A Victorian Age (BT AU)

[Gosu]

Originally Posted by antagonist

Nice chapter.

Dost thou hast a TRO to go with her Marauder? ^.^

With SSW I got something with 12.5 tons of ferro-fibrous (223pts, 96% armor), 16 DHS and 3xPPC, 3xML. And NO XL engine, so more or less in the proposed refit scheme.

It can run and fire all PPC's and remain heat neutral. Up close it can drop one PPC for the three medium lasers and remain cool as well.

Basically it is a faster, cooler running Awesome with a bit less protection. Not bad at all.

[drakensis]

Originally Posted by antagonist

Nice chapter.

Dost thou hast a TRO to go with her Marauder? ^.^

Type/Model:    Marauder 'Vicky Special'
Tech:          Inner Sphere / 3050
Config:        Biped BattleMech
Rules:         Level 2, Standard design
Mass:          75 tons

Equipment:                                Mass       Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Crits    Mass
Int. Struct.:          Standard          7.50        1 PPC                    RA     3      7.00
Engine:        300 Fusion                19.00       1 Medium Laser           RA     1      1.00
   Walking MP:   4                                   1 PPC                    RT     3      7.00
   Running MP:   6                                   1 Medium Laser           LT     1      1.00
   Jumping MP:   0                                   1 PPC                    LA     3      7.00
Heat Sinks:     16 Double [32]            6.00       1 Medium Laser           LA     1      1.00
Gyro:                                     3.00
Cockpit, Life Supt., Sensors:             3.00
Armor Factor:  200 pts Standard          12.50

                     Internal    Armor
                     Structure   Value
   Head:                 3          9      
   Center Torso:        23         35   Rear: 10
   L/R Side Torso:      16      23/23   Rear: 8/8
   L/R Arm:             12      24/24      
   L/R Leg:             16      18/18

Originally Posted by consequences

Nice, now write more yaz bastich!

Why wouldn't Carlyle's mech have been refitted with freezers? The GDL explicitly pulled enough tech to refit their surviving company along with the additional two companies of SL vintage machines from the Helm cache.

There's nothing clearly stated about the condition of his Marauder, although apparently I have made a mistake - he would still be in a Marauder at this time, switching to his Victor after the loss of Sudeten.

[antagonist]

Mh. They didn't have Endo Steel in 3050? Bit low on leg armor, but otherwise a nice ride

For that time, mind.

[consequences]

Yeah, that leg armor worries me. Personally, I'd Endo-steel that bitch up to just max the armor all over, eat the one point of wastage, and add another DHS and a small laser to round it out.

And it's actually difficult to do much better than that with Inner sphere tech at any time. XL engines completely kill your durability for pitched battles, and if you go ER on the PPCs your heat shoots through the roof. And, of course, there's still no weapon that beats the heat/damage/tonnage curve of the bog-standard medium laser. And, of course, if you add IS endo-steel, you promptly lose nearly a third of the default free crit space a mech has.


For that matter, have you considered loading it up with positive quirks, as befits the ride of the Archon-Princess Heir Designate Grand High Pooh-Bah type person?

As far as the GDL goes, if it was never explicitly stated, you could have them have sold all their SL era equipment for top dollar to explain the lack of freezers. In any reasonable verse it all would have been quite impossible for them to keep running at Star League specs for the two decades between recovering it and the Clan invasion anyway.

[Steel Warrior]

Originally Posted by antagonist

Mh. They didn't have Endo Steel in 3050? Bit low on leg armor, but otherwise a nice ride

For that time, mind.

Swapping standard internals for endo is going to be a bit of a pain. It can be done, but is expensive. Swapping to ferro-fibrous isn't as effective, but would (in a 'real-world' sense) be much easier.

[Gosu]

Originally Posted by drakensis

Type/Model:    Marauder 'Vicky Special'
Tech:          Inner Sphere / 3050
Config:        Biped BattleMech
Rules:         Level 2, Standard design
Mass:          75 tons

Equipment:                                Mass       Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Crits    Mass
Int. Struct.:          Standard          7.50        1 PPC                    RA     3      7.00
Engine:        300 Fusion                19.00       1 Medium Laser           RA     1      1.00
   Walking MP:   4                                   1 PPC                    RT     3      7.00
   Running MP:   6                                   1 Medium Laser           LT     1      1.00
   Jumping MP:   0                                   1 PPC                    LA     3      7.00
Heat Sinks:     16 Double [32]            6.00       1 Medium Laser           LA     1      1.00
Gyro:                                     3.00
Cockpit, Life Supt., Sensors:             3.00
Armor Factor:  200 pts Standard          12.50

                     Internal    Armor
                     Structure   Value
   Head:                 3          9      
   Center Torso:        23         35   Rear: 10
   L/R Side Torso:      16      23/23   Rear: 8/8
   L/R Arm:             12      24/24      
   L/R Leg:             16      18/18

Well, I was close ...

