Courtesy of Eldoniousrex
“Hey,” greeted Cadet Daphne. Killbourne’s arid climate often meant temperatures soared into the 30s during the height of the summer, with students at Killbourne Academy given time off in the afternoons for a time-honored tradition known as a ‘siesta.’ Only some students could nap as the barrack’s woefully insufficient air conditioning meant that the temperature indoors was scarcely lower than outdoors. Sleepless cadets would wander the academy grounds and socialize, as Cadets Daphne and Rory did frequently.
“Hey,” Rory responded. Daphne could see perspiration collecting from the inside of his wide-brimmed hat and the heat flushing his ruddy cheeks. Rory’s heft was a rare sight at Kilbourne Academy—especially on a student—but he was an easy companion to talk to while the rest of the training battalion rested in their bunks.
“You heard about the colonel’s visit?” Rory broke the silence with a question that caught Daphne off guard.
“What colonel?”
“The Colonel. Colonel Winston Abarian, the guy in charge of the whole academy?” Rory wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “They say he’s going to be inspecting the cadets and selecting the best for the militia.”
“Pfft,” Daphne kicked a rock and watched it spiral off into a chasm distressingly free of fencing. “Not like a first-year like me is going to make the cut.”
The two stood in silence, looking out at the barren wastes that surrounded Killbourne Academy. “There’s also a new ‘Mech coming. A Chameleon.”
“So what?” Daphne kicked another rock and counted the seconds until she heard it bounce off the side of the canyon. “We have half a dozen of those things in the ‘Mech bay. They’re older than the Inner Sphere and smell like it too.”
Rory laughed. She liked the way he laughed. “True, but this one’s brand new.”
The way he said it made her think that its newness was somehow notable. “So what? A new training ‘Mech is still a training ‘Mech.”
“Haven’t you heard?” Daphne shook her head, and Rory continued. “There’s rumors going around that there’s a bounty hunter who sneaks into military academies to assassinate high-ranking officers. He gets in with a Chameleon that is set to make everyone think it’s just another training ‘Mech, but it’s actually armed to the teeth with Clan-grade tech.”
Daphne snorted. “Sounds ridiculous. And you think this Colonel Abarian has a price on his head?”
Rory shrugged. “Just seems a weird coincidence is all.”
Just then, the unmistakable sound of a BattleMech stomping across the parade grounds made the two cadets turn. It was the new Chameleon, still in its grey primer, marching across the dusty field. They watched it turn directly towards them, picking up speed as its legs pumped like a sprinter until it was right on top of them.
Cadets Rory and Daphne shared a panicked glance at the chasm behind them, then the charging BattleMech in front of them. “You don’t think this guy thinks we’re officers, right?” Rory asked.
Then the Chameleon suddenly slowed, coming to a complete stop mere meters in front of the astounded students. It slumped its shoulders and bent its knees as though taking a much-needed breather from its initial sprint, and then clouds of steam came billowing out from every vent the ‘Mech had. The ‘Mech’s pilot soon emerged, nearly beat red and taking in great lungfuls of arid air.
Once he’d caught his breath, what looked like a technician called down to the two cadets. “Sorry about that! I forgot to turn on this Chameleon’s heat sinks. Good thing this thing shut down before I ran off this here cliff!” The technician coughed again, then asked, “Have either of you seen Colonel Abarian?”
“No,” the two cadets said in unison, then both walked briskly towards the student barracks.
Learning to command the deadly technologies given to soldiers has always required specialized tools. Simulation and virtual reality can provide soldiers with most of the knowledge they’ll need, but there’s still nothing better than the real thing. Thus, the Chameleon provides MechWarriors with necessary hands-on training before being thrust into combat.
Introduced in the year 2510, the Chameleon is one of the oldest ‘Mechs in existence and even predates the founding of the Star League. The go-to training ‘Mech for Terran Hegemony forces, the TRC-4B would go on to become the standard for MechWarrior instruction across the Inner Sphere thanks to numerous systems designed specifically to teach MechWarriors the importance of every ‘Mechs’ systems, and for its ability to mimic other ‘Mechs while in a training environment. Onboard systems allowed the Chameleon to mirror the electronic signature and take on the movement profile of almost any ‘Mech. A combination of virtual and augmented reality programs then gave the trainee the impression their unpowered training lasers were autocannons, PPCs, or other weapons that the Chameleon didn’t actually possess.
