Shadrak
07/26/16 10:05 PM
98.101.165.111
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Road Pony Armored Personnel Carrier
Mass: 15 tons
Movement Type: Wheeled
Power Plant: DL Cumins 3282
Cruising Speed: 43 kph
Flank Speed: 64 kph
Armor: Anderleigh Composite 7
Armament:
1 x Preverson 3000 Light Rifle
Manufacturer: Rothstein Defense Solutions
Primary Factory: Various
Communications System: AL-780 UHF-MC
Targeting and Tracking System: Dumaresq 78a
Overview:
The Road Pony was a transitional design that uses an older style (tech level C) chassis often produced by a purchaser's local industrial base like previous designs, but it used a more advanced engine, electronics, and armor. It is one of the first third generation (tech level D) designs that RDS, or any contractor for that matter, introduced, and RDS most often provided the more technologically complex components or, less often, assisted purchasers in upgrading their manufacturing capabilities to produce the complex components in-house. The first Road Pony was delivered on 2387. As an Infantry Fighting Vehicle the Road Pony excelled against the 2nd generation infantry fighting vehicles it first encountered on battlefields across the Inner Sphere, but within 30 years of its introduction it was superseded by a multitude of designs including RDS' Swamp Pony that was derived from the Road Pony. RDS repeatedly attempted to retire the Road Pony but was unsuccessful because users insisted on continued support for the design these efforts were unsuccessful. By 2413 RDS was successful in providing only some advanced component parts for the design and by 2424 RDS had completely abandoned the design. Despite this, there were at least 15 manufacturers still supplied advanced components for the design through the 26th century. The Road Pony can be seen today in many local mechanized forces, but these models almost always mount an SRM-4 or LRM-5s.
Capabilities:
The Road Pony is a design that has been surprisingly resilient. The Road Pony's light logistical footprint and high mobility kept it in service long after it should have been retired, it it is also the reason tens of thousands serve in planetary militias today.
This mobility proves to be very important as a commander seeks to overcome the deficiencies in the Road Pony's weapons and armor. The ineffectiveness of the Light Rifle against heavy armor and its short range prompts the Road Pony's commander to use it primarily to assault unarmored fortifications, infantry, and other lightly armored vehicles. In this role, it is highly effective, and it has the speed and off-road capabilities to deliver an infantry squad to the front-line and extract that same infantry squad in the event that a retreat becomes necessary.
Deployment:
Surprisingly, despite its general ineffectiveness in its assigned role, the Road Pony was highly popular. By the time RDS had completely abandoned the design, RDS had records for more than 120,000 Road Ponys.
The Road Pony continued to be produced into the 2600s, but production had dramatically tapered off and was often only a one-for-one replacement for Road Ponies that were destroyed or unservicable.
The Road Pony continued to be produced through-out the Succession Wars and even re-emerged during the Word of Blake Jihad, but these production runs have been local to individual planets
Variants:
In 2491, the militia forces on XXXX, a heavy user of the Road Pony, attempted to extend the life of the design. Converting more than 500 of the design to a model that replaced the light rifle with an SRM-4 with a full ton of ammunition and a machinegun with half a ton of ammunition, the XXXXX discovered that the Road Pony's effectiveness was increased exponentially. This design was extremely popular and by 2515 more than 40,000 Road Ponies had been converted to this model. Unfortunately, this model's endurance on the battlefield was increased as well, and it was being used in roles it had not originally be intended for. During periods of conflict, commanders would use the Road Pony to directly engage heavier combat vehicles rather than support infantry. In 2505 a new, paired variant emerged with the intent of keeping the Road Pony out of direct conflict with combat vehicles. This variant replaced the light rifle with either an SRM-6 and retaining the infantry bay or two LRM-5s and completely removing the infantry bay. These models tended to be distributed with 3 SRM variants and 1 LRM variant per mechanized infantry platoon. Still vulnerable to enemy fire, fewer were lost because they were used with greater standoff and in a more defensive role.
