’Mech of the Week: TYM-1* Toyama
Toyama. A 75-ton BattleMech named after Conrad Toyama, the man who turned ComStar from a phone company to a pseudo-religious organization of the type that later formed the Word of Blake. Also, one of the most heinous men in history, widely considered to have slain Jerome Blake on his deathbed, and probably is sharing a “spa” with Hitler and Stalin under the watchful eye of Lucifer himself.
Or maybe I should say destined to?
Apparently designed by an out-of-house consultant named Dr. Thaddues Anable, the plans for the
Toyama were given to the WoBbles as part of an arrangement with the false Thomas Marik. It was put into production in early 3057 at the massive Gibson Federated BattleMechs facility, the same one that produced the
Buccaneer and
Cicada, among others.
This model, the TYM-1A, is built around an endo-steel skeleton and mounts a Vlar 300-rated extralight engine, giving it speeds comparable to the venerable
Black Knight. Twelve tons of standard plate give the design 83% of maximum protection, laid out in a 9, 30/9, 20/7, 20, 25 pattern (head, center front/rear, side front/rear, arms, legs repectively). Fourteen double heat sinks struggle with the heat load. The weapons-load consists of twin extended-model large lasers in the right arm, a Class-10 LB-X autocannon in the left arm, a 20-pack LRM in the right torso, and three medium lasers in the left torso. Two tons of ammunition are provided for their associated weapon system, non-CASEd. Rounding out the equipment is a Guardian ECM suite mounted in the right torso, meant to jam advanced targeting modules, which in the era it was introduced means C3 Slaves and Masters.
Originally intended to be jointly fielded by the FWLM and the Word of Blake Militia, shipments to the Atrean Dragoons were postponed when the WoBbles launched Operation Odysseus, the seizure of Terra. In that operation, four
Toyamas were noted to have been used. I’m not sure if the shipments were ever made to the Free Worlds League, nor if it really matters (somehow I have the feeling any units that would have gotten
Toyamas would be on the short list for absorption into the Word of Blake, one way or another).
As the Jihad opened, the Word of Blake began upgrading many of their designs. The
Toyama received its first upgrade in 3070, becoming the TYM-1B model. This variant replaces the trio of medium lasers with a twin-set of extended models, swaps the engine for a light version, downgrades the LRM rack to a 15-shot version, adds CASE, swaps the ECM suite for an Improved C3 unit, the large lasers for light-class Particle Cannons, and the autocannon for a Heavy-class Particle Cannon. A compact gyro was also used, and a ton of armor was added, being four points to each leg, two to each arm, two to each side torso front, and moving one point from the center front to the center rear. Four heat sinks were also added.
In 3072, the final variant (so far) arrived. The TYM-1C differs from the -1A model by using an extralight gyro, adds two tons of armor (4 points to the center front and side front, 3 to the arms, 2 to the center rear, and six to the legs). Two heat sinks were removed. The autocannon was swapped for a Gauss Rifle. The large lasers were swapped for medium-class variable-speed pulse lasers. The LRM rack is now tied to an Artemis IV fire-control. CASE was added to the right torso. All other weapons and the ECM suite were swapped for an Improved C3 unit.
Using one of these machines starts with which model. The first model is nasty on its own, but you need to watch out for Golden BBs. On the other hand, the other two have headcappers, and can be tried to a C3 Network. In the latter case, I would suggest bringing closers to allow for better numbers and nastier machines to perhaps draw some fire away from you. The first two models also require a lot of watching your heat dial.
Fighting one you need to take note of his friends. While more important with the latter two, the first one still can have buddies you don’t like. Targeting computers, pulse weaponry, and headcappers are all nice to have. Plasma weapons and the like can also be useful, if you have an up-close brawler type mentality. Slipping in ECM suites to disrupt his networks are also good.
These machines have made their mark on BattleTech history. Unfortunately, that is most certainly come to an end. First, being named after a man synonymous with evil is not conducive to one’s lasting existence. Worse, it is also the name of a faction within the Word of Blake, that may well be blamed for many of their excesses. More importantly, the production lines were on Gibson, the first planet turned into a shiny glass bead by the Regulans. That is almost always fatal, barring someone having copies of how to build the dang things, and a willingness to use them (perhaps under a different name).
