the shape of things to come

Edward sees no great need to
spend lavishly on the Buster’s
armor. He thus chooses to invest
only 2 tons into such protection,
but decides to maximize the
number of potential armor points
by employing Commercial grade
armor. This decision will allow him
to spare 22 tons (24 tons – 2 tons = 22 tons) for other
equipment, even though the Buster will be susceptible
to penetrating critical hits by anything more powerful
than a medium laser.
The 2 tons of Commercial armor provide the Buster
with 48 points of protection (2 tons x [16 Base Points per
Ton x 1.5 Commercial Armor Multiplier] = 48 points). In
distributing this armor, Ed assigns 5 points to the
head, 5 to each leg, 5 to each arm and 5 to the front
facings of all three torso locations. He also assigns 4
points to the rear center torso and 2 points each to the
left and right side torsos. Verifying that all points are
accounted for, Ed adds all the armor values together:
5 [Head] + (5 + 4 [Center Torso, Front + Rear]) + (5 + 2
[Left Torso, Front + Rear]) + (5 + 2 [Right Torso, Front +
Rear]) + (5 + 5 [Legs, Left + Right]) + (5 + 5 [Arms, Left +
Right]) = 48. In the appropriate locations of the Armor
Diagram for his Buster’s Record Sheet, he blacks out all
extra armor circles, leaving only the assigned amount
for each location.
Because the Buster is using Commercial armor, Ed
notes on the Armor Diagram that his IndustrialMech
has a BAR of 5, which indicates that even if it carries
more than enough armor points in a given location,
any hit that infl icts 6 points of damage or more at a
time may cause a critical hit.
FL ??
Far more generous to his
design than Edward, Geoff
decides that he will devote a
much greater quantity of armor
to his Uni, though he too favors
Commercial armor, as the Cargo-
Mech is not expected to appear
on a live battlefi eld. With 32 tons left to spend, Geoff
devotes 9 tons to Commercial armor, leaving 23 tons
(32 – 9 = 23) to other equipment.
At 9 tons of Commercial-grade armor, the Uni
receives 216 points of protection (9 tons x [16 Base
Points per Ton x 1.5 Commercial Armor Multiplier] =
216 points)—which is near the listed maximum of 233
points for a 70-ton quad (according to the BattleMech
Internal Structure Table on p. 47). Geoff distributes these
armor points by placing 9 on the head, 31 on the front
center torso, 20 each on the front left and front right
torsos, and 27 each on all four legs. On the rear center
torso, Geoff rey places 10 points of armor, with the rear
side torsos receiving 9 apiece. Double-checking, he
adds all the armor values together: 9 [Head] + (31 + 10
[Center Torso, Front + Rear]) + (20 + 9 [Left Torso, Front
+ Rear]) + (20 + 9 [Right Torso, Front + Rear]) + (27 + 27
+ 27 + 27 [Legs, Front Left + Front Right + Rear Left +
Rear Right]) = 216. In the appropriate locations of the
Armor Diagram for his Uni’s Record Sheet, Geoff blacks
out all extra circles, leaving only the assigned amount
for each location.
Because the Uni is using Commercial armor, Geoff
notes on the Armor Diagram that the IndustrialMech
has a BAR of 5, which indicates that even if it carries
more than enough armor points in a given location,
any hit that infl icts 6 points of damage or more at a
time may cause a critical hit.
A Mobile Field Base does hasty repairs on a brand new Legionnaire in Acheron Forest after its fi rst encounter with the Blakists.
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
73