Gausszilla
Sarna News
 | Not Canon The subject of this article does not contribute canonical content to the BattleTech universe, either because it is not intended to or because it is not an official product. |
| Gausszilla | |
|---|---|
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer | ? |
| Model | ? |
| Class | Assault |
| Cost | ? |
| Technical specifications | |
| Mass | 100 tons |
| Chassis | ? |
| Armor | ? |
| Engine | 200 |
| Speed | 32.4 km/h |
| Armament | |
| BV (1.0) | ? |
| BV (2.0) | ? |
Gausszilla is a BattleMech that was designed as a joke and is famous for carrying an unprecedented five Gauss Rifles.
Bryan Nystul, then the BattleTech Line Developer for FASA, played a "Trial of Grievance" against Camille Klein which she issued over over the BattleTech Cartoon series in 1995 at the FASA office. Although the details of the event are sketchy, it is known that he defeated his opponent. During the boardgame session he passed the Gausszilla design around, but did not use it in the actual trial (both combatants fielded a star of regular Clan 'Mechs).
Historical: Operation Klondike, published in 2010, mentioned a unique variant of the Annihilator going by the name of Gausszilla as a nod to Nystul's design.
Contents
Description
The original Gausszilla was described as a Clan ("Level 2") technology 100-ton 'Mech with a class 200 standard engine, Endo-Steel structure, 10 regular heat sinks, 11.5 tons of regular armor, 5 gauss rifles with 9 tons of ammunition between them, and a ER Medium Laser as a secondary weapon.
The original Gausszilla almost certainly did not have an associated image. For reasons unknown, its visual appearance is now usually associated with the Stone Rhino (Behemoth) on various internet sites.
Canonicity
Although it is a legal design under the construction rules, the original Gausszilla was explicitly designed as a joke and was never intended to be canonical as an existing item within the BattleTech universe.
The Gausszilla from Historical: Operation Klondike, on the other hand, is fully canonical; see Annihilator#Custom Variants.
Notes
- Bryan Nystul allegedly said that the Gausszilla must not ever be made canonical, and that it would never be published as a canonical design under FASA's reign. This came to pass; FASA gave up the BattleTech IP in 2001 and as of 2010, when the Gausszilla was canonized as a unique modified Annihilator, the rights were held by Topps and licensed to Catalyst Game Labs via InMediaRes.
- The MechForce Germany has produced a HeavyMetal Pro stats file for the Gausszilla[1]
References
- rec.games.mecha thread about the Trial and its outcome, mentioning the Gausszilla stats (during turn 5)