the shape of things to come

BATTLEMECH ARMOR TABLE
Base Armor Points per Ton: 16
Armor Type
Base Points
Multiplier
Slots
(Inner Sphere)
Slots
(Clan)
Standard 1.0 0 0
Stealth 1.0 12* NA
Light Ferro-Fibrous 1.06 7 NA
Ferro-Fibrous (I.S.) 1.12 14 NA
Ferro-Fibrous (Clan) 1.2 NA 7
Heavy Ferro-Fibrous 1.24 21 NA
* Stealth armor requires 2 critical slots each in the arms, legs and side torsos of
the ’Mech on which it is installed; a Guardian ECM Suite is also required to use
stealth armor.
Andrew’s Mongoose is light and fast,
but he still wants to protect it as best he
can while giving it some bite. He therefore
chooses to use standard ferro-fi brous
armor. As shown on the BattleMech Internal
Structure Table (p. 47), the maximum
armor potential for a 25-ton humanoid
BattleMech is 89 points. With that in
mind, Andrew finds that attaining 89
points using Inner Sphere ferro-fibrous
armor will cost his design another 5 tons (89 points ÷
[16 Base Points per Ton x 1.12 Inner Sphere Ferro-Fibrous
Multiplier] = 4.967, rounded up to 5 tons). Because it is the
maximum possible armor, Andrew applies 9 points to the
head, 12 to each leg and 8 to each arm without a second
thought; the maximum for any BattleMech’s head is 9 and
the maximum for all other locations is double the internal
structure value.
For the torsos, he assigns most of the armor protection
up front, with 12 points to the front-center and 10 points
to each front-side. The rear torso locations receive 4 to
the center and 2 to each side. Verifying that all points are
accounted for, Andrew adds all the armor values together:
9 [Head] + (12 + 4 [Center Torso, Front + Rear]) + (10 + 2
[Left Torso, Front + Rear]) + (10 + 2 [Right Torso, Front +
Rear]) + (12 + 12 [Legs, Left + Right]) + (8 + 8 [Arms, Left
+ Right]) = 89. In the appropriate locations of the Armor
Diagram for his Mongoose’s Record Sheet, Andrew blacks
out all extra circles, leaving only the assigned amount for
each location.
With 5 tons spent on armor now, the Mongoose has
only 5 tons remaining for weapons and other equipment
(10 – 5 = 5). Andrew notes he has 14 critical slots to assign
for his ferro-fi brous armor, which may be placed anywhere
in the ’Mech’s body and need not be contiguous. He holds
off assigning these slots until the fi nal stages of design.
At 95 tons, Brent’s Gladiator could
be massively armored (the BattleMech
Internal Structure Table on p. 47 indicates
a potential 293 points on a humanoid
’Mech), but Brent hopes to maintain
enough weight for a large array of
weaponry. Even with Clan ferro-fi brous
armor, he decides that the weight of
the maximum armor level is extreme at
15.5 tons (293 Points ÷ [16 Base Points per Ton x 1.2 Clan
Ferro-Fibrous Multiplier] = 15.26, rounded up to 15.5 tons).
Brent decides to shave a couple tons off the armor weight.
Installing 13.5 tons of Clan ferro-fibrous armor, Brent
determines that his Gladiator will have a fi nal armor factor
(total armor value) of 259 points (13.5 tons x [16 Base
Points per Ton x 1.2 Clan Ferro-Fibrous Multiplier] = 259.2,
rounded down to 259).
In distributing this armor, Brent maximizes the protection
on his OmniMech’s head and limbs, placing 9 points
on the head, 40 on each leg and 32 on each arm. On the
center torso, he assigns 37 points to the front and 9 to the
rear (Clan Omnis rarely present their backs in combat, he
reasons), while the left and right side torsos receive 20
points to the front and 10 to the rear. Verifying that all
points are accounted for, Brent adds all the armor values
together: 9 [Head] + (37 + 9 [Center Torso, Front + Rear]) +
(20 + 10 [Left Torso, Front + Rear]) + (20 + 10 [Right Torso,
Front + Rear]) + (40 + 40 [Legs, Left + Right]) + (32 + 32
[Arms, Left + Right]) = 259. In the appropriate locations
of the Armor Diagram for his Gladiator’s Record Sheet,
Brent blacks out all extra circles, leaving only the assigned
amount for each location.
Like Andrew’s Mongoose, Brent’s Gladiator must assign
slots to its ferro-fibrous armor, but because of its Clan
design, this armor only requires 7 critical slots in total.
Because it is an OmniMech’s base chassis, however, Brent
realizes he should assign these slots as soon as possible.
He thus places 2 ferro-fi brous slots in the center torso, 1 in
the head, 1 each in the arms and the last 2 in the right
torso. With 13.5 tons of armor, the Gladiator has 26.5 tons
of unused weight remaining.
With internal space already at a
premium—partly for the XL engine and
partly for a quad body shape—Chas’
Barghest can’t afford to use ferrofibrous
armor (even the light version
seems dodgy to him). Instead, he selects
standard armor. Like Andrew and Brent, Chas checks the
BattleMech Internal Structure Table on p. 47 to fi nd that
the maximum potential armor for a 70-ton quad ’Mech
is 233 points. But because that level of protection would
come in at 15 tons using standard armor (233 points ÷
[16 Base Points per ton x 1.0 Standard Armor Multiplier]
= 14.56, rounded up to 15 tons), Chas decides to mount a
couple of tons less to leave more room for weapons. After
installing 13 tons of standard armor, Chas determines that
his Barghest will have a final total armor value of 208
points (13 tons x [16 Base Points per ton x 1.0 Standard
Armor Multiplier] = 208 points).