenders of Andurien took Palladaine with their brand-new Stalkers leading the way." Ardan could feel the frustration rolling off of Hanse as he described the new weapons system the League had deployed.

"Well, this will make you happier at least, two new autocannon types which I would rate as deployable, a third which while it needs a bit of refinement before I would be comfortable deploying it, jamming issues, and a fourth that needs a redesign before I would be comfortable putting it on anything outside of a proving ground." Ardan smirked at the gob smacked look on Hanses face. "That brightened your day up a bit, didn't it?"

"What? How?"

"Trevlu bases their R and D out of Brockton, or at least their covert R and D, and they had a married couple looking into reproducing the Code Red. They didn't manage that, but they came up with something interesting, a new alloy which allowed them to lighten the barrel of a lower caliber autocannon. I don't need to tell you how those effects the all up weight of the weapon?" Ardan's voice was mild but internally he was debating if he should ask his friend if he needed a bib. Reducing the weight of the barrel on an autocannon meant that you also reduced the weight of the support structures and the number of myomer fibers you needed for its tracking function. "Once they could consistently produce lighter weight cannons, they tried strapping them together in a rotary configuration to duplicate the damage pattern of an LBX… they aren't quiet there yet but at least the lighter model they put together is almost there. The heavier of the two? Not so much, one of their prototypes detonated its ammo in the middle of a demonstration. That was an interesting experience."

"Is that the only problem with the system? And why not use the new alloy for the larger systems?" Hanse asked, all business despite his obvious desire.

"From what I was told the alloy can't handle the pressure needed for larger systems, beyond the lighter calibers… the shells create too much pressure and it splits." Ardan leaned back miming an explosion with his hands. "The only other problem that was reported is that due to the light weight and rigidity of the alloy you can't attach as many control myomers to stabilize it as a traditional barrel so the range is reduced."

"What does the smaller rotary weigh in at?" Hanse asked, thinking hard. While the Suns might be closer to the league in terms of trade, their propensity for civil wars could be disruptive, as demonstrated by Anton's revolt. Due to that Marik family fight several critical orders from the league had been short stopped or were delayed, causing supply chain issues. Unfortunately, the Suns weren't as close to the Lyrans, but he thought he could see a way to turn that around.

"About the same as an GM Whirlwind, why?"

"I think I might just be able to hit a couple of birds with the stone you just handed me." Hanse grinned as he said that, not his trademark foxy grin but a thing full of teeth. "We've been having issues with our league side suppliers, and given we're about to steal a new commonwealth weapon… I didn't think I could find any relief there. But Defiance just discontinued the Sentinel due to the technological decline we've been in since the Star League fell. Their downgraded model wasn't making the grade, not enough fire power. If this RAC is good enough I'm thinking about allowing the Brockton's to export the design specs…"

"Making our acquisition of the MML into more of a trade rather than outright theft?"

"That and paying back the Brockton family for their loyalty, or at least their ingenuity." Hanse paused. "It would be a good way to test the Archon as well. Is she someone we can do business with? Ian thought so, but I can see Michael's hand in that decision. Ian's stories about what went on during his time with the hounds left me decidedly unimpressed."

"Surely not with the Hounds!"

"No, they were as good as their reputation made them out to be according to Ian. It's the other commands he dealt with which make me nervous. The Kell's put together a mercenary unit out of the cream of the Lyran crop… I'm not sure how much talent is left in the LCAF if their best end up in the mercenary market, especially in the militias and regulars."

 

[Bofors40mm]

Well no sentinel line being shut down means no hatcheman at least from defiance since they used the resources and tooling from that line to make them along with presumably shipping in the FE 180s from Skye and using the 240s from the sentinel line to make more manticores. On another note methinks the almost certainly going to happen court case between Brockton and Corean is probably going to have to be settled out of court for the good of the realm. That and to be blunt as much as Hanse probably would love to smack Corean down for pulling the shit that they have pulled he can't afford any stoppage in production of battlemechs unless someone finds a big enough cache that corean not making many mechs for a couple years wouldn't affect the AFFS.

On another note I wonder how aware Corean is of the fact that the 2 right hand dudes of hanse just went on a trip to Brockton and a large chunk of the visit was related to industrial stuff