the shape of things to come

the Base Armor Multipliers shown for the appropriate armor
type in the BattleMech Armor Table (see p. 56), rounding the
fi nal result down to the nearest full point. For instance, a BattleMech
that uses 4 tons of Inner Sphere ferro-fi brous armor
would receive 71 armor points (4 tons x 16 points per ton x
1.12 = 71.68 armor points, rounded down to 71), while 1 ton of
the same armor would provide only 17 armor points (1 ton x
16 points per ton x 1.12 = 17.92, round down to 17).
Conversely, if a specifi c number of armor points is sought—
up to the Maximum Armor Factor shown for the ’Mech’s
weight on the Internal Structure Table (see p. 47)—and the
weight is unknown, the designer can fi nd this weight (in tons)
by dividing the target number of armor points by 16 times the
Base Armor Multiplier. This result is rounded up to the nearest
half-ton. For example, if a designer decides to mount 105
points of heavy ferro-fi brous armor, he will need 5.5 tons to
accomplish that (105 points ÷ [16 x 1.24] = 5.29 tons, which
rounds up to the nearest half at 5.5). However, sometimes a
desired number of points—such as many Maximum Armor
factors—may force the designer to “waste” weight on points
that cannot be mounted. If in the previous example of the
heavy ferro-fi brous armor, 105 armor points was the maximum
that could be installed on the ’Mech, the actual 5.5-ton
capacity of heavy ferro-fi brous armor—109 points (5.5 tons x
16 points/ton x 1.24 = 109.12 points, rounded down)—would
result in 4 points of “wasted” armor.
Use the Armor Diagram on the blank ’Mech Record Sheet
to indicate the number of Armor Points protecting each part
of the BattleMech’s body. Mark out any excess armor circles in
the same way as for the Internal Structure Diagram.
BattleMechs built under these rules may not combine multiple
armor types on the same design.
MM
Tech Base: Standard armor is equally available to BattleMechs
of Clan or Inner Sphere tech bases. Inner Sphere
ferro-fibrous, heavy ferro-fibrous, light ferro-fibrous and
stealth armor is available only to BattleMechs with an Inner
Sphere Tech Base. Clan ferro-fi brous armor is available only to
BattleMechs with a Clan Tech Base.
Space: Carrying ferro-fi brous or stealth armor requires the
player to fi ll in critical slots on the BattleMech’s Critical Hit Table.
These critical slots need not be contiguous, and—like endosteel
internal structure—may not be “hit” in combat (critical
hits to these slots get re-rolled). For all ferro-fi brous armor
(Clan, Inner Sphere, heavy and light) the appropriate number
of slots as indicated on the BattleMech Armor Table must be
assigned to any desired locations on the Critical Hit Table.
Stealth armor, a special version available only to Inner
Sphere BattleMechs, specifi cally requires that its 12 critical
slots be placed on the Hits Table with 2 slots in each body location
except for the center torso and head. This armor type also
requires the installation of a Guardian ECM Suite (see p. 213).
When armor is installed that uses critical slots, the allocation
of these slots need not be contiguous, nor do they need to
be determined at this stage. However, they must be assigned
by the fi nal stages of design, while allocating weapons, heat
sinks and any other equipment not otherwise pre-set (such as
engines, gyros and cockpit systems).
OmniMechs: The type, weight, number of points and critical
slots (if any) required for an OmniMech’s armor must be
established when designing an OmniMech’s base confi guration,
and may not be altered in the completed primary or
alternate confi gurations.
A Ha-Otoko from Clan Fire Mandrill’s Kindraa Sainze clashes with a Hunchback IIC from Kindraa Payne.
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
55