Cray
01/11/02 03:43 PM
204.245.128.3
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From what I've seen, the Taurian Concordat has 3 factories each for Thunderbolts and Marauders. Rather impressive for a bunch of backwater Periphery hicks. (Pardon, that's my Terran upbringing speaking.)
So, with rather prodigious production capacity of those mechs, how would a Periphery nation utilize L2 technology to improve them? Answers: 1) make more of them than before and 2) use double strength heat sinks.
Answer 1 is simple. The wonder of recovered technology means that not only do mechs get meaner, but decaying factories can be improved or new ones built. Put a few classes of your smarter (not necessarily smartest) subjects through technical classes made possible with recovered knowledge and put them to work making new assembly lines. Also, do make sure to release some of the new technology with civilian applications to civilians - it'll help your economy and thus your tax base and thus the size of the army you can field. Which is convenient if you've suddenly started building more than before.
The second is obvious. Nothing improves mechs like double strength heat sinks. You can use the most archaic weapons to evaporate the meanest Clan mechs if you have DHS. They also turn energy weapons into the ultimate weapons, which is convenient for a Periphery military. Energy weapons aren't dependent on supply lines the way ACs and missile launchers are.
All this was explained kindly to the Taurian Concordat by the Inner Sphere industrial advisors they had hired, Masterson Enterprises. Don't waste billions building factories that would supply parts to build factories that would build parts for other factories that would make all that lostech crap possible to build. Most of that stuff required an entirely new military-industrial infrastructure to build. Stick to the basics and maybe one or two lostech items. Like double strength heat sinks. Spend all those billions to build new copies of existing mech factories able to build mechs with existing technology. Really, you can work wonders with existing (L1) technology, Masterson consultants told the Taurians. Don't buy into that nonsense about the Inner Sphere going ga-ga over Artemises and ERs and endosteels. That just covers up for sucky mechwarriors (all the good ones are dead because of the Clans) and designers so blinded by high technology they couldn't design a decent mech with the new tech to save their good mechwarriors' lives.
Taurian military officers admitted that they had noticed many of the Inner Sphere designs that appeared in the early 3050s to exploit new technology often had a certain element of compromise to them ("sucked", was one of the common terms actually used).
So they invited Masterson's consultants to provide their outline for new Thunderbolts and Marauders. It couldn't hurt, after all, and the consultants obviously had something prepared.
The presentation started with an outline for greatly redesigned...no, REARRANGED...mech factories. These considerably streamlined the flow of components through the factory and reversed the usual habit of bringing tools to the unfinished mechs to the novel idea of moving mechs to the tools with cranes and moving platforms. Masterson apparently had great success using this assembly line technique to build its (in)famous Sport-Utility Mechs and Minuteman battlemech. While using the same tools as the Concordat's current mech factories, output would be increased significantly for the same number of man-hours.
The consultants then outlined their redesigns of the Thunderbolt and Marauder, tentatively labeled the TDR-6T and MAD-5T. They took their time reaching the juicy part (the loadout) and lingered over proposed improvements. In many cases, components were replaced with slightly upgraded models completely producible with local technology, but benefiting from additional decades (and sometimes centuries) of accumulated experience and wisdom. Hard-to-reach parts were moved closer to access panels, actuator bearing surfaces gained wear-resistant coatings and simplified but more effective lubricant circulation systems, corrosion-resistant materials were substituted for older ones in key areas, etc. The MAD-5T would get a nifty new sensor array and large interior display screens to eliminate the Marauder's problematic narrow field of view. This was coupled with a lightweight set of VR glasses that would fit under most neurohelmets. For the most part, the new components were completely back compatible so they could gradually replace parts in use on existing models of Thunderbolts and Marauders. It also meant two assembly lines (for old and new parts) were not necessary - the Concordat could stop building the old parts and not worry about the logistics of maintaining existing TDRs and MADs. The Concordat officers all thought this was pretty clever and could see the maintenance savings ringing up as they listened to the consultants preach.
Then the consultants reached the loadout. The obvious thing to do with the Marauder, they said, was dump the troublesome AC. This was common wisdom and hallmark of not a few Marauder variants. However, the Masterson consultants proposed the primary reason was to eliminate the need to haul around yet another type of ammo that cost as much per ton as many Concordat families earned in a year, rather than the ammo linkage. A Class-5 AC only had to fire a few tons of ammo to be as expensive as a PPC. And since the Marauder already had two PPCs and was gaining double strength heat sinks...
The Concordat officers began to truly comprehend why mechs only needed "freezers" to be competitive with other advanced tech machines. The MAD-5T would have a triplet of standard Magna Hellstar PPCs and twin Magna Mk III medium lasers. Solid, well-known designs. PPCs were recommended over ER PPCs because the components that made ER PPCs ER required an almost entirely new technology base, even though the bulk of the weapon could be virtually identical to existing, normal PPCs. The consultants proposed that the Concordat's firms licensed to produce Hellstar PPCs continue to do so and expand their lines using recovered knowledge, much as was proposed for the mechs. The firms could later build addition factories to produce ER components and retrofit them to existing PPCs or divert some of the PPC factory output to be finished as ER PPCs right at the factory. Not coincidentally, the MAD-5T's weapon mounts for the Magna Hellstar PPC also fit Magna Hellstar ER PPCs so the -5T could be upgraded as the ER PPCs became available. The recommendation was, of course, only to mount one ER PPC (the torso mount) on a MAD-5T owing to the limitations of its coolant system.
