Vehicle of the Week Update: Demon(This was originally reposted by request in this thread.)I've covered the Demon Medium Tank, mentioning its Star League eponym several times. While looking through the vehicles to decide on this week's article, I discovered that the original article had fallen badly out of date, lacking updated information from TRO3050U as well as the Royal Demon from TRO3075. So, it's time for an update. UPDATE: And now we're back again to incorporate the new experimental model from XTRO: ComStar.
The Demon originally came to us out of TRO2750, the first book to suggest advanced Star League technologies although the use of this equipment was sometimes eccentric compared to designs closer to the modern aesthetic (such as the Royals, which generally restrict themselves to Star League hardware but use it in modern ways). Since republished in TRO3050U with a Royal variant offered by TRO3075, the Demon's historical origins are fairly recent. Introduced in 2716 and a product of Leopard Armor on Terra, the Demon was still relatively new compared to old hands in the SLDF like the
Archer or
Warhammer but it was still plentiful enough to wind up as the standard fighting vehicle of the Defense Force. It endured in the ComStar armories to wind up as one of their standard vehicles as well, common enough to the point that any engagement involving the ComGuards or the Word of Blake usually involves at least one Demon and usually more than one. A very normal tactic was to use them in pairs as ambushers (probably what lead to the Star League-era variants known as the Horned Demons), although ComStar preferred to operate them in groups of at least three after Tukayyid due to the power of Clan weapons. After the Word of Blake takeover of Earth, the old Leopard Armor plant was apparently reopened and put to work while ComStar set up their own work sites with a new variant and, as I mentioned in the Demon Medium Tank article, every militia in the Word of Blake Protectorate had at least a level III of Demons (a battalion in House terms), probably the older standard model. In 3075, an HTE Marketing and Research document that had been acquired by Chandraeskar Kurita, the Dragon's most ironic son, was released that included details on the Royal Regiments' own model of this tank.
The basic Demon of the Star League Defense Force has a couple of weak points but, overall, I can see why they were so fond of it. The chassis is wheeled, one of the major gripes of many posters last time around, although it saves 2.5 tons compared to the Manticore due to the suspension factor. (For those unfamiliar with the combat vehicle construction rules, suspension factor is the amount of 'engine rating' reduction for a given motive type and tonnage. Hovers, VTOLs, and WiGEs all have even more which is why these units get so many more MPs off of an engine than a tracked vehicle does.) Tracks have none while wheeled vehicles have a universal 20. Power was provided by a DAV 220 standard fusion engine, giving the Demon a very typical 4/6 movement curve with a flank speed of 64 kph in open terrain. The armor is comparable to units like the Manticore or Po, with ten tons, although CASE increases survivability in the event of an ammo or weapon explosion. With a layout of 50/30/20/30, it's clear which end is supposed to be pointed at the enemy! This raises the interesting question of whether the ambush tactics or the 'final' armor layout emerged first, although considering the increased vulnerability of the sides to motive crits, encouraging crews to do as much of their fighting with the front armor makes sense. Since we've so far saved 3 tons compared to the Manticore (2.5 on the engine and 1 on armor, allocating 0.5 tons back out for CASE), where's the rest? The fun stuff, of course, the weapons! The Demon is one of the only three Gauss rifle units in TRO2750, with one in the turret, and along with the Fury and the
Highlander, set the standard for Gauss ammunition at 16 rounds. The front was graced with an SRM 6 for crit-seeking after the armor has been cratered (with two tons of ammunition) while the sides each have a medium laser to help deal with units that flank the Demon. Remember the time period, too. Today, we're kind of resigned to the power and range of the Gauss rifle but back in 1989, this was a shocking, even horrifying weapon compared to the equipment of the Succession Wars. Even today, you can redeem a lot of evils with a Gauss rifle and, with fairly solid armor and reasonable mobility, I'm content with this as a "wheeled MBT", particularly given the emphasis you really should put on protecting your side arcs anyway. That said, this model (and really every Demon) is probably going to be more effective hunting 'Mechs than vehicles. A ton of Inferno or fragmentation rounds for the SRM launcher probably wouldn't be a bad idea, either, since they're the only efficient way to kill infantry on a Demon other than killing them in their metal boxes.
Two different attempts were made to produce a more supply independent version of the Demon, both termed the Horned Demon. The first is actually pretty impressive in my book although it wasn't well received in the field. All of the secondary weapons were removed along with CASE. First, they added another ton of Gauss rifle ammo, then planted four medium lasers on the front. The remaining half-ton from the CASE removal was used to buff the armor a bit to 52/31/22/32. I rather approve of this one. A second went ahead and pulled the Gauss rifle, too, replacing everything with two PPCs in the turret and replacing the CASE with a half-ton of cargo. Armor dropped to 48/28/19/29. Notable mainly for the fact that a pair in the hands of the Terran resistance managed to take a shot at the motorcade of Stefan Amaris and would have killed him if he hadn't decided to climb into a 'Mech at the last minute, this one isn't as impressive by my standards since it loses both the hefty 15 point hit of the Gauss rifle (and some of its range) and all ability to deal with a knife fight.