[Gosu]

Originally Posted by consequences

Yeah, that leg armor worries me. Personally, I'd Endo-steel that bitch up to just max the armor all over, eat the one point of wastage, and add another DHS and a small laser to round it out.

The main thrust of Drakensis's refits is minimum-effort, maximum gain. In that vein, replacing the entire skeleton is far more extensive than refitting the cooling system.

When I speculated, I had 12.5t ferro-fibrous as well because I figured that would be easier to refit than endo-steel. But even that was too much

[Barricade]

Hmm. I'd have least had the 'turret' PPC be an ER, but leave the arm versions as standard PPCs. You'd get at least one weapon you can use singly to take potshots with at extreme range, and then as you/they close, switch to the standard PPCs in a 3-2-3 firing setup.

[Gosu]

Originally Posted by Barricade

Hmm. I'd have least had the 'turret' PPC be an ER, but leave the arm versions as standard PPCs. You'd get at least one weapon you can use singly to take potshots with at extreme range, and then as you/they close, switch to the standard PPCs in a 3-2-3 firing setup.

Best variant I could come up with without going endo steel was 2xERPPC, 1xLL, 2xSL and 20DHS. For two points less on the main armament you'd still be heat neutral if you fire them all the time, you have longer range and all guns can fire in close without problems. But hey, small lasers? Might as well remove them and add another ton of armor.

To keep it more Marauder like, you can go 2xERPPC, 1xLL, 2xML and 19DHS. But that screws up the beauty of the Vickie Special, a main armament you can keep firing while running. Of course if you go 11.5 ton FF you can get back that DHS, and the main armament cooling factor while keeping the armor as is.

You can solve most woes by going endo-steel, and end up with the same armament as above, max armor, and half a ton cargo space to store whatever additional survival equipment the heir to the throne may have foisted on her. Or you go with half a ton armor less than maximum (still 96.5%) and put in a small pulse laser to deal with infantry. But that is a far more involved refit.

[Hellion_Prime]

I've long thought that things like complete skeleton replacements shouldn't be considered "refits". Once you've done that, you've basically got a new mech design that happens to look like an old one.

[drakensis]

The Vicky Special is basically a testbed for double heatsinks that Victoria paid for personally and started work on herself when she was at NAIS for a year on exchange from the Nagelring. While other tech was available, that wasn't what she was interested in at the time. Other than the Ferrofibrous, Gosu had it pretty nailed.

It's also not the design that'll get used for the general refits. The Vicky Special got an extensive torso rebuild (thus her not having it in time for Trell One) that isn't practical for fast refits.

[consequences]

Originally Posted by Hellion_Prime

I've long thought that things like complete skeleton replacements shouldn't be considered "refits". Once you've done that, you've basically got a new mech design that happens to look like an old one.

I was under the impression that the Vicky Special, being a graduation present for the daughter of the most powerful person in the Inner Sphere, had been built from the ground up. Apparently I was mistaken. Whoops.

[drakensis]

Originally Posted by consequences

I was under the impression that the Vicky Special, being a graduation present for the daughter of the most powerful person in the Inner Sphere, had been built from the ground up. Apparently I was mistaken. Whoops.

That's your mistake then. The Vicky Special was something Victoria bought herself (her pocket money is substantial, but even she had to save up for that) to play around with, not a graduation present. Her graduation present was a chalet in Tharkad's Siegfried Glacier Reserve (not that I've mentioned that before).

This doesn't mean that Hanse isn't planning to put her in something better armored as soon as he possibly can.

[consequences]

Originally Posted by drakensis

That's your mistake then. The Vicky Special was something Victoria bought herself (her pocket money is substantial, but even she had to save up for that) to play around with, not a graduation present. Her graduation present was a chalet in Tharkad's Siegfried Glacier Reserve (not that I've mentioned that before).

This doesn't mean that Hanse isn't planning to put her in something better armored as soon as he possibly can.