In addition to being able to modify its appearance and performance both electronically and with special armor plates, the Chameleon was also vital in teaching potential MechWarriors how to manage a BattleMech’s heat load. The Chameleon‘s heat sinks could be disabled or enabled individually, and software would automatically lock both weapons and jump jets if the trainee’s heat levels rose too high. This avoided a full shutdown, but not a scathing rebuke from trainers.
The TRC-4B Chameleon (also known as the CHM-3 Training Scout) was the most common training ‘Mech during the Star League and for much of the Succession Wars. It came armed with one Large Laser, two Medium Lasers, four Small Lasers, and two machine guns. Only 10 single heat sinks kept the ‘Mech cool, forcing the pilot to learn how to volley fire their largely energy-based weapons.
Defiance Industries would continue to produce the Chameleon until 3052 when the manufacturer decided to retool the Chameleon line to produce the new Nightsky. Defiance then sold the design to J.B. BattleMechs in 3053, who began producing new Chameleons on the planet Storfors in 3056. The CLN-7V was largely similar to the TRC-4B but had three Small Lasers instead of four. Its VLAR 300 engine gave it a top speed of 97 kph, and its six jump jets allowed it to leap up to 180 meters. Ten single heat sinks were still insufficient to keep the ‘Mech cool if it began to fire all its weapons, and seven tons of armor was sufficient protection for a ‘Mech that wasn’t intended to see combat.
However, J.B. BattleMechs did consider a combat role for the Chameleon with the CLN-7W. This variant replaced the Small Lasers and machine guns with a Medium Pulse Laser, upgraded the Large Laser to an Extended Range version, and upgraded the single heat sinks to doubles. The CLN-7Z went even further, replacing the standard engine with an Extralight version which allowed this Chameleon to mount two Large Lasers, a single Large ER Laser, 12 double heat sinks, and 10.5 tons of armor—nearly the maximum a ‘Mech of its size could carry.
While the 7W and 7Z would see some sales, the 7V remained the most popular variant, especially with the Inner Sphere’s MechWarrior training academies. It was so popular that someone would use that popularity to allegedly infiltrate academies with the intent of murdering high-ranking officers. The CLN-7VQ was known to be armed with a Heavy PPC and Capacitor and three Clan-tech Improved Heavy Medium Lasers, all tied to a Targeting Computer. The Chameleon‘s mimicry systems were combined with an Angel ECM to make detecting this ambush predator all the more difficult. Despite the general panic, this variant caused to academies throughout the late 3070s, only a single kill has ever been attributed to the CLN-7VQ and its mysterious pilot.
Modern variants of the Chameleon continue the training ‘Mech’s tradition of being generally too hot for its weapons to teach pilots how to avoid a shutdown. The CLN-8V from J.B. BattleMechs comes with 12 double heat sinks for one ER Large Laser, three Medium X-Pulse Lasers, two Medium Lasers, and two machine guns. CASE II and nine tons of armor give this ‘Mech far better protection than its predecessors, but it finds itself unable to fire its full weapons complement effectively.
The CLN-9V is Defiance Industry’s first new Chameleon in decades. A Light Engine, six tons of Heavy Ferro-Fibrous armor, and a Reinforced Internal Structure make this Chameleon extraordinarily tough, although some question the wisdom of reduced armor protection in favor of stronger internals. A Light PPC, two ER Medium Lasers, three Small X-Pulse Lasers, and two machine guns are generally lighter firepower than most Chameleons, but at least the ten double heat sinks keep the CLN-9V cooler than the CLN-8V.
Although it remains largely outclassed by other 50-ton BattleMechs, the Chameleon‘s unique capabilities have allowed it to retain its spot as the Inner Sphere’s premiere training ‘Mech for centuries. Even a relatively brief episode as an alleged assassin only increased sales with J.B. BattleMechs. Some speculate the whole thing was a marketing stunt and the single confirmed kill was a terrible example of corporate greed resulting in loss of life. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last.
And as always, MechWarriorrs: Stay Syrupy.
I empathically protest the notion that the Chameleon is a bad ‘Mech! It’s not. There is nothing wrong with this machine. When you disregard all the trainer capabilities it still compares favorably or at least competitive versus other 50-tonners, or medium ‘Mechs in general (though the sweet spots for the best builds seem to be the 45 and 55 ton slots).
The 50-ton bracket is one of the “niche spots” and the 19-ton 300 engine is 4.5 tons more than the 270, which is BARELY less space efficiency as the 45 ton Phoenix Hawk. The gyro remains 3 tons:
45: 8 tons weapons after 9 tons armor, 3 tons JJ
50: 7 tons weapons after 10 tons armor, 3 tons JJ
Still basically the same issue – high heat, one big weapon likely LL, not much for secondary. Stuck basically with lasers (which is fine by me).
