Linesman

Linesman
Production information
Manufacturer	Earthwerks Incorporated Kallon Industries (prototype)
Model	LMN-1PT5
Class	Assault
Technical specifications
'Mech type	Inner Sphere BattleMech
Mass	90 tons
Chassis	(prototype)
Armor	(prototype)
Engine	GM 270
Communications System	Unspecified
Targeting Tracking System	Unspecified
Speed	54.0 km/h
Armament	4x AC/2 2x LRM-15 2x medium lasers
BV (1.0)	?
BV (2.0)	?

Description

The Linesman is an apocryphal predecessor to the Daboku and Mauler. Canonical sources have since confirmed most of its backstory in broad strokes at least, but also established that the Linesman never existed as a distinct 'Mech; canonically, it was just a nickname given to the earliest Mauler prototypes.

This article remains in place to describe the distinct 'Mech design that existed in apocryphal form for many years; mind that the prototype Mauler that was established as canonical in its stead differs in some aspects.

Canonicity

The Linesman (alternatively also called "Linienrichter" in German) was first published along with its background history as detailed below in Life Support #4, the official magazine of the (first) MechForce Germany. The German-only book BattleTech – Die Welt des 31. Jahrhunderts by Heyne, the publisher of the translated German line of BattleTech novels, also mentions the Linesman and its abbreviated background history, but does not provide statistics for the 'Mech. The expanded German edition of the Solaris VII: The Game World box set produced by FanPro included an official record sheet for the MAL-1PT5 Mauler, an exact reproduction of the Linesman in all but name.

None of the aforementioned sources meets the criteria for Canon. However, in 2023 Shrapnel magazine, issue #15, established that the early history of the Mauler was indeed essentially as described in the Linesman writeup. The key difference is that canonically, the Capellans had designated the 'Mech the MAL-1PT5 Mauler right from the beginning and Linesman was just a nickname coined during field trials. Thus, the LMN alphanumerical designation was explicitly not canonized, but refuted in canon. Also, in canon there was a sixth prototype in the field trials, the sole sample of the MAL-1PT6 subvariant.

Wassili Cherenkow was not mentioned in canon, nor was the fate of any of the original prototypes beyond two of them being salvaged by Federated Suns forces on Beten Kaitos and one resurfacing in the Solaris Games in the late 3040s, piloted by Michael Romney.

History

The Linesman was a Capellan Confederation design project developed at the same time as the Cataphract around 3015. Its aim was to create a BattleMech from proven, domestically produced components that could be maintained and supported with relative ease by the resource-poor Confederation with its ailing industry base.

The concept caused a polarized debate among the scientists and officers involved, until Chancellor Maximilian Liao finally stepped in. The Capellan industry would only be able to bring one of the new designs into full production, and he decided in favor of the Cataphract. The Linesman design was shelved. Only five prototypes had been built.

Although the design had been shelved, the five prototypes were given to McCarron's Armored Cavalry for evaluation and saw combat action during McCarron's Long March in 3022 and 3023. They served with distinction on Beten Kaitos, and one Earthwerks Incorporated weapons technician named Wassili Cherenkow was subsequently awarded ownership of one that he had piloted in a critical situation after its assigned MechWarrior had been taken out. Two of the prototypes were completely destroyed over the course of the fighting, and a third was damaged beyond repair and broken down for spare parts. The two remaining prototypes were returned to the Earthwerks facility on Tikonov after the Long March campaign. Cherenkow quit his service with Earthwerks in 3027 and reportedly joined Romano Liao's personal guard with his 'Mech.

Before the outbreak of the Fourth Succession War, Earthwerks sold the plans for the Linesman, along with the remaining prototype, to Luthien Armor Works in the Draconis Combine during the tech transfers made possible by the Concord of Kapteyn. The design, known as Nainokami in the Draconis Combine, became the basis for the Combine's Daboku/Mauler design project. (The Daboku was not yet written into the universe when the Linesman was invented.) The outer appearance of the Linesman went essentially unchanged in the process.

Variants

When it became apparent that enemy forces could close in on the Linesman to stay below the effective range of its weaponry, the designers considered to exchange the Ceres Arms Medium Lasers for Sunglow 2S Large Lasers for better defense at short range. However, this required a speed reduction and came with heat problems and no satisfactory solution could be found. While no change was implemented, these considerations already heralded the weapons layout of the later Daboku and Mauler evolutions of the basic design.

Bibliography

• Battletech, Die Welt des 31. Jahrhunderts, p. 441
• Life Support (magazine), issue #4
• Shrapnel Issue 15