Hanse needs to get off his ass then. The Fed Suns specifically started making DHS back in 3040, and unless it's taken them fifteen years to catch up to the DC, they should have had endo-steel by now as well.

Unless, of course, you're going with the un-retconned original intent that everything was only just now starting to be produced, in which case its all good. But he still needs to move faster.

[Chris O'Farrell]

I've said it before and I'll say it again;

Devastator.

Twin Gauss Rifles + Twin PPC's = Godlike 'f*(k off' that even a Clan Assault Omni will think twice about getting close to.

Especially if it has the Decepticon logo painted on its torso, and a pilot that shouts 'PREPARE FOR EXTERMINATION' when they go into combat.



On topic, its interesting to see that Victoria appears to have a closer relationship with Nondi in this fic. Understandable I think as she always saw Katherine as all but the reincarnation of Katrina/Mellisia mostly because she WAS a Girl, where she always saw Victor as Hanse, and Hanse not a worthy match for poor little Melissia.

At least such is how I read it. Dump a whole slew of Katherine so strongly identifying herself as a Steiner above all, and there you have it.

Of course, it could just as easily be the fact that Morgan was given the position as head of the AFFC and not her...

[VhenRa]

At least she was semi-competent...

-glares at most high ranking Lyran Generals-

[evilauthor]

Originally Posted by drakensis

Type/Model: Marauder 'Vicky Special'

I dub this Marauder the MAD-5VKY.

Note to self: Must try it out in Megamek.

[Nikas]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

I dub this Marauder the MAD-5VKY.

Note to self: Must try it out in Megamek.

Her old man was called the Fox. Will she try (unsuccessfully) to dodge the monkier the Vixen? MAD-5VXN?

[consequences]

Originally Posted by Chris O'Farrell

Of course, it could just as easily be the fact that Morgan was given the position as head of the AFFC and not her...

Silly bitch should have saved Hesperus and then raided Luthien for her first combat deployment then.

[VhenRa]

Yeah... You have to admit Morgan had guts..

And then he turned that makeshift unit into his personal unit apparently...

[Chris O'Farrell]

Originally Posted by VhenRa

Yeah... You have to admit Morgan had guts..

And then he turned that makeshift unit into his personal unit apparently...

God damn WOB, may they burn in hell for killing him.

I mean if he had been alive when Serpent got stuck on Huntress with everything that was left of the Jags coming down on top of them, he would have handed them their fur coats on a silver platter with a fraction of the casualties, IMHO.

But of course he had to die.

[VhenRa]

Was it Word of Blake?

[Chris O'Farrell]

EVERYTHING was some great big WOB plan

Though to be fair, this was one of the earlier WOB actions and was quite a twist at the time. In 'The Hunters', a Nekekami agent suggests that the assassin was Loki and thus suspicion falls on Katherine. But on the way back from the Clan Homeworlds in Prince of Havoc, everyone works through the events and decide that WOB is a much more likely suspect.

Its not conclusive at all, but it makes a lot more sense that a sleeper WOB agent deep in the ComGuard Fleet was activated to take out the critical person leading the IS attack on the Clan Homeworlds, then Katherine managing to slip an agent into the ComGuards at such short notice to kill Morgan and risk the whole counterstrike.

Of course, Katherine IS just about insane enough to do that, but as Victors bodyguard poitned out, it would have been far more logical to have him killed AFTER the counterstrike, assuming he didn't just die in battle.

[drakensis]

Black Pearl Base, Sudeten
Tamar March, Lyran Commonwealth
12 July 3050

“We noticed fairly early that the Clans’ BattleMechs are significantly more advanced than those we field,” Victoria briefed the gathered officers. Thus far the meeting felt quite a bit like defending her thesis at the Nagelring had – although it was probably the other way round. The Nagelring’s curriculum was intended to prepare students for military life after all. “Even more so than those of the Star League in fact. However, they are still BattleMechs and the improvements over the Star League, are incremental, not the enormous jump that they represent against our current standards.” The Junior Officer’s Strategy Board had divided up the areas that they had covered, and Victoria had called dibs on the technical side.

“In general, the principal advances made by the Clans in technology are in two areas: they have structural elements such as reactors, heatsinks and armour that are at least as good as those of the Star League; and they have advanced weapons which are definitely superior to those of the Star League. The former is the principal problem that needs to be addressed.”

“Excuse me - you just said that they are even more advanced in guns than they are in other areas and you think that that’s the lesser problem?” objected Sharon Byran. The Marshal of the Eleventh Lyran Guards had an irritated look on her face.

