the shape of things to come

Introduced: Circa 2900 (Clan); 3050 (Federated Commonwealth)
Like the vehicular-scale version, the battlesuit-scale active probe is a
complex sensor array far more sophisticated and powerful than the sensors
Battlesuit armor is more varied than that seen on BattleMechs thanks
to the utility of various techniques in manufacture and function. Stealth
technology, for instance, is much more feasibly deployed on a one-ton,
2.5-meter suit of battle armor than on a 50-plus ton BattleMech that stands
ten to twelve meters tall. The relative newness of this technology has also
bred a number of varied “prototypical” armor styles, many of which remain
in use even as battlesuit styles themselves grow more numerous.
Here, of course, we’ll see that Clan technology is more refi ned in battle
armor design, especially as it incorporates the Harjel self-sealing system,
but rest assured that Inner Sphere engineers have done much to close this
gap in the seventeen years since venturing into this new area of military
technology.
STANDARD (PROTOTYPE)
Introduced: 3050 (Federated Commonwealth/Draconis Combine)
Prototype armor—the battlesuit armor fi rst developed by the various
Inner Sphere nations at the start of their respective development programs
in the early 3050s—is signifi cantly bulkier and heavier than the standard
armor used today. While not generally in production, a number of fi rst-generation
battlesuits—sold off with the advent of more capable designs—
have led to a wider dispersal of this armor type and a “cottage industry”
devoted to maintaining the few suits that still depend on the design.
The Clans, who have long since perfected this technology, have no
equivalent of this bulkier armor type.
STANDARD (BASIC)
Introduced: 2868 (Clan Wolf), 3052 (Inner Sphere)
The standard battlesuit armor produced throughout the Inner Sphere
after the initial battle armor design projects of 3050 to 3051 is a triumph of
materials technology, overshadowed only by the more refi ned version the
Clans have used for almost two centuries now. Common to most suit designs
intended for off ensive roles, standard armor is the cheapest to produce and
the least bulky type available, and features no enhanced stealth capabilities.
STANDARD (ADVANCED)
Introduced: 3057 (Free Worlds League)
Developed by Free Worlds League engineers in an eff ort to match the
capabilities of Clan battlesuit armor, Inner Sphere advanced armor fi rst appeared
on the Longinus suit in 3057. This armor is still heavier and bulkier
than the Clan system, but represents a signifi cant improvement in battle
armor weight-to-protection ratios, enabling suit designs to attain up to
twenty percent greater protection for the same weight investment.
STEALTH (PROTOTYPE)
Introduced: 3050 (Federated Commonwealth)
Like the prototype version of basic armor, prototype stealth armor was
conceived in the early 3050s by FedCom engineers. Adapting the capabilities
of existing thermal and electronic sneak suits and embedding these features
in the battlefi eld armor, engineers managed to mimic the lost technologies of
Star League-era power armor almost exactly. Though this armor is no longer
in wide-scale production, examples of it may still be seen today, in surplus
ACTIVE PROBE, LIGHT
ACTIVE PROBE
normally used by the battlesuit. Incorporating strong yet portable thermal
and radar sensors, the Inner Sphere model can accurately spot hidden
units at 120 meters, while the Clan version is good out to 150 meters.
Tech Base: Inner Sphere and Clan
Battle Armor Unit Restrictions: No restrictions
Game Rules: Units with multiple active probes may use only one at a time in game play.
Construction Rules: A battle armor suit (including exoskeleton and power armor designs) may mount more than one active probe, if desired.
Table Reference: Battle Armor (Inner Sphere and Clan, pp. 346–348) Game Rules: Total Warfare, p. 129
ARMOR
fi rst-generation suits sold off or gifted to various mercenary concerns. As with
prototype standard armor, prototype stealth battlesuit armor has no Clan analogue,
due to the presence of cached Star League-era suits in Clan arsenals.
STEALTH (BASIC)
Introduced: 2710 (Terran Hegemony)
Extinct: 2770 (Inner Sphere)
Reintroduced: 3052 (Draconis Combine)
While the Clans have a general aversion to guerrilla tactics and “deceptive”
forms of combat, even they recognize the tactical benefi ts of
providing the basic protection of stealth armor to their infantry, so that
such forces can have a better chance at closing with their chosen targets.
Battlesuit-grade stealth armor is based on the Star League-era power
armor suits that Kerensky took with him in his Exodus. The fact that the
Inner Sphere fi elded the fi rst stealth battlesuits in combat, however, likely
spurred Clan eff orts to dust off the technology for the battlefi elds of today.
On the Inner Sphere’s part, Combine engineers working on samples of the
FedCom-produced prototype stealth system managed to reintroduce
basic stealth armor for their Kage battlesuits.
Incorporating micro-ECM emitters and special insulation for better
infrared suppression, basic stealth battlesuit armor is heavier and more
bulky than standard version.
STEALTH (STANDARD)
Introduced: 2720 (Terran Hegemony)
Extinct: 2770 (Inner Sphere)
Reintroduced: 3053 (Draconis Combine)
Not long after developing the basic stealth armor system, Combine
engineers recovered the Star League-era enhanced version that made
Nighthawk power armor so eff ective in the original Star League. Since
then, this armor has become the Sphere-wide standard in battlesuit
stealth technology (hence the name “standard stealth armor”). Featuring
a greater amount of integral ECM, infrared and electronic camoufl age
techniques, standard stealth is slightly more eff ective than basic stealth,
but is also somewhat bulkier and heavier.
STEALTH (IMPROVED)
Introduced: 3057 (Free Worlds League/Word of Blake), circa 3058 (Clans)
A joint Free Worlds League-Word of Blake development team fi elded
the fi rst Achileus stealth battlesuit prototypes in 3055, but when the suit
went into production two years later, it sported a much more eff ective
form of stealth armor that would be surpassed only by the advent of mimetic
armor some years later.
Bulkier than most other battlesuit armor types, improved stealth integrated
electronic camoufl age with the heat baffl es and integral micro-ECM
that makes standard and basic stealth armors so eff ective. This also makes
improved stealth armor much more expensive, so it tends to see the most
use in battle armor types intended more for infi ltration and surveillance
than front-line battle. Reportedly, the Clans have developed an equivalent
of this armor design, but apparently have not yet deployed it in anything
more than occasional one-off suit variants.
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