Chain Whip
Sarna News
Appearing primarily on the arenas of Solaris VII, the Chain Whip is a BattleMech scale Melee Weapon.
Description
The Chain Whip was made to entangle enemy 'Mechs. Tested in the Word of Blake assault on Solaris, the first iteration used pure myomers and wasn't effective. The Blakists made it work by adding additional armor alloy chains to reinforce the myomers. This version of the Chain Whip worked well. Despite its limited damage, the Blakists found it useful for immobilizing enemy forces.[1]
Rules
Game Rules
A Chain Whip can only be mounted in a BattleMech arm, and the arm must contain a hand actuator. The Chain Whip weighs three tons and fills two critical hit slots.[1] The Chain Whip is Experimental Technology. Against all units the Chain Whip uses the Sword attack rules, but the damage is not modified by Attacker weight or TSM. When used against 'Mech or ProtoMechs, a hit to the arm or leg can have additional effects beyond damage.
When a 'Mech's leg is hit by the Chain Whip, the attacker can try to pull its opponent off balance by making a second to-hit roll. If the attacker has TSM, they receive a -2 bonus on the roll. If this attack roll is successful the Whip does no damage but the targeted 'Mech must make a piloting skill roll with a +3 modifier to avoid falling.
When a 'Mech's arm (or ProtoMech's arms or legs) is hit by the Chain Whip the attacker can try to grapple the opponent, preventing either the attacker or target from moving. This is resolved as the leg hit, with the same -2 bonus if the attacker has TSM. An additional -1 bonus applies for every weight class between the attacker and target (ProtoMech, Light, Medium, etc.) if the attacker outweighs the target. Conversely if the target outweighs the attacker, the grapple to-hit roll suffers a +1 penalty. (A medium Trebuchet attacking an Atlas would suffer a +2 penalty on the to-hit roll.) If the grapple attack is successful, neither unit may move from their current location. While successfully grappled, both units may make any physical or weapon attack they like, except those involving the arm mounting the Chain Whip or ensnared by the Chain Whip. If the units involved in the grapple attack each other, they receive a -2 modifier on their attacks. During every turn after a successful grapple, the grappling player must make a grapple roll to maintain the whip on the target's arm. If this roll fails, the whip has fallen off the target and the target is free to move normally.[2]
Chain Whips inflict three points of damage[3] and cost 120,000 C-Bills[4].