Blitzkrieg (BattleMech)

This article is about the 50-ton BattleMech. For otheruses, see Blitzkrieg.

Blitzkrieg
Production information
Manufacturer	Coventry Metal Works
Production Year	3061
Model	BTZ-3F
Class	Medium
Cost	10,787,500 C-bills
Technical specifications
'Mech type	Inner Sphere BattleMech
Mass	50 tons
Chassis	Coventry BTZ-VII [endo steel]
Armor	Lexington Ltd. High Grade Ferro-Fibrous
Engine	Magna 350 XL
Communications System	TharHes Muse 54-58K
Targeting Tracking System	Cyclops 9b
Heat Sinks	10 double
Speed	118 km/h
Armament	1x UAC/20
BV (1.0)	1,092
BV (2.0)	1,273

Description

Taking its name from a German term meaning "Lightning War," the Blitzkrieg completely lives up to the name. Built on a lightweight Coventry BTZ-VII endo steel chassis and powered by a Magna 350 XL engine not only frees space for powerful weapons and equipment, but also gives the 'Mech a top speed of 118.8 km/h. The Blitzkrieg is primarily protected by its high speed, but carries six and a half tons of Lexington Limited High Grade ferro-fibrous armor that is light for a 'Mech of its size.

Weapons and Equipment

The cavernous amount of space in the Blitzkrieg allows it to carry a massive Defiance Thunder UAC/20 that can fire at twice the rate as a standard autocannon. This powerful weapon, combined with the 'Mech's high speed, lets the Blitzkrieg truly live up to its name by bringing an immense amount of firepower to bear on a target and fading away just as quickly.

Variants

• BTZ-4F 

  This variant was introduced during the Jihad. It exchanges the 'Mech's ferro-fibrous armor for the even lighter light ferro-fibrous armor and the standard gyro for an XL gyro. This allows for the addition of jump jets, a targeting computer, a C3 slave unit, and a heavy PPC. BV (2.0) = 1,740

Design Quirks

The Blitzkrieg has the following Design Quirks:

• Directional Torso Mount (Ultra AC/20)
• No/Minimal Arms

Related BattleMechs

• Hollander - The Blitzkrieg was built as a replacement for the lackluster Hollander, improving speed, armor, and firepower. However, the Blitzkrieg does not address one of the greatest concerns: the lack of a secondary weapons system.

• Legionnaire - An upgrade on the venerable Centurion, the design and weaponry of the Legionnaire BattleMech was inspired by the performance of the Blitzkrieg during the Federated Commonwealth Civil War. Davion designers based the Legionnaire around a single weapon system; in the case of the Legionnaire, designers chose the newly developed rotary autocannon.

• Hollander II - Another improvement over the Hollander BattleMech, the Hollander II increases weight but maintains a similar chassis. The increased weight has been used to add a secondary weapon system or replace the Gauss rifle with a heavy Gauss rifle.

Notes

• In German products, the unit's proper name was altered to Blitzschlag, which rather translates to Lightning Strike. The model code was left unchanged. The name change was presumably done due to the word blitzkrieg having connections with World War II and Nazi Germany (as the German advances early in the war were styled blitzkriegs), and so the name in Germany would have been changed to avoid those allusions.

Gallery

• 

  Original Blitzkrieg from TRO:3060

Bibliography

• Combat Operations
• Master Unit List
• Record Sheets: 3060
• Record Sheets: 3060 Unabridged
• Technical Readout: 3060