the shape of things to come

For turret-equipped OmniVehicles, the tonnage of the turret
may not be changed across confi gurations. This means that developing
an OmniVehicle requires the designer to consider in
advance how many tons’ worth of equipment (not counting
ammunition) may be placed in the turret location, so as to establish
the weight of the turret for the base, primary and all alternate
confi gurations of that OmniVehicle. As indicated in Step 2, turrets
weigh 10 percent of the weight of all weapons located in the turret.
Therefore, the weight of any equipment placed in a turret
(discounting ammunition) may be no greater than 10 times the
turret’s weight.
With 11 tons remaining, Michael’s
Hephaestus OmniVehicle could ideally
have it all assigned to pod space for
future configurations. Instead, he opts
to establish a few items of “fi xed” equipment
first. Considering its potential as a scout, the first
item he decides to permanently mount on the hovercraft is
a Clan Active Probe, at a cost of 1 ton in weight and 1 item
slot. Figuring that basic infantry-transport capability may
also prove useful, he further decides to allot 4 tons of the
vehicle to infantry-cargo space. These 4 tons of space also
count as a single item in terms of the Hephaestus’ inventory.
Both of these items he places in the Body location.
At this point, the Hephaestus has 6 tons remaining (11
tons – 1 ton [Probe] - 4 tons [Cargo] = 6 tons), and 8 item
slots available (10 slots – 1 slot [Probe] – 1 slot [Cargo] =
8 slots). Of this space, the turret may carry up to 5 tons of
equipment, thanks to its 0.5-ton turret weight (10 x 0.5
tons [turret weight] = 5 tons). At this stage, Michael considers
the Hephaestus completed, and notes that it has 6 tons
of available pod space (of which the turret may mount a
maximum of 5 tons). The base chassis for his hovertank is
now complete.
Retaining a copy of the base chassis’ record sheet, Mike
decides to create at least one complete confi guration—the
so-called Hephaestus Prime—based on the chassis he has
just designed. This version will mount a pair of Clan
medium pulse lasers in the turret, at a cost of 4 tons and
the use of 2 item slots, plus a Clan TAG also in the turret (at
1 tons and 1 slot). With 1 ton left over, and the turret
already at its 5-ton limit, Mike adds a Clan ECM suite to
the Body location to enhance the vehicle’s electronics
package. This item weighs 1 ton and takes up 1 more slot
on the vehicle’s inventory, completing the design of a Primary
Hephaestus.
Nathaniel’s Yellow Jacket has 17 tons
available now, and he has his heart
set on a hard-hitting Gauss rifl e as the
source of all its firepower. At 15 tons,
however, the Inner Sphere weapon
becomes the gunship’s only weapon, as Nathaniel then
realizes he must install at least 2 tons of ammo to give it
better battlefi eld endurance. The combined payload of
weapon and ammunition weighs in at 17 tons—enough
to complete the design—and 2 item slots, with the fi rst
slot allocated to the Gauss rifl e that Nathaniel mounts in
the VTOL’s front, and the second slot devoted to its 2-ton,
16-shot ammunition bin.
With all tonnage used up, the completed Yellow Jacket
is now ready for battle.
Patrick has decided to focus his Zhukov’s
fi repower on a conventional mix of
autocannon and missile weapons. Starting
with the big guns, he chooses to place
two Autocannon/10s in the vehicle’s turret, each of which
weighs 12 tons and claims 1 item slot on the vehicle’s inventory.
As Pat plans to add no more weapons to the turret, he
takes this opportunity to compute the turret weight itself at
this time, too. With the twin autocannons weighing 24 tons
in total, Patrick fi nds the turret will weigh 2.5 tons (10 percent
of 24 turret weapon tons = 2.4, rounded up to 2.5 tons).
For ammunition, Pat decides to supply each autocannon
with 10 shots at 1 ton each. Since they are identical ammo
types for identical weapons, he combines these 2 tons of
AC/10 ammo into a single slot in the Zhukov’s inventory,
and allocates them to the vehicle’s body.
To round out his vehicle’s fi repower, Patrick decides to
add a 3-ton standard SRM-6 to the design, placing the
weapon in a fi xed mount in the forward section for additional
front-arc firepower. Providing 15 shots for this
weapon at a weight cost of 1 ton and an item cost of 1 slot,
Pat fi nds that he has used up all of the Zhukov’s remaining
32.5 tons ([12 tons + 12 tons for AC/10s] + [2.5 tons for turret]
+ [2 tons for AC/10 ammo] + [3 tons for SRM-6] + [1 ton
for SRM ammo] = 32.5 tons). He is now ready to complete
the record sheet.
Rick’s Neptune now has only 23.5 tons
remaining for weaponry, which he plans
to center on torpedo launchers befi tting
his vehicle’s role as a submersible combat
unit. Starting with the big weapons, he decides to place
a 10-ton Inner Sphere LRT-20 in the Neptune’s front, for
devastating long-range capability. Backing this up, Rick
adds two more SRT-6 launchers in the same area, at 3 tons
apiece. Between these three missile launchers, he has now
spent 16 tons, but each weapon occupies only one item
slot on the Neptune’s inventory. To supply these weapons,
Rick adds 1 ton of LRM ammunition and 1 ton of SRM
ammo for 1 slot apiece; though it is a stingy quantity of
munitions, the Neptune’s ability to fi re a cloud of potentially
lethal warheads almost assures that it will sink its
opposition quickly.
For an added surprise—especially useful when surfaced—
Rick decides to install a single large laser in the front section.
The weapon itself weighs 5 tons, and the 8 heat sinks needed
to dissipate its heat were thoughtfully installed already. But
because an IC engine powers the Neptune, the laser will require
power amplifi ers to function. The weight of these amplifi ers is
equal to 10 percent of the weaponry they are intended to supply,
and so the Neptune will require 0.5 tons’ worth of power
amplifi ers.
Rick tallies up the weapons he has installed so far, and
determines that he has completed the vehicle’s design now. Of