Let's start with a history lesson, before we go any further here. In our beloved games' early days, the AC-20 was simply the most powerful weapon system available. Even the fearsome Overlord dropship had them as its most powerful gun. The problem was, it was a very heavy weapon- but short ranged as well. This meant that usually the units that could carry the beast were large- and slow. The result was that while the Hunchback, Demolisher, etc. were extremely powerful, they had a hell of a time getting those guns into range in a running battle. But... there was an option- the Saladin. Little more than a huge cannon on a hover skirt, the Saladin combined a massive punch with barely adequate armor and high speed- able to pace a Locust, no easy feat back then. Most flanking units in those days packed weapons like SRMs, small LRM racks, maybe an AC-5... nothing to ignore for long, but nothing ridiculous. But the Saladin? Oh god. A quick little roller skate slashing around the field hitting for twenty points? It was ridiculous in its day- and in general, it was a high priority to destroy. Saladins were all-in weapons- either it gains glory through a big kill, or it dies because it's too dangerous to allow to survive.
Hmmm... sounds like the kind of thing a certain band of genetic-bred idiots from a long, long way away would be interested, doesn't it?
And yet, as we look into Clan history leading up to the Jihad, there's no analogy to the Saladin. We see units that are roughly comparable in role to Inner Sphere types- scouts, MBTs, fire support units, etc.- but even the mighty Epona doesn't really have a configuration that compares to the 'victory or death' thinking of the Saladin. That seems almost impossible to believe, when you really stop to think about it, doesn't it? Clan tank crews must have found the Saladin fascinating when they began seeing reports from the Inner Sphere front lines in 3050. So, with that history lesson in mind, it really was only a matter of time before the Clans came up with a 'Saladin IIC'. It is again a surprise, then, that it took wasn't until the Jihad's fires flared that such a unit was built... by a Clan no longer welcome in their people's ranks, and through the assistance of a corporation synonymous with one of the Great Houses. Let's look into the SM1 Tank Destroyer and see what the Nova Cats came up with here.
The SM1 is built by Luthien Armor Works' facility on Irece, a combination of Clan elegance and Inner Sphere know-how. We'll start with sawing it in half and seeing what makes it tick, as usual- and we notice something funny when we saw the 50-ton SM1 in half. They look identical... cockpits on both sides. I'm sure there's a really good reason for this, allowing the unit to continue operating if one side gets damaged, but... it's an odd thing, to say the least. Those cockpits are big fishbowl-style setups that would make an unseen Battlemaster pilot wistful, but we're assured that they're very tough, able to absorb plenty of damage. Still... never mind, let's get to work on that engine. A 165-class fusion drive puts this thing up to an 8/12 movement curve, same as its spiritual parent, the Saladin. The SM1 is said to be extremely easy to build and maintain, and this may explain the decision to avoid using an XL engine. Either way, the SM1 is plenty quick enough to move quickly to bring its weapons to bear, and keep its movement modifiers up high enough to keep it from taking hits.
Seven and a half tons of armor make for a great layer of defense for an SM1, particularly with that speed keeping many weapons from hitting in the first place. Pulling our old test cannon out, we find that it has a much tougher time than on most hovercraft. A whopping 43 points of frontal armor makes for a better hull than many MBTs can claim- on a fast-attack unit! The sides are similarly tough, with 29 points. The rear has a thinner 19 points, but that's still good by hover standards. The turret has a good 24 points as well, despite being of questionable use. One can only wish that those 24 points could be moved to somewhere else by deletion of that silly turret, but more on that later on. Suffice to say, this is one tough cookie to kill.
There's an old rule in Battletech- 'speed, armor, firepower. Pick two'. And yet, occasionally you meet a unit that manages to put all three together into one extremely dangerous package- the Mad Cat, for example. And here we are, looking at another one. We know it's fast, we know it's tough... and the guns are every bit as impressive. LAW-Irece wanted to make a splash with this thing, and raw muscle is always a good way to get the Clan's attention. Success. The SM1 is literally built around a massive Ultra AC-20, today's 'ultimate nasty' weapon system in a mirror of the Saladin. If you need an explanation of why an 8/12, heavily armored Ultra AC-20 would be a good thing, I welcome you to Battletech for the first time- trust me, this is a beast. Ignoring it means that it can put a pair of massive 20-point hits into a unit's rear, something it rarely needs to do twice. But focusing on it means ignoring whatever the rest of the force it came with brought. Quite the choice to make- the fact that the Clans usually deploy vehicles in pairs makes it even more unpleasant to consider. The gun is supplied by a cavernous six-ton ammunition bin, very unlike the usual Clan way of thinking- this means an SM1 can fire at double-rate fifteen times, almost unheard of. Long deployments are no problem here, and in a quicker battle an SM1 can afford to take a few wild shots that most vehicles wouldn't risk the ammo use on. The risk of jamming the gun is very real, of course- and any SM1 that has its main gun get disabled needs to leave, because the backup weaponry is... well, not much. In the only real departure from the Saladin formula, a small turret sits atop the portside cockpit, packing four light machine guns. This allows us to deal with infantry and find a few crits after the cannon opens a location, but shouldn't be relied on for much- and again, losing that turret and fixing the guns forward would allow for better armor distribution.
There are a few variants to discuss. The first is a pretty simple one- remove the Ultra for an LB-20 X. This is arguably a better idea than the original, allowing the SM1a (no real name for this thing, guys? Really?) to make enemy vehicles and aircraft utterly miserable. Pairing a point of these with a point of the originals is just sick and wrong, and a good way to never be invited back to your group's games. The only other changes other than the cannon swap are the deletion of one ton of ammo to allow the LMGs to be mounted into an array, and adding a light active probe. Since that still leaves five tons of ammunition to swap between, that's a pretty good upgrade.
The second variant has proven unpopular- the big gun becomes a Gauss rifle, in a way emulating the Capellan Regulator... except without a turret for the gun, and not as fast. Not often you see a Clan unit pale in comparison to a competitor from the Inner Sphere, but... if you can pick between them, take Regulators. It's not all bad news though- a handy medium pulse laser gets added to the mix as well, nothing to sneeze at.This came at the cost of two tons of ammunition, leaving it with a 'mere' 32 shots. This is a very useable vehicle- just not compared to the other two variants.
Finally, there's a mention of an Arrow IV version being looked at- while no record sheet exists for this, it's pretty easy to look at the 3145 Hadur and feel like there's something awfully familiar about that unit...
SM1s were a popular unit in several of the armies early on in Mechwarrior: Dark Age, appearing in the debut set for that game, and as Catalyst works in that era it appears that these units are popular in Nova Cat and Draconis service. In the 3145 era, it stands to reason that the unit has been sold heavily to other realms, explaining its widespread use. Even with the Clan that spawned it having been destroyed, it's safe to assume that these simple but brutal craft have a long future ahead of them in the wars that we love so much. Mercenaries in particular should love this thing- it's not all that expensive, but brings a huge amount of power and flexibility to any army.
You know the drill, go nuts. Destrier next week, I promise! (Originally this week was to have been the Destrier, by Welshman's request, but I'm not done testing that thing out first, so I went with Worktroll's request instead.)
