BLJ2-0 Blackjack Omni-Mech.
HistoryThe story of the Blackjack is of a Mech that made good despite everyone being set against it, I like to think of it as a bit of a Rocky esque success story. When the original Blackjack was designed it wasn't a bad Mech, solid if rather uninspired but well armed for its tonnage (45 tonnes). Yet General Motors who were expecting brisk sales of their latest design were hit with a smear campaign from seemingly everyone!
Critics claimed everything from the Mech OBVIOUSLY having stability issues to its armour being brittle and weak. None of this was backed up by any evidence but if you sling enough cowpats it will stick eventually. The bad press killed the Blackjack before it had even really had a chance and the design was ignored by the SLDF and hurredly sold to any houses who would have it. It having autocannons this of course meant that House Davion went MINE!!! and made grabby hands.
When the Clans came a calling the Blackjack recived a significat refit, the first few prototypes for some reason NOT being fitted with double heatsinks despite having a pair of ER Large Lasers, but this was thankfully corrected (and hopefully the person who thought that single Heatsinks on the prototype being a good thing was flogged in front of his design staff.) But the Mech was still basically adequate.
With the Houses frantically working together because of the Clan shaped Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads the FWL, Federated Suns and Draconis Combine whilst working on their own Omni-Mech's decided for some reason to give the rather maligned Blackjack a complete rebuild and conversion into an OmniMech.
I'd like to think that this was actually done by General Motors simply as a snub, thinking that their competitors at LAW would not make a viable machine. Oh boy were they wrong.
DesignWhat walked out of the factories was not a poor design in anyones books. The Blackjack had gained 5 tonnes of weight taking it up to 50 tonnes and was powered by the newly designed 200 rated XL engine. Whilst this propelled the mech at a rather modest 64kph this was fine as the Blackjack was still a support machine, its not a scout, its a gun battery and trooper.
The new body was built around an Endo Steel skeleton which saved yet more weight and a good 9.5 tonnes of standard plate armour give the Blackjack an impressive amount of protection.
To be precise the Blackjack is rather solidly built. Its chest can take an AC-20 round and have enough armour to take a single SRM hit whilst the side torso's can take an AC-10 and large laser hit before going internal.
The arms can take a pair of clan ER Medium hits whilst the legs have identical protection to the left and right torso, capable of keeping out an AC-10 and large laser hit. This is not bad protection for a 50 tonner.
The design also featured four jump jets as a fixed part of the design which were retained from the original machine, allowing it to leap 120 meters and thankfully the LAW folks remembered that double heatsinks can go on mechs and the machine comes fitted with 10 double heatsinks as standard. This combined gives the Mech a 4/6/4 movement profile in game terms.
The weight saved and weight gained was then poured into weaponry and here's where the LAW folks probably very politely stuck a middle finger up at House Davion and Marik. The Blackjack's Omni-pods were meant to be cross compatable with Clan equipment, based on the weapons that had been captured or salvaged as well as being able to (naturally) take Inner Sphere equipment.
The first shipments of these machines to the front lines for forces that were NOT DCMS ones did not come with the right couplings, indeed they could not fit any salvaged Clan weapons at all and even standard equipment couplings didn't seem to fit correctly, but they did with Draconis Combine equipment. Those issued to the DCMS though somewhat miraculously could accept and fit Clan and Inner Sphere weapons without any problems.
The Federated Suns growled and grumbled, the Draconis Combine appologised with a knowing glint in its eye and the first refits and overhauls saw the correct fittings come out. Apparently they were delayed in production or something...honest... and if you belive that, i've got a Quasit to sell to you...
VariantsPrime - The Prime continues its pregenetors legacy of being a support and general trooper mech, far from the original design of anti-insurgency. Sitting pride of place in the arms is a FWL made UAC-5's, each cannon drinking tonne of ammo buried in the torso. Mounted under the cannons is a pair of two standard medium lasers, these four guns are possibly a nod to the original design which also had a quartet of lasers. Finally a pair of machine guns live in the left and right torso, the quartet of guns drawing from a half tonne magazine somewhat precariously placed in the chest. The Prime has good firepower at all ranges and is also very cool running, making it a capable support unit for both larger and smaller machines.
Alpha - Seemingly built as a Mini-Archer the Alpha is armed with a LRM-20 in each arm with each launcher drawing from a 2 tonne ammo bin for battlefield endurance. Two Medium lasers and a small laser round out the armament, giving it slightly more firepower than an Archer at point blank range. The small laser, whom I shall call Dave makes repeat appearances in almost every config from this point on, in one form or another. Like the Raptor I'm lead to belive that LAW had a surplus stock of small lasers and just put them on anything.
With its long range firepower the Alpha is a potent support machine, superior to other missile heavy designs like the Witworth
Bravo - To me this design seems very House Marik and again is built with the Blackjack's traditional role of fire support. In this case the support is mostly done by an imposing Gauss Rifle living in the left arm. The rifle is fed by a 2 tonne magazine whilst the right arm is filled out with a LRM-10 which is fitted with an Artemis IV FCS, the launcher also drawing from a meaty 2 tonne magazine. The only energy weapon is...yep, its Dave the Small Laser,who lives in the Right torso but most importantly there is a C3 slave living in the chest which greatly increases the accuracy of this machine if it is part of a C3 network, turning an already dangerous machine into a deadly one in the right situation.