Tonnage: 15 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere (Tech Level D)
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Experimental
Era: Age of War
Tech Rating/Era Availability:D/X-X-D-A
Production Year: 2456
Crew: 3 + 9, Commander, Driver, Gunner +Infantry Squad
Cost: ? C-Bills
Battle Value: ?
Power Plant: ICE
Cruise Speed: 43 km/h
Flanking Speed: 64 km/h
Armor: BAR 7
Armament:
1 x Preverson 3000 Light Rifle
Manufacturer: Rothstein Defense Solutions
Primary Factory: Various; Ford
Communications System: AL-780 UHF-MC
Targeting and Tracking System: Dumaresq 78a
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Tech D; 10 pts ...............................................3.5
Off-Road
Engine: ICE (Tech C)...................................................................3.5
Cruise MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Fuel: Range: 1111 km..................................................................0.5
Heat Sinks: 0
Control Equipment: Advanced.....................................................0.5
Turret: Standard..........................................................................0.5
Armor: BAR 7 Armor Value: 33....................................................1.5
-----------------------Internal--------------Armor
-----------------------Structure------------Factor
Front.........................2..........................8
Left/Right..................2..........................6
Rear..........................2..........................5
Turret........................2..........................8
================================================================================
Equipment..............Location.....Heat.....Spaces......................Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Rifle................Turret.........0..............1............................3.0
Ammo (Light Rifle)..Body...........0..............1............................1.0
Infantry (1 squad)...Body...........0..............1............................1.0
Quirk:
Attachment (209 downloads)
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Shadrak
07/26/16 10:13 PM
98.101.165.111
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Road Pony Armored Personnel Carrier
Mass: 13 tons
Movement Type: Wheeled
Power Plant: CatAL 900 ICE
Cruising Speed: 43 kph
Flank Speed: 64 kph (86 kph)
Armor: Tensylon Composite 4
Armament:
None
Manufacturer: Rothstein Defense Solutions
Primary Factory: Various
Communications System: AL-780 UHF-MC
Targeting and Tracking System: None
Overview:
The Road Donkey is RDS' attempt to apply a stranglehold on the arms supply systems throughout the Inner Sphere during the 25th Century. Introduced at the conclusion of the 24th Century in 2397, the Road Donkey was optimized for providing logistical support to RDS authorized designs. Every RDS design that post-dated the Road Donkey is designed to integrate seemlessly with a logistics system that utilizes the Road Donkey as the primarly logistics transport. To ensure defense planners and spenders were locked into the RDS system longterm, RDS sales personnel would bundle Road Donkeys with other military vehicles, offer the Road Donkey at steep discounts, and offer low-cost, extended-maintenance contracts on the Road Pony to ensure that it saturated the market.
This strategy was effective at locking purchasing agents into long term relationships with RDS throught the 2450s, but competitors eventually began building their new models of combat systems to match the Road Donkey's capabilities. Even today, many standardized logistics packages are based on the capabilities of the Road Donkey as many early Battlemechs adopted quick-load weapon systems that fit the bed of a Road Donkey and several weapons systems ordnance is restricted in size to meet with the cargo requirements of the Road Donkey.
Capabilities:
The Road Donkey was introduced six years after the Road Pony and utilized many of the same components including tires, major suspension components, lights, and electrical components as the Road Pony. RDS intended the Road Donkey to compete with and supplant the earlier Katir built by AAIL, but the proven effectiveness of the Katir and its dramatically lower price prevented RDS from pushing AAIL out of the Medium Truck completely. However, this initial strategy set the requirements for the Road Donkey. RDS built the Road Donkey so that it could carry heavier and larger payloads, and it could traverse even more difficult terrain than the Katir. As part of the tow-kit for the Road Donkey, the Road Donkey mounted a winch rated to 13 tons. This winch assisted in loading and unloading cargo, but also allowed the Road Donkey to practice self-recovery when operating in the most difficult terrain.
