Toro

Toro
Toro
Production information
Manufacturer Bermuda Combat Systems

Colonial Tractors[1]


Iroquois Machinery Limited


Liberty Arms


Protectorate Defense Conglomerate


Taurus WarWorks[2]


Vandenberg Mechanized Industries

Production Year 2548[3]
Model TR-A-6[2]
Class Light
Cost 2,396,430 C-bills[3]
Technical specifications
'Mech type Inner Sphere BattleMech
Mass 35 tons
Chassis Humanoid Mk. VI TR
Armor Ecto-Mineral Armorplate 2
Engine Magna 175
Communications System VeraTech MilCom Suite 3
Targeting Tracking System VeraTech MechTnT XVT20S
Heat Sinks 10 single
Speed 86 km/h
Armament
BV (2.0) 864[2][3][4][5]


Description[edit]

The Toro was the Taurian Concordat's first indigenous BattleMech. First produced in 2481[6], the design was based on captured Firebees and developed as a collaboration between the three best arms manufacturers in the Concordat. The Toro took to the front lines against the Star League in the Reunification War, but was not enough to stop the combined might of the Inner Sphere. The League shut down and demolished all of the Toro factories by 2598 in the hope that it would crush Taurian nationalism, though there is no evidence it had the desired effect. Under the Star League aegis, the Taurian heavy industry produced League 'Mechs, a situation they pragmatically continued with following its fall.[7]

Thanks to the dissemination of the Hegemony Memory Core during the Jihad, the Toro was finally revived by manufacturers in the Concordat, Calderon Protectorate, Magistracy of Canopus and ironically the Federated Suns.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

The light 'Mech is slow by thirty-first-century standards, but it was quite maneuverable for the Age of War. The design topped out at 86 km/h. It was protected by a respectable six and a half tons of armor. Its comparatively low cost allowed entire battalions to swiftly be equipped with BattleMechs.[7]

Weapons and Equipment[edit]

The Toro was a long-range fighter, armed with a Taurus WarWorks PPC and two Delta Dart LRM-5 launchers. The standard allotment of 10 single heat sinks was sufficient as long as the MechWarrior managed their heat wisely. Two tons of ammunition kept the Toro in protracted engagements and allowed flexibility in ammo selection. Due to the lack of short-range backup, Toros were arrayed in staggered lines so as to allow them to support each other.[7]

Variants[edit]

  • Intermediate models 
    As technology advanced, the Toro was upgraded, with the A-6 being the last produced.[2] No data on the intermediate models is available.
  • TR-A-1 
    The original prototype was closer to a variant of the primitive Firebee, developed in 2481[14]. It had two SRM-2s, which shared a ton of ammunition, and a large laser. Though it could only manage 64 km/h, the A-1 had more armor protection than the Firebee,[2] at 10.5 tons of primitive armor.[15] BV (2.0) = 671[16][14]

Design Quirks[edit]

The TR-A-1 Toro variant is subject to the following Design Quirks:[15]

The TR-A-6 Toro has the following Design Quirk:[19]

Related BattleMechs[edit]

  • Firebee - The Taurian Concordat based the Toro on captured Capellan Firebee BattleMechs.[7]

Notable Pilots[edit]

  • Colonel Roy Ferndale, using his personal Toro, led invading SLDF forces on a chase that lasted over a month, destroying five of their 'Mechs in the process. Barely gaining more than an hour's worth of sleep at a time, he was eventually caught and executed by Star League forces in 2595. His efforts within the Pleiades Cluster had branded him as a pirate, and left that area of space largely dangerous even after the Reunification War.[7]
  • Black Bessie was considered to be one of the only surviving Toros from the Taurian Concordat's battles with the SLDF. Revered as a mascot by her unit, she participated in the battle to defend the capital of Taurus. It was during this assault that she was incapacitated when her gyro locked up. Not willing to let their beloved icon fall victim to Star League forces, several members of Black Bessie's unit carried her out of combat, sequestering the Toro from invading forces. After the liberation of the Concordat, Black Bessie was placed atop a 185-meter pillar.. Black Bessie remained a cherished figure of all Taurian citizens until the destruction of the capital in 3074.[7]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Field Manual: 3145, p. 189: "Fronc Reaches"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Technical Readout: Jihad, pp. 64–65: "TR-A-6 Toro"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 MUL online entry for the Toro
  4. Record Sheets: 3075 Unabridged, p. 270
  5. Record Sheets: 3075 Unabridged - Age of War, p. 216
  6. Era Digest: Age of War, p. 11: "BattleMech Tech Timeline"
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Technical Readout: 3075, pp. 296-297: "TR-A-6 Toro"
  8. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 184: "Taurian Concordat"
  9. Objectives: Periphery, p. 5: "Concordat Overview"
  10. Objectives: Periphery, p. 6: "Liberty Arms"
  11. Objectives: Periphery, p. 13: "Protectorate Arms Conglomerate "
  12. Objectives: Periphery, p. 16: "Bermuda Combat Systems"
  13. Objectives: Federated Suns, p. 29: "Industrial Systems"
  14. 14.0 14.1 MUL online entry for the Toro TR-A-1 variant
  15. 15.0 15.1 Experimental Technical Readout: Primitives, Volume 4, p. 3: "TR-A-1 Toro"
  16. Experimental Technical Readout: Primitives, Volume 4, p. 18: "TR-A-1 Toro Record Sheet"
  17. Shrapnel, Issue 10, p. 152
  18. Shrapnel, Issue 10, p. 153
  19. BattleMech Manual, p. 95: BattleMech Quirk Table - Toro Entry

Bibliography[edit]