At some point in the 28th century, the Star League Defense Force also commissioned a special model of the Demon for the Royal Regiments. The biggest change is the replacement of the engine with a 280-rated extra-light model for a top speed of 86 kph, increasing mobility somewhat. The Gauss rifle was wisely left alone but the missiles and lasers both received upgrades. The lasers were replaced by pulse models, increasing the Demon's ability to deal with fast flankers, and the missile launcher became a trio of Streak SRM 2s fed by a single ton of ammo. Those wondering why it lacks a 6-tube model should remember those weren't available in the Inner Sphere until after the Clans came home for
summer vacation Operation REVIVAL. It's unclear whether or not this model has CASE - without it, it's a half-ton underweight and the change isn't listed in the TRO, but it's not listed on the record sheet. (Errata was repoted when the article was originally posted.) With the speed increase, I'll take what I can get, though.
The final production model to date is, judging from the way things are phrased in TRO3050U (which was written by Wolfnet IC), a Blakist model from 3070 or 3071. It's also the real departure from the norm as people kind of expect out of Blakist units from TRO3050U. The engine was replaced by a 220-rated extra-light model, saving tonnage without increasing speed the way the Royal Demon does. The armor is a
much lighter coat of heavy ferro-fibrous that was knocked down to a mere 138 points, although the armor across the body of the vehicle was buffed by 2 points all around. The Gauss rifle and the turret holding it are both gone, replaced by a heavy Gauss rifle fed by three tons of ammunition for a 12 round endurance. The biggest of the big guns, it's definitely going to leave a mark, but as a sniper, the HGR leaves something to be desired, and it doesn't fit into the role of close-in weapon very comfortably either. The lasers were upgraded to ERMLs. The missile launcher, reminiscent of the Royal, is now a Streak system but keeps them all consolidated into one launcher. As an ambush predator, the crews need to pick their moments carefully and with an eye toward the 'sweet spot' of their range bracket - 5 to 6 hexes, where the missiles are at medium range and the HGR is at short with no minimum range penalty. CASE was left in place. Finally, two pieces of shiny electronics were added. The first is a C3i computer that was the source of some of my ambivalence about the heavy Gauss rifle up above. (Remember that
weapon damage, whether for an HGR or a snubnose PPC, is calculated from the actual range of the firing unit, per TW page 131.) The second is an improved targeting computer, which helps fight some of the range penalties for the HGR and makes those side lasers a little more useful for kicking off flankers.
Whether it was an independent development or not - it's suggested in XTRO: ComStar that ComStar had been looking at the idea since 3065, predating the HGR Demon's introduction - the prototype Demon CX-2 is similar in overall design to the HGR variant. The devil is very much in the details. A 220-rated light fusion engine reduces the tonnage dedicated to propulsion while 10 tons of reactive armor arranged in the original 50/30/20/30 layout reduces damage from missiles, artillery, and mortars. On the other hand, there's that ever-present risk of accidentally having all the armor on a facing come off, so I'm not entirely convinced blazer armor is really worth it. The real attraction is the improved heavy Gauss rifle fed by five tons of ammunition. The side sponsons each carry the same Intek medium laser as the old Star League models. Finally, there's four mine dispensers, apparently intended to enable it to make the ambush strategy ComStar pursued, based on the SLDF's doctrine, more effective. I'm going to repeat the suggestion that the medium lasers should have been moved to the turret if they were going to keep it but as far as what ComStar was going for, it's an effective enough implementation.
Using the Demon is a matter of pointing the nose at the enemy and keeping him there. The Gauss rifle has a large range to play with while up close the SRMs (or nose-mounted lasers in the original Horned Demon) only add to the pain. The PPC model needs to avoid getting quite so close and behaves a bit like the HGR variant in that regard, although unlike that one, it still has the turret. Given the less than salubrious impact of the side critical tables on vehicle mobility and the increased vulnerability to said crits that wheeled units have, all the Demons need to put an emphasis on keeping people out of those arcs - the nose armor is a strong hint on how it's supposed to be used, so follow it. Those lasers are discouragement to anyone who decides to get cute, not something that makes it a good idea to expose them willy-nilly. As a wheeled unit, it lacks the ability to go into rubble or light woods, the former a significant handicap in the urban ambush business. Last, don't use Demons alone, particularly against tanks. Bring them some friends with somewhat different options, especially a friend or two that can get right in someone's teeth and let the Demons maneuver to keep their minimum range clear. Units with LB 10-Xs are good. Given the thickness of the forward armor, the Demon can play bunker if it can get into a position that makes it difficult to get to the sides.
Fighting against Demons depends a bit on the model, but the first thing you want to try and do is get a shot at the sides or the rear. This has either a greater chance of inflicting motive system damage or a shot at the weakest armor on the tank. Next, make sure you know which one you're dealing with. The various main guns have different implications and a Royal is much more able to both generate higher TMMs and just move around for advantage. Against the HGR model, either try to get out of its forward arc or avoid getting 13 hexes or closer to cut the damage down, although neither one is necessarily easy depending on the situation. Against the HGR or PPC model, you can also consider just getting right in the tank's face to force the range minimums down the enemy's throat. The Gauss models are a little more able to keep that sort of thing under control thanks to the weapon's shorter minimum range, although it still would prefer a bit of a buffer. Against none of them do you want to just charge into a prepared firing position - Demons aren't the most heavily armed things in the world but they've got enough firepower that, en masse, they can lay down a seriously painful volume of fire and none of them have a light weapon for a main gun.
Image Reference: The
MUL database has the artwork, availability, and BV. One little surprise is that the Word is using the Royals. While there were no miniatures on CamoSpec,
Iron Wind Metals does produce one.
Reference Update: The MUL link has been updated, as has the MUL with the BattleForce stats, but the real bonus here is Cyttorak's new miniature on CamoSpecs in the colors of the
1st Tyr.
