the shape of things to come

Units built as Trailers do not require an engine, control systems,
or crew, unless they are also expected to operate without
a suitable Tractor unit or are expected to employ heavy weapons
and equipment while operating independently of a unit
with an engine.
Tractors need not have the same motive type as their Trailers,
but when operating as a unit, a combined Tractor/Trailer unit
is treated as though it has the most restrictive motive system
of the two. See the Tractor/Trailer rules in Step 2 (p. 101) to
determine the speed of a combined Tractor/Trailer unit.
Tech Base: The standard structure used by Combat Vehicles
is equally available to vehicles of Clan or Inner Sphere tech
bases.
Space: A Combat Vehicle’s standard internal structure does
not aff ect the amount of item space available, unless the unit
is built as a Tractor or Trailer unit (in which case, one item slot
is occupied per hitching mechanism).
OmniVehicles: As the arrangement of internal structure
circles is fi xed across all Combat Vehicle types and no item
space is occupied by structure, OmniVehicle designers must
note at this time only whether or not the Combat Vehicle’s
base confi guration is to mount a turret. If so, the turret tonnage
must be pre-determined at this stage, based on the
maximum tonnage of weapons the designer may wish to
place in the Turret location.
With a weight of 30 tons, Mike
determines that his Hephaestus’
internal structure will weigh 3 tons
(10 percent of 30 tons = 0.10 x 30 tons
= 3 tons). He also determines that the
Hephaestus will receive 3 internal structure points per
location (10 percent of 30 tons = 0.10 x 30 tons = 3).
As the Hephaestus is an OmniVehicle, Mike must determine
at this time whether or not it will have a turret, and
how much said turret will weigh. He decides to equip the
unit with a turret that can mount up to 5 tons’ worth of
weapons, and so spends an additional 0.5 tons on turret
equipment (10 percent of 5 tons [expected mass of turret
weapons] = 0.10 x 5 tons = 0.5 tons). This leaves the Hephaestus
with 26.5 tons of unspent weight (30 tons – 3 tons
[structure] – 0.5 tons [turret] = 26.5 tons).
On the Hephaestus’ Armor Diagram, Mike blacks out
all but 3 circles in each of the fi ve gray-shaded areas that
indicate the vehicle’s internal structure.
RA RA
A contingent of Twelfth Vegan Rangers, Saladin Hover Tanks, speed down the M6 Motorway.
Nathaniel’s Yellow Jacket weighs 30
tons as well, and so he also computes
a 3-ton weight for internal structure
(10 percent of 30 tons = 3 tons). He also
computes a 3-point value for each
of the VTOL’s internal structure locations, including
the rotor (10 percent of 30 tons = 3 points per location).
Because the record sheet already shows 3 points per
location for the VTOL’s internal structure, Nathaniel has
no structure circles to black out (but if he had built his
Yellow Jacket 10 tons lighter, he would have).
The Yellow Jacket has 27 unspent tons remaining (30
tons – 3 tons = 27 tons).
Patrick’s Zhukov weighs 75 tons.
From that he finds that its internal
structure will weigh 7.5 tons (10
percent of 75 tons = 0.10 x 75 tons =
7.5 tons). The number of structure points provided per
location, meanwhile, will be 8 (10 percent of 75 tons
= 0.10 x 75 = 7.5, rounded up to 8 points). Because he
plans on mounting a turret, Patrick blacks out all but
8 circles in each of the 5 internal structure locations on
his Zhukov’s Armor Diagram.
Because the Zhukov is not an OmniVehicle, however,
Pat will not need to compute the turret’s weight at this time,
and so he still has 67.5 unspent tons remaining (75 tons – 7.5
tons = 67.5).
At 100 tons, Rick’s Neptune will
need to spend 10 tons on internal
structure (10 percent of 100 tons =
10 tons), and will receive 10 points of
internal structure per location as a result (10 percent
of 100 = 10 points). Rick decides, however, that his sub
will not require a turret, and so he blacks out all of the
circles in the Turret location on the Neptune’s Armor
Diagram (including the internal structure circles in
the gray-shaded area and the armor circles in the
unshaded Turret area). For the other four locations
(Front, Left, Right and Rear), Rick only blacks out all the
excess structure circles, leaving 10 per location.
The Neptune now has 90 tons left to spend (100 tons
– 10 tons = 90 tons).
INTRODUCTION
CONSTRUCTION
BASICS
BATTLEMECH
CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRIALMECH
CONSTRUCTION
PROTOMECH
CONSTRUCTION
COMBAT VEHICLE
CONSTRUCTION
SUPPORT VEHICLE
CONSTRUCTION
CONV. INFANTRY
CONSTRUCTION
BATTLE ARMOR
CONSTRUCTION
AEROSPACE UNIT
CONSTRUCTION
WEAPONS AND
HEAVY EQUIPMENT
INFANTRY WEAPONS
AND EQUIPMENT
COSTS AND
AVAILABILITY
BATTLE VALUE
INDEX
RECORD SHEETS
99