Gurzil Support Tank. TRO3145, The Clans, page 25.
I swear I've seen this windscreen before.LRM tanks are not new to the Jade Falcons, or the clans in general. You may recall a time when the Jade Falcons possessed a Hachiman or two. Sarna claims the Eagle Craft Group built them on Ironhold, but I can't confirm that with my current level of interest. Anyway, the Hachiman was not built in the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone after the Jihad. The conclusion of that cataclysmic conflict left the Inner Sphere in a period of relative peace and a mandate for the Jade Falcons to reduce the number of battlemechs in their Touman.
Over the years the Falcons have embraced a more open minded embrace of conventional combat vehicles and infantry. Open minded by Falcon standards, at least. Their lack of respect for conventional forces is a continuing theme in their 3145 TRO entries, as i've expressed in my articles about the Nacon and Skadi. The Gurzil Support Tank is a more successfull attempt to integrate clan technology with the uncivilized combat vehicle. Trellshire Heavy Industries was tasked with creating the first Jade Falcons vehicle specifically made for direct combat. Previous vehicles, like the Sokar, or Chalci were built with very specific roles in mind, and sacrificed some aspect of their design that would make them suitable combatants. Perhaps Trellshire Heavy Industries's experience in building the Demolisher and SturmFeur is what allowed the Falcons to finally produce a battle tank not relegated purely to gun duty, like the famously flimsy Oro.
There are only so many ways you can outfit a dedicated missile tank. The LRM and Heavy LRM Carriers have toyed with the configurations of launchers, while the Partisan LRM and Ontos LRM have contributed to the multitude of choices. Some platforms embrace atypical weapons, like Thunderbolt launchers, MMLs and Enhanced LRMs. The Gurzil Support Tank calls upon the heritage of these other tanks and attempts to outdo them all, while failing to threaten their superiority in the realm of indirect fire.
Almost every aspect of the Gurzil is superior to the clan's older LRM platforms. A 320 rated XL Fusion engine allows the Gurzil to spin it's tracks at 4/6 MP. That is faster than many LRM tanks, and more heavily armed than the majority of missile tanks trying to keep pace. This is tanks to the Gurzil's unique armament: a pair of front mounted Mech Mortar 8s and a turret packed with twin Medium Pulse Lasers and Streak LRM 15s. The additional tonnage of using Streak LRMs might seem like a waste, given the tremendous advantages of clan LRMs over their Inner Sphere counterparts. However, the ability to take the most unlikely shots without fear of running out of ammo circumvents a common complaint (I have) concerning LRM platforms. Mech Mortars are hardly the most efficient weapons, but do provide some options that are lost in the use of Streak LRMs.
12.5 tons of Ferro Lamelar armor cuts and impressive 41/34/32/34 profile. At first glance this is awesome. But, once you recover from the initial euphoria of having Ferro Lamellar, you might wish for the additional protection of ferro fibrous. Negating the always frustrating LBX cluster round certainly helps a combat vehicle, and the additional damage reduction to other weapons is really nice. But, don't be fooled. The Gurzil doesn't like to be shot. A SRM missile reduced to 1 damage still has a chance to cause a motive or standard critical hit. So don't be overconfident about the survival prospects of a tank that dishes out the kind of damage a Gurzil can.
Ammunition is still scarce. 5 tons of Mech Mortar ammo means you can select a few specialized tons of ammo. But, the 1765 BV of the Gurzil demands the majority of your ammo is going to be devoted to dealing damage, in the form of HE. Lower BV missile platforms ca take care of rolling out the smoke, illumination or frags. Let the mortars do the mean work of following up to the Streak LRMs. Ammo for the Streak LRMs come out to 3 tons. The Streak function will make the ammo go further, and even a 12 to hit is worth rolling.
At present there are no variants of the Gurzil. That might be a good thing, given the Jade Falcon track record with vehicle designs.
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The Variable Range Targeting quirk allows you to predict what range bracket your opponent will be at the end of the next movement phase. Live out your Babe Ruth fantasies by calling your range. It pays off if you are correct, but otherwise provides a penalty to hit. This provides the benefits of Improved Targeting quirks, but is able to be managed for maximum benefit.
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The Gurzil Support Tank occupies an unsual place among LRM platforms. In an age where JES IIs and JES IIIs have the indirect fire game pretty neatly zipped up, the Gurzil is faster, tougher, tracked and packing energy weapons. If you are looking for a purely IDF platform in the Dark Age they don't get much better than the JES III's no nonsense 3/5 wheeled quartet of LRM15s. But, if you are looking for a front line missiles tank the Gurzil is an option. The Falcons have been using SturmFeur assault tanks for LRM support, built by THI as well. The Gurzil represents a major step up in technology and performance, as well as some long deserved attention to conventional forces.
And this is where things get a little confusing. The Mech Mortars perform better when a dedicated forward observer is calling in. That also reinforces the idea of the Gurzil being used in IDF. But, the Streak LRM15s can't be used for IDF. The MPLs are decent enough close defense weapons, but won't sync well with the LRMs and MMs when Variable Range Targetting is used. To add to the difficulty getting this weapons package to work together is the minimum range of the Mech Mortars.
The Gurzil occupies the 7 slot on the Jade Falcon Assault vehicle chart, which is an improvement over the 3085 assault vehicle RAT. In a pinch the Gurzil can stand next to a Kewlswa, Carnivore, or other heavy armor the Falcons employ, but the Mech Mortars are front mounted. Getting immobilized by motive crits will hurt your firing prospects more than a tank with the majority of the firepower concentrated in the turret. The trouble with the Gurzil lies mostly in being able to justify the BV. It clocks in as less than the Kelswa or Carnivore, but still has a BV on par with many Inner Sphere heavy mechs. Is the Guzil the equal of a Warhammer 8D? It can be. The long ranged firepower of the Gurzil easily outputs that of a Warhammer, as long as the ammunition lasts.
What is really fun about the Gurzil's particular type of damage is in how it resists degration by Anti-Missile-Systems. Streak LRMs will always hurt for 15, or 9 against a target with AMS. Mech Mortars have variable damage, but they are not effected by AMS. These are good qualities in the Dark Age, where redundant and seemingly obligitory A-M Systems are installed more frequently on combat vehicles.
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Combating the Gurzil provides some new challenges given it's combination of armor and weaponry. The old fall back of using LBX-AC cluster rounds, or Silver Bullet Gauss Rifles to generate numerous critical hits is not an option thanks to Ferro Lamellar. Fighting at range can be tricky because of the Streak LRM15s ability to take risky shots and still conserve ammo, while putting all 15 missiles on target. The Mech Mortars have a variety of special ammunitions that can likewise make ranged combat risky. Getting in close trades the Mech Mortars for Medium Pulse Lasers.
Weapons that outrange the SLRMs/MMs, even on small overlaps are a one route. LGRs, SNPPCs and clan ER Large lasers have superior ranges at certain intervals. Flanking the Gurzil is another option, as the Mech Mortars are front mounted. Of course, concentrated fire on the Gurzil will buckle the hull, as it is not the most hardy 80 ton design. But do knock it out quickly. For a 80 ton tank it may not seem like it has the most ferocious firepower because it lacks big guns like Gauss Rifles or CERPPCs. But, the damage of the missiles weapons does add up, and chews through conventional forces. Do not underestimate the punch of the Gurzil on the size and number of the missile launchers alone.
