the shape of things to come

engage in anti-’Mech attacks or mechanized battle armor
actions in either its base or its default industrial drill confi gurations.
If, however, he were to swap the right-arm industrial drill
with another basic manipulator, his battle armor would meet
the qualifi cations for these capabilities.
Lou decides that his humanoid Sylph
battle armor will use a single standard
battle claw, which he places on the battle
armor’s left arm. This claw occupies no
weapon slots and weighs 15 kilograms.
Deciding to place no manipulator in the
right arm, Lou calculates that his Sylph has up to 385
unspent kilograms remaining (400 kg – 15 kg = 385 kg).
As light humanoid battle armor with a battle claw, Lou fi nds
that his Sylph qualifi es for anti-’Mech and mechanized battle
armor capabilities.
Max also wants to give his Purifi er battle
armor anti-’Mech and mechanized battle
armor capabilities, so he also installs a single
battle claw on the design, placing his
claw on the right arm. At the same cost in
weight—15 kilograms—the Purifier will
have 660 unspent kilograms remaining
(675 kg – 15 kg = 660 kg). As the mediumweight
humanoid Purifi er meets the minimum manipulator
requirements for the desired actions, Max is content to
move on to the next step.
Because Peter’s Fenrir battle armor is a
quad design, it may not mount manipulators,
and also may not engage in anti-’Mech
attacks or deploy using Mechanized Battle
Armor rules.
CSO ??
Word of Blake forces hold their ground against Dragoon retaliation.
STEP 4: ADD ARMOR
Like ProtoMechs, battle armor (including power armor and
exoskeletons) mount their armor on a point-by-point basis, rather
than in half- or full-ton lots. Based on the type of armor chosen,
these armor points vary in weight and many even occupy weapon
slots in the battle armor’s design. Unlike Protos, however, battle
armor need not allocate armor points across multiple areas; in
Total Warfare standard rules, battle armor is treated as having as a
single “location” per trooper.
The maximum number of armor points battle armor may carry
is based on the battle armor’s weight class. Beyond this, an additional
point is always applied to a given battle armor to represent
the trooper inside (as noted in Step 1). On the battle armor’s record
sheet, a suit’s armor is tracked by the white dots to the right of
the gray-shaded circle that refl ects the trooper. Any excess armor
dots beyond the suit’s armor value should be blacked out after
the right-most armor point.
A single battle armor may not combine multiple armor types.
Suits built as battle armor or PA(L)s, or exoskeletons using a Clan
chassis weight, consider this armor fully enclosed and so may
operate in hostile environments such as vacuum and underwater.
Battle armor designed as exoskeletons with an Inner Sphere chassis
weight are considered “open” unless they feature extended
life-support (see p. 254) and at least 1 point of armor.
The weight, tech base, slot requirements and special abilities
of all armor types available under these rules are provided in the
Battle Armor Protection Table (see p. 169). This table also lists the
maximum armor levels permitted for each battle armor’s weight
class. A dashed entry (“—”) on a table column for an armor type’s
weight means that a battle armor of that tech base may not use
that particular armor type.
Technology Base: Inner Sphere battle armor (including exoskeletons
and power armor) may only be constructed using armor
listed in the Inner Sphere weight column of the Battle Armor Armor
Types Table. Battle armor made with a Clan Tech Base (including
power armor and exoskeletons—even those constructed with an
Inner Sphere chassis weight) must use only those armor types
and weights listed under the Clan armor weight column.
Space: The amount of space armor takes up in terms of weapon
slots on the battle armor design varies with the type of armor
chosen. Armor slots may be broken up among the battle armor’s
various body locations.
Modular Technology: Armor is never considered modular
under these construction rules, and so cannot be varied from mission
to mission.
Special Abilities: Some armor types provide special abilities,
which are listed in the Battle Armor Armor Types Table. A listing
of “Range Modifi ers” provides the to-hit modifi er to attack battle
armor using that armor at short, medium and long range (respectively,
in parentheses). A listing of “Movement Modifi ers” provides
the to-hit modifi er to attack battle armor that move 0, 1, 2 and
3+ hexes (respectively, in parentheses). A listing of “Invisible to
Probes” indicates that when using the Hidden Units rules (see p.
259, Total Warfare), active probes may not detect battle armor
with that armor type.