Cazador CZD-3R

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Rotwang
10/11/13 07:43 AM
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Cazador CZD-3R

Mass: 75 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/X-E-D
Production Year: 3025
Cost: 6.130.250 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1.504

Chassis: Unknown Standard
Power Plant: Unknown 225 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 32,4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54,0 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Unknown Standard Armor
Armament:
1 PPC
1 Autocannon/10
1 Large Laser
4 Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Unknown
Targeting and Tracking System: Unknown

Overview:
One of the most ambitious projects of any Periphery designed mech, the Cazador
started in 2997, several years before the Merlin, the first new mech in nearly
a century was revealed.


The project initiator Caesar Rodriguez had been a tech with several prestigious
units in the Inner Sphere, but had been involved in shady deals involving drugs
and contraband smuggling and fled to the Periphery trying to fix centuries-old
patched-up mechs.


During a discussion with other technicians, Rodriguez hit upon the idea to
produce new mechs that would be easier to maintain than the battered old
machines fielded in the Periphery.


The original plans was for a 40-ton mech with a mixed armament, but Rodriguez
discovered that a larger mech was feasible. Using his networks Rodriguez was
able to secure parts. He assembled a team of hand-picked Periphery techs, many
of which had considerable experience in maintaining mechs that would have been
scrapped in the Inner Sphere. A prototype was ready in 3002 and was
demonstrated to interested parties.


Rodriguez had to learn mech design from the bottom up and began to create
modular components that could be produced locally. He also came up with new
mounting systems that allowed to easily swap out components in a system that
was halfway between the modular technology of the Mercury and Clan Omnimechs,
though the design was never meant to have such capabilities, it made
maintenance much easier as techs could swap weapons more easily so that battle
damage could be fixed more easily. His visionary design allowed him to produce
up to 60% of parts in Periphery factories. High-tech parts like engines and
energy weapons would have to be imported or salvaged.


As work continued, a second prototype was ready in 3007 and a limited
production run of three was initiated in 3009. The news of this new design was
mostly considered to be a hoax or just another Frankenmech. The buildup to the
Third Succession War halted almost all weaon imports to the Periphery and
production was limited to one or two units per year, peaking at three in 3037.
Rodriguez passed away in 3040 and only four new mechs were made until the Clan
Invasion of 3049. Two more were made during the Invasion, but it wasn't until
the 3060's that more opportunities arose. Tech levels in the Periphery
improved and Rodriguez's heirs were able to make improvements in production,
producing new Cazadors at a steady pace of 3-4 units per year, by the 3100's
production further improved as more parts became available and production
reached 8-10 units per year.


Capabilities:
The Cazador is crude by Inner Sphere standards, but was found to be a fully
functional design. Almost exclusively confined to the Periperhy, the Cazador
was long believed to be one-off Frankenmechs, until confirmed multiple
sightings warranted an addendum to Comstar's Technical Readout 3058. Due to
editorial errors the mech was never officially included in subsequent updates,
though it was mentionned in reference to other mechs.


Suprisingly heavy and powerful, the Cazador was a heavy/assault grade mech,
designed with firepower in mind. Ironically the lack of 300-rated engines
proved to be a blessing in disguise. It allowed the mech to mount heavier
armour and weapons than many other mechs in its weight class, becoming a threat
to the rare Periphery assault mechs and a powerful dissuasive presence to
lighter mechs.


The Cazador's main weapon the Autocannon is manufactured locally, based on
features found in the Armstrong, Luxor and Mydron weapons it is a very tough
and reliable weapon though some reports indicate that it is somewhat inaccurate
at longer ranges and the ammunition has a reduced penetration compared to other
brands.


The PPC is a modified Donal, as found on the Warhammer it has a special coolant
coupling at the back, similar to the one found on the Panther, that allows the
quick injection of coolant, a feature that is rare in Inner Sphere mechs.


The secondary weapons include four Feuersturm medium lasers and a large laser.
Equipped with enough heat sinks to use them, this is enough to pause most mechs
from attacking up close.


One of the Cazador's greatest weaknesses is the armour, though it mounts
standard military grade plating, Rodriguez never managed to crack the tech to
provide flush, well-formed armour. The plating juts out at awkward angles and
the sharp edges have injured more than one careless tech. This contributes
greatly to the slightly dilapidated look of the Cazador. Despire rumors that
there are serious weaknesses and shot traps in the armour, these have never
been conclusively proved and combat records show that the Cazador is only
marginally more prone to penetrating damage than other mechs. Any major
failures have been attributed to poor quality repairs and the use of
substandard parts rather than a design weakness, though it has been pointed out
that the rather awkwardly designed framework could be partially to blame for
such weaknesses.


Another weakness is the speed, at 53kph, the Cazador has trouble keeping up
with most medium and heavy mechs. This may lead to Cazadors becoming isolated
as their faster lancemates move at full speed. As a result, Cazadors are often
deployed in heavy teams of 2-3 mechs and serve as a poor man's assault mech. The Cazador has an ungainly gait that makes it look awkward and lumbering and causes some extra strain on actuators and myomers.


The heat sinks situation has been variously described as sheer genius or
complete lunacy. Rodriguez deisgned the Cazador in such a way that various
types of heat sinks could be mounted with little or no modification. This
doesn't make a tech's job more easy as it requires some modifications to the
already hard to modify armour plating.


At best, the cockpit can be described as "spartan" It offers the pilot the
bare minimum functionality and pilots have reported that temperatures can peak
to almost painful levels. The low level of comfort means that pilots need to
take breaks more often.


Despite its shortcomings the Cazador is a functional design and is reliable
enough in combat with good firepower though it is now very dated compared to
new designs emerging in the Periphery.


Battle History:
The Cazador is used much in the same way mechs in the 90-100 ton range are used
in the Inner Sphere. They are either used for point defence or assault,
forming the fire base for fellow units to operate around.


Their slow speed means that they are unsuited for raids and more fluid tactics
and are usually kept in reserve for more extensive military operations.


Deployment:
The Cazador can be found scattered in the Periphery mostly in the Tauran
Concordat and Marian Hegemony as well as the smaller states. A rare few are
found on the edges of the Inner Sphere, either captured or purchased by
mechwarriors who could not afford more advanced designs.


Variants:
Being a Periphery design one might imagine that the Cazador would come with a
plethora of variants, but the simple design means that many are kept in pretty
much the same condition. The most popular upgrade swaps one or more lasers for
some rocket launchers or machineguns. Most pilots make sure that they replace
their main weapons with a similar weapon system to keep up their firepower.


There are no official variants though some design artwork has been circulating
in the last few years hinting at a possible upgrade with more modern
technology, though little is known at this time.


================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 114 points 7,50
Engine: Fusion Engine 225 10,00
Walking MP: 3
Running MP: 5
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 18 8,00
Heat Sink Locations: 5 RT, 2 LL, 2 RL
Gyro: Standard 3,00
Cockpit: Standard 3,00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA+H R: SH+UA+LA+H
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 216 13,50

Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 23 34
Center Torso (rear) 9
L/R Torso 16 22
L/R Torso (rear) 8
L/R Arm 12 22
L/R Leg 16 30

================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Medium Lasers RA 6 2 2,00
2 Medium Lasers LA 6 2 2,00
PPC RT 10 3 7,00
Autocannon/10 LT 3 7 12,00
Large Laser CT 8 2 5,00
@AC/10 (20) LT - 2 2,00
Free Critical Slots: 20

BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 7 Points: 15
3 3 3 1 0 3 1 Structure: 6
Special Abilities: SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA


Edited by Rotwang (10/11/13 07:47 AM)
Pages: 1
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