Lafeel
01/12/08 12:44 PM
157.157.109.146
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Wonder if anyone here knows where I got the name from..  And yes, he was a real life person, I have done some research into that period.
Sa-1n Sakhon
Mass: 35 tons
Chassis: Chadran arms L-2 quad
Powerplant: 245 Light
Cruising Speed: 76 kph
Maximum Speed: 119 kph
Jump Jets: none
Jump Capability: none
Armor: Durallex Special Ferro Fibrous
Armament:
1 Victory Nickel Alloy ER Large Laser
4 Chadran Arms mk 1 Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Chadran Arms ltd.
Primary Factory: Nykvarn
Communication System: Chadran True Talk with C3 slave
Targeting and Tracking System: Chadran Cat's Eye
Overview:
Intended as a more combat capable companion to the Ashigaru, the Sakhon gives the overall impression to have the DCMS's long standing favorite light 'mech, the Panther, in it's sights.
A note should be made of the design's name. It is named after the famed sixteenth century samurai Sakhon Shima, who had tried to help his master defeat the Tokugawa clan's ambitions, but had failed, thus resulting in his own death soon after the battle of Sekigahara (1600ad). This is not meant as indicative of Chadran Arms's company loyalties, instead it is meant as a show that even ronin have their place in modern history, seeing as Sakhon spent so much of his life as a one before joining Ishida Mitsunari, who was his final master.
Capabilities:
On viewing the design specifications the first thing that stands out is the fact that the design is not bipedal, but a quadruped, this form having been chosen for the extra stability it would give, and it was felt that in a light 'mech the space issues would not be as great as in a much larger design.
Contrary to popular expectations with quad 'mechs, the Sakhon is a very smooth ride, even in low gravity the design is extremely stable, and while it does not have jump jet's, its more powerfull 245 light engine means it can easily out run both the Panther and the Wolfhound, the two mech's it is usually compared to. It also has a similar speed profile to both the Owens and the Jenner, so it could be used in a lance with either of those two designs without slowing them down as much as a Panther would.
Primarily a fast raider, although it is also intended to give a better match for the Wolfhound than the Panther, even after it's refit, had turned out to be. As it's primary ranged weapon a single Victory ER large laser was mounted in the right torso, supported by a quartet of medium lasers in the opposite one, while a C3 slave was mounted in the center torso, enabling the 'mech to work with the increasingly popular C3 networks being used by the DCMS. The medium lasers, while produced on Nykvarn, are direct, and licensed, copies of the 23R design from Victory Arms.
With a full six and a half tons of ferro fibrous armour covering the mech, it is well armored indeed for a mech of it's tonnage, although this had to be imported for the prototype, due to the incomplete state of the needed facility at the time.
The only real complaint with the design so far has been tracked down as minor gremlins in the targeting and tracking system, which probably revolve more around the fact it's Chadran Arms first home designed system of that sort, and they have given their word to the DCMS that this problem will be eliminated before real production starts.
Another concern has been the 5 million plus per unit price tag, but given the 'mech's capabilities, it is to be expected.
Deployement:
Currently only in prototype phase due to debates over the virtues of the quad design. Even after the success of the Bishamon and Tarantula designs there are still a lot of old school pilots who are having problems getting over the bad reputation the original Scorpion gave all quad 'mechs.
Chadran Arms hopes that the design's considerable capabilities within it's intended role will overcome these difficulties, however, if given time and a chance to prove itself.
Variants:
The only variant currently under consideration removes one of the medium lasers and replaces it with a extra double heat sink, improving the heat curve somewhat.
Code:
Type: Sakhon
Configuration: Quadrupedal 'mech
Tonnage: 35 tons
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 3.5
Engine 245 light 9
Walking mp 7
Running mp 11
Jumping mp 0
Heat Sinks 10(20) 0
Gyro 3
Cockpit 3
Armor 116 6.5
Internal Armor
structure value
Head 3 9
Center Torso 11 17
Center Torso (rear) 5
L/R Torso 8 13
L/R Torso (rear) 3
R/L Front Leg 8 13
R/L Rear Leg 8 13
Weapons
and ammo Location Critical Tonnage
ER Large Laser Right Torso 2 5
4 Medium Lasers Left Torso 4 4
C3 Slave Center Torso 1 1
Cost: 5.415.200 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1202 (special(C3slave))
Yea, I know, it'd probably be too radical, and or, too pricey, for the DCMS to adopt, but hey..You must admit that it does have it's good points.