A) 2x SRM-4s from the same ammo bin, and two MLs? Close-in brawler using physical attacks to pound those light machines to scrap.
B) 4x MLs, 2x HS, 6x SL? Anti-infantry without the MGs, enough speed to close and crit-seek damaged heavies.
The big issue for me with 6-9-6 is that for evading fire it’s no better really than 5-8-5. However if you are good with maximizing hexes it can lead to that extra flanking, extra cover, extra step outside of the firing arc of slower machines.
Oops too many small lasers in example B. Bad math, apologies.
So, wait, hang on. This article is nothing but upsides. What’s wrong with it? It was intended as a trainer, in that weird way that BT takes real world things and then BT’s them, but was actually just a solid platform with an amazing signature spoofing system, something that astoundingly didn’t get included into other machines.
With the exception of the MG’s, even its base version isn’t offensive. I don’t see how in either lore, or tabletop, this machine was bad. The only terrible thing about it, is that its unique technology was not replicated and used elsewhere.
Not to be all “You should quit your job” like some of the hate comments are, but there’s definitely worse machines than this. What about the Ambassador, and other low hanging fruit?
Like seriously, maybe just start a new side series of “Marvellous Mech of the Month” or something. Covering weird, wonderful or waffle-inducing mechs you feel like talking about. Because the article is good, and I do like reading these, but it’s not a bad mech.
Anyway, fun read, not a bad mech, take care of yourselves, and keep warm out there.
I think at this point it’s only still referred to as “Bad Mechs” because it’s a little too late to change the title of the article series. I agree that a rebrand is a good idea, I just think we’re a little to far along for it to not cause confusion.
Though I think a better title might be a world like Disappointing or Underwhelming.
I also can’t wait for the inevitable uproar when we finally get “Bad ‘Mechs: Urbanmech.”
Because quite a few of us will forever associate the UrbanMech with some certain person in a Facebook group, the name of said person not being mentioned again.
… why?
What I find disappointing is that the series avoids the mechs which are famous and popular but have flaws, for example the Shadow Hawk’s array of low damage weapons or the Warhammer’s massive variety of weapons with some that you so rarely use at all that they are just wasting tonnage and space. Even if it is just lore, there is the Marauder that had vision problems (old lore had it that it had problems handling attacks from below, my head canon is that it was designed for face to face straight line combat and massive differences in elevation was overlooked a bit).
The fact that these “famous” mechs get overlooked gives me the impression of someone with only a casual knowledge of the game to the point where he can only judge based on reputation rather than knowledge of the lore or how the mechs handle in gameplay.
What I find disappointing is that the series avoids the mechs which are famous and popular but have flaws, for example the Shadow Hawk’s array of low damage weapons or the Warhammer’s massive variety of weapons with some that you so rarely use at all that they are just wasting tonnage and space. Even if it is just lore, there is the Marauder that had vision problems (old lore had it that it had problems handling attacks from below, my head canon is that it was designed for face to face straight line combat and massive differences in elevation was overlooked a bit).
The fact that these “famous” mechs get overlooked gives me the impression of someone with only a casual knowledge of the game to the point where he can only judge based on reputation rather than knowledge of the lore or how the mechs handle in gameplay.
Missed a golden opportunity to call it ChameleCon on the banner lol
Sorry, I was tired.
eh, doesn’t matter. Appreciate the art you put into these posts man, they all look great!
I like it. The Chameleon description and all that stuff written as a story, that’s really cool
Ok, now you’re just grasping.
The Chameleon is a TRAINER mech. It was designed with a very focused, and important role in the training of new mechwarriors, namely how to manage their mech’s heat levels. It does exactly what it was designed to do. This is like saying your first bicycle was trash because it had training wheels.
I agree but bug ‘mechs as initial trainers for absolute beginner cadets would be way more cost effective:
One can get 3 Locusts LCT-1V for the price of one TRC-4B. Or get the laser boat LCT-1E version and (temporarily) disable … say … 3 of the 10 heat sinks in order to instill heat management skills.
You want a new pilot, an absolute trainee who has never piloted before, to start with one of the fastest mechs in existence? lol.
The Locust is also an abnormal mech in that it is small and very low to the ground with a non-humanoid profile which is common for many other mechs, it is very unsuited to be used to teach new pilots since it is not “standard” or “normal”, which you want your training mechs to be so that your skills can carry over to as many other mechs as possible. Add the VR/AR equipment to it and the Chameleon comes out ahead as a training tool.