“Marshal, the solution to someone having better guns than you is one well understood by the Lyran military: use more guns. This is well within our capability to accomplish - and I am not suggesting that we should ignore possible ways to improve our weapons to match those used by the Clans. However, the advanced reactors and heatsinks of the Clans are the real danger because they provide Clan Mechs with improved mobility and enable them to carry more weapons. These represent advantages that we cannot afford to concede to them over an extended conflict.”

“The Clans can field scouts fifty percenty faster than ours, without compromising combat ability. Their heavy and medium combatants can typically operate at least thirty percent faster than ours, again, without any loss in firepower. Their assault ‘Mechs can carry at least one more major weapon system than our equivalent designs and can fire all of them without suffering crippling heat build ups. Fortunately, they appear comparable to those used by the Star League which we are beginning to manufacture.”

“Unfortunately, with some exceptions, these advances are difficult to retrofit into our existing BattleMechs without full rebuilds. Therefore I propose a programme of switching our current production to revised designs that have these technologies included from day one, and the provision of prepared kits that can be issued to update BattleMechs currently in service and put into use without months of work.”

“The core of the refit programme will be to replace fusion reactors with similar models that include improved heatsinks. Secondarily to this, within reason, weapons will be replaced with what Star League era equipment we have. In some cases, where ‘Mechs no longer require supplemental heatsinks, weight freed up will be used for additional weapons or armour. The majority of our heavy and assault Mechs can benefit from such updates, as will many medium designs, and should see an average of a twenty percent increase in firepower simply because they can make full use of their firepower.”

The realities of heat management were ingrained in every Mechwarrior and those present could easily imagine how much easier that would be with the proposed increased heatsink capacity. One point caught their attention however.

“You’re talking about pulling heatsinks out of ‘Mechs?” asked Byran. “How will that help anything?”

Victoria smiled thinly. “Marshal, you saw my Marauder out on the gunnery range last week. How would you compare its firepower to that of, let’s say, an Awesome?”

“Yes, yes,” Byran waved the point off. “You’re not the first Mechwarrior to fit three PPCs to a Marauder, you know. I don’t like to think how many extra heatsinks you had to fit.”

“None.”

“Pardon?” asked Byran.

“My ‘Mech carries the same tonnage of heatsinks as that it did when it was built as a -3R model,” Victoria told her. “It hasn’t lost any speed for the modifications, or any armour - but it carries the firepower of an Awesome and it can fire all three of them repeatedly without causing a dangerous heat build up while an Awesome needs to stagger fire, typically in a 3-2-2 pattern to control the heat. So at long ranges, I have twenty-eight percent more effective firepower than a Mech five tons heavier and sixteen percent slower. Now, it’s not an unalloyed success: the increased bulk of the heatsinks required a significant rebuild of the torso. The lessons learned from that can be applied here: the engineers at NAIS could have trimmed four tons from the design and about a month of work by keeping the autocannon and reducing the overall number of heatsinks.”

“So, to recap: for this year, we’ll have to fight with what we have. From next year, we should have limited numbers of upgrades to existing Mechs. The year after, new production will begin to trickle in. We don’t need to crush the clans, or even to drive them back, desirable as those goals are. What we must do is to slow them down and buy three years to upgrade our forces. That’s not going to be easy - but it’s a realistic goal. Anything more ambitious... isn’t.”

“I see that you mean what you said about a long term solution,” Morgan noted.

“There is no magic bullet that will counter all their advantages,” Victoria told him. “This is the reality of our production issues. Prototypes for the new equipment will take until the end of the year to produce, at best. The most optimistic projections place large scale manufacture of advanced ‘Mechs in 3052, considering the dislocation of refitting our production lines. Fortunately there are some factories ready to go and the field refits should bridge the gap, but for now we’re going to be fighting with what we have.”

“If it isn’t going to help now, then why are you bringing it up,” Byran asked.

“Marshal, there’s an old story about Napolean – a french dictator back around the early eighteenth century,” clarifed Victoria in case someone was unfamiliar with that chapter of history. “The tale goes that he ordered trees planted along all the major roads to shade his troops as they marched. Someone objected that it would take ten years for the trees to be tall enough to do so. Napolean nodded and told him: ‘Correct, so we should start right away’. If we don’t start adapting to the Clans right now then we may wind up defeated before we manage it.”