Deployment:
RDS produced more than 35 million Road Donkeys before the company ceased production in the 27th century. After production ended, more than 10 different production companies, including several state-run producers, built more than 200 million medium trucks with specifications identical to the Road Donkey through the beginning of the Clan War. The design continues to be produced today, but because the Road Donkey has often served in direct support of front-line military units (mostly because it is so capable a member of a front-line logistics network), many have been destroyed throughout the course of the Succession Wars. Today, estimates of the numbers of Road Donkey's on active service range from 1.2 million to 1.8 million. In any given year, the entire production capabilities of the various factories capable of Road Donkey production have the capacity to build nearly a half million Road Donkeys per year but demand rarely exceeds 100,000.
Variants:
Like the preceding Katir, the Road Donkey has a multitude of variants that allow it to succeed in its logistics role. The first variant adds a lift-hoist to the vehicle for loading and unloading cargo. This variant is also primarily used to recover other light and medium vehicles.
Another variant commonly seen in support of combat units is a variant that installs a field kitchen. This unit also has a 1-ton refrigerated cargo section that can hold 3/4 of a ton of perishable items. An additional 1/2 ton storage area is used to carry non-perishable items and potable water. This model also occassionally installs a single core MASH unit and a second operating theater.
A final variant installs a combat control center with .5 tons of advanced controls and mounts either an LRM-5 or SRM-4 in a rear sponson. This model also mounts a full ton (22 points) of BAR 7 armor.
Tonnage: 13 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere (Tech Level D)
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Experimental
Era: Age of War
Tech Rating/Era Availability:D/X-X-D-A
Production Year: 2397
Crew: 2; Driver, Commander
Cost: ? C-Bills
Battle Value: ?
Power Plant: ICE
Cruise Speed: 43 km/h
Flanking Speed: 64 km/h (86 kph)
Armor: BAR 4
Armament:
None
Manufacturer: Rothstein Defense Solutions
Primary Factory: Various
Communications System: AL-780 UHF-MC
Targeting and Tracking System: None
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Tech D; 10 pts ...............................................4.0
Off-Road; Tractor
Engine: ICE (Tech C)...................................................................3.0
Cruise MP: 4
Flank MP: 6 (8)
Supercharger...............................................................................0.5
Fuel: Range: 1666 km.................................................................0.5
Heat Sinks: 0
Control Equipment: None............................................................0.0
Turret: None................................................................................0.0
Armor: BAR 4 Armor Value: 19....................................................0.5
-----------------------Internal--------------Armor
-----------------------Structure------------Factor
Front.........................2..........................5
Left/Right..................2..........................5
Rear..........................2..........................4
================================================================================
Equipment..............Location.....Heat.....Spaces......................Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cargo.....................Body...........0............1...............................4.5
Quirk:
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Shadrak
07/26/16 10:24 PM
98.101.165.111
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Swamp Pony Infantry Fighting Vehicle
Mass: 27.5 tons
Movement Type: Wheeled
Power Plant: DL Cummins 9024
Cruising Speed: 43 kph
Flank Speed: 64 kph
Armor: Anderleigh Composite 7
Armament:
1 x Preverson 6000 Medium Rifle
Manufacturer: Rothstein Defense Solutions
Primary Factory: Various
Communications System: AL-85Dumaresq 65.123
Overview:
Intended to replace the Road Pony Armored Personnel Carrier, the Swamp Pony is almost twice the weight of the older vehicle. Despite this, the Swamp Pony is only 10% longer and taller and 20% wider than the Road Pony. Introduced in 2417, RDS offered massive discounts to military organizations that previously relied on the Road Pony for infantry transport.
While most of these users could clearly see the Swamp Pony as an upgrade over their Road Ponies, most could not justify the added cost of the vehicle simply for the advantage of having an amphibious vehicle. Additionally, since the armor coverage was roughly equivalent to the Road Pony's, many potential customers declined to purchase the vehicle considering the medium rifle to be a drawback that would encourage the misuse of the vehicle. The marketing campaign resulted in thousands of purchases of Swamp Ponies on worlds with large bodies of water, but sales flatlined and then declined after this market was saturated.
