Vehicle of the Week: Chaparral Missile Artillery TankDebuting in 2611 from a 2609 contract to Grumman Industries, the Chaparral was the product of a search by the SLDF for a mobile Arrow IV platform to act as fire support for light armor and infantry formations and was introduced to players in the old TRO2750, with its new home in TRO3050U. Built low to the ground, the Chaparral's looks have been compared to a cockroach's by a competing, and to be honest, considering how obnoxious artillery can be, you'll like them about as much. (It's easier to see the comparison in the older TRO2750 artwork because of the differing angle from that in TRO3050U.) Coincidentally, Grumman was also responsible for the Zephyr that was frequently seen alongside or spotting for the Chaparral. Disappearing from the Inner Sphere with the Succession Wars, the Chaparral made a comeback after Focht opened Terra's military industry to exports, becoming a common sight across the Sphere and in Periphery forces before the Word closed things back down.
The TRO3050U article makes a lot out of the design's speed and durability. Let's see if it lives up to the hype. At 50 tons, this fits snugly into a light vehicle bay - a good decision - and tracks cost a bit of tonnage but open up some of artillery's usual hiding spots. A 200 standard fusion engine... wait. I thought this thing was supposed to be fast. Compared to infantry, 64 kph isn't bad, but in tank terms, this is strictly middle of the road, and Arrow IVs lack the kind of range that gets them clear of marauding cavalry lances the way a tube artillery unit can. 5.5 tons of standard armor isn't that tough, either, but the distribution is clearly in favor of running like a coward at the slightest provocation without being dangerously thin: 16/18/36. No, that's not backward. You have over twice the armor on the rear that you do on the front. The actual point of all of this is the Arrow IV artillery launcher mounted forward (yes, where the armor is thinnest) fed by three tons of ammunition, along with a rearward SRM 6 that carries as many shots as the Arrow IV does (one ton, 15 rounds) and a medium laser on each side. Clearly, the idea here is that if someone starts threatening you, you should be running away. Exactly how well that's going to work considering that the Chaparral isn't fast enough to outrun your typical heavy 'Mech is an interesting questions. It
is lightning quick compared to a Mobile Long Tom and can evade assault formations, I'll grant, but I heavily parking some sort of bodyguard unit on top of the artillery battery for a little active discouragement while Sir Robin bravely runs away with popguns a blazin'.
Although variants aren't especially common, they're not unknown. Probably the most prosaic is a Jihad special that upgrades the mediums to ERMLs. During the Civil War, some formations downgraded to an SRM 4 to fit a single machine gun while others made the same switch to get more Arrow IV ammo. I recommend the latter, which gives you just enough to mix ammo types or the ability to carry three tons of, say, HE and a single ton of smoke or air defense rounds for special purposes. During the Jihad, the most involved variant debuted to address the design's largest flaw according to TRO3050U: CASE, using ferro-fibrous armor. An excess point of armor was applied to the stern.
There are artillery units that can look after themselves to a degree, or at least contribute to their own defense. The Chaparral isn't one of them. Find a hole and crawl in it, moving every so often if the enemy has artillery to throw off counter-battery fire. If someone comes looking for you and your bodyguards can't drive them off, turn and run, peppering the enemy with SRMs as you. HE vs. homing is a discussion that's going to be driven by what you have on hand other than the artillery, a problem somewhat beyond the scope of this article. Air Defense Arrows might be a useful little surprise for anyone trying airstrikes, though.
The first option you want to consider for brutalizing artillery is just hammering the offending unit with counter-battery fire, but that may not be an option. Airpower
can be an option here, bearing in mind that artillery can shoot back pretty effectively, but another one is a mix of spotter VTOLs to locate the offending artillery platform and a lance or two of fast, jumping medium 'Mechs. Think
Wolverines or
Phoenix Hawks. Send them in to dispose of the problem. Perhaps less socially acceptable but rather more spectacular is orbital bombardment.
References: The
Master Unit List is a good first stop, but you'll also want to look at the modern art on
Sarna and then gaze at the
1st Marik Militia's painted miniature on CamoSepcs.
