Quirinus Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3145 Republic Of The Sphere page 5
The
Quirinus is one of the trio of RAF battle armor designs that came into existence prior to Technical Readout 3145 Republic of the Sphere. In the case of the Quirinus, it doesn't come from clickytech, but instead was born from concept art, with the result being a workmanlike medium battlesuit that is in effect from the IS Standard lineage.
jymset: Although only recently published, the Quirinus is old in concept. Alongside the Kishi, Spectre and Ogre, it was one of the four suits based on Brent Evans' concept art that I was always pushing for inclusion in a grander DA scheme as far back as 2011, when 3145's form was nowhere on the horizon. An early outline of a "TRO 3150" was floating around for years, and based on that I contacted Pat Wynne to maybe look at expanding on it, as it had a rather restrictive outline even vs the released MWDA game pieces. So I pitched for an intermediate TRO and when 3145 came through, its final form was way huger than anything I expected, with all outstanding ideas folded in, including anything that would have been in "TRO3150". It combined Brent's concept art designs, now including some others like the Cuchulainn and Hollander III, plus existing but "homeless" designs, XTRO development and much more.Brent Evans' concept art that inspired the Quirinus
Still found in the armed forces of the Inner Sphere after almost a century of service, the IS Standard is the... well, standard that all Inner Sphere suits can be judged against. In turn an imperfect copy of the Elemental, it established the basic performance expected of a medium trooper design, with the Quirinus being one of the latest versions of that template. As would be expected, the Republic's new suit takes advantage of advances in technology, but as we all too commonly see in battle armor, for each improvement there is often also a cost to pay.
jymset: The Quirinus does have one claim to fame unknown to most, as it encouraged and reinforced the idea of doing the TO addendum for BA. The main impulse of which were obviously the DA game piece abilities, but it was the Quirinus above all others that reinforced it, because I looked at it and thought - what would it represent with its scale-like armor? With the resulting answer being the new Reactive armor. Brent was ok with the idea. Apparently his original idea for the BA was a podunk suit, but I never even seriously went into the idea of looking at Prototype Armor. Starting with the familiar first, and indeed an aspect that has remained unchanged from the IS Standard, the Quirinus comes equipped with the defacto default mobility of the same ground speed as foot infantry combined with a 90 meter jump range. Except when operating indoors, that gives the Quirinus decent maneuverability on the battlefield, plus an all-important boost to defense. Together with the basic +1 hit penalty all non-infantry suffer when attacking battle armor and the +1 for jumping movement, the Quirinus can leap far enough to gain a total +3 defensive hit modifier. At shorter ranges this might not be enough to keep a unit from harm, but at medium and particularly long ranges, this can sometimes make suits like the Quirinus all but immune to incoming fire when combined with terrain.
One unpleasant (for battle armor!) counter to this sort of defensive maneuverability is the use of area effect weapons, which not only get to ignore movement modifiers and any stealth effects, but have the added bonus of damaging all the suits in the squad equally. Although the threat is greatly lessened now that Mine Clearance Munitions can no longer be used in such a role, Artillery Cannon are more prevalent on the modern battlefield. To help counter this, the Quirinus is one of the few battlesuit designs to mount Reactive armor, which halves the damage received by area effect weapons, as well as missiles and mortars. Unlike larger units, battle armor don't suffer any of the negative side effects of specialized armor such as Reactive, so apart from the added weight and slot requirements it's a win-win situation.
At just eight points of armor, the Quirinus is still not capable of surviving a hit from the Long Tom version of Artillery Cannon, but lighter models are going to take multiple shots, whereas for the IS Standard, for example, the Sniper version would be adequate to achieve a one-shot TPK. That eight points of armor is also one of the costs I mentioned earlier. At one point less than the IS Standard, it means that the Quirinus is less capable of absorbing damage from other weapon systems such as lasers and autocannon. It's still enough to allow the suit to survive a hit by a standard or ER Large Laser, but it means that, unlike the IS Standard, the Quirinus is vulnerable to the Inner Sphere's Large Pulse Laser, for example. The armor also comes out 30kg heavier than that on an IS Standard, and combined with other additions, that eats away at the weaponry payload.
jymset: Originally, this suit was to be the premier Reactive Armor suit under a premise where refits of existing suits were the only other possible contenders. So I wanted it to be special, or at least front-line-competent. That meant a MWM was pretty much a must and also dictated its armor value. I like to add +1 point of armour to make a point at times, and while the Clans' medium lasers might make 7 points more threshold-efficient in the scheme of things, I was emphatic about the 8 points to specifically go beyond the 7 points I deem a minimum on medium suits. The Quirinus is equipped with a pair of mismatched manipulators in the form of a Basic Manipulator and a Vibro Battle Claw. The latter allows for a token infantry melee attack and also provides a small boost to the damage of Anti-Mech attacks, but really it's a flavor piece. The Basic Manipulator alone provides Mechanized Battle Armor capability and a second one would have saved 50kg of mass and still allowed Anti-Mech attacks with a minimal loss in damage. It's worth noting that Anti-Mech attacks typically rely more upon the crit chance than the actual damage inflicted, and given that a battlesuit equipped with a Vibro claw only does an extra point of damage for the entire squad, it's not really much of a bonus.
