Quote:
LegatusDavoke writes:

It has...commercial armor. Locusts are already basically a paper target that can barely shoot back. A single Heavy PPC blast could destroy any section of this Locust with no trouble. And even a machine gun can cripple it due to a low BAR rating.

Quote:
KamikazeJohnson writes:

Quote:
LegatusDavoke writes:

It has...commercial armor. Locusts are already basically a paper target that can barely shoot back. A single Heavy PPC blast could destroy any section of this Locust with no trouble. And even a machine gun can cripple it due to a low BAR rating.

If I understand the BAR rating properly, a BAR of 5 should withstand anything up to a Medium Laser.

Any weapon that exceeds the BAR simply has an extra crit chance. For example, if you had 30 points of BAR 5 armor on a location and were hit by an AC/20 the attacker would get a crit opportunity despite 10 points of armor remaining. Of course, that roll might not result in a crit, and you still do have 10 points of armor left for the next attack.

Though in this situation...

Quote:
Considering a PPC hit will do internal damage to any lication anyway, Commercial armour isn't a big risk, especially if is deployed primarily against other Light 'Mechs. A Heavy PPC will cripple a Locust regardless of armour type.

...what he said.

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.

Quote:
LegatusDavoke writes:

But why not...say Clan Ferro Fibrous? What advantage does cardboard have?

Quote:
KamikazeJohnson writes:

Quote:
LegatusDavoke writes:

But why not...say Clan Ferro Fibrous? What advantage does cardboard have?

1) Not a mixed-tech design.
2) Commercial Armour = 32 points/ton

Although if my math is correct, he used a half-ton (16 points) for only 5 points of actual armour due to the max armour limit.

Quote:
Code:

Locust LCT-7X

Mass: 20 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: All Eras (non-canon)
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-X-A
Production Year: 3090
Cost: 4,421,200 C-Bills
Battle Value: 734

Chassis: Unknown Endo-Steel
Power Plant: Unknown 160 Fusion XL Engine
Walking Speed: 86.4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 129.6 km/h
Jump Jets: None
    Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Unknown Light Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
    2  Light PPCs
    1  Small X-Pulse Laser
Manufacturer: Unknown
    Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Unknown
Targeting and Tracking System: Unknown

Overview:
Corean Enterprises initially balked at the idea of investing
any cash into the Locust program until they received assurances
from the Word of Blake that the Militia would purchase
the first year's limited production run. After studying the plans
of the redesign, they were thoroughly impressed and satisfied
with what they saw. The redesign would require very little
capital investment for start up, and Corean moved forward
confident in the knowledge that the company would reap
plenty of profit in producing the new Locust. Agreeing to
terms with Vicore, contracts were signed and designs licensed,
after which Corean Enterprises designated the Locust
the LCT-5M and began production.


Capabilities:
The Locust redesign required a few fundamental design
changes. The engineers on the R&D team decided that the
best attribute of the Locust was its speed and further made
the choice to increase the 'Mech's speed by thirty-three percent.
They did this by replacing the Magna 160 with the Hermes
240 XL power plant. To take advantage of the new
speed, the designers replaced the original LCT-3M's weapons
with a loadout of extended range lasers. In doing so, they
dropped the Anti-Missile System and CASE, increasing the
'Mech's armor protection to its maximum.


Deployment:
True to their word, Blakist officials from the Office of Procurement
arrived at the completion of the first production run for
the LCT-5M. The new 'Mechs were shipped in Level II size to
each Blakist Division and dispersed, giving each Level III access
to at least one new LCT-5M.


Variants:
Corean Enterprises was the only manufacturer in the Inner
Sphere that began production of the new Locust. Achernar
BattleMechs agreed to terms with Vicore, but has not yet begun
production. They are slated to start up on August 1 3067.
They will be producing the LCT-5M after purchasing the license
from Corean Enterprises. Currently, the remaining
Houses have expressed no interest in the Locust program.
The Periphery nations, on the other hand, readily agreed to
the new design. They were happy to have a design that
would take advantage of their latest Rocket Launcher Technology.
Two variants were introduced to the Periphery nations.
The LCT-5V has been picked up by both the Magistracy of
Canopus and Taurian Concordat for production. This variant
would incorporate Ferro-Fibrous Armor, two extended range
medium lasers and two Rocket Launcher 10s. The original
160 LTV engine would be used keeping the original speed of
the Locust.
The LCT-1V2 variant has been seen in the forces of the
Marian Hegemony, but where it has been manufactured is
unknown at the current time. Speculations and rumors from
the region, however, are rife concerning a new small-scale
BattleMech factory located within the depths of the Hegemony.
Considering the rumors circulating concerning a major
new Germanium find, the two could go hand in hand. This
variant appears to remove all the weapons save one medium
laser and add four Rocket Launcher 10s.


================================================================================
Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Endo-Steel                    33 points                1.00
    Internal Locations: 7 LA, 7 RA
Engine:             XL Fusion Engine             160                       3.00
    Walking MP: 8
    Running MP: 12
    Jumping MP: 0 
Heat Sinks:         Double Heat Sink             10(20)                    0.00
    Heat Sink Locations: 2 LT, 2 RT
Gyro:               Standard                                               2.00
Cockpit:            Standard                                               3.00
    Actuators:      L: SH+UA    R: SH+UA
Armor:              Light Ferro-Fibrous          AV -  67                  4.00
    Armor Locations: 1 HD, 2 LT, 2 RT, 1 LL, 1 RL

                                                      Internal       Armor      
                                                      Structure      Factor     
                                                Head     3            8         
                                        Center Torso     6            8         
                                 Center Torso (rear)                  3         
                                           L/R Torso     5            8         
                                    L/R Torso (rear)                  2         
                                             L/R Arm     3            6         
                                             L/R Leg     4            8         

================================================================================
Equipment                                 Location    Heat    Critical    Mass  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light PPC                                    RA        5         2         3.00
Light PPC                                    LA        5         2         3.00
Small X-Pulse Laser                          CT        3         1         1.00
Null Signature System                        *         10        7         0.00
                                            Free Critical Slots: 0

* The Null Signature System occupies 1 slot in every location except the HD.

BattleForce Statistics
MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      2    Points: 7
8          2       2       1       0      1     0   Structure:  1
Special Abilities: ECM, STL, ENE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA