Cray
03/06/02 07:50 AM
204.245.128.3
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S-Mart's top of the line Mack truck (often shortened to 'S-Mack Truck' by the operators) is a small Periphery planet "innovation" using the cutting edge military technology of Rocket Launchers and 10-ton ICE trucks.
This defensive weapon is about as single-use as the weapons on its bed, but it IS lethal to many Periphery threats when applied properly, and it's cheap, and all the components are very available. The typical S-Mack Truck is a cut-down 10-ton wheeled cargo transport with a brace of rocket launchers on its back. They are typically parked in some ambush position - alleys are popular, as are woods and hills - and then abandoned by their crew, who retreat to a nearby bunker, building, basement or other location well away from their death trap. The rocket launchers are typically triggered by a remote wire link as an enemy walks in front of the S-Mack truck, though trip wires and even clever staged photocell systems have been seen. The last involves three light beams running to receptors across the street (it's only been used in urban combat). A mech or vehicle needs to trip one of the outlying light beams and the middle one - this ensures the S-Mack truck doesn't fire prematurely on the target's prow or foot, but only the center of mass. These unmanned point blank attacks proved amazingly accurate. Other instances have seen unmanned S-Mack trucks winched into the middle of a road just as an enemy approaches.
Like many missile carriers, the S-Mack truck's rocket launchers are on a turn table. Better funded conversions often include small electric or hydraulic motors to rotate the turn table (1 hex face/3 turns) but many use hand cranks (1 hex face/6 turns). This gives some flexibility to how this one-shot wonder can be parked.
S-MACK TRUCK
10 tons wheeled vehicle
1 ton internal structure
3 tons 60 ICE engine
Cruise: 8
Flank: 12
.5 tons controls
.5 tons armor (2 pts each location)
5 tons RL-10s (Front*)
VARIANTS
The S-Mack truck is not a production vehicle per se. Some independent Periphery planets have made organized efforts to convert cargo trucks of a particular model into S-Mack trucks, but most of the time every S-Mack truck is a unique vehicle unto itself.
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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Nightmare
03/06/02 09:13 AM
194.251.240.107
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LOL
Actually, on second thought, it`s frighteningly effective for
that price tag. Why buy mechs at all?
Advice for Evil Overlords:
My legions of terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
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Cray
03/06/02 09:34 AM
204.245.128.3
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Because mechs can survive a second machine gun hit. 
What was the price tag, BTW? I don't have a vehicle designer program to do the dirty work (price, BV calcs) of vehicle design.
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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KamikazeJohnson
03/06/02 12:32 PM
209.202.47.12
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laying the S-Mack down on somebody 
Peace is that glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading.
--Thomas Jefferson
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Hellbringer
03/06/02 10:38 PM
192.195.234.26
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what are the stats for rocket launchers? Are they just personal weapons?
"But it SHOULD be a spectacle! It should be grand and exciting to us all! I'd hate to think that we've become so jaded that we find even our greatest tiumph, resurrecting the Star League, simply one more obligation."
-General Victor Steiner-Davion (First Prince and Archon in exile) 3064
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Nightmare
03/07/02 12:52 AM
194.251.240.107
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Neither have I
Furthermore, I don`t have stats for RLs, but I doubt they`re
very expensive.
Let`s see here: S-MACK TRUCK
10 tons wheeled vehicle
1 ton internal structure =10,000 cb
3 tons 60 ICE engine =3000 cb
Cruise: 8
Flank: 12
.5 tons controls =5,000 cb
.5 tons armor (2 pts each location) =5,000 cb
5 tons RL-10s (Front*) =price unknown
Multiply this by 1,05 for final cost
BV calculations
def: armor 8
IS/2 = 2
multiply by 0.7 for Wheeled
multiply by defensive movement (+4) 1.4
Total defensive BV = 9.8
Offensive BV:
Weapon BV multiplied by Speed Factor,
in this case weapon BV x 1.89 =
Total BV def+off =
Advice for Evil Overlords:
My legions of terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
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Cray
03/07/02 07:02 AM
204.245.128.3
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They're in FM:Periphery.
They're basically one shot MRM weapons available in 10, 15, and 20 tube configurations.
Oddly, range falls as launcher sizes grow. An RL-10 has a range of 18 (no minimum) while an RL-20 has (IIRC) a range of 12.
Heat is something like 3/4/5.
I think there's the usual +1 to-hit like MRMs.
Tonnage is .5/1/1.5
Crits are 1/2/3
Nice one-shot weapons.
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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Nightmare
03/30/02 02:10 AM
194.251.240.107
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I recently bought HMPlus, and so I wanted to check if this vehicle would be worth anything. One problem came up immediately: HMV doesn`t allow you to mount more than
seven items on a 10-ton vehicle, but you assigned 5 tons
to RL-10s for it.
Advice for Evil Overlords:
My legions of terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
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Cray
03/30/02 06:24 PM
65.33.103.24
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Yes, I worried about that when I drew it up - it's a small vehicle, so it has few slots - and that was confirmed on RGM or CBT about a day after I posted it.
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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