The TDR-6T exploited the tonnage freed by switching to "freezers" to upgrade its trusty Sunglow large laser to a Magna Hellstar PPC just like the MAD-5T (or, as available, ER PPC). Since the ER PPCs weren't going to be available for a while, the TDR-6T doubled the signature triple medium laser array of the Thunderbolt into a "six pack" of Magna Mk III medium lasers (same model as the MAD-5T) on the left torso. These were buried deeper in the torso than the Thunderbolt's original torso and hidden behind armored doors - the array resembled an SRM 6-rack to the uninitiated. The TDR-6T upgraded the LRM rack to a full 20-tube LRM system (which would be the same model as the forthcoming ARC-4T would mount) with large 3-ton ammo supply (in 3 selectable 1-ton bins). The SRM launcher was sacrificed with little complaint, though some Taurian officers criticized the removal of the arm-mounted machine guns. You couldn't get better crowd control and infantry perforation than a pair of arm mounted machine guns ("Except for TWO pairs of arm mounted machine guns," "Ha ha ha, yes, the general is very funny. Now as I was saying..."). The TDR-6T did gain some flexibility from the pod-mounted LRM array over its right shoulder and the ammo bin mounted high on in the right torso. These were easily removed - no systems except armor covered them - and even designed for quick removal. Several missile pods with identical centers of gravity were available to replace them in an hour-long operation. One included a triplet of SRM 6s and 4 tons of ammo in 4 selectable 1-ton bins; another was built around an MRM 30 and 3 tons of ammo; the last (dependent on a foreign supplier, Comstar) was an I-Narc launcher, Beagle and Guardian, and a prodigious 5 tons of I-Narc ammo in 5 selectable 1-ton bins. TDR-6Ts with the last missile pod were expected to accompany 3 or 7 other Thunderbolts or Archers, making their missile launchers significantly meaner without burdening them with the mass of Artemis fire control systems or C3 networks. Indeed, a single TDR-6T with an I-Narc launcher (and a big supply of I-Narc compatible SRMs and LRMs) could turn an entire unit of older Taurian missile tossers into a very modern missile battery.
The TDR-6T and MAD-5T share a surprising number of components that are not shape-dependent. In many cases, both mechs have similar thicknesses of armor, which allowed the creation of 7 standard, flat armor plates that can be shared across 50% of both mech's surfaces. The now even narrower canopy of the MAD-5T is identical to (one of) the two panes used in the TDR-6T's pillbox-like cockpit. Radios and computers are the same on both mechs, as are gyroscopes. As noted, weapons are identical.
COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS
The new TDRs and MADs are going through combat trials as of 3063 and have not seen actual combat, but results are promising. (If they aren't, the new factories can always build older models until satisfactory designs are found). The TDR-6T evidences a shortcoming on its leftside as it lacks weapons on its left arm, and runs ferociously hot if it fires its ER PPC (if it has one) at short range with its medium lasers. It also has a medium-range weakness - it is good at long range and potent at short ranges. The MAD-5T has a definite short range weakness without an ER PPC, but is potent at medium and long ranges. With a single ER PPC, it gains some utility at extreme ranges and doubles its short range firepower. Lances and companies built around the TDR-6T and MAD-5T perform extremely well.
TDR-6T Thunderbolt
65 tons
6.5 tons internal structure
13.5 tons 260 fusion engine
Walking: 4
Running: 6
Jumping: 0
0 tons 10 DHS
3 tons gyroscope
3 tons cockpit
12.5 tons armor
Head: 3 9
CT: 21 30/11
RT/LT: 15 24/6
RA/LA: 10 20
RL/LL: 15 25
7 tons PPC (RA)
6 tons 6x Medium Lasers (LT)
10 tons LRM 20 (RT)
3 tons LRM ammo (RT)
.5 tons CASE (RT)
MAD-5T Marauder
75 tons
7.5 tons internal structure
19 tons 300 fusion engine
Walking: 4
Running: 6
Jumping: 0
6 tons 16 DHS
3 tons gyroscope
3 tons cockpit
13.5 tons armor
Head: 3 9
CT: 23 30/11
RT/LT: 16 24/7
RA/LA: 12 24
RL/LL: 16 28
21 tons 3x PPC (RA/LA/RT)
2 tons 2x Medium Lasers (RA/LA)
DHS placement: RA/LA, RT/LT
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.
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Tripod
08/10/09 12:24 AM
192.94.94.106
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I dig that MAD. I came up with a quite identical design years ago. *clap*
TBA
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Cray
08/10/09 08:30 AM
147.160.136.10
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Quote:
I dig that MAD. I came up with a quite identical design years ago. *clap*
And my post was made years ago.  Some spambot posted to it and left it marked "new."
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.
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Karagin
08/10/09 04:11 PM
65.248.252.99
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Spambots are so fun...
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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