jymset: The Vibro Claw was chosen because the original concept art had the same "vibro bayonet", and even had "vibrating lines" drawn in around the blade. That 50kg demand along with mass of the chosen armor are what forces limitations on the weapon choices. The next design choice that impacts the weapon load is both good and bad. A Light TAG is always a great choice for combined arms forces when you're also packing units that can take advantage of TAGing, such as Semi-guided LRMs, Arrow IVs, etc. If you're not so blessed, then obviously the TAG is just wasted. Overall, I like the option of TAGs on battle armor, as it effectively allows them to punch above their weight and has a decent reach by battlesuit standards, but ideally they're something best seen as a modular configuration or even as a handheld infantry version for battlesuits with gloves. That the Light TAG appears as fixed equipment on one of the RAF's trooper suits suggests that opponents of the Republic can expect a lot of incoming artillery, Semi-guided LRMs and laser-guided bombs, even if that doesn't always translate down to the scenarios players arrange.
jymset: Given that the MWM lacked both mass and crits, there was little point going beyond 100 kg, leaving enough room to interpret the shoulder-mounted searchlight that's apparent in the illustration as a TAG. The TAG is obviously much more useful than a searchlight and matches well with the RAF's combined arms, and is a highlight of the suit. Between the heavier armor, Vibro claw and TAG, the Quirinus has used up 100kg that the IS Standard has available for its Modular Weapon Mount (don't forget the Standard's 15kg Battle Claw for those keeping score). That's half the payload gone, and when combined with the suit having just a single slot remaining thanks to the combination of bulky armor and TAG, that leaves the Quirinus with a limited selection of weapon configurations. Oddly, the suit excuses the possibility of mounting a Firedrake, that can equal the anti-infantry firepower of a Flamer at just a third of the mass, but that's something easily corrected for those who allow custom configurations.
None of the Quirinus' weapon options offer heavy firepower, but the most damaging choice is the trusty old Machine Gun. It's true that it is very limited in range by modern battle armor standards, but it is useful against infantry and inflicts twice the damage of the other options. Of course, that's not saying much when the average damage for a Quirinus squad armed with Machine Guns is just six points, but it's much better than the three points caused by the other two canon configurations! The David Light Gauss Rifle does at least offer a weapon that outranges many canon suits and configurations, but it's going to take such a long time to kill something that your opponent is probably just going to call in something bigger and meaner to deal with you before they're even halfway dead. As a harassment weapon, perhaps plinking at tanks and damaged ’Mechs in the hopes of a lucky crit, the David can be usable, and given the available space and payload it's not a bad choice.
The Grenade Launcher is an interesting choice, which offers some useful benefits as an alternative to simply inflicting damage. When loaded with standard grenades, you have a weapon with the range of the Machine Gun that inflicts the same damage against infantry, but half the damage against armored targets. At first glance that might make the Grenade Launcher seem to be a pointless weapon, but thanks to the optional ammo types available in Tactical Operations, it can do more than just hurt the foe. Incendiary grenades are, as you might guess, awesome for setting fire to hexes and opponents, including adding heat to ’Mechs, while Smoke grenades can potentially mask the Quirinus from incoming fire, adding a +1 targeting modifier. Sadly, the Quirinus has just a single magazine for its Grenade Launcher, which means that it can only mount one type of ammunition at a time. If you are willing to accept shorter range (and non-canon configurations) you could mount a Micro Grenade Launcher instead, freeing up enough mass for extra magazines, allowing you to carry all three ammunition types.
Other non-canon configurations that would be possible include the LMG, ECM and Improved Sensors, but that's a poor selection compared to what's available to the IS Standard and similar suits. Unable to carry heavier, bulkier weapons such as the 4-shot SRM1, Light Recoilless Rifle, Small Laser or the AP Gauss Rifle (assuming you could source them), the Quirinus is always going to be second place in terms of integral firepower compared to the more traditional medium troopers. Yes, the Light TAG can perhaps correct that deficit, but I'm still unconvinced by the design.
jymset: The Quirinus stats are *old*, they were made years ago when I started pitching around and unlike some others were never updated. The design even originally had a different name, "Feronia", intended as a tie in to the Angerona, but Patrick suggested the new name to tie in with his vision of the RAF, which was all in his brain back then, with nothing publised. Going in, back in 2011, I wanted the suit to reek of quality and at the time, it did, but it found its final home in 3145 and "tragically" that home also contained other suits that canceled the Quirinus' intended uniqueness, which then really explains its current somewhat-lacklustre existence. It's unfortunate that sillybrit rates it lower than the Simian, which should've always been the throwaway suit based upon its own origins. The RAF have an array of infantry transports to carry the Quirinus, some unsuited to battle such as the Trireme Heavy Transport VTOL, while others such as the Trajan can fight in the midst of the fiercest combat. OmniMechs are less common, but there are still some decent options, including the mighty Ares. Employing such transportation, whether vehicular or ’Mech, allows the possibility of the Light TAG actually being of some use, making up for the deficit in integral armament. Despite the low ground speed, the Quirinus can also find good usage in cities. The short range of the Machine Gun and Grenade Launcher will be less of a liability in that environment, and both are good at winkling out the PBIs that tend to be common in urban fights.
I have to say that I don't really care for the Quirinus. Too much is lost for too little gain when compared to the IS Standard in my opinion, with the Amazon from Technical Readout 3145 Capellan Confederation representing a much better higher tech implementation of the Inner Sphere's original standard medium suit. It also troubles me visually. It's not the worst by any means, but neither is it all that pleasing to the eye, and looks more like a ’Mech than a battlesuit. Sadly I have to rate the Quirinus as nothing but filler material and if I was fielding a medium trooper I'd really rather field a 95-year old battlesuit instead.
