`Mech of the Week: ON* Orion Update
This article examines one of the classic 'Mechs of the game, part of the second series of 'Mechs after the Unseen were introduced in the original release, and one of the most interesting from the perspective of the sheer history of the design. It was the ride of two of the most influential leaders in the history of the Inner Sphere (in fact, they used the same 'Mech), and it is the bedrock of the heavy units of the Free Worlds League. This is the Orion - old, storied, and dependable.
Originally, the Orion was designed by the Terran Hegemony after the theft of the BattleMech plans by the Lyran Commonwealth (or perhaps in response to the evolving 'Mech designs coming out of the Houses, as TRO3039 suggests) and came into service 2570, first seeing combat in the Reunification War. Described in TRO3025 as the "brute force of major offensives", the phrase serves the classic ON1-K and the newer ON2-M models well, both tough, well-rounded generalists for their eras. However, TRO3025 makes mention of an old, almost unknown variant, the ON1-C, with a class 5 autocannon and no LRMs, which was the original service model. The lack of LRMs is a feature it shares only with the comparatively rare ON1-VA, covered below, but without the ON1-VA's additional weapons and heat sinks. This leads me to suspect that the ON1-C was a primitive model, introduced before the Hegemony was mass-producing units with Succession Wars-grade equipment, although the comparatively late service entry date makes that an unusually late time to be introducing such gear into a front-line unit, as some of the more advanced technologies that would later give the SLDF its combat edge were already beginning to percolate out of the Hegemony's engineering labs. Most likely, the date only refers to the ON1-K, as the thirteen tons missing on the ON1-C (always assuming that the autocannon ammunition was kept at two tons - it could be fourteen tons!) points to something that today would be covered under the primitive unit rules in Jihad Secrets. Today, we know it's the primitive original variant thanks to historical products such as Historical: Reunification War and Era Digest: Age of War.
Hopefully, that little digression into history has confirmed my assertion that whatever else the Orion is, it's one of the older 'Mechs. In any case, it was heavily adopted as a line BattleMech, serving in the Reunification War, and it would go on to serve in numerous battles throughout the Succession Wars in the hands of all five Houses, as well as being the chosen 'Mech of Aleksandr Kerensky in the final battle with Stefan Amaris in 2779 - an interesting choice, as we now know that the Orion was not the most advanced 'Mech available, nor was it generally a command unit like the BattleMaster or Cyclops are, both of them in TRO3025 alongside the venerable Orion. That same 'Mech was later recovered and refit, then given to Theodore Kurita, who would use it through the War of 3039. They were part of a Kuritan offensive on Elbar, delivering a poison that would kill millions, featured heavily in Katrina Steiner's plans at the Tenth Battle of Hesperus II in 2997, and are the backbone of the FWL's heavy 'Mech units as the only Successor State still in possession of the means to build them in numbers. While some 'Mechs, like its fellow Hesperus II product the Atlas, are far more notorious, and others like the Awesome or Stalker have more firepower, the Orion has a long history of reliable service, durability in combat, and the ability to be thrown into almost any fight and be effective. Only one family of BattleMechs can claim a longer service history than the Orion, with the Banshee introduced over a decade earlier, but you have to look to slightly later designs such as the Archer or the even later Wasp and Griffin to find ones that would be so fundamental to BattleMech forces for so long.
