the shape of things to come

Introduced: Pre-spacefl ight
Another piece of industrial equipment that occasionally gets dragooned
into combat use (with mediocre results), the fast-spinning mining
drill uses a drill head composed of a super-hard alloy (typically steel- or
nickel-based) or a ceramic. Capable of boring through the hardest ores,
ferrocrete walls or even BattleMech armor, the mining drill is capable of
much fi ner control than the rock cutter, which is also used in mining or
Tech Base: Clan and Inner Sphere
Unit Restrictions: Only BattleMechs, IndustrialMechs, ground-based Combat and Support Vehicles (those with Wheeled, Tracked, Hover and
WiGE motive systems), Airship Support Vehicles and Naval Combat and Support Vehicles may use a mining drill.
Game Rules: Note that Hover and WiGE units may not use a Mining Drill unless they have fi rst landed (stopped in the previous turn and spent 0
MP in that turn) and are adjacent to the target. Naval units equipped with Mining Drills may only use them while stationary (spending 0 MP in that
turn) and directly adjacent to a target. Airships must land or hover directly adjacent to the target to use their drills.
Construction Rules: Combat and Support Vehicles (Wheeled, Tracked, Hover, WiGE, Airship or Naval) may mount only one mining drill each
in the Front, Back or Turret locations, but only if the location(s) selected does not also include a backhoe, bulldozer, chainsaw, combine, dual saw,
heavy-duty pile driver, rock cutter or wrecking ball.
Humanoid BattleMechs and IndustrialMechs may mount mining drills in the arms, but are limited to one drill per arm and must remove the
hand actuator on the chosen arm to do so. Quad BattleMechs and IndustrialMechs may mount mining drills in the Side Torso locations only, and
are limited to one drill per location. As with vehicles, ‘Mechs of any type may not place a mining drill in any location that also includes a backhoe,
bulldozer, chainsaw, combine, dual saw, heavy-duty pile driver, rock cutter or wrecking ball.
Table Reference: Weapons and Equipment (Industrial, pp. 344–345) Game Rules: Total Warfare, p. 138
Introduced: Circa 2310 (Free Worlds League)
Though typically employed by hand, nail guns or rivet guns have
become a long-standing favorite for the rapid construction of lightweight
wood- or steel-frame structures (respectively). Naturally, the development
of the IndustrialMech eventually led to the larger adaptation of these
popular tools, with the Free Worlds-based Sheridan Constructs company
debuting the SC-M “Powerjoin” series of guns in the early 24th century.
Upon seeing the large-scale version’s success even in the crude hands of a
IndustrialMech, various manufacturers soon adapted these vehicle-scale
guns for use on other, more conventional construction vehicles as a variation
on the basic manipulator.
Though designed similarly and referred to as a single piece of equipment,
the nail/rivet gun is a catch-all term for the common joiners used in
MINING DRILL
NAIL/RIVET GUN
MINING DRILL
construction work. This device, however, makes for an ineff ective weapon
not because it is generally inaccurate, but because it cuts a typically small
surface area relative to other powered cutting implements available at
vehicular scale. Over the centuries, some specialized models—particularly
the Airship version boasted by the Free Worlds League’s Poseidon engineering
vehicle—even incorporate an extendable armature that allows
this item to work in hard-to-reach areas.
NAIL/RIVET GUN
such roles; both of which work the same in principle, by driving nails (or
white-hot rivets) through two pieces of construction material at tremendous
speed. Nail guns cannot fi re rivets and rivet guns cannot fi re nails, in
other words.
This device may not truly serve as a weapon of note against armored
units—even at point-blank range, a nail gun won’t pierce the hide of a
BattleMech—but the speed and force achieved by these construction
wonders is potent enough to rip through personal body armor, especially
at close range. BattleMechs with stripped armor sections may even fear the
sheer level of foreign-object damage this “weapon” can deliver. Desperate
pilots have even been known to employ nail/rivet guns in crowd control
situations, where their deadly projectiles can horribly maim or kill unprotected
personnel by the dozens.
Tech Base: Inner Sphere and Clan
Unit Restrictions: ProtoMechs, Airship Support Vehicles, VTOL Combat and Support Vehicles, and aerospace units of all kinds may not mount
nail or rivet guns.
Game Rules: Nail and rivet guns may not be fi red if the unit is shut down or if its pilot/crew is otherwise prevented from acting.
Construction Rules: Nail or rivet guns may be mounted on any applicable unit in accordance with the unit’s standard core construction rules.
When mounted, the gun must be identifi ed as either a nail or rivet gun.
Nail/rivet gun ammunition may be mounted on the unit in accordance with the rules under the Add Weapons and Equipment step of each unit
type’s core construction rules.
Table Reference: Weapons and Equipment (Industrial, pp. 344–345) Game Rules: Total Warfare, p. 98
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