Morgan cleared his throat. “Your plans seem well thought out, Kommandant and I can see that you have hardly left a stone unturned in your efforts to check them – I think I’ve had complaints from every regiment here about your co-opting their technical personnel. However, putting your proposal into practise is beyond the scope of this conference. It will be forwarded to the correct department for evaluation, and if approved, to be expedited.”

Victoria lowered her head in acceptance. Nothing more to say – I’ve gotten a lot further than I thought I would with that. “I will hand over the next stage of the report to Leftenant Allard-Liao,” she said out loud.

Kai stood and Victoria could see signs of nervousness in him, although he masked them well. “I am told,” he said, “that the Senior Officer’s Group indentified the same strategic problem that we did: that is, of having no way to anticipate when and where the invaders will strike. The action on the rimward area of the Commonwealth has provided us with no pattern for attacks. The first wave hit twelve planets, then the next reduced to four. It’s hard to say what the logic of that is, so we decided not to try to anticipate.”

There was a ripple of surprise through the room. “We all know that there is no such thing as a true interstellar front. There are sufficient stars that lack colonisable worlds that it is invariably possible for fleets and supply lines to penetrate deeply into what is considered enemy territory with very little chance of interception. Because of the risk of drive failure, most transit routes are planned through inhabited systems so help can be obtained in emergencies, but…” He looked over at his uncle. “Colonel Allard will recall, I believe, that the Kell Hounds used an uncolonised star as a recharge point twenty-three years ago in the rescue of the Silver Eagle. Marshal, you and General Redburn did much the same during the First Kathil Uhlans’ invasion of Sian at the end of the Fourth Succession War.”

General Winton of the Eridani Light Horse shook her head impatiently. “Yes Leftenant, we are all aware of this. It’s because of such systems that we have no way of knowing where the invaders will strike.”

Victoria half-tensed to speak, but forced herself to relax. Kai doesn’t need my help to do this.

“Agreed,” Kai told the mercenary general. “They attack inhabited worlds because they know that we will be there to defend them, but the reverse is true: if we intend to seek battle against them, we don’t have to guess at where they will attack. We know where they are.” He pointed at the map of the Tamar Pact, where red stars marked out worlds fallen to the invaders. “They must assuredly have forces upon the worlds that they have already taken. Garrisons, and perhaps even supply bases. If we take the fight to them there, then they will have to reinforce those worlds, turn their offensive back to consolidate their positions… and buy the time that Kommandant Steiner-Davion has stated we will need.”

Morgan nodded thoughtfully. “You’re assuming that their garrisons will be inferior to their spearhead units?”

Kai shook his head. “It’s not an assumption, sir. We don’t have comprehensive intelligence from the conquered worlds because ComStar has cut them off, but MIIO has still managed to gather some information and in the cases where they have gathered intelligence on the rear areas, they are reporting smaller unit sizes, regular infantry not the Clans’ battle armour, older ‘Mechs – sometimes even reconditioned salvage from our fallen. It’s unclear how wide the gap is, but there is definitely a gap.”

Conversation switched to debating the merits of that information but Victoria ignored it, instead focusing on her cousin, who had similarly withdrawn from the debate, fingers steepled before him as he considered the proposal. Looking down the table, Morgan met her eyes and raised one eyebrow questioningly. Recognising the discreet enquiry, Victoria moved her hands to point slightly in Kai’s direction and lowered her eyes modestly. No, Morgan, he’s not my mouthpiece. It was his idea and I happen to support it.

Satisfied, the redheaded Marshal tapped the table with one hand, commanding attention. “Leftenant Allard-Liao’s analysis and strategy are interesting, and at the very least, unusual. Not bad for just over a month of study and work. By the end of our time here, I expect a working proposal concern-” Morgan broke off as the door to the conference room opened to admit an apologetic looking staff aide, who handed him a small yellow slip of paper.

It only took Morgan a moment to absorb the message and he nodded to dismiss the aide before turning back to the table. “Our time to plan has just been curtailed, my friends,” he said grimly. “I want a proposal for your plan, including recommendations for units used and targets in fourteen days, Leftenant. The invaders just hit Rasalhague.”

A cold thrill went through Victoria. A third wave so soon – and striking at the capital of the Free Rasalhague Republic. The Clans were raising the stakes and it would take everything the Inner Sphere had just to stay at the table.

[evilauthor]

Interesting. Not a single mention of trying to refit with XL engines.

Not to worry though: Someone else is bound to make that mistake.