What makes the Orion such a worthy foe, then? At seventy-five tons, there's room for plenty of answers, and like several other 'Mechs, it uses the nigh-omnipresent Vlar 300 fusion engine for a 4/6 movement curve, the standard for Inner Sphere heavy formations for centuries. However, the real answer is in the 'Mech's armor. Unlike the Marauder's thin skin, the Orion inevitably has 14 or 14.5 tons of armor, putting even the thinner-skinned variants only 7 points shy of the maximum possible on a chassis this size. The classic ON1-K is both, depending on what source you consult, although the current record sheets say 14.5 tons. Its armament is based around a class 10 autocannon, a powerful mid-range weapon, especially in its heyday; after KaliYama picked up the manufacturing license, they switched to their own model but left the gun's overall performance intact. It's mentioned in TRO3025 and TRO3039 that the autocannon occasionally suffered jamming issues, although a hardware modification sold by Norse-Storm in the 3030s gave that company its first genuine infusion of cash and fixed the problem. The other weapons are similarly solid, with a 15 tube LRM rack fed by two tons of ammo for closing and two medium lasers and a 4 tube SRM launcher to back the autocannon when you get up close and personal. (A mis-print in TRO3025 indicates that the 'Mech has an additional half-ton of SRM ammunition, but this isn't reflected on any record sheet or in the text of the book itself, so take it with a grain of salt...) Only ten heat sinks means you can get a bit toasty at close range, but most players of the Succession Wars period know how to juggle their weapons fire to manage heat loads. If you don't, I suggest pulling the autocannon and one laser for iffy shots (as your main hole puncher, that gun is invaluable, and 25 rounds of SRM ammo will probably last you longer than the armor protecting it will), or the lasers when you have a good shot but need to avoid spiking your heat too far.
One variant that has recently come to light is the ON1-K Kerensky, named for General Aleksandr Kerensky. It's an interesting variant that boosts striking power at all ranges but the greatest effect is in the 3-6 hex range, where the weapons are all at short or medium range. The reason I say that is that Kerensky's personal ride replaced the autocannon and LRMs with a Gauss rifle and a then-experimental, limited-run snub-nose particle cannon. The combination of a snubbie's 9 hex short range and no longer needing to deal with that pesky cluster hit chart or four hexes of minimum range on the Gauss rifle vs. the LRMs makes that a very nasty one-two punch. The addition of Artemis IV on the SRMs helps, too, and the addition of CASE in the left torso rounds this 'Mech out very nicely. The weight savings necessary for the changes were made by swapping the armor for ferro-fibrous.
Two major variants of the ON1-K surfaced during the Succession Wars. One version, the ON1-V, strikes me as a bad idea. It trades away three tons of armor for an additional SRM 4 and ammunition for the same. Okay, let's review our armament here. AC/10 (3 heat), twin ML (2x3 heat), twin SRM 4 (2x3 heat), for fifteen heat before movement up-close, and we only have ten heat sinks. In addition, you thinned down that wonderful, wonderful armor, much of it coming from the legs. Does hitting +5 just from firing your close-in guns strike anyone else as a problem, especially with thin armor? Apparently so, since the ON1-VA addresses the issue. Removing the LRM 15, this model drops the Orion's multirole status for a powerful infighter by retaining the original armor and adding six more heat sinks, leaving it at +1 on a running alpha-strike, much more manageable, and is not something any pilot wants to find themselves staring down. (Note to FWL players: In a situation where you're expecting a lot of in-your-face action, pair an ON1-VA with a Hunchback for a murderous one-two punch.)
The Orion wasn't left behind by the technological changes that swept the Inner Sphere in the wake of the Helm Core's discovery and the coming of the Clans. The first model deployed in the wake of these changes was the ON1-M, and while the effect was hardly an apotheosis of the sort some 'Mechs experienced with such technology, it was certainly not anything to take lightly. The heart of the changes was the switch to an extra-light engine, freeing up 9.5 tons, while a half-ton of armor was pared off by Alphard and Kali Yama engineers, for an even ten tons of available mass for upgrades, and in a move that the Draconis Combine should've made but didn't in several prominent cases, they upgraded the heat sinks to double strength versions. The most notable switches are the upgrade of the LRM rack and autocannon to an LRM 20 and an LB 10-X, respectively, while CASE was used to protect the ammunition bins. The twin medium lasers and SRM 4 reprise their role as secondary close-in weapons, and the latter gets a nasty new friend. A Narc beacon is nestled in the center torso, fed by two tons of ammo, with a second ton of SRM ammo added, as was an additional heat sink. The last two changes both raise the question of "Why?" for me from an effectiveness standpoint; 24 rounds of Gauss rifle ammo is frequently overkill in many games, and SRMs are not fired nearly as often as Gauss rifles would be in an engagement. You can use it for Infernos but I still think an extra ton of LRM ammo would be much more useful, letting you carry a ton of standard shot instead of Narc ammo to use for things like indirect fire and the initial exchanges before you manage to tag someone with a "Shoot Me!" sign. The heat sink is equally odd; the Orion was never one of the Inner Sphere's most notorious heat pigs, and you're at -1 on a running alpha-strike with ten double heat sinks, which only happens in some extremely odd circumstances, as it's rare that someone is in a position where firing off the LRMs, lasers, and SRMs is advantageous, and with ammo that limited, you don't fire your LRMs when it's not. In some cases, an extra freezer might just be grabbed for crit-packing, but with all 11 in the engine, that's not the case here, although an engine hit is going to be much more manageable than usual for an ON1-M, so it's basically a wash at this point. Pack Infernos for flexibility in the extra SRM bin since you're not going to overheat and probably won't run out of SRMs before someone blows you to kingdom come anyway. With the Narc, you're not an outer tier Narc unit. Instead, use the beacon to light up someone who's managed to evade the spotters and gets into range of your heavies.
