Leonidas Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3145 Free Worlds League page 5
At first glance, you might be forgiven thinking that the Leonidas is a follow on of the Longinus, the most advanced and - arguably - most capable of the Inner Sphere's first wave of medium battle armor. A closer examination that looks past the mass reveals that the Leonidas is actually a supplement - not a replacement - for the lighter Achileus, and owes more than a hint of inspiration from the Infiltrator Mk II.
Unsurprisingly, the Leonidas is to be found in the Free Worlds League version of Technical Readout 3145 and was introduced in-universe in 3108. Unlike the aforementioned older suits, the Leonidas is purely a ground-based design, lacking any jump jets, in keeping with the recent style for many stealthy suits that avoid the decidedly unstealthy signature that would result from using jets. With three Movement Points, the Leonidas still has a decent ability to get around the battlefield and gain an all-important Target Movement Modifier while doing so. Although limited to just a +1 modifier and unable to cope with any terrain that slows it down without losing the bonus, every little helps when you're trying to avoid getting hit.
Once hit, the Leonidas shares the same armor value as the Infiltrator Mk II, allowing it to absorb an Inner Sphere Medium Pulse Laser strike, although any Clan Medium Laser will punch straight through. Like the Suns battlesuit, the Leonidas relies more upon the stealthiness of its armor for survival rather than its thickness, with the Standard Stealth plating shared with the older machine providing a hit penalty at all ranges. This ability to baffle enemy sensors unfortunately doesn't apply to conventional infantry, so as odd as it may seem, like other weakly-armored but stealthy suits, the Leonidas does sometimes have to tread carefully around the unit type it technically replaces.
Also in common with the Infiltrator Mk II, the Leonidas mounts an ECM system, in this case the more advanced Angel version, which effectively provides two Guardian ECM systems in one device. Allowing the ECM to be run in two modes simultaneously this provides much greater flexibility. In many cases the player will want to opt for Ghost Targets for one mode, despite the recent balancing changes that makes this much less effective - as well as less laborious to use - than it used to be. Even with the reduced benefits, any ability to avoid enemy fire is to be cherished as it keeps your battle armor in the game longer.
In lieu of the parafoil mounted on the Infiltrator Mk II, the Leonidas opts for a heavy battle claw as its sole manipulator, and with no other reserves of mass left, that meant that a large chunk of the mass required for the larger ECM system came from a reduced weapon payload. Despite this, one advantage the Leonidas does possess is that its weaponry is loaded onto a Modular Weapon Mount, allowing for much greater flexibility. Indeed, it doesn't even have to opt for weaponry, with certain non-weapon equipment such as sensors also being possible. Fitted coaxial to the main mount is an Anti-Personnel Weapon Mount, able to be equipped with any one-man non-Support infantry weapon, although the default Total War rules assume an Auto Rifle.
The mount capacity isn't huge, maxing out with weapons such as the David Light Gauss Rifle and the Machine Gun. In keeping with the original battle armor with their troika of primary configurations, the Leonidas can also mount a Firedrake, giving it one of the best lightweight anti-infantry weapons available. As would be expected for a stealthy scout suit, other canon configurations mount a Light TAG or the Improved Sensors mentioned earlier. The latter is obviously defenseless in the BattleTech tactical game apart from its AP weapon, although the TAG-equipped configuration can potentially be the most dangerous given the right supporting units. The FWLM tendency to throw around a lot of Semi-Guided LRMs presents one obvious possibility even without artillery or air support being available.
Like other medium or lighter battle armor with the appropriate claws and an arm-mounted non-missile weapon, the Leonidas can also perform both Leg Attacks and Swarm assaults on enemy units. Within the roleplaying game, the claw can also make a powerful melee attack against other battle armor or unarmored personnel. The claw also enables the suit to conduct Mechanized Battle Armor operations, hitching a ride on friendly OmniMechs and OmniVehicles. Such combined arms are vital for the success of any battle armor in offensive operations. If you don't have Omnis, at least provide some APCs and get those battlesuits into the fight. When on the defensive, the same boost in mobility provided by a good transport can enable you to get squads of battle armor to key choke points, and with the prospect of TAG-equipped Leonidas suits backed up by Arrow IVs, it can quickly be the enemy that are choking to death.
Due to the lack of jump jets, the Leonidas can struggle in some terrain, such river crossings, but its high ground speed makes for excellent mobility in urban environments. The stealthiness and payload options can also work well in city battlefields, scouting out foes, marking them for incoming fire or eliminating pesky PBIs. If the Leonidas has a weakness it has to be that it's poorly equipped to directly deal with armored foes by itself when compared to other battle armor designs. The David does allow for some ranged sniping, and the small scatter of hits may inflict a lucky crit or two against vehicles or damage ’Mechs, but the actual damage inflicted will take a long time to kill a foe otherwise. Unless using the optional battle armor critical hit rules this makes enemy battlesuits a dangerous opponent, and if the rules are used the door swings both ways, so it might end up being a mixed blessing. Conventional infantry are going to be situational: some platoons will defeat a Leonidas squad with ease unless caught at close range with Machine Guns or Firedrakes, while other platoons will fall as easily as those unfortunates who first encountered Clan Elementals.
The Leonidas can be found operating with both the FWLM and abroad, having been sold to mercenaries, plus the Capellans, Canopians and Marians. Some old school Free Worlds players might raise an eyebrow at the idea of selling to their sometimes less than friendly neighbors, but the Leonidas was developed on Oriente so its distribution makes sense given the current state of politics in the Inner Sphere.
Operating alongside existing Marik suits, the Leonidas provides a different style of scout to the still impressive Achileus. The greater flexibility, higher ground speed and ECM will be of more use on some battlefields and/or against certain foes, while the older lighter battlesuit will be the preferred option in other cases. For example, in river deltas or mountains you'd probably be better off with the jump-capable Achileus, but in cities or against C3-equipped foes, the Leonidas would be ideal. When needed, the Leonidas can even replace the Longinus as a frontline combat suit, but that's not truly its forte, just something it can do when the chips are down. The Leonidas' stealthiness will help it survive situations where a Longinus will fall, but that same stealthiness does better suit it going out and being sneaky rather than just going toe to toe with the enemy. With heavier, more powerful units, such as the Phalanx, Ogre or Xiphos, the Leonidas will work well when ranging ahead and wide, sniffing out foes and protecting the flanks of their comrades.
Chris Daranouvong's artwork for the Leonidas is simply stunning and, as I've already waxed poetic on the boards, the matching of the name to the hoplon-like attachment on the left arm plus the helmet crest is sheer perfection for me. I get images of a Leonidas trooper putting the boot into a poor infantryman while bellowing "This is Sparta!" Sergeant Eugenios Tsakolov's entry in the notable units also made me grin. Sacred Band indeed! Well, he's half-Clan, so what can you expect, eh?
With the Free Worlds now having a stable of battle armor to rival, and in some areas exceed, that of the battlesuit-crazy Federated Suns, the FWLM is now well placed to address its past struggles. Yes, I guess the ’Mechs, tanks, aero and PBIs will have roles to fill too; after all, every leading actor needs a cast of extras in the background just to pad out the scene. The Leonidas is one of the stars of the FWL's stable of battlesuits and will no doubt become a sight that many foes wished they hadn't paid to see.
