Zaku
10/15/21 07:23 AM
82.40.9.192
|
Unicorn Scout Tank (CoE) UST-23
Mass: 40 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/D-E-D-C
Production Year: 2996
Dry Cost: 936,600 C-Bills
Total Cost: 957,100 C-Bills
Battle Value: 661
Power Plant: 180 Fuel Cell Engine
Cruise Speed: 54.0 km/h
Flanking Speed: 86.4 km/h
Armor: Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Autocannon/20
1 Machine Gun
Manufacturer:
Primary Factory:
Communications System:
Targeting and Tracking System:
Overview:
Created 2996, when the Outworlds Alliance of all places desired a new main affordable tank, which could counter a series of 'piracy raids' from light mechs on their Great House borders. Knowing they would have a issue constructing the design locally the Outworlds Alliance outsourced its creation to several companies on the cheap. The result where several lacklustre designs being submitted, along with a early Lyran prototype of what would become the Unicorn.
Passed over by the Lyran armed forces due to its low weight and armour, the eventual Unicorn were constructed and field tested within a year of their creation, and quickly became a terror to the light mechs harassing their borders.
Fast moving, quick, and a smooth ride, the Unicorn, so named for how its massive cannon protruded from the forward mounted turret. was a very basic, cheap to produce tank, with a very simple mission profile.
Get a AC/20 as quickly as possible into the enemies face.
Capable of going as a decent cavalry speed of 84.8KPH, the Unicorn packed a lot of firepower into a very small, and easily affordable package, thanks to its creative use of a Fuel Cell engine. With a modest armour of 7 tons, and a pintel mounted machine gun to deal with infantry, it was noted to be the most basic design tank anyone could have imagined.
Still while sold to mercenary units in the late third succession wars, the tanks lack of long range weaponry and indeed the ease at which it ran out of ammo saw it passed over in favour of more reliable tanks like the Vedette. In addition its Fuel Cell engine, made it logistically hard to support at times in a Succession War era, making the Outworlds Alliance the only major users of them - which led to predictable fuel shortages and logistical issues in fielding them.
This was somewhat rectified following the clan invasion in 3058, when the Outworlds Alliance began purchasing 180 rated fusion engines from the Blackwell corporation, as to overhaul their small fleet of Unicorns, as well as the FedSuns on a new weapon system. The work would produce the UST-25, a machine weighing the same tonnage, but now armed with 6.5 tons of Ferro-fibrious armour, a small laser, a fusion engine and a Caseless AC/20 with 1 ton of Caseless ammo. The rebuild did fix the fuel issues and did streamline the mechs logistics by removing most of the ammo constraints. However the resulting lawsuit from the Lyran Alliance for not being consulted saw the Lyrans cut off supply of the Unicorn in 3063, leading to the the Outworlds Alliance to produce spare parts locally, but unwilling to build any more.
Design Quirks
Easy to Pilot (2)
Static Ammo Feed (-2)
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 20 points 4.00
Engine: Fuel-Cell Engine 180 8.50
Cruise MP: 5
Flank MP: 8
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 1 0.00
Control Equipment: 2.00
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 1.50
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 112 7.00
Armor
Factor
Front 24
Left/Right 22/22
Turret 24
Rear 20
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Machine Gun T 0 1 0.50
Autocannon/20 T 7 1 14.00
@AC/20 (10) BD - 0 2.00
@MG (1/2) (100) BD - 0 0.50
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 4 Points: 7
5w 3 2 0 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: EE, TUR(3/2/0, AC 2/2/0), AC 2/2/0
|
Karagin
10/15/21 10:19 AM
70.118.172.64
|
So overall this is better Hezter in some regards.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
|