The second widespread upgrade model, the ON2-M, is the one that really caught my eye. Those of you who read my Cestus article are well aware that I like Gauss rifles quite a bit. Well, that's the first part of what makes the ON2-M stand out. The second is that there's no XL engine. While I'm not one to shy away from an XLFE where it can be used well, SFEs are far cheaper and easier to replace, and the 300 SFE is perhaps the most common fusion engine in the Inner Sphere, so finding parts is not an issue. The mass is paid out by endo-steel and ferro-fibrous that basically matches the ON2-M's armor layout. The classic LRM 15 is back with Artemis IV added to make it about as effective as the LRM 20 if no one brought ECM and the ammo bin is larger, too. (Before C3/C3i became such a factor, ECM was not nearly as common, and this predates their wide introduction.) The close-in weapons are a departure from older Orions but make sense in context. Three medium pulse lasers, one in each arm and one nestled in the old SRM rack location in the left torso, make a nasty short-range battery for a Spheroid 'Mech, and they offer a couple of advantages for the Orion's purpose, actually. First, their -2 stands out as being right where the Gauss rifle's weak point picks up, meaning you can stand at 3-4 hexes and get short-range hits from the lasers and a head-chopper, or walk in one more hex and practically guarantee yourself a trio of six point knife cuts. One more hex in and I, at least, am likely to try and add a fifteen point kick to make the point you're not welcome, or you can stand there and I'll take the +1 shot on the Gauss rifle if the numbers look good. Second, if someone gets in the Orion's face or tries to flank, the 'Mech can turn to face them, fire the main weapons off at its main target, and then use the lasers at an overall -1 due to the pulse bonus off-setting the second target penalty. While they might not be purely optimal (a pair of ERMLs and one of their new MVSLs would be generally more effective and accomplish most of the same goal once that weapon is available), the MPLs work well in this mix of weapons and make sense for a heavy 'Mech intended as part of a firing line, not an in-your-face bruiser. (Marik has all the Hunchbacks they could ever want to do that job.)
There are also a slew of variants that record sheets weren't provided in the original RS3050U, but we had some descriptions. Fortunately, RS3050U Unabridged fixed that problem for us. The first one listed is the ON1-M-DC which removed the second ton of SRM and Narc ammo for a command console. The ON1-MA removed the Narc entirely to bump the SRMs up to a 6 rack, upgrade the standard medium lasers to pulse models, and add Artemis to the launchers. I'm still recommending Infernos here but you definitely want to charge right in, using the LRMs to soften the enemy up as you get into grappling range. The ON1-MB moves the opposite direction, trading the LB 10-X for an LGR. There are 'Mechs that LGRs work well on. I'm not sure this is one of them but it does make your tactics simple - hang out at long range, snipe, and once your ammo is gone, charge right in and bring down the hopefully weakened enemy. The ON1-MC was something I made a guess at in the last iteration of the article but I guessed wrong when I put a prediction down for an MRM 40. There's actually two separate launchers on here, an MRM 20 and an MRM 30, with 16 rounds for the larger launcher and 12 for the smaller. A C3 slave rounds out the changes. I'm not really sure on this one, either. The slightly later ON1-MD is a Davion variant that replaced the LB 10-X and a ton of SRM ammo with a RAC/5 and four tons of ammunition, changing it from a trooper to a brawler. Get in close, Narc the heck out of people, and open holes for them to exploit with the RAC and the lasers, then toss your SRMs in for good measure.
