Vehicle of the Week: Condor Heavy Hover TankThe Condor Heavy Hover Tank is an old design that dates back to 2564, making it slightly older than the Manticore. One of Red Devil Industries' first designs, it was sold throughout the Succession Wars to any state not currently hostile to the “Steiner Empire” (yes, that's an exact quote from TRO3039) at a hefty premium thanks to the export tariffs. Given the inevitable hostilities caused by Spheroid astropolitical realities, that means most of them went to Houses Davion and Liao. Built on Pandora, the cessation of sales to the Capellan Confederation after the Lyran-Suns alliance was problematic for Red Devil. As executives were investigated for malfeasance, leading to a major hit to the maintenance budget with wear and tear taking a serious toll by 3039. While many variants emerged over the years, including a post-Invasion model that resembles the Capellan version, had to wait until Quikscell of all companies could begin production on Richvale after Pandora had a little problem with Jade Falcon infestation and coughed up the production rights. Quikscell's renowned quality control has been up to the challenge of the Condor, with one executive's brainstorm of selling do-it-yourself kits to customers sometimes leaving behind unidentified extra parts behind after the full tank is assembled.
At 50 tons, the Condor is as large as standard hover tanks get. The 165-rated ICE drives the design at 8/12, matching the Maxim and a bit faster than the most efficient speed for a 50 ton ICE hover. Six tons of armor are wrapped around the design and arranged 30/15/14/33. In other words, like you should be doing anyway with a hover, point the front end at the enemy, not the very vulnerable sides. The turret contains a GM Whirlwind Class 5 autocannon and two medium lasers, while two machine guns are mounted forward. A half-ton of machine gun ammo is more than sufficient, with a single ton for the Whirlwind. (TRO3039 includes cargo space; that's incorrect under the current version of the rules and a known problem. Just delete it.)
Houses Davion and Liao have their own preferred variants to employ in the Succession Wars. Davion goes for a pair of class 2 autocannons, improving the armor to a 36/22/20/28 arrangement and creating a sniper and harasser, well suited to sniping tactics. Ammunition is two tons for the autocannons and a full ton for the MGs, doubling the endurance compared to the original.
Liao's variant uses four medium lasers in the turret in place of all the weapons, freeing the design from ammunition worries and including 12 heat sinks to manage the thermal load as well as a half-ton power amplifier. The armor goes up to 38/23/22/30. This one is a fast-moving close-range attacker, best used to slash in and overwhelm an enemy in numbers.
A similar variant emerged in the Succession Wars. The Flamer model has three medium lasers and two machine guns in the turret, with a vehicle flamer fixed forward and aft. A full ton of ammo for each of the ammo-using weapons gives you substantial MG endurance and roughly normal flamer supplies. The armor got boosted to the highest yet, 40/25/21/25. Interestingly, all three of these reverse the emphasis between the forward and turret armor.
In 3060, Red Devil introduced an improved model continuing the basic theme of the laser-armed models, Four extended-range medium lasers are in the turret along with three SRM 2s fed from a one hundred round magazine. The armor was also rearranged, now mounted 36/24/16/20. At 1.5 tons thicker, it's an improvement, at least until someone manages to strip the turret. Use this one a lot like the Liao variant but you might want to pack some Infernos for various purposes.
Unfortunately, four years later, the Jade Falcons decided they liked the looks of the place and decided to move in. Aside from having a serious impact on local property values, it also cut off the supply of Condors for a bit until as I mentioned earlier, Quikscell picked up the basic design. Instead of just putting the classic version back into production, they decided to let their engineers dine on an all-you-can-eat buffet of advanced technology. Personally, given the relatively minor speed gain, I probably would have stuck with a light fusion engine instead of the CoreTek 215 XL they went for, trading some speed for a lower price tag, but I suspect that the older engine technology was probably easier to come by despite being more expensive in an absolute sense. The armor is the same weight as the original but 6 tons of StarSlab/9 ferro-fibrous goes a bit farther than the old standard plate. On the other hand, an arrangement of 31/21/14/20 is arguably not really better in some ways since it may make you a little more willing to show your flanks, something a hover really doesn't want to do. The armament retained the machine guns in the same forward position, with a half-ton of ammo that should last you significantly longer than you really want to be employing MGs on this thing anyway. Hint: If you're doing it for more than a turn at a time because you just happened to find some guys in black pajamas in your way (as opposed to going looking for them deliberately) you're doing it wrong. The main weapons are a Valiant Arbalest LRM 15 in the turret and a Mydron Excel 5SG LB-X AC fixed forward; each weapon has two tons of ammunition. That's a significant improvement on the original's ranged firepower and the way the main weapons share the same range brackets (aside from the shorter minimum on the autocannon) does simplify employing it. Among other things, it's a brutally simple commentary on short range combat: Don't. Also, keep your front end pointed at the enemy, like you should be doing anyway.
Those of you who were wondering “Hey, where's the energy weapons?” might want to skip the Upgrade and go for the Upgrade Laser Quikscell is also offering. The autocannon was removed and replaced with a Cyclops ERLL. The weight savings went into ECM and AMS (the latter in the turret), improving the design's defensive capabilities.
With Condors, the basic rule of combat is simple: Keep moving. Hovers that slow down willingly usually get tagged and a Condor that lines up a straight line approach can frequently pull off a +4 modifier if there's room; the Upgrade models with their expensive XL engines can jack it up to a +5 and manage a +3 flanking even if it has to burn 2 MP maneuvering without changing hexes.. You want open terrain, too; for you, that includes water, so keep it in mind when you're planning ahead. The longer-ranged versions want to keep the range open and pepper someone with fire at a distance, using their speed to force a disadvantageous balance of targeting modifiers on the enemy. The original should regard its lasers as finishing weapons or for employment in high speed dashes past the enemy before you get on the other side and start sniping again. The short ranged variants should slash in, slam someone with fire, and burn past unless you can manage to guarantee a place in someone's weak arc.
Fighting them employs the usual basics of anti-hover combat. LB-X autocannons or SB Gauss rifles are your weapons of choice, giving you a higher than usual chance of inflicting motive damage. Beyond that, long-range weapons will help deal with the snipers, while pulse lasers can keep the close-range bandits off of you. If you can, go for the sides - a lot of these variants have thin side armor and that's the best angle to inflict motive hits, which make your life tremendously easier. Maneuver into rough terrain to break up their LOS and force the Condors to slow down, making hitting them easier, and fear death by water - against 'Mechs, rivers may be obstacles. Against hovers, they're highways straight to your rear arc if you're not paying attention.
References: The Master Unit List tracks the
original and
upgraded variants separately. CamoSpecs does the same with the
original and
upgraded versions of the sculpt.
