Taranis Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3145 Republic Of The Sphere page 11
The
Taranis is a heavy battlesuit introduced in the printed format of Technical Readout 3145 and the Republic of the Sphere PDF Readout. The sole Republic suit from the 3145 series that doesn't have its origin in clickytech or earlier concept art, the Taranis is only to be found serving with the Republic Armed Forces.
As the line-up for the 3145 Readouts was being finalized, jymset gave me an offer I couldn't refuse: design a munchy battlesuit for the Republic. My first idea was truly disgusting, so I threw that away and started again, while the second design was also downgraded before I offered it for review. Thus the Taranis was born, although the name came much later and was chosen to represent the thunder and light(ning) of the armament. I still have hopes that the first versions might one day see the light of day, although one of them makes me truly uncomfortable. I can perhaps dream of a unique suit in a future Experimental Technical Readout.
The basic concept for the Taranis is one of my favorite battlesuit design combinations in the form of Mimetic Armor and Detachable Weapon Packs. The former works best at slow speeds while the latter tends to force slow speeds, resulting in a pleasing and natural synergy. Slow suits also work best at the heavy and assault weight categories, but in this case I opted for the former, as I wanted the suit to be Mechanized Battle Armor capable, as a way of partially compensating for its low speed.
Combining Mechanized Battle Armor capability and Mimetic Armor results in another useful synergy, one that takes advantage of how the dismount rules work. The Turn that they're deployed from their transport, battle armor are counted as having not moved, which for most designs is a very dangerous situation to be in. Battle armor typically rely upon their mobility as a large part of avoiding being hit, although stealth and cover obviously have their parts to play too. Given that Mimetic works best when a unit is stationary, it's effectively operating at its maximum performance when battlesuits are deploying. This allows a lot more freedom as to where and when Mimetic-equipped battle armor are offloaded, even to the point of delivering right under the enemy's nose; a tactic first enjoyed by the Purifier.
Obviously, even with the benefit of Mimetic, luck will only carry you so far, and it's not really something you want to risk if the enemy has artillery cannon. Even a +3 hit modifier can easily be overcome by a combination of skill, accuracy boosts and/or range, so the Taranis doesn't rely purely upon the chameleon-like properties of its armor. Ten points of protection might be considered a little light by some standards, but there are assault suits that lack this and it does importantly satisfy one of the key thresholds of Inner Sphere weaponry, enabling the Taranis to withstand a hit by a PPC. Given that a heavy chassis can only carry four more points, there's no way to achieve the next protection threshold that would protect the suit from being one-shot by a Gauss Rifle, so ten points of armor is a common sight on heavy suits that emphasize mobility or, in the case of the Taranis, firepower.
The armament is the key feature of the Taranis, with an overwhelming emphasis on this leg of the design triangle. Intended to be capable of defeating both conventional infantry and larger, armored targets, the Taranis had to mount heavy weapons that had a long reach by battle armor standards. Missiles would have been one choice for both range and damage, but the choice of Mimetic Armor had already placed a squeeze on the available slots, plus they would enforce a limit on the combat endurance. The preferred option was to mount two large weapons, one dual purpose and one anti-armor, with both fitted to Detachable Weapon Mounts to keep the mass down.
These mounts have the added benefit of reducing the slot requirement too, which again neatly meshes with the high slot cost for the Mimetic. Another side effect of Detachable Weapon Packs is that they reduce the battlesuit's mobility while carried, so that forced the basic ground speed to be increased to two to compensate. That obviously did cost mass, but the mass lost was more than made up by that saved by the Detachable Weapon Packs themselves.
The Medium Laser was the first weapon selected based upon the available mass and the intended final layout. More powerful or longer ranged alternatives do exist, such as the ER Medium Laser or Variable Speed Pulse Laser, but they would have required too much mass, leaving little for the second weapon. A squad of suits armed with a Medium Laser still makes for a powerful unit, outgunning most other battle armor designs, including many that rely upon missiles for their punch. With a nine-hex range, the Taranis can also outrange many other battlesuits.
Picked as a counter to the Reflective plating of the Zou, the Heavy Recoilless Rifle wouldn't have been my first choice as a secondary weapon, but I had resisted the temptation to make the Taranis too munchy. It's also a weapon that I often avoid in favor of the Medium Recoilless Rifle, which offers near identical performance for 75kg less mass. In common with some other design choices in the 3145 series, the Heavy Recoilless Rifle was deliberately picked because it's not that commonly used. Perhaps more importantly, it neatly fit into the remaining mass available without a gram to spare.
The two guns combined allow the Taranis to lay down some serious firepower out to seven hexes, with a squad able to inflict an average of twenty-four damage if both hit. That's enough to force a MechWarrior to make a piloting check, which achieved a highly desired goal for the design. With the damage scattered across an average of six hits, that also results in a decent number of possible crit checks, which is helpful against damaged ’Mechs and tanks alike. Many battlesuits are going to find themselves outranged and/or outgunned by the Taranis, while conventional infantry will suffer an average of twenty-one casualties from the Heavy Recoilless Rifle alone.
Combining this firepower with the Mimetic Armor makes the Taranis a dangerous foe. Except for opponents armed with area effect weapons, it practically forces them to come into range to have a chance to hit and then punishes them for doing so. Another good counter is the use of C3, either with a spotter too tough for the Taranis to easily kill or one so fast and/or stealthy that it's difficult to hit. The Taranis would still get its Mimetic bonus, but at least the range element would be reduced, making it more feasible for the enemy to land shots on target.