Charlie - I would hazard a guess that this variant was built as a Flak unit. Its pair of LB-10X Autocannons each have a 1 tonne magazine which limits ammo stowage and choice but cluster rounds are lethal against aerospace fighters as well as tanks. A medium laser lives in the left and right torso whilst Dave lurks quietly in the chest as a final resort. Depending on your load out you could get a lot of milage from the Charlie but its limited ammo stowage is really its biggest drawback.
Delta - The opposite of the ammo dependent Charlie the Delta is an energy boat who's only limit on endurance is the pilot and any onboard stores. The main firepower is centred around a pair of large lasers in the right arm, and a single PPC in the left. Note that these are standard models, NOT ER versions. A medium pulse laser also sits with the PPC co-axial to the big cannon and helps cover its deadzone. Another medium pulse and two standard lasers also live in the left torso whilst good 'ol Small laser is still mounted in the chest. Fortunatley another 3 Double Heatsinks are added to help combat the ferocious heat generated by this array of energy weapons. Despite this a full broadside is NOT recommended as you WILL overheat but careful and sensible firing patterns easily negate this.
Echo - Very very very much a League design and possibly built with WoB assistance (or them in mind) the Echo is..surprise surprise...a long range support unit. A Light Gauss Rifle fills out the left arm whilst an ER Large Laser and LRM-10 fill out the right for the full long range punch. Both Light Gauss and LRM-10 have generous 2 tonne ammo bins and Dave is upgraded! He's now an ER Small laser sitting in his time honoured place in the chest. I'm not sure if this is superior to the Bravo or not. Both have a formidable punch but lacking a C3 slave this machine I feel is the inferior of the two.
Foxtrot - This design to me screams I AM HOUSE DAVION!!! Its an Enforcer, all be it slightly slower and with better ammo and energy weapons. The right arm boasts a hard hitting UAC-10 whilst its 2 tonne ammo bin is in the right torso giving you lots of shots. An ER PPC provides the long range punch in the left arm and a pair of ER Medium Lasers, one on the Left arm with the PPC the other in the right torso provide good medium to short range punch. And of course Dave's there, still an ER Small and still sitting in the chest. This is a generally rock solid trooper with a good solid punch by any standard.
Romeo - A hurried refit that sprang into existance during Operation Bulldog and one that made full use of Clan-tech salvage the Romeo is more akin to the later Foxtrot in its designed role. In firepower terms it is formidable indeed, a Clan Gauss Rifle and Large pulse laser sit in the left and right arm respectively, with the Gauss drawing from a two tonne ammo bin. A trio of Clan Medium pulse lasers, spread with two in the left torso and one in the right arm provide close to medium range weight of fire and Dave has finished his evolution! He is now a Clan ER Small laser, still sitting in the chest!
Thanks to the range advantages that Clan pulse lasers have over their Inner Sphere counterparts this machine can fight at longer ranges and does not have to brawl and an extra four heatsinks do help control the heat of this machine's warload.
I do not know if this variant only appeared during Bulldog, but thanks to the proliferation of Clantech after the Blackout it could still be seen in the modern universe.
Uniform - Like most other U variants this is designed for underwater combat and is pritty much a niche design. Six LRT-5's, three per arm, form the mech's main armament, two tonnes of ammo being enough for the launchers. For energy weapons a pair of Light PPC's are fitted, one per side torso. This variant also features the useful but potentially deadly Harjel system which stops a section from flooding. Unless a storage tank takes a hit and then you've got a arm, leg, or torso flooded with rock hard semi-organic resin....
X-Ray - The final variant and more a testbed when introduced than anything, a quartet of Light PPCs provide the main punch which may not sound like much and really, its not. Until you factor in that each one has a PPC Capacitor attached...Charging and firing all four may cause slight* heat problems but it gives you the throw weight of an Awesome.
For short range defence a SSRM-4 is mounted in the chest, the PPC's are spread between the arms and side torso. Worryingly the ammo for the SSRM-4 is fitted in the chest and that's where the *slight comes in to play. Most curiosuly this variant does not have an endosteel skeleton, and 4 tonnes of heatsinks are fitted. but they still can't help with the 40 heat generated by a full overcharged PPC blast.
ThoughtsThe Blackjack omni is a potent medium mech, its more a light heavy than your typical mediums which tend to be faster and more agile with varied armaments. The Blackjack has a rather uniform armament mix that sets it in a role, the Prime is a generalist fighter, the Alfa is a missile barrage boat and the like.
Whilst role orientated the Blackjack is a generally solid Mech, more a light heavy mech in its armament and speed than the more usual speedy roles that Mediums find them in, it’s a pocket Heavy with the throw weight to back up such a declaration.
Hard hitting, not overly fast but fairly tough the Blackjack Omni can form a useful part of any force with it capable of taking any role you ask of it. But please try to remember that it is a rather slow medium mech.
I say this because most Mediums rely on being fairly fast and using their speed to make them harder to hit, the Blackjack does not have that luxury and when hit, its still only a medium Mech and heavy fire will bring one down in short order.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/3/3e/BlackjackOmni.jpg
Once again, comments are most welcome and this ends this two part series.
