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BATTLE ARMOR BASICS [Per your request, Dr. Parker has asked me to pull together some basic background on battle armor. The following is a transcript of an induction and orientation briefi ng typical of the kind given to new candidates in the NAIS Accelerated Battle Armor Training (ABAT) program. Presented in Sergeant Major Zeb Isacs Macintyre’s own irrepressible style, it nonetheless serves as an informative discourse on the fundamentals of battle armor technology and its application on the modern battlefi eld. —J.S.]
ZM: Good morning, campers! They call me Sergeant Major Macintyre, but you will address me as “Sergeant”! I don’t care where you’ve come from or what you had to do to get here. You may be some badass Special Forces type. Maybe you’re here from a line regiment and fi gure this for an easy gig. Or perhaps you’re fresh out of boot camp and still damp around the ears. It don’t matter here, because you’re all starting right at the beginning. So settle down, pin your ears back and pay attention! The enemy will be giving you an exam later. Most people think these tin cans we call battle armor are just baby BattleMechs. As you have all volunteered to become grade-A SPAM, you’ll soon enough know they are dead wrong. Over here we have a genuine Toad suit, or Elemental battle armor as the Clanners call it. Don’t let the bullet holes and bloodstains faze you. Your battle armor falls into several classes. Power armor is not much more than an armored exoskeleton, and weighs up to four hundred kilograms. You don’t see it out on the battlefield much, but suits like the Nighthawk and Tornado are best for special ops work. Some don’t consider them true battle armor, but don’t go discounting them out of hand. Next up, you have the light class, coming in at up to 750 kilos. Suits like the Kobold and Kage are fast and agile, so they tend to show up as scouts, though they can still lay a world of pain on anything that gets in their way. Still, they just can’t carry the kind of armor needed to stand up to heavy weapons. Toadie here is a medium-weight suit. Weighing in at a full ton, his mix of mobility, weapons and armor makes him one of the most balanced battle armor types you’ll ever run into. Up to one and a half tons, you get the heavy class. These babies can pack some serious armor and fi repower, but they pay for it in speed and agility. As a result, you don’t see them as much. The Clanners have started fi elding the Gnome, and we have our Sloth. Both move about as well as a stuck pig, but pack a solid wallop nonetheless. Last of all, you get the assault class. Now here, you’re riding the curve of diminishing returns. At up to two tons in weight, these things are slow and as clumsy as hell. Of course, they can also carry enough armor to stop just about any mobile weapon system you care to mention—short of an orbital fi re support mission from a passing WarShip—and they can pack more fi repower than some light ’Mechs. Now that this sucker is opened up, you can see the chassis don’t look all that diff erent from the powered exoskeletons you’ve seen used for boring civilian work. Of course, in this case, weight and strength are real important. You’ll never fi nd a civilian exoskeleton made out of this stuff . It takes some fancy zero-G manufacturing, and it’s not cheap. Just like the rest of the gear on the suits you’ll be playing with. Bring them back. We can aff ord to lose you, but we can’t spare the suit. Remember that. The chassis is just like a skeleton. Everything else mates to it. Most battlesuits are like Toad Boy here. They walk around on two legs just like you. Gather ’round. Come closer, everyone. See here? You can see these bundles of rubbery stuff attached to the chassis. That’s your musculature—just like myomers on a BattleMech, except the fi bers in these are shorter—designed to work on this reduced scale. Pass electricity though an actuator at one end and watch them contract. Works just like your own muscles, only this stuff is way stronger. Don’t pull that, soldier! You don’t know what it’s attached to. Next up, we have the power packs right back here. These little beauties will keep you going for about a day of heavy use. Longer if you shut down everything but the essentials between fi ghts. These things charge your life support, comms and movement. Your weapons run off their own power packs, so don’t go wild spraying laser fi re everywhere. I hear tell the Clans messed with using a lightweight fusion reactor to power their Toads. Didn’t work out too well, apparently. You really don’t want to have reactor containment fail when you’ve got a ball of million-degree plasma sitting between your shoulder blades. Your average recharger will fi ll you up in under an hour. Techs can swap the packs out in a few minutes. Some suits rigged for longer endurance carry additional power packs, and if you can hitch a lift on a friendly OmniMech you can just plug in and draw juice straight from the engine. So the chassis supports the weight of all your gear, the myomer muscles are strong enough to move it all, and you have power to make everything work. How do you make the can you’re wearing do what you want it to? The key is the suit lining, which is fi lled with pressure sensors. The sensors detect every movement you make and then trigger the suit’s myomers to mimic the motion. What this means to you is, you don’t have to think about driving or controlling the suit like a tank or a ‘Mech. Just move, and the suit moves with you. Ahh! I hear you all cry out in dismay. If it’s that simple, why can’t anybody just strap on a suit of battle armor and go? First off , the suit has to be adjusted to fi t each person like a glove if it’s going to work right. That takes time and skill. Second, the control system not only mimics your movements, but uses that fancy musculature to amplify the effect. So a lot of what you’ll be doing over the next month is learning how to avoid killing yourself and your buddies by accident. And