To generate new sales and recover the product line, Richard Bees, an RDS executive, revamped the design in 2432. The new design dropped the amphibious capabilities for an armored chassis, heavier armor, and a super-charger. By 2435 two out of every three Swamp Pony sales were the new design and by 2440 only one in five Swamp Ponies had amphibious capability.
Capabilities:
With the exception of its amphibious capability and medium rifle, the Swamp Pony has roughly the same capabilities as the Road Pony. Its longer range medium rifle gives the design more stand-off, but it also encourages crews to engage targets with greater capacity to destroy their own vehicle.
The Swamp Pony's amphibious chassis enables it to not only traverse the swampy terrain for which it is named, but it allows it to travel across open seas. Unfortunately, though, the water jet systems that provide motive force for the Swamp Pony are inefficient and the vehicle suffers from the Gas Hog design trait when traveling in water depth 1 or greater. The armored variant that eventually superseded the original design was capable of engaging heavier foes, but was almost impossible for IFF systems to differentiate from the original.
Deployment:
In the first fifteen years of the design's life, RDS sold just about 5,000 Swamp Ponies. In total, RDS would sell about 18,000 Swamp Ponies before the design was completely retired, with most of the Swamp Ponies sold prior to the introduction of CSC's Cychreides. The armored Swamp Pony, though, proved to be extremely popular and is the reason the Swamp Pony is available through several small manufacturers today. RDS produced and sold almost 30,000 of the armored Swamp Pony variant before transferring the production lines to several local manufacturers in the Federated Suns and Free Worlds League. By the time of the Succession Wars the seven manufacturing plants, all of which could produce a Swamp Pony from start to finish with raw inputs, were in the hands of local nobles. These plants were also capable of producing Road Ponies and Road Donkeys as well.
As of 3025, an Draconis Combine assessment of Federated Suns military capacity estimated the number of active Swamp Ponies in the Federated Suns at 22,500.
Variants:
The most common variant that eventually overshadowed the original was the armored variant dubbed the "Road Pony II" by many users. This variant included an armored chassis and removed the amphibious capabilities. Using the same DL Cummins 9024 as the original, it featured a supercharger for higher speeds, and it also included 2.5 tons of BAR 8 armor. The Succession Wars variant produced by the new owners of the former RDS factories mounted a medium laser and a machinegun with half a ton of ammunition. The infantry bays were expanded to allow for the transport of two squads, and a power amp replaced the supercharger.
Tonnage: 27.5 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere (Tech Level D)
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Experimental
Era: Age of War
Tech Rating/Era Availability:D/X-X-D-A
Production Year: 2417
Crew: 3+9; Driver, Commander, Gunner + 1 infantry squad
Cost: ? C-Bills
Battle Value: ?
Power Plant: ICE
Cruise Speed: 43 km/h
Flanking Speed: 64 km/h
Armor: BAR 7
Armament:
None
Manufacturer: Rothstein Defense Solutions
Primary Factory: Various
Communications System: AL-854 UHF-MC
Targeting and Tracking System: Dumaresq 65.123
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Tech D; 15 pts ..............................................11.0
Off-Road; Amphibious
Engine: ICE (Tech C)...................................................................6.5
Cruise MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Supercharger...............................................................................0.5
Fuel: Range: 769 km...................................................................0.5
Heat Sinks: 0
Control Equipment: None............................................................0.0
Turret: Standard..........................................................................0.5
Armor: BAR 7 Armor Value: 33....................................................1.5
-----------------------Internal--------------Armor
-----------------------Structure------------Factor
Front.........................3..........................8
Left/Right..................3..........................6
Rear..........................3..........................5
Turret........................3..........................8
================================================================================
Equipment..............Location.....Heat.....Spaces......................Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium Rifle..........Body...........0............1...............................5.0
Ammo (M. Rifle) 9..Body...........0............1...............................1.0
Infantry (1 Squad)..Body...........0............1...............................1.0
Quirk:
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