the shape of things to come

Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight
Bay doors are a veritable necessity for any Support Vehicle,
DropShip or other capital spacecraft that intends to carry large cargo
items or other units such as BattleMechs, fi ghters and such within
internal bays. As simple in function and design as personnel doors,
BAY DOOR
these larger versions require little more than an equalizing of internal
and external pressures before they can be opened to enable the transfer
of units or cargo. This simplicity allows bay doors to be mounted
as part of the unit’s structure, though doors this large are rarely seen
outside of truly large Support Vehicles and DropShips.
Tech Base: Inner Sphere and Clan
Unit Restrictions: BattleMechs and ProtoMechs may not install bay doors
Game Rules: The launch rate for any transport bays carrying fi ghters, Small Craft, BattleMechs, battle armor or ProtoMechs is equal to
two such units from the bay per functioning bay door (per turn).
Construction Rules: Combat Vehicles, Small and Medium-sized Support Vehicles, IndustrialMechs and fi ghters that carry cargo or infantry
(conventional or battle armored) within internal bays do not require a bay door—though they are assumed to have at least one in the rear arc.
Small Craft, DropShips and Large Support Vehicles that carry other units beyond infantry (conventional or battle armored) should have
at least one bay door per transport bay.
The maximum number of bay doors per unit is 7, plus 1 for every 50,000 tons of unit weight (rounded up) [7 + (Unit Tonnage ÷ 50,000),
rounded up = Max Bay Doors].
Table Reference: Weapons and Equipment (Industrial, pp. 344–345) Game Rules: Total Warfare, p. 86
Introduced: 3050 (Draconis Combine)
The Command/Control/Communications (C 3 ) system is easily
among the Inner Sphere’s most potent recent inventions. It is also
one of the most original, considering that it emerged not as the
result of a Star League tech recovery, but as a new application of
technologies. As much a revolution in battlefi eld technology as one
of combat philosophy for its creators in the Draconis Combine, the
system is essentially an elaborate tight-beam communications suite,
designed to link the sensors and targeting systems of up to a full lance
of friendly units in a single, closed network. The C 3 system enables
those within its network to draw targeting data from one another and
coordinate fi re with amazing ease. As long as eff ective weapon ranges
and lines of fi re permit, a member of a C 3 network can essentially strike
at a target with the same accuracy as the nearest friendly network
member. Moreover, units that mount a C 3 master computer—with the
other network members using slave nodes—can use the computer’s
coordination as an improvised TAG system.
The system, of course, has its limits. Only units in the same network—generally
a single lance, though creative deployment of multiple
master computers per unit may allow for networks as large as a
company—may share targeting data in this fashion. Friendly units with
systems outside the network cannot simply “tap in” at will. Further, the
network signals and data streams are susceptible to jamming by enemy
ECMs. Worst of all, the hierarchical nature of the system means that the
loss of the master computer to destruction or ECM interference crashes
the entire network, leaving its surviving units to fend for themselves.
Sad to say, the biggest obstacle to optimum use of the C 3 system is
a matter of ego more than technology. Ironically produced by a realm
with a strong sense of personal honor and a warrior’s code, the concept
BAY DOOR
C 3 /C 3 I COMPUTER
C 3 COMPUTER
of a communal targeting and communications network is often lost
on the warriors of the DCMS. Indeed, despite eff orts to force a more
widespread distribution of the technology, this mentality has apparently
kept an otherwise powerful system virtually marginalized on the
battlefi eld, even as other factions adopt similar systems of their own.
IMPROVED C 3 COMPUTER
Introduced: 3062 (ComStar/Word of Blake)
Also referred to as the C 3 i, the improved C 3 computer system is
ComStar’s answer to House Kurita’s technology—a “secret” that,
apparently, was lost to the Word of Blake almost instantly upon its
inception. Since then, this technology has spread across at least the
Free Worlds League, and some data suggests even the Capellans may
be employing C 3 i units of their own.
Though similar to the standard C 3 in many ways, including its basic
features of target coordination, the C 3 i can link six units together, rather
than four. However, thanks to a more distributed system approach,
the C 3 i sacrifi ces the ability to link multiple networks through a master
computer node, and also loses the ability to mimic the TAG system.
The C 3 i is also incompatible with the original C 3 system, but because
of its more egalitarian nature, its members can function even while
others in their group are blocked or disabled, as no single unit mounts
a command module as such.
While ComStar, the Word of Blake and the Free Worlds League have
benefi ted from this system, along with our Combine “neighbors” and
their own version, it is worth noting that the Clans apparently hold
no interest in C 3 technologies. This disinterest clearly stems from their
own overdeveloped sense of personal honor, which precludes the
notion of sharing a kill by using such technologies.
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Unit Restrictions: ProtoMechs, fi ghters, Small Craft and DropShips may not install C 3 or C 3 i systems.
Game Rules: A unit’s C 3 or C 3 i systems are considered active in game play as long as the systems are not hit in combat, the unit’s engine
is not shut down and the unit is not destroyed. Otherwise, these systems continue to function, even if the pilot/crew is unable to act.
Construction Rules: C 3 systems (including the C 3 Master and C 3 Slave) and C 3 i systems may not be combined on a single unit, as the
two technologies are incompatible. Units with either system may mount multiples, if desired, but only one C 3 Slave or C 3 i computer may be
employed at one time in game play. (Multiple C 3 Master computers may be used to maintain multiple C 3 networks).
IndustrialMechs and Support Vehicles require Advanced Fire Control Systems in order to be able to mount a C 3 or C 3 i system of any kind.
BattleMechs and Combat Vehicles incorporate such fi re control systems by default, and so may freely mount these systems.
Table Reference: Weapons and Equipment (Inner Sphere, pp. 341–342) Game Rules: Total Warfare, p. 131
i
i
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
209