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Karagin
01/12/08 02:18 PM
24.26.220.4
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Good fluff...a Kurtian Wolfhound....
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Lafeel
01/12/08 02:34 PM
157.157.109.146
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With a spanner in the works, as it's a quad. From what I've read of Sakhon he would have loved the irony.
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Dester
01/16/08 12:14 PM
216.57.96.1
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2 things bug me about this design.
First, why oh why would you use FFA instead of endo steel?
FFA
6.5 x 16 x 1.12 = 116.48 (round down to 116)
116/ 16 = 7.25
7.25 - 6.5 = .75 tons saved
Endo-Steel
3.5 / 2 = 1.75 tons saved
even after rounding you can dump a full ton of the saved IS to armor and still come out 4 points ahead in armor and .5 tons left over for something else.
its simple math really, a mech can carry at its max 20% of its weight in armor. If you use FFA 0.2 * .12 = 2.4% weight savings (if you max out the armor). Endo steel will always give you either 5% of your mechs weight savings or slightly less if your on the mech's wight is not divisable by 10 and you don't make up the diff in an xl engine. In your mech's instance at 35 tons, you save 4.71% of total mech wight by useing ES, but only 2.22857% by useing FFA, and the ratio gets even worse if you don't go for max armor. I might sound like a bean counter or a munskin, but this one is kinda a no brainer.
The other thing that bugs me is the inner sphere large laser in all its forms (standard, ER, and pulse), really this weapon is probbably the worst thing inflicted on the Inner Sphere. Its heat to damage to weight to range ratio's are all horrible.
Sorry if i sound harsh, but you hit upon 2 of my worst pet peves for IS battletech designs 
Dester
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Lafeel
01/16/08 03:17 PM
157.157.109.146
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Lets see..
While the idea of using es does have merit, I used standard internal structure for fluff reasons, basically Chadran Arms doesn't have a fully functional endo steel foundry up and running yet, and the Ashigaru already uses up all the production capability they have at the moment, so while it is a valid suggestion, it's out for that reason. (what can I say..I like my fluff *has been writing up some on the company*)
As for the second point..It so happens that I feel quite differently to you, at least with the standard, and er, ones. Not so sure about the pulse one, although the -2 to hit can be usefull, I am sure...
also as a final thing. I am not desining these to make the most munchkin like mech designs I can make, I'm mostly doing it for fun. And I do not feel that munchkin designs are fun. (no offense meant)
Edited by Lafeel (01/16/08 03:19 PM)
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Dester
01/16/08 05:57 PM
216.57.96.1
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None taken, and if you are designing w/ in the limitations of fluff/ story, whats avilable then i think you have done a very good job.
The large laser in my opinion has never been that good of a weapon and was blundered in the upgrade to ER and pulse versions. Especially compaired to their Clan cousins where they are some of the best weapons available to them, or even the ER PPC version that at least gained the elemination of min range.
I had a bunch of stuff written up about the large laser, but I deleted it and let it be, let us agree to dis-agree
Dester
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Lafeel
01/16/08 05:59 PM
157.157.109.146
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Works for me. Certainly better than starting a argument over what is almost certainly a matter of taste for each person.
edit: I have a idea, how about another variant that strips two medium lasers, and the large one, out for a Lord Light's 2 Er PPC? While it does absolutely nothing for it's short range firepower, it does increase the long range one slightly.
Edited by Lafeel (01/16/08 06:02 PM)
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Tripod
01/17/08 05:32 AM
12.49.227.213
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I'm not a master of Lore in the Battletech Universe but i believe Kurita likes any variant of a mech that contains a PPC!