One idea that I wanted to squeeze in thanks to the use of Detachable Weapon Packs was that the armament could be easily modified. While not up to the same level as Modular Weapon Mounts, it does seem more reasonable that a semi-external weapon could be more readily exchanged for another than the same weapon embedded completely within the chassis. This resulted in the Modular Weapons quirk, which obviously has no use within an actual scenario and requires the use of the optional quirk rules. The Distracting quirk is one newly added and can be found in the printed Technical Readout 3145 and the New Tech New Upgrades Record Sheets. Units with this quirk are so intimidating or confusing that they apply a morale penalty to the enemy when using those optional rules.
With no mass remaining after installing the armor, weapons and motive system, that forced the use of Basic Manipulators. One of the munchy features I avoided was to replace one manipulator with an Armored Glove, which would have given a free anti-personnel weapon capability while still retaining the ability to hitch a ride on Omnis. Other than Mechanized Battle Armor capability, the Basic Manipulators offer no benefits, but at least they don't cost any mass.
As noted above and also mentioned in the unit write-up, the Taranis works well when attached to OmniMechs. I've long used similar designs to deploy straight into the middle of a heavy brawl, presenting the opponent with an unpleasant dilemma of just who to shoot: the battlesuits or the ’Mechs. This tactic can be a great way to force a foe away from a key position, and if there's any form of cover nearby it can then be even tougher to dig out the battle armor. As also noted above, this is something that's not recommended if the enemy is loaded with artillery cannon or other area effect weapons, as they care not for Mimetic and can even kill an entire squad with a single shot.
The tenacity of the design also suits the Taranis to purely defensive duties. Whether exploiting woods or buildings, a heavily-armed and Mimetic-armored battlesuit can be a major pain for a foe to deal with, such that you can often be better off simply avoiding them altogether. Of course, that's not difficult to do given the glacial speed of the Taranis, which is its one true flaw: without transportation, the Taranis is effectively a semi-mobile minefield. That's true to one extent or another of most battle armor, but at least something like an IS Standard has a chance of redeploying by itself in a reasonable amount of time. When even a Destrier can kite you around the battlefield, you know that you're slow.
I had intended to compare the Taranis one-by-one against the other heavy battlesuits introduced in the 3145 series, but it got too wordy so I'll limit my comments here. Even with the Taranis' advantages, overall I still rate the Cuchulainn the best 3145 suit when PBIs aren't in the equation. Looking at the most likely foes: the DCMS' Zou might appear to have an advantage against the Taranis thanks to its Reflective armor, but the latter's Mimetic all but forces the Zou in close, and with the Heavy Recoilless Rifle adding its firepower, then the damage exchange becomes equal. When fighting other foes, rather than going head to head, the Taranis obviously has a more capable armament and its armor is effective against more weapon types. Overall, I rate the Taranis over the Zou, but there will be circumstances and matchups that favor the Combine machine.
With the Capellans perhaps the other House most likely to be facing the RAF in battle, I'll also address the Shen Long. To an extent, the base chassis can be viewed as a slightly tougher Taranis with its own built-in APC; inherently faster than the Taranis, the Shen Long cannot hitch a ride on friendly Omnis as a partial counter. When the armament is compared, the Shen Long does have greater mission flexibility thanks to its modularity, but its current canon configurations are less flexible individually than the Taranis' fixed armament. Again, in most cases I'd rather have a Taranis than its potential rival, due to the armament; if the Shen Long got some different configurations I might reconsider. That's it; I'm stopping there before I end up re-writing the seven paragraphs I removed.
jymset: I've asked sillybrit to resurrect those comparisons, so expect a supplement to this article as soon as he can re-write them. The Taranis has lots of options in the RAF for partners to carry it to and from battle. Among the newer vehicle designs, I'm particularly licking my chops at the Crane VTOL and Scapha Omni hovercraft, although I wouldn't say no to the tried and trusted Cavalry (Infantry) or Maxim Mk II. Like the Cavalry, the Crane isn't really something you want getting shot at, and it's a little slower, but being able to drop off a pair of battle armor squads is a sweet prospect. The Maxim Mk II's mouthwatering ability to transport an entire platoon would be hard to turn down, but the Scapha would be my preferred ride as it does offer greater speed and superior ability to provide flanking cover fire. The Scapha could technically even be reconfigured to carry an additional three squads inside, thereby matching the Maxim Mk II, although the cost in firepower would be high, leaving only speed as an advantage. The stealthy Bolla would offer another good APC option for Taranis units not concerned about speed.
Among OmniMechs, heavier designs, like the new Doloire, always offer a handy ride in straight up assault roles, and the few Dragonflies/Vipers still to be found in RAF ranks would be an ideal fast transport, but their rarity may be a deterrent for some. The Celerity offers a high risk, high reward option; its speed would enable it to rapidly reposition any battle armor squad it carries, but if the control LOS is broken by ECM, then that could leave the battlesuits hopelessly exposed. In lieu of more exotic or heavier choices, the old Owens offers a good low-cost Omni transport for battle armor, although it appears that the slower Blackjack BJ2-O is more common in RAF ranks if the Field Manual 3145 RATs are anything to go by. Obviously, the RATs aren't the be all and end all when it comes to determining factional availability, but they are a comfort to some.
Sadly, I have to say that for once I'm not completely in favor of Plog's artwork. I'd failed to add any notes about suggested appearance and while the left-arm Medium Laser matches the style I would have chosen, I can't say the same for the positioning of the Recoilless Rifle. The layout of the upper torso and the appearance of the helmet also make me wince, so overall I prefer to squint when I look at the Taranis and imagine something more like the sublime Cuchulainn.
In closing, the Taranis gives the RAF a solid heavy battlesuit that can comfortably fight a variety of foes when either attacking or defending. Just provide it with some transportation to cover its poor mobility and it's good to go. To all those factions who took advantage of Fortress Republic to occupy Republic worlds: forget winter, the Taranis is coming.