then there are suits with a jump pack built in. Jumping in one of these is a tricky skill to pick up, and the only way to do it is practice. Understand this. Some of you are going to get hurt during your training. Maybe hurt dead. And nine times out of ten it will be during jump practice. Talking of jumping, some gizmos can boost jump range. The late, great GDL came up with a jump booster for their scout suits, and the Combine came up with its own partial wing system. Your hands are going to be busy controlling the weapons. So you’ve got to use your head. There’s a heads-up display inside your helmet to give you targeting info and tell you what shape you’re in. All the controls are activated by voice or eye movement. Also built into that fancy heads-up display are IR and light amplifi cation systems. Don’t get too dependent on them, though. The bad guys can use all sorts of 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 157
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35103
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CLASSIC BATTLETECH BATTLETECHTM TEC
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Choose Technology Base 46 Choose We
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Nail/Rivet Gun 246 Refueling Drogue
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To David Stansel-Garner for being t
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The one exception is the Equipment
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Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL)
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Battle Armor Aerospace Fighter Conv
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CLAN JADE FALCON OCCUPATION ZONE EC
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FREE RASALHAGUE REPUBLIC ECONOMY Ca
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BATTLE ARMOR Battle armor (battlesu
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each full four missiles (regardless
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ange brackets, and so instead of li
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on the ’Mech, including the rear
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BATTLE ARMOR RECORD SHEET Each Batt
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AIRSHIP DATA Type: Name: Tonnage: T
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Distinguished members of the media,
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sible. The relatively recent develo
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cancels the gyroscopic problems. On
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vert a standard into an XL—such a
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orbit. But even when working for sh
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neurohelmets typical of the Success
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on blind, crushing feet to create g
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WEIGHT BattleMechs use the tonnage
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Total ’Mech Tonnage BATTLEMECH IN
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Non-Fusion Engines Fusion Engines E
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Andrew has chosen a standard gyro f
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The placement of these critical slo
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the Base Armor Multipliers shown fo
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Chas distributes his armor points a
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ight side torso and the adjacent ce
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In light of these events, this grou
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preliminary phases, we will still n
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Light IndustrialMechs weigh 35 tons
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structure circles in that location,
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ADD GYROSCOPE Like BattleMechs, Ind
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STEP 3: ADD HEAT SINKS Though not a
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Edward sees no great need to spend
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power amplifi ers to supply the nee
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MEETING AGENDA Project Details Proj
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loads. The lower- to medium-size Pr
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Light ProtoMechs weigh 3 tons (3,00
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John’s Siren-4 weighs 3 tons (3,0
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do not record internal space the sa
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At 6 tons (6,000 kilograms), Kevin
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With only 25 kilograms left (275 kg
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derstand the technologies employed
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able, accurate weapon. Given the Ch
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terrain other than heavy woods and
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Michael wants to design a fast and
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Units built as Trailers do not requ
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ing required, or consider the engin
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DETERMINE JUMP CAPABILITY Combat Ve
Page 107 and 108: STEP 4: ADD ARMOR Armor helps prote
Page 109 and 110: STEP 5: ADD WEAPONS, AMMUNITION AND
Page 111 and 112: the 23.5 tons he had after armoring
Page 113 and 114: PTI’S HOT PRODUCTS: 3067 (SUPPORT
Page 115 and 116: HOVERCRAFT Units in this category m
Page 117 and 118: WHEELED VEHICLE The wheeled support
Page 119 and 120: VTOL: VTOLs are one of the lightest
Page 121 and 122: Motive Type design like Simon’s.