By the raw stats on paper and performance in a vacuum, the Chameleon 7V is a little bit bad. 6/9/6 at 50 tons on Level 1 tech gives very few practical advantages over the Phoenix Hawk’s 6/9/6 at 45 tons, and the expectations are higher to boot.
On top of that, 7 tons of armor with a desired engagement distance of 3 hexes and an alpha overheat of +7 standing is not going to get you very far. Meanwhile, a safe engagement range of 9 gets you +4 standing and means that a good three tons of mass goes to waste.
But it’s imperfect for a reason after all, and personally I’d take something sub-optimal with character over the blandly perfect every time. Even the upgraded 8V still has that air of overloaded jank I’ve come to associate with the Chameleon and I appreciate that version as much as the 7V.
This is a good Mech: excellent in its intended role and decent in combat. Why was it included with the other actual terrible designs?
It’s pretty obvious that the stats for the CLN-7V as presented in TRO:3058 make clear that the design was intended as a substitute for the then-Unseen Phoenix Hawk. With a standard large laser, 6 jump jets, and only 10 single heat sinks, it pretty much plays like a standard PXH-1. But it doesn’t need to be 50 tons in its role as a trainer. 38% of its tonnage is spent just on the engine, and as a result it actually has less armour than a Pixie. To make it truly “bad”, it needs a few more quirks to emphasize its role as a training ‘Mech, besides just Easy To Pilot.
Oh dear God you’ve given me the giggles for hours now …never heard it referred to as a Pixie and it fits so beautifully!!!
Heeheehee!!!!
… Sean… PLEASE… JUST REBRAND
I don’t care if it causes confusion, these aren’t bad mechs anymore!
this mech does its job perfectly, and even it’s combat variant includes plenty of firepower for a 50tonner. just change the damn title already!
Sean is running out of things to whine about. The Chameleon is a trainer. This is like complaining that the T-38 is a bad fighter plane. It isn’t, because it’s not.
Now if we are to complain about the non-trainer versions, the dedicated combat variants, then we’re talking about something like the F-5, which isn’t a great fighter jet, but it’s good enough for second and third tier states, and cold meat going up against say a recently updated F-15. Yes, there are short comings, but they aren’t bad unless you try to put them into a heavy combat. By that rule everything under 45 tons is a “bad mech”. But as an infantry support or recon mech, they are fine. In many ways they’re very well suited for a locally funded militia or SWAT mech unit, or a milagso-type unit. That the mimicry systems that make it appear as something else to other units is abandoned in the lore is an almost criminal oversight.
Most mechs that are “bad” are bad only when used poorly. And using a trainer mech in direct combat is as much a sign of desperation, incompetence or idiocy as jury rigging MGs on a loader mech and then bitching that it can’t replace a trooper mech.
There are still plenty of legitimately bad ‘Mechs to whine about, if only Sean would read the list I posted several months ago…
…Why is this a bad ‘Mech, again? It was designed for a role, and it excels at that role. Even its inability to keep cool serves a purpose. The Chameleon is the very model of a GOOD ‘Mech.
Maybe a new category/series would be more appropriate:
“Underappreciated ‘Mech of the Month”
In the “Bad” series there have been a few of the those already …
Only going to do this one more time:
Annihilator (one of the coolest-LOOKING ‘Mechs IMO, but went all-in on firepower and forgot about speed and armour [for its size])**
Anvil
Battle Hawk
Cossack
Dart
Hunchback IIC
Hussar
Jenner IIC
Mangonel (Inner Sphere version)
Nexus/Jackrabbit
Ost twins
Peacekeeper
Shadow Hawk
Targe
**idea for Eldoniousrex: an Annihilator leading a quartet of Urbies single file, like a mother duck with ducklings
That’s 14 articles worth of actual Bad ‘Mechs
Wolverine. How come the LL marik version is admissable / tradable with the OG? by that metric practically every mech is better as there are variants that fix most of them including the banshee.
Dragon (see shadow hawk)
Quickdraw (2 rear MLs and 2.5 tons wasted on jump jets, no armor.)
60 ton mechs and 40 ton mechs are going to look bad when they try and ape 55 tonners and 35 tonners respcetively. Where’s the 40-ton 5/8/5 3025 mechs? All we get are 7/11/7, 6/9/6, 4/6/4. And 60 tonners with 5/8 should really have more armor, like 12 tons, and short-range weapons with maybe an LRM or LL as secondary.