TBA
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Lafeel
01/17/08 06:22 AM
157.157.109.146
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To the point of causing severe overheat, apparently (Panther 10-k, anyone?)..Still I am not sure if I agree with that design theory, and they've started to diverge from it, thankfully.
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Dester
01/17/08 11:45 AM
216.57.96.1
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The ER PPC variant wouldn't be to bad.
I took a closer look at the design and came to a couple of conclusions.
It has good speed and the C3 slave. Conclusion, it is ment to get in close to something so its lance mates can pound it. To me this means the lack of a long range weapon would not hinder its design at all. If you don't need any long range weapons, you can add more short range, and/ or more electronics
With 5 tons to burn, The guardian ECM, Begal probe and Tag all become attractive in any combination.
That or add pulse lasers and call it "a mech for the not so well trained" between pulse and quad it should help out green and very green pilots.
Just my rambling thoughts.
Dester
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Cray
01/18/08 08:13 AM
147.160.136.10
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Quote:
The large laser in my opinion has never been that good of a weapon and was blundered in the upgrade to ER and pulse versions.
It's a niche thing, but IS pulse large lasers become a thing of beauty in the aerospace game. Otherwise, I don't disagree too much. Large lasers were so-so in 3025 and the upgrades...well, I definitely would've liked to have seen pulse lasers retain standard laser ranges.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Lafeel
01/18/08 09:31 AM
157.157.109.146
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Agreed, but even with the newer weapons we are a bit short on choices. The snub nose ppc doesn't seem that good, and the light ppc seems just completely useless to me (unless you have three tons to use somewhere, and can't borrow more from somewhere), so the good ole er large laser seemed the obvios choice.
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Cray
01/18/08 11:09 AM
147.160.136.10
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Quote:
Agreed, but even with the newer weapons we are a bit short on choices. The snub nose ppc doesn't seem that good, and the light ppc seems just completely useless to me (unless you have three tons to use somewhere, and can't borrow more from somewhere), so the good ole er large laser seemed the obvios choice.
I think I agree. There are niches for the ER LL and this seems to be one of them.
Speaking generally (not of your design), there are niches for the snub nose PPC, though, too. Its outrageous short range and lower weight pretty much end any value for the IS PLL except in aerospace combat. Its short range (9) is virtually equal to the IS PLL's entire range (10), which mean the SNPPC has the same target numbers as the PLL for ranges 4 to 7, and better TNs at 8 and 9, while being lighter. In fact, that 9-hex short range is pretty exceptional amongst medium-heavy weapons - the SNPPC might make a nice secondary weapon to supplement LRMs or ER PPCs.
I can't think of much to do with the light PPC, though, except on a very light design that needs long range and can't even afford an ER LL.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Lafeel
01/18/08 11:11 AM
157.157.109.146
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Or as a surprise weapon for say a Fireball (although three er mediums would probably be better (would run a lot hotter though).
Update: Fresh from my mind, more variants, at least one of which makes me wonder if I've lost my sanity...again
Quote:
Variants:
One variant currently under consideration removes one of the medium lasers and replaces it with a extra double heat sink, improving the heat curve somewhat.
Another strips out the large laser, and two of the mediums and puts in a ER PPC instead, turning the 'mech into a very mobile sniper instead of a close range knife fighter.
The third removes the large laser and a single medium and puts in a Snub Nose PPC in their place. Some have suggested that these two variants are test vehicles for omni mech configurations, but if this is the case, Chadran Arms is not admitting that fact.
There has been no serious consideration to remove the C3 Slave in any variant, as this is considered a major selling point for the design, and a integral part of it's intended niche of use.
There is a single exeption to this, however. One designer came up with the hare brained idea of stripping out all the medium lasers and putting in a C3 Master. While this would mean that the master equipped mech would be able to match speed with the slave equipped ones, it leaves the main mech somewhat under gunned, so the chances of this variant being built are, to put it bluntly, slim to none. It does go to show that the designers at C.A. can think well outside the box, though.
So can anyone guess which of the four it is?
edit: mis calculated the fourth's tonnage use. It should now be right.
Edited by Lafeel (01/19/08 05:03 AM)
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