During the Jihad, Kali Yama began to consider a next-generation solution and produced the ON3-MX, the so-called Orion 3000, as a prototype. Building on a standard chassis thanks to a lack of endo-steel, the ON3-MX was powered by an extra-light fusion engine (production models used a Hermes engine) much like the ON1-M. There are a pair of arm-mounted ERMLs, with the rest of the armament similarly reminiscent of the classic ON1-K design. I'll start with the arm-mounted ELRM 10, giving you the ability to reach out and touch someone at a range that's untouched by anything but artillery. The right torso is home to a staggeringly huge improved heavy Gauss rifle that spills over into the center torso because of the sheer bulk of the weapon. The left torso is given over to CASE-protected ammunition stowage, with three tons of ELRM ammo working out to 27 rounds of happy sniping time and four tons of ferrous slugs for the monstrous magnetic accelerator cannon in the rest of the torso. Finding a good engagement range is tricky since none of the weapons' short-range brackets harmonize well. If you can hold someone at 11-12 hexes, though, there's a nice overlap between the ELRMs' short range bracket, the IHGR's medium range, and the ERMLs' long range. At 4 hexes, the IHGR and ERMLs are both at short, too. You need some support but the ON3-MX does make an excellent ringer to slip into an ELRM lance - anyone trying to shut the missiles up is bound to blunder into range of the IHGR. They won't enjoy what happens next.
The production variant of the new Orion opted for one of Kali Yama Industries' Grand Slam Gauss rifles instead of the improved HGR of the Orion 3100 prototypes, using the weight savings to increase the launcher size to a 15 tube model fed by four tons of ammunition. CASE II was installed in both side torsos to protect against ammunition or weapon explosions. Finally, the remaining half-ton and a half-ton scraped off the armor were invested in installing TAG in the head, reminding me of the MAD-9M and 9M2 and with similar utility. The Gauss rifle's range bands overlap a little more readily with the rest of your weapons and overall, the design has some potential but I'm still dubious of the weapons mixture. ELRMs strike me as a specialist weapon, not really a great pick on a generalist like the Orion, but we'll see where it lands.
Dealing with an Orion is relatively simple. Not easy, but simple. The main goal is, as with most 'Mechs, to crack the armor and start stripping internals. The difficulty is, the Orion is not lightly armored nor is it lightly armed despite not having anything really eye-opening like a MAD-5S's Gauss and twin PPC combination. Against an ON1 of any type, focus on crit-seeking once you pry the side armor open. The ones based on the ON1-K lack CASE, so an ammo explosion is going to gut them, while the ON1-M family (including the notional variants outlined above) has XLFEs next to ammo bins. (Armor-piercing ammo is spelled "Good times!" against an ON1-M, Davion fans, and it's on the Marik list, so it'll be appearing in Blakie hands. Have fun!) The ON2-M you still want to crit-seek - ammo hits are likely to at least disable a weapon if not blow that side off - but to actually put it down, you're either going to have to crit all three ammo bins, kill the pilot somehow, or batter it until there are pieces spread across the battlefield. None of them are easy. It has nearly maxed armor, a standard engine, and CASE, so get ready for a fight. I suggest flanking it - you'll eat an MPL shot most turns, but you won't be risking a godawful haircut from that Gauss rifle, although a good pilot can still be tossing heavy fire downrange as they fend you off. Watch for kicks, too - the Orion delivers a fifteen point kick, which is enough to cause a lot of trouble, especially to smaller 'Mechs. Basically, there's no good way to do this against any of them unless you get lucky and cripple it with a lucky crit or two early on. Bring guns, more guns, and plenty of armor, and don't skimp on the life insurance policy.