He already did the Quickdraw. That one is legitimately bad.
Hey buddy, why don’t you host a website write the articles yourself? Seems like you’re so passionate about this that you comment on every single bad mech post. And if you want eldoniusrex to draw something, how about paying them a commission? I’m sure they would be happy to draw your idea if compensated fairly.
The Chameleon is a trainer and has taught MANY generations of MechWarriors just how to pilot a Mech, but because it has to simulate a LOT of different mech types it has to be focused on training and decentralized on function, especially in combat! In real life there are training vehicles in the services of the World’s militaries that can, if necessary, function in combat, like the British BAE Hawk, which can also function as a light combat aircraft! What’s the Chameleon’s track record in combat, anyone know?
Canonically, its battles in BT fiction are few and far between despite the possibilities. Wolf’s Dragoons had two show up during their internal Civil War but to no appreciable effect, both serving the Jaime-loyal faction.
A Q-Mech based on the Chameleon scored one kill against an instructor during the WoB Jihad.
Besides that, its only other major appearance I can recall was in Crescent Hawk’s Inception, though that was the TRC-4B iteration.
Given the 7V is statistically akin to an underarmored Phoenix Hawk though, odds are it suffered similar attrition rates, if not higher due to the likelihood of lower-skilled pilots.
I don’t know it’s in universe track record, but I can give you a battle report from a game I played earlier today.
The game was an Alpha Strike 250 pt. breakthrough mission. The defender had 1 SRM carrier, 2 LRM carriers, 1 Ontos tank, a Stalker, Firestarter, Blackjack and a Chameleon. I was running a Warhawk, Mad Dog, Cougar, Night Gyr, and Stormcrow, all prime configurations.
Despite most of my star being skill 3, the Chameleon actually survived the entire match, and it can partially claim my Mad Dog and Stormcrow as kills due to acting primarily as a spotter for all of my opponent’s fire support. It almost claimed my Night Gyr, though it was close enough to the edge to sprint off the map by then. We were pretty evenly matched in terms of movement speed, with a lot of cover, so much of the match was at close to medium range.
In the end, I got the Cougar, Night Gyr, and Warhawk off the map, The Warhawk solo killed the SRM carrier, Stalker, and an LRM carrier in true clanner fashion, while the Firestarter and Blackjack were picked apart by the Cougar and Night Gyr. It was a very close game overall, and I’d say the Chameleon played it’s role as a scout and spotter pretty well.
Definitely you WON’T see a Chameleon IIC among the Clans because they cut through the middleman and a warrior’s first ride in a mech is ALWAYS solo! It allows the Clans to separate the men and the women from the boys and the girls!
BUT, the Chameleon could be a decent second-line mech for the Clans if done right…..maybe?
They have something similar–the Conjurer/Hellhound, but that’s really a Wolverine IIC.
If you played Battletech: The Crescent Hawk’s Inception, and you managed to keep the Chameleon, the big problem was that it had no internals, and therefore couldn’t be repaired, because it was a training Mech.
How can a mech NOT have internals? It’s still a mech, training and otherwise, right?
It was a holdover from when BT was much simpler. There was an option to play a “BT-lite” game with Chameleons that took out the crits for a pure damage model. Think it was somewhere around 1994 or so when I got the set, so very long time ago.
Another excellent teaser image by @Eldoniusrex … thank you.
The article is well written and concise.
My 0.02€:
The initial Chameleon is what it is … a training ‘mech … and actually a good one – being in use for more than half a millennium speaks for itself.
The “combat variants” -7W and -7Z are nice bug ‘mech hunters replacing the Grasshopper in that role … whilst being way faster than a stock Grasshopper.
A nice anti-pirate lance would be 2 CLN-7W or -7Z paired with two BJ-2: the BJ-2 for primarily anti-tank and anti-vehicle work where as the CLN-7W/Zs for primarliy anti-‘mech work. Whilst standing off as much as possible. Especially in the periphery.
The Wolverine IIC: DEFINITELY a mech you will NOT see with the Clans, at least in name!
One fact I find funny/serious is that it doesn’t matter WHO you’re a MechWarrior trainee for, either Inner Sphere, Periphery, or Clan, is that it’s beaten into you during training, literally with the Clans: WATCH THE HEAT GAUGE! We all know: you overheat, you lose! It’s part of training in the Chameleon and has been for centuries: the original warriors that made up the Clans, both Kerenskys included, all got trained on the Chameleon at the start of their storied(?) careers!