Page 123 and 124: Base Chassis/Engine Values In addit
Page 125 and 126: Choose Chassis Modifi cations For m
Page 127 and 128: MD Sheet, Simon blacks out all of t
Page 129 and 130: SUPPORT VEHICLE ENGINE TABLE SUPPOR
Page 131 and 132: half-ton (32 tons [engine weight] x
Page 133 and 134: Christine’s Dixon is a 300-ton Ai
Page 135 and 136: total crew/passenger seat weight to
Page 137 and 138: chassis modifi cation, which enable
Page 139 and 140: tion is devoted to one or more of t
Page 141 and 142: Because these minimum crew needs ar
Page 143 and 144: 13 August 3068 This is my diary. I
Page 145 and 146: the forming clouds. The recruits on
Page 147 and 148: Hovercraft-based mechanized infantr
Page 149 and 150: CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY FORMATIONS (B
Page 151 and 152: energy, “M” for Missile and “
Page 153 and 154: Secondary Weapon Limits The use of
Page 155 and 156: Oversized Platoons Even though over
Page 157: Motive Type CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY W
Page 161 and 162: Weapons break down into your usual
Page 163 and 164: WEIGHT Battle armor, power armor an
Page 165 and 166: BATTLE ARMOR STRUCTURE WEIGHTS TABL
Page 167 and 168: BATTLE ARMOR NON-GROUND MOTIVE SYST
Page 169 and 170: must adhere to their basic rules wh
Page 171 and 172: Keith decides to provide his Tunnel
Page 173 and 174: The weight for these extra magazine
Page 175 and 176: MODULAR TECHNOLOGY When completing
Page 177 and 178: a squad of meat bags in the back, a
Page 179 and 180: laser-guided targeting system. All
Page 181 and 182: secondary control stick instead. On
Page 183 and 184: TECHNOLOGY BASE In Total Warfare st
Page 185 and 186: Unit Types The following unit types
Page 187 and 188: Base Engine Rating and Movement For
Page 189 and 190: True to Clan style, Scott sees his
Page 191 and 192: ays, ’Mech bays and so forth—ne
Page 193 and 194: (see p. 192). To determine the armo
Page 195 and 196: DropShip and not a fi ghter, it los
Page 197 and 198: combat. Unlike fi ghters, however,
Page 199 and 200: As neither quarters nor cargo bays
Page 201 and 202: fi ghter, aerodyne Small Craft, sph
Page 203 and 204: WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT The modern ba
Page 205 and 206: • SMALL PULSE LASER • [PAGE 226
Page 207 and 208: Clan Wolf-in-Exile finally succeede
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Interestingly enough, the Clan vers
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight Bay do
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’MECH COCKPIT Introduced: circa 2
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight While
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AEROSPACE ENGINES (FUSION/TURBINE)
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight Seen a
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HYPER-ASSAULT GAUSS RIFLE [Introduc
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DOUBLE HEAT SINKS Introduced: 2567
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• AUTOCANNON • [PAGE 208] • U
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PROTOMECH STRUCTURE Introduced: 306
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STANDARD LASERS Introduced: circa 2
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Today’s vehicular-scale missile l
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Inferno SRMs: An enhancement of an
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and communications. This impairs th
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Capellan engineers soon realized, h
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Tech Base: Inner Sphere and Clan Un
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight Even b
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during the mid-3040s. Even thicker
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight Combin
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight Extend
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight Mid-ai
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Tech Base: Inner Sphere and Clan Un
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• MICRO GRENADE LAUNCHER • [PAG
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FIRE RESISTANT Introduced: 3058 (Cl
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Tech Base: Inner Sphere and Clan Ba
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Introduced: Circa 2890 (Clans), 305
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Introduced: 3062 (Capellan Confeder
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The “big gun” of most battle ar
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the standard modular weapon mount,
Page 267 and 268:
• SINGLE-SHOT SRM LAUNCHER • [P
Page 269 and 270:
Introduced: 2436 (Draconis Combine)
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Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight Battle
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Introduced: 3060 (Clan Cloud Cobra)
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hunters, or as a desperate “backu
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Conventional Infantry Conventional
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Robert wants to fi nd the costs for
Page 281 and 282:
PROTOMECH STRUCTURAL COSTS AND AVAI
Page 283 and 284:
BATTLE ARMOR STRUCTURAL COSTS AND A
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AEROSPACE UNIT STRUCTURAL COSTS AND
Page 287 and 288:
The combined structural and weapons
Page 289 and 290:
AVAILABILITY CODES TABLE Code Avail
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Michael determines that his Hephaes
Page 293 and 294:
HEAVY WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT (CONT)
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Weapon / Item Cost Availability IND
Page 297 and 298:
Weapon / Item Cost Availability HEA
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ADDITIONAL BATTLE ARMOR WEAPONS AND
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Weapon / Item Cost CONVENTIONAL INF
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Weapon / Item Cost CONVENTIONAL INF
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15 points per critical space of exp
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CALCULATING THE BV OF: A TOYAMA TYM
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Add 1 to the result if the ProtoMec
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CALCULATING THE BV OF: A HEPHAESTUS
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Squad Support Weapon: The BV of a S
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CALCULATING THE BV OF: A MECHBUSTER
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DEFENSIVE FACTORS TABLE Target Modi
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WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT BATTLE VALUE
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Weapon BV Archaic Weapons* Bow (Com
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DropShips, 175-76 fi ghters, 178-79
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Quarters, 236 • R • Range base,
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CLASSiC FOUR-LEGGED ’MECH RECORD
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CLASSiC VEHICLE DATA Type: Movement
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CLASSiC VEHICLE DATA Type: Movement
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LARGE GROUND SUPPORT VEHICLE RECORD
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CLASSiC CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLAT
Page 337 and 338:
CLASSiC FIGHTER DATA Type: Cost: NO
Page 339 and 340:
CLASSiC CRAFT DATA Type: Thrust: Sa
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CLASSiC DROPSHIP DATA Type: NOTES A
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Space Column Unit Type M BattleMech
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clan HEaVY WEaPOnS anD EQUIPMEnT Ta
Page 347 and 348:
INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT TABLE (CONT) H
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Weapon / Item Damage Range Min/sht/
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CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY WEAPONS Weapo
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CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY WEAPONS (CONT
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